September2013 by New North B2B

B U I L D I N G

green Environmentally-conscious construction remains en vogue, but it still needs to make economic sense

Farm to Plate

AgriBusiness

Wellness Champions

From the Publisher

September 2013 $3.95

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 66 OSHKOSH, WI

Grow

Our commercial lenders are here to make it easy for you to grow • Quick response while working with decision makers • $20 million loan availability with no geographic restrictions • Business Internet Banking customized to your needs • Personalized service to choose the ultimate business package

www.nebat.com • (877) 921-7700 • 130 S. Main Street, Fond du Lac

Member FDIC

Intelligent Business Reporting for the New North

new north b2b September 2013

Features

20 COVER STORY ❘ Building Green ❘ Green construction remains en vogue but still needs to made economic sense 24 FIREFIGHTERS PROGRESS REPORT ❘ Firefighter Surprise ❘ Final wrap-up to our 2013 business owner makeovers 30 AGRIBUSINESS ❘ Old MacDonald Had a Farm Store ❘ Retail shops, restaurants popping up on New North farms

Departments

4 From the Publisher 5, 32 Professionally Speaking 6 Since We Last Met 10 Corporate Earnings 14 Build Up Pages 38 Who’s News 44 Business Calendar 45 Advertiser Index 46 Key Statistics

On our Cover

Illustration by New North B2B.

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 3

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Fox Cities area employers represent extraordinary amount of WELCOA winners nationally

Sean Fitzgerald New North B2B Publisher

Astonishing Wellness

To the rest of the country, the Fox Valley region would hardly seem like a bastion of employer-sponsored wellness. In fact, most of us here in northeast Wisconsin wouldn’t think so either. Sure we’ve heard about wellness plans more in the past five years than we might have a decade ago. Perhaps your company offers such a program. And hopefully you’ve read the past eight years of Alla tua Salute! articles in New North B2B magazine, a recognition of the healthiest employers with the most innovative wellness programs across northeast Wisconsin. While the region is more well known for its manufacturing, paper, printing and agribusiness capabilities, the following nugget of unheralded good news caught my attention a few weeks ago. Annually the Wellness Council of America, known in short form as WELCOA, presents its Well Workplace Awards to only select employers across the country who meet stringent standards in the commitment to the health and well being of its employees. It’s the leading recognition in the U.S. for employer-based wellness programming, and highly sought after from organizations who’ve discovered the benefits of placing meaningful resources into health and wellness programming. In all, WELCOA honored 49 employers nationally during 2013, with a total of 21 of those employers based out of the Fox Cities, and a total altogether of 28 recipients representing Wisconsin-based employers. Of the 11 Platinum Well Workplace Awards presented nationwide – the highest possible achievement from WELCOA in terms of workplace wellness – eight were awarded to Wisconsin-based employers, including three from the Fox Cities: ♥ J. J. Keller & Associates, Neenah ♥ ThedaCare, Appleton ♥ Network Health, Menasha Of the 33 Gold Well Workplace Awards presented nationally during 2013, a grand total of 19 were awarded to Wisconsin companies, including an astonishing 16 recipients – nearly half – representing the following Fox Valley employers: ♥ Appleton School District ♥ Azco Inc., Appleton ♥ Bassett Mechanical, Kaukauna ♥ Galloway Company, Neenah ♥ Cypress Benefit Administrators, Appleton

4 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

♥ Bemis Company, Neenah ♥ School Specialty Inc., Greenville ♥ City of Appleton ♥ The Boldt Company, Appleton ♥ Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Appleton ♥ Faith Technologies Inc., Menasha ♥ YMCA of the Fox Cities ♥ U.S. Venture Inc., Kimberly ♥ Associated Financial Group, Kimberly ♥ TIDI Products, Neenah ♥ Neenah Joint School District Silver-level recognition is nothing to sneeze at either, and only two awards were presented nationally at this level, including one to Surface Mount Technology in Appleton. A separate category for small business recognition presented Well Workplace Awards to three employers in the U.S., including United Way Fox Cities. An unusually high amount for one region, certainly, but no one here in the New North is calling out shenanigans on the award selection process. So why all of the astonishing recognition in one healthy dose? The primary reason is the success of the Well City Fox Cities initiative, a 3-year-old collaborative effort among 44 Fox Cities area employers raising the bar together on quality workplace wellness programming. Those employers cummulatively represent more than 20 percent of the estimated workforce of the Fox Cities, the number necessary to qualify under WELCOA guidelines as a Well City, an accomplishment designated upon only seven communities in the U.S. to date. Interestingly, the 21 Fox Cities employers recognized by WELCOA in 2013 are joined by another15 employers in the Fox Cities who’ve already earned Well Workplace Awards in previous years, making an already noteworthy community-wide movement toward corporate wellness even more impressive. Well City Fox Cities is working in that it’s fostering an even broader culture of attention to health and wellness across the area. And data is already beginning to support these efforts in the way of fewer worker sick days, fewer chronic health concerns among employees, and better control of health insurance premium rate increases year over year. Similar community-wide initiatives are underway in the Greater Green Bay area, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac. Might they someday achieve the same success as these Fox Cities employers?

www.newnorthb2b.com

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

Internet Protection may be coming... 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: Where is Wisconsin in regard to the protection of “access information” associated with Internet-based accounts? Tony Renning: Current law does not regulate employer access to, or observation of, the personal Internet accounts of employees and applicants for employment. However, Wisconsin is joining a number of states who have passed or are considering passing legislation banning employers from asking employees or applicants for password/security information to an Internet-based account. Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 218 (introduced Aug. 19, 2013) proposes to prohibit an employer from: (1) requesting or requiring an employee or applicant for employment to disclose user name and password or any other security information that protects access to an Internet-based account that is created and used exclusively for purposes of personal communications of the employee or applicant or to otherwise grant access to or allow observation of that account; (2) discharging, expelling, suspending,

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

disciplining or otherwise penalizing or discriminating against an employee for exercising the right to refuse to disclose access information or to otherwise grant that access or allow observation, opposing such a practice, filing a complaint or attempting to enforce that right or testifying or assisting in any action or proceeding to enforce that right; and (3) refusing to hire an applicant for employment because the applicant or prospective applicant refused to disclose that access information or otherwise grant that access or allow that observation. The proposed legislation permits an employer to view, access or use information about an employee or applicant for employment that can be obtained without access information or that is available from the public domain. The proposed legislation also permits an employer to request or require an applicant to disclose access information to the employer to gain access to an account or service provided by the employer, obtained by virtue of the employment relationship or used for business purposes. While Internet-based accounts may contain

interesting and informative information about an employee or applicant, given the potential exposure to liability, a prudent employer should tread carefully to ensure their hiring and retention practices do not unlawfully discriminate based on information available through such accounts. For advice and counsel concerning the legal pitfalls associated with accessing and using Internet-based account information, contact Tony Renning at (920) 232-4842 or 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

NEW NORTH B2B is published monthly by WINNEBAGO B2B LLC for $20 per year or $3.95 for a single issue. 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 2013.

Fox Cities

Oshkosh

Fond du Lac NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 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.

July 22

July 23

The Menasha Board of Education hired former Shiocton administrator Chris L. VanderHeyden as its new superintendent. He succeeds Robert Kobylski, who left the top position in the district to serve as superintendent of Nicolet Union School District in the northeast suburbs of Milwaukee.

July 22 Greenville-based School Specialty, Inc. announced Michael Lavelle resigned as president and chief executive officer, but offered no reason for his departure. The supplier of educational products recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, which Lavelle successfully led the company through. James Henderson, chairman of the board of directors for School Specialty, will serve as the company’s interim chief executive officer while a search process is conducted to find a permanent replacement.

July 22 The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill allowing trucks currently carrying loads greater than 80,000 pounds and operating on U.S. Highway 41 in Wisconsin to continue operating on the road when it’s converted to Interstate status. The federal Interstate system has a load limit of 40 tons per vehicle, which presented an issue in converting U.S. 41 in most of Wisconsin to an Interstate, even though the roadway has been constructed to accommodate much heavier loads and has allowed vehicles up to 100,000 pounds to operate on the corridor for several years. The measure still requires approval from the U.S. Senate and President Obama.

Gov. Scott Walker signed Assembly Bill 179 into law requiring Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board members and employees to notify its legal counsel if they hold direct or indirect financial interest in a company negotiating, bidding on or entering into a contract with WEDC. Board members would be required to abstain from matters in which they have a conflict of interest. The new law also prohibits WEDC from entering into any contract with an entity in which a board member or employee has a controlling interest.

July 26 Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship program grant awards totaling $1.86 million were appropriated to 31 regional consortia across the state to train high school juniors and seniors for in-demand careers. Local awards for the 2013-14 academic year include: CESA 6, $136,863; Fond du Lac School-to-Work Consortium, $82,512; and Green Bay Area Partners In Education, $54,896.

July 30 The Green Bay Common Council approved selling the Clarion Hotel it owns downtown on Main Street for $2.7 million to American Hospitality Management, the firm currently operating the property. American Hospitality plans to invest $5.3 million in upgrades to the 146-room hotel. The city acquired the property this past spring when it entered receivership as a means of ensuring the city could proceed with plans to expand the nearby KI Convention Center, which would be partially developed above the parking lot of the hotel and use a skywalk to connect the hotel with the convention center.

2003

2010

September 17 – The 53-member Fond du Lac Area Business on Health coalition joined Madison-based The Alliance and the Wisconsin Education Association Trust to create the Wisconsin Drug Purchasing Pool, or Wisconsin Rx for short. The drug purchasing pool will be open to all state businesses and is expected to save businesses 1 to 2 percent on pharmaceutical purchasing costs during the first year of operation.

September 15 – The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh broke ground on the nation’s first commercial-scale dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester, located next to the existing Campus Services Center. The project is funded with grants of $232,587 from Wisconsin Focus on Energy and $500,000 from the federal government. The renewable energy facility will include heat and power generators, which will produce up to 10 percent of the campus’s electricity and heat once it’s operational.

6 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

2007 September 20 – Little Chute Windmill Inc. asked the village permission to relocate its proposed $2.5 million windmill construction project from the 100 Block of Main Street to Island Park along the Fox River.

www.newnorthb2b.com

SINCE WE LAST MET The city weighed the offer from American Hospitality against a competing bid from a Michigan investment firm proposing a $33 million, 16-story multi-purpose development for the site. The city plans to begin the convention center expansion before the end of this year.

July 30 Outagamie and Winnebago counties were among 20 Wisconsin counties who sent a letter to Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Kitty Rhoades citing their intent to deal directly with the federal government in seeking the increased Medicaid funds the state turned down and asking the state be only a conduit for the federal funds. Earlier this year, Wisconsin’s Legislature rejected $12 billion in federal Medicaid money over a 10-year period to help provide health care for low-income residents. The effort is based upon a project in Cleveland in which additional Medicaid funds were allocated to the county after passing through the State of Ohio, which similarly turned down Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

July 30 University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly announced he would resign by the end of 2013 to take a position advising the American Council on Education. Reilly was appointed to the position in 2004 after serving four years as chancellor of the UW-Extension network. A national search for a replacement is underway and expected to yield a selected candidate by spring 2014.

August 2 The U.S. Department of Labor reported 162,000 new jobs were created across the country in July, dropping the national unemployment rate to 7.4 percent. Employment increased in retail trade, food services and drinking places, financial activities and wholesale trade.

August 5 Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh announced attendance for its annual AirVenture convention was about 500,000, which officials indicated was even with 2012. Officials had noted concern regarding any potential impact on attendance from the lack of military aircraft participation – a longstanding staple of the event – as a result of federal government sequestration.

August 5 Fox Cities Exhibition Center, the group attempting to put together a new expo center in downtown Appleton, and LNR Partners, the Florida investment firm which owns the downtown Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, reached an agreement to operate the proposed exhibition center for 25 years. Such a management agreement was a critical piece to the puzzle of the proposed exhibition center project, particularly after the hotel went into receivership in late 2012 and was sold at sheriff’s auction to LNR Partners, the largest creditor to the facility. Because LNR isn’t in the hospitality industry, community leaders noted some uncertainty regarding the

Maneuvering through a challenging economy? Navigating the rapid pace of change? Attracting top talent?

