Our Work
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.
WIndicators: 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.
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.
Internet Adoption
Is Your County including ALL citizens in its broadband planning? Those of us who are actively working to get broadband to all communities of Wisconsin frequently talk about the 3 A’ s of broadband: Access, Affordability and Adoption.
Tools to Inform Broadband Planning: Forums & Asset Mapping
This article explores when to use community forums and asset mapping as part of your data collection for broadband planning.
Willingness to Pay for Broadband Internet
The UW-Madison EDA University Center conducted a statewide survey of Wisconsin residents on broadband access and affordability, with the goal of estimating the willingness to pay for broadband. As the state makes significant investments in broadband infrastructure, attention is shifting to the willingness, or ability, of people, particularly lower income people, to pay for broadband subscriptions.