Driftless Bound

Driftless Bound is sponsored by Vernon County, Wisconsin (funded by Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Talent Recruitment Grant). An innovative workforce attraction initiative offering cash relocation incentives to encourage working individuals and families from outside Wisconsin to move to Vernon County and establish primary residency.

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Gov. Evers, WEDC announce $5 million in Talent Recruitment Grants to 17 communities Funds will support innovative local projects to attract out-of-state workers to Wisconsin MADISON, WI.

MAY 8, 2026 — Gov. Tony Evers, in collaboration with the Wisconsin Economic Corporation (WEDC), announced today that 17 communities and community organizations will receive a total of $5 million in Talent Recruitment Grants (TRG) to help strengthen the state’s workforce by attracting new workers and their families.

The 2025-27 biennial state budget signed by Gov. Evers last year provides $5 million in grants of up to $500,000 each to Wisconsin cities, villages, towns, counties, and American Indian Tribes or bands, as well as nonprofits with a mission of economic development, workforce and talent development, or community development to attract out-of-state workers to Wisconsin.

“The Talent Recruitment Grants represent an investment in our state’s current and long-term growth,” said Gov. Evers. “These grants will help communities across our state to meet their workforce needs through innovative, targeted, community-specific approaches. ” “Workers and their families don’t just throw a dart at a map and move somewhere.

These are important, life-changing decisions,” said John W. Miller, secretary and CEO of WEDC, the state’s leading economic development organization. “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.

” The local projects range from initiatives to attract military veterans with experience as medics and corpsmen to healthcare jobs in Shawano and Brown counties, to drawing engineers and highly skilled workers to emerging technology businesses in Rock County, to helping first-time homebuyers and families put down roots in Crawford County.

Local leaders say the community-specific, focused aspect of the grants will result in greater success. “Crawford County has real momentum. Employers are actively recruiting from out of state, visitors fall in love with the area, and community partners across every sector are ready to act,” said Nikki Dudley, Executive Director of Driftless Development.

“What the TRG program offers is something we didn’t have before: a concrete, fundable reason for someone already interested in our area to actually make the move. For rural communities, that bridge between interest and action is everything. This program gives us the tools to close that gap.

” The communities sharing the $5 million in grants include: Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership (Marathon County) – $500,000 The Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership (GWPP) is launching the Marathon County Workforce Relocation and Retention Initiative, which will offer a comprehensive relocation and lifestyle incentive package to out-of-state workers relocating in Marathon County.

By focusing on high-value sectors like engineering and healthcare, the initiative ensures that the state’s investment will be directed to positions that drive regional gross domestic product (GDP) and increase productivity. The combination of direct financial incentives and a lifestyle-focused onboarding process creates a robust soft-landing for new Wisconsin residents, significantly increasing the likelihood of long-term retention.

Driftless Development, Inc. (Crawford County) – $500,000 The project by Driftless Development, Inc. (DDI) will offer an innovative, forgivable mortgage structure to incentivize long-term residency. The Crawford County initiative is a model for rural talent attraction that prioritizes retention as heavily as recruitment.

By employing a performance-based incentive structure— where the financial benefit is earned through years of residency— the project protects the state’s investment and ensures new households will become permanent fixtures in the community.

With significant local bank participation and established housing counseling partnerships, DDI is prepared to provide a soft landing for newcomers that leads to lasting civic and economic contributions.

Wisconsin Technology Council (Rock County) – $475,000 The Wisconsin Technology Council (WTC) project focuses on filling specialized, in-person roles within Rock County’s burgeoning emerging technology sectors, such as artificial intelligence, fusion energy, semiconductors, and quantum technologies.

By focusing on these roles and sectors, the project ensures the state’s investments in innovation will be met with the necessary human capital to scale. The project’s innovative shared database and candidate referral model maximize every out-of-state lead, ensuring that even if a candidate is not hired by one firm, their information is available to other employers.

