The Wisconsin Economic Corporation announced that 17 communities and community organizations will receive a total of $5 million in Talent Recruitment Grants to attract new workers and their families.
“The Talent Recruitment Grants represent an investment in our state’s current and long-term growth,” said Gov. Tony Evers. “These grants will help communities across our state to meet their workforce needs through innovative, targeted, community-specific approaches.”
The Northeast Wisconsin communities receiving grants include:
Appleton Downtown, lnc. (City of Appleton) – $450,000
Appleton Downtown Inc. (ADI) aims to attract creative professionals, such as artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, sound technicians, and artisanal food and beverage makers. This “creative class” of workers will serve as a catalyst for growth, helping to reverse the city’s documented population decline and loss of retail businesses. This initiative will offer robust financial incentives coupled with a proven professional accelerator designed to increase an artist’s earned income. Through established partnerships with the Trout Museum of Art and gener8tor, ADI is ready to turn new households into permanent civic stakeholders, helping ensure that Appleton evolves into a premier, resilient cultural destination.
New North, lnc. (Shawano County) – $425,000
The New North Hires Heroes initiative is a collaborative regional effort aimed at recruiting transitioning service members and their families to Northeast and Central Wisconsin. The project serves as a strategic bridge between the New North and Centergy regions, with Shawano County acting as a focal point for rural outreach. By focusing on the unique and highly skilled military-connected community, New North, Inc. is importing leadership, technical expertise, and family-oriented households that drive long-term community vibrancy. Shawano County holds specific strategic value due to its cultural readiness and economic appeal. The county’s veteran population is 20% higher than both state and national averages, providing an immediate support structure for new arrivals. Economically, the area offers a cost of living below the national average and an average commute of less than 16 minutes.
Envision Greater Fond du Lac Foundation, Inc. (Fond du Lac County) – $345,920
Envision Greater Fond du Lac Foundation, Inc. is partnering with MakeMyMove, a national relocation marketplace, to proactively recruit move-ready, out-of-state talent. By shifting from broad-based marketing to a targeted, incentive-backed recruitment model, Envision Greater Fond du Lac is actively engineering a sustainable demographic shift. The integration of national recruitment technology with deep local employer engagement makes this a low-risk, high-impact investment for the state.
Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce – $250,000
The grant will sustain the current Make Your Mark talent attraction and retention program, a multi-channel, data-driven recruitment strategy. The program employs a full-time transition support specialist who provides personalized, independent guidance to new residents regarding housing, childcare, healthcare, and community resources. By shifting the focus to a holistic transition and integration model, this project will ensure that out-of-state talent doesn’t just fill a vacancy but builds a life in Wisconsin.
Heroes for Healthcare, lnc. (Brown County) – $200,000
Heroes for Healthcare is aimed at attracting veteran households — specifically medics, corpsmen, medical technicians, and veterans with registered nurse licenses — to Brown County to address critical workforce needs in its healthcare sector. By leveraging the specialized, state-codified Wisconsin medics and corpsmen pathway, the project provides an immediate pool of medically trained talent into a system with high nursing vacancy rates. The initiative offers a comprehensive relocation and retention model that targets high-value veteran households, ensuring they are rooted in the community through housing support, spouse employment assistance, and long-term professional development.
City of Oshkosh – $117,500
The Onboard to Oshkosh program represents a highly professionalized and strategically sound approach to municipal talent attraction. By evolving an internal city-employee reimbursement program into a community-wide integration system, Oshkosh is positioning itself to successfully navigate the impending retirement cliff facing its manufacturing and healthcare sectors. The program will use data-informed, professional marketing to reach mid-career professionals and young families in high-demand fields like IT, education, and skilled trades, and will incorporate existing civic assets like Greater Oshkosh Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. (GO-HNI) to ensure new residents move beyond simple relocation to active civic participation and long-term residency.
Funding for the projects will last from two to three years, depending on the details of each program.
