By james art SUPERIOR — Northwest Wisconsin’s massive lobbying effort marks a milestone by returning to its roots.
As Superior Days reaches its 40th anniversary, the annual trip to the Capitol will take on some familiar overtones, including a return to lobbying in February and a return to the hotel where it all began.
“That was always the plan, though,” Mayor Jim Payne said of the dates for the 2025 lobbying effort. He said 2024 was an experiment to see if the delegation could be more productive in April and avoid the weather , which had prevented lobbying for the previous two years.
“But we’ve always intended, in a budget year, to be there in February to have the biggest impact on the budget as possible,” Payne said.
Contributed / Caitlin Noll
Since a new legislature begins a new legislative session in odd-numbered years, the mayor said it makes sense for delegates to head to Madison as early as possible in those years.
The first Superior Days were held in 1985 after a small group of community leaders decided to do something about Northwest Wisconsin’s lagging economy as the nation and state recovered from the recession.
The local delegation headed to Madison with a single request: Widen US Highway 53 to a four-lane highway. They argued that the then two-lane highway was dangerous and an obstacle to economic development. Although the four-lane highway didn’t become a reality for more than a decade, delegates paved the way to educate lawmakers and state agencies about the need to better connect Northwest Wisconsin to the rest of the state.
The effort saw its first successes in 1986, when government funding to promote tourism was increased and business incubators were established.
This year’s lobbying effort in April cost more than usual in February and didn’t accomplish as much as delegates had hoped, Douglas County Board Chairman Mark Liebert said.
“Even if we were going to keep that other date, it would be any other year,” Liebert said, adding that February dates are important in budget years.
Superior Days will be held from February 10 to 13.
“I think we’re going to make a few improvements,” Payne said. “Probably the biggest change at the moment is that we’ve just approved the return to the Park Hotel.”
Formerly known as the Inn on the Park, Payne said the Best Western Premier Park is where the Superior Days effort began. However, for the past several years, Superior Days events and meetings have been held at the Madison Concourse Hotel.
Payne said he would cut costs to return to the “beautifully renovated hotel.”
“It should be a much more elegant event,” Payne said. “It should be pretty cool, pretty inspiring to have him back there.”
Payne said one of the goals of the 40 Superior Days is to recognize the many efforts that have gone before.
“We’re trying to pull together as much as we can from all the Superior Days, both the accomplishments and to recognize some of the people who have been there along the way,” Payne said. “For example, if we’re celebrating Superior Days one through five, it’s a Jeff Wendorff story. He was our Superior Days coordinator. But that would forget the long years that Fariba Pendleton led it. She did an outstanding job. So we’re going to try to celebrate all the Superior Days leaders that have come and gone over the years.”
Before that happens, delegates planning to attend the 40th event will consider the issues that will be presented to the Wisconsin Legislature and state agencies.
These ideas and questions will be explored at 6:00 pm on November 20 on the third floor of the Center for Entrepreneurship, also known as the Old Post Office, at 1401 Tower Ave.
“We’re trying everything a little bit different this year, trying to get ahead of things to make a little bit of a different impact,” Liebert said. “We want to make it good. We don’t want this thing to fall apart or fall out.”
Shelly Nelson has been a reporter with Duluth Media Group since 1997 and has covered Superior and Douglas County communities and government for the Duluth News Tribune from 1999 to 2006 and the Superior Telegram since 2006. Contact her at 715-395-5022 or snelson @superiortelegram.com.