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GROW Regional Metrics Benchmarks

The Growing Regional Opportunities in Wisconsin (GROW) grant program was established as part of Governor Jim Doyle’s Grow Wisconsin program to encourage regional partnerships for coordinating economic, workforce, and education system development. Regional economic data are now available for the GROW program. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), with guidance and advice from the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment (CWI), has now released a regional economic data set to assist the seven GROW regions, some including portions of Minnesota and Iowa, to more easily identify and measure the progress of economic development initiatives.  

The Wisconsin Regional Metrics Benchmarks (RMB) were developed to provide the seven GROW regions with a common set of core economic, demographic, and labor market indicators.  These metrics provide the GROW regions with benchmarks for identifying economic development challenges and to measure the progress of economic development.  The metrics can also be used to compare GROW regions against similar regions across the U.S.

The 36 measures comprising the RMB are aggregated from readily available county-level data that yield a broad assessment of the Regions’ economies and labor markets.   

Data for the RMB have been compiled and developed by the DWD Office of Economic Advisors (OEA).  OEA will update the metrics as new data become available.  DWD and regional OEA labor market economists are available to help interpret and apply the metrics data to regional economic development efforts.

For further information on the metrics for your region contact your local DWD Economist.  For general information on the GROW grant program or the RMB project, contact Fred Bartol, DWD’s GROW Project Coordinator.

Click on the selected area of the map below to view data for its region.