A rendering of the urban barn planned for the JBS Development site on Green Bay's east side. (Photo courtesy: City of Green Bay)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Using grant money it received in the state budget, the Oneida Nation is helping make two Green Bay projects happen that it believes will be of great benefit to its members and the larger community.
“I think it’s just important to bring some of those state dollars back to our little Northeast region here,” said Oneida Nation Chairman Tehassi Hill.
$300,000 is earmarked to be donated to the Urban Barn project in the new neighborhood going up on JBS donated land across from the east side Walmart, according to city documents. Hill says the amount is still being finalized.
“I think food production facilities are always needed in the Oneida community, but the larger community as well,” said Hill.
The barn will have food processing equipment and storage, aimed at opening new revenue streams for small to midsize farmers, while extending the growing season and access to local food.
“I think we have a lot of entrepreneurs that would like to sell food that they process,” said Hill.
Construction on the $1.6 million project will start this week. The bulk of the money is coming from ARPA funds and a state grant awarded to Wellow, a nonprofit focused on community health that is part of the project.
“Think about that sweet potato, but what some of our customers are really asking for is, ‘Can we get that sweet potato sliced? Can we get it diced? Can we create what we would call value added products?” said Natalie Bomstad, Wello Executive Director, during a November 6, 2025 interview.
The Oneida Nation is also donating $100,000 for the Bay Beach shoreline project, which recently hit a roadblock. Two bids to construct a 425-foot wildlife viewing platform came in higher than expected at $5 million and $5.2 million.
“We were not able to award that bid,” said Dan Ditscheit, Green Bay Parks Director. “We just could not afford to do it, so what we’re doing right now is we’re evaluating our options and putting together a gameplan for where we go from here.”
The two donations are in addition to $100,00 the tribe also recently provided for a splash pad that will start being constructed at Ted Fristch Park at the end of summer. The total project cost is $350,000.
“We tremendously value the partnership that we have from the City of Green Bay with the Oneida Nation and I think some of those things are outgrows of the fact that we have this cooperative governance agreement now going back several years,” said Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich.
The 10-year cooperative agreement was signed in 2021, resolving land disputes and formalizing mutual services after both sides went five years without an agreement.
“The donation is outside of our current cooperative governance agreement obligations to the city but do speak to strong government to government and community relationships the nation has built over the years,” said Hill.
Hill says the state money it received came with few limitations except it couldn’t be used for gambling purposes.
The Oneida Nation says it also recently contributed to other projects outside of Green Bay. Those include the Oneida Reads Program and the Family Resource Center in Outagamie County.
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