Calumet County economic development is gaining traction in a number of areas. These include efforts to gauge and bolster child care access, secure development and brownfield cleanup grants, and enhance tourism.
Last fall, the Calumet County economic development department, in collaboration with Outagamie County, applied for an EPA Coalition Assessment Grant. This summer the application was selected for the grant, with Calumet County serving as the lead along with Outagamie County and Fox Cities Greenways, Inc. The grant will fund work to determine what’s in the ground and groundwater, as well as develop plans to remediate any issues at locations like the former Tecumseh site in New Holstein and Brillion Iron Works in Brillion.
“This grant is probably our biggest project right now, as we have $1 million to spend over the next four years that will open up some doors to redevelop some of these [brownfield] sites,” says Jason Pausma, Calumet County economic development director. “There is great impact potential in taking a vacant, dormant site and redeveloping it into commercial, industrial, residential or quality of life amenities such as parks or trails.”
The fast-growing village of Harrison recently obtained a $250,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Community Development Investment Grant to redevelop the former Darboy Club site. A new Mr. Brews Taphouse is already built, and owner/developer Wisconsin Wealth Management is interested in redeveloping the entire site of the former banquet hall and event venue.
The county also secured a Dream Up! Child Care Supply-Building Grant, a planning grant which Pausma is co-leading along with Eric Balza, business child care advocate and trainer at Child Care Resource and Referral, Inc. The goal is to collaborate with owners of child care facilities, city administrators, the business community and others to develop long-term solutions to child care challenges. Work is focused in New Holstein, Stockbridge, Chilton and Hilbert, as most of the licensed child care available in the county is located in the Darboy area. In addition, not all licensed child care centers can function to capacity because of staffing issues compounding the shortage.
Possible solutions include developing creative funding streams for child care facilities that spend 75% of their tuition on payroll and don’t have the ability to increase wages. This may involve partnering with manufacturers to help fund them, for example.
“Costs keep going up, and we need to find different, creative ways to fund group centers,” Balza says. “Child care is something people don’t think about or understand until they have to deal with it.”
The grant committee is setting strategic planning goals and budgets for three key areas by Sept. 1.
“This is a community grassroots way of addressing child care, which is different from what has been done in the past,” Balza says. “The goal is to get this started and then make it sustainable.”
It matters in the present for those dealing with those challenges, and it matters in the long term as well.
“Child care is a workforce attraction and retention issue,” Pausma says. “If there isn’t child care for someone who has children, it creates an issue with their ability to work.”
‘Closer than you think’
Calumet County’s tourism efforts have ramped up as well. In August, the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and several Calumet County entities, including the Chilton, Brillion, Kiel and New Holstein Chambers of Commerce, Calumet County and AriensCo. Hospitality, hosted a “Discover Calumet County” event. Its goal was to draw people from outside the county to see what Calumet County has to offer, from businesses to parks and recreation to employment opportunities. From the Ariens Nordic Center to High Cliff State Park, there are many amenities Fox Cities residents don’t yet know about or take advantage of, says Laura Wiegert, executive vice president of marketing and events at Fox Cities Chamber.
“Many people don’t realize Calumet County is considered part of the Fox Cities, but it’s an important part of our service area that we support for economic growth and prosperity,” she says. “Discover Calumet County was a way to showcase all the amazing things about Calumet County to the entire Fox Cities region.”
Wiegert says Calumet County is a hidden gem with an abundance of nature-based tourism assets, from parks and lakes to fishing, boating and camping, that is near the Fox Cities.
“People have a perception that Calumet County is ‘way out there,’ but it’s an easy 20-minute drive from the Fox Cities,” Pausma says.
To further tourism efforts, in June the county hired Rick Sense in the newly created role of tourism and economic development specialist. Sense has 10 years of U.S. Congressional experience working with constituents and directly with two members of Congress and has worked for Goodwill NCW, the Greater Green Bay Chamber and Community First Credit Union.
“The board saw the importance and need for tourism to have a dedicated position for it, and to house it within economic development,” Pausma says.
