Clark County Benefits from an Ignite Grant

Clark County, Wisconsin is a beautiful rural community with many small communities located with in. In the center of agriculture and food production businesses, Clark County is the “Hub of the Harvest.” Though their population and budget may be small, they are at the center of it all, full of fantastic ideas, and ready to market their community. All they needed was an infusion of capital - something they received through an Ignite Grant. Momentum West asked Clark County Economic Development Corporation’s Executive Director, Sheila Nyberg, to share information about the projects they are funding with the grant and how they will benefit Clark County.

MW:     What should people know about Clark County?

SN:     Clark County is a beautiful rural county with a wonderful quality of life. We have natural resources and recreation opportunities, along with a small communities where everyone knows your name.  Plu,s we live in a place where we live very close to our food and consider ourselves the “Hub of the Harvest”.  

MW:     Why did Clark County apply for an Ignite grant?  

SN:     Because of our small budget at the EDC level (and community levels) we have many new efforts we want to introduce and put into motion – but the dollars are not always available to do so. That is where the Ignite Grant came into play. The money helped us to start-up, implement, and in some cases get to the finish line, on projects that will move mountains here in our communities and county.

MW: What was the process of applying for the grant like?  

SN:     The process was very, very smooth and easy.  We knew of projects that would fit – based on the up front description of the grant.  The opportunity to look at doing several projects that are good for all of us . .  but with no dollars to do them . . . .suddenly came to the top of our “Get It Done” list. We were truly inspired by the grant opportunity.

MW:     How much did you receive?

SN:      $1,500

MW:    How will the grant be used?

SN:     You may be surprised at how far we can make $1,500 go in our county.  We are both frugal and creative. We have several projects being funded with the grant money, with a particular focus on funding marketing efforts. These projects include:

The Downtown Storefront Available signs. We wanted startups and entrepreneurs to realize that there were downtown spaces available for them to start or locate a business.  These signs have our EDC info on them, telling folks in our community that they too can start a business here.  The goal was to identify resources and to inform them that our EDC, with partners, can help them to put their dream into action.  (This includes Business planning and financial projecting and financing help)  All of our towns have signs and we are working with the local landlords to place these signs and help fill open building spots.

We have started the Clark County Young Professionals Group. We wanted to be a member of the Statewide movement and are kicking off our organization at a bash on March 15th.  Much work and team building is going on right now to grow this effort.

In recent years we had technical assistance to identify ideas of creating CSA’s or Food Hub type efforts.  We at Clark County EDC & TB consider ourselves “The Hub of the Harvest” – we are at the heart of the food production region. We are fortunate to live close to our food! We are working with a centrally located city in Clark that could become the home of our first “Hub of Harvest” Market.

MW:    What has the response been within the community?  

SN:     As our Clark County EDC and Tourism Bureau works with, for, and on behalf of all our communities within the county – the splash that each of our projects makes is very thorough and inclusive.   Without this Ignite dollar infusion some of these projects would never happen. (at least not for a long time)

MW:    How has working with Momentum West benefited Clark County EDC?

SN:    Great.  Having extra arms, legs and ears to follow action items we need to be involved in, helps us to focus on our immediate goals and get them done.

MW:    What happens next?  

SN:    We get to the finish line on the above projects.

Momentum West is pleased to see the progress being made in Clark County and encourages other organizations within the Momentum West region to discover how an Ignite Grant can be use to help fund their economic development activities and initiatives.