$1.28 million grant to aid Wood Technology Center of Excellence

The Economic Development Administration in August awarded a $1.28 million grant to Langlade County and Northcentral Technical College for the construction of the Wood Technology Center of Excellence. The project is expected to create more than 400 jobs and generate $14 million in private investment.

North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (NCWRPC) collaborated with Langlade County and NTC to prepare the EDA grant. The Wood Technology Center of Excellence will be built on NTC’s Antigo campus. Construction of the 22,000 square foot facility is expected to begin this fall. The project is intended to strengthen the wood products manufacturing sector which employs more than 8,700 people throughout the region, and will provide the training needed to keep this region competitive in the wood products manufacturing sector.

The NCWRPC is a voluntary association of governments created in 1973 by state statute to provide professional planning assistance in a ten county region, made up of Adams, Forest, Juneau, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Vilas and Wood Counties.

MOVERS

>> >> Allison Page has been named CEO of Baldwin Area Medical Center, where she has served as interim CEO since January. >> Jacquelyn Goodman is the new cooperative education manager and counselor at UW-Stout’s Career Service Office. >> John Foschi is the new financial director for the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation. >> Paul Barstad has been elected to partner at Wiplfi LLC. Barstad works in the firm’s Eau Claire office. He is in charge of the western Wisconsin manufacturing and distribution practice group and is also one of the leaders in the paperless audit movement.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

EAU CLAIRE: According to the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) Population and Housing estimates released in August 2009, the city of Eau Claire has the third largest population gain in Wisconsin. With 588 new residents gained during 2008, Eau Claire is only behind the cities of Madison (1,050 new residents) and Waukesha (770 new residents). This represents a 0.9 percent growth which is significantly higher than the state’s average of 0.2 percent.