August 2017

Business Intelligence for the New North

under thirty

Future-focused 20-something leaders from northeast Wisconsin bring out the best in others

ESOP Fables

August 2017 | $3.95

Human Resources

From the Publisher

Deliberate Delay

Business Intelligence for the New North

16

August Features 16 COVER STORY

3 Under Thirty

Future-focused 20-something leaders from northeast Wisconsin bring out the best in others

24 HUMAN RESOURCES

Owning It 24

Employee stock ownership plans can provide tax advantages for a company and provide an exit strategy for retiring business owners

30 FIREFIGHTERS OF NE WISCONSIN

After completing 6-month initiative, owners of AMC of Wisconsin say this was the opportunity they needed to improve and grow

Departments 30

4

From the Publisher

6

Since We Last Met

10 Build Up Pages 29 Guest Commentary 34 Voices & Visions 36

Professionally Speaking

38

Who’s News

44 Business Calendar 45 Advertising Index 46 Key Statistics On the cover B2B cover photo by Sean Fitzgerald www.newnorthb2b.com

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NNB2B | August 2017 | 3

From the Publisher

Deliberate delay

Even though Wisconsin’s biennial budget is more than a month past due, the honest disagreements offer a chance at progress

by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher

It’s been rather quiet in Madison since the state budget passed its deadline for approval back in the beginning of July. And the fact that a new two-year budget is now more than a month overdue isn’t creating much of a stir across the state, either.

Nor should it.

Passing a biennial state budget before July 1 isn’t an entirely new phenomenon in Madison, though the current delay is the first in the Gov. Scott Walker era and the first since the 1997-99 biennial budget, which eventually cleared Gov. Tommy Thompson’s desk in September. That budget, though, was deliberated by a state legislature in which party control was split between the two houses.

This time around, it’s the fourth consecutive state budget being deliberated with a Republican-controlled Assembly, Republican-controlled Senate, and a Republican in the governor’s office. With unilateral control, why would there even be a delay?

While a number of others in the media chastise the legislature for not getting its job done on time, I’m of the opinion this delay is healthy for state Republicans and for the citizens of Wisconsin. The divide among Republicans on how to fund transportation capital projects – the reason for the current delay – marks the first significant and public instance of state Republicans disagreeing with one another since Gov. Walker took office a little more than six years ago.

It’s a healthy disagreement, I believe, because state Republicans have uniformly fallen in line with Gov. Walker’s broader platforms since he assumed the state’s top office.

But “honest disagreement,” as Gandhi once said, “is often a sign of progress.”

Considering the fact that budget levels remain at 201517 levels until a new state spending plan is anointed and there’s no critical issues hampered by the fact that a new budget isn’t in place, yet, a brief delay of a couple of months isn’t particularly worrisome to State Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh), who served on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee for the second time this past spring. He said a report issued by the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau in late July outlining the potential impact of the budget delay on state agencies and programs didn’t raise any immediate concerns regarding the urgency of a new spending plan.

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Hintz said he believes the budget delay is a result of two factors, the first being that this budget marks the fourth for the governor and state Republican leadership. While it was perhaps critical for Republicans to demonstrate unity and pass a budget on time back in 2011, there’s less need for such a demonstration of solidarity three budget deliberations later.

Secondly, Hintz said, the need to develop and approve a longterm, sustainable strategy to address the state’s transportation infrastructure has been lingering since 2013. Since that time, broader discussions regarding transportation have mostly been bandaged or delayed.

“The transportation issue has been around, and it’s going to be worse if we don’t do something soon,” Hintz told B2B in late July. “I think there was a thought (from Assembly Republicans) that you can’t keep kicking the (state transportation funding issue) down the road, and that at some point you need to take a stand. I do think the Assembly Republican stand is one worth taking.”

The Senate and governor’s plan to fund a $1 billion shortfall in transportation spending through long-term borrowing – as opposed to instituting any new transportation-related fee increase – is expected to cost state taxpayers a substantial amount in future payments on debt service. The Senate plan to borrow as much as $850 million would cost 22 cents on every dollar to service the debt, while the governor’s plan recommends borrowing $500 million.

In either scenario, it’s quite a price to ask Wisconsin residents to pay 10 years or 20 years from now, particularly if the leaders making such borrowing decision won’t be in office in future years to take accountability for these decisions.

Assembly Republicans have stood firm on funding current transportation improvements with various user fees, such as increasing vehicle registrations, increases to the gas tax, or raising driver’s license renewal fees. Although unlikely, the prospect of introducing toll roads on Wisconsin highways has entered the discussion as well, and Gov. Walker has made it clear he’d veto any such proposal.

For nearly seven years legislators have known the risk to Wisconsin’s crucial transportation infrastructure if a funding solution isn’t resolved. This important issue requires legislators come to an agreeable consensus before making rash decisions just to meet an arbitrary deadline.

That’s worth holding off budget approval for two or three months until legislators and the governor can settle on a reasonable transportation funding solution that works for all Wisconsin residents and businesses. n

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Sean Fitzgerald Publisher & President x sean@newnorthb2b.com Lee Marie Reinsch Editor x editor@newnorthb2b.com Kate Erbach Production x graphics@newnorthb2b.com Rachel Yelk Sales and Marketing Intern x intern@newnorthb2b.com Contributing writers Rick Berg Chief Financial Officer Vicky Fitzgerald, CPA

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Since We Last Met

Since We Last Met

Since We Last Met is a digest of business related news occurring in the Greater Green Bay, Fox Cities, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac areas in the one month since the previous issue of New North B2B. June 26 America Online Founder and billionaire investor Steve Case announced he will bring his five-stop Rise of the Rest startup bus tour to the Launch Wisconsin event in Green Bay on Oct. 17. The event in Green Bay was one the five winning communities among dozens of communities nationwide considered as a Rise of the Rest tour stop. The Rise of the Rest Tour launched in 2014 to showcase founders in emerging startup ecosystems across the U.S. As part of his visit, Case has pledged $100,000 toward the startup pitch competition scheduled during Launch Wisconsin’s third annual event at Lambeau Field.

June 28 The state Department of Natural Resources awarded $13.8 million to 35 communities through its Lead Service Line Replacement program, including $300,000 to Fond du Lac, $300,000 to Menasha, $500,000 to Oshkosh and $500,000 to Green Bay. The funds can be used by private property owners to replace old lead water service lines going into homes and other buildings.

2004 August 10 – The Oshkosh Common Council awarded a $1.98 million contract to CR Meyer & Sons to expand and develop the Riverside Park amphitheater.

2005 August 12 – New York-based Maxcor Inc. acquired the ThyssenKrupp Metal Cutting Group, which includes the Giddings & Lewis plant in Fond du lac.

2006 August 7 – Lawrence University in Appleton received a $15 million anonymous donation which will be applied toward the funding for a proposed $32.7 million , 100,000-sq. ft. campus center. The gift is the largest in the school’s history.

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June 30 The state Department of Workforce Development issued 16 Wisconsin Fast Forward manufacturing grants across the state, including $313,476 to Bemis Healthcare Packaging of Oshkosh and $110,954 to the Green Bay-based Bay Area Workforce Development Board. The award to Bemis is expected to fund training for as many as 10 new hires and 67 existing workers on mechanical and machine operations through Fox Valley Technical College. The grant to Bay Area Workforce will be disbursed to a partnership between NEW Manufacturing Alliance, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and 18 area manufacturers to train as many as 74 existing workers in machine operations.

July 1 Gander Mountain, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, will close nine stores in Wisconsin, including plans to close its Green Bay store on Aug. 30. The Fox Cities store in the town of Grand Chute is not affected by the closure announcement. Camping World Holdings bought the Gander Mountain brand and name but not its inventory.

2009 August 12 – Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in 41 counties suffering from drought conditions, including Outagamie County. The declaration expedites requests from farmers for temporary irrigation permits to divert stream or lake water to irrigate crops.

2010 August 30 – Kohl’s Department Stores sued the City of Neenah in an effort to reduce the $7 million property value assessed on its Neenah store and to refund the $35,000 it paid in 2009 property taxes, plus interest and compensatory damages. The lawsuit from Kohl’s indicated the store has a value no greater than $5.5 million. City assessment officials revalued the property at $7.5 million in 2006 and lowered it to $7 million in 2009.

2014 August 5 – The Village of Little Chute closed the Mill Street Bridge on its Heritage Parkway Trail until spring 2016 to demolish and replace the 87-year-old bridge. The bridge replacement is funded through a grant from the Federal Highway Administration, as well as contributions from Outagamie County and the Village of Little Chute.

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July 5 American Airlines flew its first flight into Appleton International Airport, joining Delta, United and Allegiant as the commercial airlines serving the Fox Cities. American Airlines has two flights daily to Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

EVERY PINT IS A POSSIBILITY

July 7 The U.S. Department of Labor reported 222,000 jobs were created in June, leaving the national unemployment rate relatively unchanged at 4.4 percent. Employment increased in health care, social assistance, financial activities and mining.

July 12 The Green Bay Packers reported record net income of $73 million during the recent 2016-17 fiscal year – almost a 50 percent increase above last year’s record earnings of $49 million – resulting from its $27 million share of franchise relocation fees related to recent moves by the Rams, Chargers and Raiders. The actual revenue will be paid out to the Packers in installments over the next 10 years, but was added to the past year’s financial statement as a general accounting practice. The Packers organization also reported record revenues for the most recent fiscal year of $441 million, up from 2015-16 record receipts of $409 million. During the last fiscal year, the Packers grew their total charitable contributions to more than $8 million and increased its reserve fund by 27 percent to $349 million.

July 12 The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes in Fond du Lac signed a letter of intent with St. Louis-based SSM Health to transfer sponsorship of Fond du Lac-based Agnesian HealthCare, which includes hospitals in Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun and 12 regional clinics across Fond du Lac, Dodge and Green Lake counties. The Sisters of St. Agnes established health ministries in Fond du Lac nearly 120 years ago, but noted that changes in the Wisconsin payer and provider markets as well as the changing demographics of the Congregation were factors in seeking a new owner. Both SSM Health and the Sisters of St. Agnes are undergoing due diligence to integrate the hospitals and affiliate organizations within the SSM Health system. The diligence process is expected to take several months. Financial and other terms of the merger were not disclosed.

July 14 Fox Valley Workforce Development Board selected Fond du Lac-based Advocap to manage its dislocated worker and adult program in Fond du Lac, Green Lake and southern Winnebago counties for the coming fiscal year. The community agency will also manage the state Job Center Resource Rooms in Berlin and Fond du Lac in the year ahead.

Fox Valley Workforce also entered into an agreement with Wisconsin Rapids-based Labor Education & Training Center to manage its dislocated worker and adult program in Calumet www.newnorthb2b.com

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Since We Last Met and northern Winnebago counties and to manage the Job Center Resource Rooms in Menasha and Oshkosh in the coming year.

July 17 The Wisconsin Department of Transportation began longterm ramp closures at the U.S. Highway 10/County Road AP (Midway Road) interchange in Menasha as part of the larger project to reconstruct the interchange within the greater WIS 441 enhancement project. The eastbound U.S. 10 on-ramp from Midway Road will remain closed through the summer of 2018, while U.S. 10 off-ramps from both directions will remain closed through the summer of 2019. The Midway Road underpass of the expressway will remain open but may have various single lane closures throughout the project.

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MillenniuM ConstruCtion, inC.

Breaking Ground for the New Luxury Townhouses in Grand Chute

July 17 Walmart backed out of a plan to build a $12.5 million store in Kaukauna’s Commerce Crossing development along Interstate 41 and State Road 55 after signing a letter of intent with the city to purchase the real estate earlier this year.

Walmart will lose the $100,000 deposit it paid the city to retain the 17-acre property on the site of a former dog racing track. The company indicated a downturn in in-store retail trends led to the decision to pull out of Kaukauna.

July 20 The University of Wisconsin Green Bay received a $105,000 Dash Emergency Grant from Great Lakes Higher Education & Affiliates to assist low-income students encountering financial emergencies. Students under certain income thresholds are eligible for grants of up to $1,000 for unanticipated expenses that are not college-related.

July 20 Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp announced plans to acquire Bank Mutual Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $482 million, based upon a sale price of $24.60 per share of Bank Mutual stock. Milwaukee-based Bank Mutual has $2.7 billion in assets and 63 branch offices across Wisconsin and Minnesota, including 14 offices in northeast Wisconsin. Under the terms of the agreement, Bank Mutual shareholders will receive 0.422 shares of Associated common stock for each share of Bank Mutual stock. The transaction is expected to close sometime during the first quarter of 2018.

July 20

425 W Wisconsin Ave. • Appleton 920.882.8700 millenniumconstructionwi.com 8 | August 2017 | NNB2B

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Sec. Ben Brancel announced he will retire Aug. 13 to return to his family’s farm in Marquette County. Brancel served as the department’s chief official since 2011 when appointed by newly-elected Gov. Scott Walker. Brancel also served as the secretary of the Department of Agriculture under Gov. Tommy Thompson from 1997 to 2001. He originally worked as a fifth-generation dairy farmer until being elected to the state Assembly in 1986. n 15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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All Around You

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Fond du Lac

Relax.

