Businesses in Wisconsin hope you can use your ice fishing, snowmobile, and cross-country skiing equipment a lot more than you did last year. According to the National Weather Service, last winter was the warmest on record in Green Bay, breaking an over 20-year mark by three degrees with an average temperature of 30.7 degrees. While it was good for people to get a suntan, it wasn't pleasant for area businesses that depend on winter recreational activities for their livelihood. Door County was among the over 60 counties included in the federal disaster loan program that gave money through the United States Small Business Administration to affected businesses. Door County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Michelle Lawrie says the organization helped several local businesses navigate the program, many of which were affected by the area's barely existent ice fishing season. Lawrie adds that you do not want to depend on such programs, but it was important for those businesses to get the help they needed to take advantage of a hopefully stronger 2024-2025 winter season.

Outdoor recreation continues to be a huge boon to the state's tourism numbers. Governor Tony Evers announced earlier this week that outdoor recreation contributed $11.2 billion to the state's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, growing 9.4 percent over the previous record set in 2022. The state also saw a nearly 12 percent increase in people traveling 50 miles or more for outdoor recreation.