Bring it on!

“

I want to make sure my team is prepared for success — no matter what the challenges.

PERFORMANCE-MINDED BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

training@morainepark.edu 920-924-3449 morainepark.edu/training

PERFORMANCE-MINDED Six Sigma I LeadershipBUSINESS & SupervisionSOLUTIONS I Technical Skills I Customized Training Solutions I Strategic Development NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 7

SINCE WE LAST MET investment firm’s long-term intentions with the Paper Valley, though such concerns have since been allayed. Discussions remain ongoing between city and Outagamie County officials to acquire a nearby county-owned parking lot on which much of the proposed convention center would be constructed.

August 6 Village of Hortonville officials learned a proposed expansion of State Road 15 to a four-lane, divided highway between New London and Greenville will be delayed to a 2018-20 timeframe as opposed to the previously anticipated 2016-18 timeline due to expected shortfalls in state highway funding. The estimated $115 million project includes a bypass to the north of Hortonville.

August 6

4.2 The percent increase in general purpose tax collections in Wisconsin during fiscal 2013, up from $13.51 billion in FY 2012 to $14.09 billion for the 12-month period ended on June 30, 2013. Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue

Officials from St. Mary’s Springs Academy in Fond du Lac announced a $21.3 million campaign to construct a new 3K through 8th grade campus near the current high school on Fond du Lac’s far east side. The Catholic parochial school system indicated it’s already raised $15.4 million toward the campaign, which will also set aside funds for financial aid and student bussing from distant outlying areas.

August 6 The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. approved WeMontage of Neenah as eligible to receive early stage tax credits through the state’s Qualified News Business Venture tax credit program, which allows investors in the online image web site eligible for a 25 percent tax credit on the amount they invest in the business.

August 7 Violent thunderstorms, straightline winds exceeding 100 miles per hour and six confirmed tornadoes swept through Outagamie County, downing powerlines and causing an estimated $31 million in damage to thousands of trees and structures across the Fox Cities. More than 70,000 electrical utility customers were without power across the region for a few days. Outagamie County was declared a disaster area by the federal government, allowing business and home owners affected by the storms eligible for low-interest loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration to help cover repair costs and income loss that isn’t otherwise covered by insurance.

August 9 Lawrence University in Appleton received a $250,000 gift from Stevens Point-based Sentry Insurance Foundation in honor of retiring Sentry Chairman Dale Schuh, a Lawrence alumnus who worked more than 40 years with the insurance carrier. Schuh has served on Lawrence’s Board of Trustees since 2008, and led the effort to select and recruit Mark Burstein, who took the helm as Lawrence University president this past July.

August 12 Convergys announced plans to hire 145 employees at its office in Greenville to accommodate growing demand from its clients in the telecommunications and technology industries. 8 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

The new positions include 120 in sales and customer service and 25 sales account managers.

August 14 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. launched its new Idle Industrial Site Redevelopment Program providing grants of up to $1 million to communities for redevelopment of industrial sites larger than 10 acres that have been idle, abandoned or underutilized for at least five years or more. The agency is making a total of $3 million in grants available annually to be used for demolition, environmental remediation or site-specific improvements defined in the community’s redevelopment plan.

August 19 Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials indicated the proposed expansion of State Road 23 to a four-lane, divided highway between Fond du Lac and Plymouth won’t begin until 2018 – a three-year delay from the previous start date of 2015 – due to expected shortfalls in state highway funding and a continuing legal battle with 1000 Friends of Wisconsin who opposes the highway expansion. The threeyear, estimated $140 million project was originally scheduled to begin work in 2013, but faced an initial delay to the start of the project announced in 2010.

August 20 The City of Green Bay Common Council approved $2.3 million in tax incremental financing toward Middleton-based T. Wall Enterprises’ development of a five-story, 84-unit riverfront apartment tower at the downtown corner of Main and Washington streets. Known as City Deck Commons, the $10 million construction project is expected to begin later this year and could be completed by summer 2014.

www.newnorthb2b.com

Radio station in over 30 key adult categories across the Fox Cities and Green Bay.*

Thank you to our: Avenue members k Corporate Sponsors Marketing Agencies k Nonprofits

Your loyalty and support has made us the fastest growing adult station across Northeast Wisconsin.

Join us! Call 1-920-271-2700 and ask for Brad Langley or email bradl@avenueradio.com

*Eastlan 2013 Spring Ratings

CORPORATE EARNINGS

Once each quarter, New North B2B runs a digest of quarterly financial reports from local publicly traded companies, or from out-of-the-area parent companies with significant operations in the greater Fox Valley region.

Associated Banc Corp. Income EPS

2Q 2013 $47 million 28 cents

2Q 2012 $42 million s 12% 24 cents s 17%

The Green Bay-based financial institution reported its mortgage banking business posted a record quarter between April and June. During the quarter, the company repurchased about 2 million shares of stock for nearly $30 million, or an average cost of $15.09 per share.

VF Corp. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $2.2 Billion $138 million $1.24

2Q 2012 $2.1 Billion s 4% $155 million t 11% $1.40 t 11%

The parent company of Jansport operations in the Fox Cities reported revenues in its Outdoor & Action Sports segment – which includes Jansport – increased 6 percent to $1.1 billion, representing 50 percent of total company sales in the quarter. Sales increased both domestically and internationally, as well as among both its wholesale and direct-toconsumer channels.

Plexus Corp. Kimberly-Clark Corp. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $5.3 Billion $526 million $1.36

2Q 2012 $5.3 Billion Even $498 million s 6% $1.26 s 8%

The manufacturer of consumer paper and tissue products with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported nearly $80 million of cost savings during the quarter, offsetting $15 million of higher raw material fiber costs during the quarter and a $10 million increase in energy costs.

Revenue Income EPS

3Q 2013 $572 million $23.2 million 68 cents

3Q 2012 $609 million t 6% $23.5 million t 1% 66 cents s 3%

The Neenah-based contract electronics manufacturer reported it’s completed production during the quarter of its projects for Juniper, for a long time the company’s largest customer which recently discontinued its relationship with Plexus. As a result, company officials said they anticipate a meaningful sequential decline in revenue in its fiscal first quarter 2014, but noted it did win 28 new contracts in its manufacturing solutions group during the most recent quarter.

Bemis Company Inc. Illinois Tool Works Inc. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $4.2 Billion $465 million $1.03

2Q 2012 $4.5 Billion t 5% $881 million t 47% $1.85 t 44%

The parent company of Miller Electric Manufacturing operations across the Fox Cities reported North American sales decreased slightly during the quarter as a result of softer end markets across several industry sectors, including welding. The company’s lower earnings stem from extraordinary income during the same quarter 2012 from the sale of its decorative surfaces business.

10 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $1.3 Billion $53.1 million 51 cents

2Q 2012 $1.3 Billion t 1% $42.3 million s 26% 40 cents s 28%

The Neenah-based supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials reported it closed the last of nine plants this past May as part of its facility consolidation program announced more than a year ago. During the quarter the company also sold its Clysar thin gauge shrink film operations to a New York-based private investment firm, which is closing down corporate and administrative operations in Oshkosh and moving those functions to Iowa.

www.newnorthb2b.com

CORPORATE EARNINGS

Brunswick Corp. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $1.1 Billion $80.4 million 86 cents

2Q 2012 $1.1 Billion s 4% $83.6 million t 4% 90 cents t 4%

The parent company of Mercury Marine operations in Fond du Lac reported revenue growth in the quarter was led by its outboard marine products segment, which increased sales 7 percent to $632 million. The segment reported operating earnings increased 14 percent to $119 million.

Tufco Technologies Inc. Revenue Income EPS

3Q 2013 $24.8 million $845,000 20 cents

3Q 2012 $28.5 million t13% $647,000 s 31% 15 cents s 33%

The Green Bay-based contract paper converter and specialty printer improved its profitability during the first nine months of fiscal 2013 and reduced its bank debt by more than $5 million during the past three fiscal quarters.

Humana Inc. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $10.3 Billion $420 million $2.63

2Q 2012 $9.7 Billion s 6% $356 million s 18% $2.16 s 22%

The health and benefits company with extensive operations in the Green Bay area reported results exceeded management’s expectations of $2.40 to $2.50 per share primarily due to strong operating performance in its retail segment, which increased income by 14 percent, and its employer group segment, which increased income by 9 percent. In making the announcement, company officials raised full year 2013 earnings guidance to a range of $8.65 to $8.75 per share.

First Business Financial Services Inc. Income EPS

2Q 2013 $3.1 million 80 cents

2Q 2012 $1.6 million s 100% 60 cents s 33%

The commercial-oriented financial institution serving Madison, Milwaukee and northeast Wisconsin reported its average loans and leases grew for the fifth consecutive quarter to a record $931 million, an increase of $88 million, or 10 percent, from the second quarter 2012. The bank also reduced its nonperforming assets by 25 percent to $11.8 million, marking the first time since early 2008 that its nonperforming assets were less than 1 percent of total bank assets.

Oshkosh Corp. Revenue Income EPS

3Q 2013 $2.2 Billion $149 million $1.67

3Q 2012 $2.2 Billion s 2% $75.7 million s 97% 82 cents s 104%

The manufacturer of specialty vehicles indicated higher sales in the company’s access equipment segment of 15 percent helped offset an expected decline in defense segment sales of 8 percent to $880 million. Access equipment segment sales of $942 million increased primarily from higher replacement demand in North America.

Dean Foods Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $2.2 Billion ($56.9 million) (30 cents)

2Q 2012 $2.2 Billion Even $56.2 million t201% 30 cents t 200%

The dairy-based foods company with extensive operations in Wisconsin, including the Green Bay area, reported it’s closed or announced the closure of eight manufacturing facilities since Dean’s accelerated cost reduction initiative began in the fourth quarter 2012 with a target of achieving $120 million of cost savings during 2013.

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 11

CORPORATE EARNINGS

Bank First Income EPS

2Q 2013 $3.2 million 49 cents

2Q 2012 $2.9 million s 10% 44 cents s 11%

The Manitowoc-based financial institution with significant operations across northeast Wisconsin reported 11 percent overall loan growth, as well as a 7 percent gain on the sale of its mortgage loans during the quarter.

2Q 2013 $212 million $12.8 million 77 cents

Integrys Energy Group Inc. Revenue Income EPS

Neenah Paper Revenue Income EPS

The papermaker with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported revenue from its technical products segment decreased nearly 1 percent to $106 million due to declining sales of industrial products which reflected weaker economic conditions outside the U.S.

2Q 2012 $212 million Even $12.7 million s <1% 77 cents Even

Relax.

We’ve got you covered. For all your commercial, industrial, and institutional roofing needs.

2Q 2013 $1.1 Billion ($5.4 million) (7 cents)

2Q 2012 $840 million s 32% $48.8 million t 111% 62 cents t 111%

The parent company of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. operations across northeast and northcentral Wisconsin reported its adjusted earnings climbed 65 percent on the quarter as a result of higher margins in its natural gas utility segment, resulting from the unusually warm weather during the second quarter 2012 which drove volumes

The financial future of your company depends on decisions you make today

“I have found Guident to be an invaluable resource when it comes to making sense of the business machine…that there is a sensible business strategy for every business climate.” D.N. — President Sure Dry Basement Systems, Inc.

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

www.wiroofer.com

12 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

920.427.5077 www.guidentbusiness.com www.newnorthb2b.com

CORPORATE EARNINGS

lower. Without earnings adjustments, the company’s loss for the quarter resulted from derivative fair value adjustments, which relate to contracts used to reduce price risk.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $2.6 Billion $65.4 million 36 cents

2Q 2012 $2.5 Billion s 2% $88.8 million t 26% 49 cents t 27%

The printing company with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported second quarter net earnings were impacted by $25.4 million in charges for restructuring, non-cash impairment and acquisition-related expenses and losses on investments.