We’ve got you covered.

For all your commercial, industrial, and institutional roofing needs.

Indicates a new listing

1 - 221 Shepard St., Ripon Alliance Laundry Systems, a 45,300-sq. ft.addition to the existing industrial facility for manufacturing space. Project completion expected in October.

2 - 145 N. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac Radiology Associates of the Fox Valley, a new medical building.

3 - 90 Trowbridge Dr., Fond du Lac ACH Foam Technologies, an addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

4 - 100 Camelot Dr., Fond du Lac Excel Engineering, a 3,400-sq. ft. addition to the existing office building. Project completion expected in October.

5 - 1739 Fox Ridge Dr., Fond du Lac ACH Foam Technologies, an addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

866-799-0530 | N2971 Hwy. 15, Hortonville

www.wiroofer.com

10 | August 2017 | NNB2B

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Build Up Oshkosh

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Indicates a new listing

6 - 3200 N. Main St., Oshkosh Muza Sheet Metal Co., an addition to the existing industrial building. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

9 - 1212 S. Main St., Oshkosh Fox Valley Pro Basketball, an 80,000-sq. ft., 3,500-seat sports arena. Project completion expected in November. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

7 - 215 W. Murdock Ave., Oshkosh Verve, a Credit Union, a new financial institution branch office. Project completion expected in August.

10 - 495 W. Waukau Ave., Oshkosh Fox Valley Metrology, an addition to the existing industrial facility.

8 - 324 Washington Ave., Oshkosh Oshkosh Community YMCA, a 53,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing community center and various interior renovations.

Project completion expected in November.

Projects completed since our July issue: • Ripon College J.M. Storzer Center, 300 Seward St., Ripon.

• Dream Jewelers, 2211 Westowne Ave., Oshkosh.

• Quality Truck Care Center, 5725 Green Valley Road, Oshkosh.

Coming to B2B in September 2017 Workforce

Distinct strategies to develop in-demand skills

www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | August 2017 | 11

Build Up Fox Cities

Build Up

Fox Cities

Indicates a new listing

1 - County CB & State Road 15, town of Greenville Cintas, a 54,000-sq. ft. industrial facility for laundry and maintenance. Project completion expected in July 2018.

12 - 2515 S. Eisenhower Dr., Appleton Encapsys, a 37,000-sq. ft. new corporate office building and research facility. Project completion expected in August.

2 - 4815 N. Lynndale Dr., town of Grand Chute Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve, a two-story, 18,200-sq. ft. nature center and offices. Project completion expected in late fall.

13 - W3171 Springfield Dr., town of Buchanan Anytime Fitness, a two-story fitness center. Project completion expected in late summer.

3 - 3801 N. Richmond St., town of Grand Chute Meijer, a 200,206-sq. ft. department and grocery superstore and a separate 3,366-sq. ft. convenience store. Project completion expected in early 2018.

4 - 5402 W. Integrity Way, town of Grand Chute Habitat ReStore, a 20,000-sq. ft. home improvement retail store. Project completion expected in late 2017. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

5 - 355 W. Lawrence St., Appleton Fox Cities Exhibition Center, a 65,000-sq. ft. convention and meeting facility. Project completion expected in fall.

6 - 410 S. Walnut St., Appleton Outagamie County, a 90,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing county administrative office building.

7 - 140 Allegiance Ct., Little Chute All-Star Cutting & Coring, a 10,160-sq. ft. industrial facility.

8 - 1401 E. Elm Dr., Little Chute Village of Little Chute, a 55,000-sq. ft. municipal services building. Project completion expected in September.

9 - N2061 Vandenbroek Road, Kaukauna Van’s Waste, a service bay addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

10 - 201 Reaume Ave., Kaukauna City of Kaukauna Fire Department, a 29,174-sq. ft. fire station.

Project completion expected in fall.

11 - W797 County Road K, Brillion Custom Plating Specialist, a 3,360-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility for offices and warehouse space.

Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

12 | August 2017 | NNB2B

14 - 2830 E. John St., Appleton Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group, a 4,511-sq. ft. addition to the existing commercial office building. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is CR Structures Group of Kimberly.

15 - 829 Appleton Road, Menasha Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, a 4,400-sq. ft. addition to and remodel of the existing church building. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Millennium Construction of Appleton.

16 - County Road CB, Fox Crossing Secura Insurance, a 350,000-sq. ft. corporate headquarters office building. Project completion expected in 2019.

17 - 1265 W. American Dr., Fox Crossing Wisconsin Institute of Urology, a 34,837-sq. ft. medical clinic.

18 - 1450 McMahon Dr., Fox Crossing WOW Logistics, a 24,000-sq. ft. corporate office building.

Project completion expected in August.

19 - 1050 Zephyr Dr., Fox Crossing St. Mary Catholic Central High School, a 6,500-sq. ft. addition to the existing school building for a fitness and training facility. Project completion expected in September.

Projects completed since our July issue: • Wiscolift, W6396 Specialty Dr., town of Greenville.

• Les Stumpf Pre-Owned, 3225 W. College Ave., Grand Chute.

• Nestle, 3900 Freedom Road, Little Chute.

• Kimberly High School, 1662 E. Kennedy Ave., Kimberly.

• Courtyard by Marriott, 101 S. Riverheath Way, Appleton.

• Holiday’s Pub & Grill, 1395 W. American Dr., Fox Crossing.

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Office • Retail • Restaurant Lodging • Automotive

Meeting the needs of your business’ future baylandbuildings.com x 920.498.9300 www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Build Up

Greater Green Bay area 1 - 4589 Shawano Ave., Howard McAllister Landscape Supplies, an 8,000-sq. ft. retail building and warehouse. Project completion expected in August.

General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 2 - 2780 Howard Commons Dr., Howard Fusion Dance, a dance studio and office. Project completion expected in September. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

3 - 1521 Brookfield Ave., Howard Winona Foods, a 157,210-sq. ft. warehouse facility. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

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Indicates a new listing

4 - 1558 Brookfield Ave., Howard BCS International, a 92,400-sq. ft. warehouse and office building. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 5 - 2740 W. Mason St., Green Bay Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, a 62,000-sq. ft. transportation center and a two-story Great Lakes Energy Education Center. Project completion expected in early 2018.

6 - 1250 Velp Ave., Green Bay La Java/MCS Holdings, a multi-tenant retail center.

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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7 - 2231 N. Quincy St., Green Bay NEW Water/Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, a wastewater treatment facility. Completion expected in 2018.

21 - 2275 American Blvd., De Pere Green Bay Packaging, a 30,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility.

8 - 1010 University Ave., Green Bay American Foods Group Health & Occupational Wellness Clinic, a commercial office building. Project completion expected in August.

22 - 1751 Matthew Dr. West, De Pere Fox River Fiber, an office addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

9 - 1638 University Ave., Green Bay El Tapatio, an addition to the existing commercial bakery.

Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

23 - 1745 Matthew Dr. East, De Pere De Pere Cabinet, a 35,050-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility for warehouse space. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

10 - 1330 Bellevue Dr., Bellevue KI, a 60,000-sq. ft. expansion of the existing manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Consolidated Construction Co. of Appleton.

11 - 2280 E. Mason St., Green Bay Learsi & Co., a substantial overhaul of the former grocery store to create retail spaces for PetSmart, Ross Dress for Less and Marshalls. Project completion expected in early 2018.

12 - 3059 Voyager Dr., Green Bay NEW Dermatology, a new medical clinic facility.

Projects completed since our July issue: • NWTC Driving Facility, 4975 Glendale Ave., Howard.

• Aurora Baycare Medical Center, 1160 Kepler Dr., Green Bay. • Lodge Kohler, 1950 S. Ridge Road, Ashwaubenon • Bellin Health Clinic, 1930 S. Ridge Road, Ashwaubenon.

• Johnsonville Tailgate Village at Lambeau Field, 1265 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay. • Ashwood Centre, 3377 Packerland Dr., Ashwaubenon.

• The 102 on Broadway, 102 N. Broadway St., De Pere.

• Belmark, 633 Heritage Road, De Pere.

• Amerilux International, 1212 Enterprise Dr., De Pere.

13 - 1936 Donbea St., Bellevue Viking Electric, a 9,800-sq. ft. addition to the existing warehouse building. Project completion expected in October.

General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 14 - 2605 Development Dr., Bellevue Plastic Surgery & Skin Specialists by BayCare Clinic, a 12,000sq. ft. surgery center. Project completion expected in October.

15 - 2801 S. Webster Ave., Allouez Cerebral Palsy Inc., an addition to the existing human services center office. Project completion expected in August. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

16 - 2833 Riverside Dr., Allouez Green Bay Correctional Institution, an 8,000-sq. ft. addition to the visitor center at the existing correctional facility. Project completion expected in November.

17 - 810 Morris Ave., Ashwaubenon Home2 Suites, a four-story, 92-suite hotel. Project completion expected in late August.

18 - 2800 Ashland Ave., Ashwaubenon Wisconsin Public Service, a 32,000-sq. ft. regional employee training center. Project completion expected in March 2018.

19 - 1333 Parkview Road, Ashwaubenon Fosber America, a 12,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 20 - 600 High St., Wrightstown Wrightstown Community Wellness Center, a 8,564-sq. ft. addition to the existing high school for a civic facility. Project completion expected in December.

www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | August 2017 | 15

Cover Story

under thirty

Future-focused 20-something leaders from northeast Wisconsin bring out the best in others

Story by Lee Marie Reinsch, New North B2B editor

16 | August 2017 | NNB2B

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Uber-hailing non car-owning snowflakes? Phone addicts unable to socialize with actual people? Basement dwellers who prefer League of Legends to outdoor oxygen? No, no, and no.

New North B2B’s fourth annual 3 Under 30 honorees blast the Millennial stereotype-machine to smithereens. They garden and woodwork, they transform ugly spaces into vibrant havens, they kick soccer balls around and are math wizards. They not only get outside, they relish the open air and thrive on community contact. We’ve selected three 20-somethings who not only are heading for achievement, they’re already there. These 3 Under 30 recipients for 2017 knock our collective socks off and serve as inspirations to people of any age.

Renaissance man

Who’d have thought a minor change like getting a job closer to home could lead to a Tudor house remodel, improved family relationships, more community involvement and a bettergroomed garden?

Many people would use it as an excuse to sleep-in longer.

“Having moved back to Oshkosh, I’m able to fit even more things in without the travel time,” said Kristopher Ulrich, director of marketing and communications for Oshkosh Area Community Foundation. “The past three years, it was an hour off my day,” he said, depending on road conditions.

He’s referring to the three years he spent commuting with his former job as executive director of newVoices choir in Appleton. Ulrich started with OACF in late April and says it’s been a good transition.

“I’ve been looking for a way to bring things I’ve learned in the nonprofit sector back to Oshkosh,” he said. “I think my lifelong Oshkosh residency and passion for the community help tie it all together.”

He said his love for the area superseded pursuit of work in larger cities.

“I was taught that you should go out into the world, learn great skills and bring what you’ve learned back to your community,” he said. “This is home, all my family is here. The older I get, the more I really love being close to my folks and grandparents.”

Ulrich is active with – and the youngest member of – Neenah Rotary Club and received its “40 Under 40” scholarship to attend its regional convention. He’s a graduate of the inaugural Nonprofit Leadership Initiative, which is a partnership of Fox Valleyarea nonprofits, schools and

businesses committed to bettering nonprofits. He’s working on his MBA at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, with an emphasis in medical administration.

“He’s bright, he’s articulate, he’s creative, he’s a big supporter of the Oshkosh Area School District and the arts overall and quality of life,” said Barbara Herzog, a friend and vice president of the Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education. “He’s not afraid to speak up and share his opinion, and it’s more than just sharing emotion, it’s based on facts or things that have an objective base to them.”

Ulrich served on the 2016 Oshkosh School District referendum committee, the steering committee for Propel Oshkosh – the community’s young professionals organization – and on the boards of directors for Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra and Neenah Rotary. He’s passionate about Rotary.

“Professionally, it’s connected me with a vast array of leaders within our community and throughout the whole state, truly,” he said. “Personally, I’ve made lifelong friends who value service above self, as the Rotary motto suggests.”

Another passion: music. Even before he directed newVoices Choir, he and his wife, choral director at Oshkosh North High School, were involved with Oshkosh Choraliers and Oshkosh Chamber Singers.

“We’re both musical people,” he said. In college he belonged to a touring choir that went to Europe.

Ulrich led a program at First Congregational Church in Oshkosh that pairs monthly noontime concerts with meals for seniors.

“This has been one of the most successful outreach projects we have done at First Congregational Church,” said fellow church member and community leader Dave Elbing.

Kristopher Ulrich

Age: 29 Lives: Oshkosh Title: Director of marketing and communications for Oshkosh Area Community Foundation

Life philosophy: Diverse interests provide multiple perspectives on life and with dealing with community issues.

Loves: His wife, his family, woodworking, gardening, “watching the awesome machinery of nature,” Star Trek, and elevating Oshkosh. www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

Favorite quote: “Formidable goals produce formidable results.” - Character Nathan Samuels, Star Trek Enterprise

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Cover Story Through newVoices, Ulrich partnered with dementia-care organizations and the Sexual Assault Crisis Center to provide concerts to raise money for those causes and worked with newVoices to register voters for the 2016 election.

