Wisconsin`s rural manufacturers don`t have enough affordable and current housing. Here`s how a new bill aims to change that.

MARINETTE - Rural manufacturers` ability to attract and retain workers is hindered by a lack of affordable and current housing. A bill up for vote in the Wisconsin Assembly aims to alleviate this housing gap.

The housing challenge in rural Wisconsin is steep. In the city of Marinette for example, more than one in three housing units were built in 1939 or earlier, according to a 2017-18 housing study by Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission. Only 4% of the city`s housing was built in 2000 or later.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine employs nearly 1,400 people and over 500 contract workers in its Marinette shipyard,  and some employees find "affordable housing is either unavailable or with a common problem of a one-hour commute time," the city`s mayor, Steve Genisot, wrote in an October 2019 letter to Rep. John Nygren, a Marinette Republican....

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Ken Notes: This is even more of a problem in our cities. Imaging being a cook or retail clerk in Madison. There is nothing you can afford in the city or even close. I am not sure mandates are the answer but we must sit down with builders, developers, and planners NOW and figure this out!

Brad Boycks, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Builders Association was on my radio show over the weekend and he had some great ides, if you only have a few minutes listen to his 4Q2020 segment. His organization clearly recognizes the problems and has great ideas. If I were a Governor or legislative leader I might give him and others a call...