February 2, 2023 at 11:11 a.m.
Tiffany rep visits with Minocqua labor/housing committee
Tiffany rep visits with Minocqua labor/housing committee
By Trevor Greene-
Holdorf listed a number of different grant opportunities at the federal level which might be of interest to the town. He also learned more about Minocqua's labor and housing situation and the committee's purpose.
Concerns expressed by the committee will be taken back to Tiffany and the rest of his staff to discuss further and to see if anything can be done to help, he noted.
Committee member Michael Tautges explained the committee and town's goal is to encourage more workers to come to the community - and not just low-income workers.
"We're not particularly seeking out low-income housing specifically," Tautges said. "There's been some conversation about somehow tying some of this to actual jobs (too)."
"I believe at the federal government level due to current regulations and due to certain positions people hold that that is not something that is a top priority of the federal government," Holdorf said. "Particularly the executive branch. I think the focus is more on low-income and equitable housing. And that's just my honest opinion."
He then asked the committee what exactly it is the town is looking for from Tiffany's office with regard to legislation.
"That's a pretty loaded question," committee member Bob Jaskolski said.
"We're such a high demand tourism area that the price of housing has gone up to the point where the workers that we need to fill all of our jobs here can't really afford to live in this region," Tautges said. "We've been having the schools coming in and saying they're low on teachers and have to get them from an hour away. So we're trying to figure out what kind of housing we need to build or incentivize here locally."
Tautges told Holdorf this is because the area has an aging population struggling to keep up in supporting its growing tourism.
It's seasonal too, Jaskolski explained. It's become harder and harder to house foreign exchange students working locally in the summers, he said.
He added one housing development he was involved in shows no return on investment besides the fact that it provides people to work the jobs needing to be filled.
"The second challenge around J1 housing ... is the fact that in order to qualify for that you have to show that you have a need," Jaskolski said. "When you look at the calendar, yes absolutely we meet that criteria during the summer months, but as you look at the rest of the year, you still have a significant portion of tourism that happens in the fall and as we get into the holidays. So that becomes a real struggle."
Looking at the committee's findings so far, Tautges told Holdorf the local situation is really starting to show the strain it's had on local services, such as the dwindling number of volunteer firefighters.
Committee member Erika Petersen told Holdorf, as an example, recent regulatory changes for people to receive commercial drivers licenses have made it harder and more expensive for businesses to find those types of workers.
This is one federal regulation, she said, which plays its part in the labor struggle of the local economy.
"The challenge that we have is so multifaceted when you start looking at ... trying to find workers but it's also we're trying to find affordable housing," Jaskolski said. "And then you have the spidering pieces off of that that says we're short on daycares. All the pieces start meshing together (when) we try to build a workforce here."
"Well, I can tell you guys you're not alone," Holdorf said. "This is something we hear time and time again, not just across the district but across the state. And many times nationally, it's an issue. I don't have the right answer ... and I know this is something that Tom is aware of and Tom is passionate about. It could be easy to say reduce regulations, cut X regulation ... this or that ... but, like you guys were saying ... a lot of it is supply and demand of commodities. And how to come back from COVID and how to get people back."
Funding options Holdorf provided can be found by searching: SAM.gov; grants.gov; HUD.gov/states/wisconsin/communityhome); home investment partnership program; Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act through the Department of Labor; competitive grants and loans provided by the Department of Agriculture's rural housing service; Department of Labor's YouthBuild program; Department of Labor's dislocated worker grants; Department of Labor's H-1B skill training grant; a low income housing tax credit with information to be found at Wisconsin's housing and economic authority website; candid.org; the Grantsmanship Center; and the Council on Foundations.
"As far as federal assistance, and a combination of state and federal assistance, that's pretty much what we got," he said.
Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].
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