November 2012

Intelligent Business Reporting for The New North

Smart

giving

Even the smallest businesses can manage their charitable donations effectively

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Business & Industry Awards

Marian University insert

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new north b2b November 2012

10 20

Features

30

10 GOVERNMENT ❘ Capitol Campaign ❘ Candidates for the 6th and 8th Congressional Districts

20 COVER STORY ❘ Smart Giving ❘ Tips to help businesses manage their charitable donations effectively

25 BUSINESS & INDUSTRY ❘ Marian University ❘ Special supplement recognizing Marian’s 31st Annual B&I Awards

30 RETAIL ❘ Wedding City ❘ Group effort to create a wedding industry cluster earns Kaukauna a new name

34 FIREFIGHTERS ❘ Extinguishing the Blaze ❘ The final wrap up to our 2nd Annual Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin

Departments

5,

On our Cover

4 From the Publisher 40 Professionally Speaking 6 Since We Last Met 12 Build Up Pages 18 Around the Boardroom 19 Pierce Stronglove 39 Guest Commentary 42 Who’s News 48 Business Calendar 49 Advertiser Index 50 Key Statistics

Charitable organizations appreciate money falling from the sky, but the fact of the matter is most need assistance from the philanthropy of local businesses.

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 3

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A report that shouldn’t collect dust

Be Bold report recommendations aim to close the skills gap before it widens further

Sean Fitzgerald New North B2B Publisher

As the economy teeters back from the brink of recession over the past two years, perhaps the greatest challenge to resurgence is the inability of companies to fill gaps in their workforce, particularly among those employment openings requiring technical skills.

We’ve all heard quite a bit on the subject of “skills gaps” during the past year, and here’s your fair warning that B2B intends to provide even more workforce development coverage in the year ahead. Coupled with an impending worker shortage in northeast Wisconsin over the next 10 years, workforce development is perhaps the most important component to future economic success.

Recognizing these economic super cells developing in the distance a year ago, Competitive Wisconsin Inc. set out to quantify workforce shortages across the state and develop a plan of action to proactively meet the needs of employers before alarms sound later this decade. The organization’s report – Be Bold 2: Growing Wisconsin’s Talent Pool – was released in early October, and job creators in the New North and beyond can expect to hear more about its recommendations in coming months.

Those minding attention to politics and business in Wisconsin will recall a number of workforce initiatives that have been presented statewide over the course of the past 10 to 15 years. Many of these ultimately were feel-good endeavors justifying bureaucrats’ salaries while being developed, only to collect dust on bookshelves in the years following their supposed implementation.

That’s unlikely to be the case with the recent Be Bold 2 report.

To its credit, Competitive Wisconsin – the same organization which tallies the annual benchmarks of the state’s key economic, social and quality of life measurements each year – has a track record as one of the few think tanks in the state to put policy into action. Its recommendations garner the respect of government and business leaders from a broad range of political views, and its influence is evident in the current structure of economic development programs and job creation incentives in Wisconsin.

The 72-page report indicates one in 10 jobs in industries critical to Wisconsin’s economy isn’t being filled. These six industries – agricultural and food manufacturing;

4 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

finance, insurance and real estate; health care; manufacturing; transportation; and water management and research – currently account for more than half of the state’s gross domestic product. The report indicates that without any change of course over the next decade, these industries will be looking for 60,000 more skilled workers than will be available.

“Unless we act now, over the next decade, Wisconsin will be confronting major shortages in skill clusters essential to staffing the state’s major industries,” the report warns.

Similar to its initial Be Bold report, the not-for-profit Competitive Wisconsin recommended a handful of changes to the manner in which workforce development is perceived and carried out in the state.

The first, an overhaul of the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment and the Governor’s Council on Workforce and College Readiness, suggests providing the retooled council with a $100 million budget to assist all stakeholders across the state to respond to supply and demand changes in critical job skills.

Among other recommendations, the group called for developing “the most comprehensive, real-time workforce/talent data warehouse in the nation,” which is no short order. But Wisconsin has a proud history as a national and global leader in a variety of worker paradigms, and such a workforce information bank is achievable as well. It’s a step toward proactive workforce development, a critical characteristic for the state’s economy to remain vibrant moving forward.

“After nearly two centuries of thinking about workers and workforce development in reactive terms, the demands of this new age are forcing us to recommend a proactive talent strategy,” the report reads.

Competitive Wisconsin is planning a series of summits around the state to share the report and open a dialogue with business, government and education leaders, beginning with the first later this month in Waukesha. The group indicated an event will be held in the Fox Valley in early 2013, though it didn’t have a date set by the time New North B2B went to press.

To access the report in full, go online to www.competitivewi.com and click on “Executive Briefings” at the top of the page to find a PDF of the report.

www.newnorthb2b.com

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

Election time rules for employers

by Davis & Kuelthau, s.c.

Tony Renning

920.232.4842

If you have a particular labor/employment law question, forward it to Mr. Renning at info@newnorthb2b.com.

If he responds to your email in a future issue, your name and company will be withheld to preserve your privacy.

Reader Question: Our normal work schedule coincides with the time the polls are open. Accordingly, a number of employees have inquired as to whether they may be absent from work in order to vote.

Tony Renning: It’s almost November and that means election time. Employers should recognize that employees have civic responsibilities and/or rights, including the right to vote, to be an active member of the political party of their choice, and to campaign for candidates for election to public office.

First, any person entitled to vote is entitled to be absent from work in order to vote while the polls are open for a period not to exceed three (3) successive hours.

Section 6.76, Wis. Stats. The employee must notify the employer before election day of his/her intended absence. The employer may designate the time of day for the absence. No penalty, other than a deduction for time lost (i.e., the employee is

Sean Fitzgerald

Publisher & President

sean@newnorthb2b.com

Carrie Rule

Sales Manager

carrie@newnorthb2b.com

Kate Erbach Production

Contributing writers

Robin Driessen Bruecker Lee Marie Reinsch Chief Financial Officer

Vicky Fitzgerald, CPA

not entitled to be paid for the duration of the absence), may be imposed upon an employee by reason of his/her absence to vote.

Second, employers should establish policies pertaining to political activities at work. Specifically, employers should consider adopting policies proscribing certain political activities at work. For example: • Active political campaigning by employees must be conducted outside of normal work hours and off of the employer’s premises.

• No employee may solicit subscriptions or contributions for any political purpose during normal work hours or while on the employer’s premises.

• No employee may use the employer’s property, materials, supplies or equipment in connection with any political purpose.

Should an employer adopt policies proscribing certain political activities by employees, the employer should be sure to

NEW NORTH B2B is published monthly

by WINNEBAGO B2B LLC for $20 per year or $3.95 for a single issue. A single complimentary subscription is offered to all members of the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce.

Printed by Digicorporation, 120 Lake St., Neenah, WI 54956 POSTMASTER: send address changes to: WINNEBAGO B2B LLC 923 S. Main St., Oshkosh, WI 54902.

Bulk-rate postage paid at Oshkosh, 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 2012.

Contact us: P.O. Box 559, Oshkosh, WI 54903-0559 • 920.237.0254 www.newnorthb2b.com

communicate the policies to the employees, including the potential consequences for violating the policies. Additionally, the employer should be sure to enforce the policies uniformly.

For counsel concerning these and other unique employment issues, contact Tony Renning at (920) 232-4842 or email trenning@dkattorneys.com or any other member of the Davis & Kuelthau Labor and Employment Team.

Tony Renning is an attorney in the Oshkosh office of Davis & Kuelthau, s.c.

(219 Washington Avenue). Mr. Renning provides counsel to private and public sector employers on a wide variety of labor and employment law matters. This article is intended to provide information only, not legal advice. For advice regarding a particular employment situation, please contact a member of the Davis & Kuelthau, s.c. Labor and Employment Team.

Green Bay

Fox Cities

Oshkosh

Fond du Lac NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 5

SINCE WE LAST MET

Since we last met Since We Last Met is a digest of business related news occurring in the Green Bay, Fox Cities, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac areas in the one month since the previous issue of New North B2B.

September 21

October 1

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded grants to the following local agencies to hire specialists to connect public and assisted housing residents with education and job training services: Appleton Housing Authority, one position for $49,600; Brown County Housing Authority, three positions for $135,462; and Winnebago County Housing Authority, one position for $69,000.

September 24

The Green Bay School District Board of Education approved a $237.8 million budget for 2012-13, an increase of less than 1 percent from last year. The budget kept the tax levy steady at $81 million by trimming down an anticipated $9 million shortfall through increasing some employees’ contributions toward their benefits, wage freezes, and eliminating about 30 nonteaching positions.

October 1

Wells Vehicle Electronics in Fond du Lac began construction on a two-story, 64,000-sq. ft. corporate headquarters in the Rolling Meadows Industrial Park, which will include engineering and test labs and an automotive tech garage for product development. The developer and manufacturer of vehicle electronics also announced plans to create 73 jobs during the next three years.

September 25 The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reopened the intersection of State Highway 55 and State 114 north of Sherwood in Calumet County following a more than fourmonth, $2 million project to construct a roundabout on the crossing.

September 27

Wisconsin Public Service Corp. announced plans to acquire the 593-megawatt Fox Energy Center near Wrightstown for $440 million. The natural gas-fueled electrical generation facility is owned by GE and Tyr Energy Inc. WPS has been a wholesale customer of the power plant since it went online in 2005.

The purchase is expected to close next April.

October 2 City of Green Bay officials hired a consultant to study the feasibility of combining its police and fire chief positions into one public safety administrator who would manage both departments, potentially saving money and improving efficiency. The top post in both departments is currently vacant. Results of the $5,000 study are expected to be available in early November.

October 4

Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau received a $9,000 Joint Effort Marketing grant from the state Department of Tourism to continue its “Wisconsin’s Event City” marketing campaign for a third year. The initiative had already received $86,390 in JEM grants to research, develop and market the brand in its first two years.

Children’s Museum of Fond du Lac announced plans to move into the former Pick’n Save grocery store on West Scott Street next spring, increasing its space from 4,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet. The 5-year-old museum has been housed downtown in Windhover Center since it was founded, and the Windhover is currently undergoing its own expansion. The decision on where to move came after a four-month facility and fea-

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SINCE WE LAST MET sibility study, and will allow the museum to offer a greater number and larger exhibits funded through a $2 million capital campaign.

October 5 The U.S. Department of Labor reported 114,000 jobs were created in September, dropping the national unemployment rate to 7.8 percent. Employment increased in health care and in transportation and warehousing.

October 9 The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin reached a rate-freeze settlement with Wisconsin Public Service Corp. that could maintain retail electric rates at 2012 levels through 2013, and possibly decrease 2013 retail natural gas distribution rates. The settlement was reached after the gas and electrical utility initially asked the state regulatory agency for a 9 percent increase in electric rates for 2013, but a PSC audit of the request resulted in a much lower recommendation.

2003 November 12 - Wisconsin enacted a law making its Technology Zone Tax Credit Program accessible to limited liability companies. The law will allow technology companies in the start-up phase to compete equally for over $35 million in tax credits

2005 November 2 - Bemis Company officials announced the corporate headquarters would move from Minneapolis to Neenah to be closer to the 12 plants and nearly 3,400 employees based in the area.

2010 November 30 - The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region provided $650,000 in bridge grants to 31 charitable organizations in the greater Fox valley hurt by the challenging economy.

2011 November 1 - The Wisconsin Department of Justice reported more than 120,000 people downloaded concealed carry permit applications on the first day that the state’s new law took effect allowing citizens to carry hidden weapons.

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SINCE WE LAST MET October 10 Officials from Ministry Health Care announced plans for a $108 million improvement project at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton which includes construction of a five-story, 90-bed tower; renovations to the cancer center; renovations to the adolescent behavioral health unit; demolition of the west part of the hospital built in 1924; new entrances to the women and families center and surgical procedure area; upgrades to the central utility plant; and new diagnostic and operative equipment. The projects are expected to be complete by January 2015.

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Noted activist investor and prominent Oshkosh Corp. shareholder Carl Icahn submitted an unsolicited bid to acquire all outstanding stock of the specialty truck manufacturer for $32.50 per share in cash. Icahn owns just shy of 10 percent of the company, and has been positioning to gain control as a majority shareholder. Industry analysts had suggested the value of Oshkosh shares is closer to $40 than to $30 per share.

October 16 The City of Green Bay Common Council revoked the permit it issued to Oneida Seven Generations Corp. in early 2011 to construct a 60,000-sq. ft. trash-to-energy power plant near the shore of the bay, citing concerns they were previously misled about the plant’s air emissions and potential public health hazards. The pyloric gasification plant was expected to greatly reduce the amount of trash going into the Brown County landfill, create a number of jobs, and generate enough electricity to power more than 3,000 residences. Mayor Jim Schmitt was reportedly considering a veto of the council’s permit revocation.

October 17 Associated Bank announced plans to close 12 of its branches in Wisconsin and Illinois, including locations on West College Avenue in Appleton, inside Festival Foods grocery store in Oshkosh and on Redbird Circle in the town of Ledgeview near De Pere. Bank officials indicated branch traffic has declined as more customers use ATMs and online banking.

October 18 Alta Resources in Neenah was deemed eligible for $1 million in tax credits through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to aid its expansion of more than 400 additional jobs by the end of 2013. The contract customer service provider is investing more than $2.5 million to equip its Neenah facilities for this growth. The tax credits will be distributed annually based on the number of jobs Alta retains over a five-year period.

October 22 Virginia-based Dominion, which owns the 556-megawatt Kewaunee nuclear power facility along the shore of Lake Michigan, announced plans to close and decommission the electrical generating plant beginning in the second quarter 2013. The company has been seeking a buyer for the facility since April. Dominion officials said the company plans to meet its obligations to the two utilities that purchased the plant’s electricity generation through market purchases until the power purchase agreements expire in December 2013. www.newnorthb2b.com

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GOVERNMENT

The following represents positions on key business issues from candidates in Wisconsin’s Sixth Congressional District race.

