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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m M a r c h 2 0 14 • I nsIgh t | 11 » HigHWay 41 CORRidOR Brown, Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac Counties Oneida Casino expansion adds Brown County jobs e oneida casino's $28 million renovation and expansion project will bring additional jobs and new dining experiences to Brown county by spring. e expansion plan includes an 8,000-square-foot, 103-seat countryville Bar & grill at the 2522 W. mason st. location, adding nine more slot machines to the larger, non-smoking slot areas that will be decorated in country music memorabilia. at the 2020 airport drive location, a 10,000-square-foot, three-station food court will be added. e dining options will include Boar's head deli, chicken Fry Fry and dick clark's american Bandstand express restaurants. a poker room and an 8,000-square-foot, 167-seat Vince Lombardi's Legendary sports Bar & grill will also be added. "It's a place that will rekindle feelings of nostalgia and bring locals together to cheer for their beloved team," says Louise cornelius, general manager of oneida casino. each facility has added more than 4,000 square feet of non-smoking slot areas. e casino expansion will create an additional 150 to 170 new food service jobs in the area. e oneida casino has the largest non-smoking slot square footage of any Wisconsin casino, according to Kimberly schuyler, oneida casino media planner. oneida casino also updated its 17-year-old eagle and sun logo to "represent the modernization and refreshed feel" of its gaming experience, says cornelius. » THE NORTHWOOds Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto Counties Counties propose project for forest management at a two-day public hearing in Rhinelander in october, oconto, Florence and Forest county officials proposed a pilot project to address what they say is the U.s. Forest service's mismanagement of Wisconsin's national forests, which they claim have led to the closing of many Wisconsin sawmills since the mid-2000s, says Paul ehrfurth, executive director of oconto county economic development and tourism corp. e pilot project would put the northwoods county governments in co-management relationships with the U.s. Forest service for selected portions of the chequamegon-nicolet national Forest (cnnF) within each of the three counties. "It is probably the most significant challenge and significant problem, and the most significant economic development potential in these northern counties," ehrfurth says. over the last 12 years, issues that ehrfurth believes have played a role in the mismanagement of national forests include a lack of budget increases, reduced staff, environmental groups filing lawsuits and lobbying in Washington and the overwhelming federal regulations that slow the bidding regional rounduP U P F R O N T For links to economic development groups in the New North, visit www.thenewnorth.com/ communitiesmap. Development in the New North B y F e l i c i a C l a r k [continued ] » Jadin says the meetings have been extremely productive. e RLc is learning how to best create support mechanisms and communication capacities that serve to better connect regional priorities to one another and to the state and other partners to help to move the regions and statewide economies progressively forward to compete in the global economy. "e RLc gives all of us an opportunity to get together and develop strategies for Wisconsin," says Pat o'Brien, president of the milwaukee development corp. and milwaukee 7 Region. as the state's most mature region for development, milwaukee's attraction strategy proactively woos new business to the metro area from germany and northern spain, where the manufacturing base is similar. "other Wisconsin regions can do some of this but not all. We can share elements of a unified approach by using the same playbook, from a local, regional and state economic development perspective," o'Brien says. Working together Peggy sullivan, executive director of central Wisconsin's centergy, Inc., said her region is looking for similar opportunities. Just like the new north's economic landscape, centergy, the central Wisconsin alliance for economic development is economically diverse, with a wide range of innovative businesses and industries. Included in that is an emerging, sustainable and bio-based technology and health care industry. sullivan points to the competitive nature of rapidly-developing improvements in other states, and sees the RLc's future working to aggressively partner to excel economically. "our regions are helping Wisconsin do whatever is necessary to attract and retain businesses, and we as leaders recognize there can be benefits from regular, formal and structured communication and collaboration across regional boundaries."