Following a brief overview of what the meeting was to accomplish, everyone was broke down into eight different groups. The groups were leadership talent, skilled workforce/education, funding, academic/tech transfer, acceleration/incubation, international business/support center, component/service suppliers and infrastructure/policy.
Each group was to list all of the assets they could think of in their assigned area, as well as any gaps which came to light. The groups then rotated to at least four of the other areas to add their input to what the other group members may have already listed.
The B.E.S.T. of Waseca (Business and Entrepreneurial Support Team) has been awarded a grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) for developing a shared vision and plan for achieving goals within the BioBusiness area. The assembled groups came up with several ideas including:
• Local production of value added agriculture (methane, harvesting algae.)
• Marketing the Highway 14 business corridor including improved rail service and future light rail.
• Food co-operatives.
• A cyber-based Business Support and Research Center.
The next step in the CGI process is for the teams to continue working on their idea proposals. The proposals will be presented to the leadership team to determine the projects to be funded. The leadership team is scheduled to meet on April 29 and a decision is due the next day.