The following positions detailed below were taken from each candidate’s campaign Web site and edited for length.

Tom Petri – Republican (incumbent – 17 terms)

Economy H Opposes a value-added tax to reduce the federal deficit.

H Supports lower tax rates for capital gains and dividend income.

H Supports extending 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

H Supports strengthening the earned income tax credit.

H Opposed the 2009 federal economic stimulus package.

H Supported extending the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program.

H Supported trade agreements for agricultural exports.

Health care H Opposed the Affordable Care Act and voted for its repeal.

H Supports reforming the medical liability system.

H Supports importing lower-cost prescription drugs.

H Supports reauthorizing and reforming the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Joe Kallas – Democrat Economy H Supports taxing imports coming into the United States.

H Opposes “right to work” legislation.

Health care H Supports universal health care insurance.

H Supports developing a not-for-profit health care system.

Energy

Energy

H Opposes drilling in the Great Lakes and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

H Supported reducing the number of “boutique” fuels in Wisconsin.

H Supports tax credits for installing solar panels on residences.

H Opposes the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

www.petripeople.com

www.kallas4congress.com

10 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

www.newnorthb2b.com

GOVERNMENT

The following represents positions on key business issues from candidates in Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District race.

The following positions detailed below were taken from each candidate’s campaign Web site and edited for length.

Reid Ribble – Republican (incumbent – 1 term)

Jamie Wall – Democrat

Economy

Economy

H Supports lowering the corporate tax rate to 25 percent.

H Supports lowering tax rates for companies with earnings overseas.

H Supports allowing families to transfer small businesses and farms to the next generation without double taxation.

H Supports trade agreements to eliminate restrictions on U.S. agricultural exports.

H Supports legislation to penalize China for illegally subsidized paper imports.

H Opposes the EPA’s proposed Boiler MACT regulations with concerns it would hurt Wisconsin’s paper industry.

H Supports continued funding for manufacturing extension partnerships.

H Supports regional job skill alliances.

H Supports extending the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program.

H Supports trade agreements for agricultural exports.

H Supports extending the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program.

Health care

H Supports measures for health care transparency.

H Opposes allowing insurers to drop or reject patients based on pre-existing conditions.

H Supports allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices from drug companies.

H Supports repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

Energy

Health care

H Supports approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Congressional reform H Supports term limits for members of Congress to no more than 12 years.

H Supports legislation to not pay members of Congress if a budget isn’t approved.

www.ribbleforcongress.com

Energy H Supports tax credits for private-sector investment in renewable sources of energy.

H Supports incentives to home owners and businesses to invest in energy efficiency.

H Supports consideration for nuclear power

generation. www.wallforcongress.com

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 11

BUILD UP FOND DU LAC 7

1&2

3

4&5

6

Build Up Fond du Lac 1 - 565 N. Douglas St., Ripon, Lamers Bus Lines, a 6,280sq. ft. bus garage, maintenance facility and office. Project completion expected in January 2013. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

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- 700 Stanton St., Ripon, C Alliance Laundry, a 20,000-sq. ft. addition for assembly, metal stamping and a press shop. Project completion expected in summer 2013.

3 - 545 & 600 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac, C Mercury Marine, an addition to the product development and engineering facility and separate additions to its manufacturing and fabrication plants. Project completion expected in late 2013.

4 - 1161 Industrial Pkwy., Fond du Lac, C Mid State Amusement Games, a new warehouse facility.

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5 - 385 W. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac,

C Wells Vehicle Electronics, a two-story, 64,000-sq. ft. headquarters and manufacturing facility.

6

- 123 E. Larsen Dr., Fond du Lac, McNeilus Steel, a 96,000-sq. ft. industrial coil processing facility. Project completion expected in August 2013. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

7

- 210 Kommers St., Mount Calvary, C Advanced Tooling Inc, a 10,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility.

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUILD UP OSHKOSH 8&9 10 11

12

13

C - Indicates a new listing

Build Up Oshkosh 8

- 5821 Green Valley Road, town of Vinland, Kwik Trip, a new convenience store and fuel station.

9 - 3555 Moser St., Oshkosh,

Pacur Inc., an addition to the warehouse of the existing industrial facility.

10 - 1820 Jackson St., Oshkosh, Cherry Berry Yogurt Bar, a new restaurant building.

11

- 1410 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, Paine Art Center & Arboretum, a 3,600-sq. ft. addition and remodel of the existing carriage house for a conservatory. Project completion expected in December.

12

- Pearl & Wisconsin avenues, Oshkosh, C University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Welcome and Conference Center, a 40,000-sq. ft. meeting facility. Project completion expected in December 2013.

13 - 1210 S. Koeller St., Oshkosh, Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Store, a new retail building. Project completion expected in spring 2013.

Projects completed since our October issue: • Holiday Mazda, 390 N. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac. • American Bank, 676 W. Johnson St., Fond du Lac.

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 13

BUILD UP FOX CITIES Build Up Fox Cities

5

The Build Up department of New North B2B includes a monthly twopage spread identifying significant commercial and industrial construction projects ongoing in the Fox Cities area.

C - Indicates a new listing

1 - 2693 W. Grand Chute Blvd., town of Grand Chute, Appleton Alliance Church, a 105,300-sq. ft. addition to the existing church campus.

2 - 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute,

Fox Valley Technical College Jones Dairy Farm Culinary Theatre, a 7,456-sq. ft., 120-seat theater for culinary demonstrations.

Project completion expected in December.

3 - 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute,

- W6390 Challenger Dr., town of Greenville, C Outagamie County Regional Airport, an 8,000-sq. ft. general aviation terminal building and a separate 12,000-sq. ft. hangar for general aviation use.

6 - 4648 W. Spencer St., town of Grand Chute, Pinnacle Cataract & Laser Institute, a 6,276-sq. ft. addition to the existing medical clinic. Project completion expected in December.

7 - 3641 W. College Ave., town of Grand Chute, C Panda Express Restaurant, a 2,448-sq. ft. restaurant building.

8 - 3040 Pointer Road, Appleton, C Valley Tool Inc., an addition to the existing industrial facility.

9 - 2307 E. Glendale Ave., Appleton, C Hoffman Printing Inc., an addition to the existing printing facility.

Fox Valley Technical College Health Simulation and Technology Center, a three-story, 60,000-sq. ft. health care and emergency medical services education and training facility.

10 - 1151 DeLanglade St., Kaukauna, Mid Valley Industries,

4

11

- 2400 N. Casaloma Dr., town of Grand Chute, Fox Cities Stadium, a second-story addition to the existing grandstands for a banquet facility, added luxury boxes as well as renovations to expand the team locker rooms and clubhouse shop. Project completion expected in April 2013.

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12 - N110 Brux Road, town of Buchanan, Wagner Family Chiropractic SC, a 3,100-sq. ft. chiropractic clinic and office.

13 - W3216 County Road KK, town of Buchanan, C Panda Express Restaurant, a new restaurant building.

14 - 3232 S. Oneida St., Appleton,

Kwik Trip, an addition to the existing convenience store to expand the kitchen. Project completion expected in November.

- 1205 Wittmann Dr., Menasha, Appanasha Pet Clinic, a new veterinary clinic facility. Project completion expected in late 2012.

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- N9650 Friendship Road, town of Harrison, Little Chicago Dining & Spirits, a 6,000-sq. ft. restaurant facility. Project completion expected in November. General contractor is Frontier Builders & Consultants of Kaukauna.

15

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a 28,255-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility.

16 - 1050 Zephyr Dr., town of Menasha, C St. Mary Central High School, a 22,000-sq. ft. fine arts education center to include a 495-seat auditorium. Project completion expected in April 2013.

17 - 2444 Schultz Dr., Neenah, Plexus Corp., a 473,369sq. ft. manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in fall of 2013.

Projects completed since our October issue: • Great Lakes Mechanical, N962 Tower View Dr., Greenville.

• Finishing Plus, 1009 Quality Dr., town of Greenville.

• Target, 4301 W. Wisconsin Ave., town of Grand Chute.

• G&G Machining, 1801 Progress Way, Kaukauna.

• Dunkin’ Donuts, W3208 County Road KK, town of Buchanan.

• AE Jewelers, 3545 E. Calumet St., Appleton.

• Flair Flexible Packaging, 2605 S. Lakeland Dr., Appleton.

• Festival Foods, 647 S. Green Bay Road, Neenah.

10/12/12 10:55 AM

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUILD UP FOX CITIES 10

1 8 4

6

2&3

9

7

5 13

12 11

14 15

16

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NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 15

BUILD UP GREEN BAY Build Up Green Bay C - Indicates a new listing

1 - 2564 Lineville Road, Suamico,

C Dorsch Auto Credit, a used auto dealership. Project completion expected in early 2013.

8 - 197 W. Meadow Dr., Hobart, Oneida Apostolic Church, an addition to the existing church for youth ministry classrooms.

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

- 2525 Lineville Road, Howard, Fox Communities Credit Union, a 4,452-sq. ft. financial institution building. Project completion expected in March 2013.

9 - 3383 Spirit Way, Ashwaubenon, FedEx Ground, a 100,000-sq. ft. distribution center and offices. Project completion expected in June 2013. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

3 - 1499 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay, Cabela’s, a 100,000sq. ft. retail store. Project completion expected in August 2013.

10

2

4 - 400 N. Washington St., Green Bay,

C Schreiber Foods Inc., a five-story, 250,000-sq. ft. corporate headquarters building.

Project completion expected in early 2014.

5 - 2851 University Ave., Green Bay, Milo C. Huempfner Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic, a new 192,000-sq. ft. outpatient clinic for veterans services. Project completion expected in April 2013.

6-

1100 S. Huron Road, Green Bay, Frontline Building Products and Green Bay Overhead Door, a 217,884-sq. ft. industrial facility to include offices and more than 200,000 square feet of warehousing space. Project completion expected in spring 2013. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

7 - 2970 Walker Dr., Green Bay, Little Rapids Corp., a 97,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in early 2013.

- 1537 American Ct., De Pere, Utech Consulting, a 4,500-sq. ft. office and training building. Project completion expected in December.

11 - 1745 E. Mathew Dr., De Pere,

De Pere Cabinet Inc., a

new warehouse facility.

12 - 2121 Innovation Ct., De Pere,

Foth & Van Dyke LLC, a 95,000-sq. ft. office building. Project completion expected in fall 2013.

13 - 2257 American Dr., De Pere,

Bayside Machine Corp., an addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in November.

14 - 1900 Enterprise Dr., De Pere, C C.A. Lawton Company, a 15,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing foundry facility to include a blast furnace and clean process equipment.

Projects completed since our October issue: • Amerilux International, 1212 Enterprise Dr., De Pere.

Take the first step toward a professional, quality built construction project...

Building Quality Communities Contact us or visit our Web site for a full listing of your local construction professionals.

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NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 17

AROUND THE BOARDROOM

4.9 The average health care premium rate increase for large employers in 2012, marking the lowest increase in health insurance premiums in six years. The average health insurance cost per employee registered at just under $10,800 for 2012.

Source: Aon Hewitt

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Economic Outlook 2013

Industry experts weigh in on the year to come

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Who wisely purchased BodyGuardz® device protection for his iPad before reviewing marketing communications that make coffee shoot out of his nose, causing him to crush their creators to dust under the full weight of his Birkenstocks.

The Client from Hell (Redux) Client #1-F: The budget is super-tight, but what a great way to add something fun and different to your portfolio.

Client #2-F: Your hourly rate is okay – but don’t put more than one hour into this job.

Client #3-F: We need to get moving on this right away, and I know you’re heading out on vacation, so you probably won’t be doing much anyway. Plus, we can just kick it back and forth stress-free by email. Just drink a lot of coffee and bang something out.

Client #4-F: We’re thrilled with your group’s past work for us. Now we want you to help us launch a new product line. We need branding, a high wow-factor PowerPoint presentation, website and blog, print materials and PR. All you have to do is convince my boss you guys are right for the job. Emphasize your multi-brand family experience, especially for Fortune 500 companies.

Agency: What’s your budget?

Client #4-F: As much as we’d love to offer you a Fortune 500 budget for this program, we’re doing this on a shoestring for now. But plum projects are down the road. First we need a grand slam before throwing money at it.

Agency: So… this is speculative work?

Client #4-F: Of course not! If you’re selected, you’ll be paid for everything, but probably not as much as you’ve come to expect from other clients.

Agency: If we’re selected?

Client #4-F: Yes. We’re considering two other agencies,

and creative work is an important part of our evaluation. Cost is another factor.

Agency: Oh. What’s your timeline?

Client #4-F: We need the completed branding and PowerPoint presentation for a key prospect by end of day tomorrow. Wait: I mean 2 p.m. tomorrow – just in case we need to tweak a few things. This prospect used to be our biggest customer until he took a new job with a different player in the same industry. It could win him back and really boost our sales.

Agency: That’s an ambitious deadline. Developing your branding and creative strategies alone really deserves more research and thought so future presentations are on target.

Client #4-F: We’re not in a position to develop strategies.

I’ll send you our current PowerPoint. We used it several times with prospects and it hasn’t helped us to get to the formal proposal stage once. Plus the boss hates it. If we can hit a home run tomorrow, you’ll be our go-to marketing team for even more work like this. Just pretty it up with the time you have. It’ll set the tone for the other projects I mentioned, plus future projects.

Agency: (cough) Client #4-F: Here’s your chance to show how your creative powerhouse can produce great work with very short notice – the third factor in our agency evaluation. Your price should reflect the few hours you have available to produce the finished work. The two other agencies already completed similar drills. Here’s your chance to show what you guys can do with similar constraints.

Agency: There’s no question our team would have to work on this through the night as well. Would you mind if we took a break to discuss this internally before moving ahead on this?

Client #4-F: I’m going to my kid’s soccer game in an hour.

