• West Central

Green Lake, Marquette, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara Counties

Tycore Built to develop River North housing in Waupaca

Tycore Built of Howard has been selected by the city of Waupaca to build and design the River North Residential Housing Development.

Phase 1 of the multi-phase development includes the construction of 124 apartment units and 32 single-family homes with starting prices of $249,900, including the lot. The project is projected to bring the city of Waupaca an estimated $27.95 million of added tax value.

Additional phases will include 76 owner-occupied housing units and 120 apartment units. Combined with Phase 1, the total project value is currently estimated at $69 million.

“Between 2005 and 2019 the city averaged approximately four new single-family homes per year. That extended period of underbuilding has led to a job-to-housing unit ratio of 1.9 jobs for every housing unit. Over the past four years, we have heard consistent comments from many employers that limited housing inventory has presented a barrier to attracting long-term employees,” said Mayor Brian Smith.

The project complements the city’s new resident recruitment campaign (WeAreWaupaca.com), which will be used to market the area’s amenities.

Grant will fund UWO telehealth project in rural counties

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Nursing received a UW Innovation Grant for its proposal to educate nurses about telehealth for improving rural chronic illness outcomes.

The UW Innovation Grant will provide seed funding totaling up to $175,000 split over two years, after which a progress report will be issued detailing the status of the project, work completed and the team’s vision for future research or project development.

The UW Oshkosh proposal “Technology, Education, Access, Communities and Healthcare: TEACH toward a Healthy Rural Wisconsin” is related to the use of telehealth technology. A sustainable and shareable telehealth education infrastructure will link UWO faculty and student resources with the resources of ThedaCare.

The model will be piloted this summer and implemented in the fall at ThedaCare post-acute homecare services in Berlin, New London, Shawano, Waupaca and Wild Rose. The model will be replicated at other Wisconsin locations during 2025 and used to serve populations experiencing rural access barriers. Program findings will be disseminated to other regions of Wisconsin and the nation.

Seon Yoon Chung, dean of the UWO College of Nursing, said, “We’re addressing a missed opportunity for this project, which will guide our current and future nursing workforce to play a greater role in supporting rurally located patients with chronic illness with the use of telehealth.”

• The Lakeshore

Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan Counties

Lakeshore communities receive harbor improvement funds

Grants totaling $10 million for eight harbor maintenance and improvement projects, including four in the New North region, have been awarded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

New North projects supported by the grants include:

• Briess Malt Inc., Manitowoc: $1 million to dredge the bed of the Manitowoc River and refurbish a ship unloading system used by Briess Malt to import and export agricultural commodities
• Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay: $382,400 to dredge the bed of Sturgeon Bay to maintain navigation for vessels using the Fincantieri facility
• City of Manitowoc: $562,000 to dredge the bed of the Manitowoc River to restore navigation depth to support shipping at the St. Mary’s Cement facility
• City Centre LLC, Manitowoc: $1.34 million to construct a load-out pad for assembling, testing, and shipping new cranes designed by Konecranes Inc.
  

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Door Community Child Development Center opens

Door Community Child Development Center opened its new facility in Sturgeon Bay.

In December 2021, the United Way of Door County received $3.5 million through a Workforce Innovation Grant to make changes to existing child care facilities in the county.

According to data provided by the Department of Children and Families, 30% of ZIP codes in Door County are considered child care deserts, meaning there are few or no high-quality options for child care in the neighborhood or community. With the new 18,600-square-foot building, Door Community Child Development Center’s capacity has grown from 83 to 150 children, which allows the center to provide programming for Head Start and area school districts.

The center has a large community room set up as a children’s play space, which can be rented out for birthday parties and events such as family cooking classes and art classes. The center also includes a sensory gym with a cocoon swing, adjustable lighting, monkey bars, ziplines and more.

• Interstate 41 Corridor

Brown, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Outagamie, Winnebago Counties

VentureHome launches in Oshkosh

Oshkosh VentureHome was launched recently by WiSys in partnership with The Venture Project and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

WiSys is a network of startup hubs that combine statewide resources with community initiatives to provide local entrepreneurs access to a full menu of startup resources in their communities. They also serve as a landing spot for Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial “alumni” to “venture home” and contribute to their local communities.

The Oshkosh hub joins hubs in Green Bay, Eau Claire, Platteville and Superior.

Some of the centralized services VentureHome offers are a concierge service to the larger state-wide ecosystem, entrepreneur toolkits, access to research and technologies coming out of the University of Wisconsin System, intellectual property and legal strategy assistance, and seed funding.

• The Northwoods

Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto Counties

Housing is focus for Thrive Rural programs

Rural communities from around the state, including Marinette, Shawano and Kewaunee counties, will get help meeting their biggest economic development needs and planning for their long-term goals.

Under the Thrive Rural program administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, each participant will have access to up to $25,000 in grants, two years of technical assistance in planning and grant-writing, and other services typically employed by larger communities.

Marinette County and InVenture North are working with the city of Peshtigo to attract a high-quality housing development to the city and potentially a second, smaller multi-family housing development in Marinette County.

Shawano County Economic Progress, Inc., is working with the village of Bonduel to attract more single-family and multi-family housing, revive its aging downtown and consolidate municipal offices that are scattered among multiple sites.

The Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation is working with the cities of Kewaunee and Algoma to promote community development, increase affordable housing and develop a self-sustaining funding strategy for future growth.