The 250 or so people who gathered this month for the 40th annual meeting of the La Crosse Area Development Corp. aren’t without their differences. The crowd included business leaders and educators, Republicans and Democrats, “townies” and academic gowns, and even a few politicians who have butted heads in recent elections.
Fortunately for La Crosse, a picturesque Mississippi River city of 52,000 people, those differences aren’t necessarily divisions.
With a jobless rate of 5.2 percent, more than 2 percentage points lower than the statewide rate, La Crosse and surrounding La Crosse County appear to be weathering the enduring economic storm better than many places in Wisconsin. The question is “Why?”
Perhaps it’s the above-average education rate for its labor force. Or the low cost of living, which runs 10 percent or more below the U.S. average. Or its competitive health-care sector. Or the healthy mix of homegrown companies such as Kwik Trip, Trane, Logistics Health, Reinhart FoodService and City Brewing, which now has more brew house workers than the old G. Heileman Brewing Co. at its peak.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Inside WI: What makes a local economy successful? Working together helps
