Manitowoc area to benefit from new economic development funding

Judith Munson

Contributor

May 4, 2026

MANITOWOC – The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has rolled out a new Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) grant program, awarding more than $2.1 million to 21 organizations statewide.

The funding – per the WEDC – is expected to support roughly 2,600 entrepreneurs and small businesses.

“The recipients of this year’s SBTA grants play a vital role in driving Wisconsin’s economy forward by supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey,” John W. Miller, secretary and CEO of WEDC, said.

Among the recipients is Progress Lakeshore – a private-public economic development organization that accelerates business success in Manitowoc County, per progresslakeshore.org – which received $64,000.

Executive Director Jamie Zastrow said the grant will help broaden outreach efforts, connecting more small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with resources and support.

“This funding will support our expansion goals for these businesses and help us dedicate more staff time across the region, including our smaller towns and rural areas,” she said.

Zastrow said WEDC grants are highly competitive, and said Progress Lakeshore’s track record supporting small businesses likely strengthened its application.

“They were looking for organizations that are already providing the coaching or counseling or educational elements that help small business owners,” she said.

Zastrow said Progress Lakeshore serves businesses of all sizes – from large manufacturers to start-ups – tailoring its approach to meet their differing needs.

“It is hard to be a small business owner and sometimes; it’s lonely,” she said. “They don’t always know how to get from A to B, so we can help navigate some of that. We strive to offer a really strong ecosystem for entrepreneur development. We know what resources are out there. We’re not always the experts on everything, but we have strong relationships with the people who are.”

Zastrow said Progress Lakeshore staff offer one-on-one coaching and educational programs, helping businesses get “the right assistance at the right time on their journey.” 

Some of the clients, she said, are at square one of the ideation stage, while others are existing business owners needing help with a growth strategy.

“Some of the new programs funded by this grant will give us additional resources locally for those who are at ideation,” she said. “For example, one of the programs will cover business basics for aspiring entrepreneurs. They also learn that entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, so we ask them, ‘What are your personal strengths, skills and passions? What will it mean for your life if you’re working for yourself as opposed to someone else?’”

Other questions asked, Zastrow said, include:

• “Is there a market for your product or service?”
• “Do you have all the necessary skills to deliver that?”
• “Do you know how much you need to charge to make a profit?”

Zastrow said serving as a sounding board is key to helping entrepreneurs start strong, rather than struggle without clear direction.

“We help them identify if they’re going to be meeting community needs and leveraging market opportunities,” she said. “We discuss the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship that maybe they hadn’t thought about.” 

‘The right tools’

Zastrow said the key is to equip each business with the right tools, whether they are just starting, planning to expand or preparing an exit strategy such as a succession plan.

Ann Flad-Jesion – director of entrepreneurship and business development – said Progress Lakeshore staff meet with business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs both at their downtown Manitowoc office and on-site across the region.

Flad-Jesion said she regularly travels across the Greater Manitowoc area and into the county’s smaller, rural communities, meeting with more than 100 entrepreneurs each year – a number she expects to grow with the new funding.

For people who are still in the ideation stage or seeking to expand, Flad-Jesion said crucial next steps are creating or updating their business plan and establishing financial projections in order to secure financing.

Too often, she said, budding entrepreneurs fail to consider how crucial those steps are before stepping into a lending institution.

“I think most people find a business plan and financial projections intimidating or think they can just pull a business plan off the internet,” she said. “It doesn’t work to use a template found online or have AI do one for them, which I’m sure many people are doing. A lender will see that and know they don’t understand their industry well enough. We can help them put the type of information into their business plan that gives a lender more confidence.”

Echoing Zastrow’s earlier comments, Flad-Jesion said it’s important to help aspiring entrepreneurs ground their ideas in reality.

Once a concept is put on paper, she said it opens the door to deeper questions that help test its potential for success. 

“When I meet with people one-on-one, they often have a vastly different idea of how many customers they can get right away than maybe is practical,” she said. “We also discuss how to make an idea better, so it’ll be profitable.”

Flad-Jesion said the new funding from the WEDC will help her start working with more communities in the region.

“I have started doing a lot more in Valders and Reidsville, particularly, and these are smaller towns,” she said.

Start-up growth in rural communities 

According to a recent Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce report, small businesses provide more than 75% of the jobs in the rural areas of some Wisconsin counties.

Flad-Jesion said though no single trend stands out among new rural start-ups, the rise of remote work is bringing more people into these communities – and increasing demand for local services. 

“There’s a lot more interest in general in entrepreneurship than maybe a handful of years ago,” she said. “We are seeing a lot of consumer services type businesses, restaurants and retail. We are also seeing more people who provide in-home health care.”

Flad-Jesion said more young people are also pursuing entrepreneurship today than a decade ago, driven in part by job uncertainty in some industries and their fluency with tools like social media.

“What social media has done is given people the idea that they, too, can take part in something and create something big,” she said.

Flad-Jesion said social media also offers a far more accessible and affordable means of consumer outreach than traditional marketing channels. 

Some recent entrepreneur success stories from Progress Lakeshore, she said, include:

• The Village Bakery in Valders – which opened at the end of March
• Yard 65 Brewery & Events in Kiel – which opened in 2025
• IRC Advocates in Mishicot – which provides corporate guardianship services
• The Nook Mocktail Lounge & Bookstore in Manitowoc – which opened in early 2025
• Trattoria Tennie – a restaurant in Manitowoc featuring handcrafted pasta and pizza that opened April 23

Meaningful partnerships

Both Zastrow and Flad-Jesion said partnerships forged by the organization are key to helping new businesses. 

“Sometimes that may involve connecting them with local or other government agencies, depending on what their project entails,” Flad-Jesion said. “Many people don’t realize what it takes to register with the state and federal government to start their business. We also help them find locations for their businesses.”  

Zastrow said a major partner for Progress Lakeshore is the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) – which supplies much of their educational resources, she added. 

“The Small Business Development Center out of UWGB delivers many of the courses we use in our programs,” she said. “They allow us to accomplish a lot considering the small staff we have here.” 

Zastrow said thanks to the WEDC grant, staff at the Small Business Development Center at UWGB will be able to develop new curriculum tailored specifically to small businesses, with the first course set to launch in July.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our region’s economy, and this grant strengthens our ability to provide guidance, expand our programming and provide the resources they need to start strong and grow sustainably,” she said.

Zastrow said Progress Lakeshore also partners with a range of regional economic development groups, including New North in Green Bay, local municipalities, chambers of commerce and nonprofits, such as United Way.For more details on programs offered by Progress Lakeshore, head to wedc.org.