Business View Magazine - November 2016

Business View Magazine - November 2016 105 Recently, the city of Fond du Lac embarked upon a journey of self-discovery and re-evaluation in a com- munity initiative called Envision Fond du Lac. Over the course of more than a year, nearly 30 public, institu- tional, and private entities, as well as hundreds of resi- dents, came together to envision the city’s future, ten, twenty, thirty years down the road. In addition to being a planning blueprint, Envision Fond du Lac also served as a vehicle for the entire community to move forward with a common sense of purpose and direction. “We have some great organizations in this communi- ty,” says Craig Molitor, who works at the Fond du Lac Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The Association of Commerce; the Visitors Bureau; the Economic De- velopment Corporation -CRAIG; a downtown partner- ship; a thriving arts community; all of these organiza- tions, and others, non-profit and for profit, are all toiling away, doing things for the community. But, we were all working in a siloed way. What Envision Fond Du Lac did was force us to come out of our respective silos, sit across the table from each other and say, ‘Hey, I’m doing this; why don’t you join me?’ or ‘That guy across the table is good at this; let’s bring him in.’ All of our many organizations are now starting to work together much more cohesively.” Molitor explains that Envision Fond du Lac was borne AT A GLANCE WHO: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin WHAT: A city of 43,000 WHERE: On the southern tip of Lake Winnebago in southeastern Wisconsin WEBSITE : www.fdl.wi.gov