This program is a vital catalyst for transitioning Rock County from its manufacturing legacy into a global leader in next-generation technology. Employ Milwaukee (City of Milwaukee) – $455,763 Employ Milwaukee/City of Milwaukee is launching It’s Better in Milwaukee, a strategically designed talent recruitment program that moves beyond traditional financial-only incentives to create a durable “welcome ecosystem.

” By integrating direct relocation payments with essential support services — such as housing concierge and spouse/partner career navigation — the project systematically addresses the primary documented causes of relocation failure.

This approach not only fulfills immediate workforce needs in mission-critical sectors like biohealth, engineering, information technology (IT), and policing but also establishes a permanent infrastructure for municipal population growth that will outlast the grant period. Appleton Downtown, lnc.

(City of Appleton) – $450,000 Appleton Downtown Inc. (ADI) aims to attract creative professionals, such as artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, sound technicians, and artisanal food and beverage makers. This “creative class” of workers will serve as a catalyst for growth, helping to reverse the city’s documented population decline and loss of retail businesses.

This initiative will offer robust financial incentives coupled with a proven professional accelerator designed to increase an artist’s earned income. Through established partnerships with the Trout Museum of Art and gener8tor, ADI is ready to turn new households into permanent civic stakeholders, helping ensure that Appleton evolves into a premier, resilient cultural destination. New North, lnc.

(Shawano County) – $425,000 The New North Hires Heroes initiative is a collaborative regional effort aimed at recruiting transitioning service members and their families to Northeast and Central Wisconsin. The project serves as a strategic bridge between the New North and Centergy regions, with Shawano County acting as a focal point for rural outreach.

By focusing on the unique and highly skilled military-connected community, New North, Inc. is importing leadership, technical expertise, and family-oriented households that drive long-term community vibrancy. Shawano County holds specific strategic value due to its cultural readiness and economic appeal.

The county’s veteran population is 20% higher than both state and national averages, providing an immediate support structure for new arrivals. Economically, the area offers a cost of living below the national average and an average commute of less than 16 minutes.

Envision Greater Fond du Lac Foundation, Inc. (Fond du Lac County) – $345,920 Envision Greater Fond du Lac Foundation, Inc. is partnering with MakeMyMove, a national relocation marketplace, to proactively recruit move-ready, out-of-state talent. By shifting from broad-based marketing to a targeted, incentive-backed recruitment model, Envision Greater Fond du Lac is actively engineering a sustainable demographic shift.

The integration of national recruitment technology with deep local employer engagement makes this a low-risk, high-impact investment for the state.

Green County Economic Development – $260,000 By helping first-time homebuyers and integrating a mandatory five-year volunteer requirement, Green County Economic Development’s initiative ensures that out-of-state talent does not just move to the county but becomes an active part of its community fabric.

Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce – $250,000 The grant will sustain the current Make Your Mark talent attraction and retention program, a multi-channel, data-driven recruitment strategy. The program employs a full-time transition support specialist who provides personalized, independent guidance to new residents regarding housing, childcare, healthcare, and community resources.

By shifting the focus to a holistic transition and integration model, this project will ensure that out-of-state talent doesn’t just fill a vacancy but builds a life in Wisconsin. Kenosha Area Business Alliance (Kenosha County) – $240,000 The Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) will launch a comprehensive talent attraction campaign built upon the existing “Life Balanced Kenosha” initiative.

By combining aggressive out-of-state recruitment with a structured soft-landing through the Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood and “Life Balanced” ambassadors, KABA ensures that new residents are not just hired, but become permanent fixtures 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.

Milwaukee County – $217,000 Milwaukee County will implement a targeted, multi-channel out-of-state public sector recruitment and relocation strategy to fill persistent vacancies in critical, hard-to-fill public sector roles — such as skilled trades, landscape architects, medical examiners, engineers, zookeepers, and registered nurses — that currently yield minimal to no qualified local applicants.

By coupling a nationwide multi-channel outreach strategy with direct relocation assistance, the county is prepared to effectively reduce the geographic and financial barriers that keep top-tier talent from moving to the region. This investment will not only ensure the continuity of essential public services but also serve as a catalyst for significant economic growth and community resilience. Heroes for Healthcare, lnc.

