“I’m a planner at heart,” said Melinda Osterberg, senior economic development director for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s north central region. “I grew up near a planned community. A lot of the forest companies, after they harvested the wood, formed economic development corporations and did housing developments. They really created communities.”
That early exposure to thoughtful community design sparked a lifelong interest in planning and development.
“I thought it was amazing,” said Osterberg, who was included in this year’s 20 Most Influential Asian American Leaders. It was Mill Creek in Washington State. I did my internship there, and I just saw the impact that planning could have on the environment to create really livable spaces.”
Born in Seattle and raised in nearby Everett, Osterberg studied Community and Environmental Planning at the University of Washington. “I’m super practical,” she said. “I was like, ‘Can I actually get a job in this?’ I found several jobs that were paying a really good rate. I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, you can get a job. There is demand for this.’”
She started her career in Washington State before relocating to Wisconsin in 2005, when her then-husband got a job at Kimberly-Clark in Neenah. Despite the move and the economic uncertainty of the mid-2000s, she quickly found work.
“I started working for East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. Then one of my contracts transitioned into a full-time job. So I worked for Shawano County for about five years after that,” she said.
Coming from the West Coast, she had to adapt to differences in legal structures and land use.
“We don’t have regional planning commissions in Washington State,” she explained. “Another thing is there are town governments in Wisconsin. In Washington, a town is just a legal description—there’s no government actually associated with it.”
And the landscape was different, too. “Out west, we have vast tracts of undeveloped land owned by one entity,” she said. “Here it’s much more fragmented. When I was working in Shawano County, I went from large tracts of timber to cows. Shawano still has a lot of family farms.”
Despite some learning curves, the transition suited her. “I was always in a rural environment,” she said. “I think my background in large tracts that aren’t intended for development fit really well. I think there were a lot of similarities.”
Eventually, she took time off to raise her children and ran her own consulting firm. Later, she joined UW-Extension as a community development educator. “That really got me into more traditional economic development – broadband, housing studies, those sorts of things,” she said. “But really to support economic development.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she collaborated with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). “I worked with the person who previously had this position at WEDC on educational programs related to ARPA funds and pandemic relief,” she said. “I thought, ‘This looks like a really good organization, and they do a lot of good work.’ So when the position came open, I applied.”
Now based in Plover, Osterberg serves as Senior Economic Development Director for North Central Wisconsin, a region that stretches “from Tomahawk in the north to Adams in the south.”
She calls it “the most Wisconsin of our regions—because I don’t actually touch anything outside of the state.”
Rural and proud, her region faces familiar economic challenges. “Housing is probably one of our primary concerns,” she said. “Housing affordability. It’s a national issue. It’s more affordable (in north central Wisconsin) than in other areas, but it’s still a challenge.”
She’s bullish on her region’s future. “When we can get companies here, they’re pleasantly surprised. They’re not aware of the amenities we have, the vibrancy that is here.”
It can be a hard sell from a distance. “One company CEO was astonished by how well-maintained our properties were” when he visited, she said. “He said our workforce must have the attention to detail to make his operation successful.”
“Racially ambiguous”
Osterberg’s grandparents fled to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War and made their way to the Pacific Northwest later.
“My grandma was super feisty,” Osterberg said. “In the late ’60s, she was like, ‘I think our future is in the United States.’ That was a bold choice … She got her master’s from Washington State University just to test it out. She loved it here. Then my dad came, met my mom, and they had me. Now my whole family is here.”
Still, her identity can be complicated.
“I don’t think it’s a secret—I’m racially ambiguous. Some of my colleagues, when they saw the (Most Influential Asian American Leaders) article, were like, ‘Did they get that right?’ As a mixed person, that space can be difficult. People will think that I’m Native American, or Hispanic. I’ve only been identified once as Chinese—as an adult. As a child, I looked 100% Chinese. Now I’m racially ambiguous. Most of the time, I’m just white—until I’m with a person of color, and then I’m not white anymore.”
Even though she can “pass,” she sees that privilege clearly. “(Being a person of color) hasn’t informed my experience as much as others who don’t have that.”
Still, diversity in the region is real and visible. “The Hmong population brought a lot of vibrancy—different cuisines, entrepreneurial spirit,” she said. “Any farmers market, you can’t help but think this really added to our community.”
She’s proud of the businesses that embrace diversity. “A lot of the employers I work with have been very intentional about hiring a diverse workforce. They’ve found success with that.”
There’s even Chinese investment in the area. “People don’t think about that, but Nine Dragons Paper—the second largest employer in my region—is Chinese-owned,” she said.
And it’s not just corporations that impress her. “I planned the state’s first free public Lunar New Year festival in 2020. We had 700 people come. That’s not nothing. The county passed a resolution recognizing the Lunar New Year. I think there are good stories here.”
Her personal story is one of welcome, too. “I moved to Plover. Within five years, I was on the town’s plan commission and Board of Review. If you say you want to do something, you can do it. They’re going to welcome you. There’s space for you.”
