Chippewa Valley reps hope to score at Twin Cities tradeshow

Eau Claire, Wis.—A team of Chippewa Valley representatives hope to score points with medical device manufacturers in the Twin Cities this week at the largest medical device tradeshow in the Midwest.

The Medical Design & Manufacturing tradeshow at the Minneapolis Convention Center on November 2nd and 3rd is expected to draw over 7,000 medical equipment and pharmaceutical company executives.

The twelve representatives include economic development and technology representatives from Chippewa, Dunn and Eau Claire counties. The Chippewa Valley representatives include Charlene Coulombe, Chippewa County EDC; Bob Bossany, Dunn County EDC; Brian Doudna, Eau Claire Area EDC; Chris Smith, Frank Borg, and Forrest Schultz, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Linda Clark, Xcel Energy; Joe Hegge & Hans Mikelson, Chippewa Valley Technical College; Doug Dunham & Marc McEllistrem, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Dennis Blang, Forward Wisconsin.

"Most people don't know how crucial the medical device and bioscience industry is to Wisconsin and to the Chippewa Valley," according to Brian Doudna, executive director of the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation which is coordinating the three-county effort. "More than 19,000 Wisconsin workers are employed in the industry and we'd like to expand the list of medically-oriented companies already here in the Chippewa Valley."

Doudna said the Chippewa Valley team has created an industry-specific tradeshow booth that will be set up and staffed throughout the two-day event. The Chippewa Valley team will also call on the more than 400 other exhibitors to talk with them about doing business here. "This conference will provide an opportunity for the Chippewa Valley participants to use the team approach to network with as many of the members of the medical device industry as possible," according to Charlene Coulombe of the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation. "Our goal is for these new contacts to consider our region when making future business decisions for their companies."

"The Twin Cities already has a huge cluster of medical device manufacturers," according to Bob Bossany of the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation. "The Chippewa Valley's proximity to that cluster, our educational research capabilities, and the lower cost of operating a business here are all strong selling points we'll be making at the tradeshow."