Over the course of the past four years, housing has become an increasing priority for Walworth County Economic Development Alliance (WCEDA) to address. In this proposal (link below), you will see the evolution of WCEDA’s involvement and interest in this topic. You will also see that WCEDA’s board has determined that efforts relating to workforce housing align with its mission. Workforce housing will be spelled out in this proposal, but it is essentially what is being called the “missing middle,” and encompasses entry level workers as well as professional workers such as physicians and everything in between including public employees, like teachers, police officers, and public works staff members. 

Many counties in the region are facing similar challenges and are in various stages of addressing this issue — an issue that may be the number one barrier for workforce at the moment. In Jefferson County, Green County, and Washington County (and likely many others) housing efforts are being led or co-led by economic development agencies like WCEDA.

Success for this workforce housing initiative would have some municipalities moving forward with workforce housing while others would be developing plans that would be incorporated into their comprehensive plans. This process would also yield a list of future recommendations for the county on this topic. WCEDA believes that the county has a unique opportunity to leverage ARPA dollars to make a valuable impact on workforce housing development across the county.

Marking the start of a 12-month initiative led by WCEDA, and funded by Walworth County, to work with municipalities that want to facilitate housing development in their respective communities, WCEDA hosted a Housing Summit. The aim of this summit was to start county-wide discussions about challenges and potential solutions to the housing shortage. (Link to the event page below.)

[Proposal]

[Housing Summit]