Lac du Flambeau Housing Summit
Lac Du Flambeau Housing Summit will take place on October 28th at Lake of the Torches Casino Conference Center.
Business
Entrepreneurship and strong small businesses are part of the economic well-being of Wisconsin communities and residents.
Articles
2025 Wisconsin Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference
June 2025 – The CEC Conference was held in Wisconsin Rapids, the conference “about small towns, for small towns,” for economic developers, local government leaders, and community champions. Not your typical conference, CEC features programming about entrepreneurship in smaller communities, featuring the local leaders, local businesses, and local cultures of a Wisconsin town.
How Ready are Owners for Business Succession and Transition?
This webinar shares findings from a recent survey of small businesses in Minnesota that explored business owner awareness, attitudes, aspirations, and preparedness for transferring their business when the time comes. This webinar also discusses the importance of business succession and transition planning and highlights what community economic development practitioners can do to support small businesses with guest presenters, Michael Darger.
2024 Wisconsin Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference
May 2024 – On May 30-31, over two hundred rural economic developers, community leaders, and entrepreneurs descended upon Platteville, WI, a small town in southwestern Wisconsin, population of 11,840, for Wisconsin’s first Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities (CEC) Conference. Known as a conference “about small towns, for small towns,” the CEC conference offers programming, discussion, and networking for stakeholders in Wisconsin’s rural business development. Other Midwestern states such as Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska hold the CEC Conference on an annual basis as part of their rural economic development strategy.
Business Owners of Color in Wisconsin: Trends & Outcomes
In recent years Wisconsin has seen massive spikes in business ownership among nonwhite entrepreneurs yet the state continues to have an overall low number of businesses owned by people of color. These findings are among those compiled in a new report “Business Owners of Color in Wisconsin: Representation, Profitability, and Growth”. This webinar focuses on the trends and outcomes for business owners of color in Wisconsin.
WIndicators: The Role of Childcare in the Labor Market: A Long-Run Perspective
There are a number of factors feeding into the current labor shortage, and while the problem seemed to accelerate after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been facing a downward trend in unemployment for over a decade.
Rural Pharmacies an Overlooked Piece of the Rural Health Care System
This webinar explores the pivotal role of rural pharmacies in providing vital healthcare services, especially in areas affected by hospital closures. Learn why the decline of independently owned rural pharmacies is a pressing concern, affecting medication access and downtown vitality.
Business & Workforce Development: Clean Energy Funding Series
In this webinar, our expert panel discusses clean energy funding available to businesses at both the Federal and state level, how to optimize your access to funding & financing, strategies to lower your tax liability, and programs to increase the clean energy workforce in Wisconsin.
2023 Wisconsin Rural Economic Summit
Using the latest research and data specific to Wisconsin’s rural communities and regions, this summit focuses on the Wisconsin rural economy. The summit includes an overview of the latest economic and demographic trends across rural communities, an examination of entrepreneurship, and a discussion of what rural communities can do to foster economic growth and development.
Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) – Minnesota Examples of An Essential Economic Development Activity
This webinar describes work from the University of Minnesota-Extension to support business retention and expansion efforts in rural areas. With over 20 years of experience working with rural communities, MN-Extension has developed several resources that support economic development leaders to create a supportive ecosystem for rural business retention and expansion. Three guest presenters, Michael Darger, Marty Walsh, and Amy Schaefer, discuss the importance of business retention and expansion in rural communities.
State Labor Force Overview: Wisconsin
As part of the 2023 Regional Economic Conditions Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Dr. Tessa Conroy provides an overview of the Wisconsin labor force.
Supporting Business Succession & Transition: Lessons Learned from Minnesota
There are about 50,000 employer businesses owned by people over 55 years old in Minnesota. Or about 50% of the businesses in the state. In this webinar, guest presenter, Michael Darger, describes efforts at the University of Minnesota Extension to work across organizations to raise awareness among business owners and create support for business succession and transition (BST) planning in rural areas.
