Cities Civil and Municipal December 2024

Stratford, Wisconsin – Marathon County

January 2, 2025

Stratford, Wisconsin

Welcome Home

A peaceful lifestyle in a friendly community

The Village of Stratford, Wisconsin sits at the center of things. One only has to highlight its location in Marathon County. It’s 100 miles west of Green Bay, 90 miles east of Eau Claire, 150 miles north of Madison, and 170 miles south of Bayfield, which puts the Village very close to the geographical center of the Badger State. Its population of around 1,600 also happens to put it near the center of the demographic that defines a village: a permanent settlement of between 500 and 2,500 people.

Most importantly, perhaps, is that this quiet, welcoming community in the center of the Wisconsin heartland is in itself the center of so many intertwined lives. It is a place where, “Everybody knows everybody,” according to Village President, Keith Grell. The village is “one giant family,” according to School Superintendent, Nathan Lehman. Stratford is also where “nobody would feel unwanted or unsafe,” according to Adam Knoll, Vice President of Partners Bank of Wisconsin, which has served the financial needs of the citizenry since 1908, and whose tagline “Better Together” sums up the village’s character.

An idyllic lifestyle

Stratford was founded in the late 1800s by the Connor family who had moved from Canada, built the settlement’s first lumber mill, and established themselves as the Village’s first leaders. Today’s population is largely made up of the descendants of settlers from Germany, Poland, and Scandinavia, who arrived in Stratford over subsequent years. The lifestyle in Stratford is peaceful and idyllic with numerous parks, wooded trails, and outdoor amenities for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.

And while many citizens do commute to nearby towns, such as Marshfield and Wausau, for work, Stratford does have a few anchor businesses, such as A&B Processing Systems, an industry leader in the design, fabrication, automation, and installation of stainless steel process systems used in a variety of industries. “It was started by two brothers, Bill & AJ Hilgemann, in a garage who turned it into a multi-million dollar business,” says Grell. “It was recently purchased by a company out of Chicago called JBT.”

A bustling business park

Like A&B Processing, most of Stratford’s businesses are located in the Village’s 115-acre industrial park located on the west side of town, and Grell is hoping for more new firms to move in. “We have six available lots right now, and multiple more that we can make accessible,” he reports. “Water, sewer, and streets are there. All the customer has to do is come in, put up a building and a parking lot, and open the doors.” Stratford also has two Tax Increment Districts (TIDs) that offer Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for commercial, industrial, and residential projects.

“In the past two weeks, we’ve had ongoing conversations with three developers; one has already come and evaluated the lots that we have available, and a second one is in the process of finding the perfect spot. Once land acquisition has been completed, the Village will get involved and say, ‘What are you looking for from us, and what are we able to offer?’”

The need for housing

As business continues to grow in Stratford (from 2021 to 2022, the local employment grew at a rate of 8.48%), Grell says the Village’s main focus is finding adequate and affordable housing for its growing population. One option would be to fill up unused space downtown.

“There are a couple of empty buildings downtown that we would love to have filled,” he points out. “There are opportunities for businesses to locate on the first floor with apartments on the second and third. But that’s a struggle in a community our size, especially when you’re close to communities of 18 or 30 thousand. It’s difficult to draw that downtown business, when they’re only going to see a handful of clients or customers, and when they can put up a shop not far from us with a similar rent or mortgage payment, and draw a much larger customer base. But we’re open to all and any chances to fill up those spaces.”

Regarding single-family, residential development, the Village has one subdivision with roads, streets, water, and sewer already in place, and 20-30 available lots. “There’s infrastructure and lots available, so if somebody wants to come in and put up a house, they have that opportunity,” Grell says. “We also have six houses for sale in town that range from $100,000 to $700,000. So we’ve got a little bit of everything from entry level to higher income.”

Another problem to be solved on the housing front is the lack of affordable rental properties. Grell says that a key demographic the Village would like to attract are its young adults who may have gone off to college and now might want to resettle in their old home town. “Trying to find the kids that come back from college an affordable apartment in the Village is a challenge,” he admits. “We don’t want to lose those kids. If someone were to come in and wanted to put up an apartment building or a duplex, we do have availability to work with any type of developer.”

Excellent schools

Of course, before those kids go off to college, to return someday or not, they are under the tutelage of the Stratford School District, whose highly rated Elementary and Middle/High School offer a variety of academic programs, from traditional curriculum to innovative options like project-based learning and technology-assisted instruction. “Our education system is top notch,” says Superintendent Lehman. “It’s one of the best in the area with the highest test scores in Marathon County for the last few years. In addition, we have set a strategic plan that focuses on community partnerships and working with local businesses. For example, we have a lot of kids here that leave school during the day to work for a local business. They get paid, and they get credit through the school district. So our kids, especially in high school, set goals on either being career-ready, college-ready, or both by the time they leave here.”

“Plus, our extracurriculars are some of the best in the entire State of Wisconsin,” Lehman adds. “We’ve won the most state championships in football than any other school in the state. And we’ve had a lot of success in wrestling, volleyball, baseball, and softball.”

A community that shares its resources

The District’s fitness center is not only for its students. In Stratford, many of the local businesses have contributed to its construction, so they use it when it’s available. “You can come here at 5:00 o’clock in the morning and you can work out,” says Lehman. “It’s not going to cost you and at that time, you’ll see a ton of community members here. Or you can come at 10:00 o’clock at night and you’re going to see a ton of community members working out. It’s really a special community.”

Those relationships in Stratford run deep. “We have a relationship with every business in town,” Grell reports. “If we need building supplies, we go to our local lumber store; if we need signage, we go to Stratford Sign Company; if we need something fashioned out of stainless steel, we go to A&B Processing Systems; if we’re looking at window replacements, we go to Wausau Window, which is also in our industrial park. It would be a challenge to find a business in the Village that we do not have some sort of relationship with.”

And when the community needs financial help, they reach out to Partners Bank of Stratford. “”We’ve always been a partner of the community,” says Knoll. “Our customers are our neighbors, so we want to give them our best at all times. Every person is treated as an individual. Every business is tailored to what they need. And everyone is treated with respect.” The bank has been a long-time sponsor and supporter of many of the Village’s amenities, including its sports complexes and its four-mile Heritage Trail, popular with local hikers, bikers, snow-shoers, and cross-country skiers. “Whenever there is an opportunity, the bank steps forward.”

Going forward, Grell says there’s some street work that needs to be addressed. “We have two streets that go right through our school system and both are in desperate need of maintenance,” he offers.

“We’re trying to find grants to offset the costs of those expenses and from a Village perspective, our greatest need would be a building. We have a million dollars worth of equipment and some of it sits outside because we’re out of space. We’re trying to be fiscally responsible while still trying to find the dollars to improve what we already have.”

Looking to the future with optimism, the people of Stratford, Wisconsin, will always find themselves in the center of things.