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Iron County Economic Development Committee Meeting Iron County Courthouse Wednesday, June 3, 2026 Unapproved: Minutes will be approved at the next regular committee meeting 1. Call to Order: Adam Tutt called the meeting to order at 6:04 2. Pledge of Allegiance: Recited 3. Roll Call: Melissa Copp, Julie Doucette, Gary Pelkola, Jamey Francis, Gary Kessler, David McNutt, Autumn Hill, Joe Miller, Adam Tutt, Larry Youngs, and Sara Towne. Joel Enking, Bill Stutz, Brooke Gilbertson, Neil Gilbertson, and Roy Haegar were absent. 4. Adam Tutt acknowledged that the meeting was properly noticed and posted 5. Public Comment: Iron County needs a board member to represent it at the Northwestern Wisconsin Travel Board, and selected Bill Stutz for the position. A broadband survey was sent to municipal clerks around the state concerning broadband issues counties and townships have been experiencing. Hill discussed daycare incubator program and small business strategies in Wisconsin. 6. Approval of the May 2026 Meeting Minutes 7. Clarification of Co-Chair Contact information: Tutt can be reached at (715) 904-0979 and adam.tutt@hotmail.com. Towne can be reached at (817) 915-1565 and drsaradpemple@gmail.com 8. Presentation by Kathy Schmitz, Director of Vilas County Economic Development Corporation. Schmitz discussed providing individual support for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and education and networking events for the business community, provide leadership for development projects and expand broadband access. Increasing Broadband access has increased permanent residence. Focusing on preserving the character of the county which preserves tourism. VCEDC is a great return on investment. They are funded through the Vilas County Government, grants pursued by a contractor grant writer, and fundraising. Schmitz is the only employee of the corporation, but has hired contractors for several functions. Soliciting for particular businesses has been less important for Vilas County than making the county more attractive for vacationers to move in. 9. Presentation by Bethany Thomas, President of North Country Trail Heritage Chapter. Thomas discussed the economic impact of new waterfalls in Iron County. They are one part of an almost 5,000-mile hiking trail which became a full partner under the National Park Service. They have professional trail designers to ensure that trails go through the prettiest parts of the area. They will be hiring 6 WisCorps youth with a donation from a member that has passed away. She discusses several upcoming maintenance projects they will be undertaking. They will be building more trails as well. As they connected Foster Falls to their trail system, they discovered more unnamed waterfalls, and they worked with the Ashland Historical Society, and the Iron County Historical Society and other knowledgeable people to record the names of the waterfalls with the state. She noted that they will have guided hikes on September 5 and October 3. The discussion afterwards included Trail Angels, which leave supplies for hikers along the trails. 10. Financial Statement and approval of bills: The costs for the Heritage Days festivities include $4800 for Ryan Michaels, the country/rock vocalist and guitarist, $1200 for awards for parade prizes. Costs for the porta potties and additional promotional items and advertisements have not been determined yet. Jamey Francis motioned and Julie Doucette seconded, and the committee approved to earmark up to $7,000 for Heritage Days in total. 11. Discussion of educational topics and future guests: Members discussed inviting the Ironwood Economic Development Corporation to hear about their mural artist event. An entrepreneurial meet-and-greet could be October 6 with food from 4:30-5:30 and speakers from 5:30, which would focus on buildings that are in disrepair. They also discussed spreading awareness about the Hurley Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Development Grant program. Doucette brought up fundraising for the Iron County Memorial building to revitalize the bowling alley and other aspects of the building. 12. Team Updates: The REV team will be hosting the Entrepreneurial Meet-and-Greet on October 6 13. Review of Action Items. Hill committed to writing up minutes. Doucette committed to writing invoices. Gary Pelkola noted that the new chimes will be installed in the First Presbyterian Church, and they will have a presentation for this during Heritage Days. 14. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:14 Minutes recorded by Autumn Hill