Nicole Ryf
President
Kenosha Area Business Alliance
5500 6th Ave., Kenosha
Employees: 7
kaba.org
Nicole Ryf, president of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, has overseen the organization since 2023. KABA is a nonprofit economic development organization funded by private investors. The county continues to attract significant economic development and investments, highlighted by Eli Lilly’s $3 billion expansion planned at its Pleasant Prairie manufacturing facility and Uline’s construction of a new office building near its headquarters. BizTimes reporter Sonia Spitz spoke with Ryf about how KABA plays a part in supporting economic growth in the Kenosha area.
What does your role entail?
“As the president of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, I lead all of our corporate attraction, business retention and expansion efforts. I focus on supporting businesses that are looking to come to the area, responding to RFPs, and supporting our existing businesses as they grow and overcome challenges. I will say, I’ve worked in Texas and Virginia, which are arguably two of the best places for economic development and what I am doing here in Kenosha County is the most meaningful economic development work I’ve ever been part of.”
How does KABA advertise to attract companies to Kenosha County?
“As an economic development organization, we don’t do a lot of direct advertising or marketing. We really rely on the Milwaukee 7, which is the regional economic development group, to service that regional point of contact. That being said, I think that the word is out there amongst site selectors and business leaders across the country that Kenosha County is really the place to be. I think our unique position between Chicago and Milwaukee and all of the land that we have available as well as access to bountiful amounts of water and a great talent base is something that has made news in the business community. I think when you see a big name, like Haribo or Uline, that has chosen to move here and invest here, that is a magnet for other companies because CEOs and other leadership at companies all across the world see what their peers are doing.
“I would say the talent piece is critical, also. We’re in a great commuter network with our surrounding cities and we’re drawing from surrounding areas like Milwaukee, Chicago and Walworth County. A lot of the companies that are looking to establish in this area come from areas with higher operating costs like Chicago and northern Illinois. Taxes and wages are better here, and the reliability of infrastructure is a driving factor, too. We have very good access to water here and there are a lot of industries starting to get into food and beverage manufacturing, battery manufacturing, solar panel manufacturing, and data centers. The next steps involve helping them find a building or a site to accommodate their needs. This means helping them through the permitting process, helping them navigate incentives at the local and state level, and helping them to develop their talent pipeline. We are here to be a partner in that process for the entire lifetime of that business.”
What is the state of the housing market in Kenosha County?
“I’ve been on the job now about a year and a half and pretty much every stakeholder I’ve met with has told me that housing is the biggest challenge here. Our job growth is off the charts; however, over the last 15 years, our population has not grown at all, and our households are growing negligibly. Vision 2050, a housing project from the regional plan commission, is investigating trends for job and household growth in the area. Kenosha County is, by far, exceeding the highest projections for job growth. But we’re hearing from a lot of our employers in the region that 50% to 60% of their workforce lives outside of the county.
“In November, we launched a housing task force in partnership with Kenosha County government. We pulled in home builders and developers, nonprofit organizations, banks and municipal partners to start having conversations around populating in the area. We also have a number of our large employers, like Uline and Eli Lilly, involved in growing the community.”
How are local businesses dealing with the housing concerns?
“Uline is investing money with the city of Kenosha for housing, which is huge. Haribo has great relationships with a lot of our higher education partners and they’re supporting a lot of their efforts. Lilly, although they’ve only been here since April, has made the community a focus since day one. We asked Lilly representatives to talk to students at Lakeview Technology Academy, which is one of Kenosha’s STEM high schools. One of the top people from Eli Lilly corporate talked to those students about career opportunities like HR and marketing.”
What else should businesses know about KABA and about Kenosha County?
“Something that I’m excited about is that there just seems to be a lot of momentum in the community in general. I think there’s more and more happening in regard to quality of life here, and I think a lot of that is being driven by all of these new employers that are coming to the area and our existing companies that are growing here. If you add 1,000 housing units downtown over the next few years, that’s a 24/7 population that is going to be contributing to our local economy. That’s a lot more people, more restaurants and more shopping downtown which will hopefully, in turn, attract more young professionals and businesses.”
