In northern Wisconsin, a mild winter isn’t just a bummer — it’s an official disaster.
With the National Weather Service reporting snowfall amounts as many as 40 inches below average last winter, Northwoods counties that rely on tourism from outdoor recreation took a hard economic hit. Eric Printz, director of economic development for Florence County, says his fingers and toes are crossed for a different outcome this winter.
“When it’s white here, we can be really busy,” says Printz, whose rural county of 4,500 residents boasts 180 miles of snowmobile trails. “Winter 2023-2024 was horrendous; we had to fill out paperwork for federal loans. We were considered a disaster area because we had no snow.”
Waterfalls, hiking trails, lakes and ATV/UTV trails are abundant in the Northwoods, and Printz says it is natural beauty that drives people to Florence County. Last winter’s slump delivered a knockout punch to some local businesses that relied on tourism, he says. This month will also see the closure of Florence’s only bed and breakfast, leaving just one 11-unit hotel available in the community.
“Tourism is a very big part of our economy. We have two of the five wild rivers in our state. I want people to come up here and visit, but they have no place to stay unless they go to Iron Mountain,” says Printz, who adds he is working hard to bring more lodging to the county but in the meantime is working on a tourism partnership with neighboring Dickinson County, Michigan.
But since controlling the weather isn’t part of any county economic development director’s job description, counties like Marinette are looking to diversify and prepare to support their local businesses in the event of another disappointing tourism winter.
“Going into fall, we’re really looking ahead at what we can do if the winter doesn’t go the way we all want it to,” says Autumn Timblin, development and tourism director for Marinette County, where crowds are expected to flock for increasingly robust offerings of fall color tours this month. “What else can we put in place to really keep people coming and supporting those businesses that they otherwise would?”
Eying opportunities
Two ways Northwoods counties are hoping to grow is by adding much‑needed housing and revitalizing rural main streets. Jayme Sellen, executive director of Tourism and Economic Development Corp. of the Oconto Region (TEDCOR) — which rebranded from the Oconto County Economic Development Corporation in February — says Oconto County has projects underway in both areas.
Sellen says small towns like the villages in Oconto County are in some ways better positioned to attract housing developers because the process is streamlined and community members are motivated. Oconto County’s recent housing study identified the need for 500 rental units to keep pace with population growth, and there are currently multifamily properties under construction in Lena, Suring and the city of Oconto.
In Marinette, a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Thrive Rural Grant is helping attract developments to the city of Peshtigo and the village of Wausaukee; Timblin says there are also currently multifamily housing projects underway in the city of Marinette and village of Crivitz. In Florence County, Printz says, a ribbon cutting was held in June on a new 44-unit apartment complex developed by S.C. Swiderski. Printz says the county saw population growth during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote workers chose quieter and more bucolic settings from which to set up shop. He also says attracting a senior living development to Florence’s rapidly aging community is one of his major goals, as it will free up housing inventory for new residents.
Another goal of Printz’s, he says, is bringing the county’s main streets “back to life.” In Oconto County, Sellen is making progress toward a similar goal by conducting main street revitalization studies this fall in Lena and Suring.
“We got a USDA grant to hire consultants to come in and help us basically take an inventory of the building stock and then give us some recommendations on what we should do, if these buildings can be rehabbed, if we need to tear some down, and then also looking forward to the future of what kind of businesses we need,” Sellen says.
The consultants will also facilitate discussions among community members, she adds: “One of the questions they love asking is, ‘What can you do here after 5 p.m. on a Tuesday night?’ Lena used to have two grocery stores, a bank, a hardware store. There were 14 bars and restaurants in Lena, and now there’s four or five. We’re trying to bring it back to the glory days.”
In other economic development news from the Northwoods:
The Encompass Early Education and Care facility in Oconto Falls has been named a finalist for the Wisconsin Economic Development Awards in the category of business retention and expansion.
The sale of Marinette-based small-bore piston plant KS Kolbenschmidt to Comitans Capital AG was completed this spring. It is now operating independently in Marinette as Kolbenschmidt Pistons.
Efforts to reopen Spread Eagle Golf Course in Florence County are underway, with an anticipated opening of May 2025. The course has been closed since 2018, Printz says.
Printz, along with other Florence County officials, is working with the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation on a contaminated site cleanup in Long Lake that will pave the way for a much-needed gas pump to be added in the area.
Florence County Economic Development has launched a new website at growflorencecounty.com.
TEDCOR is in the process of rebranding its tourism activity under the name “Visit Oconto County,” Sellen says.
The state’s Public Service Commission, through its Digital Connectivity and Navigators Program, has awarded a $1.7 million grant to provide device distribution in the counties of Vilas, Oneida, Florence and Forest. Human‑I‑T will work with the University of Wisconsin Extension Area 4 and other community-based organizations in Wisconsin to provide services to 2,500 income-qualified households.
