Residents / Business / Visitors / Government / Office of the Mayor

• Business Climate
  • Business Climate
  • Quality of Life
  • Downtown Snapshot
  • Rankings
  • Economic Update
• Development Opportunities
  • Downtown Development Opportunities
  • Business Parks
  • Brownfields
  • Available Properties
• Resources & Incentives
  • Permits & Licensing
  • Utilities
  • Infrastructure
    • Airport
    • Highway Network
    • Port
    • Rail
  • Taxes
  • Financial Assistance
    • Loans
    • Grants
    • Tax Credits
    • Industrial Revenue Bonds
    • Tax Increment Financing
• Places to go for Assistance
• What's New
  • Development Projects
  • Success Stories
• Moving to our Community? View Our Videos!
• About Us/Contacts
• Home

Business Climate

Green Bay is the third largest city in Wisconsin and is home to the world-famous Green Bay Packers. Green Bay is a fun place to live but also a great place to have a business. In the past five years, the City has received many national recognitions in this regard:

- #1 Medium Metro Area for doing business (Inc. Magazine—2004)
- Ranked #2 Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs (Entrepreneur.com—2006)
- 4th Best City overall in the USA to start a business (Inc. Magazine—2005)
- 6th Best Small City in America to raise a family (Oprah Winfrey)

The Green Bay metro area is experiencing steady, impressive growth. Much of this growth is attributable to Green Bay’s varied, yet stable economy, based on Health Services, Tourism/Hospitality, Paper Manufacturing, Food Processing, Durable Wholesale Trade, and Business Services. The diversity of our economy also includes several small and growing businesses, with many resources available to entrepreneurs. The diverse and stable economy, plus the City’s advantages of an excellent education system, low crime rates, and low cost of living, and spirit of entrepreneurialism have long made the area an attractive place to live and do business.

For a detailed profile of Green Bay, call for a copy of our ‘Green Bay Area Fact Book.’ Use our "Contact Us" link above.

Fact Book Table of Contents

---

Population

As of the 2007 U.S. census estimate, there are 104,020 people residing in Green Bay. The Greater Green Bay Area (Brown County) consists of an estimated 244,764 people.

Municipality	Census 2000 Population	Final 2007 Estimate	2000 Census Rank	2007 Rank
STATE	5,363,715	5,648,124
BROWN CTY	226,658	244,764
C MILWAUKEE *	596,974	590,190	1	1
C MADISON	208,054	224,810	2	2
C GREEN BAY	102,767	104,020	3	3

Source: Wisconsin Department of Administration, Demographic Service Center, 2007 Population Estimates

---

Income

The median income for a household in the city is $41,994 and the median income for a family is $50,046. Green Bay’s median income is consistently above the state and national average. The per capita income for the city is $21,587.

Median Income

	2000
Green Bay	41,994
Brown	46,447
Wisconsin	35,676
US	29,845
Source: Census 2000; WI Dept. of Admin, Demographic Service Center, 2007 Population Estimates

---

Industry & Employment

Green Bay isn’t your typical community.  Its rich history, unique and enterprising residents, and broad international recognition help create an economy that offers something for everyone.  Today Green Bay maintains its strong traditional manufacturing sector of timber products, food processing, and paper making coupled with more current industries in precision metal manufacturing, machine tool design, transportation/ logistics and a continually growing service sector of tourism, health services, finance, insurance, and education.

HISTORICAL/TRADITIONAL  INDUSTRY CLUSTERS		ADDITIONAL INDUSTRY CLUSTERS
Printing and Publishing		Maritime Vessels & Equipment
Paper Products		Machine Tool Design
Food Processing		Agriculture, Neutracuticals
Metal Manufacturing		Healthcare
Construction		Tourism
Government		Insurance
		Education and Workforce Training
Source: Northeast Wisconsin Economic Opportunities Study, 2004; Dept. of Commerce, 2008; Advance Factbook/Harris Selectory, May 2006

        

 

Top Employers in the City of Green Bay
Georgia-Pacific	paper manufacturing	2800
Bellin Health	healthcare	1867
St. Vincent Hospital	healthcare	1759
Wisconsin Public Service	utilities	1611
Aurora Health Care	healthcare	1585
Smithfield Beef Group	food manufacturing	1500
American Foods Group	food manufacturing	1410
Procter & Gamble Paper Products	paper manufacturing	1032
St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center	healthcare	1000
Green Bay Packaging	food manufacturing	999
Wal-Mart Stores	retail	849
APAC Customer Services	call center	758
Schreiber Foods, Inc.	food manufacturing	677
Green Bay Packers, Inc.	NFL franchise	525
Festival Foods	retail	521
H.J. Martin and Son, Inc.	manufacturing	400
Advance Economic Development, 2008

Wage & Benefit Survey

Green Bay, WI (Feb. 12, 2008) The 2007-2008 Fox Valley Wage & Benefit Study – a collection of comprehensive and up-to-date wage and benefit data from Fox Valley businesses – is available for purchase. This information is beneficial to businesses’ budget planning, hiring and retention efforts.

The study is conducted annually by the Northeast Wisconsin Chambers Coalition (Green Bay, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Fox Cities Chambers) to determine both salary levels and changes in fringe benefits offered to area employees. More than 175 companies responded to the survey from the Fox Valley area.

The data includes wage data for 311 job descriptions and on-line custom reporting comparing the metro area or Fox Valley to the state of Wisconsin. Benefit data includes answers to 175 benefit questions. Information for both wages and benefits is available via on-line access and by paper copy.

If you would like to purchase the results, contact Cindy Gokey, (920) 496-8930. The cost is $100 for online access for Chamber members who didn’t participate in the survey and $300 for non-members who didn’t participate in the survey. In addition, paper copies are available to those who purchase the online results - $15 for Chamber members and $50 for non-member

Port Facilities

The Port of Green Bay provides opportunities to new and existing businesses that cannot be found in many markets across the nation and helps give Green Bay a distinct advantage when competing for businesses that import raw materials or export large products to national and international markets. 
Because of its strategic location as the westernmost port of Lake Michigan, Green Bay offers the shortest, most direct route for shipments between the great Midwest and the world.  Major railroads link the port with America’s heartland.  A core of nationally-known truck lines provides overnight delivery within a 400-mile radius.
The port is also a recognized Free Trade Zone port. 
Depth of Channel:   26 feet
Capacity of Largest Crane:   100 tons
Length of season:  April-December

See the Port of Green Bay web site >> for more information

Workforce

October 2008
	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed	Percent
Green Bay MSA	168,815	161,358	7,457	4.4
City of Green Bay	56,561	52,924	3,637	6.4
Brown County	136,534	130,758	5,776	4.2
Wisconsin	3,088,081	2,950,978	137,103	4.4

More information on Green Bay workforce

Cost of Doing Business

A Milken Institute study called the 2005 Cost-of-Doing-Business Index concluded that it is 6.4% less costly to do business in Wisconsin than the national average. The Index measures wage costs, taxes, electricity costs, and real estate costs for industrial and office space.
All business taxes are levied by the State of Wisconsin.  The city of Green Bay does not levy additional taxes on businesses. 

For more information on unemployment compensations, worker’s compensation, and state business taxes, see the New North web site