March 2017 by New North B2B

Business Intelligence for the New North

Dispensing safety advice New North firms rely on regular training, common sense and preventative measures to keep employees out of harmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way

Gold Shovel Ready

Economic Development

Fencing Out Entrepreneurs

Tom Still commentary

March 2017 | $3.95

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Business Intelligence for the New North

March Features 20 COVER STORY

Dispensing safety advice

New North firms rely on regular training, common sense and preventative measures to keep employees out of harm’s way

26 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Speed Sells

New North’s Gold Shovel Ready pilot program is designed to accelerate the process of site selection and development

32 FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN

Building a lasting business

Fond du Lac-based fabricator of decorative stone countertops aims to improve processes through B2B’s 6th annual Firefighters initiative

Departments 32

From the Publisher

Since We Last Met

10 Corporate Earnings 14 Build Up Pages 31

Guest Commentary

36 Voices & Visions 38

Professionally Speaking

Who’s News

44 Business Calendar 45 Advertising Index 46 Key Statistics

Cover design Candeo Creative of Oshkosh www.newnorthb2b.com

NNB2B | March 2017 | 3

From the Publisher

Catching lightning in a bottle Leader of effort to return pro basketball to Oshkosh humbly credits “luck”

by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher

Blue skies have been opening to the south of B2B offices during the past month where the 160-year-old former Buckstaff wood furniture manufacturing facility is finally being razed.

within its system, he picked up the phone to contact the relatively new ownership group of the Bucks to pitch Oshkosh. “Oshkosh is the perfect size community for it,” Pierce said a week after the team’s official announcement on Feb. 8. “The D-League has been all about having a team that’s close to home – within about 100 miles – so that players can easily travel back and forth between cities.”

In its place, pilings are being embedded through more than three feet of decomposing sawdust to anchor the foundation for a brand new 3,500-seat basketball arena which will serve as home for the National Basketball Association’s new developmental franchise in Oshkosh.

Pierce created and serves as president of Fox Valley Pro Basketball, the entity which will have partial ownership of the new development league – now officially the Gatorade League – franchise along with the Milwaukee Bucks ownership. Perhaps just as important, Fox Valley Pro Basketball will develop and own the new $20 million, 80,000-sq. ft. arena under construction south of Oshkosh’s central city.

For the property and its surrounding neighborhood on the shore of Lake Winnebago just south of the entrance to the Fox River, the story is one of rejuvenation and rebirth. We’ll tell that story to readers in greater detail in our April 2017 edition. For residents of Oshkosh, it’s become a story about pride of place, positive development momentum and a quiet community leader who fostered what some considered an impossible vision for Oshkosh.

Pierce believes the arena can be a catalyst for a good deal of additional entertainment and commercial development in what’s been dubbed as Oshkosh’s Sawdust District. He called it “the lightning bolt that hit and spurred a lot of great ideas” – and in the weeks leading up to the early February announcement by the Bucks and the one week following, Pierce said he’s heard a variety of proposals from developers ranging from restaurants and a microbrewery to a hotel.

Those who know Greg Pierce recognize him as a longtime financial and trust advisor who serves as president and chief investment officer for Windward Wealth Strategies in Oshkosh, a firm he helped found in 2015.

Hoping to afford the community an opportunity to invest in Fox Valley Pro Basketball, Pierce will open up an equity offering later in March enabling those in northeast Wisconsin to own a part of the franchise for as little as $50,000. He can accept up to 99 investors through the equity offering.

A financial professional with a law degree, Pierce has always been a self-described sports fanatic. While at Hamline Law School in the Twin Cities, Pierce worked for a sports marketing agency negotiating licensing agreements for various products. At the time, Pierce wanted to go work as a general manager of a minor league baseball team after graduating law school, but after getting married and preparing for their first child, he recognized the salary for a minor league baseball franchise administrator just wasn’t going to pay the bills. So he began a career in the corporate world. Pierce’s passion for sports never waivered, and in fact, the dream of still getting involved in a minor league baseball front office was eventually realized. A few years ago, Pierce and a group of his clients became part owners of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash franchise from the Class A Carolina League. So when Pierce heard the announcement from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in late 2015 that the every team in the league would eventually have a developmental team 4 | March 2017 | NNB2B

Fox Valley Pro Basketball is already taking deposits on season tickets to reserve a spot in the new arena, which is slated to be complete this coming November. Ticket and seating information is available online at foxvalleybasketball.com. The team – with an official name and logo possibly being unveiled later in March – should present quite an attraction to northeast Wisconsin. Pierce indicated 38 percent of Development League rosters during the 2015-16 season included athletes with some amount of NBA playing time. In fact, Sheboygan native and University of Wisconsin grad Sam Dekker played in the D-League a bit last season while recovering from an injury before returning to his job on the Houston Rockets roster. While Pierce and his partners have taken on the initial risks involved with getting the Bucks D-League team to the New North, he emphasized the real work in making the franchise a success will come from the region’s fan base. “Like any sports franchise, it’s up to us whether we keep it here or not. We have to fill the house.” 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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NEW NORTH B2B is published monthly by WINNEBAGO B2B LLC for $20 per year or $3.95 for a single issue. POSTMASTER: send address changes to: WINNEBAGO B2B LLC, 923 S. Main St., Oshkosh, WI 54902. Bulk-rate postage paid at LaCrosse, WI. Reproduction of any contents of NEW NORTH B2B without express written permission of its publishers is strictly forbidden. The appearance of any advertisement or product information does not constitute endorsement of any product or service by WINNEBAGO B2B LLC. Copyright 2017.

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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. January 23 Gov. Scott Walker rolled out his proposal for Wisconsin Works for Everyone, a welfare reform package expanding work requirements for able-bodied adults with school-age children who receive FoodShare or housing assistance. The program – which was included in the governor’s version of the 2017-19 biennial state budget proposal – includes funding for additional job training programs for the unemployed or underemployed receiving FoodShare, the incarcerated and ex-offenders, and low-income noncustodial parents involved in the child-support system. The program also reduces various barriers to work including occupational licensing; eliminating the benefits cliff in childcare subsidies; and removing the premium cliff for those enrolled in the Medicaid Purchase Plan. January 23 The University of Wisconsin Green Bay received a $125,000 donation from Nicolet National Bank and a separate

2005 March 15 – Miles Kimball Co. officials said they would give its 41 W. Eight St. property in Oshkosh to the city’s Redevelopment Authority. The property, valued at $924,000 in 2004, is among the parcels identified by the city as key components of the South Shore Redevelopment Area.

$150,000 gift from Bernie and Alyce Dahlin of Green Bay toward the cost of its proposed $4.9 million soccer stadium on campus. The new soccer facility – slated to begin construction later this year – will include a turf field, lights, permanent bleachers, and a restroom and concession building. Owners of Nichols Paper Products Co. in Nichols, the Dahlins have been longtime supporters of UW Green Bay athletics. January 23 President Donald Trump officially withdrew the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement the country entered into a little more than a year ago without Congressional approval. The partnership was designed to create an economic partnership to challenge the productivity growth of China, but Trump indicated it doesn’t do enough to protect American workers against competition from low-wage countries like Vietnam and Malaysia, which are also members of the Trans-Pacific deal.

2012 March 19 – The Wisconsin Department of Transportation began to work on the $54 million project to reconstruct the U.S. 41/WIS 21 interchange near Oshkosh, which involved rebuilding the interchange so that State Road 21/Oshkosh Avenue passes over the top of U.S. Highway 41. The project also included construction of four roundabouts on State Road 21.

2006 March 16 – The Fox Cities Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Capital Development Committee granted the Fox River Navigational Authority $250,000 toward the restoration of the Fox Locks system. Preservation efforts were completed on the Kaukauna locks in late 2006 and the four locks in Appleton were restored the following year.

2013 March 13 – Gov. Scott Walker signed into law Assembly Bill 14, known as Wisconsin Fast Forward, which aimed to develop the state’s workforce and close the skills gap. It also created an Office of Skills Development within the state Department of Workforce Development to administer the worker training grants, and established a state-of-the-art Labor Market Information System to track job vacancies statewide and link job seekers to openings they are qualified to fill.

2008 March 17 – A Brown County jury determined nine insurance companies will have to pay costs assessed to Appleton Inc. (now Appvion) for the cleanup of the PCB contamination of the lower Fox River. Those costs could amount to between $550 million to $730 million. Six other paper mills were ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to present a plan for dredging and capping PCB-contaminants from the lower Fox River.

2013 March 20 – Iowa-based Frantz-Hobart LLC announced plans to purchase the former Hotel Northland in downtown Green Bay and invest more than $20 million in improvements to the eight-story, century-old property. The historic preservation development firm placed a bid for $3.1 million to acquire the vacant building from Wisconsin Historic Preservation Corp. Frantz-Hobart’s restoration plans call for 100 hotel rooms, a full-service restaurant and various retail spaces at the ground level.

6 | March 2017 | NNB2B

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January 24 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. awarded a $40,000 Entrepreneurship Support pilot program grant to The Center for Enterprise Development Inc. in Fond du Lac to help it create a milestone-based certification and grant program for Fond du Lac County entrepreneurs completing key business development steps. WEDC received 32 applications for the program and awarded 11 grants statewide. January 24 Secura Insurance in Appleton announced plans to build a new corporate office on 160 acres of land it owns along County Highway CB in Fox Crossing. The office complex is expected to be approximately 300,000 square feet of space and be able to accommodate up to 900 employees. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin this spring. January 25 Wisconsin Department of Transportation awarded a $2 million Harbor Assistance Program grant to RGL Holdings Inc. of Green Bay for shoreside and waterside structural and safety improvements at its harbor site in the Port of Green Bay. RGL plans to upgrade the harbor site to receive cargo ships and provide loading and unloading capability. The company expects to import 50,000 to 100,000 metric tons of wood pulp annually by ship, and expects to create 22 new jobs as a result.

EXCELLENCE IN SAFETY

January 25 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the trading day above the 20,000 milestone for the first time, just a little more than two months since it eclipsed the 19,000 mark on Nov. 22. February 1 The University of Wisconsin Green Bay announced plans to offer a master’s degree in athletic training beginning in 2018. The program will admit a biennial cohort of 16 fulltime students, increasing enrollment to 25 students by year three. February 3 The U.S. Department of Labor reported a total of 227,000 new jobs were created in January, leaving the national unemployment rate mostly unchanged at 4.8 percent. Job gains occurred in retail trade, construction and financial activities. February 8 The Milwaukee Bucks announced it will locate its new NBA Development League team in Oshkosh beginning with the 2017-18 season. As part of the deal, Oshkosh-based Fox Valley Pro Basketball will construct a new 3,500-seat arena in the city’s newly-designated Sawdust District near Lake Winnebago. Construction of the arena is expected to begin in March and should be complete by November. The facility will also house a sports bar and team store.

