Oneida working
to get state grant
for pellet plant

By Kurt Krueger
News-Review Editor

Oneida County is working with the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to help a new Eagle River business obtain a $150,000 block grant.

The county and its agent, the Oneida County Economic Development Corp. (OCEDC), have scheduled a public hearing Nov. 6 to explain the block grant program, county needs and the potential loan to Eagle River Pellets LLC.

“What’s good for Vilas County is good for the economic climate in Oneida,” said Jim Kumbera, director of the OCEDC. “The two counties are closely tied. Despite the political boundaries between the two, jobs don’t follow county boundaries.”

Kumbera is preparing the application and holding the necessary hearings for Eagle River Pellets LLC because Vilas County doesn’t have a revolving loan fund of its own.

He said the potential loan will be the start of a revolving loan program in Vilas because the state is proposing to earmark that $150,000 grant for future loans to qualifying Vilas businesses.

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