Congressman Obey briefed on how city will be using $1.26 million EDA grant

Congressman Dave Obey visited Ladysmith Saturday to receive a briefing on how $1.26 million in federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant money will be used to help expand the Meadowbrook Industrial Center and the Fritz Avenue Manufacturing Plant. 

Both industrial sites are part of an economic development effort to increase the amount of affordable space for lease to manufacturing businesses.

Funding for the federal EDA grant was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which was produced by the Appropriations Committee which Obey chairs.

“I’m glad to see these recovery dollars will add a boost in the community by providing good construction jobs in the near term.  And in the long term, economic development efforts like these will lead to more private investment and spur additional job-creating efforts in the community,” Obey said.

Over the past two decades, the city has used rental revenues to fund four more additions to the Meadowbrook facility.  Rockwell Automation is a major tenant at Meadowbrook which now has about 300 people working in the building, compared to 125 people under prior ownership.  Another tenant, Westlake Enterprises, which employs primarily developmentally disabled adults for light manufacturing and services to locally-based businesses, expects to grow and add another 50 clients to the 35 working there today.

The City and Rusk County have joined forces on the Fritz Avenue Manufacturing Plant and will increase the space available by more than 50 percent to over 62,000 square feet.

“These are tough economic times and in tough times, there is a tremendous need for local economic development that creates jobs.  This should contribute significantly to the effort.  The same is true for other projects in Rusk County which have been funded through the Recovery Act in the past three months,” said Obey.

These include:

• $1.6 million through the Department of Energy for weatherization of area homes by Indianhead Community Action Program (CAP);

• $380,400 for the purchase of five replacement vehicles for Rusk County, four of which are specially equipped to accommodate disabled passengers;

• $360,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for infrastructure improvements at Jeld-Wen;

• $700,000 through HUD for the YouthBuild program at Indianhead CAP which allows low-income young people an opportunity to work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, learn job skills and serve their communities by building affordable housing; and

• $98,800 for constructing a small addition to The Sign Shop in Ladysmith through the USDA – Rural Business Enterprise Grant program (RBEG).

“All of these projects put people to work building them and provide needed, long-term services and benefits to communities to get through these tough economic times,” Obey said.  “They are good investments in America’s future.”