WEDA MEMBERSHIP

Become a Member

As the “Voice of Economic Development”, WEDA is dedicated to developing, advocating for, and educating state and local leaders on economic development tools critical to growing local economies.

By joining WEDA, you can leverage key resources and training, impact state policies and build an extensive professional network of industry leaders and economic development professionals who share the same mission – growing Wisconsin.

Why join WEDA?

For over 50 years, the Wisconsin Economic Development Association (WEDA) has represented the economic development interests of both the private and public sectors through advocacy, education, and leadership on statewide initiatives. Driven by the needs of our members, we are committed to providing the resources and tools to promote economic prosperity in Wisconsin. WEDA is proud of our history, our growing list of accomplishments, and our past, current, and future efforts that make it possible for economic development professionals and organizations to be successful. We look forward to you becoming our newest member.

How to Join

Join online. WEDA membership is available to corporations, local units of government and individuals. Our member benefits structure seeks to provide the greatest value for each dollar invested into our organization. If you are interested in a corporate membership, CLICK HERE.

Individual Membership

$350/year

Individual members receive access to industry training, member services, and networking events to advance their professional development and help grow Wisconsin’s economy.

Small Organization Membership

$600/year

Small Organization members (for entities with six (6) or fewer employees) receive two (2) WEDA individual memberships at a greatly reduced rate. Memberships are tied to the organization and not the individual.

Retired
Membership

$60/year

The Retired Membership provides retired economic development professionals an opportunity to stay connected to the industry and former colleagues. Retired members receive access to industry training, member services, and networking events.

Student Membership

$60/year

The Student Membership provides students an opportunity to explore the field of economic development. Student members receive access to industry training, member services, and networking events to better understand economic development.

Corporate Investor Membership

As a corporate Investor member, you will benefit from increased recognition, special membership and event discounts, as well as prominent placement at association events and featured listings in industry publications.

What are our members saying?

Thinking about becoming a member of WEDA? Read what our current members say about the value their WEDA membership provides them.

We find that the sponsorship opportunity is very valuable and it is about the relationship building. So having the time to talk to one another and connect at a social and business level has been really beneficial to us.

Simmi Urbanek
Director of Marketing
Greenfire Management Services

Another great conference this year! I really enjoyed the presentation on the economy, with talking about how we envision the year playing out. Which is something that I think we’re all thinking about and dealing with, so those are things that are really impacting our industry and impactful to talk about.

Travis Peterson
Director of Public Works
City of Sheboygan

Pretty much everyone here my staff works with on a daily basis, whether working on loans or grants or tax credits etcetera so that’s a big one. But secondly, we get updates on what our state is doing, essentially a game plan of the next 6-12 months. Working on ideas for the future with the kinds of people you work with everyday.

Tim Weber
Senior Economic Development Director
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

The Wednesday WEDA Academy at the conference was fantastic, I would very much urge if you’re a WEDA member to come. And if you’re not a WEDA member to become a member, come early and do the Academy. The energizing your future panel was something that we all need to be thinking a lot more about. So I was super grateful that WEDA Academy put that on. And it was free for members!

Sadie Howell
President/CEO
Envision Greater Fond du Lac

It was great to meet other economic development professionals from around the state at the WEDA Conference! I have not met a lot of these people so I was super excited! We were here during the conference to talk about the WI technical assistance referral tool and other new features, here we got to meet entities from both markets. It was super exciting, and definitely found a benefit being here.

Marjorie Rucker
Executive Director at The Business Council, Inc.

I like all the networking, the sessions are very informative, and when being part of the economic community this is where you learn all the new trends.

Patrick Schloss
Economic Development Executive Director

This conference like all other WEDA gov conferences, and the Fall Best Practices Conference, it is the opportunity to see and network with our community partners across our service territory, we very rarely get the opportunity to see them all in one place. To interact with them while getting content and having good conversation is one of the best benefits that could be offered

Coleman Peiffer, AICP
Senior Manager Community and Economic Development

What did I like best about the Basic Economic Development Course?

I’m waiting for part two! I liked the interaction, appreciated the opportunity to get to know folks and reconnect with others. That was huge for me. Learned a lot, it was a lot of fun.

Sylester Hamilton
Program Manager at The Business Council, Inc.

My favorite thing about this year’s Governor’s Conference was networking with other economic development professionals throughout the state and getting to know what challenges and opportunities we share.

Jess Wildes
Assistant City Administrator
City of West Bend