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Since We Last Met February 8 Northeast Wisconsin Technical College received accreditation of all of its business programs through the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. NWTC joins Chippewa Valley and Gateway technical colleges as the only two-year business programs in the state to earn such accreditation. February 9 Budget Cinemas in Green Bay’s East Town Mall closed in preparation for a $12 million redevelopment project expected to begin this spring. New Jersey-based Lexington Realty International received approval from the City of Green Bay last November for a proposal to redevelop the entire 20-acre property into five commercial and retail spaces which will include a Fresh Thyme Farmers Market and a sporting goods store. Brown County officials are also considering leasing space to relocate a library branch to the site. City leaders agreed to infuse the project with a $3 million tax incremental financing package to help with the costs of demolition and site preparation. February 10 Walmart acquired nearly 17 acres in Kaukauna’s Commerce Crossing business park at the northwest corner of the Interstate 41 interchange with State Road 55, formerly the site of the Fox Valley Greyhound Park. The retailer plans

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to eventually build a 185,000-sq. ft. store on the property, though a construction schedule has yet to be established. City officials believe the Walmart development will help spur other retail and commercial development along the corridor. February 13 United Automotive Workers Local 291 from AxleTech International in Oshkosh returned to work following a weeklong strike in the wake of failed contract with the Michigan-based manufacturer of heavy-duty vehicle axles. Union members ultimately reached an agreement with the company the day before ending the strike. The previous contract offer was widely defeated in late January, with union members indicating AxleTech’s recent contract offer didn’t provide an acceptable wage and benefits increase. The company is a longtime and significant vendor for Oshkosh Corp. February 13 The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied an injunction request from Winnebago Apartment Association seeking to prevent the City of Oshkosh from moving forward with its recently legislated rental inspection program. The court’s decision allows city officials to move forward with the rental inspection program, which includes a routine inspection of every residential rental property in the city every five years to protect the health, safety and welfare of tenants and neighbors. February 13 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce and Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp. hired veteran business leader David Omachinski as the transition director as the two longstanding organizations develop a plan to merge into one entity during the next few months. Omachinski is the former chief financial officer and president at Oshkosh B’Gosh who helped broker the company’s sale to Carter’s Inc. in 2005. He also served as chairman of the board of directors for Anchor BanCorp from 2009 to 2016 and led the effort to sell the publically-traded financial institution to Old National Bank in 2016. The two business and economic development

Better Business Bureau New Members Businesses accredited through the Northeast Wisconsin office during January 2017 Appleton Northeast Storage, Appleton Beyond Redline Performance, Green Bay Diedrich Construction, Inc., Sherwood JB Site Design & Engineering, Sheboygan JKV Research, Hilbert Larry Van Rite Trucking & Excavating, Green Bay Lorbiecki Homes, Kaukauna Lueck’s Home Improvements, Oshkosh McKay Plumbing, Plymouth Weddings By Wendy, Denmark www.newnorthb2b.com

organizations announced plans last December to combine resources following a feasibility study conducted by a thirdparty consultant last fall. February 14 The Fond du Lac County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.1 million loan for Iowa-based Legendary Hotels, the development firm planning the $20 million redevelopment of the downtown Retlaw Hotel. The loan agreement from the county provides no money for the project until after it’s completed, and includes a provision forgiving $500,000 of the loan if Legendary Hotels creates 100 fulltime positions during the first five years. Legendary partners Steve Frantz and Dennis Doucette are still attempting to secure financing for the project, and expect to begin the renovation project later this spring. The 96-year-old, historic hotel property was sold at auction in June 2016 for just over $908,000 to Steve Frantz’s brother, Mike, who had been involved with the struggling Northland Hotel redevelopment project in downtown Green Bay. The lender Mike Frantz used to borrow the funds to purchase the Retlaw took the property in November, and has since agreed to sell it to Steve Frantz and Doucette. February 17 Gov. Scott Walker unveiled his 2017-19 Capital Budget which includes $5 million toward the construction of a proposed $15

million, 55,000-sq. ft. Brown County Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Innovation Center in Green Bay. Brown County officials are considering borrowing $5 million toward the facility, which would anchor the recently established 240-acre Brown County Research and Innovation Park adjacent to the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Private funds would support the balance of the facility’s costs. The Brown County STEM Innovation Center will include community-based training, education, research and entrepreneur incubation space, and will house UW Green Bay’s proposed bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering as well as its three existing engineering technology degree programs. Construction of the proposed facility could begin in 2019. February 20 The Wisconsin Department of Transportation began work on the $14.4 million project to improve 10.35 miles of Interstate 41 from County Road J in Outagamie County to Orange Lane in Brown County. The project involves milling off and resurfacing existing pavement, concrete pavement patch repairs, cable guard installation, and various culvert pipe replacements, among other improvements. Traffic impact is expected to be relatively light during the course of the project. The County Road U northbound off-ramp will close for 15 consecutive days to reconstruct the ramp, while the County Road S overpass will also close for 15 days for bridge approach and shoulder repairs. The entire project is expected to be completed by November. n

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Once each quarter, New North B2B runs a digest of quarterly financial reports from local publicly traded companies, or from out-of-the-area parent companies with significant operations in our northeast Wisconsin coverage area.

Associated Banc Corp.

Plexus Corp.

4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Income $52.0 million $40.6 million s 28% EPS 34 cents 27 cents s 26% The Green Bay-based financial institution reported annual earnings for 2016 of $191 million, or $1.26 per share, up 5 percent from fiscal 2015 earnings of $181 million, or $1.19 per share. Full year average deposits of $21.0 billion helped capitalize full year average loans of $19.7 billion, which increased 8 percent from fiscal 2015 average loans of $18.3 billion.

1Q 2017 1Q 2016 Revenue $635 million $617 million s 3% Income $28.2 million $14.4 million s 96% EPS 82 cents 42 cents s 95% The Neenah-based contract electronics manufacturer reported it won 51 program contracts during the first quarter representing nearly $217 million in annualized revenue. Company officials projected second quarter 2017 revenues in a range of $620 to $650 million.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $4.5 Billion $4.5 Billion s <1% Income $505 million $333 million s 52% EPS $1.40 91 cents s 54% The manufacturer of consumer paper and tissue products with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported full year 2016 sales of $18.2 billion, down 2 percent from fiscal 2015 revenue of $18.6 billion. Company officials indicated they achieve record cost savings of $170 million, which helped improve margins.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $3.4 Billion $3.4 Billion s 4% Income $507 million $450 million s 13% EPS $1.45 $1.23 s 18% The parent company of Miller Electric Manufacturing operations across the Fox Cities reported full year 2016 sales of $13.6 billion were up 1 percent from fiscal 2015 revenues of $13.4 billion. The company indicated market conditions continue to remain competitive within its welding segment – which includes Miller Electric operations – with revenues declining 8 percent on the quarter.

10 | March 2017 | NNB2B

Bemis Company Inc. 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $988 million $983 million s <1% Income $60.5 million $56.8 million s 7% EPS 64 cents 58 cents s 10% The Neenah-based supplier of flexible packaging reported 2016 receipts of $4.0 billion, down 2 percent from fiscal 2015 revenues of $4.1 billion. Sales from the company’s U.S. packaging segment fell 5 percent during the year to $2.6 billion, while its global packaging segment improved sales by 5 percent to $1.4 billion.

Brunswick Corp. 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $1.1 Billion $986 million s 10% Income $17.8 million ($9.0 million) s298% EPS 19 cents (10 cents) s290% The parent company of Mercury Marine operations in Fond du Lac indicated full year 2016 revenues of $4.5 billion increased 9 percent compared with 2015 receipts of $4.1 billion. The company reported its marine engine segment – which includes Mercury Marine operations – recorded fourth quarter operating earnings of $51.2 million, up more than 20 percent from fourth quarter 2015 operating earnings of $41.9 million.

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Humana Inc.

Bank First

4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $12.9 Billion $13.4 Billion t 4% Income ($486 million) $246 million t298% EPS ($2.68) 67 cents t500% The health and benefits company with extensive operations in the Green Bay area reported full year revenues of nearly $55 billion, up 1 percent over fiscal 2016 total revenues. Humana’s loss during the quarter primarily related to a $583 million write-off associated with the Affordable Care Act. The company’s proposed acquisition by Aetna was blocked by a federal judge in January on antitrust grounds.

4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Income $3.6 million $3.1 million s 14% EPS 57 cents 49 cents s 16% The Manitowoc-based financial institution with significant operations across northeast Wisconsin reported record full year 2016 earnings of $14.9 million, or $2.40 per share, up 13 percent from fiscal 2015 income of $13.4 million, or $2.13 per share. The bank’s Fox Valley market grew deposits by nearly 16 percent during the year and increased loans by more than 12 percent, improvements attributed to the new Appleton office the bank opened in early 2016.

Oshkosh Corp.

WEC Energy Group Inc.

1Q 2017 1Q 2016 Revenue $1.2 Billion $1.3 Billion t 3% Income $19.2 million $14.6 million s 32% EPS 26 cents 19 cents s 37% The manufacturer of specialty vehicles reported sales decreased in each of its segments with the exception of its fire and emergency sector, where revenues improved 12 percent from a year ago to $233 million. Despite a 7 percent drop in defense segment revenues on the quarter, Oshkosh Defense posted operating earnings of $23.8 million, or a 3 percent increase from the first quarter a year ago.

4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $2.0 Billion $1.8 Billion s 6% Income $194 million $179 million s 8% EPS 61 cents 57 cents s 7% The merged operations of WE Energies and Integrys Energy Group, the parent company of Wisconsin Public Service Corp., reported full year income increased 47 percent from $640 million in 2015 to $940 million in fiscal 2016. The utility reported it served about 35,000 more customers at the end of 2016 than it did at the end of fiscal 2015. It also indicated consumption of electricity by small commercial and industrial customers increased 2.3 percent.

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NNB2B | March 2017 | 11

Corporate Earnings

County Bancorp Inc. Dean Foods 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $2.0 Billion $2.0 Billion t <1% Income $32.8 million $18.5 million s 77% EPS 36 cents 20 cents s 80% The dairy-based foods company with extensive operations in Wisconsin, including the Green Bay area, reported full year earnings of $120 million, or $1.31 per share, compared with a fiscal 2015 loss of $9 million, or a loss of 9 cents per share. Company officials indicated cost-cutting measures across the entire supply chain delivered $80 million in savings.

Neenah Paper 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $221 million $230 million t 4% Income $16.4 million $12.0 million s 4% EPS 95 cents 70 cents s 36% The papermaker with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported record full year 2016 revenue of $942 million, as well as record operating income of $114 million and record full year earnings per share of $4.26. During the last fiscal year the company returned $38.8 million to its shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Income $3.5 million $2.9 million s 21% EPS 50 cents 48 cents s 4% The Manitowoc-based holding company for Investors Community Bank across northeast and central Wisconsin reported full year 2016 earnings of $10.7 million, down slightly from fiscal 2015 earnings of $11.0 million. The past year’s earnings were impacted by $2.6 million in mergerrelated expenses incurred through the integration of The Business Bank, which it acquired earlier in the year. The bank improved its non-performing assets by 17 percent during the year from $27.5 million to $22.9 million at the end of the year.

West Corp. 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $567 million $568 million t <1% Income $68.3 million $62.3 million s 10% EPS 80 cents 74 cents s 8% The enterprise communications service provider with extensive operations across the Fox Cities and Greater Green Bay areas reported full fiscal year 2016 income fell 20 percent to $193 million compared with earnings of $242 million during 2015. During the fourth quarter the company improved revenues in its specialized agent services segment – which includes much of its northeast Wisconsin operations – by 3 percent primarily due to growth in healthcare advocacy services.

VF Corp. 4Q 2016 4Q 2015 Revenue $3.3 Billion $3.3 Billion t <1% Income $264 million $312 million t 15% EPS 63 cents 72 cents t 13% The parent company of Jansport operations in the Fox Cities indicated its full year earnings fell 13 percent from $1.2 billion, or $2.85 per share, in fiscal 2015 to just under $1.1 billion, or $2.54 per share, for all of 2016. The company’s outdoor and action sports coalition – which includes Jansport operations – increased revenues 2 percent on the year to $7.5 billion, led by a 6 percent gain in receipts from its Vans brand. n

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2017 Corporate Wellness Awards For application information see page 25

12 | March 2017 | NNB2B

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Build Up Fond du Lac 3 1& 2

4 5

7 8

Build Up

Fond du Lac

Indicates a new listing

1 - 300 Seward St., Ripon Ripon College J.M. Storzer Center, an 88,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing athletic facility to include a fieldhouse with an indoor track, atrium, classrooms, locker rooms, fitness center and offices. Project completion expected in fall. 2- 221 Shepard St., Ripon Alliance Laundry Systems, two separate additions totaling 193,000 square feet of space to the existing manufacturing facility, warehouse and corporate headquarters office building. Project completion expected in April. 3 - 805 Park Ridge Lane, North Fond du Lac Side X Side Construction, a 9,600-sq. ft. office building and construction shop. Project completion expected in March. 4 - 660 Van Dyne Road, Fond du Lac BCI Burke, a 13,500-sq. ft. warehouse adjacent to the existing manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

14 | March 2017 | NNB2B

5 - 400 County Road K, Fond du Lac Agnesian Healthcare Hospice Home of Hope, an addition to the existing palliative care facility. Project completion expected in March. 6 - 980 E. Division St., Fond du Lac Marian University Herr-Baker Field, a baseball pavilion for the Northwoods League team. Project completion expected in April. General contractor is CR Structures Group of Kimberly. 7 - 100 Camelot Dr., Fond du Lac Excel Engineering Inc., an addition to the existing commercial office building. Project completion expected in March. 8 - 80 E. Larsen Dr., Fond du Lac Quartz Right, a warehouse distribution facility and offices.

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Build Up Oshkosh

10 11

16 Build Up

Oshkosh

Indicates a new listing

9 - 3160 W. Fernau Ct., Oshkosh Best Quality Tree Service, a 6,000-sq. ft. warehouse building. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 10 - 2923 Jackson St., Oshkosh Kyria Child Daycare Center, a new child daycare facility. 11 - 215 W. Murdock Ave., Oshkosh Verve, a Credit Union, a new financial institution branch office. Project completion expected in August. 12 - 3465 Moser St., Oshkosh Strata Graph/Great Northern Corp., a 30,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility.

