Agriculture

Wisconsin governor in La Crosse promoting business development

Published

4 years ago

January 27, 2020

An office of Rural Prosperity for Wisconsin could do a lot for small businesses and towns to become more successful.

Governor Tony Evers has proposed such an office, and the idea is being endorsed by the secretary of the WisconsIn Economic Development Corporation (WEDC).

Both the governor and WEDC secretary Melissa Hughes spoke on Monday at the 48th annual meeting of LADCO, the La Crosse Area Development Corporation.

Evers said the state is in ‘an excellent position’ to start the 2020’s in a ‘good place,’ if there’s cooperation, but he said the governor cannot “wave a magic wand” to make things happen.

Hughes, a former executive with Organic Valley of La Farge, says like WEDC, a prosperity office could be a ‘one-stop shop’ to steer a project toward completion.

Hughes says that to Madison, the city of La Crosse is considered rural.

The WEDC leader says her organization can help businesses of any size, not just Foxconn, which is building facilities in southeastern Wisconsin.

Evers told the LADCO audience that he hopes a special session on farming which he called for Tuesday will happen, as he had planned.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos claims he won’t convene the special session, saying lawmakers need more time to study farm problems before voting on solutions.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.