Business – �鶹��Ƶ

Maximizing economic development through the Waupaca Recreation Center expansion project

Ada Inman — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 21:16:25 +0000

The City of Waupaca, located in Central Wisconsin, seeks to serve its residents through an expansion of its existing Recreation Center. This expansion will encompass a Business Service Center tailored for remote workers and business owners, in addition to offering telehealth services to patrons. This initiative has been supported by a $4.1 million grant from the Flexible Facilities Program to revitalize the existing property and expand the recreation center to provide access to work, education, and health services through improved infrastructure.

With the architectural plans in place and the deadline for breaking ground approaching, it was crucial to identify the unmet needs of the Waupaca community
and create research-based recommendations to best serve potential users of the Business Service Center. In order to determine key technological resources, furnishing needs, and program offerings, the team conducted secondary research on similar co-working spaces in other cities, and developed two surveys to generate community feedback. In essence, the intended outcome was to enhance the resources available to the Waupaca community ensuring that the new space not only reflected the diverse needs of all potential users, but was also flexible enough to evolve with any future objective.

Contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Scaling the Deforest Dragon Art Fair

Ada Inman — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:49:06 +0000

The Dragon Art Fair is a juried annual arts and craft fair of 100+ artists and vendors held the 1st Saturday in June in Fireman’s Park, DeForest, WI. This fair was started in 2004 by Merry Poast & Julie Wills who ran the fair under the Dragon Arts Group for the past 20 years, and cultivated a loyal following of attendees and returning vendors from DeForest and beyond.

The leaders of the Dragon Art Fair decided to hand off the management of the fair to the Village of DeForest in 2024. While the municipality inherited many existing practices, they sought Bolz Center student consultants to further improve the fair.

Consultants used many data collection methods including a survey distributed locally and online, Zoom-based focus groups with DeForest residents, and field
research. Key findings revealed that customers highly value local artists and desire a variety of art types at the fair. While there were some limitations, this
study provides valuable insights into community preferences and recommendations for streamlining vendor management, improving marketing to increase audience, increasing attendee satisfaction and boosting economic impact throughout the community. These recommendations can be used not only for
the upcoming 2025 Dragon Art Fair but all the DeForest Dragon Art Fairs to come.

Contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Developing an equipment replacement fund plan

Ada Inman — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 16:23:19 +0000

To help the Village of Mount Pleasant effectively plan and budget for the replacement of equipment across departments, this report provides an equipment replacement schedule for years 2025 through 2040. Contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu [...]

Alternative Business Uses for Cannabis Growing Facilities

Ada Inman — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 20:46:59 +0000

The Port of Willapa Harbor hosts numerous businesses dedicated to growing cannabis indoors. The economics for cannabis production and value-added products continues to evolve as additional states pursue legalization and changes are proposed for federal restrictions on banking services and controlled substance use. Existing tenants of the Port who grow cannabis and/or prepare/distribute cannabis-based products muse about converting these facilities to support other specialty agriculture or horticultural crops, or re-purposing the buildings to other uses where the infrastructure buildout provides a logical foundation. The Pacific County Economic Development Council believes research into possible alternative uses for these facilities is needed. Students will create an inventory to assess the capacities and capabilities of every cannabis grow building in the Port’s ownership, and research other industry groups that require similar or adjacent environmental controls and/or utilities capacities. A report will summarize their findings and analysis and suggest business alternatives that significantly leverage existing infrastructure.

Long Beach Convention Center

Ada Inman — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 20:44:50 +0000

Pacific County Economic Development Council’s interest in a conference center for Long Beach has been nurtured for many years. The convention center presents an opportunity to grow tourism revenues through group travel for meetings, conferences, education events, and other programs that can be highly valued. The appeal of such visitor traffic is especially compelling for the less popular months for Pacific County tourism – the so-called “shoulder season” months of October through April. The student report and presentation materials will synthesize interviews, comparable convention center case studies, phased plans for development, initial and sustained financial investment, necessary community-wide supporting business and labor infrastructure, expected marketing and promotion plan, and operating staff roles.

Oakridge Industrial Park Marketing

Ada Inman — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 17:47:40 +0000

The City of Oakridge acquired the Oakridge Industrial Park (OIP) in the mid- 1990s and still owns 13 parcels that are available for sale or lease. The City would like to develop a strategic marketing program for the OIP, leveraging industrial and commercial market trends to target specific industrial sectors. SCYP partnered with the Oregon Consulting Group (OCG) to analyze targeted industry data and recommend measures to attract industry more effectively for parcels zoned Heavy Industrial, Light Industrial, or Mixed Use. Students sought to answer the research question: How can the City of Oakridge most effectively incentivize companies to expand into its industrial park to incite long-term economic growth? Students then worked in four stages to analyze the current state, conduct primary and secondary research, identify retail and industrial target companies, and create a pitch for recruitment. The following final report outlines student’s findings to include three key deliverables: a list of six companies for the OIP to target, a scoring system that ranked said companies and is adaptable for future use, and a flexible pitch deck and strategic marketing plan for the City of Oakridge to utilize moving forward.

