WEDC awards $500,000

Grants support entrepreneurship

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation announced Tuesday that it will award nearly $500,000 in grants to Wisconsin nonprofits that encourage entrepreneurship.

Eleven of 32 applicants were chosen. Grants were awarded to organizations to help them provide education, mentoring, training, business development and financial services programs to Wisconsin’s entrepreneurs.

The grant requirements were more open-ended than other WEDC programs, so more nonprofits could receive funding, the agency said. The grants support a variety of projects and were created to address the needs of each region.

For instance, The University of Wisconsin-Madison Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic focused on entrepreneurship in the food and beverage sector, whereas UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation’s initiatives pertained to health care.

“Much of the economic growth the state has experienced over the last six years is a result of the efforts of the state’s entrepreneurs as they develop innovative products and services to meet the changing demands of their customers,” said Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch when the grants were announced Tuesday.

Although, several different types of programs were eligible, they still had to meet certain requirements. On the application, the nonprofits had to provide measurable economic goals that would have a high impact in the areas the projects serve, WEDC said.

WEDC also sought projects that could be replicated throughout the state, including smaller communities and rural areas.

Each organization requested its desired amount of funding. For the most part, WEDC was able to provide the requested amount but had to scale back on some of the initiatives, said Mark Maley, spokesman for the agency.

The recipients of the grants are:

■ Center for Enterprise Development Inc., Fond du Lac ($40,000).

■ Couleecap Inc., La Crosse ($53,676).

■ Indianhead Community Action Agency, Ladysmith ($43,646).

■ Janesville Innovation Inc., Janesville ($66,062).

■ Milwaukee 7, Milwaukee ($60,000).

■ Nicolet Area Technical College, Rhinelander ($27,000).

■ Oconto County Economic Development Corporation, Oconto ($25,000).

■ UW-Madison Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic, Madison ($75,000).

■ UW-Stout Center for Innovation and Development, Menomonie ($60,000).

■ Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Madison ($15,000).

■ UWM Research Foundation, Milwaukee ($33,000).