(Brown County) – $200,000 Heroes for Healthcare is aimed at attracting veteran households — specifically medics, corpsmen, medical technicians, and veterans with registered nurse licenses — to Brown County to address critical workforce needs in its healthcare sector.

By leveraging the specialized, state-codified Wisconsin medics and corpsmen pathway, the project provides an immediate pool of medically trained talent into a system with high nursing vacancy rates.

The initiative offers a comprehensive relocation and retention model that targets high-value veteran households, ensuring they are rooted in the community through housing support, spouse employment assistance, and long-term professional development. Family Friendly Workplaces, Inc. (Burnett, Polk, St.

Croix, and Pierce counties) – $165,985 Family Friendly Workplaces, Inc. (FFW) is launching an employer-integrated talent recruitment initiative across a four-county region in northwestern Wisconsin.

The project uses two pathways: the Employer Pathway, which connects incentives to accepted job offers from Certified Family Friendly employers in high-demand sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, education, and local government, and the Young-Family Pathway, which prioritizes households with dependent children or those expecting a child to ensure long-term community impact.

The project will include direct relocation incentives which will be verified after a six-month residency period as well as the enhancement of the regional digital talent attraction platform, www. discovernwwi. com.

By focusing on Certified Family Friendly employers and prioritizing young-family households, the initiative ensures that newcomers are integrated into stable workplace cultures and community social anchors, such as local schools. City of Oshkosh – $117,500 The Onboard to Oshkosh program represents a highly professionalized and strategically sound approach to municipal talent attraction.

By evolving an internal city-employee reimbursement program into a community-wide integration system, Oshkosh is positioning itself to successfully navigate the impending retirement cliff facing its manufacturing and healthcare sectors.

The program will use data-informed, professional marketing to reach mid-career professionals and young families in high-demand fields like IT, education, and skilled trades, and will incorporate existing civic assets like Greater Oshkosh Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. (GO-HNI) to ensure new residents move beyond simple relocation to active civic participation and long-term residency.

The Driftless Bound program primarily focuses on providing direct cash relocation incentives to out-of-state residents aged 25–54, addressing the financial strain often associated with moving. The Driftless Bound program identifies clear demographic challenges — specifically an aging population and declining school enrollment — and offers a direct, localized solution.

By focusing on high-impact relocation incentives, the county is positioned to convert prospective interest into permanent residency, thereby stabilizing the regional workforce and essential community services. Given the unanimous local board support and the county’s demonstrated administrative capacity, this project is a low-risk, high-reward investment.

Cassville Economic Development Corporation (Village of Cassville) $106,670 The Cassville Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) project centers on a soft-landing approach that combines financial relocation incentives with deep social and recreational integration.

This soft-landing approach simultaneously unlocks the dead capital of nearly 100 vacant homes in the community, driving private investment into property rehabilitation that elevates the entire village’s tax base and aesthetic. Furthermore, the program strengthens the broader Southwest Wisconsin economy by providing a high-quality residential hub for professionals commuting to regional employers such as John Deere and Rite Hite.

Ultimately, this initiative will transform Cassville from a quiet river town into a competitive rural tech destination, maximizing the return on investment (ROI) of existing digital and natural assets to ensure a sustainable and vibrant fiscal future. City of Medford – $100,000 The LIVE Medford program will reduce financial barriers to relocation and position Medford as a competitive destination for long-term residency.

By leveraging existing relationships with program alumni and deep partnerships with major employers, the program maximizes the likelihood of successful, long-term relocation. The project’s innovative focus on restoring essential healthcare services — like the local birthing center — demonstrates how talent recruitment can directly improve the quality of life for an entire region.

With a ready housing inventory and a dedicated municipal subdivision, Medford has removed one of the primary obstacles to growth and is ready to move from being a primarily commuter-driven community to a permanent base for residents. Some of the grants may be subject to further review by WEDC. Funding for the projects will last from two to three years, depending on the details of each program.

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