State gives grant for Thiel’s ‘gateway’ store project

Posted at 4:20 p.m. on December 20, 2017

The Brillion News

HILBERT – The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has approved a quarter-of-a-million dollar grant as seed money for Hilbert entrepreneur Todd Thiel to restore an historic garage building and turn it into a retail boutique convenience store at the corner that serves as the gateway to downtown Hilbert.

The WEDC grant was approved at $250,000, the maximum for the community development grant. It is not a loan and does not have to be repaid.

The funds will go to the Village of Hilbert – which applied for the grant – and then to Thiel for his “Hayseed Exchange” store at Main Street and Eighth Street (State 57/32).

When Thiel proposed the business development, he asked the village for financial help, but the village had all of the capacity for its Tax Increment Financing Districts tied up with its 114 Industrial Park and with Sargento Foods expansions.

A complete story on the project will appear in the December 28 print edition of The Brillion News.