WHAT: Highway 29 Partnership
WHERE: Along County X in Chippewa and Clark Counties through Cadott, Boyd, Stanley, Thorp, Withee, Owen, Curtiss.
WHY:
Seven small communities strung along 40 miles of the Yellowstone Trail in central Wisconsin recently banned together for the purpose of promotion and economic development. They are Cadott, Boyd, Stanley, Thorp, Withee, Owen, Curtiss. The group sought a community-connecting theme through which to promote themselves. These communities are not suburbs looking for a city. They each offer a buffet of little gems like city parks, beautiful centenary churches, quaint restaurants, and American history in addition to some modern industry.
The group chose the Yellowstone Trail as its unifying theme, showing the group’s knowledge of the route and historic importance of the Trail which ran along present highway County X from 1915-1930. County X runs through Chippewa and Clark counties - same name, same straight line - and it runs through all seven communities. Because State Hwy 29 runs parallel to X and is the more traveled major thruway, the group calls itself the Hwy 29 Community Partnership and will continue to do so as it takes on new joint projects. The group was later joined in road marking efforts by Chippewa Falls. The group is marking the Trail through two counties with 101 reflective Yellowstone Trail highway-quality signs.
WHO:
Under the leadership of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), the group produced 5000 snappy brochures which are now available at the various community city halls, business outlets in the seven communities and the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls CVBs.
Xcel Energy and the County Economic Development Corporations of Chippewa and Clark counties are major contributors to the group’s events.
TADEVCO (Thorp Avea Development Corporation) provided funding to support a video advertisment on area cable television.
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