• Interstate 41 Corridor
Brown, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Outagamie, Winnebago Counties
MPTC lands $1.18 million in workforce training grants
Moraine Park Technical College has again been awarded Workforce Advancement Training grants from the Wisconsin Technical College System.
The college’s economic and workforce development team submitted for consideration six grants totaling $1.18 million, the highest in the state for two consecutive years. Moraine Park received full funding for all six grants, which will support more than 54 companies and almost 7,000 hours of training.
Approximately $5 million is available each year in the WAT competitive application process to fund projects in partnership with a single business or consortium of businesses.
“We are continuously thankful to WTCS for the significant grant support,” said JoAnn Hall, dean of economic and workforce development at Moraine Park. “WAT grants allow us to support our business partners through customized training, keeping them at the forefront of their strategic initiatives. These training projects will assist businesses in their employee engagement and retention efforts, supporting extensive skill development of their employees.”
The grants were written for consortium initiatives in quality and advanced manufacturing, industrial maintenance, advanced automation and robotics, leadership, welding, fabrication and supervision.
The grant process involves discussions with company leaders from several business areas to uncover regional challenges and needs such as increasing sales, fulfilling greater customer demands, and recruiting and retaining employees. MPTC conducts a business assessment and, in collaboration with individual companies, develops a long-range strategic training plan that focuses on their specific goals.
• The Lakeshore
Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan Counties
Manitowoc receives $5 million to replace lead service lines
More than $273 million has been allocated to 86 municipalities through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program to improve drinking water quality for Wisconsinites.
The funding will help municipalities across the state construct necessary water infrastructure projects, including replacing lead service lines and addressing emerging contaminants such as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances.
The city of Manitowoc is receiving more than $5.5 million in lead service line replacement funding, the majority of which is for lead service line principal forgiveness, with the remainder through a loan with a 0.25% interest rate.
There are more than 167,000 known lead service lines throughout the state, and this funding will help municipalities continue efforts toward the goal of replacing them.
Wisconsin has been a national leader in providing funding to replace lead service lines. According to a 2023 report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, more than 37,000 lead service lines have been replaced or turned off since 2018.
High-speed internet expansion continues in Door County
A public-private partnership will result in the installation of high-speed internet service for more than 670 locations in the town of Sturgeon Bay.
The $5 million project will be funded by $3 million from AT&T Fiber, $1.45 million from the town of Sturgeon Bay and $550,000 from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
It will be a fiber-to-property project providing the most reliable service.
The town’s broadband committee solicited bids from nine internet service providers, including Charter/Spectrum, and in September 2023 recommended working with AT&T because its high-speed service would be affordable and capable of handling higher speeds in the future, plus it made a competitive bid for sharing costs of the project.
• The Northwoods
Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto Counties
Marshfield Clinic to become part of Sanford Health
Marshfield Clinic Health System and Sanford Health, which is headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, signed an affiliation agreement to combine their assets and capabilities to create an integrated health system.
The organizations announced in July they had signed a letter of intent to combine by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.
Marshfield operates facilities in Wittenberg, Niagara and Florence in Northeast Wisconsin as part of its network of 60 clinics and 11 hospitals in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Sanford has 45 hospitals, 211 clinics and 160 senior living facilities in South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.
The combined system will bring together nearly 56,000 employees, 56 hospitals, 4,300 providers, two fully-integrated health plans, specialty pharmacies and nationally-recognized research institutions.
Upon finalization of the combination, the name of the parent company will be Sanford Health, with system headquarters in Sioux Falls. Marshfield Clinic Health System will be a region within Sanford Health and maintain regional leadership with its flagship medical campus in Marshfield. Marshfield Clinic Health System Interim CEO Brian Hoerneman will serve as president and CEO of the Marshfield Clinic Health System region.
Oconto Falls joins Connect Communities Program
The city of Oconto Falls will participate in the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s Connect Communities Program, an initiative that works with communities to advance downtown and historic commercial corridor revitalization efforts.
Oconto Falls is one of two new communities that joined the program in the fall of 2024. The other new community is downtown Green Bay. This brings the total number of Connect Communities participating to 96.
The Connect Communities Program, which was launched in 2013, provides access to tools, resources and training to help communities pursue revitalization and redevelopment efforts. In the past decade, participating communities have reported adding more than 870 net new businesses and more than 3,300 jobs, as well as $3.9 billion in private investment.
Connect Communities participants benefit from many types of assistance and resources. Businesses in participating districts are also eligible to access matching loan dollars through the Kiva crowdlending platform, have access to a statewide historic façade design library, and can apply for annual makeover and place-makeover contests.
• West Central
Green Lake, Marquette, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara Counties
Waushara solar project recognized
The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure awarded nine of Alliant Energy’s solar projects with its highest award level — Envision Platinum — for the sustainable development, construction and operation of the facilities.
Among those projects was installation of a 99-megawatt solar generating facility in Waushara County. The team sought feedback from the Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited chapter to ensure Alliant could fully avoid any negative impacts to water quality from the project. The group conducted water monitoring in the area and found no changes in the quality.
The nine Wisconsin solar projects total 664 megawatts and represent the successful execution of Alliant Energy’s Clean Energy Blueprint, a roadmap to diversify its energy resources. All nine projects were placed into service by the end of 2023.
The Envision framework was designed by ISI to promote more sustainable, resilient and equitable infrastructure projects. It comprises 64 sustainability and resiliency indicators (called credits), which are organized within five categories: quality of life, leadership, resource allocation, natural world and climate and resilience.
Projects need to receive at least 50% of the total applicable points across the credits to receive a platinum verification award from ISI.
New North communities receive $27.29 million for libraries and community centers
Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Administration announced more than $115 million in grants to state and Tribal communities through DOA’s Flexible Facilities Program. Grants will go toward funding public facility expansion or improvement projects designed to provide reliable broadband access to local communities, including libraries, community centers and multi-purpose community facilities. West Central grant recipients include:
- The village of Hancock will receive $452,152 to assist with renovation of an existing library space with a telemedicine room, a computer lab and a multi-purpose space for groups.
- Fremont will receive $4.25 million to assist with the construction of a tri-county public library and community center. It will include study rooms, a dedicated teen space, a STEM space and a safe indoor children’s play area.
- New London will receive $3.9 million for public library renovations and expansion that will result in six classrooms, a science lab and three computer labs with 30 desktop computers.
- Shawano will receive $4.25 million to renovate a multi-purpose community facility with a computer lab, a classroom and two telemedicine rooms.
- Waupaca will receive $4.17 million to renovate the existing community center with two classrooms, two telemedicine rooms and a computer lab with 16 desktop computers. Additionally, this project aims to install high-speed internet, a gymnasium, and a career center and lab.
- Wautoma will receive $4.25 million to assist with the construction of a new YMCA for the Waushara County area.
