UW-Green Bay and Brown County are committed to supporting the economy and quality of life in Northeast Wisconsin by growing the number of students earning undergraduate and graduate degrees, thus raising the college attainment rate (currently 7% below the national average). Approximately 70% of our students stay in this region upon graduation and accessible and affordable local higher education is a means to prevent talent from leaving the area. We also know that the Northeast Wisconsin Economic Ecosystem is experiencing an exciting transformation due to several key factors; 1.) A burgeoning start-up network led by Titletown Tech, a venture capital initiative between Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers; the Greater Green Bay Chamber Start-Up Hubs; and innovative large corporations, 2.) An entrepreneurial set of local governments willing to help build economic opportunities, 3.) A growing, young and diverse community, and 4.) An access-driven, growing University with four campus locations adept at serving students with backgrounds from all across the rural-urban continuum.
The goal of a new Economic Development Executive will be to coordinate and execute economic development initiatives and opportunities available to Northeast Wisconsin, Brown County, and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Executive will be the project lead for establishing Phoenix Innovation Park, a proposed 64-acre mixed-use research park/innovation district directly on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus. A mixed-use development may include residential, retail, offices, a signature hotel, a charter school, health care or other via a joint venture among the public and private developers.
With joint oversight by the University and Brown County, the Executive will identify and implement the steps necessary to establish a research park/innovation district, work with businesses to create the first tenants of the park, coordinate with venture capital, chambers of commerce, and innovation hubs to attract entrepreneurs and start-ups, advocate for resources from public and private sources and develop an action plan for the infrastructure and direction of the park. The research park/innovation district will benefit from adjacency to the other participants and resources in a full-fledged innovation ecosystem in the Green Bay region: incubators and accelerators, entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators from organizations, startup and growth companies created out of or attracted to the research output of the research park/innovation district.
For more information and full position responsibilities, please see the full position announcement.
To ensure consideration, please submit application materials by Sunday, April 30, 2023.