OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – There was a lot to celebrate Monday for the Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation.
CEO Jason White tells FOX 11…
“Oshkosh Corporation just made their big announcement of their intent to build a $50 million, world class headquarters here in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said CEO Jason White.
GO EDC held a report to the community about the work it does to help grow the area economy and the Oshkosh Corporation news was an exciting talking point for city and economic leaders.
“Millions of dollars of charitable causes to our community, a $150 million dollar supply chain in our community and hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in our community would have been impacted if they had chosen to leave.”
“An influx of new talent into our community, into our economy, which I think is gonna be great for us in the long run,” added Oshkosh City Manager Mark Rohloff.
Oshkosh Corporation will buy 35 acres of the city-owned Lakeshore Golf Course for its new global headquarters for $3.5 million.
Rohloff says the city will spend about $7 million on infrastructure improvements in the area and give the company $6 million in tax breaks over 12 years.
“That is, pretty much, what the market calls for these days. So I think what we did was something that was very competitive with the market.”
Some members of the community did not want the city to sell golf course land. They had concerns about what will happen to the other, roughly 70 acres of the course now.
Rohloff says those concerns are going to be addressed.
“I think over the next few months you’re gonna see the parks board provide some input to the city council in terms of what they would like to see. The possibility of a nine hole golf course is certainly being discussed.”
“While we might have been losing something on the one hand, we were gaining so much more as a community, as a whole,” added White.
Construction on the new headquarters is slated to start this spring. The facility is supposed to be finished by the end of 2019.
