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Dunn County economic development staff report failed WEDC grant, new business‑retention effort and Venture Home launch
Summary
Adam, serving with the county economic development partnership, said a $250,000 WEDC grant application was not funded; staff are forming a business retention and expansion program with local partners, building a shared database, drafting a revolving loan fund focused on childcare and housing, and launching Venture Home Menominee next week.
Adam (economic development staff participating online) told the committee that a $250,000 grant application to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) submitted on behalf of the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation was not funded.
He said the rejection underscored a broader concern that WEDC funding has emphasized Southeast Wisconsin and that county staff will continue to press state entities for more regional allocations. "This only kind of fuels my fire in terms of bringing more things to our area," Adam said.
Adam described two simultaneous initiatives: the formation of a business retention and expansion (BR&E) committee composed of five partners (Dunn Economic Development, the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Menomonie, Xcel Energy and Dunn Energy Cooperative) that will conduct outreach visits to existing employers; and the development of a centralized database to record BR&E visits so the partnership can report trends and follow up on needs.
He said the Greater Menomonie Development Corporation (GMDC) executive committee is designing a revolving loan program intended to focus on projects that include childcare and housing; loans would recycle back into the fund to support future projects. Adam said the GMDC program is intended to complement, not duplicate, regional tools such as the West Central Regional Planning regional business fund.
Adam reported the county responded to one recent request for information (RFI) from a large manufacturer and was, to his knowledge, the only regional submission that provided complete utility and site information. He asked committee members to support a county land sale that was scheduled for county board action the next day and urged supervisors to complete the county comprehensive plan survey.
He also announced that Venture Home Menominee, a local entrepreneurship network partnership with Wyses Technologies, UW Stout and Office On Main (a downtown co‑working space), will launch next Tuesday at Office On Main at 5 p.m. The program is intended to connect local entrepreneurs with statewide resources through the Venture Home network.
Chris (county staff) added context about how local partnerships evolved in recent years and said the current structure—shared funding and roles among the City of Menomonie, Dunn County, UW Stout and local development corporations—has increased collaboration and made countywide funding available for projects beyond Menomonie.
Supervisor Barrier asked for clarification on a "Muskie Tank" event referenced in promotional material; Adam explained the Musky Tank is a public‑facing, investor‑network networking event associated with the Chippewa Valley Angel Investors Network.
Committee members took the update as informational; no formal economic development votes occurred during the meeting.