He also secured a $40,000 grant from US Venture to provide four years of collaborative masterworks between Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra and newVoices.

“Those areas are not ones that I, at least, typically associate with a regional choir, but I really was impressed with the direction that newVoices took under his leadership,” said Herzog.

Herzog cited his 1,300-square-foot garden and his woodworking abilities as examples of his well-roundedness.

“He’s a Renaissance man,” she said.

Ulrich turned the basement of their 1936 Tudor Revival into a wood shop, and to date has built a pergola, 8-foot garden arch and gate, and refinished their kitchen cabinets. He also makes how-to videos of the DIY home projects for social media.

“Woodworking is something I was happy to be exposed to in the Oshkosh Area School District as a middle schooler, and I took to it,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich credits his education at Luther College in Decorah, Ia., with instilling in him the desire for a range of interests.

“It’s a liberal arts college, and the philosophies there encouraged people to be well-rounded and have diverse interests, because diverse interests provide multiple perspectives on life and with dealing with community issues,”

he said. Not to mention the mental-health benefits of destressing at the end of the day.

“We don’t really sit around and watch TV. We’re part of the generation that never got a phone line and never got cable, so I do my fun hobbies,” he said. “You make the time for things that are important.”

He credits his musical involvement with his social mobility.

“Much of the direction I’ve taken with my life has come from conversations and relationships I’ve had through music.”

Ulrich is getting his bearings with his new job but eventually would like to be involved with city government, possibly as a volunteer or as an elected official.

“These are ambitious goals as I look toward my late 30s and early 40s. It’s fun to speculate. I’m really passionate about making sure everything that I’ve learned goes to benefit Oshkosh.”

Art is the answer

Come up with a problem, and Matt Bero will probably come up with an offbeat idea to solve it. Got empty storefronts in your downtown area? Enter The Mouvre (pronounced ‘move’), a series of pop-up galleries designed to attract positive attention and exposure to unoccupied downtown real estate while giving artists an outlet. Kind of like home staging – only with commercial spaces and more creativity.

Got a lack of public art? Enter Lookup Art. That’s Bero’s rolling mural service and devotion to transforming ugly walls into places of wonder. Lookup Art has evolved into Bero’s fulltime gig, Design Bero.

Or how about a new library auditorium that needs a community introduction? Enter Stacks & Steeples, a music series showcasing local musicians and bands with Green Bay roots.

Are your city’s artists and white-collar administrators living in two entirely separate worlds? Enter Catalyst, a colossal multimedia arts party last year in downtown Green Bay pulling community leaders and creatives together and establishing lasting alliances.

“There’s a lot of creative, talented, talented people in the greater Green Bay area that are entirely untapped, busy with their day jobs, or don’t have that little nudge to push them further to take a step to create something they might not normally create or always wanted to do,” Bero said. “If I create the platform that can solve some of these problems, I can entice them to do these things they’d like to do, and that’s really fulfilling for me.”

On Broadway, Inc. Executive Director Brian Johnson called Bero a difference maker, a creator and a visionary.

“He’s on every organization’s short list when recruiting people who know how to change a community and impact the overall quality of life for the people who live there,” Johnson said of Bero.

Last year, Bero made headlines and TV news with the biggerthan-life-size mural he created called “Morty the Moose” on Olde Main Street in Green Bay as part of the Art on Main

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Matt Bero Age: 26 Lives: Green Bay Title: Owner of Design Bero, art evangelist and pizza enthusiast Loves: Pizza, art, connecting people, pens, pizza.

Life philosophy: It’s a disservice if you don’t share something that could help somebody else. If you don’t share your ideas, they absolutely won’t go anywhere.

Favorite quote: “If it scares you, you should probably do it.”

program. Morty became an instant star, and positive attention was lavished upon an area that might have been forgotten.

A year later, food trucks still set up in the area on the first Thursday of the month in summer for “Lunch with Morty.”

Bero received the Greater Green Bay Chamber’s 2017 Young Professional of the Year Award, chosen among a host of nominees from its Current young professionals group.

His idea for the Mouvre gallery project won a $1,100 micro grant from the Young Professionals Support of Urban Projects (S.O.U.P.) contest last fall.

The inspiration of the name for Mouvre came from the Louvre museum in Paris, and as a traveling pop-up gallery, it’s in motion. It moves.

“The whole idea behind this was two-fold: bringing people through these spaces that are often empty for years on end,

and cleaning them up,” Bero said.

“It’s using empty spaces in a way that reframes how people view them, as well as brings an economic factor on spaces in the downtown area.”

The initiative would yield an immediate boost to the downtown area, Bero said, because ‘For Sale’ or ‘For Lease’ signs don’t do much for anyone except those in the market for a commercial spot.

“I had the idea that we could use these spaces as a realtor might, taking people through them and – because it’s not permanent, it’s a pop-up gallery – people can visualize what could go there, especially if they’re not the type of folks who can go into a space and see the potential,” he said.

One of Mouvre’s case studies demonstrated that with a few hundred dollars, a broom and some paint, a space could be

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Cover Story Eye on the goal

turned around.

“Another part of Mouvre is we leave the space much better than we found it,” Bero said. “Oftentimes floors haven’t been swept or there are holes in walls. I work toward making it a livable space, whether it’s a broom, wiping it down, or painting, it creates extra incentive for the property that creates the venue for the event.”

He did three Mouvre events in the downtown Broadway district in the past year. Each of the three had a different theme: bicycle, graffiti and pizza – the latter simply because “I’m a pizza fanatic.”

“We had drinks there, neat stuff to look at, and a neat group of people that came together,” he said. It included pizza art by different artists and, of course, pizza.

The Catalyst art party last year on a vacant floor of the refurbished Watermark building in downtown Green Bay used many of the same ideas of Mouvre but on a larger scale.

Bero and a team from Appleton launched a second iteration of Catalyst at a College Avenue space earlier this August during the 2017 Mile of Music. Smaller than the original Catalyst, the attraction was a hybrid between it and Mouvre.

“Sponsoring Mouvre is a good opportunity for businesses to say ‘Hey, we support the creative things going on down here,’ and it’s good for people to see who the sponsor is because they have a captive audience,” Bero said. “All companies are interested in attracting the same talent. It’s a fight for talent at this point, and Mouvre can reframe the approach, show community involvement and support for the arts … so when they want to attract talent from out of or around the state, they can say we support cool things like this.”

Bero is the type of person city leaders have in mind when they talk about the need to attract talent, said On Broadway’s Johnson.

“He brings a fresh perspective to the way he solves challenges, he doesn’t take no for an answer and his perseverance always allows him to find a way,” Johnson said. “He’s resourceful and mobilizes people who are inspired by a passion for what can be versus the status quo.”

In soccer, the key to success is a cohesive team, each member playing their assigned roles. Players should trust their teammates to carry out the strategy, be confident they’ll pick up each other’s passes, and depend on them to keep the ball out of the opponent’s possession.

Osng Kwon (first name pronounced O-sun), actuarial supervisor with Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. in Neenah, is one of those team players, according to the team’s captain, Dylan Place, vice president of actuarial services.

“Without Osng, the time it takes to do our job at the office would be much longer,” Place said. “Osng is obsessed with automation and accuracy – both tremendous strengths for an actuary.”

Kwon’s teamwork and leadership helped him move into his current position as an actuarial supervisor after two years as an actuarial analyst with Jewelers Mutual, according to Place.

Kwon said his team at Jewelers Mutual is pretty tight knit, and its members think as a unit.

“We’re very supportive of each other … we do a lot of trading off of work,” Kwon said of his team. “I relate it to soccer: If I were to just hand a piece of work to someone in the same department … they already know the thought process I have, so they’re able to pick it up real quickly,” he said. “We’re able to work very fluidly.”

Kwon goes beyond the expected for the benefit of the team, according to Place.

“Osng will take small projects and move them forward several steps more than anticipated,” Place said. “He also has a knack for seeing the potential to leverage results for certain projects to address other needs, demonstrating his creative problemsolving skills.”

He has developed reporting tools and new metrics that track how well the business is performing and how sales are doing.

That’s contributed to helping Jewelers Mutual better deliver its services to customers, according to Place. Place said Kwon is very driven and hardworking but easy to get along with. And his personality?

“He has one, which is a rarity for actuaries,” Place said, adding that Kwon sometimes accuses him of telling dad jokes.

Osng Kwon Age: 28 Lives: Appleton Job: Actuarial supervisor at Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. in Neenah Loves: Hanging out with his wife, kicking a soccer ball around, comedy and action movies, Korean food, electronic music.

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Philosophy: You won’t learn if you’re not out of your comfort zone. If you just quit, then you’re not pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

Favorite Quote: “If you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” - Eric Thomas, motivational speaker

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Kwon is forwarding the ball toward the goal both for his own objectives as well as those of the team. He’s working toward an associateship in the Casualty Actuarial Society, a national professional organization which works to advance actuarial science through education and research. To do so, one must pass seven exams, six of which Kwon has passed thus far. He studies a lot.

Kwon, who grew up in Kimberly and is of Korean heritage, said he’s among the first of 35 generations of his family to go to college. He said he hopes to one day serve as a good role model to kids by encouraging them to study math.

“My parents didn’t go to college. I was the first,” he said. “They didn’t have an opportunity to go to high school and to college and get a good job. They always said ‘Study hard, study hard.

Eat well, make sure you’re healthy, study hard.’ That’s been the motto.”

Kwon lived and breathed it growing up, he said. “I despised doing homework and coming in early on weekends. But it pays off,” he said. “You won’t learn if you’re not out of your comfort zone.”

The same goes for academics and tests: “I didn’t pass the actuarial exams on my first try. Some of them I failed. If you just quit out, then you’re not pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. You’re never going to pass.”

He credits his own mentors with turning him on to actuarial science.

As a kid, Kwon excelled in math, but didn’t know what one could do with a math degree other than teach or be an engineer. He enrolled in math in college figuring he’d end up in engineering.

“That’s what I thought math people did,” he said. “I didn’t know actuaries existed.”

Halfway through his freshman year at University of Minnesota, he found out what actuaries did. Some of his mentors were actuaries who veered into academics.

“That’s when I got interested in actuarial science,” he said. “I looked up to them. That’s my inspiration.”

Fortunately, transitioning from engineering to actuarial science went smoothly, since he was taking many of the same math courses already.

Once he’s passed that seventh exam for his associateship in the Casualty Actuarial Society, Kwon expects to have more time to get involved in community work – specifically working with kids in sports and mathematics.

Kwon said he’d like to coach youth soccer or track, having played soccer in high school and college. He tutored math and coached youth soccer, as well.

“My goal is to get involved with sports or academics – math, tutoring math in the school setting, or for ACT preparation for older kids in high school, ” he said. “That’s on my horizon.”

Until then, he will study hard, eat well, make sure he’s healthy ... and keep his eye on the ball. n

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Human Resources

Owning It Employee stock ownership plans can provide tax advantages for a company and provide an exit strategy for business owners looking to retire.

Best of all, it can offer an attractive employee recruitment and retention benefit.

Story by Rick Berg

Attorney and CPA Robert A. Mathers knows well the value of maximizing tax advantages for ongoing business operations, as well as for business owners’ estate and succession planning. Yet, he says, it’s a mistake to focus first on the tax implications of any business restructuring.

“If the tax tail is wagging the dog, that’s probably not the right strategy for that company and its owners,” said Mathers, a shareholder and business consulting specialist in the Oshkosh office of von Briesen & Roper. He adds a good succession planning process begins with identifying the existing owners’ goals, developing best-case scenarios and exploring options.

In Mathers’ world, those options are plentiful, but there’s no question that an employee stock ownership plan – more commonly referred to as an ESOP, for short – has the rare ability to positively impact succession planning while also helping businesses compete for talent.

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“It’s a unique and compelling tool for attracting and retaining employees,” Mathers said.

Aaron Juckett, founder and president of Appleton-based ESOP Partners, said that’s one of the leading reasons some business owners opt for an ESOP. Studies have shown that ESOP companies tend to outperform their non-ESOP competitors, Juckett noted, largely because employees with an ownership stake are more personally connected to the company’s success.

(See “ESOP Fables, Facts and Figures,” page 27.) That, in turn, creates an attractive company culture for current and future employees.

“ESOP businesses are able to create an employee benefit, reward employees who have helped build the company, provide employment stability and increase job satisfaction to build an ownership culture and then promote that culture and those benefits to new recruits,” Juckett said.

“Employees in ESOP owned companies typically have a higher wage and more retirement assets than employees in non-ESOP owned companies, because there is more cash flow to reinvest in the company and the employees with the tax savings,” said Stephanie Geurts, CPA, a partner in the Oshkosh office of Suttner Accounting. “Research and statistics imply that employees feel incentivized to grow their own personal wealth, which enhances their productivity.”

Leaving a legacy

For some business owners, creating an ESOP is a way of ensuring that the company they’ve created remains in local control, even if there is no nextgeneration family member in place to carry on. This is especially true when there are long-time and loyal employees who have helped build the business.

