Economic development news from Milwaukee covering the past several months includes -

Yorktown LLC will receive a Blight Elimination and Brownfield Redevelopment (BEBR) grant of $381,700 from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to help redevelop a 12-acre site in Milwaukee, Wis.  “Vacant lands hold so much potential for new growth and vitality,” said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. “These grants are a great way to help grow businesses, create jobs, and energize communities.”  Yorktown LLC is redeveloping the site to create space for a recently-formed manufacturer of recycled products. Additional property will be used for warehousing for two businesses. The project will create 18 full-time positions. Total project cost is $3,945,000.

Wisconsin economic development officials recently announced that 1890 Commerce, LLC of Milwaukee will receive a Blight Elimination and Brownfield Redevelopment (BEBR) grant of $150,000 to help redevelop land to construct condominiums.   “Cleaning up brownfields is about more than just renewing damaged or vacant land,” said Gov. Jim Doyle. “It’s about renewing the pride of a community, and restoring jobs and productivity. 1890 Commerce, LLC, is doing that by creating a new residential complex.”  1890 Commerce, LLC, is planning to erect two six-story condominium buildings along Milwaukee’s riverwalk. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) funds will be used for site remediation and development of Infrastructure. Total project cost is $13,682,857.

Milwaukee’s employment growth rate showed a “modestly encouraging” trend in December, improving its ranking among other major cities, according to a new report (Feb. 2008) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  Still, the report from the Center for Economic Development says that Milwaukee had a net addition of just 22 employed residents in the latest 12-month period, an increase of 0.01%.   Although Milwaukee’s ranking among the 50 largest cities improved to 32nd in December, from 41st in November, signs of continued sluggish growth prompted the report’s author, Marc Levine, to say Milwaukee “appears to be on the edge of the recession threatening the national economy.”

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