The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) is giving $5 million in talent recruitment grants, $1.16 million of which is being distributed among southeastern Wisconsin organizations.
The grant’s local recipients include Employ Milwaukee, the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce, the Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) and Milwaukee County.
Employ Milwaukee, a nonprofit workforce development organization serving Milwaukee County, will receive $455,763 for its “It’s Better in Milwaukee” program, a talent recruitment initiative that aims to remedy relocation difficulties by combining direct relocation payments with essential support services like housing concierge and spouse/partner career navigation, according to a press release from WEDC.
John W. Miller. Submitted photo.
The Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce will receive $250,000 towards its “Make Your Mark” talent attraction and retention program, which employs a full-time transition support specialist who provides personalized, independent guidance to new residents on housing, childcare, healthcare and community resources, the release said.
KABA will receive $240,000 to launch a new campaign as an extension of the organization’s “Life Balanced Kenosha” initiative, aimed at both hiring and retaining residents in the community.
“The project’s ability to leverage existing infrastructure and major private-sector expansions like Eli Lilly makes it a premier model for state-supported talent attraction,” the release said.
Milwaukee County will receive $217,000 to launch multi-channel, out-of-state public sector recruitment and relocation initiative to fill vacant skilled trades, landscape architect, medical examiner, engineer, zookeeper and registered nurse roles.
“Workers and their families don’t just throw a dart at a map and move somewhere,” said John Miller, recently appointed secretary and CEO of WEDC. “These are important, life-changing decisions. The talent recruitment grants will make it easy for families looking to relocate to find jobs that fit their skills and allow them to grow in communities where they feel at home.”
These Wisconsin organizations will also receive a talent recruitment grants:
- Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership (Marathon County) – $500,000
- Driftless Development, Inc. (Crawford County) – $500,000
- Wisconsin Technology Council (Rock County) – $475,000
- Appleton Downtown, lnc. (City of Appleton) – $450,000
- New North, lnc. (Shawano County) – $425,000
- Envision Greater Fond du Lac Foundation, Inc. (Fond du Lac County) – $345,920
- Green County Economic Development – $260,000
- Heroes for Healthcare, lnc. (Brown County) – $200,000
- Family Friendly Workplaces, Inc. (Burnett, Polk, St. Croix and Pierce counties) – $165,985
- City of Oshkosh – $117,500
- Vernon County – $112,438
- Cassville Economic Development Corporation (Village of Cassville) $106,670
- City of Medford – $100,000