Blyth Inc. Revenue Income EPS

2Q 2013 $212 million ($3.2 million) (20 cents)

2Q 2012 $309 million t 31% $8.0 million t140% 46 cents t143%

The parent company of Miles Kimball Co. operations in Oshkosh reported a 47 percent drop in sales in its health and wellness segment, which accounted for much of the overall decline in sales for the quarter. The loss attributed to shareholders included $1.8 million paid in dividends to certain investors of ViSalus. The company’s catalog and Internet segment – which includes Miles Kimball operations – recorded a 4 percent growth in sales to $32.4 million.

Appvion Revenue Income

2Q 2013 $202 million ($18.9 million)

2Q 2012 $214 million t 6% ($47.0 million)s 60%

WHo’s managing YOUr data?

The employee-owned producer of thermal papers – formerly known as Appleton Papers – reported receipts of its thermal papers increased 5 percent during the quarter as did sales in its Encapsys segment, though sales of its carbonless papers were down 17 percent partially as a result of discontinuing sales to certain non-strategic international markets.

Alliance Laundry Systems Revenue Income

2Q 2013 $142 million $10.0 million

2Q 2012 $129 million s 10% $6.0 million s 67%

The Ripon-based manufacturer of commercial and residential laundry equipment indicated its revenue growth was primarily attributed to growth in U.S. and Canada sales of $11.2 million, driven most notably from its on-premise laundry customers.

Gain some peace of mind and bring your hosting & other infrastructure needs to Netsonic, a 100% privately owned datacenter, here in Green Bay, WI. Our datacenter offers advanced services such as: Cloud Servers Colocation Dedicated Servers CDN Anycast DNS

[

s u l l a c today!

]

http://www.netsonic.net/getseen 920-432-0360 • 1263 Main Street, Suite 123

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 13

BUILD UP FOND DU LAC 1&2

3 8

4 5 6

Build Up Fond du Lac

1 - 700 Stanton St., Ripon, Alliance Laundry, a 20,000sq. ft. addition for assembly, metal stamping and a press shop. Project completion expected in September.

- 790 Eastgate Dr., Ripon, Ripon Medical Center, a 120,000-sq. ft. hospital and medical office building. Project completion expected in January 2014.

800 Block W. Johnson St., Fond du Lac, C Panda Express, a new restaurant building.

- 545 & 560 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac, Mercury Marine, an addition to the product development and engineering facility and separate additions to its manufacturing and fabrication plants. Project completion expected in December.

5 - 1056 S. Main St., Fond du Lac, C RMM Investments, a new office building.

6 - 100 Camelot Dr., Fond du Lac, C Excel Engineering, an addition to the existing office building.

Get paid for your recyclables.

ARE YOU

THROWING AWAY

PROFITS?

Manufacturers across Northeast Wisconsin are wasting money by landfilling valuable material. Our comprehensive [CO+] Efficient Program will improve your recycling process and add to your bottom-line. For a free consultation, call Glen Laehn at 1-800-236-5700 today! Green Bay • Manitowoc • Sheboygan • Berlin • Oshkosh • Fond du Lac

• Container services • Custom recycling programs • Dedicated dispatch • Material security • Environmental protection • “Down To Earth” recycling

www.Sadoff.com

SR00-1012 Revised_Manufacturing ad_Final.indd 1

14 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

...and more

10/10/12 9:28 AM

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUILD UP OSHKOSH 9

C - Indicates a new listing

1674 Fox Ridge Dr., Fond du Lac, Con-way Freight, a 47,000-sq. ft. freight terminal and service center. Project completion expected in March 2014.

8 - 20 Wisconsin-American Dr., Fond du Lac,

Immanuel Trinity Lutheran Church, an addition to the sanctuary of the existing church building.

Build Up Oshkosh 9

- 2017 Jackson St., Oshkosh, Family Dollar, a new retail store.

10 - 625 Pearl Ave., Oshkosh, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Welcome and Conference Center, a twostory, 40,000-sq. ft. welcome center and meeting facility. Project completion expected in December.

12 11 - 1736 W. 9th Ave., Oshkosh, CVS Pharmacy, a new retail pharmacy building. 12 - 4800 Fahrnwald, town of Black Wolf, C Jesuit Retreat House, a 36,314-sq. ft. retreat facility and remodel of an existing building on the campus. Project completion expected in September. General contractor is Bayland Buildings Inc. of Green Bay. Projects completed since our August issue: • Buffalo Wild Wings, 121 N. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac. • Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts, 51 Sheboygan Street, Fond du Lac. • Fruth Field, FdL School District, 71 W. 9th St., Fond du Lac. • McNeilus Steel, 123 E. Larsen Dr., Fond du Lac. • Oaklawn Elementary School, 112 Viola St., Oshkosh.

Coming to B2B in October Entrepreneurship

Experiences from a handful of “accelerated” start ups in the region

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 15

BUILD UP FOX CITIES Build Up Fox Cities The Build Up department of New North B2B includes a monthly two-page spread identifying significant commercial and industrial construction projects ongoing in the Fox Cities area. C - Indicates a new listing

12 - 1101 Moasis Dr., Little Chute,

13 - 2600 E. Philip Lane, Appleton, Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, an addition to the existing church building.

- W6400 County Road BB, town of Greenville, Fox Valley Technical College Public Safety Training Center, a 93,000sq. ft. training facility for fire protection and law enforcement personnel. Project completion expected in December 2014.

- 1900 Prospect Ct., town of Grand Chute, WaterRight, a two-story, 33,044-sq. ft. addition to and alterations of the existing industrial facility.

3 - 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute, Fox Valley Technical College Transportation Center, a 43,486-sq. ft. addition to the existing transportation education center. Project completion expected in late fall.

4 - 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute, Fox Valley Technical College Student Success Center, a two-story, 96,750-sq. ft. academic building. Project completion expected in fall 2014. 5 - 1025 W. Navitus Dr., town of Grand Chute,

Navitus Health Solutions, a three-story, 68,600-sq. ft. new office building. Project completion expected in September.

6 - 1910 E. Capitol Dr., Appleton,

Grand Central Station, an 8,970-sq. ft. convenience store and fuel station. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

7 - 2120 E. Edgewood Dr., Appleton,

Kwik Trip, a 9,821sq. ft. convenience store, fuel station canopy and a 2,790-sq. ft. car wash.

N2749 French Road, Freedom, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church & School, a 34,655-sq. ft. addition to the existing church and school for new classrooms, kitchen, cafeteria and offices. Project completion expected in early 2014. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

9 - 2929 W. Evergreen Dr., Little Chute,

Eagle Plastics, a 40,750-sq. ft. manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

- 340 Patriot Dr., Little Chute, Green Stone Farm Credit Services, a two-story, 21,000-sq. ft. office building. Project completion expected in September.

11 - 201 Patriot Dr., Little Chute,

C Kidzland Child Care Center, a 10,178-sq. ft. daycare facility.

16 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

Victor Allen’s Coffee, an addition of office and warehousing space to the existing distribution facility. Project completion expected in late September. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

14 - 1506 S. Oneida St., Appleton, St. Elizabeth Hospital, a five-story, 90-bed patient tower, as well as renovations to the cancer center and behavioral health. 15 - 1465 Opportunity Way, Menasha,

C Community Clothes Closet, a 9,117-sq. ft. warehouse and office addition to the existing nonprofit facility. Project completion expected in November. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

- 550 S. Green Bay Road, Neenah, First National Bank Fox Valley, an 8,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing financial institution. Project completion expected in the fall.

17 - 601 S. Commercial St., Neenah, Galloway Company, a 29,077-sq. ft. addition to the existing dairy processing facility.

18 - 2255 Brooks Ave., Neenah,

Promo Edge Company, a 25,585-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility. General contractor is Bayland Buildings Inc. of Green Bay.

19 - 2444 Schultz Dr., Neenah, Plexus Corp., a 473,369sq. ft. manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in late fall.

20 - W647 Knight Dr., Sherwood, C Dick’s Family Foods, a 20,598-sq. ft. grocery store building. Project completion expected in March 2014. General contractor is Bayland Buildings Inc. of Green Bay. Projects completed since our August issue: • Outagamie County Regional Airport General Aviation Terminal, W6390 Challenger Dr., town of Greenville. • Fox Valley Technical College Health Simulation and Technology Center, 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute. • Fox Valley Technical College Agricultural Center, 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute. • Dollar Tree, 421 W. Northland Ave., Appleton.

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUILD UP FOX CITIES 7&8 5

10 & 11 12

3&4

14 13

16 17 18 & 19

Get the

scoop on projects Free Trial at BXWI.com

W2518 Cty Rd JJ Appleton WI 54913 920.687.8782

Information is your most powerful tool

11331 W. Rogers St. Milwaukee WI 53227 414.763.1520 your best source for commercial construction info

x 24/7

on-line plan room access x over

4000

projects reported on annually

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 17

BUILD UP GREATER GREEN BAY Build Up Green Bay The Build Up department of New North B2B includes a monthly two-page spread identifying significant commercial and industrial construction projects ongoing in the Green Bay area. C - Indicates a new listing

1 - 2380 Dousman St., Howard, Nicolet National Bank, an addition and alterations to the existing bank building. 2 - 2641 Packerland Dr., Howard,

Hattiesburg Paper Company, an addition to the

existing industrial facility.

3 - 1871 Shawano Ave., Green Bay,

C Kwik Trip Stores, a 540-sq. ft. addition and alteration to the existing convenience store.

4 - 2325 Hutson Road, Green Bay,

C B&J Builders Supply and Service, a 21,000sq. ft. warehouse, offices and mezzanine. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

5 - 2522 W. Mason St., Green Bay, Oneida Mason Street Casino, an 8,000sq. ft. expansion of the existing facility to accommodate an on-site restaurant. Project completion expected in May 2014. 6 - 400 N. Washington St., Green Bay, Schreiber Foods Inc., a five-story, 250,000sq. ft. corporate headquarters building. Project completion expected in early 2014.

3050 Walker Dr., Green Bay, AK Pizza Crust, a 48,036-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

- 955 Challenger Dr., Green Bay, EuroPharma, an 11,700-sq. ft. addition to the existing packaging and warehouse facility. Project completion expected in October. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

- 2357 Costco Way, Bellevue, Costco Wholesale, a 150,000-sq. ft. retail store, including a separate tire center and fuel station.

10 - 2351 Holmgren Way, Ashwaubenon, Gordmans, a 50,320-sq. ft. department store. Project completion expected in September. 11 - 2441 Holmgren Way, Ashwaubenon,

Amish Home Gallery, a 12,000-sq. ft. retail building. Project completion expected in September. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

12 - 2020 Airport Dr., Ashwaubenon, Oneida Main Casino, an expansion and renovation of the existing casino to accommodate another on-site restaurant and additional gaming. Project completion expected in April 2014. 13 - Label Drive, Ashwaubenon,

C Green Bay Packaging Inc., a 240,000-sq. ft. coated products manufacturing facility. Project completion expectd in late 2014.

14 -

100 Grant St., De Pere, St. Norbert College Gehl-Mulva Science Center, a 150,000-sq. ft. education and research facility which will jointly house the Medical College of Wisconsinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Green Bay campus. Project completion expected in spring 2015.

15 - 875 Lawrence Dr., De Pere, Cummins Fire Power, a 39,875-sq. ft. addition to the existing warehouse facility. Project completion expected in September. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. 18 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUILD UP GREATER GREEN BAY

1 2 4

5 6

10 & 11

7 &8

13 9

15 thru 22

16 - 2121 Innovation Ct., De Pere,

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

- 2400 Shady Ct., town of Lawrence, Town of Lawrence, a 7,100-sq. ft. town hall and municipal office building. Project completion expected in October.

18 - 3101 French Road, town of Lawrence, C Kelbe Brothers Equipment, a 6,600-sq. ft. warehouse building and offices. Project completion expected in January. General contractor is Bayland Buildings Inc. of Green Bay. 19

- 2121 American Blvd., De Pere, RGL Holdings, a 3,931-sq. ft. addition to the existing warehousing facility.

