Heart of Wisconsin
Business & Economic Alliance and
Community Foundation of
South Wood County
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A Joint Initiative Between Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance and Community Foundation of South Wood County |
About  Breaking News Program Dates Feedback Donate Contact Industry Clusters |
Breaking News August 9, 2006 - Community Progress Initiative receives $30,000 grant from Ocean Spray By: Andrew Hellpap, Daily Tribune Staff As the Community Progress Initiative continues in its third and final year, it is showing no signs of slowing down. On Monday, the Community Progress Initiative announced it received a $30,000 grant from Ocean Spray to help industry clusters in the initiative. The large cranberry industry and the presence of an Ocean Spray plant in Wisconsin Rapids helped in the decision for the company to issue the grant, the company announced in a press released through the initiative. "The heart of Wisconsin is the heart of Ocean Spray and cranberry farming in the state, and we're pumping some new life into that system," Randy Papadellis, president and CEO of Ocean Spray said in the release. The grant, nine months in the making, will be a direct benefit to the core of the program, Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance executive director Connie Loden said. "It will be used to provide the coordination between the industry clusters," she said. The grant was approved at the most recent Ocean Spray board meeting, Loden said, following a letter of request submitted by the Community Progress Initiative nine months ago. The New E-conomies cluster of the Progress Initiative has used similar grants in the past to undertake a telecommunications study of the Wisconsin Rapids area, the results of which will be available soon, Loden said. Ocean Spray, already having a presence in Wisconsin Rapids, made the initiative a means for the company to benefit itself and the economy of the area it employs in, she said. "The (cranberry) growing community here is very strong," Loden said. |
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