The St. Croix Valley Business Innovation Center, a non-profit business incubator serving the St. Croix Valley, opened in January of 2018. It all began in 2010 as a conversation between the River Falls Economic Development Corporation (RFEDC), other local organizations, and several individuals in the area. Everyone was looking for a better way to provide more impactful economic development opportunities in the region. These discussions led to establishing a more formalized partnership that included the RFEDC, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, the City of River Falls, and Chippewa Valley Technical College. The project funding included $250,000 from the State of Wisconsin secured by Senator Sheila Harsdorf. With the assistance of the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, the U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded a grant of $1.4 million for the project. Over $4 million was invested in the facility using additional grants, donations, and loans. The RFEDC remained committed to the concept of an Incubator since its early inception funding two feasibility studies and finally securing the state, federal, and partner funding along with utilizing equity it had accumulated from previous successful incubation deals with companies in River Falls.