20 - 2249 American Blvd., De Pere, Infinity Machine, a 39,060-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility. 21 - 2275 American Blvd., De Pere, Green Bay Packaging, Folding Carton Division, an addition to the manufacturing facility. 22 - 1751 Matthew Dr., De Pere, Fox River Fiber, a 2,880sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility. 23 - 600 Heritage Road, De Pere, Belmark, an 18,803-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility. 24 - 1881 Chicago St., De Pere, Aurora Health Center, an addition to the existing medical clinic. Projects completed since our August issue: None. NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 19

COVER STORY

B U I L D I N G

green

20 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

Environmentally-conscious construction remains en vogue, but it still needs to make economic sense

Story by Lee Marie Reinsch

www.newnorthb2b.com

COVER STORY

Wear clean underwear. Put on a sweater when you’re cold. Eat your broccoli. Don’t waste water. Turn the light out when you leave the room. Just because it’s “in” doesn’t mean you have to buy it. All that sensible stuff our grandparents drilled into our parents, who drilled it into us, is just basic old-fashioned common sense that stands time’s tests.

So it seems to be the case with energy-conscious and materials-conscious construction in northeast Wisconsin. Nothing fancy these days. Just a bit of no-frills advice: Build a tight envelope. Insulate. Insulate some more. Use what you have. Don’t spend more than you must. It’s pretty much the counsel our Wisconsin German farming ancestors preached. Dave Schultz, president of Borsche Roofing, Inc., in Hortonville, has been involved in energy-conscious design for more than 30 years, and he’s seen trends come and go. “I went through college during the 1970s oil embargoes, when gas went from 20 cents a gallon to 50 cents a gallon,” he said. He designed active and passive solar buildings, and even earth homes. “Most of what we’re seeing in the green movement is really nothing more than a regurgitation of what we saw in the 1970s and early 1980s that were promoted by government-assisted programs,” Schultz said. Some in northeast Wisconsin’s building field say their clients are choosing sensible steps and budget-friendly options over new-age green technology and alternative energy. “It really seems like people are interested in something with an ROI, something that returns their money back to them in some way,” said Rob Lindstrom, an architect for employeeowned Keller, Inc. of Kaukauna. In fact, these builders say they’re seeing fewer clients seeking certification for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) than in previous years. LEED certification – a points-based, quantifiable means of measuring sustainability of structures – came to be the Cadillac of certifications among the green-building crowd a few years ago.

“It’s more prevalent as part of government buildings more so than in the public sector – schools and public facilities – but not as much in the private sector,” Lindstrom said. One area builder went so far as to call LEED and alternative energies “a bunch of hooey,” though after speaking with B2B magazine, he reneged his comments and asked not to be named for this article. But the unnamed skeptic isn’t the only one to regard alternative energy with caution. “You can create all the (alternative) energy you want, but if you don’t have a good tight building envelope to contain it, it’s kind of all for naught,” said Nick Mueller, project manager with Appleton-based Boldt Construction Co. “When people don’t want to spend additional dollars on energy-saving systems, they can still get a big bang for their buck by building a good, tight building envelope, so the amount of money you spend on energy offsets – like geothermal – is far less beneficial than a good insulated building envelope.” Tightened building codes have contributed to more energy efficiency in general than the more loosely regulated building guidelines of the past. “Energy-code improvements have driven (the industry) toward high efficiency, and it’s pushed consumers unknowingly to stuff that is higher-end than stuff we did five or six years ago,” said Chad Calmes, vice president of operations for Bayland Buildings, Inc. of Green Bay. “Today it’s like the baseline, whereas high-efficiency was an option years ago.” Calmes said very few of his projects involve LEED certification – maybe 1 to 3 percent. “Some start out LEED but never come to fruition. About 25 percent go with Focus On Energy recommendations but don’t certify their buildings,” Calmes said.

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 21

COVER STORY Don’t spend more than you have to

It’s fairly easy to show a customer that by adding extra insulation to a building they will see a return on their investment in three or four years. Even expensive geothermal systems can yield a decent, albeit eventual, ROI. “LEED is a piece of paper you can stick on the wall, and unless you can market that, there’s not a lot of return on it,” said Keller’s Lindstrom. Big-box stores like Walmart use LEED certification to their advantage in marketing, creating a reputation of environmental concern and thereby increasing customer appeal to pump up profits. “A small mom and pop store in Sturgeon Bay who doesn’t market to a wide sector of people really can’t find that marketing return that’s required to become a LEED-certified building.” It costs a lot to obtain the actual LEED certification, although in theory, that money can be recovered through energy savings. But reality is different here in northeast Wisconsin. “Everything is relatively inexpensive – utilities are inexpensive, land costs are relatively inexpensive, the cost of water is relatively inexpensive,” said Lindstrom. “We don’t have the water issues they may have in Phoenix. It’s harder to recover that cost because things are relatively inexpensive here.” More building customers are favoring a down-to-earth path to energy savings, rather than going the alternative-energies route, according to Calmes. “A lot of customers will end up choosing the same options – mechanical systems, going with high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, creating zones that help shut off certain areas inside of a building that don’t need it and deferring some of that heating and cooling to the outside of the building, controlling the envelope a little better,” Calmes said. “LED lighting fixtures have come down in price in the last two years – we’re seeing a lot more of that as a viable option to offset energy costs.” Or customers will choose large fans in big additions to move air, which helps with temperature regulation, Calmes said. “You wouldn’t think it would, but it helps a lot to destratify the air in large spaces.”

Eat everything on your plate

In times of economic trouble, there’s more of a renewed interest in efficient materials use than in energy savings, according to Boldt’s Mueller. People are staying within strict budgets. “Clients are still very much concerned with investing for the future and energy savings, but I would say the focus is less (on alternative energies) because the upfront costs are greater,” Mueller said. In some cases, the really splashy projects aren’t worth the money. Borsche’s Schultz cites green rooftops with vegetation like grass and gardens. “They’re not real cost-effective, and there’s not a real good ROI,” Schultz said. “They cost three to five times the cost of a standard roof, and there’s not enough energy savings to justify them.” He’s seeing more white rooftops these days, and he’s not convinced that those are warranted in many cases, either. “Unless you’ve got some pretty substantial air-conditioning loads, there’s not that much advantage to a white roof in this area,” he said. “We don’t have the degree days.” White roofs reflect light rather than absorb it. Material costs for white rooftops have come down, making them competitive with black roofs, Schultz said. But Schultz’s favorite roof has been around for years: the ballast roof. “It’s one of the highest-reflectivity roofs, and we’ve been doing it since the early 1980s,” Schultz said. It’s a rubber or thermal plastic roof that uses river washed stones as a ballast. Gravity holds the rubber sheet down. “The river washed rock in our area is generally limestone, which is a light color and is highly reflective because of all that surface area,” Schultz said. “From a reflectivity basis in an energy conscious design, and (for those) with a lot of airconditioning load, it’s the best roof you can get.” Another variation of that is the asphalt-based roof with pea gravel – also highly reflective. Many 1970s structures have these. They weren’t done for energy savings but because pea gravel reflected UV light, Schultz said. “UV’s one of the most destructive things there are for the

I ﬁnally have health insurance I can count on. A new nonproﬁt health insurance company providing solutions for individuals and businesses. Call your agent or contact us today. 877-450-8497 | CommonGroundHealthcare.org 22 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

www.newnorthb2b.com

COVER STORY roofing membranes,” he said. “In reality, they became pretty good roof systems from an energy standpoint.”

Dress in layers

Another bit of common sense: Seal your seams. It’s not something the average person can do this afternoon, but next time you need a new roof, you might want to think about this. Aligning the layers of insulation with the roofing substrate (metal, shingles, etc.) makes no sense. It lets air out the roof, indicated Schultz. “You want to stagger the layers because of the heat loss,” Schultz said. “Generally whenever you put a roofing system together, you want to try to use multiple layers of insulation, and you stagger the layers because your major heat loss is where the cracks are. If you minimize that vertical conductance, you are making it jog all over,” (versus shooting straight up and out your roof). It’s just smart roof design, Schultz said. “We see a lot of our competitors (fail to) do that, and we don’t subscribe to that.”

Don’t throw that out!

“When you have a building project, 45 percent (of the total cost) is materials costs, and owners are challenging us to look at the use of materials in a responsible way,” Mueller said. “That ultimately yields (a lower) materials cost, but you are still trying to accomplish the same programmatic goals. This happens through wise choice of materials, recycled or repurposed content, or virgin materials.” In order to reuse materials, the building owner has to be flexible with styles. “You don’t really go get used 2x4s, but you can do doors or furnishings. But with that comes a certain aesthetic,” Mueller said. What doesn’t get recycled gets landfilled. “We try to make efforts upfront to minimize what goes into the landfill,” Mueller said. One way to go about this is to contract with subcontractors and companies that recycle materials versus those that don’t.

Don’t waste water

In Wisconsin, especially the New North region, we’re lucky – we’ve got lakes aplenty. But that means we tend to take water for granted – we use it and even abuse it. And while we may water our geraniums with the rainwater that arrives in our watering cans, how many companies do we know of that collect and reuse their rainwater? J. F. Ahern Co. of Fond du Lac uses at least 60 percent less potable water with its rainwater collection system than it otherwise would. This system provides nearly 100 percent of the water required for flushing toilets and urinals, lowering demand on the City water supply by 110,000 gallons per year. Ahern’s rainwater collects in a covered concrete basin built into its facility. The collection tank filters for larger solids that might enter the roof storm drain, such as leaves or pine cones, and an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system treats for bacteria. Sediment at the bottom of the tank is cleared by a submersible pump with solids handling capability. “Even in a dry season we have been able to keep our tanks at least half full,” said Ahern Engineer Nate Nelson. In drought

conditions, Ahern would use the water accumulated from snow the previous winter. Ahern uses the rainwater in its urinals and toilets. “The savings are pretty dramatic,” said Nelson. “Toilets represent the largest use of water in the facility.” Such a system can go a long way, especially in commercial office buildings with a lot of restroom use, according to Nelson. He said most companies would realize savings similar to Ahern with water reclamation systems. Two of Ahern’s sites in Milwaukee and Fond du Lac use low-flow faucets, showerheads, toilets, and urinals/waterless urinals in addition to rainwater collection systems. “Outside that, there are limited other water uses in our facility,” he said. But the systems are slow to catch on. “There’s not a whole lot of interest in rainwater collection because our cost of water is cheap, and at the end of the day, we’re not going to sell water reclamation projects on cost savings alone,” he said. “There usually has to be a bigger reason, such as a sustainability effort or marketing opportunity to do a project like this.” Currently, there are no known incentive programs that are available to offset the costs associated with rainwater collection and treatment systems.) Often that impetus is LEED design and construction. “It’s a good way to get LEED points for water reduction and storm water quantity,” Nelson said. Lee Reinsch writes and edits from Green Bay.

Discover banking with a personalized touch Bank First specializes in highly personalized customer service. We also offer the flexibility to meet your individual banking needs, while delivering the best innovative products and services in our industry. Come and discover what true community banking is all about! 101 City Center, Oshkosh (Located on Pearl Avenue)

920-237-5126

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 23

FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN

FIREFIGHTER

Surprise

METHODOLOGY

New North B2B kicked off its 3rd annual Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin initiative in April 2013, aimed at assisting those northeast Wisconsin small business owners who feel as if they’re constantly burning the candle at both ends, putting out fires, spinning their wheels, but intent on finding a way to improve. We put out a call for nominations back in January. In the end, our staff selected two area businesses for this endeavor: Cake Anatomy LLC of Kaukauna and RentSmartRewards of Green Bay. Through the generous help of Steve Van Remortel of Green Bay-based SM Advisors and Gary Vaughan of Guident Business Solutions in Appleton, the two dedicated-toimprove businesses are receiving five month’s worth of consulting at no cost to help their owners work on the strategy of growing their business rather than regularly attending to problems. B2B provided a monthly update on the progress of their efforts in each issue leading up to this capstone article.

