After years in the long shadow of the Great Recession, the lakes area may finally be seeing the sun again.
Manufacturers and technology companies started seeing the upswing as far back as 2009. Now the recovery is even more apparent with commercial construction, hiring signs and business activity. A key sign may be taken from Syvantis as the Baxter-based technology company reports clients from across industries are adding computer users daily - meaning new employees - both nationally and locally.
The lakes area is home to a number of enterprises that may be surprising even to its residents - from manufacturers to home-based businesses to young entrepreneurs. And there are new ventures, from restaurants to breweries, either in the works or settling in after recent launches.
The annual Progress Edition takes a look both at the newcomers and those businesses that have been here for decades. The major resorts across the lakes area have been remaking themselves as leaders in the tourism industry for decades while keeping the key elements that make this region stand out.
How do those resorts become summer cities all by themselves? Discover that and more inside the pages of the Progress Edition inside today's Dispatch.