If you guys aren’t up for it I’ll have to do this myself – and get started right away. So do you think you can get back to me in 15 minutes?

Agency: I think that’s all we’ll need.

Behind the façade of Mr. Stronglove is an advertising professional wielding strategic and conceptual stealth in all forms of media (except book jackets). Send comments (or crisp twenties) to piercestronglove@gmail.com. To submit work for review, it must be attached as a PDF in Adobe format with no other attachments.

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 19

COVER STORY

Smart

giving

Tips to help even the smallest businesses manage their charitable donations effectively

Story by Lee Marie Reinsch

20 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

www.newnorthb2b.com

COVER STORY If you own your own business, you know that besides death and taxes, you can rely on one certainty: Lots of causes asking you for money.

One minute you’ve got the local high school dance team imploring you to fund their trip to American Idol; the next minute, posters of a sick 2-year-old threaten to melt your icyhard willpower to resist. Groups pledging disaster relief for wildfires, tidal waves, trembling fault lines and hurricanes avalanche your inbox.

“We get tons of giving opportunities, and it’s hard to say no,” said Kurt Gruett, owner with his family of Water-Right Inc. in Appleton.

Eventually – after writing your 1,000th check, it dawns on you that you probably could have built a new wing on the hospital. At least then you would have had naming rights.

“You get to the end of a year or couple of years and you look back and say ‘Have we really made any kind of a statement of what our company stands for and the kind of support we are trying to provide on behalf of all the employees and ownership group of the company?’” said Curt Detjen, president and CEO of Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. “You want to be much more clear about defining the impact you are making.”

Organizing the chaos Many corporations, including Water-Right, have turned to community foundations to pack more punch into their charitable donations.

“We wanted to do it in a logical effort,” said Gruett of the water treatment system business. “We’re a family-owned company, and we wanted to give back to the community.”

Plus, handing over the duties of charitable giving to a community foundation simplifies life for the company.

“This way we can basically tell (solicitors) we have a foundation set up over at the Community Foundation and all of the

Giving Glossary: Endowment: A long-term perpetual investment type of approach to giving, in which the principal is invested, in much the same way as our 401(k) plans or IRAs are invested, and a small fraction (typically 5 percent) of the fund’s principal is given away each year. The principal continues to grow (ideally).

Acorn fund: A small fund that grows with contributions as little as $250 per year. The money is invested in conservative funds, usually overseen by a community foundation.

Community Foundation: An umbrella organization that oversees and manages multiple funds and trusts within a given community.

Charitable priorities: A group of causes identified by a donor as aligning with their values.

giving goes through them,” Gruett said.

“It takes a lot of the day-to-day stuff out of the equation, and we don’t have to decide from the hundreds of calls that we get here. We make our decision based on what feels right.”

Community foundations can handle paperwork and responding to requests as well as managing the fund.

“When requests come in that seem like they line up with your company’s priorities, (they are) forwarded on to your company’s giving committee,” which ultimately makes the decision as to whether to give or not, Detjen said.

Freedom from red tape Water-Right’s experience with the Community Foundation isn’t unusual, according to Tammy Williams, vice president of communications with the Grand Chute-based community foundation. Many others find similar relief from red-tape involved with giving.

The top four complaints Williams hears from the business community are that: • They’re overwhelmed with requests for donations; • They don’t want to say no; • They find it difficult to stick to their giving priorities; and •They can’t articulate those priorities.

A community foundation can help clarify those issues, she said.

“We’ll ask a number of questions to determine why the company is wanting to give back to the community, what values they’re trying to reflect in their giving,” as well as their pattern of giving in the past, Detjen said. “After having had that conversation, we can typically glean the top two or three major values or objectives the company has in focusing its charitable giving.”

Oshkosh Area Community Foundation Marketing Director Joy Wick said a few other reasons to work with a community foundation include: Research. “We do what’s termed due diligence for every grant that goes out,” Wick said.

Guidance. “We can help direct companies to local organizations or projects that fit their mission,” Wick said. “We provide tools to help them grow their fund and use their charitable dollars wisely.”

Expertise. “We invest their money smartly. We know charitable tax law inside and out. We know the most urgent community needs and opportunities. We handle all the paperwork to comply with tax laws,” Wick said.

Advocate. “We work with state and federal lawmakers to ensure donors get the maximum benefits of charitable giving,” Wick said. “We also work with local government to maximize the impact of community projects, and ultimately help our donors leave a meaningful legacy.”

Trimming hair, making dough The crew at A Cut Above Salon and Day Spa in Oshkosh just call it “The Bake Sale.”

But over the past quarter century, the small style house on Evans Street has set aside a nest egg for future giving, and along the way has garnered smiles from many recipients.

“One year we heard the fire department needed new defibrillators,” Kohlbeck said. “Another year it was heart monitors. We have run the gamut here, with everyone having their

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 21

COVER STORY favorite cause.”

It all started twenty-some years ago when a stylist’s nephew needed stomach surgery. The crew at A Cut Above decided to hold a bake sale.

“We had great success our first year,” Kohlbeck said. “It really turned out to be a very fun bonding experience for our staff and for our clients. Everyone got into it and enjoyed it.”

That little boy they helped is now grown and married, but every fall, the staff at A Cut Above brings in their signature goodies in the name of others who need assistance.

“People come and look forward to it,” Kohlbeck said of the bake sale event.

Regular clients even pre-order their favorites weeks in advance.

“People say ‘I want her German potato salad, and I want her mint bars or almond bark,’” she said.

When they learned about something called an acorn fund at the OACF, the team at A Cut Above decided to go for it. Every year they put part of their bake-sale earnings into their OACF acorn fund. The rest goes directly to its rotating charity.

From nut to sapling An acorn fund is built with small contributions over time, according to the OACF’s Wick. It’s called an acorn fund because it starts out small.

“Donors can start with an initial contribution of $1,000 and add as little as $250 per year,” Wick said.

The little acorn becomes fully endowed when it reaches

$10,000, at which point it can start making grants.

“It’s a way for donors from all economic backgrounds to make a significant and permanent contribution to their community,” Wick said.

“They get a tax deduction for each contribution to the fund, the fund is invested with our pool, which can boost its growth, and of course it’s permanent, so it will support your cause forever.”

The stylists at A Cut Above decided their legacy should live on long after them.

“We thought one day when we’re old and tired hairdressers, we could meet for breakfast every so often and decide where to direct our annual donation,” Kohlbeck said.

Well-endowed funding At the other end of the spectrum from an acorn fund are endowments. They’re usually linked with major estates or large companies, such as J. J. Keller, Gannett Corp. or Oshkosh Corp.

But you don’t have to be a big corporate player to start an endowment. Five years ago, Kimberly-based Capital Credit Union launched its half-million-dollar endowment after receiving over $430,000 from a legal settlement involving contaminated wells, according to Williams.

An endowment is a “long-term perpetual investment” whose purpose is to grow while giving away a portion of its earnings.

It’s invested just like a 401(k), with the long-term strategy of earning a return sufficient to pay out about 5 percent of the fund’s value, plus cover inflation and any administrative fees

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COVER STORY involved in managing it, according to Detjen.

Contributions rising again Giving has risen pretty much across the board since the start of the recession four years ago, according to Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.

“We saw a drop in 2008-2009 but now it’s up,” ConnollyKeesler said. “People are stepping up.”

She said it could be because of signs the economy is improving.

“The market has done pretty decently in the last couple of years from where it was in 2008, and people are feeling more secure about where they are,” she said.

It could also be that those who are better off are recognizing the increased need in the community, she said, with many people out of work.

It’s impossible to make sweeping generalities about individual companies, she said. Every industry is different and thus every foundation and every fund sees different results.

Lessons handed down from generations Jason Lasky of Oshkosh is part of the third generation in the metal recycling company, Sadoff & Rudoy Industries of Fond du Lac. Returning to the area after attending college in Denver, he had an epiphany.

“When I came back to Oshkosh, I said if I don’t get involved – whether supporting positive improvements for the city or serving on a board involved in decision-making – I don’t have the right to complain,” said Lasky, vice president of corporate shared services for the company his grandfather E.H. Rudoy founded. “I’ve got to get involved and try to make a difference.”

His grandfather taught his family the importance of giving back.

“The community is why we exist. It’s where our employees come from, it’s where our business comes from, it’s where the supply of our materials come from,” Lasky said.

Once during a bad economic time, his grandfather actually borrowed money in order to continue his charitable giving, Lasky said.

Sadoff & Rudoy has a more free-form approach to giving, although Lasky and his family members all have personal foundations established at Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.

“There’s no really set way of going about it,” he said. “We got together and discussed the needs of the community and what’s going on.”

One reason the company doesn’t have a formal corporate foundation is that philanthropic giving varies year to year, based on business performance.

“When you don’t know how much money you’re going to have in the pot each year, it’s difficult to make capital decisions,” Lasky said.

A few years ago at the recession’s height, Sadoff & Rudoy had to adjust a grant it committed to the Fond du Lac YMCA. “We had to call and say ‘We owe you this money, but we are going to take another year to pay you,’” Lasky said. “There are times when we’ll defer if we have to, and we always make it up. We’ve been in that situation, and it’s not fun to be in that situation.”

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Grow Your Business Through International Trade The Northeast Wisconsin International Business Network (NEWIBN) at Fox Valley Technical College is a newly-formed initiative that provides a forum for local companies to access current information on the issues, practices and trends that influence all aspects of international trade. This new network will feature: • • • •

Speaker series highlighting global thought leaders Discussions on current and emerging issues in global trade Dialogue on global markets and business operations Networking opportunities

NEWIBN is seeking organizations interested in growing their global business.

Learn more: www.fvtc.edu/NEWIBN or (920) 735-4844 Sponsoring Organizations:

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 23

COVER STORY Not everyone is on the up and up Sometimes a young or new charity has good intentions but isn’t necessarily experienced in getting the money where it’s needed, according to JoEllen Wollangk, regional manager for the Better Business Bureau’s Wisconsin chapter office in Appleton.

“I would highly recommend that people work with charities that have a good track record,” Wollangk said. “A local group might say ‘I want to raise money for Haiti,’ but do they really know how to forward that money to the areas in need?”

Most of the inquiries about charities come from those soliciting nationwide, she said, adding that she recommends sticking to local community charities. This year, BBB Wisconsin had more than 10,000 inquiries about charities, Wollangk said.

Unfortunately not everyone has good intentions.

“Whenever there’s a disaster, fake charities come out of the woodwork,” Wollangk said.

After Katrina, the BBB discovered 1,500 fakes, almost all looking to essentially scam generous donors out of their wellintentioned charity.

“Ask if they file a (Form) 990 and if you can see it,” she said.

That’s the tax form required for all 501(c)3 charities to file with the Internal Revenue Service. It shows how much of a charity’s revenue is spent on fundraising and administration versus the actual cause it purports to serve. Another source she recommends is the website Guidestar.org.

Potential donors can also check out the BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance section on its website, bbb.org.

“We will tell you what we know about that charity, if they are operating ethically, check their licensing, check government action against them, check their complaints history,” Wollangk said.

The BBB has 20 standards for charities that it will review if given the information by the charity. No more than 35 percent of a charity’s intake should go to fundraising and management – at least 65 percent should go to the programming it’s promoting, Wollangk said.

“They should have a board of directors with a minimum of five voting members,” Wollangk said. No more than 10 percent of the board should be paid.

The BBB has a paid accreditation program for charities, but charities don’t have to be accredited in order to be recognized as meeting BBB standards. Being accredited gives them bragging rights, which is valuable to a charity if they do a lot of online or mail soliciting, Wollangk said.

“One of the things we want to warn people about is that a lot of either scams or poorly run charities will use a name similar to a well-known national charity, so donors have to be very careful about look-a-like charities,” Wollangk said.

Having a 501(c)3 doesn’t mean an organization is making good use of the money.

“The government doesn’t control that as much as a lot of consumers or donors think they do. Sometimes a 501(c)3 may give less than 10 percent of what comes in to charitable causes and the rest can go to fundraising and administration.”

Lee Reinsch writes and edits from Green Bay.

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Business

& Industry

31st Annual Awards Dinner

Preparing the Next Generation of Business Leaders OCTOBER 23, 2012

Stayer Center

BUSINESS Of THE YEAR AWARD

Acuity Insurance

Sheboygan-based Acuity Insurance generates more than $800 million in annual revenue through 1,000 independent agencies, and manages more than $2 billion in assets.

The company was founded in 1925 as Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Currently Acuity operates in 20 states and has expanded into commercial lines of insurance. It employs more than 850 people, and in early October announced plans to hire nearly 100 more later this year.

A financially sound business, Acuity has received A+ ratings from both Standard & Poors and A.M. Best. It’s been named to the Ward 50 list of best performing insurers in the nation for 12 consecutive years.

Believing that success comes through great employees, Acuity has been ranked among the top 10 mid-sized companies in the nation for leadership development in the Leadership 500 list published by Leadership Excellence magazine. Each year since 2005, Acuity has been named one of the top 5 best mid-size employers in the nation by the Great Place to Work

Institute, and has ranked No. 1 on three occasions.

The company has donated to American Cancer Society, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Lakeshore Community Health Care Center, Meals on Wheels, Safe Harbor Domestic Abuse Shelter, Junior Achievement, Salvation Army and United Way, among others.

GEORGE BECKER BUSINESS SPIRIT AWARD

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Gary Sadoff

A third-generation owner of his family’s business, Gary Sadoff has earned his own reputation for growing Badger Liquor, taking care of its employees, and serving the community of Fond du Lac. Following his first professional job in corporate marketing for Brunswick Corp. in Illinois, Sadoff came home to Fond du Lac in 1977 and worked in sales for Badger Liquor. When he and his brother, Ron, eventually took over the business, it grew through hard work and a handful of acquisitions. Sadly, Ron passed away in 2006. Gary took over the business and became CEO. Badger Liquor currently is the largest distributor of wine and spirits in Wisconsin with more than 400 employees, many of whom have remained with the company throughout their careers.