14 - 2211 Westowne Ave., Oshkosh Ocean Front Properties, a multi-tenant commercial building including a jewelry store. 15 - 1520 S. Koeller St., Oshkosh Five Below, a new white box retail building. 16 - 2400 State Road 44, Oshkosh Continental Girbau Inc., a 24,000-sq. ft. warehouse addition to the existing industrial facility. Projects completed since our February issue: â&#x20AC;˘ Monroe Equipment, 3255 W. Fernau Ct., Oshkosh.

13 - 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.

Coming to B2B in April 2017 Transportation

Wisconsin highways, seaports, rail and airports

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NNB2B | March 2017 | 15

Build Up Fox Cities

100% Design/Build General Contractor

COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURAL

Visualization ProjectÂ Team Budget Schedule Construction OpeningÂ Day

Build Up

Fox Cities

Indicates a new listing

1 - 3517 N. McCarthy Road, town of Grand Chute National Association of Tax Professionals, a 20,061-sq. ft. office and warehouse. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Consolidated Construction Co. of Appleton. 2 - 1800 N. Morrison St., Appleton Erb Park/City of Appleton, an 8,600-sq. ft. bathhouse, new swimming pool, equipment facility and a 3,000-sq. ft. pavillion. Project completion expected in June. 3 - 750 W. Evergreen Dr., town of Grand Chute Unison Credit Union, a 4,800-sq. ft. financial office building. Project completion expected in May. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. 4 - 3300 E. Venture Dr., Appleton C3 Corp., a 15,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Frontier Builders & Consultants of Kaukauna. 5 - 3301 E. Evergreen Dr., Appleton Allied Valve Inc., a 7,400-sq. ft. addition to the existing warehouse. Project completion expected in March. 6 - 3900 Freedom Road, Little Chute Nestle, a 313,153-sq. ft. cold storage warehouse and offices. 7 - 1401 E. Elm St., Little Chute Village of Little Chute, a 55,000-sq. ft. municipal services building. Project completion expected in late summer. 8 - 1700 Stephen St., Little Chute Heartland Business Systems, a 31,956-sq. ft. addition to the existing commercial office building. Project completion expected in June. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 9 - 201 Reaume Ave., Kaukauna City of Kaukauna Fire Department, a 29,174-sq. ft. fire station. 10 - 1662 E. Kennedy Ave., Kimberly Kimberly High School, a 54,000-sq. ft. addition to the school for an indoor athletic training facility. Project completion expected in August. 11 - 2515 S. Eisenhower Dr., Appleton Encapsys, a 37,000-sq. ft. new corporate office building and research facility. 12 - 101 S. Riverheath Way, Appleton Courtyard by Marriott, a 67,200-sq. ft., 95-room hotel. Project completion expected in summer. 13 - 355 W. Lawrence St., Appleton Fox Cities Exhibition Center, a 65,000-sq. ft. convention and meeting facility. Project completion expected in fall.

(920)498-9300 baylandbuildings.com 16 | March 2017 | NNB2B

14 - 2100 Holly Road, Fox Crossing R & L Carriers, a 19,918-sq. ft. addition to and interior remodel of the existing trucking transfer station and offices. 15 - 1025 W. American Dr., Fox Crossing Pierce Manufacturing, a 15,455-sq. ft. manufacturing facility for vehicle finishing. www.newnorthb2b.com

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16 - 1450 McMahon Dr., Fox Crossing WOW Logistics, a 24,000-sq. ft. corporate office building. 17 - 1501 W. Plaza Drive, Fox Crossing Community First Credit Union, a 120,000-sq. ft. corporate office campus. Project completion expected in March. 18 - 2625 W. American Dr., town of Clayton Horn’s RV Center, a 12,000-sq. ft. recreational vehicle dealership and service center. Project completion expected in May. General contractor is Millennium Construction of Appleton.

Projects completed since our February issue: • Valley Snowmobile & Power Sports, N1610 Midway Road, Hortonville. • American Overhead Door, 1911 W. Wisconsin Ave., town of Grand Chute. • CMD North, 3000 Pershing St., Appleton. • Albany International, 3601 Electric City Blvd., Kaukauna. • Red-D-Mix Concrete, 2560 Cold Spring Road, Fox Crossing. • Bent Tubes, 304 Stone Crest Ct., Neenah.

19 - 120 Main St., Neenah Plexus Corp., a four-story, 85,209-sq. ft. commercial office building to house the company’s design center. www.newnorthb2b.com

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Build Up Greater Green Bay area 1&2

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Build Up

Greater Green Bay area 1 - 2793 Lineville Road, Howard Prevea Health Center, an addition to the existing health clinic. 2 - 1245 Cornell Road, Howard McClureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Service, an addition to the existing automotive repair shop. 3 - 2600 Larsen Road, Green Bay Green Bay Botanical Garden, a 2,183-sq. ft. concessions building and amphitheatre. Completion expected in March. 4 - 2740 W. Mason St., Green Bay Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, a 67,760-sq. ft. addition to the existing Business and Information Technology Center and a separate 62,000-sq. ft. transportation center. Project completion expected in early fall. 18 | March 2017 | NNB2B

Indicates a new listing

5 - 2211 Starr Ct., Green Bay CDRN - The Textile Experts, an addition to the existing commercial building. Completion expected in April. 6 - 907 N. Military Ave., Green Bay Vacuum, Pump and Compressor Inc., a 12,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in April. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 7 - 2231 N. Quincy St., Green Bay NEW Water/Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, a wastewater treatment facility. Completion expected in 2018.

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8 - 320 N. Broadway, Green Bay DDL Holdings/Titletown Brewing, an addition to the former industrial facility for a mixed-use retail development.

23 - 1800 Block Scheuring Road, town of Lawrence Denmark State Bank, a new bank. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

9 - 304 N. Adams St., Green Bay Hotel Northland, a substantial overhaul of the existing 8-story building for a 160-room luxury hotel with two restaurants and a spa. Project completion expected in summer.

24 - 3301 French Road, town of Lawrence Santa Barbara Fuels, a 12,400-sq. ft. warehouse facility. Project completion expected in spring. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

10 - 1330 Bellevue Dr., Bellevue KI, a 60,000-sq. ft. expansion of the existing manufacturing facility.

25 - 601 Third St., De Pere St. Norbert College Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center, a nearly 50,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing athletic facility for a competition swimming pool and fitness center. Project completion expected in May.

11 - 1742 E. Mason St., Green Bay Fast n Easy Pawn/STD Properties, a 12,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing multi-tenant commercial retail building. Project completion expected in March. 12 - 1111 S. Huron Road, Green Bay Inside Out International, an 18,000-sq. ft. office, showroom and warehouse facility. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 13 - 1160 Kepler Dr., Green Bay Aurora Baycare Medical Center, a two-story, 11,000-sq. ft. addition for cancer care and a separate four-story addition to the surgery center. Project completion expected in late fall. 14 - 3131 Main St., Bellevue Pomp’s Tire, an addition to the existing distribution facility.

26 - 102 N. Broadway, De Pere The 102 On Broadway, a five-story mixed-use building with first floor commercial space and an attached parking garage. 27 - 633 Heritage Road, De Pere Belmark, a three-story, 41,000-sq ft. addition to the existing Plant #3 for an office building, as well as a skywalk connecting to another building on the industrial campus. Project completion expected in February 2018. Projects completed since our February issue: • Meijer, 2015 Shawano Ave., Howard. • North Shore Bank, 1901 Main St., Green Bay. • Hinterland Brewery, 1267 Lombardi Ave., Ashwaubenon. • Paroubek Insurance Agency, 400 Destiny Dr., De Pere.

15 - 2645 Monroe Road, Bellevue Arby’s, a new restaurant building. 16 - 2325 Holmgren Way, Ashwaubenon Ash Investors, a 10,397-sq. ft. addition to the existing multitenant commercial retail building. 17 - 1950 S. Ridge Road, Ashwaubenon Lodge Kohler, a five-story, 150-room hotel, restaurant and spa. Project completion expected in July.

MillenniuM ConstruCtion, inC. Chosen contractor for the new Horns RV Sales & Service Center

18 - 1930 S. Ridge Road, Ashwaubenon Bellin Health Sports Medicine Clinic, a 52,268-sq. ft. health care clinic. Project completion expected in summer. 19 - 2763-2817 S. Oneida St., Ashwaubenon Fresh Thyme Farmers Market/Bayside Marketplace Mall, demolition of portions of the existing multi-tenant retail center and reconstruction of a 28,675-sq. ft. addition for a new grocery store. Project completion expected in fall. 20 - 1801 Airport Dr., Ashwaubenon Green Bay Packaging Inc./ Jet Air, a 44,914-sq. ft. air hangar. 21 - 1020 Glory Road, Ashwaubenon Tenor Construction Supply, a 5,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing distribution facility for two shipping bays. Project completion expected in March. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 22 - 1330 Contract Dr., Ashwaubenon Optima Machinery Corp., an addition to the existing manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in March.

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425 W Wisconsin Ave. • Appleton 920.882.8700 millenniumconstructionwi.com NNB2B | March 2017 | 19

Cover Story

Dispensing safety advice New North firms rely on regular training, common sense and preventative measures to keep employees out of harm’s way

Story by Lee Marie Reinsch, New North B2B editor

Haste makes waste. A stitch in time saves nine. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Look before you leap. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Always wear clean underwear. Never put beans in your ears. And for Pete’s sake, don’t run with scissors!!

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The average direct cost of a workplace accident is $38,000 to $48,000 ... Grandma knew best, and when it comes to safety, it seems some of the safest northeast Wisconsin workplaces are following her common-sense advice. “It’s all about being proactive,” said Bryan Zaremba, director of safety and risk management at Tweet/Garot Mechanical Inc. in Green Bay. Tweet/Garot has been recognized many times for its safety record and is a finalist for a 2017 Wisconsin Safety Council corporate safety award, which it’s already won 11 times. “Our chairman has a slogan that really simply says ‘If it’s not safe, don’t do it. Make it safe, then do it,’” Zaremba said. “Hearing that from ultimately the top person at Tweet/Garot really reinforces everything that the safety department does.” The firm must practice what it preaches. Tweet/Garot Chairman Timothy Howald was inducted into the Wisconsin Safety Council Hall of Fame in 2013.

Sensible shoes on the runway

Admittedly, safety is not sexy. It’s not exciting to read about. Or research. Or practice. But then again, neither is falling off a ladder or losing a finger. Accidents in the workplace can devastate a company’s morale, reputation and bottom line. “Complacency is the killjoy of safety,” said Dan Shea, chief operating officer of Shea Electric & Communications in Oshkosh. Sometimes people don’t want to bother shutting off an electrical panel or putting on safety gear. “We live in an instant society. People want everything now,” Shea said. “People in hell want ice water, but I won’t put my people in harm’s way.” Private-industry employers reported nearly 3 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, at a rate nationally of three cases per 100 fulltime workers. Of that nearly 3 million, Wisconsin reported 68,000 cases, at a rate of 3.6 incidents per 100 fulltime workers. Wisconsin is one of 21 states with a workplace incident rate above the national average. The BLS attributes this to the density of and types of industry in those states. While nearly 75 percent of workplace injuries nationally happen in the service industry, injuries are most concentrated in the natural resources, construction and maintenance industries, according to the federal data.

Look before you leap

Safe workplaces have something in common: Forethought. They think things through before they act. They plan, troubleshoot, and envision the ‘what if.’ Tweet/Garot and Miron Construction of Fox Crossing start the day out with a huddle. Miron calls its practice the Daily Excellence Huddle. www.newnorthb2b.com

“It’s where you lay out the game plan for the day: What are your people going to be doing, what are their performance expectations?” said Kevin Hildebrandt, director of risk management with Miron. “They lay out the tasks that they’re going to be performing, identify risks and lay out the safety considerations and measures that are going to be implemented to make sure those risks don’t materialize.” Miron recently received the Excellence in Safety Award from Engineering News Record-Midwest magazine for its work on Fox Valley Hematology & Oncology facility in Appleton, a project for which it logged 145,000 hours and had no reportable injuries. At a huddle, employees might bring up anything that’s different from the usual day. “Maybe a set of deliveries is going to take place, resulting in an increased amount of traffic on the job site,” Tweet/Garot’s Zaremba said. Workers are encouraged to consult a job hazard analysis or a job safety analysis to weigh what needs to be done to avert problems. Shea Electric puts handbooks and information online for its electricians to access from the field. So there’s never a reason not to follow safe procedure. “That’s what we lead with for everything – how we’re going to do it safely and how we’re going to do this job,” said Desmond Vincent, Shea’s director of safety and a journeyman electrician.

