Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels expressed disappointment about the Two Rivers City Council’s decision to cease their financial support for Progress Lakeshore.
Progress Lakeshore describes itself as an organization focused on the retention of companies in the area, helping businesses grow on the lakeshore, and attracting new businesses and talent to serve the area and its economy.
Mayor Nickels spoke to Seehafer News this week, offering partial credit to Progress Lakeshore for Manitowoc’s recent economic growth, citing the assistance the organization offered, “especially for many businesses struggling through COVID, or brand new startups that happened last year.”
He, however, raised a very specific issue with a decision made late last year in which, “the City of Two Rivers decided to no longer be a financial partner with Progress Lakeshore, as of 2022. For the City of Manitowoc’s part, we are certainly very disappointed in the decision of the Two Rivers City Council.” He added, “We believe an area-wide economic development organization best serves the investors and potential future businesses in our community.”
Two Rivers hosts its own business incentive programs, including a revolving loan program, a downtown loan program, a utility incentive program, and tax incremental financing. More on what Two Rivers is contributing to the outside of Progress Lakeshore can be found on their website.
Despite Mayor Nickels’ disappointment in Two Rivers’ current involvement in Progress Lakeshore, he expressed bullish optimism about the number of businesses deciding to grow in the area recently, “most notably, in our industrial park with places like AMMO, Inc., Redline Plastics, Dramm, and Bank First, all of whom are building new facilities.”
