A trip to the NFL Draft in Green Bay offers a minicamp in economic development.
National Football League teams use annual preseason minicamp workouts to acclimate rookies and refresh veteran players.
The state of Wisconsin basically did the same thing for one journalist and 15 site selectors from around the country when the NEW North and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. hosted us for a familiarization tour built around the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.
The learning and networking we experienced from April 23 to 25 were eye-opening, rewarding and fun. While it would take a bound volume the size of an NFL playbook to reveal everything I learned during my visit to Northeast Wisconsin, join me in the huddle and I’ll share seven lessons gleaned from the not-so-frozen tundra.
Closeup shot of NFL Draft Green Bay keychain.
- The NFL made the best pick when they selected Green Bay to host this year’s draft. Imagine ushering a record-setting 600,000 football fans through the gates of Lambeau Field and the adjacent Titletown entertainment district over the course of three days. Green Bay, a city of 105,000 people on the southern end of Green Bay on the western shores of Lake Michigan, did exactly that and a whole lot more. We were barely off the plane at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport when a welcoming party clad in Packers gear began showering us with gift bags, cheese curds and happy faces. Throughout our stay in the area, hospitality never waned. Everywhere we turned, the friendliest folks you’d ever want to meet smiled, said hello, waved cheerily and otherwise treated us like we were members of the royal family.
- Manufacturing is baked into the DNA of Wisconsin. Companies like Harley-Davidson, Wisconsin Lighting Lab (WILL), Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry and Kikkoman Foods are expanding all around Wisconsin. From Appleton, Fond du Lac and Manitowoc to Milwaukee, Walworth and Jefferson, manufacturers are busy building new plants to produce goods used worldwide. Wisconsin’s $77 billion manufacturing industry employs more than 490,000 workers, placing the state second in the nation in factory job concentration. Access to abundant supplies of energy, freshwater and skilled workers makes the Badger State a premium location for manufacturing.
- The best incentive, sometimes, is no incentive at all. Wisconsin eliminated the personal property tax on January 1, 2024. Due to the enactment of Wisconsin Act 12 in 2023, businesses in the state no longer pay any personal property tax. Site selectors are taking notice. As one consultant commented during a session in Egg Harbor in Door County last week, “What’s better? A property tax exemption for 10 years — or not having to pay any property tax for the lifetime of your company?”
Wisconsin’s $77 billion manufacturing
industry employs more than 490,000 workers,
placing the state second in the nation in
factory job concentration.
Source: WEDC
Winners of the first-ever TitletownTech Startup Draft even received their own trading cards. Shown here are winners and founders Rajan Kumar of Ateios and Sebastian Bauer and Tristan Swedish of Ubicept.
- Door County is the Nantucket of Wisconsin. Though this was my fourth trip to Wisconsin, it was my first visit to Door County, a long, narrow peninsula that borders Green Bay to the west and Lake Michigan to the east. Words can’t truly describe it, but I’ll try. If Nantucket married Long Island and had children, Door County would be the heir to the family fortune. If a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie wanted to find a permanent home, it would settle down in Sister Bay or Egg Harbor. Charming villages, cherry wineries, lakeside oases, scenic bluffs, breathtaking beauty and quiet solitude add up to a perfect getaway for someone seeking a change of pace.
- Wisconsin nurtures and rewards entrepreneurs. Day two of our outing took us to TitletownTech (TTT), a Microsoft- and Green Bay Packers-backed business accelerator that is fueling a resurgence of innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Wisconsin. After weeks of applications, interviews, pitches and other work, the winners of the first-ever Startup Draft were announced at TTT by Gov. Tony Evers, WEDC President and CEO Missy Hughes and several Microsoft executives. More than 1,000 startups vied for the opportunity to win the $1 million grand prize and become TTT’s newest portfolio company. When the dust settled, Ateios Systems and Ubicept took home the honors. Ateios, based in Newberry, Indiana, developed a chemistry-agnostic platform for manufacturing battery electrodes without toxic solvents. Ubicept, based in Madison, Wisconsin, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, enables machines to see beyond the limits of traditional cameras.
- Wisconsin is home to the Biohealth Tech Hub. Selected as an Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hub in October 2023, Wisconsin won out of 31 total applicants and received $80 million in funding for projects and governance. The biohealth industry employs 58,000 people statewide at an average annual salary of $104,000. The sector saw $1.2 billion in R&D expenditures in 2022 and $45 million in venture capital investment in 2023. Consortium members include GE HealthCare, Exact Sciences, the Medical College of Wisconsin, BioForward Wisconsin, WEDC, University Research Park and many other biohealth investors statewide.
- Unusual strength can be found in small numbers. Legendary Packers head coach Vince Lombardi once said, “We run to win, not just to be in the race.” Fitting words for a team representing the smallest city in the NFL. The Packers are also the only NFL team owned by its hometown fans. The same people who wait for years, sometimes decades, to buy season tickets are the ones who own shares of the Packers, the third-oldest franchise in the league and winner of a record 13 NFL championships. What Green Bay lacks in size, it more than makes up for in grit, determination, willpower and community spirit. Packer fans bleed green, gold and white; wear cheesehead foam hats; and yell “Go, Pack, Go” not just at Packers games, but in everyday greetings to fellow Wisconsinites at the gas station or grocery store. As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “Green Bay may be small, but it is mighty.”
Site selectors from around the country were joined by members of NEW North Inc. and Wisconsin EDC for a behind-the-scenes tour of Lambeau Field.
Photo courtesy of NEW North Inc.
