Gov. Scott Walker opens Biron Business Park

BIRON – Plans for Biron Business Park are moving forward following a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon that was attended by Gov. Scott Walker and other local legislators.

Thursday's event came with the announcement of Biron Business Park's first tenant: Honestly Cranberry LLC. The new cranberry business, held by the same owners of Glacial Lake Cranberries, Inc., a Wisconsin Rapids-based cranberry producer, will be the first company to sign a lease with the business park.

Mary Brazeau Brown, owner of Honestly Cranberry, said her new facility will be a pilot plant to develop new products from the cranberries they grow.

As for the types of products the new company will be developing, Brown said she wasn't quite ready to disclose that yet.

"Stay tuned," she said.

Brown presented a "Cran Do" T-shirt to Gov. Walker, who promptly put the shirt on and noted that he was a cranberry enthusiast.

"I single-handedly keep the cranberry business in business because I drink about a case of cranberry juice a day," Walker said.

In addition to commending the Biron Business Park's leaders, Gov. Walker talked jobs Thursday, adding that the state unemployment rate dipped to 5.8 percent in July.

He also noted that the economic situation had changed considerably in the past four years.

"Things start to change when you see unemployment go down," Walker said. "You start to see trends happening, you start to see jobs being created and employers taking a risk."

As for Biron Business Park's future outlook, Mike Spranger, of First Weber Commercial, said he was presently in talks with two other potential tenants for the park, but could not disclose any further information. The building that will host Honestly Cranberry is not yet built, but is expected to be up and ready for the cranberry company by December 2014.

The site is already hooked up to utilities and the roads within the business park are almost finished, Spranger said.

"All of the utilities are here and if someone wants a project, they could start tomorrow," he said.

The business park, located at Plover Road, has more than 230 acres available for development and is a collaboration between the village of Biron and the Classic Development Corporation. It has three types of lots available for use: highway commercial lots, which could be used for office space, clinics or restaurants; mixed-use commercial lots for business that want office space as well as production or warehousing facilities; and lots for warehousing and manufacturing use only.