Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/489016
w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m A p r i l 2 0 15 • I NSIGH T | 39 Good vibes Manitowoc County's recent economic development successes are showing up in the positive attitudes many of its corporate leaders have about the regional business climate. In a recent Manitowoc County Business survey, more than 51 percent of those responding rated the region's business climate as good or excellent. Another 23 percent gave the area a fair rating, bringing the total for positive responses to 74 percent. "We are looking forward to seeing those numbers go up even more as we make additional progress," says Wills. e same survey found that 85 percent of those companies planned to either maintain their current workforce or bring on additional employees this year. New face Sparacio, who is working on the Mirro project (among others) is a new face on the economic development scene in Manitowoc, though he's a familiar player in the greater New North region. He joined the city of Manitowoc in his role as community development director in late 2014 aer spending nearly six years as a planner for the city of Green Bay. A practitioner of placemaking to help drive economic development, Sparacio helped develop the master plan for downtown Green Bay that set the stage for its recent resurgence, including new corporate headquarters for Associated Bank and Schreiber Foods. He was also a key player in the mixed-use redevelopment of the Larsen Cannery property by Titletown Brewing Co. that includes additional brewing capacity, a tap room, a public market and office space. "I'm really hoping to bring that sort of vibe to Manitowoc," Sparacio says. "ere really are some great opportunities here." Previous to his experience in Green Bay, Sparacio worked with planning departments in Lincoln and Rusk counties.