Continuing his family’s long and distinguished tradition, Gary and his wife, Amy, contribute substantially to the community. The Sadoff Family Foundation has led efforts to improve the community in the areas of arts, entertainment and recreation. It’s been a huge supporter of the current Windhover expansion and provided a lead gift for the project. They were advocates for the Fond du Lac High School Performing Art Center, and have been strong supporters of the YMCA and the University of Wisconsin Fond du Lac Foundation.

M arian U niversity

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Acuity corporate headquarters in Sheboygan

Michael Mentzer

Michael Mentzer, recently retired managing editor of The Fond du Lac Reporter, spent 39 years capturing the events and developments that shaped the Fond du Lac area.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Mentzer joined the daily newspaper in 1972 as assistant area editor. During his tenure he also held posts as front page editor, opinion page editor, business page editor, city editor, Progress Edition editor and managing editor.

Mentzer covered various stories over the years, the most memorable being: the Giddings & Lewis strike, 1996 Oakfield tornado, 2008 flood, Johnson Street reconstruction, Quad Graphics fire, St. Louis Church fire, school referendums, and the Mercury Marine union vote. He has a number of special recollections from his career. The day President Nixon resigned he was taking his turn as front page editor. He remembers the 1976 murder of Kathleen Leichtman that became a cold case, then was solved more than three decades later in 2009 with DNA technology.

Outside of the newsroom, Mentzer authored the 1983 biography of Fond du Lac wildlife artist Owen Gromme, “The World of Owen Gromme,” as well as “Fond du Lac County: A Gift of the Glacier,” published by the Fond du Lac County Historical Society in 1991.

For nearly 40 years, Mentzer covered Courtesy of The Fond du Lac Reporter Fond du Lac with both the objective facts as a reporter and the opinion of an editor. He reflected on local events, offering insightful commentary on ways Fond du Lac might become an even better community.

ENTREPRENEUR Of THE YEAR AWARD

Sonex Aircraft LLC

A record-holding air racer during the 1970s, Sonex Aircraft LLC founder and aviation legend John Monnett developed and built the Sonerai – a racing plane – for the 1971 EAA Fly-in in Oshkosh, winning the Best Formula Vee Award. A later design, the Monex, set an ultralight speed record of 185 miles per hour in 1982, a record still remaining today.

His success designing ultralight planes launched Monnett Experimental Aircraft, the commercial venture of selling homebuilt airplane kits. Over the years, Monnett and his associates experimented with engines, wings, composites, fiberglass and more. Shortly after it was sold to a foreign investment group, the business closed in 1987.

An inductee into the EAA Hall of Fame, Monnett continued to remain active in aviation, perfecting the design for an affordable homebuilt sport aircraft called Sonex. He and his wife, Betty, launched a new company by the same name in 1997. A year later, their son, Jeremy – a private pilot and mechanical engineer – joined Sonex after two years working for Boeing.

Over the past 15 years, the company has remained a pioneer in the field of experimental aviation. Its electric-powered Waiex aircraft flew its first flight in December 2010 and its SubSonex jet aircraft prototype made its maiden flight in August 2011. The company has sold thousands of kit airplanes to customers in more than a dozen countries around the globe. In 2006 it received the Small Business Success Award from Corporate Report Wisconsin, and has received numerous honors and recognitions from aviation trade organizations and publications.

John Monnett pilots his Sonex over Lake Winnebago.

SPEAKER•INfO

Glen E. Tellock The Manitowoc Company, Inc.

Glen E. Tellock is chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Manitowoc Company, Inc., a leading manufacturer of cranes and commercial foodservice equipment.

The $4.5 billion company includes more than 16,000 employees working at over 100 manufacturing and service facilities in 27 countries.

A certified public accountant, Tellock joined the company in 1991 as director of accounting.

He held various financial roles with the company, and was eventually named president and CEO in 2007, and was elected chairman in 2009.

Tellock is a 1983 graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a B.B.A. in accounting. He is former chair of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and serves on the boards for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and for National Association of Manufacturers.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARD

The Commonwealth Companies

The Commonwealth Companies was established in Fond du Lac in 2001 by Louie Lange III with the goal of providing highquality affordable housing. Since that time, the company has completed 20 projects with value in excess of $167 million.

Commonwealth currently manages properties in Fond du Lac, Menasha and Milwaukee, and has completed other projects around the state. It has added more than 60 jobs in the past 10 years.

In 2008, Commonwealth Development Corporation was named Wisconsin Builder’s Association Developer of the Year.

The company has developed a niche in renovation projects and has received five brownfield grants from the state to transform environmentally blighted sites into apartment communities.

One of its most noteworthy local projects is the redevelopment of the former St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and school in downtown Fond du Lac into a mixed-use facility for its corporate

headquarters offices and several senior apartment units.

Commonwealth recently converted Emmanuel Trinity Lutheran Church in Fond du Lac into Trinity Restaurant, preserving much of the design of the former church.

Other projects include Indianhead Golf Course Cottages in Mosinee, Lenz Auto Sales and Service in Fond du Lac, Lynndale Village in Grand Chute, Mission Village of Menasha, and West Grand in Rhinelander, where it converted a former The former St. Peter’s Lutheran School in elementary school into downtown Fond du Lac. apartments.

A special supplement to New North B2B

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M arian U niversity

M a r I an

U nI v er SIt y

Business & Industry Awards 1989-2011 Business of the Year *2011: 2011: 2010: 2009: 2007-08: 2006: 2005: 2004: 2003: 2002: 2001: 2000:

Economic Development Award

New Glarus Brewing Co. Festival Foods Oshkosh Corp.

J. F. Ahern Co. Marchant Schmidt, Inc. SC Johnson RB Royal Industries, Inc. Quad/Graphics Marshall & Ilsley Corp.

Bergstrom Automotive Michels Corp.

Alliant Energy

*2011: 2011: 2009: 2007-08: 2005: 2004: 2003: 2002: 2001:

Entrepreneur of the Year *2011: 2011: 2010: 2009: 2007-08: 2006: 2004: 2003:

2002:

2001: 2000: 1999 1998:

1997: 1996: 1995: 1994: 1993:

1992: 1991: 1990: 1989:

Ripon Printers Mark & Patty Trepanier Orion Energy Systems Broadjam.com The Wreath Factory/Otter Creek The H.S. Group (service), Ariens Company (manufacturing) Wisconsin Physicians Service (service), Supple Restaurant Group (retail) Grande Cheese Company (manufacturing), Grant Thornton LLP (service), Destination Kohler (retail) BCI Burke Co. (manufacturing), Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin (service), Shelly Stayer (individual) Baker Cheese (manufacturing), Schenck Business Solutions (service) Jim Voight, Hometown Bancorp, Ltd. Sargento Cheese (corporate), David Noe (individual) Ray E. Wood Floral (retail), Flaherty Company (small), Pick & Save - Prescott Supermarkets (large) Edgarton, St. Peter, Petak, Massey & Bullon and Adashun Jones Real Estate Gilles Frozen Custard (retail), Hierl Insurance (service) Fedco Electronics, Inc. (small business), Louis Andrew, Jr. (individual) Kristmas Kringle Shoppe, Ltd. (retail), The Little Farmer (small business) Alphonse Schneider, Silica Appliance TV & Hardware (retail), Thomas H. Tobin, Jr., Tobin Tool & Die (manufacturing) Arthur, Ron and Gary Sadoff, Badger Liquor Mike Shannon and James Flood, Holiday Auto & Truck Inc. Bernie Schreiner, Schreiner’s Restaurant Dale Michels, Michels Pipeline Construction, Inc.

M arian U niversity

x

2000: 1999: 1998: 1997: 1996: 1995: 1994: 1993: 1992: 1991: 1990: 1989:

Kondex Corp.

Mayville Engineering Company New North, Inc. Fond du Lac Association of Commerce Berbee Information Networks Corp.

Agnesian HealthCare / Froedtert Hospital Green Bay Packers Road America Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp.

EAA Brotz Family Foundation C.D. Smith Construction, Inc. Whispering Springs Development Company Fond du Lac Association of Commerce Fond du Lac Reporter EAA Threshermens Mutual Insurance J. F. Ahern Company C.D. Smith Construction, Inc. National Exchange Bank & Trust Action Advertiser/Action Printing

George Becker Business Spirit Award *2011: 2011: 2010: 2009: 2007-08: 2006: 2005: 2004: 2003: 2001: 2000: 1999: 1998: 1997: 1996:

Robert Fale David Klumpyan Wayne Matzke Peter E. Stone Sr. Judith Schmidt Richard Kleinfeldt Virginia Duncan Gilmore Dr. Michael Strigenz Jim Hubbard Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes Hospice Hope - Fond du Lac Dr. Ewald Pawsat Wayne Huberty Joseph P. Colwin Don & Terri Jones

Regional Media Achievement Award

2010: Journal Communication, Mountain Dog Media, Radio Plus and The Reporter 2006: InSpire Magazine 2005: Lake Winnebago B2B 2004: The Post-Crescent 2002: The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee 2001: Trails Media Group/Corporate Report 2000: Charter Communication 1999: William Janz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1998: Action Advertiser 1997: KFIZ Radio 1996: Marketplace Magazine

w w w. m a r i a n u n i v e r s i t y. e d u

International Business Achievement Award 2009: 2007-08: 2006: 2005: 2004: 2003: 2002: 2001: 2000: 1999: 1998: 1997: 1996: 1994: 1992: 1991: 1990:

Schneider National, Inc. Manpower, Inc. Alliance Laundry Systems Johnson Controls, Inc. The Manitowoc Company Appleton, Inc. Sensient Technologies Oshkosh Truck Corp.

Serigraph, Inc. Bemis Manufacturing Wisconsin Central Railroad Kaytee Products, Inc. Mercury Marine Mid-States Aluminum Brunswick Corp.

Brenner Tank Giddings & Lewis, Inc.

Special Achievement Award *2011: Horning’s Golf Products C.D. Smith Construction 2011: Fond du Lac YMCA and Boys & Girls Club 2010: Mercury Marine Management Team, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1947, Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp., City of Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac County, Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, Sen. Randy Hopper, Wisconsin Governor’s Office and Wisconsin Department of Commerce 2009: United Hearts for Health 2007-08: Fond du Lac Symphonic Band 2006: Langdon Divers 2004: Milwaukee Irish Fest 2003: Oneida Nation 2003: West Bend Mutual Insurance Company 2002: Fond du Lac Area Convention & Visitors Bureau 2001: John Korb 2000: The Todd Wehr Foundation, Inc. 1999: JoAnn Ward 1998: Jack Twohig 1997: Carl Tonjes 1994: Rotary 1993: JoAnn Ward

* Marian presented B&I awards in both spring and fall 2011

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NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 29

RETAIL

Wedding City An emerging cluster of wedding retailers could earn the Electric City another nickname

Story by Robin Driessen Bruecker

A Fox River community of more than 15,500 residents, Kaukauna is known for the historic Grignon Mansion, Thilmany paper mill, and the 1000 Islands Environmental Center with its river and forest trails where bald eagles nest. Hydroelectric power and pleasant people earned Kaukauna the nicknames of Electric City and Friendly City.

30 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

www.newnorthb2b.com

RETAIL A group of business owners has been working to create another reputation for the city – that of a one-stop wedding- and event-planning destination. Currently 17 businesses make up the Kaukauna Association of Wedding and Event Professionals, or KAWEP for short, including those that provide jewelry, invitations, photography, framing, banquet facilities, cakes, formal apparel and music.

Location, location Former wedding/event-planner-turned-cake-artist and Kaukauna resident Dawn Bybee of Cake Anatomy is one of KAWEP’s founders.

“I had the opportunity to purchase an existing business from Green Bay and, after much research, realized that Appleton people would go as far north as De Pere and Green Bay (residents) would go as far south as Kaukauna,” noted Bybee, who relocated the business to the Electric City in 2007.

“Kaukauna’s central location has been significant in capitalizing in areas from Green Bay to Oshkosh,” she went on. “We do have clients coming from all over the state and country to visit what we have to offer here, and being right in the middle of two larger cities allows people to come to us without having to drive for hours. People are looking for convenience and to be right in the middle, they have that.”

Out-of-town customers coming from the Green Bay metro area, the Fox Cities, the Lakeshore area or further south on Lake Winnebago can easily reach Kaukauna. The downtown of the community already had the seeds planted to help grow its wedding industry cluster.

“We had many professionals already stationed with good business standings in the Kaukauna area,” noted Lu Ann Vander Zanden, a certified bridal consultant and owner of Bridal Elegance and Formalwear, which has been in business downtown since 1999. Located on Kaukauna’s north side near the Lawe Street bridge that spans the Fox River, Bridal Elegance provides formal apparel and accessories for diverse events.

“Another group of wedding professionals had formed in the Fox Valley area and we felt that it would be a good thing to market the Kaukauna area as so many of us already had businesses here,” continued Vander Zanden. “I was one of the first business owners to have my store in Kaukauna and marketed that I was centrally located between Appleton, Green Bay and Oshkosh, so I was sure that more people would move here knowing that location was excellent and without all the (Fox River) mall traffic.”

For Cake Anatomy, Bybee chose a building on Kaukauna’s south side, just over the bridge. Her bakery is known for its decorated, moist cakes made fresh to order and its homemade butter cream icing. Cake Anatomy also bakes its own cookies, Bybee added, with some recipes that go as far back as her grandmother.

During her search for a location, Bybee discovered there were several wedding vendors in the city. She recommended Kaukauna as a location for her friend, Ross, owner of Marshall Florist, so he set up shop there as well. The full-service florist shop has now been in Kaukauna five years and serving the Fox Valley for a quarter century.

