WAUPUN — The Waupun Common Council unanimously passed a resolution last week declaring their support for Envision Greater Fond du Lac and committing to investing in the organization for regional economic development.
The resolution emphasizes the number of projects that Envision has helped support in the Waupun area and greater Fond du Lac County. It also calls on other regional officials to support the organization, and to work together on economic development projects for the betterment of Fond du Lac County.
Envision interim president Joe Venhuizen and vice president of economic development Lisa McArthur attended the meeting in recognition of the resolution, and to emphasize the importance of regional economic development.
“Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development is about partnership,” Venhuizen said. “We represent the business community, and we represent the intersection between public and private. And that’s where your support and buy-in is very powerful, because it connects business and government and it works together on initiatives.”
Envision Greater Fond du Lac was created in 2017 when the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce and Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation merged to create a more streamlined organization for their shared goal, providing both chamber and economic development services countywide.
“Economic development can mean a lot of things depending on what’s going on in your community in the county in general,” McArthur said. “It could be housing initiatives, childcare initiatives, it could be wage studies, it could be a business preparing to leave the county or moving into the county, workforce effort; all of that encompass economic development.”
“So the partnerships that we have between communities like Waupun are critical and very valuable, and the collaboration that we’re able to have is very valuable to have,” she said.
Envision Greater Fond du Lac is made up of a team of 14 employees that work across the entire county, covering all 33 municipalities. They also often work with local school districts and other organizations in organizing events, jobs fairs, and connections meetings.
Venhuizen and McArthur emphasized the number of programs they offer—many of which local business leaders don’t know about. Envision putting itself out there more helps get businesses the assistance they need to be more successful.
“With Fond du Lac cutting back and Ripon making some changes, I think this is a chance for the City of Waupun to stand out and say, ‘we’re open for business,’” Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop told WPN. “We want the investment, we want the partnership, we want the private partner help. There’s a lot in our county to bring people here, and we should be working together because it’s too expensive to do it individually.”
According to Mayor Bishop, Envision Greater Fond du Lac is sticking up for the rural communities in the county, with leadership from Campbellsport, Brandon, and Rosendale working with the organization to promote the rural communities.
Despite Waupun being in a similar situation as Ripon with being split between two counties, Waupun is firmly in the Fond du Lac economic sphere—in a major part due to the work of organizations like Envision and Destination Lake Winnebago.
“The reality is, Envision is the one place working on our childcare needs,” Mayor Bishop said. “They’re working on workforce development, they help promote Waupun, and they do a lot for our business park, even though it’s in another county. I think it’s a really good working relationship but I think it’s helping Waupun to be a member of Envision Greater Fond du Lac, which is why we passed it unanimously.”
Venhuizen also announced a partnership sponsor program with the upcoming Waupun IceFest event, committing to provide $100 towards an ice sculpture to Envision member businesses that become an Ice Host.
Correction 10/20/23 9:24PM: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Envision Greater Fond du Lac is made up of 4 employees, when it is made up of 14 total employees. There are instead 4 employees in the economic development division.