24 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

Unexpected growth, unforeseen turns in business highlight the final results of our 2013 business owner makeover initiative Story by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher The three years of conducting New North B2B’s Firefighters of Northeast Wisconsin initiative has provided no shortage of surprising outcomes. From companies divesting themselves into separate entities, businesses on the brink of financial disaster rightsizing their balance sheets in order to receive new loans, to taming the ambitions of an entrepreneur taking her shop in too many nonstrategic directions, our firefighting business consultants have helped struggling or otherwise stagnant business owners find the path toward exceptional growth. Our 2013 edition was no different, with one of our two companies exceeding its timeline for growth by several months and another more settled in on an exit strategy for the future. www.newnorthb2b.com

FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN Finding the perfect rental match

When readers were first introduced to RentSmartRewards founder, owner, president and only employee Jo Edwards back in B2B’s April 2013 article, she had tiptoed through the first 18-months of a start-up online website helping renters find their ideal apartment, duplex or rental home available in the market. Edwards had big goals for growth, knowing that she offered a more unique service than many of the rental guides available online or in print. We paired her up with Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream guru Steve Van Remortel, president of Green Bay-based SM Advisors, to drill down and define the unique competency of RentSmartRewards, then build a strategy to market that to its target audience of ideal clientele. Van Remortel developed his proprietary Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream process through his work with more than 500 clients who simply had unique products and services, but were simply promoting them in a vanilla manner among their competitors within their industry. He’s since published a book by the same name and conducts seminars across the region, the country, and even internationally. Edwards’ RentSmartRewards website includes a 43-question profile renters fill out when registering for the site, offering a much more narrow focus of the kinds of rental properties they might be interested in pursuing. From the perspective of rental property owners and managers, RentSmartRewards offers a crop of pre-qualified rental candidates who already know a property they’re considering is within their budget and

offers the amenities they’re seeking. Edwards said she and Van Remortel came to recognize her service as “a Match.com for renters and rental properties,” she said. Marketing it as such would better define why renters and property management firms should consider RentSmartRewards as a valued tool. She changed the company’s tagline to “We’re different. We match.” “I think that was kind of a breakthrough for her to think about her business that way,” Van Remortel said in a recent wrap-up interview after five months of working with Edwards. “We just weren’t sure how to transfer it to a go-to-market process.” The two worked out a strategy around sales and marketing which includes a branding campaign through social media and direct marketing to rental property managers and owners, particularly through in-person, outside sales. “Her strategy is in place, and now it’s just about execution, specifically, sales execution,” Van Remortel noted. PROFILE Company: Owner: Location: Year started: Employees: Web site:

RentSmartRewards Jo Edwards Green Bay 2011 4 rentsmartrewards.com

Firefighters of northeast Wisconsin

The consultants Steve Van Remortel Founder, owner and president SM Advisors, Green Bay www.smadvisors.com Van Remortel launched SM Advisors in 1999 following a career either leading or owning manufacturing, distribution and service companies. He holds a master’s degree in strategic management, as well as earned accreditation as a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst. SM Advisors has completed more than 500 planning processes in over 250 businesses across the country from start up companies to those with annual revenues in excess of $4 billion. The firm focuses on the two fundamentals of business – strategy and talent – and guides organizations in developing a differentiated strategy and building a skill-set aligned team to execute the plan. As a thought leader on strategic planning and talent management, Van Remortel has written articles for a variety of newspapers and periodicals. His award-winning book Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream was released in late 2012. SM Advisors www.smadvisors.com

Gary Vaughan Founder, owner and president Guident Business Solutions LLC, Appleton www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com Vaughan launched Guident in February 2009 after spending his entire career teaching – both in the classroom and in business. Having previously spent many years as a business owner himself, Vaughan realized many business owners lacked fundamental skills such as understanding financials, human resource practices and management skills, as examples. His organization’s proprietary Guident 360° Assessment Program enables business owners to holistically address their business needs. Vaughan has professional experience in a variety of industries, including retail, petroleum, manufacturing and academics. He is a senior adjunct instructor for Concordia University of Wisconsin; an instructor of financial analysis, budgeting and cost controls at Fox Valley Technical College; and a lecturer in economics and entrepreneurship at Lawrence University in Appleton.

On the Web

Guident Business Solutions LLC www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 25

FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN Building a growing team

DESIGN/BUILD AND GENERAL CONTRATORS 5521 COUNTY ROAD BB • APPLETON, WI 54914 920-739-6521 • 800-331-6521 PRE-ENGINEERED METAL • MASONRY • PRECAST • CONVENTIONAL

Sales x Commercial x Warehousing 3 year warranty on workmanship and subcontractors Family owned business over 50 years

RRSTEELCONSTRUCTION.COM

CREDIBLE PEOPLE CREDIBLE SOLUTIONS

INCREDIBLE RESULTS! 

Business Intelligence



IT Business Consulting



Intranets & Extranets



Cloud Solutions



Custom Software



Mobile Apps



Websites



Email Marketing

skylinetechnologies.com 920-437-1360

26 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

As the only employee of the company, Edwards knew she needed to grow her organization. In mid-June she hired Jason Gegere as a web developer, followed by Brian Jannusch in early July to manage business development and social media strategy. A few weeks later she hired another business development representative, Max Krzyminski. “I definitely needed to bring some people aboard. I needed the help,” Edwards said. Edwards worked with Gegere to redesign the process renters use to answer the 43-question profile. She said it previously took about six to seven minutes to complete – far too long for someone online looking to find that perfect fit for an apartment. It’s now down to half that time, Edwards indicated, while still capturing all of the valuable data renters would find useful in making a smart decision. The goal is to reduce the duration of the profiling process down to two minutes. Through a smattering of Craigslist postings and Jannusch’s work to define a concise social media strategy, RentSmartRewards saw a surge in the number of renters coming to the site to complete a profile and ultimately find an apartment. Back in April, Edwards said she’d like to attract at least 400 new renters to the site by the end of 2013. “We’re way over that already,” Edwards said in mid-August. “Our analytics – even over the last two weeks – have had about 1,400 hits and about 80 percent of those people are filling out a profile.” Such metrics are critical to the success of selling RentSmartRewards as a marketing destination for rental property owners and managers since that’s how the company earns its revenue. The job of her two-person business development staff is to sign on new properties, demonstrating the effectiveness of RentSmartRewards as opposed to other more traditional marketing channels that don’t offer the site’s breadth of screening qualified renters. In the past few months, RentSmartRewards has expanded to include properties in the Milwaukee market – in addition to the Green Bay, Fox Valley and Madison markets mentioned in the initial Firefighters article in B2B this past April – well ahead of her schedule for penetrating Wisconsin’s largest rental market during the spring 2014 apartment move-in season. It’s mostly been by accident. “I think what’s happened in the last six months is that we’ve been adding the most properties to our site in the Milwaukee area,” she said. Edwards’ new goal for 2014 is to branch out to rental properties in the Chicago and Minnesota markets. In that regard, RentSmartRewards would like to grow its staff by adding a new business development representative every 90 days or so, Edwards said, allowing it to reach out to even more rental property owners and managers. Van Remortel believes Edwards’ goals for growth are more than reasonable. “She hasn’t even hit her stride yet,” Van Remortel said. “She has to educate the (rental) industry, because she’s changing how the industry does things.” From Edwards’ point of view, the assistance she’s received from Van Remortel has been invaluable, and she fully recommends his Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream process and book. www.newnorthb2b.com

FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN “His book is a great roadmap for people – particularly startups like myself – but I’m sure it also works well for existing companies,” Edwards said. Flattered by her endorsement, Van Remortel said the book is directed at smaller business owners who can’t afford tens of thousands of dollars to hire a consultant. “The reason I wrote the book to begin with was to help someone exactly like Jo,” he said. “They can go through it on their own and at their own pace.”

Plugging revenue gaps

Kaukauna-based Cake Anatomy continues to gain more popularity, but not because of any outrageous marketing campaign. Word of mouth praise regarding the made-fromscratch quality of Dawn Bybee’s wedding and special event cakes made from premium ingredients has her kitchen working overtime, particularly during the busy wedding season between spring and fall. The 8-year-old business run by Bybee and her daughter, Brianna Ropski, typically ramps up production during the summer months, sometimes to the tune of making as many as six or seven wedding cakes for each weekend. “We are already incredibly busy that we sometimes had to turn clients away with the demand that we have,” Bybee said in late August. “People are booking their birthday cakes already three months out just to get on our books!” Unfortunately for Bybee, the sheer number of weddings drops off substantially from December until March or April of

each year, creating a meaningful revenue gap during the year. She’s considered adding retail sales, including a scenario in which she’d purchase additional retail space to provide walk-in bakery counter service of products like cookies, cupcakes, pies and other pastries, “all made from the same high-end quality products clients have come to expect and deserve,” Bybee said. PROFILE Company: Owner: Location: Year started: Employees: Web site:

Cake Anatomy Dawn Bybee Kaukauna 2005 2 cakeanatomy.com

In April, B2B connected Bybee with Gary Vaughan, president of Appleton-based Guident Business Solutions, for five months of consultation on how Cake Anatomy can attract consistent revenues while continuing to grow. Vaughan’s philosophy contends that every decision a business owner makes is ultimately a financial decision, and as a result, having accurate, up-to-date and prudent financial information is critical to making well-informed decisions. Vaughan and Bybee initially worked to sharpen the

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 27

FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN bookkeeping of Cake Anatomy, which Vaughan acknowledged was already in good shape. At Vaughan’s guidance, Bybee worked to separate QuickBooks files for Cake Anatomy LLC with those for the building she and her husband own which houses the downtown Kaukauna business as well as five residential rental units. While all lumped together previously, Vaughan urged her to separate the two entities. They next crafted a budget for Cake Anatomy for the coming year which would lay the groundwork for the expansion options Bybee is considering.

Hurdles to growth

Vaughan said Bybee built her business on quality – a reputation earned and now more recognized by customers. But just offering “excellent quality” all the time can be a doubleedged sword, Vaughan suggested. “She doesn’t offer ‘good enough’ in her cakes,” he said. “A lot of her clients are coming in looking for ‘just good enough.’ You have to be careful with that because you could be limiting your business.” For most business owners, excellent quality often costs much more to deliver than “just good enough.” It’s a financial decision Bybee will need to consider if she expands her product offerings to include day-to-day snacks around her customer’s homes, such as cookies, cupcakes and dessert bars. “She’s very particular, though. She doesn’t want the quality to go down,” Vaughan observed. Meanwhile, one of Bybee’s concerns back in B2B’s April

Photo by New North B2B

A table showcasing Bybee’s finest creations from Cake Anatomy. introductory article was how she would keep Cake Anatomy a family business. She discovered along the route of her work with Vaughan that her daughter, Brianna, wasn’t necessarily planning a future working for her mother’s bakery fulltime. In fact, she’s headed off to college this fall to pursue a degree in art, a passion reflected in many of the award-winning 3-dimensional cakes she and her mother decorated for special events over the years. Bybee is nonetheless excited for her

Let me show you how to reap the benefits of automated payroll! 1. Saves time and money – No printing and distributing checks. 2. It’s efﬁcient and accurate! Contact me to learn more.

3. Increased conﬁdentiality and immediate employee access to funds. 4. Lessen your risk – No lost, stolen or fraudulent checks.

