About Us
By 2030, working together, we have created a flourishing community we are all proud to call home.
What is Visioning a Greater Racine?
Our Roots
Visioning a Greater Racine (VGR) is a 501c3 nonprofit
A non-profit organization, VGR is the creation of five passionate Racine residents to reinvigorate a city that had been impacted by the decline of American manufacturing. In its heyday, Racine’s public school district was ranked among the top systems in the United States and the city was considered the patent capital of the nation. The team of five eventually traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., to learn about that city’s successful reinvention project, and how to introduce it to Racine. More information about the Chattanooga Experiment is in this white paper.
As a result of COVID, there are two programs that are the focus for Visioning a Greater Racine. They are Tech-Prize and Business Start-up/Scale programs.
Tech-Prize is all about moving futures forward. The team seeks out great ideas in our annual Idea Competition and integrates them into our incubator funding and growth process to develop them into fully functioning businesses that are ready to pitch for large-scale investors at our Pitch Competitions. Click here for more information
In order to support the local businesses in Racine, Visioning a Greater Racine is hosting and facilitating Business Owner Roundtable listening sessions to get an understanding of what challenges and missed opportunities business owners have been experiencing the last several years. The organization will then help make access to resources available in the Racine Community to help support growth strategies and economic development.
Listen. Engage. Do. = THRIVE
A Great Start
Visioning a Greater Racine is supported by Leadership of the City, County and villages. Visioning a Greater Racine is being guided by the VISIONING process, coached by successful Chattanooga VISIONING Leader Eleanor Cooper and mentored by the Transform Rockford Visioning Team. We receive support from the Racine Community Foundation and several leading financial institutions.