“We draw brides from all over the state and a lot from Green

Listed below are each of the businesses that currently make up the Kaukauna Association of Wedding and Event Professionals (kawep.com): Abel Insurance & Associates Ltd. abelins.com Bob Shebesta Guitar bobshebesta.com Bridal Elegance & Formalwear valleybridalelegance.com C & S Custom Picture Framing cscustompictureframing.com Cake Anatomy LLC cakeanatomy.com Elegant By Design LLC elegant-by-design.com GhostTown Fitness Center LLC ghosttownfitness.com Initial Impressions initial-impressions.com Kobussen Buses kobussen.com Marshall Florist LLC marshallflorist.net Neil Geiger Studio geigerstudio.com One By One handcrafted jewelry, glass painting lynnstaubin.com Plum Hill Café plumhillcafe.com Richard’s Diamonds & Gems Simple Creations The Mariner marinerbanquethall.com Van Abel’s of Hollandtown vanabels.com

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 31

RETAIL

The one-city location helps make it easier to get to know fellow members and provide a support network.

Bay,” he said. “They feel Kaukauna is closer to Green Bay than Appleton.”

“I decided at that time that we needed to capitalize on Kaukauna being a one-stop-shop for weddings and events with all the vendors located here,” said Bybee, and the Kaukauna Association of Wedding and Event Professionals took shape, further bolstered by market research that showed the demographics of the area were right for the industry. The city also has several buildings with the charming look of yesteryear.

One-stop convenience From its 2007 inception, the group started with three member businesses and quickly grew to 18 members within six months, with some – like Bybee – relocating to Kaukauna or opening a second location to be part of the cluster.

Business owners in adjoining communities have expressed an interest in being part of KAWEP from their current locations.

“Unfortunately, that defeats the purpose of a one-stop area if people are all over, so we have limited it to actually being in Kaukauna to give the client the convenience,” explained Bybee. “People have come and gone as their business changed, but the group remains with a core group of 17 strong businesses all that work closely together.”

The one-city location helps make it easier to get to know fellow members and provide a support network.

“With all of us being located in one area, it allows our clients to go from business to business all within a short distance,” said Bybee. “We all know what each of us has to offer and that helps in promoting what (customers) are looking for.”

“We have been very excited to drive new businesses to our area, and having so many on one main street has been very attractive to my clientele,” said Vander Zanden. She noted that her customers can literally step out the front door of Bridal Elegance and see other shops that provide flowers, engraving, planning, hair styling, jewelry, and rehearsal dinners.

The association has a seven-person board of directors. To be considered for membership, in addition to being based in Kaukauna, a wedding- and event-related business must present its services and value to the board, which then votes on whether to admit the business to KAWEP. The association’s website (kawep.com) receives numerous hits every month. Cross-promotion on member websites also helps get the word out. Bybee, for example, lists fellow KAWEP businesses on Cake Anatomy’s website. Members also promote the group by handing out a promotional postcard at bridal shows and posting it at each member business. Additionally,

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RETAIL

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Cake Anatomy’s home on the Kaukauna’s downtown.

south side of

KAWEP members chip in and advertise as a group, which is a benefit for members with a small advertising budget.

“And, of course,” added Bybee, “word-of-mouth advertising is always amazing!”

Vander Zanden mentioned KAWEP members have discussed potentially creating a bridal show, which would give the group additional exposure, and that they have approached the City of Kaukauna about developing the city as an event planning destination. For her own business, she added, “I do a lot of advertising in the Chilton/Brillion/Green Bay area and find that I will drive traffic my way by indicating I’m centrally located between them and Appleton.”

Among the clients who have benefitted from the combined services of KAWEP members is Lindsey Torbeck of Kaukauna, formerly of nearby Darboy, who wed a Kaukauna native in Appleton in early 2012. She noted the ease of scheduling appointments with businesses that were so close.

“I purchased my bridal gown at Bridal Elegance in Kaukauna,” said Torbeck. “We also purchased bridesmaid gowns and rented tuxes there. They were able to schedule dress alterations for my bridesmaids, my mom and myself back to back so we could all go together for those appointments.

“Our wedding flowers were from Marshall Florist, and I knew I wanted fresh roses in my hair for my wedding. They provided me with a couple of fresh flowers for my hair on the day of my practice hair appointment free of charge. We purchased our wedding cupcakes from Cake Anatomy in Kaukauna. As anyone planning a wedding knows, you do not have a final guest count until very close to the wedding date. Dawn allowed me to adjust the number of cupcakes so we had the perfect amount for our day.

“Everyone was very personable and helpful throughout the entire planning process,” she noted.

Bybee noted that many of her clients have an existing awareness of what Kaukauna offers.

“I do feel that as Kaukauna grows, with the buildings being sold and renovated to other businesses, the KAWEP will grow as well,” she said. “The KAWEP offers many ‘specialty shops’ and people love that. I would love to see more specialty shops come into Kaukauna and join our group. We have several clients that have secured all of their services using all KAWEP members. We would like to see that grow.”

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NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 33

FIREFIGHTERS PROGRESS REPORT

Firefighters of northeast Wisconsin Photo provided courtesy of Quest Productions/Patrick Kelly

In early 2012, New North B2B sent a call out to business owners who feel as if they’re constantly putting out fires within their company. We selected two, and matched them with a couple of northeast Wisconsin’s leading small business strategists for six months of assistance at no cost. As the smoke clears, we illustrate how our Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin helped to extinguish the blaze.

34 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

www.newnorthb2b.com

FIREFIGHTERS PROGRESS REPORT

A better cookie jar Small retailer works to improve strategy through defined processes and a more streamlined focus Story by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher On a Monday morning seated in the dining area of her own café, Chanda Anderson can tell when some aspect of her operation isn’t quite right.

“I am smelling something – what am I smelling?” she breaks from our conversation to yell to her employees. Any potential crisis averted, Anderson is back to sharing some of the elements of strategy she and her husband, Pete, are implementing into Caramel Crisp & Café in Oshkosh.

Anderson has a nose for baking cookies, which have become a staple attraction for her downtown respite. But she’s also discovering she has a nose for business.

After more than six months of work with business strategist and consultant Mike Thuecks of Green Bay-based SM Advisors, Anderson wrapped up her participation in New North B2B’s second annual Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin initiative with the reassurance that she’s headed in the right direction.

At the same time, she’s also realized she can build more objective policy and procedure into the regular operations of the business, allowing her to step back a bit and take some much needed time for herself and her husband.

“They have accomplished a lot more than she even gave herself credit for,” said Thuecks about Anderson’s commitment to standardize her operations.

PROFILE

Company:

Owner:

Location: Year started:

Employees: What it does:

Web site:

Caramel Crisp & Café Chanda Anderson Oshkosh 2008 9 Retailer of caramel corn, flavored popcorn, café, bakery, ice cream parlor and gift shop www.caramelcrispcafe.com

Narrower focus When Anderson began working with Thuecks back in April, Caramel Crisp was expanding into a new space for a gift shop, building upon an enterprise that had already become a successful deli, bakery, coffee shop, ice cream shop, caterer and a destination for flavored popcorn and caramel corn. She was considering possibly becoming a wine bar to cater to the late night crowd following performances at Grand Opera House or the city’s popular Gallery Walk events. Thuecks helped her rein it all in.

The consultants Gary Vaughan Founder, owner and president Guident Business Solutions LLC Appleton www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com

Mike Thuecks Consultant SM Advisors Green Bay www.smadvisors.com

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 35

FIREFIGHTERS PROGRESS REPORT

“Cookies were the sleeper in our business plan.”

“She went from being all things to all people to focusing on a singular, customer demographic,” Thuecks said, helping Anderson recognize that Caramel Crisp is known for a number of approaches to tempt the palette, but above all else, its cookies are the main attraction. “You can sell anything, but there’s always primary markets and there’s always secondary markets.”

Using the proprietary Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream process developed by SM Advisors founder Steve Van Remortel, Thuecks and Anderson were able to identify Caramel Crisp’s competence in the market as “Best Cookies Ever,” which evolved into the branding campaign Anderson has promoted on billboards and the sides of city transit busses across Oshkosh.

The evolution of her nearly 50 different flavors of cookies bears interest because Anderson never gave it much credence before.

“Cookies were the sleeper in our business plan,” she admitted. As a result, the equipment she has for making cookie dough and baking cookies is hitting capacity. There’s not too many more cookies Caramel Crisp can make without making capital investments to enhance production.

Staff constraints Boosting cookie output means more manpower, and Anderson is considering adding another baker to her staff. In fact, she’d like to add a few more positions to increase the size of her staff to a dozen, up from nine in mid October. Since this past summer, Caramel Crisp has had 100 percent turnover of its staff, including the loss of two long-term employees who moved on to other opportunities – one to dedicate themselves to school fulltime, and the other who just earned her degree.

Of Anderson’s current staff, the most tenured has been with her just over four months.

The result: Anderson has spent quite a bit of time recruiting, interviewing, hiring and then training new employees for as long as six weeks. Some hadn’t quite worked out, which renews the staffing cycle once again.

Through Thuecks encouragement, Anderson is developing a set of policies and procedures for certain job functions at Cara-

36 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

mel Crisp that should remain consistent, such as preparing and serving coffee in the morning, preparing salads for the lunch hour rush, or procedures for closing shop at the end of the day.

Anderson currently comes in to close up every day, which is no short order when open seven days a week.

“I consider four hours at work to be a day off,” Anderson indicated, noting many days start as early as 6 or 7 a.m. and end as late as 9 or 10 p.m.

Identifying trends A set of defined guidelines for employees to follow could take the place of some of the time Anderson spends “in the business,” allowing her to both take more time for herself as well as developing strategy to grow it moving forward. She believes the gift shop carries solid potential to be successful, and she’s committed to growing its presence in the downtown.

In that regard, Thuecks encouraged Anderson to make full use of her point-of-purchase technology that she already owns in her cash register system to capture more effective data about the products Caramel Crisp is selling its customers.

“The cash register is not new to the store,” Thuecks commented. “She would just be implementing a better way to use the capabilities it offers. Not enough data has been collected to date to draw any conclusions (regarding sales trends among customers).”

Currently everything at Caramel Crisp is rung into the cash register by price, making it difficult to digitally keep a handle on inventory and to determine the success of certain promotions.

Even though Anderson has a keen sense of intuitively analyzing the data she has on hand, Thuecks observed, she doesn’t have much hard data about her products or her customers.

For her part, Anderson acknowledges she simply needs to take the time to key in individual menu items and gift products into her system.

Moving forward Anderson and Caramel Crisp are heading into the busy holiday season beginning this month and will be working some of the longest hours of the year filling customer orders for gift

www.newnorthb2b.com

FIREFIGHTERS PROGRESS REPORT baskets and tins of caramel corn and flavored popcorn. She and Thuecks agreed to meet again in January to assess the success of the process improvements implemented in the business and determine any trends from the cash register data that will be collected.

Overall, the Best Cookies Ever campaign would appear to be a smashing success. Anderson reported record sales for a Sunday at the beginning of October boosted by a number of first-time customers walking in the door and buying just one, two or a few cookies at a time. But she’s also had a few customers drive in to downtown from U.S. Highway 41 to buy four dozen cookies at a time, nearly wiping out the made-fresh inventory she keeps in the bakery case when a large order isn’t called in advance.

Looking back on her experience in this year’s Firefighters initiative, Anderson said both a behavioral profile she took at the outset of her work and Thuecks’ reassurance along the way have confirmed that she should be an entrepreneur and should assume the kinds of risks she’s been taking.

“It was nice having someone who knows what they’re talking about to hear and approve of what you’re doing,” Anderson said.

Working with small to mid-sized business owners across Wisconsin, Thuecks said Anderson’s humility as a business owner isn’t all that uncommon. But he also acknowledged that like Anderson, most business owners don’t recognize many of the successes they have achieved along the way, which can serve as the fuel to carry their entrepreneurial momentum forward.

“If there’s any advice I’d say to a small business owner, it would be to give yourself some credit sometime,” he said.

If you’d like help putting out the fires in your business and would like to be considered for

B2B’s 2013 Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin send a note to the publisher at sean@newnorthb2b.com.

Businesses awarded no-cost strategic consultation in our 3rd Annual Firefighters initiative will be selected in March 2013.

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 37

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GUEST COMMENTARY

Improving outside perceptions State marketing campaign gives Wisconsin business a brand of its own

Tom Still President Wisconsin Technology Council

It’s safe to say Wisconsin has a mixed record when it comes to slogans and brands.

Remember “Live like you mean it”?

That slogan only lived about seven months in 2009 after it was introduced by the state’s tourism department. Critics said it sounded like something a motivational speaker might chant – and exactly like a slogan once used by a major distillery.

“Escape to Wisconsin” was enduringly popular, even if people sliced and diced the bumper stickers to cobble together their own slogans, off-color or otherwise.

In the mid-1980s, Gov. Anthony Earl asked state residents to submit their ideas for a new Wisconsin brand. The most popular suggestion – “Eat Cheese or Die” – never made it out of the starting blocks with state officials.

For better or worse, most state brands, slogans and logos over time have been driven either by tourism or agriculture, such as the “America’s Dairyland” line that anchors the bottom of passenger vehicle license plates. Tourism and farming have been the tail that has wagged the branding dog.

That approach is changing with “In Wisconsin,” the marketing initiative launched in late September by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to highlight the advantages of starting, expanding or locating a business in Wisconsin.

“In Wisconsin” is a business brand designed to work at different levels and across all sectors. It conveys a sense of successful companies at home and hints to non-Wisconsin companies why they should consider expanding or locating here. It also suggests a history of innovation and invention, which has long been the reality of Wisconsin businesses – although not always the perception.

“The reality of our business climate has changed. Now it’s time to work on the perception,” said Kelly Lietz, WEDC’s vice president for marketing.

You might be surprised to learn the primary targets of the campaign are people living, working and running businesses in Wisconsin, not people across the Illinois or Minnesota state lines. It’s not a new declaration of “border war” but an attempt to build a sense of pride in Wisconsin

businesses among those who are bestprepared to serve as ambassadors – its own citizens.