Becky Towne

Business Loan/ACH Specialist

920.230.3058

Fond du Lac: 920.924.0503 • 740 W. Johnson St. • 1045 E. Johnson St. Oshkosh: 920.236.7040 • 2900 Universal St. • 750 Witzel Ave. • 2655 N. Main St. Federally Insured by NCUA

28 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

citizensﬁrst.com

www.newnorthb2b.com

FIREFIGHTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN daughter, even though she won’t be by her side regularly in cake Anatomy’s kitchen. “With Brianna going off to college, Gary and I discussed starting the search in finding a business partner to come in and help potentially expand into these many new areas of opportunity,” Bybee said. Vaughan concurred, noting it’s a relationship Bybee will need to achieve her goals for growth. “For her to go ahead, she needs a partner,” Vaughan said, noting it would be ideal to identify a candidate who might eventually become a successor to Cake Anatomy down the road. At present, expanding the bakery’s product offerings is taking a back seat to identifying a potential partner in the business. Both Vaughan and Bybee said they hope to identify a partner and have them on board at least as an employee by spring 2014. That’ll give Bybee some time during the winter off-season for weddings to give serious reflection to the type of partner she’d like to consider bringing aboard. One advantage for any potential suitor to partner in Cake Anatomy is the culture and reputation Bybee has already created, Vaughan noted. “She’s not just selling wedding cakes, she’s selling a cake for your wedding,” Vaughan said. “She’s selling a whole experience, not just a cake.” And that’s an intangible asset worth its weight in gold.

Planning Ahead has its Rewards! Celebrate at the Ramada Plaza Green Bay Book your Holiday Party of 40 or more in our Grand Ballroom. Mention this ad for great specials if you book early! Contact our helpful Sales Managers for details on holiday party specials today!

920-499-0631 2750 Ramada Way Green Bay NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 29

AGRIBUSINESS

Old MacDonald

had a farm store

Retail shops restaurants popping up on New North farms with ready-to-eat service Story by Robin Driessen Bruecker Since owning a farm means owning a business, it makes sense for farm owners to think of ways to bring customers to their business site. Many consumers are accustomed to thinking of supermarkets as the source of their meat, vegetables, cheese, fruit, dairy, honey and wine. These stores are certainly convenient and carry items that aren’t available locally – and they may have some local products. More and more, however, the aforementioned products have become available directly from the producers. Farmers markets are one way. On-site retail stores and restaurants are another. “As a farmer with a product, one has to ask, ‘How is the customer going to get my product into their hands?’” said Kay

30 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

Craig of GrassWay Organics LLC, who runs her New Holstein livestock farm with husband, Wayne. “An on-farm store has the customer coming to the farm. Supermarkets and farmers markets mean the farmer must either figure out a delivery system to the stores – farmer-delivered, hired services, UPS, etc. – or pack up coolers, etc. into the family car/van/truck to take to the market. “A sale to a supermarket is a wholesale transaction, which is typically a lower-cost sale. Farmers markets are a great introduction to an interested group of people, but it takes a tremendous amount of time and labor. A farm store solves the delivery issue and allows retail – direct to the customer – sales.”

www.newnorthb2b.com

AGRIBUSINESS Starting up

With both of them raised on farms, the Craigs purchased their 247-acre farm in 1993. Around that time, Kay heard an organic dairy farmer speak at a women’s group meeting and became intrigued by organic farming and its methods. They wanted their cows to roam free outdoors, eating grass and being raised by methods good both for them and humans. In 2000 the Craigs began selling eggs, followed by beef quarters and chickens, directly from their farm. Customer response led to the opening of a retail store on-site in April 2005. “We were getting requests for cuts of beef and we saw more opportunity to sell chicken than just slaughter day,” said Craig. In keeping with the “green” aspects of their farm, the Craigs brought in a Focus on Energy representative to upgrade compressor motors and change the fluorescent lights. “We reuse egg cartons, plastic bags and paper bags that members save for us,” added Craig.

“As a farmer with a product, one has to ask, ‘How is the customer going to get my product into their hands?’”

high-quality milk on our dairy farm, why not use the milk to produce a premium non-homogenized farmstead ice cream? Ice cream was always a treat growing up for my family and for my husband’s – it is loved by people of all ages and brings people together for some old-fashioned fun. Real hard, handdipped ice cream is a lost art and I wanted to bring the real ice cream back again since it can be flavored in so many ways.” Those real ice cream flavors number no less than 260 at Kelley Country Creamery, with flavors rotating and 22 available on any given day. A glimpse of its website in late August lists Acai Blueberry, Apple Turnover, Banana Cream Pie, Barnyard Bash (maple walnut ice cream with pieces of pancakes, waffles, French toast and walnuts), Caramel Apple Pie, Cheesecake with Snickers – and that’s just a few examples from the A, B and C sections. And yes, it does have a Z flavor – Zebra, vanilla ice cream with devil’s food cake. In addition to ice cream, the Kelleys create ice cream cakes and pies for special events, as well as specialty sundaes. “Some customers do have a hard time making a decision (when ordering at the counter), while others just stick to the same flavor every time because they just love it,” Kelley said. Many come back frequently just to try new flavors or our delicious and always interesting specialty sundaes.”

Kay Craig, co-owner GrassWay Organics LLC

Adding value to the farm

Over in Fond du Lac County, the Kelley family farm has been operating in the town of Byron near Eden since the Civil War years. A new creamery is the “baby” of the farm, having been born in May 2010 when its doors opened. The Kelleys milk a herd of 65 Holsteins. “I always wanted to do something on the farm,” said Karen Kelley. “Whether it would be a product or service I wasn’t sure, so I attended value-added conferences and local food seminars. Expanding our dairy herd was something my husband and I discussed, but with three very large farms in a three-mile radius and land at a premium, it wouldn’t be feasible. “After researching many value-added products, I decided on ice cream,” she went on. “Since we already produced

Submitted Photo

The Kelley family appearing on the set of Good Morning America in July 2013 after being named Best Ice Cream in America.

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.

9 2 0 . 7 3 3 . 3 1 3 6 y 866.966.3928 y www.newbt.org NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 31

AGRIBUSINESS

“

Why would someone drive 30 miles to get to your store/farm when it is so much more convenient to stop at the large markets? Kay Craig, co-owner GrassWay Organics LLC

Goat crossing ahead

Not far from these two farms is another agribusiness with its own store, LaClare Farms in Pipe, located in northeast Fond du Lac County. Larry and Clara Hedrich bought the existing farm in 1978. Two dairy goats were part of the package, which evolved from a hobby for their kids to a 4-H breeding and showing activity to commercial milk production in 1996, and eventually goat-milk cheese including the national award-winning Evalon brand. Since 2001, Larry has worked fulltime on the farm while Clara continues to teach agriculture at West De Pere High School. Larry also manages Quality Dairy Goat Cooperative of Wisconsin. LaClare Farms’ most recent development is a 35,000-sq. ft. facility opened this past August that features a dairy plant; a 600-goat housing and milking parlor; a retail shop that sells a variety of Wisconsin-made products in addition to LaClare’s specialty cheeses; and a cafe that serves lunch and dinner. With the new milk-processing and cheese-curing space, LaClare can begin adding to its popular line of cheeses made from goat milk and mixed milk from cows, goats and sheep. Its brands – which include Evalon, Fresh Chevre and Fondy Jack –

32 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

are made by daughter and skilled cheesemaker, Katie Hedrich. Son Greg serves as a business manager, daughter Jessica heads up the retail store, and daughter Anna helps with the family’s 375 goats. “This has been a labor of love for the Hedrich family,” said Larry Hedrich. “This is one of the most modern facilities in the U.S. with vertically integrated components that allow us to produce the highestquality goat milk products possible.”

”

The sign outside Grassway Organics near New Holstein.

Networking

As with any business, networking with farming colleagues can be valuable to an owner.

www.newnorthb2b.com

AGRIBUSINESS Prior to opening their store, the Craigs visited a couple other on-farm shops, with the owner of one of the farms becoming a mentor of sorts, Craig noted. Besides beef, free-range chicken, eggs and cheese, the GrassWay Organics farm store carries some items from other local farms, although not as much as Craig would like. “We are an organic food store,” she explained, “so while I certainly make exceptions and carry non-organic local, it does limit my options somewhat.” After eight years of running an on-site store, the Craigs have learned a few things they in turn can share with other farm owners. When they were starting out, Craig said, “The one thing we didn’t take into full consideration was the time needed to tend the store. Someone has to be there all the time you are open. Also, one of the reasons people come to us is for information, i.e. they want to talk. People also want to get their kids exposed to a real farm. This all takes a tremendous amount of time.” “I think the best advice I could give someone is to really think about what you want the store/farm to be,” she continued. “Why would someone drive 30 miles to get to your store/farm when it is so much more convenient to stop at the large markets? You must offer something that they can’t get anywhere else, or is so much better that they are willing to drive by the other guy to get to you.”

Back to the farm

Wisconsin has numerous farms and orchards that sell their products onsite. To locate those near you, check out the member directory of the online Farm Fresh Atlas of Eastern Wisconsin (farmfresheastwi. org). Here are a few examples: v GrassWay Organics LLC, New Holstein grasswayorganics.com v Kelley Country Creamery, Fond du Lac kelleycountrycreamery.com v LaClare Farms, Pipe laclarefarm.com v Lamers Dairy Country Store, Appleton lamersdairy.com v The Little Farmer, Malone mytlf.com v Park Ridge Organics, Fond du Lac parkridgeorganics.com v Saxon Homestead Creamery LLC, Cleveland saxoncreamery.com v Whispering Orchards & Cafe, Cleveland

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 33

AGRIBUSINESS LaClare Farms will share its new dairy plant with other dairy producers – be it milk from goats, cows or sheep – and offer guidance when needed. The facility processes not only LaClare’s milk but can also be rented by other dairy entrepreneurs who want to create new products.

Learn your craft

To get started on working a creamery, Kelley took a couple of short courses on ice cream making at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and another through the University of Florida on running a successful ice cream business. Additionally, she said, “I built my network of ice cream entrepreneurs by visiting other farmstead operations, ice cream shops and by attending ice cream organization conventions.” When possible, the Kelleys use the products of other local farms – maple syrup, honey, rhubarb and berries – to flavor their ice cream. While the development of Kelley Country Creamery was spearheaded by Karen, it’s a family-run business with husband, Tim, and son, Clark, doing creamery maintenance in addition to running the dairy farm. Daughters Amie, Betsy and Heidi make ice cream, and Amie and Heidi also handle baking and ice cream cake decoration for events, for which Tim does delivery. Another daughter, Molly, works the creamery counter and serves as assistant manager.

Best of the best

Starting an ice cream shop on a farm “in the middle of nowhere,” as Karen Kelley put it, was a big risk. It’s one

34 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

that paid off big time this summer when its ice cream was recognized as the best in the country by ABC’s Good Morning America. As Kelley explained, “The show asked viewers to email in their favorite things to do in summer. They received emails from over 50 ice cream shops in the U.S. The person who sent our name in did it anonymously. Since July is National Ice Cream Month, they decided to feature three of the shops on the show.” The Kelleys were chosen as finalists and appeared on the July 22 show in New York City. “We are very honored to have been given this opportunity,” said Kelley. “We thank the person who sent our name to the show. They treated us very well.” She added that the creamery’s business has “definitely increased” since that episode aired. It wasn’t their first big accolade – the creamery was voted Best Ice Cream in Wisconsin in 2010 by USA Today readers, the same year it opened. The Hedrich family is no stranger to product recognition either. In spring 2011, Katie Hedrich won the U.S. Championship Cheese event held in Green Bay for LaClare’s Evalon goat’s milk cheese. Her prize-winning cheese beat out more than 1,600 entries from around the country. Also in 2011, LaClare’s Chevre cheese took second place at the Wisconsin State Fair. More information about these farm stores is available at their websites and through the Farm Fresh Atlas of Eastern Wisconsin (see the sidebar). Robin Bruecker has 17 years experience in magazine and marcom writing. Contact her at robinbrueck@yahoo.com.

www.newnorthb2b.com

Giving bankers a

GOOD REPUTATION one client at a time. At First Business we have a 97% client satisfaction rating. What’s the secret? It’s that we don’t treat people like numbers. Personal relationships are how we do business. We don’t just know our clients’ names, we also take the time to understand how they do business. Work with a bank that cares about building trusted relationships — and has the stats to prove it. Call us today.

