Leaders with Fort McCoy Garrison and installation agencies met March 21, 2025, with community leaders and workforce professionals in Sparta, Wis., during the Fort McCoy Workforce Collaborative Meeting, which promotes relationships and employment opportunities.

The meeting brought together people who are working to improve employment opportunities in the region, including at Fort McCoy. Attending from Fort McCoy included Deputy Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Mike Corkum, Lorie Retzlaff with the Fort McCoy Army Community Service team, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Specialist Melissa Dubois, and others.

From the civilian side, representatives from the Tomah Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Western Technical College, and more were present.

Officials at the meeting noted the collaboration is helpful in filling jobs at Fort McCoy and also helps people like military family members learn about opportunities for employment.

Also, during the meeting, participants developed ideas and ways ahead to tell military family members more about jobs available in the area as well as events to complete that effort, such as at the 2025 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House planned for May 17, 2025. Also discussed were plans for several other events planned for the installation as well as open employment opportunities with contractors and non-appropriated funds channels.

Community outreach is an important part of the Army mission. According to the Army, as stated at https://www.army.mil/outreach, “the Army is about more than ensuring our national security at home and abroad, it’s about giving back and getting to know the communities that support us.”

It’s also possibly important for community leaders to see the installation that provides a significant economic impact to their communities. Fort McCoy’s total economic impact for fiscal year (FY) 2023 was an estimated $1.38 billion, Fort McCoy Garrison officials announced earlier in 2024 (FY 2024 information is still not available from the Fort McCoy Plans, Analysis and Integration Office).

Approximately 69 percent of the Fort McCoy workforce also lives within Monroe County, FY 2023 data shows. The total FY 2023 workforce payroll for civilian and military personnel was $190.5 million.

Fort McCoy also has several ongoing construction projects which directly support employment of local contractors.

Taking a closer look, following are the year-by-year breakdowns of economic impact numbers for new construction and operating costs at Fort McCoy.

— FY 2019 — $27.6 million in new construction of buildings and ranges; operating costs of $120.56 million.

— FY 2020: $50.3 million in new construction of buildings and ranges; operating costs of $194.4 million.

— FY 2021: $39.4 million in new construction of buildings and ranges; operating costs of $249.88 million.

— FY 2022: $42.5 million in new construction of buildings and ranges; operating costs of $391.46 million.

— FY 2023: $58 million in new construction of buildings and ranges; operating costs of $346 million.

And through FY 2024 and into FY 2025, construction projects continue to provide economic impact to local communities from those projects in tens of millions of dollars, officials said.

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.”

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”