Rumor has it that Calumet County was recently trending on TikTok for its concentration of supper clubs.
“I can’t verify if that’s true; I’m not on TikTok — but we are trademarked as the Supper Club Capital of the Midwest, so I think supper clubs are always a draw,” says Jason Pausma, economic development director for Calumet County.
While prime rib and old fashioneds never hurt when it comes to tourism, Pausma points out there’s a lot more than supper clubs attracting visitors and residents to the county, which since 2020 has seen the fastest growth rate of all Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
According to the Wisconsin Demographic Services Center, Calumet County’s growth rate is 7.17%, more than four times higher than the state’s 1.62%. What’s more, the county has the highest median household income of all 18 counties in the New North region, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The Fox Cities have experienced a lot of growth since 2020 overall,” Pausma says. “We’ve had a lower cost of living than other parts of the state and a lot of job opportunities. A lot of people have been moving to this area, and we’ve been able to take advantage of that because there’s a really great quality of life here.”
Calumet County has been making more marketing investments — social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, billboards, a Travel Calumet podcast — to better promote itself. A WEDC grant this year enabled the creation of a new website, selectcalumet.com, designed specifically to attract out-of-state workers to the county.
“Any company that’s considering relocating or expanding, one of the first questions they ask is what’s your workforce like,” Pausma says. “We know long term there’s going to be a fight for talent, especially over the next 20 years as more people retire and there’s definitely lower birth rates nationwide. We’re trying to stay ahead of that as much as we can.”
At the head of the class for the county’s growth is the village of Harrison, whose board approved six new subdivisions in 2024 totaling 147 residential and commercial lots. Last year, the village issued 108 new single-family residential permits totaling more than $47 million in estimated value.
Village Manager Chad Pelishek says 2025 is shaping up to be no different.
“We have eight subdivisions under construction at some stage of development,” he says. “As of the end of June, we’ve issued 50 new home permits at an estimated value of about $23 million, so I would say we’re on track for a year similar to what we had last year.”
To support the residential growth, last year Harrison began developing the 13-lot Crossroads Business Park at the intersection of County Highway KK, State Highway 55 and Friendship Drive. Nine of the lots are under contract, including a cabinetmaker, a plumber, an IT firm, a residential home builder and a 20,000-square-foot recreational sports facility.
“We’re working through the final site plan and approval processes and I would say four of the nine should be breaking ground this fall yet, and a couple of them are slated to break ground next spring,” Pelishek says.
The village has also invested close to $3 million in the Harrison Commerce Park: a 12-lot retail, office and small business development located off County Highway N between Schmidt and Manitowoc roads. It will serve as the village’s central hub. Pelishek anticipates it will attract service businesses such as salons, massage therapists and chiropractors as well as restaurants and retailers.
Construction on the Harrison Commerce Park is underway, with roadways going in this month.
“The goal is to get this wrapped up by the end of November,” Pelishek says.
Other notable projects include:
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Grande Cheese broke ground last summer on a 60,000-square-foot expansion of its plant in Chilton. In addition to the new construction, Grande will renovate 20,000 square feet. Construction is expected to be complete mid-2026.
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Worthington Enterprises began a modernization project at its Chilton campus, where it manufactures Bernzomatic and Mag-Torch hand torches and fuel cylinders. A new 58,000-square-foot building and equipment will increase automation and production efficiencies, as well as allow for future expansion. The building is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with the facility fully operational in 2026.
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In May, the city of Brillion received a nearly $2 million brownfields cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up part of the Brillion Iron Works redevelopment located at 300 Park Ave. The site functioned as a machine shop and iron forge for more than a century, but most of the buildings were demolished between 2019 and 2022. The site is currently vacant and contaminated with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds.
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Last year ark data centers broke ground on a 2-megawatt expansion of its Harrison data center. The expansion is the first phase to grow the site into a more than 20-megawatt data center campus.
