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Regional economic-development group asks Marathon County for $5,000 toward $130,000 industry-readiness study
Summary
Synergy, a five-county regional economic development organization, presented a targeted industry-readiness evaluation costing roughly $130,000 and asked municipal partners (including Marathon County) to contribute about $5,000 each; the study would be publicly available and coordinated with local partners.
Synergy representative Angel presented a proposal on Nov. 3 asking Marathon County to contribute approximately $5,000 toward a $130,000 targeted industry-readiness study covering five Central Wisconsin counties. The study would identify specific industries the region can competitively attract, analyze workforce fit, and bring site selectors to evaluate a handful of candidate properties.
Angel said the project includes stakeholder alignment, data gathering, competitive analysis and site-selector tours. She listed a tentative funding mix that includes municipal partners contributing roughly $5,000 each, Synergy contributing about $10,000, and a potential Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) capacity-building grant for about $50,000.
In Q&A, Supervisor Zhang asked how this differed from the Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership plan; Angel said the Synergy study is industry-specific and will grade five to six candidate sites with site selectors, producing actionable site-readiness recommendations. Angel also said the final study would be publicly available to support smaller communities’ development work.
Ending: The HR Finance & Property Committee recommended funding the Synergy request out of 2025 contingency for consideration by the full board at the Nov. 11 vote.
