The Waukesha County Center for Growth, founded in 2016, continues to evolve to meet the needs of the businesses and communities within Waukesha County, WI. Through our core functions of business development, municipal engagement, talent pipeline, and gap financing, we ensure that Waukesha County is a premier destination for businesses to invest and grow.
It has been a privilege to get to know county stakeholders and business leaders over my first few months leading the Center for Growth. I have been exceedingly impressed with the business-friendly communities and community-minded business leaders, who all collaborate to advance economic opportunities throughout the county. Throughout this report, you will see the impacts of the economic development efforts of our organization, which are largely possible thanks to our partnerships with organizations including the Waukesha County Business Alliance, Waukesha County, our municipal investors, and the Small Business Development Center.
The Center for Growth’s biggest highlight of 2022 came at the end of the year, when Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow announced that the County would be making a historic $4.5 million contribution to the GROW Fund. The GROW Fund is the Center for Growth’s gap financing tool intended to support business expansions and assist with innovative workforce housing projects. Waukesha County’s injection of funds will complement the contributions of our founding bank partners – Bank Five Nine, Johnson Financial Bank, BMO Harris Bank, and Town Bank – to expand our ability to serve the business community.
As we look to 2023, we plan to fully launch our formal business retention and expansion program, refine our small business programming and services, build upon our talent pipeline development efforts, and increase deployment of the GROW Fund, all in the name of helping our businesses and communities grow.
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