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HBA staff recently participated in the Portland Metro Chamber’s Best Practices Trip for 2023 in Milwaukee, WI. This annual trip included over a dozen elected officials and government staff, in addition to nearly 60 industry and business representatives. This year’s trip included a conference with Milwaukee’s elected leaders at City Hall, a tour and discussion with Milwaukee Buck’s about the entertainment venue’s value to the region’s economic viability, and a review of how the local Chamber of Commerce promotes the city’s economic competitiveness with other markets. For more than 30 years, these trips have united public officials, private business executives, and higher education leaders to collaboratively accomplish key categories of work for research and strategic planning, project management of major economic advancement initiatives, and networking for local government economic developers. Milwaukee city government and business community provided an incredibly enlightening experience and offered valuable lessons about the successes, failures, and obstacles overcome by Milwaukee in addressing public policy challenges.