Speaking of Downtown. Wal-Mart arrived in Neenah a few years ago and today downtown is a dead husk of it's former bustling self.
The story is really about a keen new office building [1] but the number in the lead gobsmacked me. 12,000 people. Restaurants, bars, a nice little park with a farmer's market and concerts in the summer. That's a whole lot of activity to cram into an area that is supposed to be blighted by the arrival of a big box store on the edge of town.
[1] Bias alert - I work there and think it's a pretty keen place to sit
With the opening of Plexus Corp.'s new global headquarters, downtown Neenah boasts a daytime employment of nearly 12,000 people.
"That number is similar to Green Bay and larger than Appleton," said Chris Haese, Neenah's director of community development. "It's a testament to the growth of the downtown and reflects an effort to diversify our economy."
The employment covers workers within a mile radius of downtown. It accounts for not only Plexus, but also Alta Resources, Bemis Co., Neenah Paper Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Bergstrom Corp. and ThedaCare, among others.
The story is really about a keen new office building [1] but the number in the lead gobsmacked me. 12,000 people. Restaurants, bars, a nice little park with a farmer's market and concerts in the summer. That's a whole lot of activity to cram into an area that is supposed to be blighted by the arrival of a big box store on the edge of town.
[1] Bias alert - I work there and think it's a pretty keen place to sit
