West Bend

and Regal Ware came to the area because of the impressive work force and are a big part of the com- munity.With over 850 employees,West Bend Mutual Insurance Company is one of the largest employers. “We’ve had a long-standing relationship with them,” says Shambeau.“We’re actually in the building they grew out of. It was donated to the City and remod- elled for our City Hall. From a tax standpoint, they are our largest assessed-value property-and very generous; donating $250,000 to the River Walk, and building much of the public infrastructure for our park system.” Gitter foresees a bright future for the community he calls home.“Being from the economic develop- ment side, I want to bring as many diverse industries as possible toWest Bend,while fostering growth for those already here.We have a great downtown that is in transition, and we’re making a concerted effort to make it everything the residents and businesses want it to be.There’s a reason people are moving here–to raise a family and plant roots.” Plus it will add another hundred living units in the downtown. Excitement is mounting for the building to get underway, as it means any downtown space that’s open for lease or for sale will be an easy sell with so many people moving into the area. Gitter says, “People will be looking at investing or putting their business downtown; existing business owners that have been there awhile will want to fix up their space–inside and out.West Bend offers a façade improvement grant to have businesses present their buildings in a more positive light.” West Bend’s public utilities are in really good shape.“Back in the early ‘80s,we went through one of the last major federal-funded sewer plant increases inWisconsin,” says Shambeau.“We’re still only at 50 percent capacity of that system, so we have tons of available water and sewer utility. They’ve kept up with replacing those mains over the years. Road-wise,we struggle a bit with freeze-thaw cycles because of the climate we’re in, but we do our best to maintain the major corridors, as well.” The River Walk along the Milwaukee River is a showpiece of West Bend’s sustainability efforts. Im- provements to the 40-year-old, brick-lined pathway are being finalized through a public/private part- nership. Businesses and foundations have donated money, all in the name of community health and wellness, as well as sustaining the river.Also, on the “green front”–Washington County offers proper- ty-assessed green energy funding; programs and financing are available to area businesses willing to invest in making clean energy a priority. Companies such as Serigraph, Spaulding Clinical, PREFERRED VENDORS n Geo-Logic Associates www.geo-logic.com WEST BEND, WISCONSIN