Both futurists and historians will refer to current events happening in the world as a “Time of Disruption.” A time of disruption is when something comes along that so changes the fundamental situation that previous trends are basically irrelevant.
It is a time of uncertainty and of worry. We worry about our children, parents, jobs, business leaders and their employees, healthcare workers, elected officials, country, world – the list goes on and on, and I admit this worry keeps me up at night. Being up at night does have some benefits though. It allows me time to listen to presentations by people who can lift my thinking from my (sometimes) feelings of doom and despair to thinking about how we can take advantage of this moment to make our businesses and communities better and more resilient for the future.
Last night I listened to a webinar by Rebecca Ryan. You may remember Ryan as the “human spark plug” who kicked off our UniverCity Year event a couple years ago. She’s a world-renowned futurist and economist and she brought together other great minds to talk about this concept of moving from “what was” to “what can be.”
It’s hard to think of the future when we’re in the middle of a crisis. Business people are asking me, “When are things going to get back to normal?” I’ve been pondering whether we want to just get the past back. Is that good enough? How are we going to be great? How can we better support each other?
I don’t have the answers, but I know they exist in our communities. We need to remember that we are going to get through this. And we are going to get through this together. Not just because of ourselves, but because we participated for members of our community. We need to hold on to that spirit as we think about how much and how fast we need to change the future. In the meantime, Ryan implores us that we need to give ourselves the grace to be upset and to be wrong. Lower your expectation that you’re going to get it right every time, but continue to move forward.
“What Could Be” for Housing in Green County
According to the Housing Study completed last year, Green County is expected to need an additional 2,578 housing units by 2030. This includes 233 housing units in Belleville; 152 units in Brodhead; 522 units in Monroe; 38 units in Monticello; and 88 units in New Glarus.
Action needs to happen to incentivize private housing investment in Green County. Based on recommendations in the study, Southwest Community Action Program (SWCAP) has come up with an innovative solution to incentivize single family housing. SWCAP has offered to be the applicant for Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) tax credits to build single family rental homes in a number of communities in southwest Wisconsin. SWCAP has also offered to manage those properties.
More than 40 participants from every community in Green County recently dialed in for a webinar to find out more. Rather than a WHEDA application for 80 units in ONE community, SWCAP will submit an application that covers a number of communities. For example, Brodhead may decide it needs 15 units, Monticello needs 10, Monroe needs 20, Dodgeville needs 15, Potosi needs 10. We’ll work together with other communities in southwest Wisconsin and SWCAP to put that proposal together. Each community has the ability to decide what types of units they want, but the basic model is three-bedroom, single-family houses of 1,500 square feet with attached garage.
The application for this program is due in December. A lot needs to be done by each community before then, if they are interested. The current crisis makes meeting and decision-making more difficult. However, as one community leader said, “It is our duty not to procrastinate because something may be difficult, but to forge forward with great determination until it is accomplished.”
Well said. If you need additional information about this housing opportunity, contact us at GCDC at gcdc@tds.net.
“What Could Be” for Businesses in Green County
There is financial assistance available to help businesses get through this crisis and thrive in the months to come.
At the moment, we are aware of three main funding options: Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loans; Paycheck Protection Program Loans; and Unemployment payments for the self-employed.
Explanations of each of these programs and their applications (if available) are available on our GCDC website: https://greencountyedc.com/covid19/.
Please remember our Small Business Development Center business consultants are always available to you with free, confidential assistance to fill out applications and help you think about “what could be” for your business future. Contact business consultants Kristi Smith or Jason Schleip directly at swwisbdc@uwex.edu. A window is opening for us to consider “What Could Be” in Green County. Every day we need to work to bring something that’s useful, something that can help our businesses and communities get through this and be stronger than ever.
— Cara Carper is executive director at Green County Development Corporation. She can be reached at cara.gcdc@tds.net.
