Wausau, Medford secure grants to power talent recruitment

Meghan Diemel

Contributor

August 3, 2026

WAUSAU/MEDFORD – Two local organizations are among 17 Wisconsin communities and community groups receiving a share of $5 million in state Talent Recruitment Grants designed to attract workers and families to Wisconsin.

Announced May 8 by Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), the grants – per wedc.org – provide up to $500,000 per recipient for workforce and community development efforts.

Evers said the grants represent an investment in our state’s current and long-term growth.

“These grants will help communities across our state meet their workforce needs through innovative, targeted, community-specific approaches,” he said.

WEDC Secretary and CEO John W. Miller said workers and their families “don’t just throw a dart at a map” and move somewhere.

“These are important, life-changing decisions,” he said. “The Talent Recruitment Grants will make it easy for families looking to relocate to find jobs that fit their skills and allow them to grow in communities where they feel at home.”

Locally, the program will support efforts of the City of Medford and the Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership (GWPP), both selected as grant recipients.

Medford Mayor Laura Holmes said the city plans to use the funding to support the LIVE Medford program, an effort designed to reduce financial barriers for people considering relocation and strengthen Medford’s appeal as a place to live and work long term. 

GWPP Senior Director Renae Krings said the organization plans to launch the Marathon County Workforce Relocation and Retention Initiative, which will offer a comprehensive relocation and lifestyle incentive package to out-of-state workers moving to Marathon County.

Krings and Holmes said the community-specific focus of the grants will help create more targeted efforts and improve the likelihood of success. 

“When WEDC announced this grant, we saw it as a chance to take a more intentional approach to attracting talent and helping people see Greater Wausau as a place where they can build both a fulfilling career and a meaningful life,” Krings said. 

Agreeing, Holmes said the city recognizes the workforce challenges facing many industries locally, where business leaders have cited recruitment and retention concerns in recent years. 

“At one time, we had a working population of more than 12,000,” she said. “That’s much less now, [and] our employers have a hard time finding employees. So, this is a good way of helping attract people to come to Medford.”

Initiative targets out-of-state professionals

At its core, Krings GWPP’s purpose is to advance economic growth, workforce development and regional competitiveness.

Employers, she said, consistently point to workforce availability as a challenge, with many struggling to find enough workers to fill the positions needed to grow their businesses.

“The Greater Wausau region offers high-growth careers, affordable housing, incredible outdoor recreation and a great quality of life,” she said. “Our challenge isn’t that we don’t have a great place to live – it’s making sure people outside Wisconsin know about it.”

Krings said GWPP was honored to receive one of the largest awards of $500,000 to support the later-summer launch of its relocation and retention initiative.

“Through this initiative, we’re introducing Greater Wausau to out-of-state professionals and families who may never have considered relocating here,” she said. “By combining employer partnerships, quality-of-life experiences, relocation support and community engagement, we’re creating a pathway that helps people discover both career opportunities and a place where they can thrive.” 

Krings said the program is designed to help eligible out-of-state professionals and their families make Greater Wausau their new home.

Selected participants, she said, may receive up to $14,000 in incentives, including relocation and residency support, along with personalized guidance and connections to local employers, housing resources, quality of life experiences and community integration opportunities.

Krings said the program will help participants discover everything Greater Wausau has to offer, and seamlessly begin building their next chapter there.

She said she hopes the pilot becomes the foundation for a long-term talent attraction strategy that strengthens the region’s workforce, supports local employers and contributes to the continued growth of the region. 

Krings said the initiative has been a collaborative effort, with the award reflecting what can be accomplished when a region works together toward a shared goal. 

“Employers, educational institutions, municipalities, philanthropy, tourism, workforce partners, chambers of commerce and community organizations all played a role in bringing this initiative to life because we recognize that attracting talent is a shared responsibility,” she said.

The GWPP will focus on high-value sectors like engineering and health care, Krings said, to ensure the state’s investment will be directed to positions that drive regional gross domestic product (GDP) and increase productivity.

It’s hoped, she said, that the combination of direct financial incentives and a lifestyle-focused onboarding process creates a robust, soft landing for new Wisconsin residents, nurturing the likelihood of long-term retention.

“Visit Wausau will play a key role in telling the ‘basecamp’ story and highlighting the quality of life that makes Greater Wausau so special,” she said. “Together, we’re creating an experience that helps people discover a community where they can see themselves building a future.”

LIVE Medford addresses healthcare workforce, beyond

Though still in its early stages, city leaders said they believe the LIVE Medford initiative’s unique approach could have a broader impact by strengthening the community’s quality of life beyond simply adding new residents. 

City Coordinator Joe Harris said the name LIVE itself is intentional, reflecting the vision behind the program. 

“L [stands for] loan, because we’re going to help with the loan-closing costs – we’ll pay that,” he said. “The I [is] for interview. We would help set up interviews if people wanted to, depending on where they wanted to work.”

Harris said the V stands for “vehicle,” representing assistance that can help cover relocation expenses, such as moving costs or a U-Haul.

“We have some moving companies in town [that] we’d like to partner with to help spur our small businesses here,” he said. “And then the E is entertainment and exercise – we want to get these people, once they move here, out into the community. We don’t want them to sit at home and be miserable and then leave in two years.”

Harris said the initiative could include partnerships with local restaurants and entertainment venues to encourage new residents to explore the community and become familiar with what Medford has to offer.  

“We want to help small businesses and relocate people to Medford,” he said. 

Harris said the city pursued the grant after the hospital’s birthing center closed because of a lack of medical providers.

The loss, he said, highlighted the importance of attracting and retaining professionals needed to support critical community services.  

“Granted, this [grant] isn’t going to fix that, but we didn’t want any other departments to close in the hospital because we actually service a pretty big region,” he said. “[Residents from] four counties come here, and I know they’re having a hard time getting just general doctors, RNs. We thought this would be a good way to help [attract] highly skilled [frontline workers].”

The availability of housing throughout Taylor County, along with the city’s municipal subdivision, Holmes said, removes a key barrier to growth and positions Medford to attract more long-term residents. 

“We don’t want to see Medford become stagnant,” she said. “So, this – in our opinion – is going to help. I think we’re doing well for a small town, but we can always use some improvement.”

Supporting sustained talent growth

Harris, Holmes and Krings said their respective initiatives are designed to deliver long-term benefits, creating a foundation that communities across the region can continue to build upon.  

“It’s not just helping Medford,” Harris said. “So, by us applying and receiving it, we can help some of these other outlying areas that wouldn’t have been able to qualify for the grant or apply.” 

Though GWPP’s goal is to see employers fill their most critical positions, Krings said she knows the impact will go much further beyond that.

Every household that chooses to relocate to Greater Wausau becomes part of the community, she said – buying homes, supporting local businesses, enrolling children in area schools, volunteering and contributing to the region’s fabric.

“We’re building something we hope can become a long-term model for attracting and retaining talent,” she said. “We’ll use what we learn to continue strengthening our region.”