One of the longest-standing ESOP companies in northeastern Wisconsin is Kaukauna-based Keller Inc., which launched its ESOP in 1986. The company’s founder, Walter Keller, was looking for a succession model that would carry on the customer service values he believed in and reward the employees he valued.

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Anatomy of an ESOP Here is a high-level synopsis of the planning and process for establishing an ESOP, courtesy of three legal and financial specialists. Aaron Juckett is founder and president of Appleton-based ESOP Partners, Stephanie Geurts is a CPA and partner at Suttner Accounting in Oshkosh, and Robert A. Mathers is an attorney and shareholder in the Oshkosh offices of von Briesen & Roper.

Why would the owners sell the business to its employees, rather than to an outside buyer? u A business owner would want to sell the business to the employees to provide a business transition alternative that helps ensure the changes are in the best interest of the business owner, company, employees and the local community. u Selling to an ESOP often provides a greater after-tax return than selling to a third party.

An ESOP purchases the stock, not the business assets, which provides the seller with longterm capital gain treatment for taxes in place of the ordinary income rates that apply to most asset sale proceeds. u The ESOP can provide a financing vehicle for the purchase. ESOPs can borrow money from the company to purchase the stock from the owner and repay the loan with the tax-free contributions made to the plan. u A business owner would want to sell the business to the employees to improve company performance, provide employment stability and increase job satisfaction, and align the financial objectives of the company and the employees. u A business owner would want to sell the business to the employees to build or expand an employee ownership culture and reward the employees who helped build the company. u A business owner would want to sell the business to the employees to preserve the company legacy in the local community and preserve jobs.

What are the tax benefits of an ESOP? u If the company is an S Corporation ESOP, the portion of income attributable to the ESOP ownership is generally not subject to federal and most state income taxes. A non-ESOP S Corporation distributes income to 15 Years v 2002 to 2017

the shareholders, since that income will flow through to the individual owners on their taxes. u When the owner is an ESOP, there are no taxes and therefore no need to make tax distributions to the owners, so the tax savings can be retained or used by the company to provide working capital and employee benefits. u An ESOP sale is always a stock sale taxable at long-term capital gains rates. If certain requirements are met, some or all sales proceeds may be eligible for Section 1042 deferral treatment.

What is the process for establishing and administering an ESOP? u The first step is to determine if an ESOP is a good fit and define the structure of the ESOP transaction. A good candidate would be a closely held company that has a strong balance sheet and cash flow and at least 10 to 15 employees. The owners should either want to continue running the business or have a plan to have successor management in place before leaving. u LLPs, LLCs or any entity treated as a partnership for tax purposes would need to convert to a corporation to be eligible. u An independent ESOP trustee and appraiser represent the ESOP as the buyer of the stock.

The trustee and appraiser determine the value of the company and negotiate with the sellers to come to an agreement of terms that are fair to both parties. u Annual valuations are performed by an independent appraiser and the plan is typically managed by a third-party administrator. u The company makes tax-deductible retirement contributions to the ESOP. u Employees do not pay taxes on their share until they retire or leave the company, at which point they sell the stock back.

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Human Resources “The Keller ESOP remains very robust 31 years later, employing over 50 construction crews throughout the Midwest, along with a larger number of office personnel,” said Keller President Wayne Stellmacher. “We need our employees to think like an owner and act like an owner. This drives our attitude about putting our customers first and treating them how we would want to be treated.”

“This culture includes an ownership mentality which is reinforced by the ESOP. The ESOP helps each employee to focus on making the company better.”

Jay Yeaso, president Vehicle Security Innovators in Green Bay More recently, three other northeastern Wisconsin businesses created ESOPs for reasons similar to Walter Keller’s.

Elipticon Wood Products in Little Chute launched its ESOP in August 2015 as the culmination of owner John Wiley’s desire

to “share some of the financial value of the company with its employees,” said current Elipticon CEO Doug Gilbert.

“He saw it as a way to pass on his legacy,” said Pat Heckner, Elipticon’s controller and marketing director, as well as a 21year veteran of the company.

In March 2015, Vehicle Security Innovators of Green Bay completed its conversion to an ESOP as an alternative to selling the business to outside investors.

“When the selling owners bought into VSI in 2005 and 2006, our original intent was to grow the business and then sell it. Over the years, we came to the realization that most potential buyers would be located outside of the Green Bay area and that a sale could jeopardize the jobs and careers of our employee group,” said Chief Financial Officer Bob Arnold, who was president and majority owner at the time of the ESOP conversion. “We were very much aware that the employee group enabled our success and we did not want their jobs and careers to be at risk. We realized that going down the road of an ESOP allowed them to control their own destiny.”

“At VSI, our corporate culture is an extremely important determinant of our continued success,” said Jay Yeaso, the company’s current president. “This culture includes an ownership mentality which is reinforced by the ESOP. The ESOP helps each employee to focus on making the company better.”

In January of this year, Green Bay-based Bayland Buildings completed the process that began five years ago when owner Steve Ambrosius chose the ESOP model as his retirement

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transition plan.

“He has always been an owner who has placed a high value on taking care of his employees,” said Dean Hunt, Bayland’s director of marketing and business development. “He wanted to reward his employees and help secure the future growth of the company by giving his employees a stake in the company.”

The owner mentality

While it’s early in the process for Bayland, Hunt noted the ESOP model seems to work well in achieving Ambrosius’ goal of ensuring the quality of Bayland’s work continues.

Our team helps businesses large and small to achieve their goals with financial solutions customized to fit their current and future needs.

“It has created a sense of ownership in the company and we really do hold each other accountable,” Hunt said. “I’ll be out on a job site and one of the guys will tell me that there was an event somewhere and that we should have been there with a marketing presence. It’s amazing to me to see that.”

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ESOP Fables, Facts and Figures

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u One of the leading misperceptions about ESOPs is that the current ownership gives up control of the operation. In fact, an ESOP is the perfect vehicle for divesting the current ownership of its financial stake in the company and transferring that ownership stake to employees, while leaving the management structure in place. u Many also believe ESOPs are only for large companies. The reality is that the average ESOP company in Wisconsin has 138 employees.

Nationally, 80 percent of ESOPs have fewer than 250 employees.

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u The total number of ESOPs in the country is about 6,800, representing total retirement plan assets of $1.23 trillion dollars.

There are approximately 200 ESOP companies in Wisconsin. u Most ESOPs are “stand alone” plans, but about 1,300 are KSOPs, which combine an ESOP with a 401(k). u ESOP companies outperform their counterparts. A study from Rutgers University found that ESOPs increase sales, employment and sales per employee by 2.3 to 2.4 percent per year over non-ESOP companies. u ESOP companies agree that creating employee ownership through an ESOP was a good business decision. In 2015, Employee Ownership Foundation’s Economic Performance Survey found that ESOPs continue to see increased economic growth, increased share value and high productivity among employee owners.

SOURCES: Aaron Juckett of ESOP Partners in Appleton; Robert A. Mathers of von Briesen & Roper in Oshkosh; ESOP Association; Employee Ownership Foundation; National Center for Employee Ownership; and U.S. Department of Labor.

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

New North B2B magazine is searching for a motivated, independent salesperson to fill an advertising executive position within the growing publishing firm.

The successful job candidate will network within business and community organizations across northeast Wisconsin to develop trusting relationships with prospective advertisers and increase B2B’s visibility in the market.

Flexible work schedule. Base salary plus commission and benefits. This position includes at least 50 percent outside sales and requires the ability to drive to appointments and events. This position reports to the publisher.

Two-plus years of sales or marketing experience preferred, as well as an associates degree or higher in marketing or related field.

To apply, send a resume and cover letter to sean@newnorthb2b.com or mail to:

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Human Resources That owner mentality has held true at Keller for three decades, said Stellmacher. “Our employee-owners hold each other accountable and expect a higher performance level.”

The same holds true at Elipticon Wood Products, where employees are invested in the future growth of the company.

“Being here at Elipticon for 21 years I can tell you that I now see employees becoming more engaged and feeling empowered,” said Heckner. “They’re all looking for that growth and sustainability when they come into work each day.”

At VSI, Yeaso said, “our employees are extremely engaged and productive, they want to grow and become better, both personally and professionally, which makes us a fierce competitor in a global market.”

“Once the employee experiences and sees the benefits of being part of an ESOP, they want to stay involved with Keller until retirement.”

Wayne Stellmacher, president, Keller Inc. in Kaukauna

Attracting new talent

In an era when the skilled talent pool seems to be shrinking in many industries and Baby Boomers keep moving into retirement, the ESOP model is often touted as a competitive tool for attracting and retaining talent. At Keller, that has proved to be the case, according to Stellmacher.

“Employee-owners who are committed and informed workers attract others that value ownership,” Stellmacher said. “Once the employee experiences and sees the benefits of being part of an ESOP, they want to stay involved with Keller until retirement.

“For this reason, employee retention has been and remains very strong. When candidates hear about Keller and the benefits of being an employee-owner, they are intrigued.

During this time when great employees are hard to come by, we can use our uniqueness to attract qualified candidates.”

At VSI, Yeaso and Arnold are convinced the ESOP has made the company more attractive to prospective employees.

“The ESOP, combined with our 401(k), insurance, and personal time off policies, result in a benefit package that few local companies match,” Yeaso said. “As we build a history of stock appreciation within the ESOP, this benefit will become more and more of a selling point. The current job market is highly competitive, but we believe we have a great story and that helps with not only employee retention but also attracts new talent as well.” n Rick Berg is a writer and editor based in Green Bay.

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Guest Commentary

Avoiding a Flint, Mich. situation State’s business lobby blocking efforts to remove lead from Wisconsin’s drinking water

by Curt Witnynski, League of Wisconsin Municipalities

The business group Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce agrees lead is dangerous to human health and lead water pipes serving family homes in municipalities across the state should be replaced.

WMC wants to make certain, however, that its members don’t pay one penny more on their water bills toward the cost of removing lead pipes. That is why they are trying to kill legislation allowing municipalities and their water utilities to create financial assistance programs to help home owners replace lead service pipes.

Lead is found on both the public and private sides of water service lines in at least 120 municipalities statewide.

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, there are approximately 176,000 lead service lines connecting homes to water mains throughout Wisconsin.

Water utilities have found that replacing only the public side of lead service lines causes lead levels to increase in the homes being served. That is why both the EPA and state Department of Natural Resources strongly advise that private service lines containing lead be replaced at the same time water utilities replace the public side of a lead service pipe. Total replacement is the most efficient and cost effective way for municipal water utilities, private property owners, and contractors to completely remove lead from the service lines. Accomplishing full replacement is challenging, however, because it requires homeowners’ cooperation.

Many homeowners with lead water services have limited income and find it difficult to afford the cost of replacing their side.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has ruled that municipal water utilities are prohibited from using utility revenue to assist private property owners with the cost of lead service line replacement.

Legislation under consideration in the Capitol – Senate Bill 48 and Assembly Bill 78 – would make it clear that a municipal water utility may establish a financial assistance program to help homeowners replace their lead service lines. Such a program could offer loans, grants or rebates to property owners.

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Fifty-two legislators from both parties have signed onto the bill. The PSC supports the bill, as do all of the state’s water utility groups and my association, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. At a May 2017 public hearing on the bill, WMC was the only organization speaking in opposition.

Fifty-two legislators from both parties have signed onto the bill ...

WMC was the only organization speaking in opposition.

WMC argues, primarily to direct attention away from its embarrassing opposition to the bill, that municipalities already have plenty of money available for aiding property owners. The apparent source for this extra money is the “payment in lieu of taxes” – otherwise know as PILOT, for short – that many water utilities make annually to their municipality. But in an era of strict property tax levy limits and cuts to shared revenue and other state aids, no municipality can afford such a program without reducing other services.

Municipalities are working with legislators to pass legislation allowing water utilities to create innovative ways to help homeowners finance the cost of lead water line replacement.

WMC is standing in the way of those efforts.

WMC is willing to risk a Flint, Michigan-type occurrence in Wisconsin to ensure against the possibility that its members might experience a slight increase in their water bills. Shameful.

Curt Witynski is the assistant director of League of Wisconsin Municipalities, a 119-year-old organization aimed at helping Wisconsin cities and villages share ideas and learn from one another.

The League additionally trains and provides information to the people elected and appointed to govern those cities and villages, as well as advocates on their behalf with the Wisconsin Legislature, Governor and state agencies. For more information, visit the League online at www.lwm-info.org.

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Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin

Final update

Axel and Carmina Mendez

Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin After completing 6-month initiative, owners of AMC of Wisconsin say this was the opportunity they needed to improve and grow

When AMC of Wisconsin President Axel Mendez began working with our business consultant back in February as part of New North B2B magazine’s annual business improvement initiative, he thought it might be best to scale the company back to focus on more profitable operations and possibly eliminate those lines of business which were flat and even losing the company money.

Now six months later and much more financially astute, Mendez and his wife, Carmina, have streamlined many of the processes within the Fond du Lac fabricator of decorative stone countertops to make them more efficient and drive more profit to the bottom line.