Tigard Microgrid Feasibility Study

Ada Inman — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 21:39:33 +0000

The information presented in this report was collected through interviews with significant stakeholders from the City of Tigard, Portland General Electric (PGE), real estate developers, business owners, and specialists from the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO). The University of Oregon, in partnership with the City of Tigard, has synthesized this information to build a feasibility study for the deployment of solar microgrids in the city. This project seeks to answer the fundamental question: How can Tigard deploy microgrids using distributed renewable energy generation and battery storage at both the building and district scale to provide equity, resiliency, economic, and sustainability benefits to the public, local businesses, the city, and the utility company and its grid? Across the world, renewable resources are being deployed at ever increasing rates to replace fossil fuel generation sources in the race to achieve net‐zero carbon emissions. This adoption has been encouraged in the United States by a rapid decrease in technology costs and favorable policies at the federal and state levels. Solar power’s low cost, limited maintenance demands, and infinitely renewable energy source make it a perfect solution for building resilience in preparation for emergencies. Tigard and the rest of the Pacific Northwest are under the constant threat of wildfires and face the possibility of a massive Cascadia earthquake, which was famously reported on by The New Yorker magazine in 2015 (1). To prepare for this possibility, Tigard is exploring the case for creating a single user microgrid (SUM) that would provide energy to the public library, which will serve as the emergency operations center in times of need. In an effort to achieve Tigard’s sustainability objectives and transform the city into a clean energy leader in Oregon, the team is also exploring the expansion of this microgrid to include the Hunziker Core, a light industrial and manufacturing district located just north of the library. The core is dominated by warehouses and large commercial buildings with vast surface parking lots that provide opportunity for rooftop and ground mounted canopy solar. The district scale application of microgrid technology creates benefits for the grid, the utility, the owner of the generating assets, the City, and local businesses, particularly those that value resilient power. This multi‐user microgrid (MUM) is, however, the most complex system to fund and manage because of the potential number of generating facilities, owners, and user profiles. The implementation of the district scale MUM could be facilitated by the City’s enthusiastic endorsement and extensive cooperation from the utility, PGE.

Assessing public spaces for arts and cultural programming in Cottage Grove

Ada Inman — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 21:52:27 +0000

The Village of Cottage Grove lies 20 minutes east of Madison, Wisconsin. The village, home to almost 8,500 residents, features several parks, businesses, and schools. The creation and importance of public art in these spaces are paramount to the types of civic pride that can help create a sense of community. In a 2023 survey by Dane County regarding public art, 81% of those surveyed agreed with the statement, “This venue or facility is an important pillar for me within my community.” By working closely with the Cottage Grove local government, employing historical data about the area, drawing on outside research about the nature and process of public art, and spending time in the community visiting the potential sites, our team seeks to make a recommendation to the Village of Cottage Grove detailing potential sites for the installation of public area. Our review of areas for public investment is based on criteria derived through our analysis of primary and secondary data. Area recommendations will not cover the specificities of the art in the space. Instead, our recommendations seek to create a catalog that defines areas of interest for future public art investment.

UniverCity Contact Info: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Developing a public art strategy for the Village of Cottage Grove

Ada Inman — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 21:27:59 +0000

The Village of Cottage Grove is embarking on its inaugural public arts strategy to enrich community engagement, commemorate its centennial, and foster cultural vitality. Employing a mixed-method approach, the project entails qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys targeting 250 respondents, representing 2.5% of the village’s population. These methods help gauge public art preferences and perceptions among residents, leaders, business owners, and government officials. Preliminary insights from interviews underscore residents’ appreciation for Village history and art, while input from peer municipalities offers valuable guidance for effective public art initiatives. Recommendations for Cottage Grove encompass establishing a formal public art strategy, creating a public art commission, and collaborating with local artists and organizations. Ongoing data analysis will inform the crafting of a public arts vision statement, setting specific goals, and devising actionable steps for implementation, with considerations for community support, financial constraints, and potential impacts such as gentrification.

Intending to position Cottage Grove as an arts and culture hub, the public arts strategy seeks to showcase the community’s distinct identity and heritage through reflective public art installations. By emphasizing realism and sustainability through public art, the village is encouraged to pursue recommendations aligned with community interests while remaining adaptable to continuous evaluation and adjustment of strategies over time. This comprehensive approach celebrates Cottage Grove’s past and present. It cultivates a dynamic cultural landscape that resonates with residents and visitors alike, promoting the village as a vibrant destination for arts and artistic exploration.

UniverCity Contact Info: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Lodging Feasibility Study

Ada Inman — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 19:26:32 +0000

The purpose of this project is to study the feasibility of attracting additional lodging within Snohomish city limits. The city is currently only served by one hotel and approximately 20-25 short-term rentals. Tourism is generally considered to be an important part of the Snohomish economy, and lodging taxes allow the City to fund projects or events that draw visitors to Snohomish. However, limited lodging undermines the positive feedback loop that the lodging tax is intended to create: lodging stays fund tourism promotion, leading to more lodging stays. This feasibility study should seek to understand the market demand for lodging within Snohomish city limits. Could the city support another hotel? Would it compete with the Snohomish Inn or have its own niche? Where is the optimal location? What about alternative lodging types? If the City should pursue additional lodging, how should it market itself?