VIROQUA, Wis. — After receiving unanimous confirmation from the state Senate, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Secretary Melissa "Missy Hughes" sat down with political reporter Will Kenneally to discuss where she wants to take the agency in the next four years.Â
News 3 Now: Thanks so much for sitting down. We were talking a bit off air about this place. Can you describe it a little bit?
Secretary Missy Hughes: Yeah, so we're in the Hotel Fortney, which for many years was a old dilapidated site here in Viroqua. It was abandoned and there were some squatters and things like that and a family came in and has redeveloped this property. With the support of the city of Viroqua and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, we were able to give a $250,000 Community Investment Grant, and it's just a beautiful space now and a gathering space for Viroqua and the community and also for out-of-towners to come visit.
N3N: Before becoming the WEDC secretary, you worked at Organic Valley. What sparked the move to public service?
MH:Â Working at Organic Valley, I worked for farmers for 17 years and that often felt like public service also. It was very mission-oriented to support small family farms all around the country. And so having the opportunity to come to WEDC meant serving a broader population in Wisconsin, you know, I'm passionate about rural communities in Wisconsin. And so taking it from farmers to what else is happening in rural communities and then all across the state seemed like a really natural step.
N3N: In terms of retaining workers in the state, or other goals for the agency, where do you start in terms of achieving them?
MH:Â Workforce is a huge challenge for Wisconsin and so we take a two pronged approach: one is how do we attract folks here and the other is just as you said, how do we keep young people here? How do we keep families here? And at WEDC we believe that that really starts with quality of life and making sure that the communities are places where people want to live, whether you're coming from someplace else or whether you want to stay here. Viroqua is a great example of just an incredible quality of life and a community. We have lots of families that are coming back here to be close to their parents, and to be close to their families. They grew up here they go away for a while and they're coming back.
N3N: You served as the secretary during the pandemic; what was going through your head as you saw that, and the pandemic recovery, on the horizon?
MH:Â Well, really, it was understanding that businesses like the Hotel Fortney, like the Driftless Cafe, were going to have to completely reinvent themselves. We knew that they would open again, but we also knew that they would open in a different way. They were going to have to think about social distancing. They were going to have to think about how to keep their employees and their customers safe. So it was really important to me that we provided as much information to the businesses as they went through that reinvention to support them and also resources. So we were both providing guidance to businesses about how to reopen and then some resources to help them do that, you know, as in with as much support as they could.
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