Village of Harrison launches business district to serve growing population

HARRISON, Wis. — Produce With Purpose moved into a larger space in the Village of Harrison in early 2023.

Like the community around it, owner Rick Slager said the business is growing.

“We just moved one building over. We doubled our square footage and added a commercial kitchen,” he said. “We kind of moved everything on a dolly.”

Produce With Purpose is located adjacent to a busy road — Calumet Street — in a community near Appleton and Green Bay that’s seeing exponential residential growth. 

“I feel like we got in here at a good time because there’s a lot going on around us,” Slater said. “If you were to drive around within five minutes of here, there’s an industrial park going up and there’s a lot of residential building here.”

The village crafted plans to create a central business district off County Road N that will be composed of small businesses. It will provide services for the area’s growing residential population.

Assistant Village Manager Chad Pelishek said it may include things like cafes, grocery stores, restaurants, health and wellness and other essential services.

(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)

“We’re really interested in trying to recruit the kinds of businesses that can help support the local community and be more local-based boutique-kind of retail,” he said. 

Work on infrastructure in the 23-acre area is expected to start this winter with construction-ready lots available in the spring and summer.

Pelishek said several businesses have already expressed interest.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “We only announced this a week and a half ago and we’ve got people who are interested in coming here.”

(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)

Slager is looking to add more options for customers in the coming year.

“We look at 2025 as the year where we really kind of put our foot on the gas pedal a bit and provide lunches, things for working communities here, quick grab-and-go,” he said. “Instead of grabbing a frozen pizza, you can get a little higher quality meal for about the same price.”