County receives transportation improvement grant Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi presents Brown County Executive Carol Kelso with a transportation improvement grant to help pay for dredging part of The Fox River (photo by H. Marc Larson). The money covered expenses from Fox River dredging to access K&K Warehousing Inc. dock By Monique Balas News-Chronicle Brown County Executive Carol Kelso was reimbursed for $155,000 on Tuesday to help defray costs of river access to K&K Warehousing. The Transportation Economic Assistance grant covers money spent by Green Bay to dredge an area of the Fox River near K&K's new dock along the Fox River south of Walnut Street. Because of other improvement work the company has done, "ocean-going ships are now able to pull right up to K&K Warehousing because of the dredging," said Mike Goetzman of Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The grant pays for half the amount required to dredge a 700-foot by 100-foot section of the river to a depth of 24 feet. The company matched the grant to cover the entire $310,000 cost of the project. The dredging was completed in May and a new building was completed in July. K&K bought the site, formerly home to Northwest Engineering, nearly a decade ago, but despite its location on the river, it was never used as a dock. With the improvements in place, ships can dock at the facility and load and unload in Green Bay. "We were unable to bring ships to the dock until it was dredged," said K&K owner Tom Kuber. "We had two in September and we will be bringing more in the future." He said an estimated 33 jobs will be created by the improvements, including warehouse-related jobs, and those involving unloading, trucking jobs and railroading. "A lot of things go on to move the product," Kuber said. TEA grants, which are generally applied for by municipalities, go toward transportation-related improvements that can boost jobs and economic growth. "This project allows the company to directly and indirectly create and retain at least 83 jobs with an average yearly payroll of $1.7 million," said WISDOT secretary Frank Busalacchi in a news release. "By providing these funds, we are helping add and retain quality jobs here in Green Bay while improving international access to and from K&K Warehousing's facility on the Fox River."