Expanding outside the city, state and even the West Coast, the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce went outside the box to experience new ways of doing things by visiting Madison, Wisconsin.
At the end of August, 33 members of the Chamber of Commerce visited the Wisconsin state capitol as part of their vision trip that helps outline strategic goals for the county moving forward — specifically, looking for ways to bring in younger people to work in the area.
“The idea was, let's get a flavor of what's working in Madison so that we can help understand how we can apply that to San Luis Obispo,” said Jim Dantona, San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce CEO.
“When we got there, we really saw that there was this culture of welcoming and integrating, making sure those folks had a place in the community," said Christine Robertson, Chair of the Chamber's Vision Committee.
San Luis Obispo County’s median age is 40 years old, lacking a younger demographic due to multiple factors, according to Dantona. He explained the demographic to be a bell curve that showed spikes in college-aged kids and older adults near retirement with the middle between the two bottoming out.
The trip was the first they had taken since 2017, when they visited Denver and Boulder, Colorado. In 2019, following that trip, the non-profit REACH was created to bring together economic interests across the entire Central Coast.
“It was a view and an understanding that we as a community are stronger together and that we need to be taking practical steps to be breaking down silos and finding new ways to be working together," Robertson explained.
She went on to say the trip addressed a need to improve regionalism, a term used to describe the relationship between all the different communities on the Central Coast.
“We started to understand how regionalism could actually help all of us," Dantona said. "A rising tide lifts all boats. That was something that really came out of that trip.”
Now, still in the early stages of taking in what they’ve learned this second time around, Dantona said he can see how some of the things Madison has done can be used here in San Luis Obispo County to bring in more young professionals. Some of his observations included the city’s passion for creating more housing projects and the integration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the city itself.
“We have great relationships in our community, but we got to figure out how to blend the two and make it work for both residents and neighbors and our college,” Dantona said.
He says that a plan will be put into place later on in 2026 as a result of their vision trip, and new pillars will be implemented that will best address how to attract young professionals to the area.
