Menomonie (WQOW)-The Wisconsin Department of
Transportation awarded a grant on Wednesday that will help create jobs for a
local community.
The city of Menomonie was recently awarded the Transportation
Economic Assistance grant (TEA grant) in hopes of spurring the expansion of two
local businesses and creating 37 new jobs.
"That's what the TEA grant is
all about. We partner with local units of governments like the city of Menomonie here on pretty
much a 50/50 basis for jobs that we know will create jobs here in our state.
And so we're making transportation infrastructure investments that will grow
the economy and retain good family wage paying jobs in Wisconsin," says Mark Gottlieb,
Wisconsin Department of Transportation secretary.
The grant will pave the way for a
new street that will connect Indianhead
Drive to 3M Drive in the Menomonie Industrial Park.
That will help improve truck access to both Shape Products and Hidden Valley Industries.
"This partnership will pay for
about a third of the street project which otherwise we would've had to borrow
and pay for through the property tax base and through the annual tax levy so
this very important in our plan for the future and up-coming budgets that relieves
some pressure down the road," says Lowell Prange, Menomonie City Administrator.
Shape Products also plans to build a
36,000 square foot building that will be used as a warehouse.
"It allows us to expand our
existing businesses and to get into markets that we're not into now and expand
our product lines," says Jeff Hannack, Shape Products and Hidden Valley
Industries co-owner.
"It's very important for the
community to grow and be visible and we've been very successful in the past and
we want to continue that in the future," says Prange.
