MARSHFIELD – During its Sept. 23 meeting, the Marshfield Common Council approved two funding requests from non-city organizations for inclusion in the city’s 2026 budget.
A request for $53,000 was granted for funding a business development director position with the Marshfield Area Chamber Foundation (MACF)— $47,000 for the position and $6,000 for promotion, marketing, workforce and entrepreneurial development activities.
The director works with business retention/expansion, business creation/entrepreneurial assistance, business attraction/marketing, attracting workforce, housing supply, childcare offerings and collaboration with local and regional organizations.
The position was previously filled by Karen Olson, and since the spring of this year, by Sierra Starner-Heffron.
“There is nobody else doing this at the city,” Starner-Heffron told the board. “The city doesn’t have an economic development specialist or a team at all, really. Cutting this, yes, you would save money, but then there is absolutely nobody doing this.”
A request for $28,000 was also granted for Main Street Marshfield — a non-profit organization that works to strengthen the downtown area.
The organization is supported by 13 volunteer board members, four committees and two staff members.
The organization requested $10,000 for downtown marketing — $4,000 for district promotional activities and $6,000 for a business marketing grant program — and $18,000 for downtown beautification — $10,000 for its planters program and $8,000 for its Welcome Back Grant Program.
“One of the things that we wanted to do when we put this proposal through to the city was to try to identify items that we were either hearing a lot about from businesses (or) really trying to identify those things that have a bigger impact,” explained Main Street Marshfield President Jenna Hanson.
The motion for the pair of funding requests was passed unanimously.
The funding will still need to be approved through the city’s budget process.
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