An advertising schedule that began in October in business-oriented media in Chicago, Wisconsin and the Twin Cities will use print, online and outdoor media to direct people to online video testimonials from prominent Wisconsin companies – Rockwell Automation, Schneider National, Organic Valley, Trek and Virent Energy.

Direct outreach to audiences such as corporate site selection planners is also planned.

“It’s not us telling the story. It is Wisconsin companies saying it,” Lietz noted. “It’s business people talking passionately about the advantages of being here.”

The testimonials underscore the diversity of Wisconsin’s business landscape, with companies such as Virent engaged in producing next-generation biofuels and biomaterials and Rockwell Automation focused on industrial automation and information. Trek is a global brand in bicycles, Organic Valley is a leading producer of organic dairy products and Schneider National is one of the world’s largest logistics companies.

The campaign also underscores the importance and history of entrepreneurism in Wisconsin, where innovative small businesses create most jobs. That’s true in Wisconsin as well as nationally.

My own organization, the Wisconsin Technology Council, has used its “I-Q Corridor” brand to highlight the importance of tech-based entrepreneurism. The “I” suggests innovation, invention, intellectual property and investment as well as the interstate strengths of the upper Midwest; the “Q” suggests quality of living, education and workforce.

It remains to be seen if the $500,000 “In Wisconsin” campaign will pay off over time – and such marketing initiatives always take time to work – but it’s already a departure from the state’s spotty branding history.

The important business of telling the story of business in Wisconsin is no longer an afterthought.

Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal.

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 39

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

Thinking Outside the Dr.’s Office

by Jackson Kahl Insurance

Changes in our economy combined with shifting attitudes have placed a larger burden on employers to recognize that solely offering health insurance is no longer all that employees are searching for. Employees are growing increasingly concerned about their current financial stability and they are looking to their employers to help provide options and answers to these concerns. Employers are struggling with the rising cost of health insurance, let alone adding additional benefits to their offerings. The good news is studies have shown today’s workers are more willing to contribute to their benefits than risk losing them altogether. Voluntary products can help to fill this gap as they offer flexibility in the cost share between employers and employees.

Below are the key steps a company should take before, during and after implementing a voluntary benefit package to complement the group health insurance.

Chris Shafer

40 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

1. Learn what voluntary benefits your employees find most valuable. A simple, confidential survey with carefully thought out questions can effectively gather information regarding your employees’ concerns and attitudes towards both current and potential benefits.

2. Analyze based on the survey results where the perceived gaps in your current offerings are. Carefully review your current insurance coverage for value-added coverages that are packaged in at no charge that employees may not be aware.

3. Research what voluntary products are available that will fill any gaps. For example, if your health insurance currently offers a routine eye exam would a voluntary vision product that offers coverage for materials only at lower the cost be appealing to your employees? Identify those products that satisfy employee needs directly.

4. Build a Comprehensive Benefit Strategy utilizing voluntary benefits such as disability, life, dental, vision, critical

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illness, etc. Develop an ongoing education campaign to help employees understand the value of these types of benefits and feel empowered in how they choose to protect their physical health as well as financial wellbeing.

5. Review on a scheduled basis participation in the program and employee satisfaction. Make adjustments accordingly and continue to educate employees. As your employee demographics change, be prepared for shifts in needs.

Offering voluntary benefits to employees can be a cost effective and simple way to expand your current benefit package while increasing employee loyalty.

Chris Shafer is an Insurance Consultant with Jackson Kahl Insurance, focusing on commercial, farm and personal insurance needs. Jackson Kahl Insurance is located in Fond du Lac, with additional offices in both Wisconsin and Illinois. 800-5245467.

www.newnorthb2b.com

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

Credit Restoration - A Game Changer

by Credit Matters, Inc.

Credit Restoration is perhaps the single most powerful method of increasing a person’s credit score. Achieving the highest score possible can drastically affect the house we live in, the car we drive, and the cost of interest and insurance rates we pay.

Credit scores are critical to our quality of life…and for many, credit restoration is the key to obtaining the highest score possible.

What is Credit Restoration? Simply put, it is the removal of derogatory information from your credit report. Your credit score is a calculation of the data in your credit report, including positive things such as payments made on time, as well as derogatory items such as late payments, collections, judgments, tax liens, etc. Obviously, the more positive information and less derogatory information – the higher your credit score.

Most people don’t realize that information stays in their credit report for seven years or longer, even if the item is paid.

Dan Krueger

So by removing some of the derogatory information from your credit report now, instead of waiting seven years, credit restoration can dramatically increase your credit score now.

How does it work? Studies have shown that nearly 30 percent of all credit reports contain serious errors resulting in the denial of credit. Because of this, the Fair Credit Reporting Act includes provisions that allow consumers to dispute information in their credit reports with the credit reporting agencies (CRAs). Upon receiving a dispute, the CRAs have 30 days to verify the information reported by the original creditor. If the information is deemed inaccurate or unverified, then it must be deleted entirely from the credit report.

As derogatory items are deleted from the credit report, credit scores increase.

In addition to disputes made with CRAs, other dispute strategies can be used directly with creditors using the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Billing

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Act. Using dispute strategies to challenge information in our credit reports often can result in half or more of the derogatory items being deleted from a credit report.

This can make a profound difference on the credit score, often increasing it by 100-plus points!

Dan Krueger is the owner of Credit Matters, Inc., a registered Credit Service Organization with the State of Wisconsin.

Since 2003 Credit Matters has assisted over 3,000 consumers and small business owners with credit restoration and consultation services. For assistance with your credit management or score improvement needs, call us at: 800-5317279.

“Professionally Speaking” is a promotional spot for business professionals to share their expertise with New North B2B readers.

Social Security: Don’t shortchange yourself

by Independence Financial LLC

Determining when and how to receive Social Security benefits is a far more complicated topic than most people realize.

Even the most basic spousal benefit rules often surprise people. For example, let’s consider a family where the husband has been the primary bread winner, and the wife was a stay at home mom. When the husband files for his Social Security income at his full retirement age, his wife (assuming the same age) is eligible for a spousal benefit that is equal to 50 percent of his Social Security benefit (the amount is adjusted to compensate for age differences between the spouses). If this benefit is greater than the benefit she had earned with her own work history, she can elect to receive the larger spousal benefit. This even applies if she had never been employed a day in her life. This is a simple rule in the Social Security system, but one that often pleasantly surprises retirees.

Many people are also surprised to learn Mike Scott

that after many years of an enjoyable retirement, upon the death of the first spouse, the remaining spouse retains the greater of the two Social Security incomes.

There are certainly more complicated techniques for maximizing a couple’s Social Security income as well. “Double dipping” is a technique that allows you to draw your spousal benefit for a period of time, while you leave your earned benefit to grow until you are ready to take it at a later date when it has reached its peak.

For example, let’s assume at your full retirement age of 66 you can take your own benefit of $1,350 per month or your spousal benefit of $1,230 per month. The average person would take their own benefit because it is larger. However, if you take your spousal benefit instead, you can leave your own benefit alone and it will continue to grow 8 percent per year until age 70. At age 70, you can switch to your own earned benefit which has now grown to $1,782 per month for the rest of your

920.236.6587 life. You essentially gave up $120/month for four years so that you could receive $432/month more for the rest of your life!

To learn more about techniques designed to maximize your Social Security, contact Michael Scott, CLU, CFP® at Independence Financial. Mike is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practitioner and an owner of Independence Financial, LLC, an Oshkosh firm specializing in retirement planning for over 80 years. (920) 236-6587 or Michael@IndependenceFinancialLLC.com.

This information is not intended to be specific financial, tax or legal advice. Examples provided are for illustrative purposes only. As individual circumstances vary, these strategies may not apply or be appropriate for every situation. Always consult a qualified advisor regarding your individual situation.

Registered Representative of, and Securities and Investment Advisory services offered through Hornor, Townsend & Kent, Inc., (HTK), Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/ SIPC, 1030 W. Higgins Rd. Suite 212 Park Ridge, IL 60068 Phone (800) 607-3300. Independence Financial, LLC is independent of HTK. HTK does not offer tax or legal advice.

A2CD-1022-03E2

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 41

WHO’S NEWS Incorporations New North B2B publishes monthly new business incorporations filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

Brown County

Kadletz Wealth Management LLC, John D. Kadletz, 3311 S. Packerland Dr., Ste. D, De Pere 54115.

Macht Village Adult Family Homes LLC, Christopher Mikula, 3310 Mid Valley Dr., De Pere 54115.

Packer Tees LLC, Andrew Verboncouer, 632 S. Superior St., De Pere 54115.

Over The Wall: Baseball Academy LLC, Michael D. Wallerich, 1763 Patriot Way, De Pere 54115.

Hand In Hand Bookkeeping LLC, Gloria Lynn Payne, 1800 Briarwood Ct., De Pere 54115.

Phantom Computing Ltd., Robert D. Ray, 400 Lantern Lane, De Pere 54115.

Tricia Nell Law Office S.C., Tricia A. Nell, 380 Main Ave., De Pere 54115.

Capstone North America Training Solutions Inc., Bart R. Drage, 620 Broken Covey Ct., De Pere 54115.

Dereck Barker Web Design LLC, Dereck Gerald Barker, 271 DesPlaine Road, De Pere 54115.

American Drywall LLC, Richard L. Wendricks, Jr., 5345 Tower Road, De Pere 54115.

Vehicle Security Innovators INC., Robert J. Arnold, 1271 Contract Dr., Green Bay 54304.

Hollywood Connections Film Acting Workshops LLC, Nadia Venesse, 2221 S. Webster Ave., Green Bay 54301.

Kingdom Animalia Exotic Animal Rescue INC., Jamie Kozloski, 1279 Circle Dr., Green Bay 54313.

DTG Pyrotechnics LLC, Jason Oleary, 445 Gilbert Ct., Green Bay 54311.

Green Bay Headlight Restoration LLC, Yura Kalmychkov, 870 Liebman Ct., Apt. 9, Green Bay 54302.

Bejeweled Body Piercing LLC, Karen Marie Weihbrecht, 1315 W. Mason St., Green Bay 54303.

Linares Cleaning LLC, Jose Linares, 1119 Neville Ave., Green Bay 54303.

Greenstone Polymer Systems INC., David J. Sladek, 400 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay 54304.

DC Docks and Boat Lifts INC., Herb Cuene, 5091 Edgewater Beach Road, Green Bay 54311.

Northeast Wisconsin Personal Care LLC, Seng Yang, 1600 Shawano Ave., Green Bay 54303-0324.

Green Bay Metal Detectors LLC, Thomas J. Caldie, 2299 Sunrise Ct., Green 42 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

Bay 54302.

Specialty Surface Coatings LLC, Peter Nugent, 111 N. Broadway, Green Bay 54303.

Intrigue Landscaping LLC, Christopher J. Leitner, 1378 Lime Kiln Road, Green Bay 54311.

Door County Custom Curb and Flatwork LLC, Albert Schaff, 5385 Edgewater Beach Road, Green Bay 54311.

Autens Eatery LLC, James Everett Auten, Jr., 1015 W. Mason St., Green Bay 54303.

Noveltainment LLC, George A. Kurowski, 2508 Sheridan Dr., Green Bay 54302.

Blitz Cycleworks LLC, Abby L. Wegner, 1027 Marshall Ave., Green Bay 54303.

Current & Classics Auto LLC, Craig A. Grall, 1882 S. Beaver Trail Dr., Green Bay 54303.

NEW Dermatology Group LTD., Kevan G. Lewis, 2221 S. Webster Ave., Ste. 241, Green Bay 54301.

The Wellness Way Appleton LLC, Patrick Flynn, 2638 Tulip Lane, Ste. B, Green Bay 54313.

Carnivore Meat Company LLC, Lanny James Viegut, 2878 Ontario Road, Green Bay 54311.

Massage Green Bay LLC, Deborah A. Schuster, 2527H Telluride Tr., Green Bay 54313.

Quantum Music LLC, Janice Ives, 2863 Mayflower Road, Green Bay 54311.

Paul’s Trailer & RV Center-North INC., Paul Quinnette, 3213 Mill Road, Greenleaf 54126.

Ransom Express INC., Lisa Ann Vande Hei, 3655 Park Road, Greenleaf 54126.

Cloud Seven Photography LLC, Andrew D. Pantzlaff, 6729 Deuster St., Greenleaf 54126.

Bill’s Plumbing LLC, William Vandevoort, 1263 Fair Road, Greenleaf 54126.

A Lautenbach CFP EA LLC, Anna L. Lautenbach, 4724 N. New Franken Road, New Franken 54229.

Awineboutique LLC, Julie Marie Walker, 4400 Touchstone Dr., Oneida 54155.

Pleasant View Beef and Dairy Farm LLC, Marvin J. Burkel, 274 Riverdale Dr., Oneida 54155.

Wild Onion Trucking LLC, Duane A. Yerges, Jr., 989 Edgar Dr., Oneida 54155.

Cupcakes by Em LLC, Emily Elizabeth Gonyo, 1405 Longtail Beach Road, Suamico 54173.

Link Greater Green Bay LLC, Stacie Hackl, 2094 Wildwood Dr., Suamico 54173.

N-V Technologies Company LLC, Steven Thomas Van Straten, 744 Riverside Dr., Suamico 54173.

Why Publishing LLC, Alicia Michaud, 1064 Camden Ct., Suamico 54173.

Grassy Valley Meats LLC, G. Taylor Schimkat, 615 Main St., Ste. 5, Wrightstown 54180. www.newnorthb2b.com

WHO’S NEWS Everett Street Storage LLC, Diane Marie Lamers, 700 Washington St., Wrightstown 54180.

Fond du Lac County

Midwestern Financial Corporation INC., Todd J. Lavey, 47 Oakridge Ct., Fond du Lac 54937.

Harvest Catering LLC, Karen A. Pickering, N5001 Summit Dr., Fond du Lac 54937.

