Sheboygan native TJ Crowns spent part of his career in technology sales in the Chicago area, including with DocuSign, where he was director of market development. After returning to Sheboygan, he worked remotely for a startup as head of sales development before finding a role with the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC) in early 2025. In January, he was appointed as SCEDC’s director of economic development.
How have you seen Sheboygan change over the years, and where do you see some of the county’s biggest opportunities for further growth?
I’ve seen a lot of businesses come into the area, retail and others, which is great. In Sheboygan we have a business park, SouthPointe, and another business park of 152 acres in Cedar Grove. We have several large local businesses that are going through expansions. This past year, we were part of the Startup World Cup as a regional host. The winner of that event ended up going to San Francisco to pitch for a million dollars in seed funding. So it’s really neat to see the type of startup work that’s occurring in Sheboygan County, and how we’re on the radar nationally and globally.
How do you see local communities and partners working together to facilitate the growth in the county?
Right now, we’re working with the city of Sheboygan Falls and the city of Plymouth to develop housing to help with the employers in the area, as well as working with those cities on the expansions that are occurring with local businesses.
When you talk to people from outside the region about Sheboygan County, what do you say?
I’ve always been a big fan of Sheboygan. How I characterize it is as a friendly, hard-working community that wants people to thrive and continue to grow — like how Lakeland University, Lakeshore College and the UW-Green Bay Sheboygan campus work with the employers to seek what education they need for their employees and create curriculums around that.
What advantage does Sheboygan County have over a larger metro area?
I think we’re in a very unique spot in between Green Bay and Milwaukee. We’ve seen growth throughout the years, but not anything too massive where we were busting at our seams. Overall, we’ve done a really good job on managing and growing with the demand of the local businesses. There’s a lot of positives and growth opportunities.
