KCEDC outlines housing plan, business prospects and early interest at Kewaunee power site

Ben Nelson, a representative of the Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation (KCEDC), told the Kewaunee County Board of Supervisors that KCEDC is advancing a countywide housing study and several business-attraction projects, and is tracking an early-stage memorandum of understanding involving the Kewaunee power station.

Nelson said KCEDC has contracted a consultant with $50,000 in county-supported grant funds and is “acquiring and analyzing secondary data” on population, age, income and housing stock in Algoma, Luxembourg and Kewaunee to update the county’s housing picture since the last county study. He said the consultant was conducting stakeholder interviews and that KCEDC has secured partnerships with local realtors to access MLS data.

The housing element, called Project Homestead, models a scenario of 50 single-family homes. Nelson said that model projects about $19,250,000 in new construction during the build phase, 34 construction jobs, $7.5 million in construction wages, and roughly $3,880,000 in household income after build-out. He told supervisors the modeled annual tax revenue from 50 homes would be “just over a hundred and $43,000.”

Nelson also reviewed two competitive business attraction efforts in Algoma and one in the village of Luxembourg. He described the Algoma opportunity as a two-part prospect: a $10 million capital investment expected to create about 60 jobs and a $5–6 million component expected to add about 44 jobs. “The combined impact of that project would have a $16,000,000 capital investment into our county” and about 104 new jobs, he said, adding that his projections used a 2% property tax rate and a $50,000 average salary.

On larger-site opportunities, Nelson described an early-stage memorandum of understanding between Energy Solutions and Terrestrial Energy evaluating integral molten salt reactors at sites Energy Solutions owns and manages. He said KCEDC is “not at that phase yet” for a specific redevelopment but that modeling with a single advanced reactor showed it would produce more power than a single data center would need and could yield hundreds of construction jobs and more than 100 permanent positions depending on the configuration. Nelson noted hypothetical figures for combined reactor-plus-data-center scenarios, including substantial payroll and property-tax impacts, and described them as illustrative, not committed projects.

Supervisors asked technical and policy questions. Supervisor Swagel asked whether the modeled houses were aimed at first-time buyers; Nelson replied the homes in the model were entry-level single-family units, “not affordable housing, not low income housing,” and that the model used median income assumptions and a three-bedroom home prototype. Supervisor Vollenwider asked what role KCEDC plays with outside developers; Nelson said KCEDC acts as a local facilitator and liaison, connecting Energy Solutions with state and regional partners and pulling local data for zoning and permitting conversations.

Nelson closed by listing near-term KCEDC activities: a free Small Business Expo at the fairgrounds on April 19, the county’s Ag Career Days hosted at Ebert Enterprises expected to welcome about 900 students, business retention work with a local exporter, and participation in Dora Kewaunee legislative days to press six legislative priorities including TIF allowance changes, clarity on business tax credits related to housing, support for childcare facility incentives, reauthorization of the Knowles-Nelson stewardship program, free fourth-grade state-park access, and increased Medicaid reimbursement.

The KCEDC presentation drew discussion but no county action; Nelson said the projects and the nuclear-site conversations remain at early, evaluative stages.