A stitch in time saves nine

Planning and prevention get a boost from new technology, too. In the construction industry, virtual construction and building information modeling can help work out the kinks in a project before it’s too late. “For both clients and tradespeople, the visualization component – being able to see it in 3D, as opposed to on a flat plain – really helps them understand the entire scope of the project and understand the risks associated with it,” Hildebrandt said of virtual construction. Ironing out glitches before crews get onsite can save labor and materials, in addition to lives. “When you can identify things on the plan upfront and on drawings, it’s color coded and people can see it, you start doing things such as separating NNB2B | March 2017 | 21

Cover Story pedestrian traffic from vehicle traffic on site in the planning stage – that’s what virtual construction brings to the table,” Hildebrandt said. “It’s a pre-planning tool where you can start to build your project in a controlled environment first.”

“If you can show what that looks like and what the maintenance person is going to have to do … you can show that ‘Yes, we have the roof hatch in this location, but is it really a good location for your people?’” Titus said. “You can visually show what it’s going to be like.”

Virtual construction simulation lets designers plan for future safety, too. Beyond the actual construction, the structure will need maintaining. So it makes sense to create a safe environment for whoever will be in charge of maintenance.

VC also enables contractors to make parts in advance, and that reduces risks inherent to fieldwork.

“If there’s valve or air filters that need to be maintained or anything like that, we can make sure those items are located in a place where we’re not going to put anyone at risk to maintain them,” said Blake Titus, virtual construction specialist with Miron. “They’re not going to have to be on a ladder reaching over.” Think about a roof hatch. Often it’s located near a roof’s edge – dangerous in any condition, let alone in rain, ice or snow.

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“We’re able to prefabricate plumbing walls, so rather than have a pipefitter working out in the field where it can be cold conditions or hot conditions or whatever, they can build large assemblies of plumbing walls in a warehouse, in a controlled environment,” Titus said. “So it’s more efficient, it’s safer, and in the end, the owner gets a better product.”

Don’t run with scissors

At Wisconsin Plastics Inc. in Ashwaubenon, technology helps reduce injuries. Although WPI has plenty of big equipment – overhead cranes, lift

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Fond du Lac Area Safety Council fdlac.com Oshkosh Safety Council oshkoshsafetycouncil.com Fox Valley Safety Council foxvalleysafetycouncil.org Northeast Wisconsin Safety Council (serving the Greater Green Bay Area)

Manitowoc County Chamber Safety Council

trucks, injection molding machines, to name a few – the most common sources of injury are the knives used to trim off “flash,” the extra plastic that squirts out the sides of a mold when it’s cooling from liquid form.

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Now robots at WPI perform many of the actions a human would normally do, including some of the flash trimming, according to Carl Bartle, plant manager. “It gives you consistency as far as how the parts are handled and reduces the amount of injury with auxiliary hand tools,” Bartle said.

The federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration reports employers pay around $1 billion per week just for workers’ compensation premiums.

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The business case for safety

When EMTs encounter accidents, they see blood and broken bones. When employers encounter workplace accidents, they see dollar signs. The average direct cost of a workplace accident is $38,000 to $48,000, with indirect costs averaging $152,000 to $192,000, according to Safety Management Group, a national workplace resource organization. The federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration reports employers pay around $1 billion per week just for workers’ compensation premiums. Fines to a company for death or injury caused by work done improperly can wipe that company out. Even if that company subcontracted the work out to a vendor who did the poor work, the company can be on the hook, according to Shea. That’s one reason his small company of 17 employees performs all the work it takes on. He knows his workers will do the job right.

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“We spend a lot of time and money on education and training,” Shea said. It’s for the customer’s benefit as well, he said. If OSHA were to be called to look into a mishap caused by a subcontractor, it could set off a chain reaction of fines to the client for extraneous or unrelated violations. Rehabilitating or replacing an injured employee, lost productivity to an entire business if it has to be shut down due to an accident, higher workers’ compensation insurance premiums, lawsuits, loss of reputation – the ramifications of unsafe work practices can have a huge ripple effect.

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By the same token, a good safety record can reduce workers’ comp premiums, Shea said. He estimates his company’s excellent safety record saves him thousands of dollars a year. “People think it’s a cost to spend money on safety, but it’s not. It makes you more competitive,” Shea said. “Safety is embedded in our culture. But in 31 years in this trade, I see not everybody feels that way.”

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Cover Story An ounce of prevention

Both Tweet/Garot and Miron also engage in an unlikelysounding daily ritual for improving safety: Stretching. Yes, as in limbs. “That’s part of the Daily Excellence Huddle,” Hildebrandt said. “It helps the individual shift their mind from homelife to worklife and stretch their body, make them more flexible for the day.” Exercise professionals say stretching can improve blood flow and range of movement.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Employers in northeast Wisconsin have resources they can turn to for advice and help with issues related to keeping their workers safe. Local safety councils, such as the Oshkosh or Fond du Lac Area safety councils, offer training, meetings, information and updates on policies and regulations. Wisconsin Safety Council provides onsite and off-site workplace safety training in a slew of areas, such as forklift safety, lift truck safety, creating a safety culture within an organization, OSHA compliance, fall protection, confinedspace first aid and CPR, as examples.

Tweet/Garot brought in an ergonomic specialist to evaluate the activities its employees were doing in the shop and in the field to come up with a series of appropriate stretches.

Wisconsin Safety Council Director Janie Ritter admits most of its outreach focuses on the parts of the state in which membership is most concentrated: primarily Milwaukee, Madison, the Fox Valley and Green Bay.

“We’ve got a warm-up stretch that can be followed by five different stretches that can be done each day, or depending upon the task,” said Zaremba from Tweet/Garot. Employees can modify and change the stretching they do each day based upon their scheduled jobs for the day ahead.

“We will take training right to their facility – it saves them money on travel time, overnight accommodations and food, and it’s easier because the employees can still sleep in their own bed and go to training,” Ritter said.

“They can focus on their hands and upper body, or they can focus on stretches dealing with that portion of their body they’ll be using.”

Traveling to those locales isn’t always convenient, however, so the organization accommodates employers.

While the safety council doesn’t have industry experts on staff, it does contract with professionals in just about any area an employer might need training, Ritter said, from mining to manufacturing. A division of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce,

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“People think it’s a cost to spend money on safety, but it’s not. It makes you more competitive.” Dan Shea, chief operating officer Shea Electric & Communications, Oshkosh

Wisconsin Safety Council is a chapter of the National Safety Council, which does research, develops curriculum and serves as the umbrella organization for safety councils around the country. Fox Valley Safety Council is composed of safety professionals who provide resources to members with questions and issues. It meets monthly September through June at changing locations. Several times a year, it tours sites such as paper mills and foundries. In March, for example, it’s meeting at the Greenville Co-op and feed mill. “We will bring in experts, like OSHA once a year, or the DOT (Department of Transportation) who speak to us about what’s new, what are the updates with regulations, what are they focusing on,” said Paige Dudovick, president of Fox Valley Safety Council. “It gives our members the opportunity to ask questions of these experts.”

So who joins a safety council? Not all companies have a designated safety department or person with a degree in safety whose job it is to look out for employees’ safety, Dudovick said. “Sometimes duties get transferred to HR, or they may take someone off the floor and make them a safety director. They will send their individuals to us, because we have that outlet with professionals,” she said. “Even if you are a safety professional, this is great place to get those updates,” Dudovick said. “Being able to take your current concerns and bring them to meetings to use as a sounding board and find out what are other companies’ best practices – that can be helpful.” n

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Economic Development

Speed Sells New North’s Gold Shovel Ready pilot program is designed to accelerate the process of site selection and development. Story by Rick Berg

Time and timing is everything in the world of economic development, according to Jerry Murphy, executive director of New North. In Murphy’s development mantra, you can’t overestimate the importance of speed of response when potential corporate tenants come calling. “Time is a major competitive factor in responding to requests from site selectors,” said Murphy. So it is that New North recently launched its Gold Shovel Ready Program, with a pilot project that focused on three development sites in northeast Wisconsin – the Oshkosh Aviation Business Park, the 141 Business Park in Marinette County and a 5.7-acre private site in the Greenville Crossing Business Park. The Gold Shovel program requires participants to assemble documentation noting common criteria site selectors will ask for (see “Gold Shovel Criteria, page 30). The documentation is then reviewed and verified by either the East Central Wisconsin or Bay-Lake regional planning commissions. Murphy said participation in the Gold Shovel program can have a dual advantage. First, it’s a proactive approach that ensures a community’s development site is ready for submission to a potential site selector. Second, it validates the site as ready for construction, with no need to wait on permits and other regulatory delays. “If you simply do all of the due diligence required of the Gold Shovel, you are going to be in a better position to be responsive to any site inquiries,” Murphy said.

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Ann Hartnell, executive director of the Marinette County Association for Business & Industry, was one of the first to sign on to the Gold Shovel pilot program and agrees it holds great promise for local economic development organizations like hers. “I see the Gold Shovel site certification as economical and the only way to get small sites certified. The marketing of the sites is a huge benefit to the municipality and ultimately to the county as a whole,” Hartnell said.

A lower cost alternative

The Gold Shovel Ready program was first introduced in Wisconsin in 2015 by Momentum West, a regional economic development organization serving the Chippewa Valley from Eau Claire. The Gold Shovel program was designed as an alternative to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.’s Certified Sites program, which is intended for large industrial sites. That program is vetted by Deloitte Consultants and carries a price tag of $10,000 or even significantly more, depending on the size and complexity of the site. WEDC Certified Sites are listed on WEDC’s Locate in Wisconsin website, but WEDC also lists Momentum West’s Gold Shovel Ready sites. Besides New North, regional economic development organizations in Madison and southwest Wisconsin are also conducting pilot Gold Shovel programs. Sites certified in those regions are expected to be included in the WEDC database once the pilot programs are completed. Gold Shovel offers an affordable site-selection tool for developers, said Coleman Peiffer, WEDC business and investment attraction director.

New North’s Pilot Gold Shovel Sites F The Oshkosh Aviation Business Park is an 80-acre site east of Wittman Field designed for development of an aviation industry cluster. The site is being submitted for certification by the Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corp. F A 5.7-acre privately owned site in the Greenville Crossing Business Park in Outagamie County. The site is being submitted for certification by Keller Inc. F The 141 Business Park in the Village of Pound is a 25-acre business park on Business Hwy. 141. The site is being submitted for certification by Marinette County Association for Business & Industry.

potential for expansion for larger projects and rail along Highway 141 within a quarter mile. Neither the site nor the surrounding area has contamination issues and no wetlands to the west and north.” The process was relatively painless, she said, following a meeting between Pound municipal officials and Hartnell’s office, along with a private-sector engineer contracted to assist with the process. “We met to walk through the needed material, assigning tasks. A few weeks later, I met with the municipality to again walk through to determine what was still needed and organize the material,” Hartnell said. “Once this is complete, the engineer

“Based on cost, location or a number of other factors, a developer might choose a Gold Shovel Ready site instead of a Certified Site,” Peiffer said. “By requiring the collection of site documentation in one convenient place, the Gold Shovel Ready sites program identifies the basic information property owners should have readily available when marketing their sites, allows these sites to stand out against the competition and increases the number of options available to site selectors.”

Cost and documentation challenge

Murphy noted the Gold Shovel process is not without cost or time commitment, though much of the time and documentation required would have to be done in any case to respond to a site selector inquiry. Hartnell said the effort is manageable. “The biggest challenge was getting the information put together,” Hartnell said. “The municipality had some documentation already, but other things they didn’t have it, nor did they know where to go to find it. That is where the economic development professional and their engineer plays a large role.” Hartnell’s Gold Shovel submission involved a 25-acre site in the 141 Business Park in the Village of Pound. “This site is on the Highway 141 corridor that is seeing growth in Marinette County,” said Hartnell. “This site also has the

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NNB2B | March 2017 | 27

Economic Development will go through the material and sign off. Then the submittal process will begin. The time put in by the municipality, engineer and me is probably 20 to 25 hours. However, this is a small municipality that does not have resources on hand and information digitized. Thus, they could not just organize information already available.” Hartnell said she would do it all again, gladly. “The process was a learning one with this first one, but it worked and the small hurdles were worked out without a problem,” Hartnell added. “I have another municipality lining up to start this spring and a private landowner doing the same.” The process was also relatively straightforward and costeffective, said Jason White, executive director of Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corp., especially since GO-EDC was able to use an in-house municipal engineer. GO-EDC’s Gold Shovel site is the 80-acre Oshkosh Aviation Business Park – to the east of Wittman Field – designed for development of an aviation industry cluster. That site has been under development since 2014. “It’s just being proactive rather than reactive,” White said. “The questions we’re asked to respond to for the Gold Shovel program are the same kind of questions we’re likely to be asked by a site selector. The thing is, going through this process created a greater sense of urgency for us to better delineate some of these criteria.”

