
September 23, 2024
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – “A measure of excellence” – that, according to Nathan Ohle, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) president and CEO, is what New North, Inc. has attained.
It was that very commitment to harness and promote the region’s resources, talents and creativity for the purposes of sustaining and growing its regional economy that earned the 501(c)(3) nonprofit the Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO) recognition.
“Earning AEDO accreditation tells the community and prospects that the organization has attained a measure of excellence, assuring that their trust is well placed and their business is in good hands,” Ohle said. “New North displays the professionalism, commitment and technical expertise that is deserving of this honor.”
New North – a regional marketing and economic development organization serving the 18 counties of Northeast Wisconsin – becomes one of only 83 economic development organizations across the United States to hold the distinction, including the only one so far in Wisconsin.
Barb LaMue, president and CEO of New North said it’s an “exciting milestone” in the organization’s 20-year history.
“It means so much because you’re really held to a higher standard as an organization,” she said. “We have a solid plan of work, and we execute on what we say we’re going to do. So, as people are looking at Northeast Wisconsin, we hope they look at it in a more favorable viewpoint – because we are a leading industry organization.”
LaMue said to be recognized by a nationally recognized and respected organization like the IEDC is a real credit to New North’s talented team, “along with our many collaborative partners across the region.”
Getting the ball rolling
LaMue said the process started about two years ago.
“I took it to our board of directors because I felt that this would be a really good process for us to go through – and they unanimously agreed,” she said.
From there, LaMue said the New North team began putting together the application – “that was sent in on December 2023.”
“They picked it up after the holidays, so they recorded it as received in January of this year,” she said.
After IEDC staff confirmed that all documents and supporting materials were accounted for, LaMue said New North’s accreditation application was assigned a review committee.
“Those three individuals were responsible for doing a deeper dive of whatever we submitted,” she said. “The third phase of the process was the on-site review.”
The three-person team of IEDC representatives, LaMue said, conducted an on-site visit to the New North – two virtually and one in-person – from Aug. 5-7.
She said they traveled across the region, speaking to New North employees and board members, as well as business and community stakeholders.
“(Our) local partners, stakeholders, industry alliances, workforce development boards, regional planning commissions – they had the chance to interact with the reviewers,” she said.
Receiving confirmation that New North was awarded the AEDO designation, LaMue said “is a credit to our team for their hard work and dedication, the board of directors for setting the vision, our investors for financially supporting us and local partners for their collaboration.”
“We have already put the accreditation seal on our signature block of our emails,” she said. “As we move forward – whether it’s talent attraction videos or host site selectors in the region, our correspondents will reflect that we are an accredited organization, so they have a higher level of confidence in the organization that they’re working with.”
Standing out
One unique observation noted during the review was the region’s strong identity revolving around (and including) the Green Bay Packers.
“It feels like their historically winning culture has become ingrained in the region, and is reflected by the positive, hardworking, community-minded spirit of local business and government leaders,” the review stated. “The teamwork aspect is also pervasive, with a complete focus on collaboration across the entire region and no concerns about activities being concentrated in the biggest city – which can be found in many other metropolitan areas across the United States.”

LaMue said a frequently used word throughout the review was collaboration.
“They said as they got to talk to stakeholders that came up time and time and time again – the collaboration that we have here, which sometimes I think we take for granted,” she said. “We just assume all regions operate that way. But the reviewers are saying that that’s not the case.”
LaMue said the review committee also highlighted how New North markets its campaign initiatives – such as More YOU in NEW, Find Your True North and New North Hires Heroes.
“They felt they were highly innovative – noting that they weren’t seeing other regions across the country doing this,” she said.
New North’s focus on stakeholder engagement, LaMue said, also received high marks from the IEDC reviewers.
“We conduct a virtual huddle with our local chambers, our local economic development organizations, every other Friday,” she said. “We share whatever knowledge we know about that might be coming from the federal government or state government, or any initiatives that we would recommend that collectively we bring to Northeast Wisconsin, we use those huddles for that purpose.”
Several of the key diversity, equity and inclusion programs New North has, LaMue said, also received recognition during the review process.
“They said there are some other regions that are just starting to have those conversations, where we already have a lot of successful programs launched and operating,” she said.
The review further stated that “the people and partnerships make the secret sauce for success,” and described the support from New North stakeholders as “unambiguous, palpable and ‘all-in.’”
LaMue said the review document ends with recommendations for improvement.
“Oftentimes, they said they feel like organizations have to shore up something,” she said. “With us, they said ‘we don’t know what to tell you, besides just continue to make sure you have the funding to support the things you’re going to do in the next year.’”
LaMue said in the last paragraph of the document where it discussed the accreditation recommendation, the reviewers said “simply put, we believe New North to be one of the highest-performing regional economic development organizations in the country.”
It goes on to say: “New North operates in and nurtures a regional community that is collaborative and has no apparent silos. New North is an acknowledged pacesetter within the State of Wisconsin. They are a model to look to for best practices whose leadership and organic constructive collaboration are palpable and inspiring to the review team.”
LaMue said those sentences say it all.
“We are very honored,” she said. “I think the (AEDO distinction) sends a message to other stakeholders and the marketplace that collaboratively in Northeast Wisconsin, we all work very well together. So, if a business is thinking about an expansion, we would hope that we would have an opportunity to meet with them and explain all the benefits that come with having a presence in the New North region.”
Extra tidbits
The IDEC is the largest membership association serving economic- and community-development professionals in the world – with more than 5,000 members nationwide and abroad.
LaMue said AEDO status must be maintained every three years through document submission and/or an on-site visit by a team of IEDC representatives.
“It’s more about submitting the documentations and responding to interviews virtually,” she said.