Everfire Studios INC., Emil Harmsen, 333 Willsher Dr., Fond du Lac 54935.

Upfitters Supply LLC, Brian H. Billeb, N6519 Canterbury Lane, Fond du Lac 54937.

American Physician Consultants LLC, Haydar K. Saleh, M.D., W3853 Stoneridge Dr., Fond du Lac 54937.

Legacy Tree Care LLC, Patrick T. Marschie, 267 Weis Ave., Fond du Lac 54935.

Fox City Mobile LLC, Joshua M. Flecha, 459 W. Johnson St., Unit B, Fond du Lac 54935.

King Insurance Agency LLC, Allan William King, N8076 Liberty Circle, Malone 53049.

4M Bison Farm LLC, Marian L. Mildebrandt, N5697 Skunk Hollow Road, Ripon 54971.

Gilles Electric LLC, Stephen Gerard Gilles, N4560 Log Cabin Road, St. Cloud 53079.

Outagamie County

Adroit Travel Solutions LLC, Benjamin S. Grothe, W3888 Lone Oak Dr., Appleton 54913.

Creative Child Ap LLC, Angela B. Paltzer, 1901 N. Richmond St., Appleton 54911.

Wellness Your Way LLC, Bianca M. Goetsch, W2434 Snowberry

Dr., Appleton 54915.

Fox Valley Perinatology S.C., Jill Honkamp, 1818 N. Meade St., Appleton 54911.

Fox Valley/Green Bay Pagan Pride INC., Mary Frampton, 216 W. Seymour St., Appleton 54915.

Weyers Collectables and Resale LLC, Nicholas Weyers, 832 E. College Ave., Appleton 54911.

Femal’s Painting LLC, Jeffrey J. Femal, 1118 W. Packard St., Appleton 54914.

Point Mining LLC, John R. Ahlgrimm, 1829 E. Ravenswood Ct., Appleton 54913.

Appleton Career Academy INC., Patrick Lee, 5000 N. Ballard Road, Appleton 54913.

Graveyard Auto LLC, Peter A. Van Houwelingen, 477 S. Nicolet Road, Appleton 54914.

Joel Jorgensen Insurance Agency LLC, Joel David Jorgensen, Jr., 527 S. Arlington St., Appleton 54915.

The Olive Cellar - Neenah LLC, Gordon John Cole, 277 W. Northland Ave., Appleton 54911.

Miskulin Eye Care LLC, Michael J. Miskulin, 3301 E. Parkside Blvd., Apt. 112, Appleton 54915.

Houdini Elementary PTO, INC., Channon Arteman, 2305 W. Capitol Dr., Appleton 54914.

My Life Foto LLC, Marlin Meitzen, N371 Tamarack Dr., Appleton 54915.

All Pro Lawn and Snow LLC, Ryan Londre, 3405 Commerce Ct., Appleton 54911.

Whole Health House Calls LLC, Shelby Anne Depas, W2637 Ruby Ct., Appleton 54915.

Silver Lure Distillery INC., Andrew Wagener, W6260 Communication Ct., Appleton 54914.

The Better Business Bureau joins these 100 year old NE Wisconsin BBB Accredited businesses in celebrating a century of consumer trust!

Custom Metal Roofing-Oshkosh, Dama Plumbing & Heating-Crivitz, Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce-Green Bay, Heartland Farms-Hancock, Homestead Mutual Insurance Co.-Larsen, Maple Valley Mutual Ins. Co.-Lena, Meiselwitz-Vollstedt Funeral Home-Kiel, Pecard Chemical Co.-Green Bay, Quasius Construction-Sheboygan, Roe NurseriesOshkosh,Schroeder’s Flowers-Green Bay, Tennie’s Jewelry-Appleton, The Boldt Company-Appleton, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans-Appleton, Union Telephone Company-Plainfield, VerHalen -Green Bay, Welhouse Construction Services- Kaukauna, Zander Press-Brillion.

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 43

WHO’S NEWS Option One Marketing LLC, David Allen Kauzlaric, 3601 E. Glory Lane, Appleton 54913.

Blue Stream Recycling LLC, Paul Giese, N1203 South Creek Dr., Greenville 54942.

Specht Photography and Party Planning LLC, Heidi Specht, N1488 Fairwinds Dr., Greenville 54942.

Quality Estate Sales LLC, Renee Bohnart, W7176 Fox Hollow Lane, Greenville 54942.

Redstar PC Repair LLC, Adam Glebke, N2007 Municipal Dr., Greenville 54942.

Little Learners Child Care Center LLC, Ericka A. Matsche, N1433 Evening Star Dr., Greenville 54942.

Badtke’s Elite Plumbing LLC, Paul Adrian Badtke, W10315 Cloverleaf Road, Hortonville 54944.

A1 Country Storage LLC, Michael Gonnering, W7941 Grandview Road, Hortonville 54944.

Fat Girlz Bakin LLC, Lynne Marie Krueger, 1320 Wildenberg Dr., Kaukauna 54130.

Movica Salon LLC, Ashley Marie Donnermeyer, 8274 Gerrits Road, Kaukauna 54130.

Rolling Plains Transport LLC, Bernie John Sticka, N4316 Serenity Ridge Ct., Kaukauna 54130.

Bonjean Concrete LLC, Brian Du Chateau, 376 Welhouse Dr., Kimberly 54136.

Schuh-Less Flooring and Remodeling LLC, Emily K. Schuh, 700 W. Main St., Little Chute 54140.

B & S Bar INC., Paul R. Hartjes, 603 W. McKinley, Little Chute 54140.

De Bruin & Associates CPAs LLC, Robert A. De Bruin, 1718 Van Zeeland, Little Chute 54140.

Van Zeeland Talent LLC, Kelly J. Goetsch, 1750 Freedom Road, Little Chute 54140.

Schuh Aviation LLC, Timothy Robert Schuh, 812 Carol Lynn Dr., Little Chute 54140.

Mars Haunted House LLC, Mars Direct LLC, 233 Taylor St., Little Chute 54140.

Wright’s Electric LLC, Mark Anthony Wright, 620 Buchanan St., Little Chute 54140.

MSW Reliable Parts Specialist Inc., Michael S. Wilquet, W3152 Krueger Road, Seymour 54165.

Sustainable Construction Services LLC, Tim Skenandore, W826 County Road VV, Seymour 54165.

Winnebago County

National Slitter Rewinder Specialist LLC, Daniel Spiegel, 1161 Sterling Heights Dr., Menasha 54952.

Clear and Concise Home Inspection LLC, Mathew Miller, 1836 Jennie St., Menasha 54952.

Rustic Root Photography LLC, Alissa Maria Moro, 1265 Christopher Dr., Neenah 54956.

Always Remember Cards LLC, Scott P. Peterson, 848 Zemlock Ave., Neenah 54956.

J. Kippa Law LLC, Jeffrey Kippa, 3321 Knox Lane, Neenah 54956.

Flexotech Graphics INC., Rich Garrow, 2480 Towerview Dr., Ste. A, Neenah 54956.

Wisconsin Lake Weather LLC, Jared James Raymond, 1386 Wedgewood Lane, Neenah 54956.

Cobblestone Hotel Development LLC, Brian Wogernese, 980 American Dr., Neenah 54956.

Budd Van Lines INC., Margaret Schepis, 9071 Wesetphal Lane, Neenah 54956.

Quarry Storage INC., David Ruedinger, 2292 Harrison Ave., Omro 54963.

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WHO’S NEWS Shops At Fox River LLC, Fred Jacques, 230 Ohio St., Ste. 200, Oshkosh 54902.

The Teachers’ Closet INC., Carol J. Klabunde, 240 W. 9th Ave., Oshkosh 54902.

Rauhaus Design+Letterpress LLC, Kevin Rau, 404 N. Main St., Oshkosh 54901.

Luaders Law Office LLC, Alex Brian Luaders, 491 S. Washburn, Oshkosh 54904.

Kuettner Financial Services LLC, Cynthia A. Kuettner, 601 Oregon St., Oshkosh 54902.

Salon Bellezza LLC, Sylvia Stang, 336 Bowen St., Oshkosh 54901.

Noll Tax Services LLC, Eric James Noll, 814A Harney Ave., Oshkosh 54901.

Lou’s Brew Cafe and Lounge Inc., Laura Loukidis, 4769 Indian Bend Road, Oshkosh 54904.

Royal Window Cleaners LLC, Andy James Welsch, 100 N. Main St., Oshkosh 54901.

DTM Controls and Automation Services LLC, Timothy Franz, 1711 Liberty St., Oshkosh 54901.

Gilson Electric LLC, Todd Gilson, 410 S. 3rd Ave., Winneconne 54986.

Building permits Mercury Marine, 545 & 600 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac. $6,173,647 in total for an addition to the product development and engineering facility and for additions to the manufacturing and fabrication plants. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction of Fond du Lac. September 5.

Theda Clark Memorial Hospital, 130 Second St., Neenah. $3,809,608 for a renovation of the fourth floor south of the existing hospital. General contractor is Boldt Construction Co. of Appleton. September 13.

Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, 2231 N. Quincy St., Green Bay. $2,000,000 for upgrades to the interior infrastructure of the existing wastewater treatment facility. General contractor is Miron Construction Co. of Neenah. September 18.

McNeilus Steel, 123 E. Larsen Dr., Fond du Lac. $4,590,000 for a 96,000-sq. ft. industrial coil processing facility. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. September 21.

Schreiber Foods Inc., 400 N. Washington St., Green Bay. $28,500,500 for a multi-story corporate office building. General contractor is Gilbane Building Co. of Rhode Island. September 26.

Fox Communities Credit Union, 2525 Lineville Road, Howard. $710,000 for a 4,452-sq. ft. financial institution office building. General contractor is Smet Construction of Green Bay. September 27.

Hoffman Printing Inc., 2307 E. Glendale Ave., Appleton. $406,000 for an addition to the existing printing facility. General contractor is Delsman Construction of Reedsville. September 27.

Valley Tool Inc., 3040 N. Pointer Road, Appleton. $532,146 for an addition to the existing industrial facility. General contractor is Building Creations Inc. of Appleton. October 2.

New locations Stellar Blue Web Design LLC opened its Stellar Blue Training Studio at 1580 Lyon Dr. in Neenah. The 3,000-sq. ft. facility allows Stellar Blue to conduct educational series to clients, local businesses and students.

Teal Consulting Group LLC moved into new offices at 1127 S. Main St. NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 45

WHO’S NEWS in Oshkosh, the historic Buckstaff Company headquarters.

The firm’s phone number remains 920.744.7376.

Sunset Hill Stoneware relocated its pottery production facility from its Dale firehouse to 985 Ehlers Road in Neenah.

Mattress Firm opened a new store at N6663 Rolling Meadows Dr. in Fond du Lac. Roth

The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership relocated its office to 39 S. Marr St., Suite 103 in Fond du Lac. Aspen Dental opened a new clinic at 2388 S. Oneida St. in Green Bay. The practice is owned by Dr. Katherine Leyes, who also owns the Aspen Dental in Appleton. The clinic can be reached by calling 920.471.0767.

Mergers/acquisitions Bloedorn

Veterinarian Dr. Lowell Wickman acquired Care Hospital for Animals at 815 Witzel Ave. in Oshkosh.

Business honors Awards and honors earned by individuals are listed separately in the Who’s News section of New North B2B.

Donaldson

Graphic Design USA magazine presented American Graphic Design Awards to: Spark Advertising in Neenah, three awards for Element Mobile’s season brochure, Element Mobile’s Mobilize Energy Drink and Menasha Packaging’s Aspire Wine promotional packaging; and to Appleton-based Skyline Technologies for CoVantage Credit Union’s web site.

The Wellness Council of America presented its Gold Well Workplace Award to Fox Valley Technical College.

Probst

Green Bay-based KI was named to the 2012 InformationWeek 500 Report, marking the fifth consecutive year it earned a spot on the annual list of the nation’s most innovative users of business technology.

Fond du Lac-based National Exchange Bank & Trust received the State Bankers Promoting Financial Literacy Award from Wisconsin Bankers Association. In the past year, 48 bankers from National Exchange gave presentations on various personal finance topics.

Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp. received a Gold Excellence in Economic Development Award from the International Economic Development Council for its Innovation at Work marketing campaign in the general purpose promotion category for communities with populations of 25,000 to 200,000.

Red Barn Family Farms of Appleton was recognized as the woman-owned business Rising Star by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. during the 2012 Governor’s Conference on Minority Business Development.

New hires CitizensFirst Credit Union in Oshkosh hired Bryce Roth as director of marketing and social strategy. Roth previously worked as marketing coordinator at Vacationland Federal Credit Union in Ohio.

Northern Electric, Inc. in Green Bay hired Nicole Bloedorn as a project engineer. She previously worked with a large electrical contractor in Minneapolis.

Miron Construction Co. in Neenah hired the following new staff: Seth Madsen as a hard bid estimator; Lynne Verbruggen, Jeanne Giesen, Katie Thiel and Nicole Kortz, all as project coordinators; and Jarred Schwarz as an inventory control specialist.

Choice Bank in Oshkosh hired Janelle Donaldson as vice president of deposit operations and Patti S. Probst as a controller. Donaldson has more than 20 years experience in the banking industry, most recently as a loan and deposit operations officer at a bank in central Wisconsin. Probst has more than 25 years experience in the accounting industry.

Marian University in Fond du Lac hired Sara Lesicko and Jordan Baitinger as admission counselors in the adult and graduate program areas.

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay hired Ben Nelson as its assistant director. Nelson has 14 years of wildlife and environmental conservation experience, most recently as a wildlife biologist for the USDA-Wildlife Services in the Chicago area.

The University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac hired Yanting Liang as an assistant professor of mathematics and Michaela A. Nowell as an assistant professor of sociology.

The Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau in Appleton hired Kelly Hekler as convention sales manager. Hekler has

Nelson

Liang

Nowell

46 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

Hekler

Hendrickson

Nytes

Draws www.newnorthb2b.com

WHO’S NEWS worked in the sales and event planning industries for eight years.

CC&N in Appleton hired Mike DeYoung as a sales engineer. DeYoung has more than 20 years of project management and design experience with technology systems.

The Bank of Kaukauna hired John Hendrickson as vice president of commercial banking and Gina Nytes as assistant vice president of consumer banking. Hendrickson has more than 25 years of banking experience, having spent the last 10 years with US Bank in Appleton.

Nytes also has more than 25 years of banking experience, having worked the last two years with Unison Credit Union in Kaukauna.

Promotions Dean Haen was promoted to director of the Port and Solid Waste Department for Brown County. Haen had served as interim department head more than a year, and has been with Brown County for more than 20 years, primarily as the manager for the Port of Green Bay. The Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau in Appleton promoted Jennifer Hecht to group sales manager. Hecht focuses on selling the Fox Cities as a destination for conventions, conferences and reunions in the military and religious meetings market. She has been with the bureau since January, previously holding positions in marketing and customer service.

Marian University in Fond du Lac promoted the following staff members: Shannon LaLuzerne to dean of admission; Cheryl Hartwig to interim director of adult and graduate admission from director of the Working Families Grant program; Tracy Qualmann to director of enrollment partnerships; Andelys Bolanos to assistant director of international enrollment and study abroad programs from admission counselor; Mike Manders to e-communication manager from webmaster; Marcus Wiegert to admission counselor for undergraduate admission; Rachel Benike and Selina Scoles, both as admission counselors in the adult and graduate program areas; and Bev Compton to administrative secretary in the Adult and Graduate Admission Office.

Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin in Menasha promoted the following staff members: Jackie Draws to senior vice president of operations from chief financial officer; George Burns to vice president of facilities from director of environmental services; Nancy Heykes to vice president of development from director of development; Billie Jo Higgins to vice president of finance from director of finance; Pilar McDermott to vice president of marketing from customer satisfaction leader; Donna VanDyke to finance leader from senior financial analyst; Tina Prahl to senior accountant from accounting assistant; and Jim Kaczmarek to purchasing/facilities leader from purchasing leader.

Burns

Heykes

Higgins

The Bank of Kaukauna promoted Drew Bodway to assistant vice president of mortgage lending. Bodway joined The Bank of Kaukauna in 2011 as a mortgage lender and has more than 10 years of banking experience.

Choice Bank in Oshkosh promoted Terri Abraham to assistant vice president of loan operations.

She has more than 30 years experience in the banking industry.

Network Health in Menasha promoted David Bloedorn to vice president of information systems. Bloedorn joined Network in 1991 as its first IT employee, and has since held a variety of roles including programmer/analyst, manager of application development, director of information systems and executive director of information systems.

Bloedorn

J. F. Ahern Co. in Fond du Lac promoted Jeremy Brunhoefer to director of safety from his previous role of divisional safety manager. Brunhoefer has been with Ahern since 2005.

Brunhoefer

Certifications

Jacqui Corsi, director of marketing for Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp., earned the professional certified marketer designation from the American Marketing Association.

Business calendar New North B2B encourages businesses and organizations looking to attract interested persons to upcoming events to send an announcement to: New North B2B, Attn: Who’s News, P.O. Box 559, Oshkosh, WI 54903.

For more events, log on to www.thenewnorthevents.com.

November 1 Business over Breakfast, an event from Fox Valley Technical College Venture Center, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at D.J. Bordini Center, 5 Systems Dr. in Appleton. Cost to attend is $15 and includes breakfast. To register, call 920.735.5709 or email venture@fvtc.edu.

November 2 “Doing Business Internationally During the Economic Recovery,” a half-day seminar from the Northeast Wisconsin International Business Network, 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Fox Valley Technical College, 1825 Bluemound Dr. in Appleton. Speaker Chris Kuehl will discuss “Are We There Yet? The Illusive Economic Recovery.” Cost to attend is $30 and

McDermott

Abraham

Bodway

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 47

BUSINESS CALENDAR includes breakfast. For more information or to register, go online to www. fvtc.edu/global or call 920.735.2525.

November 7 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Just Fare Market, N7645 N. Peebles Lane, Ste. 2 in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $2 for AC members. For more information or to register, go online to www.fdlac.com or call 920.921.9500.

November 7 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce P.M. Connect, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at East Wisconsin Savings Bank, 109 W. Second St. in Kaukauna.

To register or for more information, call 920.766.1616 or go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

November 8 Women in Management – Oshkosh Chapter monthly meeting, 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Sure’s Banquet Hall, 3125 S. Washburn St. in Oshkosh.

Program is “Miss Representation.” For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org or email Patti at pshea@sheaelectricllc.com.

November 8 Business Bytes and Wine Delights, a networking event from Fox Cities/ Green Bay Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association, 5:30 to 9 p.m. at The Grand Meridian, 2621 N. Oneida St. in Appleton. Cost to attend is $20. For more information or to register, go online to www. bbwd2012.eventbrite.org.

November 13 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce A.M. Connect, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Kaukauna. To register or for more information, call 920.766.1616 or go online to www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

November 13 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Sales Club, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the chamber building, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for chamber members. For information, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

November 14 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. Program is “How to FB your Business.” For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org.

November 14 Women in Management – Green Bay Chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Best Western Midway Hotel, 780 Armed Forces Dr. in Green Bay. Program is “Membership Showcase.” For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org.

November 14 A.M. Oshkosh, a morning networking event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:45 to 9 a.m. at Wittman Regional Airport, 525 W. 20th Ave. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend, but registration is required by going online to www.oshkoshchamber.com or calling 920.303.2266.

November 14 Green Bay Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Woodside Senior Communities, 1040 Pilgrim Way in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members. For information or to register, call 920.437.8704 or email members@titletown.org.

professionals ...where

emerge as

leaders.

Thinking about getting your MBA? Learn about UW Oshkosh’s accredited MBA Program Paths: the part-time Professional MBA Path and the Saturday Executive MBA Path at an information session near you.

Nov. 6 Fond du Lac Nov. 13 Oshkosh

Nov. 14 Appleton Nov. 19 Green Bay

Each session will begin at 6 p.m.

To register for an info session, visit uwosh.edu/go/mba or call 920-424-3199 or toll-free 800-633-1430.

Holly Brenner, BBA ‘98, MBA ‘09 Director of Marketing & Business Development Agnesian HealthCare, Fond du Lac

48 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUSINESS CALENDAR November 20 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Business Connection, 5 to 7 p.m. at Society Insurance, 150 Camelot Dr. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $2 in advance or $5 at the door. For more information or to register, go online to www.fdlac.com or call 920.921.9500.

December 5 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Fox Diamond Center, N6663 Rolling Meadows Dr., Ste. 1 in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $2. For more information or to register, go online to www.fdlac.com or call 920.921.9500.

December 6 Business over Breakfast, an event from Fox Valley Technical College Venture Center, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at D.J. Bordini Center, 5 Systems Dr. in Appleton. Cost to attend is $15 and includes breakfast. To register, call 920.735.5709 or email venture@fvtc.edu.

December 11 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Sales Club, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the chamber building, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for chamber members. For information, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

December 14 Women in Management – Green Bay Chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Best Western Midway Hotel, 780 Armed Forces Dr. in Green Bay. Program is “Motivate You and Your Employees for the new Year.” For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org.

November 8 Women in Management – Oshkosh Chapter monthly meeting, 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Sure’s Banquet Hall, 3125 S. Washburn St. in Oshkosh.

Program will be the annual holiday celebration. For more information or to register for this event, go online to www.wimiwi.org or email Patti at pshea@sheaelectricllc.com.

Advertiser Index Appleton Downtown Inc. www.appletondowntown.org. ....................... 18 Bank First National www.bankfirstnational.com.................................. 33 Better Business Bureau www.wisconsin.bbb.org............................... 43 Bouwer Printing & Mailing www.bouwerprinting.com.......................... 14 Capital Credit Union www.capitalcu.com........................................ 24 CitizensFirst Credit Union www.citizensfirst.com . .............................. 9 Credit Matters, Inc. www.creditmattersinc.com.................................. 41 Davis & Kuelthau, s.c. www.dkattorneys.com..................................... 5 Digiprint www.digiprint.biz............................................................ 38 Downtown Oshkosh BID www.downtownoshkosh.com.................. 15, 42 EP Direct Printing www.ep-directprinting.com. ................................... 22 Epiphany Law www.epiphanylaw.com. .............................................. 7 Fast Signs www.fastsigns.com....................................................... 44 First Business Bank www.firstbusiness.com. .................................... 52 First National Bank ~ Fox Valley www.fnbfoxvalley.com. ................... 50 Frontier Builders & Consultants www.frontierbuildersandconsultants.com.. 29 The Grand Meridian www.thegrandmeridian.com.................................. 7 Guident Business Solutions www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com............ 33 Independence Financial LLC www.independencefinancialllc.com. .......... 41 Jackson Kahl Insurance www.jacksonkahl.com. .............................. 40 J. F. Ahern Co. www.jfahern.com. ................................................. 23

Better Business Bureau New Members

Businesses accredited through the Northeast Wisconsin office during October 2012 AutoPro & Truck Repair Inc., Green Bay Comfort Keepers, Sheboygan Dreher Collision Concepts, Fond du Lac Dunn Construction, Neshkoro Forrest Run Pet Cemetery & Cremation Service, Sherwood Heritage Craftsman, Hortonville Import Minded of Plymouth, Plymouth Iola Automotive Inc., Iola Irish Acres Pet Health, Neenah J.C. Windows & Siding LLC, Marion JDW Construction, Greenleaf Nelson Truck & Equipment Service Inc., Manitowoc Owner’s Advocate LLC, Plymouth Parkside Animal Care Center S.C., Green Bay Thorvie International LLC, Sturgeon Bay Warner Commercial Roofing LLC, Kimberly

Keller Inc. www.kellerbuilds.com. ................................................... 32 Moraine Park Technical College www.morainepark.edu....................... 9 National Exchange Bank & Trust www.nebat.com............................. 2 Network Health Plan www.networkhealth.com . ................................ 51 NEW Building & Construction Trades Council www.newbt.org.......... 16 NEW International Business Network www.fvtc.edu/newibn............... 23 NWTC Corporate Training & Economic Development www.corporatetraining.nwtc.edu......................................................... 45

OptiVision www.optivision.com...................................................... 44 Oshkosh Area Community Foundation www.oshkoshareacf.org.......... 37 Outagamie County Regional Airport www.atwairport.com. ................ 29 Rhyme www.rhymebiz.com........................................................... 43 Sadoff & Rudoy Industries www.sadoff.com..................................... 6 Security Luebke Roofing www.securityluebkerooting.com. .............. 17, 36 Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream www.stopsellingvanillaicecream.com....... 40 TEC www.tecmidwest.com. .............................................................. 8 Thome Benefit Solutions www.thomebenefitsolutions.com.................... 12 UW Oshkosh College of Business www.mba.uwosh.edu................... 48 Winnebago County Solid Waste Management www.co.winnebago.wi.us/solid-waste/container-rental-program. ..................... 13

NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012 l 49

KEY STATISTICS Per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

$3.57 October 14 $3.79 October 7 $3.86 September 30 $3.87 Oct. 21, 2011 $3.40 October 21

Source: New North B2B observations

September

$412.9 billion

1.1%

from August

5.4%

from September 2011

September

September

97.0

15.0%

0.4%

from August

from August

34.8%

September

1.1%

(2007 = 100)

872,000

from September 2011

Appleton Fond du Lac Green Bay Neenah Oshkosh Wisconsin

2.8%

from September 2011 (Manufacturers and trade)

August

$1,602 billion

from August

0.6%

from September 2011

0.6%

from July

5.3%

August July Aug. ‘11 8.3% 7.8% 9.0% 8.6% 7.5% 7.1%

8.7% 8.3% 9.4% 9.4% 7.6% 7.4%

8.8% 8.8% 9.7% 8.5% 7.6% 7.3%

Prices for small businesses using less than 20,000 therms.

Listed price is per therm.

$0.606 September $0.564 Oct. 2011 $0.729 October

Source: Integrys Energy (Numbers above 50 mean expansion. Numbers below 50 mean contraction.)

September August

51.5 49.6

from August 2011

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

Thank You for making us the

Top SBA Lender Federal Fiscal Year 2011

First National Bank – Fox Valley is recognized as the Top SBA Lender in Wisconsin (among similarly sized banks)

assisting many small to medium sized businesses throughout the Fox Whether you’re starting a newValley ventureby orproviding growing flexible borrowing terms and conditions an existing business, you deserve customized

through Small Business Administration solutions from �inancial professionals thatLoans. can “Iprovide want to congratulate Firstresults National your Bank-Fox Valley for their exceptional year you with the business needs. of providing financing to Small Business. They have been able to provide the capital for businesses to start, grow and provide jobs.”

Contact Eric Ness First

National Bank – Fox Valley

District Director for the US Small Business Administration Wisconsin District IQEIR[YDOOH\ FRP (TXDO +RXVLQJ /HQGHU 0HPEHU )',&

50 l NEW NORTH B2B l NOVEMBER 2012

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We focus exclusively on businesses and individuals with sophisticated needs.

We help our clients achieve success, which in return leads to our success.

In fact, First Business reported record net income of $8.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Visit www.firstbusiness. com for details or call us today to see how we can help you.

(L-R) Mickey Noone, President Will Deppiesse, Vice President First Business Bank - Northeast

Y O U R S U C C E S S C O M E S F I R S T. Member FDIC

www.firstbusiness.com

Commercial Lending : Treasury Management : Equipment Finance : Asset-based Lending : Trust & Investments : Private Banking

Fox Cities: 920-734-1800 Oshkosh: 920-231-2400 Green Bay: 920-435-5442