Do you recognize the name Archibald Wright Graham? Would his nickname “Moonlight” Graham help? How about the novel, Shoeless Joe, or the movie, Field of Dreams?

Moonlight Graham was a real life person. He played professional baseball, mostly at the class “c” and “b” minor league levels. In late June 1905, Graham appeared in his only major league game with the New York Giants, not as a starter, but as a late-game substitute in the outfield. Baseball records show he was left in the on-deck circle when the batter ahead of him recorded the final out of an inning. Regrettably, Graham only played a couple of innings in the majors but did not record an official at-bat.

When he left baseball, Moonlight Graham became “Doc” Graham and practiced medicine in Chisholm, Minnesota for decades.

In the novel-movie storylines, Moonlight/Doc was asked what he’d wish for if he had one to make. He simply wanted that missed chance of batting against a big league pitcher, and maybe stretching a double into a triple.

Throughout the novel and movie, deceased major leaguers, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, come to life at a magical baseball field carved out of an Iowa cornfield. Still eager to play even on a field in Iowa, Jackson’s major league career was halted in its prime following the 1919 World Series. He and several teammates were found to have fixed, or thrown, the series, resulting in a lifetime ban from baseball. It was not Heaven as the players would discover. Alas, it was Iowa.

Having grown up near the Minnesota-Iowa border, I can say with some authority that hometown Elkton, Minnesota or even Dyersville, Iowa, the home to Field of Dreams, doesn’t have anything over the St. Croix Valley.

It’s here. Quiet, small town charm. Identifiable main streets. Restaurants and shops. Micro-breweries. High quality of life. Natural resources like the St. Croix, Kinni, Willow, and Apple Rivers. Access to a major metro area. Taprooms in breweries (see above). Hospitals and clinics. Great  schools. Post-secondary options. Best in class services. Good transportation, starting with an interstate, U.S. highways, and state highways. A pro-business environment. Numerous business and industrial parks. And the list goes on.

Life is good in the St. Croix Valley.

It’s even better in St. Croix County, Wisconsin.

Dream Big.

The West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (RPC) serves a seven county region in the St. Croix and Chippewa Valleys. In 2005, the RPC agreed to participate in a pilot program originating out of Madison. The initiative asked towns, villages, cities, and counties to consider consolidating their existing revolving loan funds into a new, consolidated account. The proposed fund would be subject to uniform policy guidelines compared to assorted standards across the region.

In return for consolidating the funds, leaders from local government learned that Madison and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) were willing to remove the onerous federal conditions tied to the 2005 loan funds.

Readers should note the term onerous is the blog’s author. Restrictions like prevailing wages for new construction activities, a demonstrated benefit to low- and moderate-income individuals and families, and new job creation requirements were among those federal conditions.

After a series of region-wide conversations, the elected boards started to act on the proposition to consolidate the funds. By late 2007, an agreement between the RPC and a charitable nonprofit called the Regional Business Fund, Inc. (RBF) was in place for RBF to administer the consolidated loan funds. The fund was capitalized at about $17 million, thanks to the towns, villages, cities, and counties.

Akin to a civic miracle, 31 of 32 units of government in the region agreed to the consolidation. All seven communities in St. Croix County, including the town of Hudson, villages of Hammond, Somerset, and Woodville, cities of Hudson and New Richmond, and the county agreed to the initiative.

It’s been a little more than 10 years since the consolidated fund took shape. RBF administrators report 113 loans, totaling just over $8.2 million and supporting 109 businesses, have been approved in St. Croix County since inception. Thirty-eight (38) of the loans were for start-ups. Since most of RBF’s loans are considered gap financing, other lenders and/or financing agencies participate. Their involvement totals just over $42 million. As for job retention and creation, an estimated 870 pre-loan jobs go along with almost 700 new jobs. All statistics are through May 31, 2017.

There’s a lot of credit to go around: to the RPC, the RBF and its staff, RBF’s board of directors which includes representation from all seven counties, St. Croix EDC’s loan fund which includes representation from the seven participating communities, and the local loan committees.

Onward.