The Mendezes and AMC of Wisconsin achieved improved operating efficiency with the help of Gary Vaughan of Appleton-based Guident Business Solutions. Vaughan donated his time and services as part of B2B’s sixth annual Firefighters 30 | August 2017 | NNB2B

by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher

of Northeast Wisconsin initiative, which pairs together some of the region’s leading business consultants with business owners struggling to put out the fires in their companies and grow them to the next level of success.

Vaughan spent three to four hours a month with the Mendezes since this past February, giving the couple books to read and other homework assignments to help them become better financial stewards of the money moving in and out of their business. Vaughan said he watched the Mendezes gradually make better business decisions and earn better customers. Those decisions were made “by the numbers,” Vaughan said, and eventually allowed the company to shift its emphasis away from a longtime customer who often cost it money.

Sales and new orders are flowing in, Axel acknowledged, primarily because the home building industry is booming once

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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again to fulfill demand for housing. High customer demand has also been driven by the company’s steadfast reputation for on-time delivery of orders and impeccable service after the sale, Vaughan said.

Gary Vaughan Guident Business Solutions, Appleton www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com

As a result, the Mendezes aren’t planning to scale back their operations – as Axel projected they might do six months ago. They’ve simply been running more efficiently, becoming more lean on expenses and cost estimating each job more consistently than ever before.

Vaughan launched Guident in 2009 after spending his entire career teaching – both in the classroom and in business. Having previously spent many years as a business owner himself, Vaughan realized many business owners lacked fundamental skills such as understanding financials, human resource practices and management skills, as examples. His firm’s proprietary Guident 360 Assessment Program enables business owners to holistically address their business needs.

“I think that we’re learning to manage the business better,” Carmina said, indicating that the company is working smarter now compared to six months ago.

Vaughan envisions substantial future success for the company, which primarily sells its product wholesale to retailers and contractors in the home building and home improvement industries.

“There’s so many opportunities for these guys to make a profit because they have six different profit centers,” Vaughan said.

“With all of these things we’ve done here to increase profit – the customer wouldn’t even know that were any changes made to the business.”

Emphasis on finances

One of the more strategic decisions the Mendezes made in recent months was to create a position for and hire a fulltime controller. The couple previously handled the company’s dayto-day financial management with a part time bookkeeper, backed up with an annual review from their accountant.

The decision meant a substantial investment for AMC of Wisconsin, but one the Mendezes are willing to make to carry out a more defined strategic plan for the next three years.

“We never thought about having a fulltime person dedicated to finances,” Axel Mendez said. “We were so worried about production and sales.”

The decision to hire a controller stemmed from the couple’s evolving appreciation of their company’s financial information, which Vaughan helped instill early on in their time working together.

Early this past spring, Vaughan gave the Mendezes an

COMPANY: AMC of Wisconsin LOCATION: Fond du Lac FOUNDED: 2002 EMPLOYEES: About 40 WHAT IS DOES: Fabricator of decorative stone countertops for the home improvement industry. Much of its product is sold wholesale to a mix of national big-box and local, independent home improvement retailers. A smaller amount is sold direct to consumers through its own retail outlet.

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assignment to read Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs, a guide which helped describe financial terms and generally accepted accounting principles in easy-to-understand language. Carmina explained it gave her a much deeper appreciation for the company’s financial statements, which she acknowledged she didn’t previously care to review. Now she looks forward to seeing updated balance sheets and profit and loss statements, “Previously we just lived day to day” in the business, Carmina said. “Now we’re looking at forecasting and we’re looking at budgeting. Before (she and Axel) talked together about the business, now when we’re talking, we plan together around the business.”

Vaughan explained that as the Mendezes acquired new “financial tools” in regard to understanding their business operations, they’ve been able to use those tools to make better business decisions for the future.

The Mendezes have finished composing an annual operating budget, which AMC of Wisconsin’s newly hired controller will use as a baseline for helping steer the financial direction of the company in the near term. For Axel and Carmina, the budget will serve as a sales and expense target as they evaluate the monthly performance of the company.

Bringing reinforcements

OWNERS: Axel and Carmina Mendez

WEB: amccountertops.com

Vaughan has professional experience in a variety of industries, including retail, petroleum, manufacturing and academics. He is a senior adjunct instructor in the MBA program at Concordia University of Wisconsin, and a lecturer in economics and entrepreneurship at Lawrence University in Appleton.

During three of the past six months, Vaughan was assisted by three senior economics students from Lawrence University in Appleton, where he additionally serves as an economics lecturer and coordinator of the school’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program.

The Mendezes granted the students access to their internal processes and sensitive financial data so that they could help the company develop a strategy to cut costs. The students – who ultimately graduated from Lawrence in June – developed a custom Excel program to help the Mendezes with job-costing projections. Since each piece of decorative stone countertop the company fabricates is completely unique and cut to

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Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin customized specifications, this Excel program has helped in evaluating jobs after they’ve been completed, comparing the estimates to their actual expenses for each job. Once the software is fully put into use by AMC, Vaughan said it should help the company validate its estimating process.

Carmina Mendez said the students brought a good deal of youthful positivity and introduced fresh perspectives each week they came to visit.

“It was so great to have these students because they were really bright,” Carmina said.

She said the students also helped prepare a cash flow budget that the Mendezes continue to regularly review.

The students also helped identify improvements to AMC’s retail showroom in Fond du Lac, its only direct-to-consumer line of a business, where as such, it generates higher profit margins for the countertop products it sells through that channel. As part of that project, the students toured various competitors’ showrooms to identify and bring back best practices in how the showroom presented products, some of which the Mendezes have adopted.

Turning waste into dollars

The students and Vaughan also spent a good deal of time during the spring months developing a plan to capitalize on the orphan slabs and remnants

B2B photo by Sean Fitzgerald

High-speed water jets polish recently cut decorative stone at AMC of Wisconsin to make smooth countertops.

created as the byproduct of the company’s fabrication process.

In February, Axel Mendez explained the company retains all of its remnant pieces – as well as its pieces that break – and ultimately has tens of thousands of dollars in untracked, unliquidated inventory.

“There’s often a need to educate employees that (these pieces) aren’t garbage, they’re dollars,” Vaughan said.

“There’s a value there. There’s a worth there.”

The students helped launch a control initiative to track and identify each piece of orphan stone the company has on its manufacturing campus. Carmina Mendez indicated the company then hired an employee to sort through its yard of stone which is no longer usable for countertops, and precisely inventory the materials it has available.

B2B photo by Sean Fitzgerald

Employees at AMC of Wisconsin remove freshly cut decorative stone from the company’s fabricating equipment.

32 | August 2017 | NNB2B

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“That’s been a humongous task for us,” Carmina said, noting the company now has a well-defined inventory of those pieces of flat decorative stone for the first time in 15 years. The company expects to begin offering that material to customers soon, bringing some revenue to expenses it’s already accrued.

“It’s not waste,” Carmina explained, “but we haven’t previously been able to (find a revenue stream) for those items.”

As part of the effort, the students researched and developed a prospective customer list of other companies that might be interested in buying the irregular, leftover decorative stone for possible use in landscaping, paving or boutique artisan applications.

Looking to the future

Through their work with Vaughan, the Mendezes have developed and adopted a 3-year strategic plan which lays out a roadmap for where the company is headed.

At the tail end of that plan, the Mendezes aim to eventually move their operation into a new facility in Fond

du Lac. With 36 employees, millions of dollars in machinery and inventory scattered across three nearby buildings, Axel explained that its current production flow is crowded, inefficient and creates opportunities for problems.

A prospective new facility – although at least three years away – would be all under one roof, larger in size and provide ample floor space to ensure product could move efficiently from one process to the next all the way from receiving through shipping.

Vaughan said the Mendezes have been open to trying new approaches in their business operations that vary – sometimes rather substantially – from the approach they’ve taken during the past 15 years. They’re listening, and learning new strategies to employ their new financial tools in profitable ways that should eventually grow their owner’s equity line on the company’s balance sheet, Vaughan explained.

“We did a lot of stuff here over the last six months,” Vaughan said. “It was like drinking water from a fire hose.”

For AMC of Wisconsin and the Mendezes, their experience working

Methodology New North B2B magazine began seeking entries for its 6th annual Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin initiative late last year, with a goal of assisting those northeast Wisconsin small business owners who feel as if they’re constantly burning the candle at both ends, putting out fires, spinning their wheels, but intent on finding a way to improve.

Through the generous help of Gary Vaughan of Guident Business Solutions in Appleton, AMC of Wisconsin’s owners Axel and Carmina Mendez received six months of consulting at no cost to help them work on the strategy of improving their business profitability. with Vaughan and his students from Lawrence University might have made all the difference from being burned out business owners watching their equity slip away to having a good deal of optimism to the potential growth that’s on the horizon.

“This has been the opportunity that our company needed to improve and grow,” Carmina said. n

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Oshkosh • Green Bay • Appleton www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | August 2017 | 33

Entrepreneurship

V V

oices isions &

A monthly conversation with New North small business owners, each shedding light on the local economy through the perspective of their industry sector.

Nick Dokolas was a grade school teacher in California in 2003, spending summers in Door County where his wife’s parents lived, and working at their business, Cal Marine. He found the idea for a summer job in a magazine article about a guy from Los Angeles who started a Segway tour company.

Dokolas bought his first Segway the following December and spent Christmas break in Wisconsin trying it out, riding around snowy streets. Then in spring, he hung out his shingle, with no employees but himself. He bought a fleet of 10 Segways.

Nick Dokolas Glide N.E.W. Green Bay, Fox Cities & Door County glidenew.com

Business took off. In fact, response was so enthusiastic that requests for tours kept coming in long after Dokolas had packed up for the season and headed back to California.

Now, his company, Glide N.E.W., operates Segway the Fox in Green Bay, Segway the Door in Door County and Segway the Fox Cities in Appleton and surrounding areas, providing dozens of themed personal-transporter jaunts at dozens of sites.

by Lee Marie Reinsch, New North B2B editor

34 | August 2017 | NNB2B

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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How many Segways do you operate?

How many miles before a Segway dies?

We have 48 Segways and some of them are 11 years old. We started out with basically the first generation of Segways 13 years ago and replaced those with second generation Segways. We put about 1,000 miles on each Segway every year. And the original ones are still going.

They’re very reliable.

I think they’ll last forever. As long as they’ll repair them for me, they’ll keep going. They haven’t ever had to be repaired. We replaced the tires and the batteries, which are cheap. They’re very reliable.

How long are your tours?

Most of our tours up in Door County are a two-hour experience (between six to nine miles), so about an hour and a half tour plus training. In Green Bay, they’re an hour plus training. Then we have some Fox Valley tours new this year, and those are the same length as the Door County ones. We have one tour in Appleton, one in Neenah and one in Oshkosh.

What kind of permission do you need?

It depends on the community. I shouldn’t say which community gave me a lot of hoops to jump through, but in the state of Wisconsin, Segways are legal on the righthand side of the road or on the sidewalk (similar to a bicycle).

Do you have to train people to ride the Segways?

Yes, it takes between 2 and 7 minutes per person, so it’s pretty quick. We don’t take people out on tours until they’re fully comfortable on the Segway. We have people doing tours over and over because it’s so fun, and once you do it, it’s catching.

Who are your tour guides?

I have nine tour guides, and most of them are teachers or retired teachers. I like to hire teachers because they tend to be caring. They’re good at teaching people how to ride the Segway, and they like to share knowledge, so they’re good people to hire.

How do you move Segways around Wisconsin?

We have a shop in Green Bay and in Appleton, in addition to Door County. We’re busiest up in Door County, so we have most of our Segways there. Most of the time, we have nine Segways in Appleton and nine in Green Bay. We have a 5-foot by 8-foot trailer that fits up to 11 Segways. We move the Segways as needed, so we can do tours of more than 30 people. Typically, it’s four or five people on our tours.

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How do you promote yourself?

The No. 1 thing is we’re members of eight different visitors centers and chambers of commerce from Washington Island down to Oshkosh. We have rack cards all over the place, so when people are here on vacation and looking for something to do, they’ll find us.

Another thing is we’re ranked No. 1 thing to do in some places on TripAdvisor, and we have all 5-star ratings. We have a TripAdvisor page for each of our communities. I enjoy each morning waking up and seeing the new 5-star ratings we’ve received from the day before.

I like for other people to promote me, because I’m not a big sales person.

What’s the season for conducting tours?

The guided tour season goes from April to October, but in the off-season we focus on events. We have both corporate and private events where we set up an indoor training course at a location of their choice.

We train each person on the Segway, then we enjoy the Segway indoors. This sometimes includes relay races and always includes a cone course.

Each winter we do several events at the American Club in Kohler. We have provided fun at the Acuity Bucket List Bash, and each year we provide fun at high school graduation nights around the Green Bay area.

Have you ever had a customer who couldn’t get the hang of a Segway?

It’s very, very rare. There have been a handful of people who are just too nervous to relax and let it do the work. So we let them out of it. We don’t make them go. If you can stand, you can ride a Segway. If you can trust the Segway to do the balancing for you, you can ride a Segway.

