PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — More than 200 people descended on Platteville on Thursday for an entrepreneurship and economic development conference — the first of its kind to be hosted in Wisconsin.The Wisconsin Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference focuses on economic growth and small businesses in rural communities. This year’s topics include small business resources, agri-business and Latino entrepreneurs.Katie Koziol, a conference steering committee member, said Platteville beat out five other cities to host the event.She said Platteville’s selection marked an important step toward rural Wisconsin receiving more recognition and that hosting the conference was another important step, showcasing the community for out-of-town guests.
“They may have a narrow view of what rural Wisconsin looks like,” she said. “And we’re going to showcase that there’s music and art and talent and highly advanced thought about business and education.”Attendees of the two-day conference, which continues today, range from business owners to economic developers to politicians. In addition to hearing from keynote speakers and attending social events, guests are attending panel discussions held across downtown Platteville, from City Hall to local art galleries, libraries and movie theaters.“It’s really an immersion into the region,” Koziol said.
Maggie Cornelius, an outreach specialist with University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Rural Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Initiative, helped make the decision to host the conference in Platteville. Cornelius said she hoped attendees would learn from experiencing the region.“I think the takeaway for this conference is twofold,” she said. “One is just to experience this local town and see how they’re supporting their local businesses ... but then also just learning about the distinctiveness of this part of the state.”Abby Haas owns the Body Shoppe in Darlington. She attended the conference and said she was excited about the focus on rural entrepreneurship.“Having a conference like this come here and kind of showcase that rural communities are still places that can thrive means a lot to me,” she said. “You don’t have to always be in a Madison or a Milwaukee or a La Crosse or an Eau Claire to have a thriving entrepreneurial community. It can happen in small towns, too.”
Similar conferences are held every year in states across the Midwest. Organizers say this year’s conference will begin a similar tradition in Wisconsin.“It’s a great privilege to be able to host this annually because we want to highlight different regions of the state and different small towns around the state,” Cornelius said. “It’s known as a conference about small towns for small towns, but each community is distinct.”