Spring Greetings!

In addition to all of the great work that your regional planning commission is doing, which you will read about in this newsletter, we are working with our counterparts in northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa, and Southwest Technical College and Northern Iowa Community College, on an application to the US Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) for the Tri-State area to be formally recognized as an advanced manufacturing area of excellence. The official designation is recognition under EDA's "Invest in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (ICMP). This would advance the group's work of bringing training, research, and investment dollars to the region. We will keep you informed as to our progress.

And since we are on the economic development subject I also want to share this message to you. It comes from a man I deeply admire (please forgive his writing in the masculine form of the era) - Mahatma Gandhi. SWWRPC shares his belief that the customer the most important thing in business and service. You are why we exist. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. Happy Spring! LTW

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so."  Mahatma Gandhi.