Insight on Business

September 2015

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36 | I NSIGH T • S e p t e m b e r 2 0 15 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m I N S I G H T O N E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T B y S e a n P. J o h n s o n D on't let the quiet of the Northwoods fool you. Blessed with historic towns, tracts of dense forests and some of the state's remaining wild rivers, it can be easy to forget there are thousands of businesses and people working in a variety of industries from shipbuilding to precision machining. It's not all about fishing, hunting and enjoying the great outdoors. "I think people are always surprised at the variety of businesses we have in the area," says Ann Hartnell, executive director of the Marinette County Association for Business & Industry. "We are seeing an upswing and we are seeing people who grew up here moving back because the companies and jobs are here for them." e economic indicators certainly paint a better picture in 2015 than just a few years ago. In Marinette County, for example, the unemployment rate for the county has been dropping steadily since a high of more than 13 percent in 2010 — the latest published unemployment rate was 5.9 percent. Other counties in the region — Florence, Menominee and Oconto — have seen similar improvements. Certainly, the success of Marinette Marine in securing construction contracts for the U.S. Navy's littoral combat ships has created and retained hundreds of jobs for Something old, something new Northwoods embraces modern industries of past and present C O U R T E S Y W I D N R [continued ] » Northeast Wisconsin's hardwood industry plans to embark on a new project to market its collective capacity and capabilities in order to capitalize on opportunities the mills can't meet individually.

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