I think the biggest thing keeping many people from doing a Segway tour is thinking that they can’t enjoy it. It’s a fun experience that just about anyone can do, although you do have to be 11 or over. We enjoy introducing people to the Segway and letting them explore new and beautiful and historic places. n

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Professionally Speaking

Professionally Speaking is a paid promotional spot in B2B.

All-time Highs?

by Larry Mroczkowski of Verve Wealth Management 920.966.9520 It’s one of the most popular pieces of investment advice, “buy low, sell high,” but with the market consistently hitting all-time highs, is buying low even an option?

Take a deep breath and then invest.

It’s human nature to be nervous about investing.

But, while market downturns are painful, they’re also the nature of the beast. Former manager of the Magellan Fund Peter Lynch once said, “You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don’t understand that’s going to happen, then you’re not ready – you won’t do well in the markets.”

While it may seem counterintuitive to invest during an all-time high, it doesn’t stop me from investing. Why? Because I know we’re bound to hit another all-time high in due time.

maxim only goes so far. A long-term investment strategy can usually serve as a more solid basis for investment decisions compared to a short-term investment strategy, especially when the market seems consistently on the rise. If history tells us anything, new peaks are typically just around the corner.

To Regain All-Time High Cumulative # Yrs to Recoup Start Date End Date

% Decline Longest Time -86% 25.0 09/16/29 09/22/54 Second Longest -48% 7.5 01/11/73 07/17/80 Third Longest -49% 7.2 03/24/00 05/30/07 Fourth Longest -57% 5.5 10/09/07 03/28/13 Fifth Longest -36% 3.3 11/29/68 03/06/72 Source: LPL Financial, Bloomberg, S&P 500 Index 7/11/16

Larry Mroczkowski (larry@VerveWealthManagement.com) is a wealth advisor at Verve and has more than 15 years of experience in the securities industry. Founded in 1937, Verve, a Credit Union, is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative with more than $800 million in assets and serving over 56,000 members at 15 locations. Learn more at verveacu.com.

Decide how long you want to grow your money to find the right investment strategy.

Most investment strategies last more than five years, allowing time for growth as the market returns to all-time highs, historically speaking. Looking back at 90 years of stock market history, there were only four times – which include the 25-year wait during the Great Depression and the 5.5-year wait during the Great Recession in 2007 – that the wait to return to all-time highs took longer than five years.

Not NCUA Insured x No Credit Union Guarantee x May Lose Value Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Insurance Products offered through LPL Financial or its licensed affiliates. Verve, a Credit Union, and Verve Wealth Management are not registered broker/dealers and are not affiliated with LPL Financial.

Although a valid investment principle, the “buy low, sell high”

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Leach Amphitheater • Oshkosh, WI

August 10 Bodeans

Trapper Schoepp

August 3

The Wallflowers / Better Than Ezra Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons

August 17

Pablo Cruise / Ambrosia BBI

August 24

John Kay & Steppenwolf The Pocket Kings Valley of the Dolls

Tickets available at the door or online. Veterans are admitted FREE at any time to any Waterfest event.

Kids under 12 are admitted free with responsible adult. (FREE offers apply to general admission areas only.)

General Admission prices will vary. “VIP” Area is standing room only, no chairs, no umbrellas

Visit www.waterfest.org for all concert information. info@waterfest.org ❘ 920.303.2265 ext. 22 36 | August 2017 | NNB2B

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Professionally Speaking

Professionally Speaking is a paid promotional spot in B2B.

Unpaid Leave as Reasonable Accommodation

by Jenna Rousseau of Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy s.c. 844.833.0828 Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), covered employers (15 or more employees) are prohibited from discriminating against “qualified individuals” on the basis of disability.

Additionally, covered employers must provide reasonable accommodation to allow qualified individuals to perform the essential functions of their positions, unless doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer.

Similarly, most Wisconsin employers are covered by the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA), which prohibits all employers from “refusing to reasonably accommodate an employee’s or prospective employee’s disability unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose a hardship on the employer’s program, enterprise or business.”

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Most employers already provide paid and unpaid leave to employees through policy and/or practice. Employees with disabilities are entitled to equal access to such leave. However, the employer may also need to provide additional unpaid leave to an employee with a disability as a reasonable accommodation.

When an employee with a disability requests leave as a reasonable accommodation or otherwise indicates a need for leave due to a condition that may constitute a disability, the employer should first determine whether the employee is entitled to leave pursuant to its policy and/or practice. If leave is not available, the employer should engage the employee in an “interactive process” to solicit more information regarding the reason(s) for the requested leave, whether the requested leave would be continuous or intermittent, and how much time is needed. This information will assist the employer in determining whether the

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

employee qualifies for the leave requested under the ADA and also whether the requested leave would cause undue hardship to the employer.

It is important for an employer to maintain an open line of communication with an employee during the interactive process. Employers should refrain from rigidly applying maximum leave policies, as additional unpaid leave may constitute a reasonable accommodation.

For advice and counsel concerning leave as reasonable accommodation under the ADA and/or WFEA, contact Jenna Rousseau at (844) 833-0828.

Jenna Rousseau is an attorney with Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. This article is intended to provide information only, not legal advice. For advice regarding a particular labor or employment situation, please contact the attorneys at Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c.

NNB2B | August 2017 | 37

Who’s News

Incorporations

New North B2B publishes monthly new business incorporations filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

Brown County

JEN DITTMANN REALTY LLC, Jennifer Dittmann, 1420 S. 9th St., De Pere 54115.

ABC WATERPROOFING LLC, Anders Dean Andersen, N6059 County Road H, De Pere 54115.

INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS LLC, Mee Chai Yang, 3781 Schmidt Road, De Pere 54115.

SIEMPRE FURNITURE LLC, Julie Lydon Radue, 2111 Dollar Road, De Pere 54115.

ALLIED CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LLC, Michael Bendorf, 2210 County Line Road, De Pere 54115.

GIGOT LAW LLC, Jonathan J. Gigot, 575 Swan Road, De Pere 54115.

LAWN CARE MAFIA LLC, Troy A. Krause, 1327 Franco Ct., De Pere 54115.

THREE NORTHS FILMS LLC, Alexander Russell Simpson, 1015 Bluebird St., De Pere 54115.

MARY RYAN HEALTH COACHING LLC, Mary Ryan, 1971 Prescott Pl., De Pere 54115.

GENERAL LIGHTING LLC, Scott Robert Smet, 800 O’Keefe Road, Ste. C, De Pere 54115.

ADAM CLEVEN ELECTRIC LLC, Adam Lawrence Cleven, 2041 Sandy Springs Road, De Pere 54115.

STEVENS DEFENSE ACADEMY LLC, Nathaniel Luke Stevens, 2300 Oakwood Ave., Green Bay 54301.

FOX CITY HANDYMAN & LANDINGSCAPING LLC, Fong Thao, 1567 Arapahoe Tr., Green Bay 54313.

STUBBY DACHSHUND BREWING COMPANY LLC, Daniel K. Reigh, 342 Brookridge St., Green Bay 54301.

N.E.W. PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, Alexander P. Renard, 1730 Radisson St., Green Bay 54302.

MENS HAIR SUPPLYS LLC, Hansel Canady, 1144 W. Mason St., Green Bay 54301.

HEFTY’S LAWN CARE LLC, Zachary Van Hefty, 2620 Main St., Green Bay 54311.

DREAM LIGHTING COMPANY LLC, Gregory Navin, 3327 Osprey Lane, Green Bay 54311.

BIEBEL’S CATERING & RENTAL LLC, Kimberly Ann Agostine, 1234 Bellevue St., Green Bay 54302.

ADVANCED AQUARIUM SYSTEMS OF GREEN BAY LLC, Otis David Felty, 239 N. Broadway St., Green Bay 54303.

MASSAGE OASIS LLC, Alexandria Bailey Newtols, 1431 W. Mason St., Green Bay 54303.

Connect online TODAY 38 | August 2017 | NNB2B

PRIME TIME PRINTING LLC, Zachary DeBauche, 509 Eastview Dr., Green Bay 54302.

EXECUTIVE REALTY NORTH LLC, Malinda Trimberger, 2475 Lineville Road, Green Bay 54313.

MIKE’S MAINTENANCE SERVICE LLC, Michael Allen, 826 Kellogg St., Green Bay 54303.

ONSITE REPAIR & FABRICATING LLC, Randall J. LaPointe, 3289 Fairview Road, Green Bay 54313.

AFFORDABLE TENT MFG. AND RENTALS LLC, Mark Patrick Lemerond, 2900 Shelter Creek Ct., Green Bay 54313.

THE MAIN SALON, DOWNTOWN LLC and THE MAIN SALON, WEST LLC, Luz Minelba Acevedo Castro, 991 N. Military Ave., Green Bay 54303.

FOX RIVER MARKETING INC., Matthew Vandenhouten, 2300 Riverside Dr., Green Bay 54301.

JC TOWING & TRANSPORT LLC, Jose A. Cortes, 1211 Sandstone Pl., Green Bay 54313.

FINER POINTS HOMES LLC, Christopher Wrenn, 1368 Liberty St., Green Bay 54304.

FLOORING INNOVATIONS LLC, Daniel John Henricksen, 1191 Circle Dr., Green Bay 54313.

BEEZ TRUCKING LLC, Christopher Micheal Biese, 572 Lamers Clancy Road, Greenleaf 54126.

BT’S EXCAVATING LLC, Brent W. Tauschek, 2215 St. Kilian Road, New Franken 54229.

SURFACING SOLUTIONS OF WISCONSIN LLC, Joe M. Nygren, W398 State Road 156, Pulaski 54162.

SCHUSTER’S LAWN CARE LLC, Travis Schuster, W1028 Main Laney Dr., Pulaski 54162.

CORNERSTONE COFFEE AND CAFE INC., Alyssa Korpan, 3750 Gliding Hawk Way, Suamico 54313.

JESUS FREAK APPAREL LLC, Sandy Holly, 3391 Rose Haven Tr., Suamico 54313.

Fond du Lac County

OVERBO ELECTRIC LLC, David Neil Overbo, 135 E. Arndt St., Fond du Lac 54935.

SYNERGY BOOKKEEPING LLC, Jenna L. Hintz, N6168 Townline Road, Fond du Lac 54937.

NEW BEGINNING HOME CARE LLC, Ryonen A. Faris, 697 Forest Lane, Fond du Lac 54935.

JERRY SCHUCHARDT INSURANCE SERVICES LLC, Steven J. Schuchardt, 110 Forest Ave., Fond du Lac 54936.

BOYER FIRE PROTECTION LLC, Jem Design Group LLC, 490 W. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac 54937.

AG ENTERPRISE TRANSPORT LLC, Jason Ziegelbauer, N9345 County Road Q, Malone 53049.

NIKABELLA PHOTOGRAPHY LLC, Shannon L. Zupke, 320 McKinley St., North Fond du Lac 54937.

Get instant updates on business news developments in northeast Wisconsin before the next edition of B2B magazine comes out.

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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KB FARMS LLC, Kevin Huhndorf, W9687 County Road AS, Oakfield 53065.

STOLLFUSS FLOOR COVERING LLC, Kyle Stollfuss, 420 Prospect St., Ripon 54971.

WILLOW WELLNESS CENTER LLC, Katelynn Kinas, 112 Watson St., Ripon 54971.

GOEDEN FARMS LLC, Ronald Goeden, W11672 Olden Road, Ripon 54971.

WM INSPECTIONS LLC, Mark A. Nickel, 517 S. Madison St., Waupun 53963.

Green Lake County

BERLIN SMALL ENGINE LLC, Robert Ronald Mattice, Jr., 471 E. Waushara St., Berlin 54923.

Oconto County

SAFEGUARD HOME INSPECTION LLC, Gregory A. Schultz, 6689 Cheyenne Dr., Abrams 54101.

Outagamie County

SIMPLE SAFETY COACH LLC, Susen Trail, 829 E. Minor St., Appleton 54911.

SOCIAL SENSATION LLC, Grant Wydeven, 3507 N. Wellington Dr., Appleton 54911.

BROADWAY STORAGE LLC, Rick Kevin Mueller, W4524 W. Broadway Dr., Appleton 54913.

INTUITIVE HOME DESIGN LLC, Laura L. Guttormsen, 222 E. Crossing Meadows Lane, Appleton 54913.

PCI AUCTIONS LLC, Joseph Schomisch, 620 W. Lawrence St., Appleton 54911.

ADINA BUSINESS CONSULTING LLC, Sabrina Robins, 1608 W. Grant St., Appleton 54914.

ALL TIED UP FLORAL CAFE LLC, Aaron Phillipson, 622 E. Brewster St., Appleton 54911.

FIESTA FAMILY DAYCARE LLC, Carrie A. Hubley, 3521 Fiesta Dr., Appleton 54911.

APPLETON COUNSELING MANAGEMENT LLC, Robert Ryberg, W6144 Aerotech Dr., Appleton 54914.

VERHAGEN PLUMBING LLC, Randy Joesph Verhagen, W3187 Creekview Lane, Appleton 54915.

ADCAR LLC, Aaron Scott Alvarado, 2020 N. Meade St., Appleton 54911.

