By Gail Peckler-Dziki~Correspondent
James Engle from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) from Madison will address the Silver Lake Village Board and other interested community members at a special meeting scheduled for July 30 at 4:30 p.m. at the village hall. A walking tour and assessment of the downtown will be included.
Trustee and chair of economic development Soti Wilber contacted numerous consulting groups, including the Kenosha Area Business Association (KABA) and decided that the Main Street program offered by WEDC appeared most promising.
In 2011, a bipartisan study clearly indicated Wisconsin needed to take a bolder approach to attracting, growing and retaining businesses within the state. WECD’s mission is o elevate the Wisconsin economy to be the best in the world by providing a positive business climate, world-class support services and economic development tools to accelerate business start-up, attraction and growth.
The plan is to discover grants that Silver Lake can apply for to revitalize and improve the downtown area and attract more business to the village.
WEDC was created by the 2011 Wisconsin Act 7, a law that created the WEDC as a public-private corporation to replace the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, beginning in July 2011.
The bill removed non-business Commerce responsibilities from WEDC and eliminated program mandates in favor of a larger, more flexible economic development fund.
For more information regarding WEDC, visit http://inwisconsin.com/ on the web.