Sheboygan’s Mayor traveled to New York City last month to help unveil a new economic action plan for the Great Lakes region.
Mayor Ryan Sorenson serves as the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which just launched the Economic Transformation Action Plan entitled A Blueprint for Economic Growth and Freshwater Stewardship in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Region.
While this plan was crafted with the Great Lakes’ big picture in mind, it also aims to revitalize and improve local communities and economies.
Mayor Sorenson spoke with SeehaferNews.com to discuss just what this new plan looks like.
“We want to make sure while we’re chasing after economic growth, that we’re also protecting our number one natural resource, and that is the freshwater in the Great Lakes,” the mayor noted. “This plan has been in the works for two years, kind of getting input from mayors from big cities like Toronto, smaller cities like Sheboygan, because our region has been shaped over the generations by water based commerce, by manufacturing.”
He also mentioned how this new extensive plan can get rolling in these smaller cities like Sheboygan and Manitowoc.
“I think it’s definitely a lot of the coordination between a lot of the mayors who are members of the Cities initiative right now,” he explained. “You see Sheboygan, you see Manitowoc, we’re already leading the change in terms of building more housing, you know, bringing more industry here, seeing business growth and expansion. So I think it’s following up and sharing the vision with developers, with builders, or with folks in our community.”
The economic blueprint hopes to create 18 million new jobs over the next decade through the creation of 500,000 new businesses across the region.
While surely this will bring new economic developments to our region, he also noted that those ambitious goals will be accomplished by sticking with what’s already been working locally.
“For Sheboygan specifically…manufacturing is still our bread and butter,” Mayor Sorenson said. “You’ve definitely seen the shift in tourism grow in our area. And a lot of that is water-based recreation, from fishing to surfing to kayaking. This is how our economy has become more diverse in the last few years as well.”
He also added, “We want to make sure we strengthen what we’re good at, but also realize that…for Sheboygan specifically, similar demand for tourism on the water is going to be a great resource, an asset for our communities in the long run.”
He also understands that while the goal is ambitious, real economic change will not come overnight, nor will it come in just one spot along the Great Lakes.
