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Office of Governor
Scott Walker 
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IMPORTANT: As of July 1st, 2011, functions once performed by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce have been moved to other state agencies and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The former Commerce web site will continue to exist for the next several months as resources are moved to new web site locations. We will make every attempt possible to direct our users to the new locations as web resources are moved.
Editorial: Celebrating 20 Years On Main Street Neil Heinen Weighs In On Commerce Department Revitalization Project 
The heart of most communities is found downtown -- Main Street. It's the place where local businesses, civic institutions and public amenities combine to give a place an identity. Such community assets used to grow naturally. But as a variety of elements combined to spread us all out a little, we lost some of that sense of place. Clearly, a lot of people yearned to get it back. For the last 20 years, the Wisconsin Main Street program has supported the revitalization of the state's historic commercial districts. Through a four-point program of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce has offered interested communities, training, design and market analysis, on site assistance and business counseling, resource materials and more through it's Wisconsin Main Street Program. The results include over 3,300 new businesses, 15,000 new jobs, almost 500 new housing units and an astonishing return on investment. Thirty-five Wisconsin communities have healthier downtowns as a result, some of the most successful among the first including Beloit and Platteville. We join the Commerce Department and all the Main Street Communities in celebrating 20 years of revitalized downtowns. -- Neil Heinen, Editorial Director, WISC-TV |
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