State economic development officials: Eau Claire can inspire other communities
Tom Giffey, photos by Serena Wagner |
Downtown economic development projects in Eau Claire can serve as inspiration to entrepreneurs in communities around Wisconsin, a top state economic development official says. Patrick Drinan, economic development director for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., was part of a delegation of state officials who spent Monday in Eau Claire meeting with young business leaders and city administrators. The WEDC delegation – which included representations from the Milwaukee, La Crosse, and Oshkosh areas – explored downtown Eau Claire; visited JAMF Software, which moved into a new downtown office building last fall; toured the Green Tree Inn, which being renovated into a yet-unnamed boutique hotel; and heard presentations by downtown entrepreneurs in the Volume One Gallery.
“It’s exciting to see a lot of the vibrancy and the commitment to the downtown area.” – Patrick Drinan, economic development director for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
“It’s exciting to see a lot of the vibrancy and the commitment to the downtown area,” Drinan said of Eau Claire. During their site visit, the delegation was “learning more about projects and how we can take information back into our regions in terms of success stories we can point to, like the Confluence Project. What are all the moving parts that are involved in that? How is it structured?”
In addition to the Confluence – an ongoing public-private effort to build a performing arts center, housing, and commercial space downtown – Drinan said Eau Claire’s extensive trail system could provide an example for other state communities to emulate. He also praised investors who are renovating the Green Tree Inn, which will feature 30 guest rooms and will open later this year. (Full disclosure: Those investors include Volume One publisher Nick Meyer.) “That’s sort of that local success story that we can point to, (and) say, ‘This is a group of entrepreneurs that are making a difference in their community, and that’s an example of what’s going right in Eau Claire,’ ” Drinan said.
WEDC officials also heard from two young downtown entrepreneurs: Will Glass, co-founder of The Fire House brew pub and owner of The Brewing Projekt, a forthcoming craft brewery, and Benny Haas, owner of The Plus and Benny HaHa. City Manager Russ Van Gompel praised the young businessmen during a question-and-answer session: “They’re creating the vibe that’s making Eau Claire a place people want to come to,” Van Gompel said. Glass and Haas spoke about the challenges of pursuing their business dreams (including gaining financing and overcoming bureaucratic red tape) and the positive and negative sides of the downtown housing boom. Both created upper-floor apartments when they remodeled historic downtown buildings, but they also acknowledged it would be better if future downtown developments included more businesses and fewer apartments.
Monday’s visit was the first in a planned series of meetings around the state by WEDC officials, said Drinan, who oversees regional representatives who typically meet with local businesses seeking financial or technical assistance from the WEDC. The public-private agency was created in 2011 to foster job growth in Wisconsin. To learn more about the WEDC, visit inwisconsin.com.
