Single-family and multifamily housing units have recently been built in Shawano, Bonduel and Wittenberg, but Peter Thillman said more work still needs to be done for supply to meet demand in Shawano County.
Thillman, executive director of Shawano Community Economic Progress Inc., provided an annual update to the Shawano County Board on June 24.
He thanked the board for investing in a 2022 housing study.
“It is now paying dividends,” Thillman said. “We are having projects opening in Bonduel, and Wittenberg later this year. We still need to build more multifamily and single-family housing, so we’re addressing the housing shortage.”
Bonduel and Shawano both completed single-family subdivisions, and both communities are actively working on more.
“Unfortunately, housing prices are not going down,” Thillman said. “That’s something we would like to address. I am still having a hard time with starter homes at $450,000.”
Shawano has approved a multi-unit “twindo” (a style of duplex housing where two adjacent units share a single continuous structure, but each is individually owned) project to add more owner-occupied, zero-entry options to the market.
Outreach continues with developers and builders, especially for the single-family builders.
Thillman is working with Marion and Pulaski to develop housing and other commercial activities.
Countywide, supply still lags behind demand by about 2,500 units.
Thillman said a Thrive Rural Wisconsin project closed in Bonduel, after the village established a redevelopment authority and received three grants for $150,000 total to get that going.
A Thrive Rural Wisconsin project in Wittenberg is now getting underway.
“(The intent is) to establish a redevelopment authority and redevelop their downtown and get things moving in the right direction,” he said.
Communities that participate in Thrive Rural Wisconsin receive project management, financial support and technical assistance to advance local and regional initiatives and connect them to the resources they need to be successful.
SCEPI is part of a consortium of regional economic development organizations New North and Centergy that will have a Hiring Heroes program. It will be based in Shawano County.
“It’s a program where they go out and they recruit those leaving military service to … come to northeast Wisconsin, primarily Shawano County, for open job opportunities,” Thillman said.
The program grant was for $250,000.
Thillman also noted that employment remained relatively flat between 2024 and 2025 with the labor force staying consistently above 20,000. The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.1%, which is considered full employment.
Finally, Shawano County has been experiencing an overall decline in population that accelerated after the 2008 Great Recession. That trend appears to be over as the county’s population is now on the upswing.
“For the first time in about 40 years, Shawano County is actually growing in population,” Thillman said. “We’re making a turnaround, and we’re growing the community once again.”
Since the COVID era, the county has added nearly 2,000 new residents, and that trend looks to continue going forward.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
