Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

This document details how the State of Wisconsin is addressing critical workforce challenges through housing initiatives. It highlights four key innovative projects: building affordable homes for child care providers, blending workplace training with affordable housing in Northern Wisconsin, creating pathways to homeownership for early childhood educators in Door County, and developing infrastructure for workforce housing for the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe. These efforts collectively aim to achieve the vision of affordable, accessible housing to secure a valuable workforce, stimulate economic growth, and foster resilient communities across the state.

This document, "The State of Wisconsin Downtowns 2025 Trends Report," analyzes the current status and future outlook of downtown areas across Wisconsin. It identifies five key principles—economy, inclusion, housing, vibrancy, and resilience—and categorizes downtowns as emerging, growing, or established based on growth metrics. The report emphasizes the critical role of downtowns as economic, cultural, and social hubs, advocating for thoughtful planning, bold leadership, and adaptation to evolving trends. Key recommendations include focusing on mixed-use real estate, continued residential growth, and enhancing arts, culture, entertainment, and accommodation assets to ensure future prosperity and vibrancy, alongside improving business and residential density, district size, and connectivity.

This report details the State of Wisconsin's initiatives to address workforce challenges by expanding child care access through Workforce Innovation Grants. It highlights three innovative projects that focused on increasing the early childhood education workforce, providing affordable and accessible child care for student-parents and communities, and offering supportive services. The initiatives aim to boost parental workforce participation, foster economic growth, and ensure community resilience by building a robust child care sector and preparing the next generation of workers.

Thrive Rural Wisconsin is a program designed to foster community growth in rural areas, exemplified by its work in Marinette County. It addresses critical needs such as affordable workforce housing and aims to overcome resource limitations in small communities by providing project management, financial, and technical assistance. The initiative supports the development of projects, boosts local economies, attracts and retains residents and professionals like educators, and seeks to create replicable models for sustainable community development.

This report details Wisconsin's initiatives to fuel entrepreneurship and address workforce challenges, particularly through the Workforce Innovation Grant (WIG) Program. It highlights three key innovations: student consulting for small businesses via UW-Eau Claire's SBDC, a pre-accelerator program in Kenosha to mentor entrepreneurs and leverage venture capital, and a youth entrepreneurship program by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County focused on construction trades. The overarching goal is to foster an entrepreneurial spirit, drive economic growth and innovation, and ensure an 'Economy for All' in Wisconsin.