Whether you’re searching for thriving communities with robust public school and university systems or looking to strike a balance between a bustling downtown and a tranquil rural setting while still accessing a variety of convenient amenities, Dodge County, Wisconsin, offers it all.
Called a “manufacturing powerhouse” located in a stunning landscape, Dodge County boasts impressive statistics. For instance, 30 percent of the county’s workforce is employed in the manufacturing sector, with some “big players” located right in Dodge County, says Nate Olson, Community Development Administrator of the Land Resources and Parks Department.
While it houses both John Deere and Kraft Heinz, Dodge County is also home to smaller shops that help supply the larger chains, with a presence in metal manufacturing, fabrication, and assembly as well as food and beverage. On the agricultural front, the county produces a plethora of traditional commodities. “We’re a very large rural county,” Olson adds. “More than 900 square miles, so agriculture has played a significant role in the history of Dodge County and how we’ve come to be where we are right now.”
To strengthen the workforce pipeline in the manufacturing sector, several public-private consortia work together, including the Manufacturing Business Alliance, a collection of manufacturers, along with the school districts of Dodge County. “It’s a very collaborative effort that’s partnership-driven,” says Olson. Dodge County also strives to develop workforce development partnerships with local colleges and K-12 schools via four different programs in Dodge County.
Along with the Manufacturing Business Alliance, the county also promotes the Youth Apprenticeship program, which offers high school juniors and seniors employment opportunities that give students the ability to learn on the job and while earning school credit. This program gives students the unique ability to get into a career path while still in high school. Also, it is highly beneficial to employers as it gives them the ability to develop a qualified and committed workforce. Dodge County proudly boasts very high participation numbers in the region and the State of Wisconsin.
Additionally, the Inspire program is another workforce program implemented in Dodge County, which promotes hands-on activities with employers and high school students. The Inspire program is a great opportunity to educate students on a wide variety of career opportunities available throughout Dodge County and allow employers to spark students’ interest in their companies.
“Inspire is about anything and everything,” Olson says. “We get a lot of kids into facilities doing job shadowing and working with people in a career area that interests them. We bring company representatives into our schools to educate students on different career paths in their sectors and how to go about getting into those fields after high school, whether it’s right into the workforce or through a two-year or a four-year degree, and outlining those paths for students to take.”
By promoting a wide range of possible job paths to young students, the program not only helps companies secure their future workforce pipeline but also helps youth understand and consider what job possibilities are available in wide-ranging sectors. “Everybody has their own path and none are alike,” says Olson. “But the biggest thing is identifying those paths and working with students to help them navigate them.”
Dodge County also recently started working with GPS Education, which has eight education centers located throughout Wisconsin offering credentialed youth apprenticeships. “GPS Education serves students for whom traditional school settings may not be the best fit—whether due to credit deficiencies, learning style, or life circumstances,” Olson says.
This dedication to helping employers and students has paid off, with Dodge County enjoying “excellent” relationships with employers, school districts, and local government entities. “In addition to working with employers and school districts, we work a lot with our local communities,” Olson shares.
These mutually trusting and beneficial relationships with local communities and private employers have resulted in honest and transparent conversations that ultimately enhance the county’s ability to drive development and betterment among all its residents. And that betterment is one that Olson takes to heart. “All communities like to boast about their quality of life, but you have to prove it a little bit, and one of the ways we do it is to display everything that Dodge County has to offer,” he says.
For instance, “We have an excellent school system. We have a lot of outdoor recreation right in everybody’s backyard, and one of the largest freshwater cattail marshes in the United States, the Horicon Marsh. We have a very good park system throughout the county, and we also have the Gold Star Memorial Trail here [serving as a memorial to fallen service members of Wisconsin] which, to my knowledge, is the only one in the United States.”
Created in recognition of families who have lost someone in active duty, the unique trail offers a safe, off-road, non-motorized link launched by a group of local Mayville residents to connect Mayville, Horicon, the Wild Goose State route, and Beaver Dam.
With connections to neighboring communities and points of interest for both Dodge County locals and tourists, the Trail fosters the growth of the local economy, recreation, and tourism while also promoting the use of other forms of healthy transportation such as running, walking, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.
The county’s natural beauty and convenient location are definite highlights. “One of the things we hear about, especially in the tourism game, is Dodge County’s location in the state,” says Olson. “We’re very easy to get to, yet when people come here, they actually feel like they’re further away than they are.”
Mostly from neighboring areas an hour or two away, tourists can easily enjoy a wide variety of outdoor recreation activities, which also plays well for the area’s economic development. The convenient location also benefits local businesses such as Kraft Heinz, which enjoys the ability to ship to many markets within a day.
And when it comes to local sales taxes, the area has embraced a unique response, explains Cameron Clapper, County Administrator. Counties in Wisconsin can receive revenue directly from sales tax, with sales taxes paid to the state to be redistributed. But local governments at the city, village, town, or township level do not receive sales tax dollars, he says. Instead the sales tax generated in any given county goes to the county and then is typically used on roads or other operating needs. Not so for Dodge County. “We’ve just launched a new program called the Community Development Fund, which is a grant program exclusive to our local communities. It was designed to help spur and fund projects, whether new business or housing or community assets,” Olson tells us.
“We’ve chosen to take those dollars and instead turn them around and give them back,” says Clapper. “We allocate a significant amount of money back for worthwhile projects, ultimately with the goal that we build greater value in the county and even more tax revenue over time.”
Along with the workforce activities for the K-12 school districts and recently approved grants to address the housing shortage and childcare, this Community Development Fund sets Dodge County apart. Its commitment to community enrichment, coupled with a stunning landscape, has helped put the area on the map.
“We have a lot of people in recent years who have fled from bigger urban areas even while staying connected to whatever companies they’re with,” says Clapper. “We now have people in the county who can work from home a lot more—working for industries elsewhere in Wisconsin, the country, or the world, but living in our county and enjoying the beauties of Dodge County.”
By continually working with developers and local communities to identify new ways to meet community needs, Dodge County has made itself the place to be. “For individuals who might be looking for a relaxing place, where they can have busy meetings on a screen but be looking out a window onto a vast expanse of beautiful landscape, this is the place,” Clapper says.
People who move to the area never want to leave, Olson adds. “They want to stay here. The quality of life and the affordability, the natural beauty that is all around—they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
