On the morning of February 27, business leaders and community members alike were invited to join Portage Mayor Austin Bonta for Breakfast with the Mayor, presented by the Portage Economic Development Corporation (Portage EDC). Fueled by coffee and “Portage Energy,” this gathering granted guests the opportunity to connect with Bonta in an informal setting and learn first-hand how Portage leaders are making strides in developing a bright future for the city.
“There’s a thing we call Portage Energy right now. There are a lot of things going on in every facet of the city, and the mayor and his team are aggressive in wanting to get things done. It’s an exciting time,” said Andy Maletta, executive director of the Portage EDC.
Bonta thanked Maletta, the city’s Director of Planning & Community Development Tom Cherry, and many others who have counseled and helped him during his transition to mayor over the past year. In his first year as mayor, Bonta and his team took care to review Portage’s development opportunities, say yes to developers, and push development forward. Early on, Bonta and his team detected this contagious spark of excitement they dubbed Portage Energy inside and outside of these development meetings. This Portage Energy has compelled Bonta, his team, and the community to make real, positive changes in Portage.
“To put it really simply where Portage is going in economic matters – when I came in last year as mayor, we talked about Portage Energy,” Bonta said. “We talked about how excited people are now; that was a spark back in January. It's something much bigger now because we still had to basically take people out of their mindset and get them geared to our mindset of ‘We can have nice things. We can have success.’”
With 40,000 people living in Portage and 80,000 people living within 15 minutes of the city, opening new businesses in Portage has a huge impact on the welfare of the city and surrounding areas. It attracts customers, brings in revenue, and most importantly, compels the Portage population to stay in and fall in love with their city.
“In order to be able to attract success, you have to show that there's something really unique about your city and your situation,” Bonta said. “What we've got is a population that not that many places off the lake have. For the most part, in our area, there are a lot of smaller towns. We really are designed to be the hub of this area, and that's great. I love the idea that we essentially have these mini suburbs in the making. I think that the other part to that, though, is this location off the highway. 44 million people drive through Portage every year. That is an absolutely incredible number. They're not all stopping here, but because of them we are going to put a focus on the north side.”
The revitalization of Route 20, Portage EDC’s extension project of Burns Parkway, and many other projects are in development, lending to the aim of Portage becoming a hub in the Region.
For more information about developments in Portage, visit the Portage Economic Development Corporation’s website.