(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 : Specialized Lending : Trust & Investments : Private Banking

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

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

Managed care benefits bottom line by CarePlus Dental Plans

The Affordable Care Act encourages the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to improve the overall quality of healthcare while better controlling cost. While there are some notable differences between ACOs and the managed care organizations that became popular in the 1980s, some would argue the concepts are very similar. ACOs are made up of a group of providers, including primary care doctors, specialists and hospitals, who are responsible for coordinating all aspects of patient care. Managed care is a system in which patients visit specific clinics and/ or providers and the cost of treatment is monitored by a managing company. An example of a proven managed care model is CarePlus Dental Plans and Dental Associates. A recent study performed by the Benefit Services Group (BSG) in Pewaukee revealed that CarePlus Dental Plans’ managed care products provide clients a 15 to 25 percent savings over

Kati Grueneberg

800.318.7007

Milwaukee average dental claim costs.* The unique managed care relationship often enables both provider and payer organizations to implement simplified processes related to member eligibility, pre-authorizations, payment of claims and collection of member co-pays. These processes are not only less costly to administer; they are also easier for members and providers to understand and navigate. Dental managed care plans traditionally offer benefits that are better than industry norms, such as higher annual maximums and/or lower patient co-pays. Plans can be completely customized, along with a menu of options designed to improve its members’ oral and overall health with a focus on preventive care. Industry research has indicated that preventive care may reduce overall dental and medical costs over time. That is something business leaders and their employers can smile about.

* BSG analyzed 2011 and 2012 utilization data for approximately 27,000 CarePlus members. Milwaukee average dental claims costs were based on commercial claims database results from the OptumInsight 2012 Dental Rate Manual.

Kati Grueneberg is Chief Administrative Officer for CarePlus Dental Plans. She joined the organization with more than 10 years of customer service and accounts receivable experience, and a passion for staff satisfaction. She has been instrumental in efforts to provide our policyholders with the financial services and flexibility they deserve. For the past 11 years, Kati has been responsible for all aspects of insurance billings and CarePlus enrollment. She also provides strategic leadership for the organization’s quality improvement program and assists with identifying and implementing best practices. For more information about CarePlus Dental Plans visit CarePlusDentalPlans. com or call 800-318-7007.

TOP

SBA 2012 Top LENDER 2012Lender amongst its peer i n group i t ’s a s s e t

H e l p iHELPING ng Business Fox Valley GROW 125 YEARS Businesses

size

FOX VALLEY

FOR OVER

GROW For Over 125 Years!

www.fnbfoxvalley.com 920.729.6900 36 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

www.fnbfoxvalley.com | 920.729.6900 www.newnorthb2b.com

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

Simple Investment/Retirement Tips by Navigator Planning Group

On the surface this may to be another article, by another financial advisor, talking about the same old topics… investment trends, diversification, planning for various life events, etc., etc., etc…. Well all I can say is, read on! The advice given will be useful and simple to implement. 1. DON’T LISTEN TO YOUR NEIGHBOR. Very often I hear people say things like, “My neighbor says I need a million dollars to retire.” Well maybe they do, but you are not your neighbor. Remember, retirement is all about cash flow and having your dollars drive income. Talk to your financial advisor about you and forget your neighbor! 2. STOP DOING NOTHING. Sounds simple, right? What I am trying to say is take ownership of your money. While you should seek professional advice, get a basic understanding of what you are Adam Madson appear

920.406.8500

doing and why. Never hesitate to ask a question! You are not going to sound stupid, and it is YOUR money. Also, don’t settle for the same old “buy and hold” strategy. A lot of times this can resemble more of a “buy and forget” strategy. Sure, you should have a long-term plan for your dollars, but don’t let that be an excuse to ignore short-term trends. 3. HAVE REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS. It is very important to plan for your future using reasonable and maybe even some conservative projections. If someone is projecting a retirement income for you, ask them about their projected growth rates and why they are using them. Especially in our current interest rate environment, an investor needs to be very cognizant of this. Moreover, all of the “news” you hear…well, take it with a grain of salt. The markets likely won’t crash in the next five minutes, and conversely, they probably won’t go up by 20 percent

every year. 4. WORK BACKWARDS TO GET “YOUR NUMBER.” This is a pretty simple concept, and no, I did not come up with it. When you are trying to figure out how much your family needs saved up to retire, the most important thing is having an accurate monthly budget. Track your expenses and know what they are. Then subtract any source of income you will have from Social Security and pensions from that monthly budget amount. Figure out if your retirement savings can sustain the remainder of the income. This is something I can help with. Adam Madson is a financial advisor with Navigator Planning Group. Adam can be reached by email at amm@navigatorpg.com or phone 920.406.8500. Securities and advisory services offered through SII Investments, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC and a registered investment advisor. Navigator Planning Group and SII are separate companies.

Exceptional Buildings. Unparalleled Principles. A Company You Can Trust. With offices in the Fox Cities, Madison, Milwaukee & Wausau

“Our employee-owners take care of our customers. This is the ‘Keller Difference’. We live by the motto, ‘Build it as if you were building it for yourself.’” -President/CEO Wayne Stellmacher

Since 1960, Keller has seen a lot of changes in the building industry. Buildings have become much more complex and are built at warp speed. But some things never change... our commitment to craftsmanship, our outstanding warranty and service, and our promise to do the right thing. This will always be the Keller way!

Since 1960

1.800.236.2534 l www.kellerbuilds.com NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 37

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

Brown County

Asian Wok INC., Hai Qing Liu, 2321 S. Oneida St.,#9, Ashwaubenon 54304. Daron Hardin’s King of the Mountain Kennels LLC, Mary E. Haas, 1926 Dallas, De Pere 54115. Western Refrigerator Line Company Terminal LLC, Tom Farley, 2049 Creamery Road, De Pere 54115. Professional Real Estate Appraisals INC., Lee Ann Hietpas, 2046 Charles St., De Pere 54115. Cloverlay Endodontics WI S.C., Lee A. Taito, 233 Broadway, #112, De Pere 54115. Midnight Special Designs LLC, Kyle MacDonald, 132 N. Superior St., De Pere 54115. HillCrest Homes of De Pere LLC, Veronica Trofka, 2986 County Road PP, De Pere 54115. Lion’s Home Improvement LLC, Keston Roberts, 309 S. Quincy St., Green Bay 54301. The Family Publishers INC., Ronnie Schmidt, 101 S. Military Ave., Green Bay 54303. Turnkey Economic Development Solutions LLC, Gary Lee Jordan, 4463 Wyandot Tr., Green Bay 54313. G&D Strength and Conditioning LLC, Matthew Gunville, 810 Hoffman Road, Green Bay 54301. MG Engineering Consultant LLC, Michael Myron Gigl, 3310 Libal St., Green Bay 54301. Hawkeyes Trading Post II LLC, Audrey G. Elsner, 1718 Velp Ave., Green Bay 54303. Eye Care For You Service CORP., Amanda E. Schuster, 2149 Velp Ave., Green Bay 54303. Bella Salon & Spa LLC, Bonnie Aude, 933 Anderson Dr., Ste. L, Green Bay 54304. Black Oak Storage LLC, Todd J. Geurts, 910 Country Club Road, Green Bay 54313. Packer City Transport INC., James J. Coel, 2136 Lost Tr., Green Bay 54313. Lenses For Less LLC, Tracy Rosiek, 4515 Wyandot Tr., Green Bay 54313. Innovative Homes INC., Tracy J. Faust, 3292 Davies Ave., Green Bay 54311. Farmer’s Best Home Delivery LLC, David Jerome Steffen, 1593 Redstone Tr., Green Bay 54313. JYS Carpet Cleaning LLC, Jintang Yu, 1726 S. Oneida St., Green Bay 54304. The Bookkeepers LLC, Marcus Allen Krause, 1980 August St., Green Bay 54302. Steffel Accounting LLC, Bethany J. Steffel, 2694 Bittersweet Ave., Green Bay 54301. Shanley Law LLC, Devin C. Shanley, 449 Bretcoe Dr., Green Bay 54302. Titletown Health Insurance Solutions LLC, Dean Samuel Listle, 3061 Allied St., Green Bay 54304. 247 Property Services LLP, Kandice Deavers, 2737 Packerland Dr., Green Bay 54303. Q-Tea Premium Tea House LLC, Quan Hoang, 2321 S. Oneida St., Green Bay 54304. Bay Event Marketing INC., Elise Harris, 1039 W. Mason St., Ste. 126, Green Bay 54303. Executive Realty Green Bay LLC, Malinda Trimberger, 2055 Westline Road, Green Bay 54313. Lowery Financial Services LLC, Tom Lowery, 424 S. Roosevelt 38 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

St., Green Bay 54301. Moreno Roofing LLC, Santiago Oviedo Olguin, 2072 Imperial Lane, Green Bay 54302. Semper Fi Charters LLC, William Lee Sornson, 6732 Apple Blossom Lane, Greenleaf 54126. Rose’s Family Restaurant LLC, Gaspar Gonzalez Gonzalez, 4814 Isabella Cir., Hobart 54155. Sandy Brook Farm LLC, Jason D. Campbell, 3585 Blackberry Lane, Suamico 54313.

Calumet County

New Medical Technologies LLC, Paul Ray Grube, W4896 Golf Course Road, Sherwood 54169.

Fond du Lac County

Lori’s Rosendale Children Center LLC, Lori Coehoorn, N5479 State Road 26, Brandon 53919. Stephanie’s Sweets LLC, Stephanie Kay Krupp, N7271 Winnebago Dr., Fond du Lac 54935. Polka Dots & Lace LLC, Brittany Belling, 485 Western Ave., Fond du Lac 54935. Herlache Truck Lines LLC, Thomas Lee Herlache, Jr., 230 3rd St., Fond du Lac 54936. Weninger Asset Management LLC, Daniel H. Weninger, 235 15th St., Fond du Lac 54935. Forever Timeless Bridal LLC, Kathleen Ann Bazeley, 2 S. Madison St., Waupun 53963.

Green Lake County

Trinity Imaging Systems INC., Patrick D. Beyer, 152 Pierce St., Berlin 54923.

Oconto County

Northwoods Stump Grinding LLC, Jeffrey Patnode, 2881 Kuczynski, Abrams 54101.

Outagamie County

NPHS - Nurse Practitioner Health Services LLC, Rachael Cabral Guevara, 190 River Island Ct., Appleton 54914. The Grain Expression LLC, Phillip Lee Garncarz, 713 W. Hawes Ave., Appleton 54914. Kidzland Child Care Center LLC, Robin M. Sanders, W6127 Lorna Lane, Appleton 54915. GC Tax & Bookkeeping LLC, Genaro Salvatore Cardaropoli, 1524 N. Hall Ave., Appleton 54911. Integrity Massage & Reflexology LLC, Charissa Lynn Lenoble, 1314 W. College Ave., Appleton 54914. Clover Builders INC., Karen Davis, 5018 N. Cherryvale Ave., Appleton 54913. S&R Pro Cleaning LLC, Maria S. Rodriguez, 835 S. Lynndale Dr., Appleton 54914. Meng Sewing LLC, Meng Xiong, 2108 N. Ullman St., Appleton 54911. Double Helix Video LLC, Trent Jameson, 192 Hillock Ct., Appleton 54914. Absolute Roofing LLC, Jim Couch, 217 S. Badger Ave., Appleton 54914. The Mill: A Place For Writers INC., Steven M. Polansky, 221 E. Roosevelt St., Appleton 54911. J&S Pallet Recycling LLC, Jeffery Lee Arnold, 550 N. Hickory Farm Lane, Appleton 54914. Picture Perfect Photobooth LLC, Angela M. Gierke, W5355 Linden Hill Dr., Appleton 54915. Handcrafted By Heidi LLC, Heidi Bates, N208 Barberry Lane, Appleton 54915.

www.newnorthb2b.com

WHO’S NEWS Drug and Alcohol Screening Services LLC, Stephen John Calder, 3311 E. Canvasback Lane, Appleton 54913. Fitness Trainers LLC, Heather Alix, 213 S. Walter Ave., Appleton 54915. Appleton Anodizing LLC, Jason Chapman Brown, 914 W. Harris St., Appleton 54914. Escape Travel LLC, Jill Marie Vosters, N4131 Oak Lane, Freedom 54130. Gardens and Goodies LLC, Priscilla Jane Wundrock, N1381 Greenwood Road, Greenville 54942. The Dark Room Lounge LLC, Rachel Helen Mann-Rosenfeldt, N2279 Cornhusk Dr., Greenville 54942. Cigar Box Studio LLC, Christianne Weaver, N1843 Municipal Dr., Greenville 54942. Woodys Pub LLC, Kelly Kirchner, 173 W. Wisconsin Ave., Kaukauna 54130. Topcut By Dane LLC, Dane Stannard Carstens, 1515 Vandenbroek Road, #45, Little Chute 54140. Seymour Extreme Dance INC., Jenny Mullen, N9319 State Road 55, Seymour 54165.

