You will still see plenty of help-wanted signs around Kewaunee County, but finding people who do not work is harder. At their meeting on Tuesday, Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Ben Nelson updated the Kewaunee County Board on the organization’s efforts. At 2.9 percent, Kewaunee County had the fifth lowest unemployment rate in the state in June. By comparison, Door County is in 11th place at three percent, and Brown County is 25th with 3.2 percent. It also means Kewaunee County’s labor participation rate is high at 97 percent. Nelson added that both numbers are higher than they were before the pandemic. Those two pieces of data show there is not a large local pool of employees to draw from, and if you are looking for work and are of age, you should not have a problem finding a job. Nelson pointed out ways Kewaunee County businesses can help attract employees to fill the over 100 vacant positions in the community.
Even more job opportunities are on the way in Kewaunee County as EnergySolutions ramps up its efforts to decommission the former Kewaunee Power Station. Nelson told the board that the company which bought the shuttered nuclear power plant late last year would like to finish its work in eight to ten years.
During the meeting, the Kewaunee County Board also unanimously approved a resolution allowing the Kewaunee County Sheriff's Department to make a more than $60,000 purchase for body cameras. The department recently received a 50 percent matching grant to cover a large portion of the cost.