Submitted photo

An aerial view of Oshkosh’s Aviation Industrial Park.

Weston Zuleger, a project manager at Kaukauna-based general contractor Keller Inc., said the process was similarly streamlined for his team at Keller, since they had been through the process for other site submittals. “I was probably able to fill out 90 percent of the submission forms in an hour or so,” Zuleger said. “The rest took a little more digging, but it’s very similar to what we’ve done in the past and so we knew what to look for and where.”

Validating submissions

One key to the process is the role of the regional planning commissions in reviewing and validating the submittals. “The RPCs simply work in the background with this effort, but it is a critical part of the process,” said Eric W. Fowle, executive director of the East Central Wisconsin Regional

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Planning Commission in Menasha. “Our staff has a myriad of experience in planning and economic development, as well having great knowledge of where to find information about a piece of property. So, our role is to essentially verify and confirm that information submitted for a site by the community or its consultant is accurate and complete.” While the process is still in the pilot stage, Fowle said the framework is well-established.

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“A checklist of required information about the property is used to cross-reference with existing and known data sources,” Fowle said. “If questions arise regarding the accuracy, source or timeliness of the information, the RPC will document the concerns and work with the community or consultant to rectify any shortcomings. Once the site passes this verification it can be formally registered as a Golden Shovel site.” The regional planning commissions’ ability to tap into its geographic information systems (GIS) data allows the commission staff to quickly evaluate and validate mapping and zoning data for each submission, said Joshua Schedler, GIS coordinator with the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission in Green Bay. “That can really help streamline the process and make it as painless as possible for everyone,” Schedler said.

Competitive advantage

Having gone through the Gold Shovel process, Hartnell said she would recommend it to other economic development organizations – especially in smaller communities with smaller development sites. “The site selection process is often thought to be for large companies expanding or moving,” Hartnell said, “but small companies go through the same process when looking for a new site. They are just looking for a smaller site to develop. Gold Shovel is affordable and allows smaller sites to be

David Lewis, CPA

Account Director david.lewis@suttnercpa.com 920.235.6789

Certified in Wisconsin Program The Certified in Wisconsin Program, offered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and Deloitte Consulting, is designed for industrial properties 20 acres or larger, though most sites that have been certified so far are even larger. A Certified Site designation verifies that environmental and geological factors, transportation access, utility and infrastructure capacity, zoning, property rights have been evaluated and that the site is ready for industrial development. Wisconsin currently has 16 certified sites, including two in the New North:

Tax Planning & Preparation Financial Statements Bookkeeping/Write Up Payroll Services Visit suttnercpa.com/client services for a more complete list of services

Austin Straubel Commerce District in Hobart – 33.2 acres adjacent to Austin Straubel International Airport. Mills Center Industrial Site in Howard – 77 acres located on the western outskirts of the village. More information is available at inwisconsin.com/community/assistance/certified-sites. www.newnorthb2b.com

Quality ❘ Value ❘ Timeliness NNB2B | March 2017 | 29

Economic Development marketed and ultimately developed. The process is manageable by the smallest community.” Fowle believes the Gold Shovel Ready program can be a boon to development throughout the New North. “Site selectors value this information as much as they do basic demographic or infrastructure information for the region they are focused on,” said Fowle. “Once preliminary decisions are made with respect to the general area, a hard target search for available properties is typically the next step. Having a list of available development sites that are essentially pre-approved and free from questions related to land and highway access, development regulations, and infrastructure availability is of great value to site selectors.” “This can really be a very beneficial tool regionally,” Schedler agreed. “It creates a one-stop shop for site selectors looking at the region. Fowle said the Gold Shovel program will create a unique data set at the regional level for use by site selectors.

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“This is often the scale at which such searches begin,” Fowle said. “Gold Shovel will replace several existing local and sub-regional efforts of similar types, and will generally offer more information for each site, as well as consistency in how the information is portrayed for all sites across the region. Scale and consistency, along with the natural efficiencies of doing a project like this at the regional level are the main benefits for the communities.” Murphy said with the proliferation of site-certification programs nationwide, having validation from a program like Gold Shovel Ready will provide an increasingly important advantage. “With the certification and validation of the documentation by a third party like the regional planning commission, you’re providing credible and current documentation that eliminates the need for a site selector to do that work,” Murphy said. “Simply from a marketing standpoint, it shows how ready you are to work with a developer. If you’re a developer, who would you rather work with – someone who is out there trying

Gold Shovel Criteria Applicants are required to submit documentation that designates: l Site’s location l Site size and zoning requirements l Site ownership l Transportation infrastructure l Municipal infrastructure and easement l Utility infrastructure l Available public incentives l Floodplain and wetlands concerns l Topography l Known environmental, historical and/or archaeological impediments to define property lines or someone who has all the maps and charts there on the table, validated and current? That’s really the bottom line – to preemptively position ourselves to be stronger in the marketplace.” n

Rick Berg is a freelance writer and editor based in Green Bay.

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Guest Commentary

Fencing out entrepreneurs Occupational licenses can be a barrier to thousands of workers looking to start a new business in Wisconsin by Tom Still

Many elements make up a thriving entrepreneurial economy. Among them are cultures that reward risk and don’t penalize honest failure; workers who are diverse in terms of skills and training; clusters of innovation in cities or universities; and access to capital.

Just as high on the list is a regulatory climate that encourages the free flow of talent and that lowers barriers to entry into the startup economy. A proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to create commissions to scrutinize proposed and existing occupational licenses is a welcome step toward lowering those hurdles for thousands of workers in Wisconsin. It deserves bipartisan support in the Wisconsin Legislature. Nearly a third of all American workers are required to hold a government-issued license to do their jobs, up from less than 10 percent in the 1960s. Wisconsin is no exception to the rule. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty recently noted a 34 percent increase over 20 years in the number of credential holders regulated by the state Department of Safety and Professional Services and an 84 percent jump over the same time period in the number of license types regulated by that agency. The institute estimated the steady rise in occupational regulation costs Wisconsin thousands of jobs each year – and costs consumers hundreds of millions of dollars due to reduced competition for goods and services. National organizations have a similar take on the hidden costs of fencing out new entrants to the job market. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo., has long cited over-regulation of occupations – mainly by state and local governments – as a deterrent to entrepreneurism. Numerous academic studies have reached the same conclusion as Kauffman, which has said the proliferation of occupational licensing “creates barriers for would-be entrepreneurs and strengthens incumbent businesses.” “These barriers often go unnoticed until the entrepreneur runs up against them,” noted one Kauffman report. The President’s Council on Economic Advisors issued a report in 2015 urging states to adjust their licensing policies to spur growth. Liberal think tanks such as the

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Progressive Policy Institute have also called for occupational license reform, noting “there is mounting evidence that professional and occupational licensing is blocking innovation and entrepreneurship across large swathes of the American economy.” The U.S. Treasury and Defense departments have issued a joint report noting the negative effects of occupational licensing on the job prospects of military families, who often move from state to state and encounter different barriers in each.

Why the trouble?

If so many experts agree over-regulation is costing the economy and making it harder for entrepreneurs to start businesses, why are so many licensure requirements in place? In some cases, there are legitimate public health concerns: No one wants to be treated by an unlicensed physician, dentist or nurse. In most instances, however, it’s the professions themselves that ask for regulation. That’s in part due to a sense of internal credibility, but it’s also due to an unspoken desire to limit competition by fencing out new players.

There are alternatives to full licensure, which is the most limiting form of occupational regulation. Certification has fewer restrictions than licensing, allowing any person to perform the service but recognizing those who have attained a certain level of experience or education. The least restrictive form of occupational regulation is registration, which simply requires professionals in a field to record their qualifications with the state or another regulatory body. Wisconsin is not alone in trying to rein in licensing creep. Ten states have formal “sunrise” and “sunset” commissions to take a hard look at new and existing worker licenses. States such as Colorado, Arizona, Vermont, Washington and Georgia have recommended against licensing interior designers, art therapists, music therapists, dietitians, landscape architects, massage therapists and behavior analysts – occupations all licensed or regulated in Wisconsin, according to the Institute for Law and Liberty. Wisconsin’s below-average startup numbers may be dragged down by a number of factors, and excessive licensing is one of them. The state should seize on the opportunity to begin tearing down unnecessary fences to entrepreneurism. n Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal. NNB2B | March 2017 | 31

Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin

Building a lasting business Axel and Carmina Mendez

Fond du Lac-based fabricator of decorative stone countertops aims to improve processes through B2B’s 6th annual Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin initiative Story by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher

Business would appear to be good for AMC of Wisconsin, a Fond du Lacbased fabricator of stone surface countertops for the home improvement industry. The nearly 15-year-old company founded by Axel and Carmina Mendez started in a small shop in 2002 with 10 employees and an agreement to provide custom countertops to a small handful of Home Depot stores in eastern Wisconsin. Now a decade and a half later, the company occupies three industrial buildings in a complex near Fond du Lac’s Rolling Meadows Industrial Park, and it’s already out of space. Today AMC provides custom countertops on a wholesale basis to Home Depot stores across the Midwest, and last quarter ranked as the top vendor among Home Depot’s entire supply chain for its “voice of customer” rating category. The company also manufactures product for various Lowe’s stores in Wisconsin, a number of smaller independent home improvement retailers, and even sells its product direct to consumers through its own onsite retail center. The company employs close to 40 people at present, but – like many businesses – struggles to retain key staff in its higher-skilled positions. “Every year we’ve been having growth. Sales growth … people growth,” said Axel Mendez. “But I know the facility we have for fabricating right now is not enough for growth to add a second shift.”

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The Mendez couple acknowledged that despite sustained sales and volume growth, they’re facing challenges turning a profit and generating sufficient cash flow. That’s led to a number of sleepless nights worrying about having sufficient cash to cover the next payroll. And there’s plenty of small fires the owners work to extinguish at AMC on a daily basis. Axel and Carmina recognize many crucial elements are in place for their business to demonstrate dramatic success, but they also know they need to operate AMC of Wisconsin smarter and more efficiently in order to generate healthy income and improve their equity in the business. They’ve developed a solid foundation with AMC, but as Axel Mendez admitted, “I don’t know everything in business.” They’ve reached out to participate in New North B2B magazine’s 6th annual Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin business improvement program, in which we’ve successfully matched anxious-to-improve business owners with some of the region’s leading business consultants for five to six months of work at no cost to the business. Our team of volunteer business consultants – who we refer to as “firefighters” – work with business owners to help put out the fires in their companies and develop strategies to work on moving the business forward rather than simply surviving from day to day. The Mendezes have been paired with Gary Vaughan, owner of Appleton-based Guident Business Solutions and a veteran mentor of our program, to help AMC develop a plan for enhanced credit terms from their financial lender and sustained profitability or the long term. Vaughan will meet with Axel and Carmina two to three times a month until late summer on a plan for improvement. In exchange, the Mendezes agreed to diligently work along with Vaughan and share what they’ve learned with B2B readers. B2B will provide a brief progress report of the Mendezes’ work with Vaughan in each edition of the magazine leading up to the end of the initiative in August or September, when we’ll provide a capstone article on the refinements AMC of Wisconsin makes to its operations and financial management. Gary Vaughan Guident Business Solutions, Appleton www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com 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. 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.

