It might be stretching things to say that the collaborative efforts of the mayors of Onalaska and La Crosse helped a La Crosse company move to Onalaska for the opportunity to expand and add employees.

But, there’s another way to look at this positive economic news for the 7 Rivers Region: There appears to be some collaborative leadership at work here, and there’s an opportunity for even more for the good of our region.
Here’s the story: I.C. System is the nation’s ninth largest collection agency. The company is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has about 1,200 employees in six locations.

One of those locations has been in leased space at the former LaCrosse Footwear plant in La Crosse, where 100 people have worked at jobs that pay an average of $50,000 in base pay and commission, according to company officials.

The lease on the La Crosse space expires next summer, and the folks at I.C. System say they need about 200 employees at a site to be efficient. And city officials knew that the leased space was a short-term home for the company.

So company officials worked with Jim Hill and the La Crosse Area Development Corp. to find a new location in the region.

I.C. System announced last week that the new home will be in the Center 90 space that used to house Skogen’s food store on Sand Lake Road in Onalaska.

Company officials say they hope to expand to 250 employees there — an important win for our region. And, make no mistake: I.C. System is like most every other employer in the 7 Rivers Region. It employs folks who live throughout the region. In fact, 95 of the 104 employees are from this region, company operations director Dave Spencer said. And, no, they don’t all live in La Crosse or Onalaska or any other single community. They live and shop and contribute throughout the region.

That’s why last week’s announcement was a good signal. It not only heralded the addition of more than 100 jobs to our region’s economy — and an estimated $1 million investment in the former grocery store space before the move takes place next summer — it also brought together two mayors and Hill for the announcement.

We’ve seen what happens when previous mayors spit across the La Crosse/Onalaska border, and it isn’t pretty. We’ve seen everything from bickering to lawsuits. For a time, the only winners were the out-of-town attorneys who specialized in border wars.

This development, however, could prove to be different. In this case, there’s the opportunity to improve regional transit by extending an MTU bus line to help employees of I.C. System with the commute to Onalaska.

The mayors should work together to make sure that this growth is seamless and effective for the good of our region.

We need to remember that — while each community struggles with tax base and development costs — a rising tide lifts all boats. Business growth in one community means job growth for our region.

For a variety of good reasons, it appears this announcement is a positive signal for our region.

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