LIVING FIT SUPPLEMENTS LLC, Julia N. Jedwabny, 4833 N. Latitude Lane, Appleton 54913.

SMARTVAPE LLC, Seth Reid, 1440 S. Oneida St., Appleton 54915.

44 NORTH CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, Timothy Wilson, 103 W. College Ave., Ste. 304, Appleton 54911.

KAYLA’S CLASSY CUTS LLC, Kayla Gaertner, 1012 W. Lindbergh St., Appleton 54914.

ALL AROUND CONSTRUCTION & CONCRETE LLC, Michael Brian Wheeler, W6017 Cameo Ct., Appleton 54915.

JP TILE LLC, James Winkler, N335 Breezewood Dr., Appleton 54915.

MENDOTA EYEWEAR LLC, Troy Howard, 5277 W. Century Farm Blvd., Appleton 54913.

UVANTA PHARMACY LLC, Keith Propson, 1050 S. Grider St., Appleton 54914.

THE KNEADED CHAIR LLC, Sharon Emerich, 5523 W. Spencer St., Appleton 54914.

SPORTS BOARD MEDIA LLC, Jeffrey J. Mayer, 3501 W. Sunset Ct., Appleton 54914.

GRIFFIN WOODWORKS AND FLOOR COVERINGS LLC, Heather K. Miller, 1926 N. Superior St., Appleton 54911.

WISCONSIN WINDOW PROS INC., Daniel P. Gast, 2306 N. Meade St., Appleton 54911.

TIDEEN TOWING LLC, Robert Carmichael, 1805 W. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton 54914.

INTEL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS LLC, Jude Nii-Odaie, 4887 N. Latitude Lane, Appleton 54913.

AWR HOME IMPROVEMENTS LLC, Alex Remmel, W2647 Barney Ct., Apt. 6, Appleton 54915.

COMMERCIAL UAV PILOT STAFFING LLC, TJ Lamers, 501 S. Nicolet Road, Appleton 54914.

S K TRANSPORT LLC, Satbir Singh, 1405 N. McCarthy Road, Apt. 2, Appleton 54913.

CONSTELLATION CAFE LLC, Madeline Rae Werley-Nieuwenhuis, 1623 W. Reeve St., Appleton 54914. www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | August 2017 | 39

Who’s News CAROLYN STARK REAL ESTATE TEAM LLC, Carolyn T. Stark, 646 Miranda St., Combined Locks 54113.

NAK CONCRETE LLC, Nick Andrew Klein, 537 Marcella Ave., Combined Locks 54113.

READFIELD STORAGE CENTER LLC, Jesse Vosters, W1970 Industrial Dr., Freedom 54130.

AL DERKS AUTO BODY & SALES LLC, Alen J. Derks, N2659 County Road N, Freedom 54913.

LEWINS WELDING LLC, Joan Lewin, N2866 Evergreen Lane, Freedom 54913.

FREEDOM RESTORATION & REMODELING LLC, Patty Lynn Opperman, W2277 Clover Ct., Freedom 54913.

AGAPE WELLNESS LLC, Susan Trefethren, W6905 Parkview Dr., Ste. B, Greenville 54942.

WINK FARM LLC, Bonnie L. Bungert, W6551 County Road O, Hortonville 54944.

RENOVATION PROS LLC, Roland Saferite, 108 William Ct., Hortonville 54944.

ATF AUTO SALES INC., Aaron Penterman, 207 Dodge St., Kaukauna 54130.

ROCK SOLID LAWN AND TRANSPORT LLC, Kyle Andrew Shinkle, 321 E. 20th St., Kaukauna 54130.

CONSTRUCTION HEADHUNTERS LLC, John R. Watermolen, 312 1/2 S. Madison St., Little Chute 54140.

SEILER TRUCKING LLC, Lindsey Seiler, 153 Riverdale Dr., Oneida 54155.

DR. HALLAM CHIROPRACTIC LLC, Matthew R. Hallam, W1835 Pearl St., Seymour 54165.

Winnebago County

SEELOW CONCRETE & BOBCAT SERVICES LLC, Coreen Thomas, 5326 County Road II, Larsen 54947.

FISHING WITH CAPTAIN KIRK LLC, Daniel Todd Kirk, 115 1st St., Menasha 54952.

KIMS BARBER SHOP LLC, Kim Poehnelt, 722 Melissa St., Menasha 54952.

MIDWEST FLEXO PLATES LLC, Gregory A. Shreve, 1453 Earl St., Menasha 54952.

40 | August 2017 | NNB2B

THOMPSON HOME IMPROVEMENTS LLC, Ross S. Thompson, 8962 Center Road, Neenah 54956.

FAIRBURY HOTEL GROUP LLC, Brian Wogernese, 980 American Dr., Neenah 54956.

FAIRWAYS LAWN CARE & SNOW REMOVAL LLC, Jeffrey Paul Feistel, 342 Joseph St., Neenah 54956.

LUXURY HAIR AFFAIR LLC, Qiana Williams, 691 S. Green Bay Road, Neenah 54956.

DEBBIE LYONS INSURANCE SERVICES LLC, Deborah J. Lyons, 1396 Whispering Pines Lane, Neenah 54956.

PARTNERS IN HOME CARE LLC, Virginia Frank, 1839 County Road A, Neenah 54956.

RECLAIMED VINTAGE SURFACES LLC, Richard Martin Rasnick, 450 Rainbow Beach Road, Neenah 54956.

COMPASSION HOMES LLC, David M. Daniels, Sr., 1072 Rock Ledge Lane, Neenah 54956.

BLOOM EMPLOYMENT SERVICES LLC, Melinda Marie Riemenapp, 3030 Lennon Lane, Neenah 54956.

MATT POTRATZ FARMS LLC, Matthew James Potratz, 3110 County Road Z, Oshkosh 54902.

PAW PRINTS PET CARE LLC, Katelyn Elisabeth Andersen, 4159 Mission Meadows Tr., Oshkosh 54904.

PAPA GLENS PREMIUM PET PRODUCTS LLC, Keil G. Erdman, 4539 County Road T, Oshkosh 54904.

TRUESDALE DRUM WORKS LLC, Todd A. Truesdale, 815 Eckardt Ct., Oshkosh 54902.

SCHONSCHECK FARMS INC., Jay N. Schonscheck, 7198 Angell Road, Oshkosh 54904.

AZ VAPE LLC, Safwan Alboushi Aldabbagh, 242 N. Koeller St., Oshkosh 54902.

ARE HOUSE OF BEAUTY LLC, Salome L. Sumner, 2303B Jackson St., Oshkosh 54901.

THE GRANARY BREW PUB LLC, David S. Toman, 1480 Norman Ct., Oshkosh 54904.

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

www.newnorthb2b.com

BE WELL PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING LLC, Amy Leigh Parmley, 404 N. Main St., Oshkosh 54901.

WILLOW COVE DENTAL LLC, Wyn Steckbauer D.D.S., 1720 Congress Ave., Oshkosh 54901.

CREMATION SERVICES OF OSHKOSH LLC, Stephan M. Kwiatkowski, 1025 Oregon St., Oshkosh 54902.

PRAISE THE LORD PUBLISHING LLC, Jacob Rudd, 1120 E. Parkway Ave., Oshkosh 54901.

STILL I FLY LLC, Kate C. Monnett, 2150 Hickory Ct., Oshkosh 54901.

ROBIN’S NEST FLORAL LLC, Robin Rae Zernzach, 1528 Oregon St., Oshkosh 54902.

KURT STEIN’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC INC., Dana M. Berger, 435 W. Snell Road, Oshkosh 54901.

WOLFF CONCRETE LLC, Nathan R. Wolff, 7251 Jacquis Road, Winneconne 54986.

Services for Business & Industry

Customized. Innovative. Solutions.

Building permits

B2B includes a monthly list of building permits (not to include residential projects) in excess of $400,000.

ANYTIME FITNESS, W3171 Springfield Dr., town of Buchanan. $850,000 for a two-story fitness center building. General contractor is United Building Systems of Seymour. June 1.

LA JAVA/MCS HOLDINGS, 1250 Velp Ave., Green Bay. $450,000 for a multi-tenant retail strip mall. General contractor is Quality Assured Builders of Green Bay. June.

LEARSI & CO., 2280 E. Mason St., Green Bay. $1,611,000 for a substantial overhaul of the former grocery store to create four retail spaces for PetSmart, Ross Dress for Less and Marshalls. General contractor is Innovative Construction Solutions of Brookfield. June.

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, 410 S. Walnut St., Appleton. $11,633,098 for a 90,000sq. ft. addition to and interior remodel of the existing county administrative office building. General contractor is Miron Construction Co. of Fox Crossing. June 9.

FRIEDRICH FROEBEL EARLY LEARNING CENTER / Green Bay Area Public School District, 3542 Finger Road, Green Bay. $955,000 for various improvements to exterior windows and the HVAC system of the existing school building. Contractor is McKinstry of Seattle. June.

To stay competitive, you need to find, select and train new and existing employees.

Let Fox Valley Technical College help you: • Find new employees • Evaluate with employee assessments • Enhance employee skills with seminars and customized training

BROWN COUNTY UW EXTENSION, 1150 Bellevue St., Green Bay. $1,058,000 for interior alterations to the existing building to accommodate the Head Start program.

General contractor is IEI General Contractors of De Pere. June.

FOSBER AMERICA, 1333 Parkview Road, Ashwaubenon. $700,000 for a 12,000sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. June.

FOX VALLEY METROLOGY, 495 W. Waukau Ave., Oshkosh. $1,817,334 for an addition to the existing industrial facility. General contractor is D&J Quality Construction of Oshkosh. June 19.

ALDO LEOPOLD SCHOOL / Green Bay Area Public School District, 622 Eliza St., Green Bay. $2,000,000 for various interior alterations to the existing school building.

Contractor is McKinstry of Seattle. June.

WISCONSIN PUBLIC SERVICE, 2800 S. Ashland Ave., Ashwaubenon. $6,539,350 for a 32,000-sq. ft. regional employee training center. General contractor is Boldt Construction of Appleton. June.

HOLIDAY MAZDA, 416 N. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac. $1,650,000 for an interior alteration to the existing automotive dealership. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction Inc. of Fond du Lac. June 26. www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

Contact our industry experts today! www.fvtc.edu/EmployerResources • 920-735-2525

NNB2B | August 2017 | 41

Who’s News

Pichelmeyer

Miller

Foster

DE PERE CABINET, 1745 Matthew Dr. East, De Pere. $2,100,000 for a 35,050-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility for warehouse space. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. June 26.

RADIOLOGY ASSOCIATES OF THE FOX VALLEY, 145 N. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac. $1,130,000 for a new medical office building. General contractor is Milbach Construction Services of Kaukauna. June 27.

ORTHOPEDIC & SPORTS MEDICINE SPECIALISTS of Green Bay opened a rheumatology and infusion therapy clinic at W6184 Aerotech Dr. in Appleton. The clinic can be reached by calling 920.430.8113.

Business honors HealthCare’s Most Wired survey for 2017 recognized the following health care systems and hospitals in our readership area: AGNESIAN HEALTHCARE, Fond du Lac; MERCY MEDICAL CENTER, Oshkosh; ST. ELIZABETH HOSPITAL, Appleton; AURORA HEALTH CARE; HSHS ST. VINCENT HOSPITAL, Green Bay; HSHS ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, Green Bay; and THEDACARE, Appleton. The American Hospital Association annually releases its “Most Wired” list benchmarking technology use among hospitals nationwide.

New hires VALLEY VNA SENIOR SERVICES in Neenah hired Tara Pichelmeyer as its community outreach coordinator at Valley VNA Senior Services in Neenah.

JEWELERS MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY in Neenah hired Vicki Lindamood as its chief human resources officer. Lindamood has more than 20 years of human

42 | August 2017 | NNB2B

Van De Hey

Poser

Rank

resources experience, previously serving as the vice president of human resources at Aurora Health Care.

ALLIANCE MANUFACTURING, INC. in Fond du Lac hired Tyler Brown as a service/ project coordinator. Brown previously worked for Oshkosh Corp. as its international service manager and warranty manager.

CREATIVE BUSINESS SERVICES in Green Bay hired Ryan Pankratz as an independent business intermediary. Pankratz has eight years experience in financial services.

New locations

Jenks

Gagne

Nelson

H.J. MARTIN AND SON hired Tori Miller as an interior designer in its Neenah showroom and Meg Foster as an interior designer in its Green Bay showroom.

Miller worked the past 21 years as an interior designer and lead sales associate at Floors By Roberts in Appleton. Foster previously worked as an interior designer in Mississippi.

MIRON CONSTRUCTION CO. in Fox Crossing hired Josh Phillips as a warehouse mechanic, Jessica Gagne as an industrial administrative assistant, and Randy Poser as a business analyst. Gagne previously worked as a benefit advocate and office manager. Poser has 25 years of experience as a business analyst.

WERNER ELECTRIC SUPPLY in Appleton hired Justin Rank as a talent acquisition specialist. Rank has more than five years experience in the recruitment industry.

PERFORMA ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS in De Pere hired Carson Jenks as an electrical engineer.