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It’s our goal with the Firefighters business improvement program that readers facing similar issues within their own business learn lessons along the way to enhance their own business practices. COMPANY: AMC of Wisconsin OWNERS: Axel and Carmina Mendez 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. WEB: amccountertops.com

Understanding financials

Vaughan, a veteran entrepreneur himself, has amassed a portfolio of dozens of small business clients across northeast Wisconsin who he’s worked with over the years to improve their financial outlook by building owner equity in the company. He also teaches finance in Concordia University’s MBA program, as well as teaching economics and entrepreneurship at Lawrence University’s undergraduate program in Appleton. Vaughan shared his perspective that any business’s financial documents – primarily its profit and loss statements, balance sheet and cash flow statements – serve as a roadmap to chart its future financial goals. Fortunately for Axel and Carmina Mendez, they have 14 years of operational performance to compare current data against. But the company has never really put together a definitive annual budget, and Vaughan expects that to be one of the first tasks in his work with the Mendezes. “We use the budget as a benchmark to gauge financial performance,” Vaughan said. Vaughan also wants to ensure the financial data AMC of Wisconsin enters into its bookkeeping software is the most accurate and up-to-date information possible. He said he’s seen other businesses not accurately record financial data, ultimately generating profit and loss statements and balance sheets that don’t accurately illustrate the financial performance of the company.

“A really good business decision based on poor financials is going to give us less than desirable results.” Gary Vaughan Guident Business Solutions NNB2B | March 2017 | 33

Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin “A really good business decision based on poor financials is going to give us less than desirable results,” Vaughan said. Vaughan assigned reading the book Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs, an easy-to-read guide providing business owners without any financial background a base-level understanding of the language around business finance and why it’s important. “Getting the financial acumen up to snuff will help elevate the conversation with your lenders,” he explained, referring to any entrepreneur.

Other areas requiring attention

Though the company is approaching 40 employees, Carmina Mendez explained AMC of Wisconsin has struggled to define its organizational culture, and that’s a trait she’d like to change. “We want a culture that (the employees) feel they want to belong to,” Carmina said. Axel explained the company recently lost its production manager of nearly eight years who moved out of state with his family. They filled that gap, but the replacement lasted just a short few months. Currently, the fabricator of decorative stone countertops has just one employee skilled to operate its CNC machinery. Overall, turnover of its staff has been a challenge to overcome, and the Mendezes hope to build a

The Mendezes hope to develop a strategy to reduce their inventory of “orphan slabs” in AMC of Wisconsin’s yard.

pipeline of skilled employees and recruits that can continually ensure the company’s production demand can be met without interruption. “We saw that we were lacking a lot of control and lacking a lot of management,” Axel Mendez explained. The couple hopes to evaluate and enhance its employee benefit package in order to attract more highly skilled recruits applying for open positions at AMC of Wisconsin. The company is a part of a national trade organization of about 35 member countertop fabricators, and hopes to tap into that resource more effectively to help enhance its employment offerings. AMC of Wisconsin also hopes to develop a strategy to more effectively capitalize on its growing inventory of “orphan

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“The strategy is not necessarily a single solution, but it’s identifying a profitable business model, and then running with it.”

Methodology

Gary Vaughan

slabs,” the byproduct of its fabricating process as well as its raw materials that break during handling. Lastly, there is a seasonal dynamic to the home improvement business, and Axel said he hopes to develop a strategy to better manage the high and low points of demand for its products. Vaughan indicated he’ll eventually work with the Mendezes to develop a cash flow schedule around its seasonal demands.

Striving for a solution

Axel Mendez acknowledged he doesn’t necessarily view the solution to the company’s eventual success coming from volume growth. He hopes it might be possible to do more with less. Vaughan agreed.

“Sometimes business owners fight that,” he said. Often, he explained, it’s possible to grow the bottom line of the company while reducing overall revenues by focusing on more efficient cost centers that drive profitability. Sometimes such an effort means minimizing attention given to – or even possibly shedding altogether – those products and services of the company that require greater resources but provide little return to the bottom line. He expects to review such opportunities with Axel and Carmina once they’ve established a budget and have the company’s financial house in order. “The strategy is not necessarily a single solution, but it’s identifying a profitable business model, and then running with it,” Vaughan said. n

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 will receive five month’s worth of consulting at no cost to help them work on the strategy of improving their business profitability. B2B will provide a monthly update on the progress of the Mendezes efforts in each issue leading up to a capstone article in the August 2017 issue of New North B2B magazine.

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Manufacturing

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.

Born and raised in Madison, Terry Sweeney learned the tricks of the carpentry trade at his first jobs after high school. He put those skills to work in the designs of three restaurants before opening a custom furniture shop in 1995, crafting high-end custom products that sell for top dollar. Sure, he could make simple chairs and beds for low prices but, as Sweeney puts it, he chooses not to participate in a race to the bottom. Now he’s just launched Wooda, a new division aimed at finding designers across the globe and crafting their ideas into solid beauty. That’s what drives him: a desire to bring beautiful furniture into the world, to create something special that will last. Is everything you make sold at a higher-end cost?

Terry Sweeney Owner

Black Wolf Design Omro blackwolfdesign.com wooda.co

The nature of custom work and the type of pieces that we build pretty much dictate that they will carry a high price point. Especially when there may be another one or two steps in distribution before it reaches its home. We build to order, to the client’s specific needs. This is standard in commercial work, but not so much in residential. So, we’re serving a niche. Eighty percent of the work we do is custom work. It could be a completely new design or it could be something off our website, built to new dimensions.

Is fine craftsmanship satisfying? I think when you surround yourself with designs that you like there is a connection to that space. Whether it is art or a different form of our furniture, it can project to others a bit about who you are, and what you believe. Our intent is to create designs that speak to our customers in a way which makes that connection. If we do that well and it brings joy and comfort to our clients and helps them tell their story, then yes, there is satisfaction in that for us.

Is there strong competition? Prior to the recession many larger manufacturers did not do custom 36 | March 2017 | NNB2B

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work to the level we do. So, when there was little work out there, everyone began to do custom. Competition also comes from local cabinet shops that have relationships with the interior designers. Sometimes a project will just go to the local provider. The designs themselves are what will set us apart upon first glance.

How do clients reach you? We have a small marketing budget, so most of our efforts are through email communications with our list of clients present and past, showing what’s new and what’s next, as well as sales calls. Most communication is through email – orders, acknowledgements, drawings for approval, etc. New prospects find us through our website, through trade showrooms and through direct sales calls done either by me or an independent sales rep. We are considering a trade show in New York City in 2018.

What are trade showrooms? Trade showrooms are located across the country in major metropolitan areas from New York to Los Angeles. You must be a registered interior designer to purchase products from them. They are not open to the public. Product quality as well as pricing are on another level than you will find in most retail stores. Most clients are interior designers and interior design firms, located in the Midwest region, but we do have clients in several metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Denver, South Florida and New York City.

Do you ever work for private homeowners? It is rare. Usually an acquaintance of ours. We have a working relationship with the interior design trade and we support that relationship by not working with their potential clients.

Do you ever produce a series of the same item? With Black Wolf, we are building to order. Occasionally we have the opportunity to build in series, but not often. We’ve done a hotel project recently for a client in New York which gave us that opportunity, and we’d like to find more of that work with boutique hotels. With Wooda the plan is to build the designs in series of limited quantities, so yes, that will present an opportunity for us. www.newnorthb2b.com

What’s the plan for your new Wooda division? The intent and expectation with Wooda (wooda.co) is that the designs will be more intricate, require the latest technology which is rapidly evolving, and expensive to reproduce for others. The designs that are curated will tend to be more modern and organic in their design, at least that is what we are presenting on our Pinterest page, where we send the industrial designer to see the design inspirations we are working towards. With Wooda, we have a totally unique business model. Our intent is to bring iconic designs into the world through an open call to industrial designers worldwide, asking for design submissions which we will curate, engineer and build, paying a royalty to the designer with each sale of their design. Wooda products will be made in the same space with the same staff, using the same equipment, right here in Omro.

What brought Black Wolf Design to Omro? I started in an incubator at the Radford building in Oshkosh. When the decision was made to raze that building, I weighed what options I had and the Omro industrial park was the best fit and value for me. I have not regretted that decision ever. I draw employees from a radius of 40 miles. Hardworking and conscientious. The wood techniques program at Fox Valley Technical College in Oshkosh is one of the finest programs in the country. We are fortunate to have them so close.

Do you do any woodwork yourself? Ha! No, I do not. I have an extremely talented group of craftswomen and craftsmen that design, engineer, craft and finish our work. I am involved in design and in the processes of building, but no, I do not physically do the work. Our eleven employees have a process that takes each piece of furniture through seven work cells once an order is placed. They are design/engineering, rough mill, sub assembly, CNC machining, assembly, finishing and shipping.

What happens to all the sawdust? We have a local farmer that takes our sawdust and uses it for bedding for their livestock. n

NNB2B | March 2017 | 37

Professionally Speaking

Professionally Speaking is a paid promotional spot in B2B.

Do you have your Business Continuation Plan in place? by William Bowman of AEGIS Financial 920.233.4650 There are three main elements of business continuation planning: business valuation, succession plan, and buysell agreement. You first determine how much your business is worth through a cost, income or market approach. By using the cost approach, you can evaluate your assets and liabilities to determine the net worth of your business. Whereas the income approach considers the capitalization of earnings or the discounted future earnings of your business. Finally, the market approach is when you compare your company to recently sold and similar enterprises. You should use the business valuation approach that is most appropriate for your plan. After determining the value of your business, you should look to the future and have a succession plan in place. What plans

Coming JUnE 2017

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CorporatE WEllnEss aWards

have you made for your business after your retirement, potential disability or death? Who will own or manage your business once you’re gone? Would it be better to sell or liquidate? Answering these questions now could make a world of difference for the continued success of your enterprise and could pay big dividends later. Lastly, consider a buy-sell agreement. There are three types: a redemption, a crosspurchase, and a “wait and see” agreement. Under a redemption buy-sell agreement, the business entity agrees to purchase the interests of the individual owners. Under a cross-purchase buy-sell agreement, the individual owners all agree to purchase the interests of the other departing owners. And finally, under a “wait and see” buy-sell agreement, the individual owners and the business entity agree that either will have the first option to buy the interests of the other owners, depending on which is most

advantageous. Regardless of your choice, have a funding vehicle such as life insurance in place. Take steps right away by either developing a plan, selecting a successor, having a family conversation, getting a formal valuation determined, putting a buy-sell agreement in place or setting-up a funding method. Your business depends on it. William Bowman, CPA, is President and Senior Advisor at AEGIS Financial in Oshkosh. To get additional information and learn more about AEGIS Financial, visit www.aegisfinancialplanners.com or call 920.233.4650. AEGIS Financial is an independent firm. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Raymond James does not provide legal advice or services. Opinions are those of William Bowman and not necessarily those of Raymond James.

What does your wellness plan bring to the table? Nominate it for B2B’s 12th Annual Corporate Wellness Awards. Download a nomination form at newnorthb2b.com. Nominations due by May 5, 2017.

Sponsored by

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Professionally Speaking

Professionally Speaking is a paid promotional spot in B2B.

Is Your Business Up-to-Date? by John W. Schuster of Caliber Law, S.C. 920.292.0000 I frequently get asked by my clients if their business and legal documents are up-todate. Below is a quick list of the most important items that every business owner should go through each spring to make sure the prior year was closed out successfully, and ensure they have a legally-compliant start to the new year:

1. Consent Resolutions – State law requires that all major decisions made by your corporation over the course of the year get properly documented. Many times these can be approved through special resolutions, but you will want to make sure that all major decisions have been properly documented, that

your corporation has held an annual meeting, and that you have the proper resolutions approving all major corporate decisions, transactions, and meetings for the past and current years.

2. Your Buy-Sell Agreement – Spring is the perfect time to make sure all requirements of your buy-sell agreements have been met, especially if you have a buy-sell which provides for a yearly agreement upon the value of the business. There is nothing worse than forgetting to do this each year, and then finding out five years down the line that the purchase price to buy you out is over five years old.

3. Contracts – Have you had someone review your standard contract and purchase agreements lately? Do you have adequate enforcement and default terms in your agreements? Having the right default terms can really affect your ability to collect – or not collect – if a customer decides not to pay you. Spring is a perfect time to do a little spring cleaning and make sure your legal documents, processes, and decisions are up-to-date before you officially launch into the new year. John W. Schuster, JD MBA is the owner and an attorney at Caliber Law, S.C., a law firm located in Oshkosh. He specializes in helping business owners start, protect, buy, sell and grow their businesses.

