Our Work
What’s Next in Wisconsin Broadband, October 2024
Latest Wisconsin Broadband News from UW-Madison Extension’s Broadband Team. Contains updates on the newly approved BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2, Letter of Intent Period webinar and deadlines, funding opportunity webinar, RDOF defaults, engagement and endorsement, and other resources.
Writing BEAD Endorsement Letters: Sample Language
This downloadable resource provides guidance on writing a BEAD endorsement resolution and/or letter to support an Eligible Entity’s BEAD funding application.
Why Digital Equity Matters in Your Community
Achieving digital equity is essential for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services. This article contains data on digital equity in Wisconsin and tips for getting involved in your community.
What’s Next in Wisconsin Broadband, September 2024
Latest Wisconsin Broadband News from UW-Madison Extension’s Broadband Team. Contains updates on the newly approved BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2, Letter of Intent Period webinar and deadlines, funding opportunity webinar, RDOF defaults, engagement and endorsement, and other resources.
Incentivizing Broadband Projects: Board of Commissioners of Public Lands
This webinar explores financing broadband expansion through the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands loan program, with guest speakers Richard Sneider and Monica Treptow.
What’s Next in Wisconsin Broadband, August 2024
Latest Wisconsin Broadband News from UW-Madison Extension’s Broadband Team. Contains updates on the newly approved BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2, Letter of Intent Period webinar and deadlines, funding opportunity webinar, RDOF defaults, engagement and endorsement, and other resources.
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.
Spring 2024 Broadband Workshops: Agenda and Resources
Agenda and resources for Extension’s spring 2024 broadband workshops. Topics covered include: BEAD updates, NEPA, broadband permitting, engagement & endorsement, and local case studies from across Wisconsin.
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 Volume 7, Issue 1: Wisconsin Farming: Insights from the 2022 Census of Agriculture
Every five years the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) undertakes a detailed inventory of farming operations across the country. The most recent, the 2022 Census of Agriculture, aims to provide a detailed snapshot of the nation’s farming economy, including information on farm demographics, production practices, land use, and economic trends. The intent of this issue of WIndicator is to provide an overview of recent trends in Wisconsin farming using the Census of Agriculture. We pay particular attention to the changes since the last Census in 2017 to understand trends in key metrics for Wisconsin agriculture with some references to longer term trends (1997 to 2022).
2024 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, and an examination of rural health care, housing, and broadband. Conversations will include what rural communities can do to foster economic growth and development.