ST. PAUL ELDER SERVICES in Kaukauna hired Megan Van De Hey as an assistant administrator. She recently completed a one year administrator-in-training practicum at Brewster Village in Appleton.

CITY OF APPLETON hired Karen Nelson as its diversity and inclusion coordinator.

Nelson has more than 25 years experience managing diversity initiatives, most recently working as the lead consultant for NelStar Leadership and Diversity Consulting in Milwaukee.

Cumpton

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

Kroll

Gutierrez

www.newnorthb2b.com

Kudick

Peters

DeBroux

FAITH TECHNOLOGIES in Menasha hired Lonnie Cumpton as its virtual construction technology manager. Cumpton has more than 25 years of technology experience, most recently working as the director of building information management technologies for a firm in California.

KELLER, INC. in Kaukauna hired James Paters and Brett Nohr as concrete craftsmen.

DOWNTOWN GREEN BAY, INC. and OLDE MAIN STREET, INC. hired Kathryn Kroll as marketing manager for both organizations. Kroll has four years experience in marketing, communications and public relations.

Promotions The Green Bay office of HAWKINS ASH CPAs promoted Corenne Gutierrez to marketing manager, Justin Kudick to senior associate, and Briana Peters, CPA to manager. Gutierrez has been with the firm since 2011, while Kudick joined Hawkins Ash in 2015 and provides audit services to various businesses. Peters has been with the firm since 2013 and performs audits, reviews and compilations for nonprofits, employee benefit plans and businesses.

Individual awards MARK DEBROUX, CPA, a shareholder with Appleton-based Schenck SC, was named Member of the Year by National CPA Health Care Advisors Association.

SHELLEY TIDEMANN, the family living education and co-department head at UWExtension Fond du Lac County, was named Woman Manager of the Year by the Fond du Lac Chapter of Women in Management.

Management Women, Inc. in Green Bay presented its 2017 Nancy A. Felhofer Leadership Award to ROBYN DAVIS, president and CEO of Brown County United Way.

Davis

Vande Walle

Bruess

Elections/appointments LAURIE RADKE, president of the Greater Green Bay Chamber, was elected to the board of directors for Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Executives.

STEVEN VANDE WALLE, co-owner of Vande Walle’s Candies in Appleton, was elected president of Retail Confectioners International. Vande Walle has served on the board of directors of the chocolate and confectionery trade association for the past six years.

Green Bay-based New North Inc. named the following individuals to its board of directors: BRIAN BRUESS, president of St. Norbert College in De Pere; MARY GOGGANS, president of Encapsys LLC in Appleton; BRYAN HOLLENBACH, executive vice president at Green Bay Packaging Inc. in Ashwaubenon; and BOB ZEMPLE, a partner with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause in Appleton.

Business calendar

New North B2B encourages businesses and organizations looking to attract interested persons to upcoming events to email sean@newnorthb2b.com.

AUGUST 1 Greater Green Bay Chamber Power Networking Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members or $35 for nonmembers. For more information, call 920.437.8704 or email members@titletown.org.

AUGUST 2 Envision Fond du Lac Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Fond du Lac Senior Center, 151 E. 1st St. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com.

AUGUST 3 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Member Appreciation Picnic, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the chamber office, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend. For more information visit to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

AUGUST 8 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours: Financial Wellness, 8 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend.

For more information or to register, go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

AUGUST 8 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Connection Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce building, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

Goggans

www.newnorthb2b.com

Hollenbach

Zemple

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | August 2017 | 43

Business Calendar AUGUST 10 Women in Management – Oshkosh chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Sure’s Banquets Hall, 3125 S. Washburn St. in Oshkosh. For more information or to register, visit www.wimiwi.org or email Cassandra at Cassandra@providentfc.com.

Suttner

AUGUST 15 Envision Fond du Lac Business Connection, 5 to 7 p.m. at SouthernCare Hospice, 885 Western Ave., Ste. 200 in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com.

ACCOUNTING

AUGUST 17 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m. at Waverly Beach, N8770 Fire Lane 1 in Menasha. No charge for members. For more information or to register, go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

AUGUST 22 A.M. Oshkosh, a morning networking event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:45 to 9 a.m. at Aurora Health Care, 855 N. Westhaven Dr. in Oshkosh. Cost to attend is $2. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www. oshkoshchamber.com.

SEPTEMBER 6 Envision Fond du Lac Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Action Printing, N6637 N. Rolling Meadows Dr. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com.

SEPTEMBER 7 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Ideas Amplified, 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Fox River Brewing Co. and Taproom, 1501 Arboretum Dr. in Oshkosh. No cost for members. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber. com.

SEPTEMBER 12 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours: Corporate Wellness, 8 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber. com.

Stephanie Geurts, CPA Partner sjg@suttnercpa.com 920.235.6789

SEPTEMBER 12 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Connection Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce building, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

Tax Planning & Preparation Financial Statements Bookkeeping/Write Up Payroll Services

SEPTEMBER 13 Women in Management – Fond du Lac chapter meeting, 12 noon to 1 p.m. at Holiday Inn, 625 Rolling Meadows Dr. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $15. For more information or to register, contact Vicki at Vicki.woschnick@usbank.com or visit www. wimiwi.org.

Visit suttnercpa.com/client services for a more complete list of services

SEPTEMBER 14 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m. at Anduzzi’s Sports Club, 800 S. Washington St. in Kimberly. No charge for members. For more information or to register, go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

SEPTEMBER 19 Envision Fond du Lac Business Connection, 5 to 7 p.m. at FloorQuest, 62 N. Rolling Meadows Dr. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com.

Quality ❘ Value ❘ Timeliness 44 | August 2017 | NNB2B

SEPTEMBER 21 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Card Exchange, 8 to 9 a.m. at Orthopedic and Spine Therapy, One Bank Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, email jamie@heartofthevalleychamber.com. n

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

www.newnorthb2b.com

Thank you

to the advertisers who made the August 2017 issue of New North B2B possible.

Appleton International Airport ⎮atwairport.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Bank First National ⎮bankfirstnational.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Bayland Buildings ⎮baylandbuildings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Borsche Roofing Professionals ⎮wiroofer.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Candeo Creative ⎮candeocreative.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Community Blood Center ⎮communityblood.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Consolidated Construction Company ⎮1call2build.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CR Structures ⎮crstructures.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Dynamic Designs ⎮dynamicdesignspulaski.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Fox Valley Technical College ⎮fvtc.edu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The Grand Meridian ⎮thegrandmeridian.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Guident Business Solutions ⎮guidentbusinesssolutions.com. . . . . . . . 8 Investors Community Bank ⎮investorscommunitybank.com. . . . . . . . 19 ISG ⎮is-grp.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Kaldas Center for Fertility, Surgery & Pregnancy, S.C. ⎮ kaldascenter.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Keller Inc. ⎮kellerbuilds.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Millennium Construction Inc. ⎮millenniumconstructionwi.com. . . . . . . 8 Network Health ⎮networkhealth.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 NWTC Corporate Training & Economic Development ⎮ corporatetraining.nwtc.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Oshkosh Public Museum ⎮oshkoshmuseum.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Prevea360 ⎮prevea360.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 St. Norbert College MBA program ⎮snc.edu/mba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Security Health Plan ⎮securityhealth.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy ⎮strangpatteson.com. . . . . 37 Suttner Accounting ⎮suttnercpa.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Seeking out the most Compassionate EMPLOYERS Do you know an employer with a generous heart? One that cares about its employees and goes out of its way to show it? Maybe it’s you. Maybe it’s your boss. We’re accepting applications for the 2017 Compassionate Employer Award presented by Community Benefit Tree and New North B2B magazine.

Now in its fourth year, the Compassionate Employer Award recognizes northeast Wisconsin employers for their exceptional acts of support for an employee facing an accident, tragedy or health crisis. The goal of the award is to encourage employers to plan for the unexpected, and in doing, cultivate loyalty and morale in the workplace.

Each year, employees and their families nominate companies from the New North region for going above and beyond what’s expected in demonstrating consideration and empathy to the people who work for them.

It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as St. Paul Elder Services of Kaukauna, which provided free help in its facility for the mother of an employee. Not only that, but employees built a ramp on the home of that same employee’s disabled sister.

St. Paul received a 2016 Compassionate Employer Award.

And don’t worry if your entire company didn’t grow moustaches to show support for a terminally ill employee. Bassett Mechanical of Kaukauna received a 2015 Compassionate Employer Award for that and other acts of positivity during the employee’s last few months alive.

Or give an employee as much time off as she needed when her baby suffered a severe head injury at the hands of a caretaker.

That would be 2016 recipient Matthews Tire, which kept in touch with the employee, checked in on the baby’s progress, and donated money to help with bills.

No, your employer’s acts of benevolence don’t have to be that extreme – just compassionate. If your employer has gone above and beyond in helping an employee when they or a family member endured a medical crisis, consider nominating them for our 2017 Compassionate Employer Award.

The nominating process only takes a few moments, but the deadline to apply is approaching on Sept. 1. Winners will be featured in the November 2017 edition of New North B2B.

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh ⎮uwosh.edu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Verve, a Credit Union ⎮verveacu.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION,

von Briesen & Roper ⎮vonbriesen.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

GO ONLINE TO COMMUNITYBENEFITTREE.ORG OR

Waterfest ⎮waterfest.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CALL COMMUNITY BENEFIT TREE AT 920.422.1919.

www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | August 2017 | 45

Key Statistics

If there are indicators you’d like to see in this space, contact our office at 920.237.0254 or email sean@newnorthb2b.com.

LOCAL GASOLINE PRICES

U.S. RETAIL SALES

Per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

JULY 23. . . . . . . . . . . .

JULY 16. . . . . . . . . . . .

JULY 9. . . . . . . . . . . . .

JULY 2. . . . . . . . . . . . .

JULY 23, 2016. . . . . . .

JUNE

$2.19 $2.19 $2.21 $2.21 $2.27

$473.5 BILLION 0.2% from May 2.8% from June 2016

Source: New North B2B observations

EXISTING HOME SALES

U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

JUNE

(2012 = 100)

HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE BROWN County .................352.......................$163,250 FOND du LAC County .......166 ......................$136,900 OUTAGAMIE County .........272 ......................$169,300 WINNEBAGO County ........280.......................$150,900

JUNE

105.2

0.4% from May 2.0% from June 2016

WI DEPT. REVENUE COLLECTIONS

AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC (Local enplanements)

JUNE 2017 JUNE 2016 Appleton Int’l ATW.....................23,502......... 22,849

MAY 2017

$1.426 BILLION 0.5% from May 2016

Austin Straubel GRB.....................24,858 .........27,492

LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT

MAY APRIL MAY ‘16 APPLETON ........2.8% ...... 2.8% .........3.7% FOND du LAC ....2.5% .......2.6% ........ 3.6% GREEN BAY........2.8% ...... 3.0% ........ 4.0% NEENAH .............2.8% .......2.7%..........3.7% OSHKOSH ..........2.8% .......2.7% ........ 3.8% WISCONSIN .......2.8% ...... 3.0% ........ 3.8%

NATURAL GAS PRICES Prices for small businesses using less than 20,000 therms. Listed price is per therm.

JULY............................. $0.326 JUNE.............................$0.379 JULY 2016.....................$0.376 Source: Wisconsin Public Service

ISM INDEX Numbers above 50 mean expansion.

Numbers below 50 mean contraction.

JUNE. . . . . . . . . . . . . 57.8 MAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.9

Even the strongest leaders strive to be better.

Sign up for a class or schedule a complimentary consultation for customized training today.

REGISTER.CORPORATETRAINING.NWTC.EDU

920-498-6373

46 | August 2017 | NNB2B

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

www.newnorthb2b.com

WISCONSIN EMPLOYERS—ENJOY A NEW, AFFORDABLE HEALTH PLAN WITH FIXED MONTHLY COSTS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Network Health is making it easier for Wisconsin employers to provide comprehensive health coverage at a cost-effective rate.

Our Assure level-funded plan is a hybrid, combining the best features of two types of plans. Employers with as few as five enrolled employees benefit from the fixed monthly costs of a fully insured plan, with the advantages of a self-funded plan.

Plus, if your company’s health care claims are low, you have the opportunity to get money back.

Ask your agent about Network Health’s Assure level-funded plan today.

Self-funded plans administered by Network Health Administrative Services, LLC.

SAL-295-01-3/17

networkhealth.com/assure 844-281-8411

Streamline enrollment Your work is too busy for more busywork.

When open enrollment rolls around, how many hours will you devote to paper applications and employee support? Shouldn’t you spend more time attracting top talent and less time shuffling papers and fielding questions about plan options? My Choice from Security Health Plan is an online enrollment tool with built-in decision support to help employees make better choices and help you avoid unnecessary paperwork.

Read our popular article and schedule a live demo.

Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc., complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex. ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-472-2363 (TTY: 711) LUS CEEV: Yog tias koj hais lus Hmoob, cov kev pab txog lus, muaj kev pab dawb rau koj. Hu rau 1-800-472-2363 (TTY: 711)

EL-SH66-0417

www.securityhealth.org/online or 920-476-1171