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NNB2B | March 2017 | 39

Who’s News

Incorporations

Fond du Lac County

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

GB POND MANAGEMENT LLC, Kim DeGood, 470 Marina Lane, Ashwaubenon 54304. HIBACHI EXPRESS INC., Ai Yu Zheng, 1031 Main Ave., De Pere 54115. VALLEY TAX SOLUTIONS LLC, Nathan Van Stippen, N6667 County Road U, De Pere 54911. LEDGEVIEW ACCOUNTING & TAX LLC, Steven Handrick, 1112 Lansdale Cir., De Pere 54115. MEDHEALTH LLC, Richmond Gyamfi M.D., 2179 River Trail Ct., De Pere 54115. ASIAN BUFFET INC., Hong Tao Liu, 310 N. Wisconsin St., De Pere 54115. EXPERIENCE GREATER GREEN BAY CORP., Brad Toll, 1901 S. Oneida St., Green Bay 54304. THE EAST SHORE FELINE FACTORY LLC, Gilbert Sandgren, 130 E. Walnut St., Ste. 403, Green Bay 54301. MAVID CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS LLC, Zoar Fulwilder, 1609 Western Ave., Ste. A, Green Bay 54303. CHEVES & GRILL LLC, Felicia Margarita Mancilla Villanueva, 106 S. Broadway, Green Bay 54303. D’ ELEGANCE BOUTIQUE LLC, Analilia Sierra Ruiz, 1740 E. Mason St., Green Bay 54302. NEW CONVERTING LLC, Randy S. Tess, 2257 Tordeur Ct., Green Bay 54311. NAVARRO CLEANING LLC, Evalia Muro Navarro, 841 Alpine Dr., Green Bay 54311. BAY VIEW TREE FARM LLC, Shawn R. McDonough, 846 Canterbury Castle Lane, Green Bay 54313. GREEN BAY TRUCKING LLC, Osmi M. Sorto, Sr., 422 N. Oakland Ave., Green Bay 54303. LAWE TRUCKING LLC, Colin Vyron Lawe, 3079 Summer Pl., Green Bay 54313. TD YARD SERVICES LLC, Todd Michael Destree, 2855 Crab Apple Lane, Green Bay 54311. BEAUTIFUL LIPS BY DESIGN LLC, Carol Annette Vanderheyden, 2620 Bellevue St., Green Bay 54311. H2O PETS LLC, Sandra Marie Proctor, 2733 Packerland Dr., Ste. 14U, Green Bay 54303. MAPLE VALLEY ORCHARDS LLC, John F. Kring, 4520 Hilltop Dr., Suamico 54173. THE RIVER COFFEE & CREAM LLC, Deborah S. Tews, 104 High Ct., Wrightstown 54180.

KETTLE MORAINE TRUCKING LLC, Stacy Sielaff, N896 County Road V, Campbellsport 53010. BLUE DOOR COFFEE CO. LLC, Joel M. Fleischman, 227 W. Main St., Campbellsport 53010. WEST TERRACE FARMS LLC, Gary R. Westphal, 1076 Eastman Lane, Fond du Lac 54935. LAKESIDE DAIRY & LAND COMPANY LLC, Robert M. Giese, 7120 Winnebago Dr., Fond du Lac 54935. TIM’S HOME IMPROVEMENT LLC, Timothy Dale Albrecht, N7915 Van Dyne Road, Fond du Lac 54937. JIM’S PRO TOOL SALES & SERVICE LLC, James R. Koehn, N7570 Sandy Beach Road, Fond du Lac 54935. KITO NAILS LLC, Vinh Huynh, 332 N. Main St., Fond du Lac 54935. FAIRWATER TRAILBLAZERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB INC., Chris Retzlaff, 7251 Searle Road, Ripon 54971. POLLACK DAIRY LLC, John W. Pollack, N9017 Van Dyne Road, Van Dyne 54979.

Green Lake County

TRANSCRIPTION BUSINESS ASSISTANT LLC, Dee Evans, 589 Sacramento St., Berlin 54923. SCHUSTER DAIRY LLC, James M. Schuster, 1561 Koro Road, Berlin 54923.

Oconto County

OCONTO SELF STORAGE LLC, Robert J. Charapata, 3372 Brehmer Road, Abrams 54101. WENDY’S ALTERATIONS LLC, Wendy Scott, 801 Lilac Road, Little Suamico 54141.

Outagamie County

HAYSLAYER BALE BLINDS LLC, Bjorn J. Christensen, 212 N. Story St., Appleton 54914. SURFIN’ BIRD COLLECTIVE LLC, Gottfried Albert Haas, 222 E. College Ave., Appleton 54911. DRESCHER LAW FIRM LLC, Park M. Drescher, 4700 N. Hastings Ct., Appleton 54913. 19NINETY-ONE DESIGNS LLC, Hannah Jacobson, W2841 Schmalz Cir., Appleton 54915. BLACK CAT STRENGTH AND FITNESS LLC, Lindsay Renee Armstrong, 1701 E. Robin Way, Appleton 54915. HEAR IN THE FOX CITIES INC., Stephanie Long, 1948 Palisades Dr., Appleton 54915. INVICTUS ACCOUNTING SERVICES LLC, Jamison Thiel, 2 Meadowbrook Lane,

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Appleton 920.993.9000 Green Bay/Lakeshore 920.490.2900 40 | March 2017 | NNB2B

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Appleton 54914. ELITE CUSTOM FLOORING LLC, Lee M. Plonske, N2887 Evergreen Lane, Appleton 54913. FAMILY & BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONCEPTS LLC, Krystal Green-Johnson, 4650 W. Spencer St., Appleton 54914. SIT STAY LOVE PET CARE LLC, Kristine Ann Hein, 335 W. Evergreen Dr., Appleton 54913. PAMELA WITTHUHN - MASSAGE, AESTHETICS AND YOGA LLC, Pamela Witthuhn, 1225 W. Fourth St., Appleton 54914. METTA THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE LLC, Bethany Probst, 1401 W. Pershing St., Appleton 54914. BRUTE FORCE ENGINEERING INC., Daniel C. Miller, 2413 Gmeiner Road, Appleton 54915. CERTIFIED DRONE SERVICES LLC, Steven Brayton, 1600 Tri Park Way, Appleton 54914. KUNDE FARM SUPPLY LLC, Benjamin Lafrombois, 100 W. Lawrence St., Appleton 54911. WESTFIELD AEROSPACE ENGINEERING LLC, John Schober, Jr., 501 E. Timberline Dr., Appleton 54913. HOGAR FURNITURE INC., Cynthia Gaspar, 402 Wisconsin Ave., Appleton 54911. THE ART OF HEALING LLC, Mariusz Falkus, 3033 W. Spencer St., Appleton 54914. BROCKMAN’S TREE MOVING & NURSERY LLC, Leroy D. Brockman, W2176 County Trunk U, Freedom 54130. ADVANCED PAINTING LLC, David R. Belau, W7533 Brush Run, Greenville 54942. BYOM VETERINARY SERVICE LLC, Bruce Lee Byom, D.V.M., W6648 Grandview Road, Hortonville 54944. S-4 CONSTRUCTION LLC, Randal Baumgart, 120 S. Lake St., Hortonville 54944. GOT YOUR SIX K9’S INC., Jeremy Van Beek, 335 Taylor St., Kaukauna 54130. EVERS DAIRY FARMS LLC, William M. Evers, N4363 State Road 55, Kaukauna 54130. PRECISION BOOKKEEPING LLC, Darren Collin, 600 Michigan Lane Ct., Kaukauna 54130. TUNDRA STONE PRODUCTS LLC, Jacob Scott Le Noble, N4035 McHugh Road, Kaukauna 54130. SEYMOUR WOMEN’S INSTITUTE OF SUPER HOOPS INC., Andrea L. Havlovitz, 135 Remington Dr., Seymour 54165. PALTZER HOLSTEINS OF SEYMOUR LLC, Joe Paltzer, N6234 County Road C, Seymour 54165. VAN EPEREN AUCTIONS LLC, Leslie G. Van Eperen, W3448 Cicero Road, Seymour 54165. HAIR GRAPHICS SALON LLC, Mellisa Allgeyer, 118 S. Main St., Seymour 54165. MY HARVEST STORE LLC, Catherine Jeanne Hickok, 847 Northwood Dr., Seymour 54165.

Services for Business & Industry

Customized. Innovative. Solutions.

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

Winnebago County

NEWMAN ACCOUNTING AND TAX LLC, Gregory A. Newman, 624 1st St., Menasha 54952. IDEAL INSURANCE AGENCY LLC, Francisco J. Gracia, 1016 London St., Menasha 54952. SANDOZ LAW LLC, Patricia Janka Sandoz, N8357 North Shore Road, Menasha 54952. TEAM FAR SUPERIOR TRANSPORT LLC, Dean Edward Sword, 918 Betty Ave., Neenah 54956. KREUSCHER ANESTHESIA LLC, Jodi L. Kreuscher, 3639 Forest Heights Lane, Neenah 54956. CD INSULATION LLC, Christopher D. Donner, 1650 Margeo Dr., Neenah 54956. LIGHTHOUSE AUTOS INC., Luke Dennison, 1621 Meadowbreeze, Neenah 54956. SMART AUTO PARTS LLC, Trudy S. David, 691 S. Green Bay Road, #167, Neenah 54956. DOGGY DAY SPA LLC, Jennifer L. Nelson, 129 W. Wisconsin Ave., Neenah 54956. FOX CROSSING FARMS LLC, Sara M. Heeney, 1470 Jacobsen Road, Neenah 54956. M-FAB AND WELDING LLC, Marshall Richard Maas, 760 Oak St., Neenah 54956. SCHRAUTH TRUCKING LLC, Allen J. Schrauth, 2877 Scenic Dr., Oshkosh 54904. HALLQUIST DENTAL LLC, Thomas O. Hallquist, 2163 W. 9th Ave., Oshkosh 54904.

www.newnorthb2b.com

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

NNB2B | March 2017 | 41

Who’s News AFFORDABLE AUDIOLOGY & HEARING SERVICE LLC, Jared Drummond, 1081 S. Washburn St., Oshkosh 54904. OSHKOSH MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY CENTER LLC, Amanda Clare Anderson, 1641 S. Main St., Oshkosh 54902. INFINITY INSPIRED PHOTOGRAPHY LLC, Karissa Lynn Dahnke, 719 Grove St., Oshkosh 54901. TOAD’S MAINTENANCE LLC, Todd Sucharda, 1348 Kewaunee St., Oshkosh 54904. COMMUNITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS LLC, Miguel Victor Cruz, Jr., 448 N. Main St., Oshksoh 54901. TUNDRA DRONE SERVICES LLC, Wayne Ludkey, 8574 Herbst Road, Winneconne 54986.

Building permits

B2B includes a monthly list of building permits (not to include residential projects) in excess of $400,000. QUARTZ RIGHT, 80 E. Larsen Dr., Fond du Lac. $631,000 for a warehouse distribution facility and offices. General contractor is Utschig Inc. of Greenville. January 3. ASH INVESTORS, 2325 Holmgren Way, Ashwaubenon. $975,000 for a 10,397-sq. ft. addition to the existing multi-tenant commercial retail building. General contractor is Rodac Development & Construction of Hobart. January 10. UNISON CREDIT UNION, 750 W. Evergreen Dr., town of Grand Chute. $1,123,873 for a 4,800-sq. ft. financial office building. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. January 11. EAST CAPITOL REALTY, 1520 S. Koeller St., Oshkosh. $600,000 for a new white box retail building. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. January 18. ARBY’S RESTAURANT, 2645 Monroe Road, Bellevue. $800,000 for a new restaurant building. Contractor is Total Project Management of Green Bay. January 23. POMP’S TIRE, 3131 Main St., Bellevue. $1,300,000 for an addition to the existing warehouse distribution facility. General contractor is Heyrman Construction of Ashwaubenon. January 25. OCEAN FRONT PROPERTIES, 2211 Westowne Ave., Oshkosh. $476,850 for a multi-tenant commercial building including a jewelry store. General contractor is R.J. Albright Inc. of Oshkosh. January 30.

Andy Wallace VP - Commercial Banking awallace@fnbfoxvalley.com Office: 920.903.1353

Contact Andy for all your Business Banking needs!

New locations INNER SUN YOGA STUDIO moved to new studios at 711 Oregon St. in Oshkosh.

Name changes Stone Cellar Brew Pub in Appleton changed its name to STONE ARCH BREW PUB. Eagle Supply & Plastics, Inc. of Appleton changed its name to EAGLE PERFORMANCE PLASTICS, INC. Ownership and management remains the same. CEREBRAL PALSY OF MIDEAST WISCONSIN changed its name to COVEY. The organization’s new web address is covey.org. The organization also moved to new offices at 1930 Algoma Blvd. in Oshkosh.

