Business View Magazine | March 2018

172 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 fixup 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 publicutilities 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 ofWest Bend’s sustainabilityefforts. 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, WEST BEND, WISCONSIN