FNBFOXVALLEY.COM 42 | March 2017 | NNB2B

www.newnorthb2b.com

Safo

Adeniji

Jackson

Vasquez

Mergers/Acquisitions

Koglin

Rose

patients at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay. HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF THE FOX CITIES hired Shelly Van Skyhawk as its membership and workforce development manager and Stacie Hazlett as administrative assistant.

QUICK TRANSPORT LLC of De Pere purchased MW Trucking, Inc. of Kaukauna and will move its operations to the Kaukauna facility at 1900 Tower Dr. The newly combined operation has 17 drivers. All employees, including owners from both companies, remain with Quick Transport.

ELEMENT in De Pere hired Amanda Jackson as a web developer.

New hires

PFEFFERLE COMPANIES, INC. in Appleton hired Manny Vasquez as vice president of business development. Vasquez most recently served as vice president of the Fox Cities Regional Partnership.

The SEXUAL ASSAULT CRISIS CENTER in Appleton hired Amy Flanders as its executive director. Flanders has held positions such as chief development officer, director of grants and development, and manager of strategic planning for other nonprofit organizations.

Neenah-based McMAHON hired Tom Monteverde as a structural engineer. He previously worked as a project manager for a construction company. FAITH TECHNOLOGIES in Menasha hired Renee Torzala as community relations manager. She previously served as director of community partnerships at Appleton Downtown, Inc.

PREVEA added dermatologist Patrick Safo and gastroenterologist Olaitan Adeniji. Dr. Safo sees patients at Prevea Ashwaubenon Health Center while Dr. Adeniji sees

KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES SAFE... AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE,SOUND. Safety isn’t just a slogan – it’s a way of life. And it’s one worth embracing if your bottom line matters. Worker injury and death cost business $140 billion each year – impacting their livelihood alongside employees’ well-being. Prevea WorkMed occupational health services put safety first. Certified occupational health nurses and other providers address employee injury and illness. But we lead with a focus on workplace safety and prevention, getting to know your company’s dynamic and becoming an extension of your team. The result is employees who can work smarter and faster on what matters to you: the business at hand.

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www.newnorthb2b.com

NNB2B | March 2017 | 43

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s News

Bahn

Foote

Haglund

WEIDERT GROUP in Appleton hired the following new employees: Lucie Hennetier as an inbound marketing assistant; Justin Harrison as website development manager; Stacy Bouchard as an inbound marketing consultant; Katelyn Fogle and Amanda Retzki as inbound marketing project managers; and Tammy Borden as a content manager for client programs. PERFORMA ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS of De Pere hired Adam Rohde as a mechanical engineer and Matt Van Lanen as project architect. WATER-RIGHT GROUP of Appleton hired Erik Koglin as field manager for its Clear Choice Water Group. Koglin has spent his career within the water industry, previously working for Pentair in product management and as a territory sales manager for the Midwest. 44Ë&#x161; NORTH ADVERTISING & DESIGN of Oshkosh hired Tara Rose as account representative. Most recently, she was employed with Forward Service Corp. She previously worked at Nintendo of America in video game development and cinematography.

Promotions BLC COMMUNITY BANK in Little Chute promoted Steve Tramp to president. Tramp joined BLC Bank in March 2016 as executive vice president and chief lending officer. He has 30 years of commercial banking experience, having worked the previous 18 years in the Fox Valley for M&I Bank and Associated Bank. INVESTORS COMMUNITY BANK in Appleton, Green Bay and Manitowoc promoted the following employees: Nicole Bahn to vice president - senior special assets officer; Jennifer Foote to vice president - loan operations manager; Katelin Haglund to assistant vice president - ag credit manager; Carol Ladish to assistant vice president - human resources manager; Brooke Sprang to assistant vice president - human resources manager; Curtis Gerrits to assistant vice president - ag banking officer; Robert Seal to assistant vice president - business banking officer; and Sarah Peterson to business credit manager. Fond du Lac-based NATIONAL EXCHANGE BANK & TRUST promoted the following employees: Courtney Jahn to enterprise risk manager and chief information

Jahn

44 | March 2017 | NNB2B

DeVries

Schill

Ladish

Sprang

Peterson

security officer; Wally Devries to assistant vice president - credit; Mollie Schill to assistant vice president - regional operations leader; Peggy Zickert to assistant vice president - regional operations leader; Deanna Respalje to loan operations officer; and Tim Van Pelt to senior vice president in the trust department.

Elections/Appointments Scott Teerlinck, president of Werner Electric Supply of Appleton, has been named to the board of directors of NEW NORTH, INC. Elizabeth Slade, incubator program manager for the Advance Business & Manufacturing Center and Brown County Culinary Kitchen in Green Bay, was elected president of the board of directors for WISCONSIN BUSINESS INNOVATION ASSOCIATION. WISCONSIN MANUFACTURERS & COMMERCE elected Karl A. Schmidt, President and CEO of Belmark Inc. in De Pere, and James J. Ostrom, President and CEO of Milk Source LLC in Kaukauna, to its 53-member board of directors.

Business Calendar

New North B2B encourages businesses and organizations looking to attract interested persons to upcoming events to email sean@newnorthb2b.com. MARCH 1 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at AMC of Wisconsin, 98 Halbach Ct. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com. MARCH 7 Greater Green Bay Chamber Power Networking Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber offices, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information, call 920.437.8704 or email members@titletown.org.

Zickert

Respalje

Van Pelt

www.newnorthb2b.com

MARCH 8 Women in Management – Fond du Lac chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Holiday Inn, 625 W. Rolling Meadows Dr. in Fond du Lac. For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org or contact Vicki at 920.929.8271 or vicki.woschnick@usbank.com. MARCH 9 A.M. Oshkosh, a morning networking event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:45 to 9 a.m. at WG&R Furniture, 1600 S. Koeller St. in Oshkosh. Cost to attend is $2. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com. MARCH 9 Wage & Hour Compliance, a seminar presented by the Greater Green Bay Chamber, 8 to 11 a.m. at the chamber offices, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. Cost to attend is $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. To register or for more information, call 920.437.8704 or go online to www.titletown.org. MARCH 9 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m. at Investors Community Bank, 5643 Waterford Lane in Appleton. No cost to attend for members. For more information, go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com or call 920.766.1616. MARCH 9 “Transforming your Playbook for Change,” the 2017 Real Estate Forum presented by Schenck, 3 to 5 p.m. at Bridgewood Resort Hotel & Conference Center, 1000 Cameron Way in Neenah. Presented by Ed Policy, vice president and general counsel of the Green Bay Packers, and Peter Feigin, president of the Milwaukee Bucks. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, go online to schencksc.com/events or contact Lindsey at 920.996.1266. MARCH 9 Women in Management – Oshkosh chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Sure’s Hall & Banquets, 3125 S. Washburn St. in Oshkosh. For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org or contact Vicki at 920.929.8271 or vicki.woschnick@usbank.com.

MARCH 14 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Connection Breakfast, 8 to 9 a.m. at the chamber building, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com. MARCH 16 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Card Exchange, 8 to 9 a.m. at Building Service Inc., 2920 N. Ballard Road in Appleton. No cost for members to attend. For more information or to register, go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com or contact Jamie at jamie@heartofthevalleychamber.com. MARCH 21 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Business Connection, 5 to 7 p.m. at Jackson Kahl Insurance, 17 N. Pioneer Road in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com. MARCH 21 “Values and Culture in the Family Business: A Kwik Trip Case Study,” a program from Wisconsin Family Business Forum, 7:30 to 10 a.m. at Bridgewood Resort Hotel & Conference Center, 1000 Cameron Way in Neenah. For more information or to register, go online to wfbf.uwosh.edu. MARCH 23 “The Inter-relationship Between Protected Employment Categories and Employee Severance,” a Breakfast Briefing event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the law offices of von Briesen & Roper, 2905 Universal St. in Oshkosh. Presenters are Jim Macy and Bill Bracken of von Briesen & Roper, s.c. No cost to attend, but registration is appreciated by going online to vonbriesen.com. APRIL 4 Christian Values for Business Excellence in Leadership seminar and luncheon featuring Steve Adams, 11:15 to 1 p.m. at Oshkosh Convention Center, 2 N. Main St. in Oshkosh. To register or for more information, go online to www.eilgroup.org. APRIL 4 Greater Green Bay Chamber Power Networking Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber offices, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information, call 920.437.8704 or email members@titletown.org.n

Thank you

to the advertisers who made the March 2017 issue of New North B2B possible. AEGIS Financial ⎮aegisfinancialplanners.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Appleton International Airport ⎮atwairport.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Bank First National ⎮bankfirstnational.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Bayland Buildings ⎮baylandbuildings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Borsche Roofing Professionals ⎮wiroofer.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Caliber Law ⎮caliberlaw.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Candeo Creative ⎮candeocreative.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Consolidated Construction Company ⎮1call2build.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CR Structures Group ⎮crstructures.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Dynamic Designs ⎮dynamicdesignspulaski.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 First National Bank ~ Fox Valley ⎮fnbfoxvalley.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Fox Communities Credit Union ⎮foxcu.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Fox Valley Savings Bank ⎮fvsbank.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Fox Valley Technical College ⎮fvtc.edu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Frontier Builders & Consultants ⎮FrontierBuilds.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Guident Business Solutions ⎮guidentbusinesssolutions.com. . . . . . . 24 Investors Community Bank ⎮investorscommunitybank.com. . . . . . . . 30 www.newnorthb2b.com

J. F. Ahern ⎮jfahern.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Kaldas Center for Fertility, Surgery & Pregnancy, S.C. ⎮ kaldascenter.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Keller Inc. ⎮kellerbuilds.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Millennium Construction Inc. ⎮millenniumconstructionwi.com. . . . . . 19 Miron Construction ⎮miron-construction.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 National Exchange Bank & Trust ⎮nebat.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Network Health ⎮networkhealth.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 NEW Building & Construction Trades Council ⎮newbt.org. . . . . . . . . . 11 NWTC Corporate Training & Economic Development ⎮ corporatetraining.nwtc.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Prevea LeadWell ⎮prevea.com/leadwell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 St. Norbert College MBA program ⎮snc.edu/mba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy ⎮strangpatteson.com. . . . . 46 Suttner Accounting ⎮suttnercpa.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 University of Wisconsin Oshkosh ⎮uwosh.edu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

NNB2B | March 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.

FEBRUARY 19. . . . . . . FEBRUARY 12. . . . . . . FEBRUARY 5. . . . . . . . JANUARY 29. . . . . . . . FEBRUARY 19, 2016. .

$2.17 $2.15 $2.15 $2.21 $1.64

JANUARY

$472.1 BILLION 0.4% from December 5.6% from January 2016

Source: New North B2B observations

EXISTING HOME SALES

U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

JANUARY

HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE BROWN County .................154.......................$168,950 FOND du LAC County .........62 ......................$140,500 OUTAGAMIE County .........138 ......................$154,250 WINNEBAGO County ........103 ......................$132,500 WI DEPT. REVENUE COLLECTIONS

DECEMBER FY 2017

$1.487 BILLION 8.0% from December FY 2016

WE MEAN

BUSINESS

(2012 = 100)

JANUARY

104.6

0.3% from December Unch. from January 2016 AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC (Local enplanements) JAN 2017 JAN 2016 Appleton Int’l ATW.......................... N/A..........21,028 Austin Straubel GRB..................... 20,331 .........20,159

LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT DECEMBER NOV DEC ‘15 APPLETON ........3.4% ...... 3.4% ........ 3.6% FOND du LAC ....3.1% .......3.1% ........ 3.9% GREEN BAY........3.7% .......3.7% ........ 4.2% NEENAH .............3.4% ...... 3.2%......... 3.5% OSHKOSH ..........3.3% .......3.5% ........ 3.9% WISCONSIN .......3.7% .......3.6% ........ 4.2%

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

FEBRUARY....................$0.491 JANUARY..................... $0.558 FEBRUARY 2016.......... $0.445 Source: Wisconsin Public Service

ISM INDEX Numbers above 50 mean expansion. Numbers below 50 mean contraction. JANUARY . . . . . . . . . 56.0 DECEMBER. . . . . . . . 54.5

Focused on Management Employers often need a strong advocate. It’s why we’ve built a law firm that specializes in working on your behalf: Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy. With management-side labor and employment expertise, we provide exceptional legal services to private and public sector employers. In addition, we provide business law representation, including real estate law, general business and creditor’s rights. We make it our business to look after yours.

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46 | March 2017 | NNB2B

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