Winnebago County

Act Now Roofing and Siding LLC, Terry Alan Lerdal, 84 Bessie O’Halloron Lane, Menasha 54952. Winnebago Sport Fishing LLC, Robert Lawrence Docter, 1117 Kernan Ave., Menasha 54952. Sugar & Spice Sweets & Treats LLC, Angela Marie Demers, 356 Lisbon Ave., Menasha 54952. WBNB Insurance Agency LLC, Craig Jackowski, 180 Main St., Menasha 54952. Valley Wellness and Referral LLC, Meridith Nealy Starling,

540 Riford Road, Neenah 54956. Madison Non-Emergency Transport LLC, Xue Yang, 225 Smith St., Neenah 54956. Mad Cactus Auctions LLC, Joseph Schomisch, 1981 American Dr., Neenah 54956. Joe Schilling Plastering & Painting LLC, Joseph D. Schilling, 1132 Willow St., Omro 54963. The Write Stuff LLC, Barbara A. Benish, 1705 Graber St., Oshkosh 54901. One Six Eight Creative LLC, Marlo Cuaresma Ambas, 103 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh 54901. Flourishing Landscape Design LLC, Victoria Fawn Olson, 3127 Clairville Road, Oshkosh 54904. D&M Sporting Goods and Range LLC, Derek Todd Schukow, 400 W. 20th Ave., Oshkosh 54902. Your Place Counseling Services LLC, Lisa Helbling, 404 N. Main St., Oshkosh 54901. Noffke’s Bait & Landing LLC, Tim Joseph Noffke, 8728 County Road B, Winneconne 54986. Bills & Gills Guide Service LLC, James R. Reinert, 6580 Lasley Shore Dr., Winneconne 54986. Poyganaire’s Snowmobile Club INC., Debbie Beyer, 9378 Blanco Road, Winneconne 54986.

Building permits B2B includes a monthly list of building permits (not to include residential projects) in excess of $400,000. Mercury Marine, 560 and 545 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac.

Words to Profit by:

“

It’s apparent to us that BBB gains stature each year. We get quite a few internet search inquiries; when we do we always ask what prompted the call. More and more often the answer is ‘BBB Accreditation’. Larry Elton, President Advantage Leasing Corporation Accredited Business since 2000

”

920.734.4353 Better Business Bureau

With Accreditation Comes Trust…With Trust Comes Customers

accreditmybusiness.wisconsin.bbb.org

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 39

WHO’S NEWS $5,299,080 for additions to its product development and engineering facility. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction Services of Fond du Lac. June 17. Community Clothes Closet, 1465 Opportunity Way, Menasha. $650,000 for a 9,117-sq. ft. addition to and remodel of the existing nonprofit warehouse and office facility. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. June 20. RMM Investments, 1056 S. Main St., Fond du Lac. $907,612 for a new office building. General contractor is Capelle Bros. & Diedrich Inc. of Fond du Lac. June 21. Forever 21, 4301 W. Wisconsin Ave., town of Grand Chute. $575,000 for an interior alteration of the existing commercial/retail building. Contractor is J.R. Lennen Construction Inc. of California. July 2. Kidzland Child Care Center, 201 Patriot Dr., Little Chute. $641,991 for a 10,178-sq. ft. daycare facility. General contractor is Utschig Inc. of Greenville. July 8. Wisconsin Self Storage, 1117 W. Washington St., Appleton. $924,900 for an interior remodel of the former manufacturing facility. Contractor is GreenBar Construction Inc. of Indiana. July 9.

You Are Cordially Invited To Celebrate The Opening of Creekview Rehabilitation Center at

Conger Toyotalift, 2290 S. Ashland Dr., Ashwaubenon. $470,000 for interior alterations to the existing warehouse facility. General contractor is DeLeers Construction of De Pere. July 9. Kwik Trip Stores, 1871 Shawano Ave., Green Bay. $500,000 for a 540-sq. ft. addition and alteration of the existing convenience store. Contractor listed as self. July 12. McDonald’s Restaurant, 3301 W. College Ave., town of Grand Chute. $552,876 for an interior alteration of the existing restaurant building. General contractor is Peter Schwabe Inc. of Brookfield. July 15. Con-way Freight, 1674 Fox Ridge Dr., Fond du Lac. $4,035,819 for a 47,000-sq. ft. freight terminal and service center. Contractor is Design Structures LLC of Middleton. July 17.

Open House Thursday, September 19, 2013 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Ribbon Cutting at 4:15 p.m. Entrance on N. Eagle Street • Oshkosh, WI

Excel Engineering, 100 Camelot Dr., Fond du Lac. $1,634,611 for an addition to the existing office building. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction Services of Fond du Lac. July 18. B&J Builders Supply and Service, 2325 Hutson Road, Green Bay. $1,100,000 for a 21,000-sq. ft. warehouse, offices and mezzanine. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. July 24.

As the premier continuing care retirement community in the Oshkosh area, Evergreen recently remodeled and relocated the Post-Surgical and Rehab Center at Manor View to the first floor in the Creekview Building. The new name is Creekview Rehabilitation Center at Evergreen.

Hattiesburg Paper Company, 2641 Packerland Dr., Howard. $1,675,000 for an addition to the existing industrial facility. No contractor listed. July 24.

Due to limited parking, a free shuttle will run from Red Arrow Park on Westfield Street to the Creekview Rehabilitation Center on N. Eagle Street from 4:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

Bonsai Sushi and Asian Cuisine opened at 116 S. Broadway St. in downtown De Pere by co-owners Chris Hanaway, Sara Tonnis and Ryan Pahl. The restaurant is open Monday through Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m.

920-233-2340 1130 N. Westfield Street • Oshkosh, WI 54902 www.EvergreenOshkosh.com

LaClare Farms – a goat milking parlor, farmstead dairy plant, retail store and café – opened at W2994 County Road HH in Pipe in northeast Fond du Lac County by Larry and Clara Hedrich. The retail shop offers specialty cheeses, craft beers, wines and ice cream, and the café offers a menu for lunch and dinner. The courtyard space is available to rent for

40 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

New businesses

www.newnorthb2b.com

WHO’S NEWS meetings and larger gatherings. In addition, the plant has space available to rent to dairy entrepreneurs to help launch new products. The Avenue HQ opened as a coworking space on the first floor of the Willems Marketing building at 120 N. Morrison St. in downtown Appleton. The space is a partnership between Appleton-based nonprofit Ideaco and Willems Marketing, and provides a collaborative professional setting for freelancers, startups, small organizations and location-independent professionals. The space features four private offices, an open area with shared and reserved workstations, and a conference room. Members pay a monthly fee to access The Avenue HQ. More information about the coworking space is available on its website at www.theavenuehq.com.

Better By Design

Excalibur Edge Consulting was launched in Appleton by Dave Salzwedel to provide corporate, team and individual assessments, strategic planning, custom surveys, and a wide variety of general business management services. Salzwedal has more than 10 years of consulting experience. The firm can be reached by calling 920.810.4617 or by going online to www.excaliburedge.com to request a complimentary one hour consultation.

Mergers/acquisitions U.S. Oil, the petroleum and renewable energy distribution division of Kimberly-based U.S. Venture Inc., acquired Combined Oil of Lincolnshire, Ill., a wholesale fuel supplier to more than 160 convenience stores throughout southern Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. This is the fourth petroleum distributor U.S. Oil has acquired in the past 18 months. Orthopaedic Specialists of Neenah merged with ThedaCare, bringing five physicians, one nurse practitioner, one physician assistant and 19 additional staff to ThedaCare. The practice will continue to operate its offices at 1516 S. Commercial St. in Neenah under the name ThedaCare Orthopedics-Neenah and can be reached by telephone at 920.725.0077.

Since 2007, we’ve completed over $84 million in design/assist GMP projects. We have provided $2.7 million in savings back to the owner.

800.532.4376 | www.jfahern.com

New locations Madison-based QualiTemps, Inc. opened a staffing office in The Advance Business & Manufacturing Center at 2701 Larsen Road in Green Bay. More information about the human resources organization can be found on its website at www.qtigroup.com. St. Vincent de Paul of Green Bay opened a new west side store at 940 Hansen Road in Ashwaubenon, replacing the previous Lombardi Access Road location. The store opens daily at 10 a.m. and is closed Sundays.

Business honors Keller Planners, Architects and Builders of Kaukauna ranked No. 2 in the nation in Metal Construction News magazine’s 2012 Top Metal Builder list for tons of steel purchased with 8,652 tons of steel used for construction in 2012. Keller also ranked No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in Wisconsin by the same publication based on square feet of steel construction projects in 2012 with more than 1.2 million square feet. U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals list included the following hospitals from northeast Wisconsin ranked among those statewide: Aurora Bay Care Medical Center in Green Bay at No. 9; St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay at No. 11; and St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton at No. 13. The annual rankings evaluate objective measures such as patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels, and other data in 16 adult specialties.

Family Owned Commercial Cleaning and Building Maintenance Provider

The highest of quality and personal attention! Competitive rates & no long term contracts! Call Us Today For A Free, No Obligation Estimate!

920.427.1202 www.cijanitorial.com NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 41

WHO’S NEWS experience in architecture; Eric Rhodehamel as a project manager; Ashlee Prochnow as an architectural designer; Michael Jacobs and Greg Flohr as civil engineers for the firm’s environment and infrastructure group.

New hires

Teal

The Green Bay Botanical Garden hired Selese Anderson as a business development specialist, Rachel Bessert as marketing and communications manager, and Eileen Wesener as special events manager. Anderson has more than 10 years of sales experience in a variety of industries, including manufacturing and service. Bessert has four years experience in public relations, strategic communications and social media. Wesener has seven years experience in event management, community relations and volunteer coordination.

Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative hired Dr. Raymond Zastrow as chief medical officer, Sara O’Neill as quality improvement manager, and Brenda Sawall as manager of service operations. Zastrow has 25 years experience as a family physician and in several physician executive roles, including hospital administration and healthcare IT. He most recently worked with QuadMed as chief medical officer. O’Neill has 24 years experience in health care working as a nurse and in various quality improvement responsibilities, most recently at Molina Healthcare as its director of quality improvement. Sawall has 16 years experience as a nurse and clinical manager, working most recently as manager of health center operations for QuadMed.

Cynthia L. Geocaris, MD joined BayCare Clinic in Green Bay as a general and vascular surgeon. She will also see patients at the clinic at 720 S. Van Buren St. in Green Bay. Teal Consulting Group LLC in Oshkosh hired Shawn Teal as a financial analyst. Jablonski

The Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley in Appleton hired Danielle Zarling as a case manager. Zarling previously worked as a shelter advocate at Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services in Oshkosh.

SRC Technologies in De Pere hired Paul Jablonski as an IT service management consultant. He has 23 years experience serving technical and business teams in midrange and mainframe environments.

BLC Community Bank in Little Chute hired Adam Lange as vice president of loans. Lange was previously an associate vice president at Associated Bank.

U.S. Bank hired Amy Sitter as a personal trust relationship manager for its private client group for Eastern Wisconsin based in Oshkosh. Sitter has 27 years experience in the financial services industry, most recently having worked with Baker Tilly Investment Advisors. Palubicki

Appleton-based Schenck hired Jonathon Brandt as a staff accountant.

Lutheran Homes of Oshkosh hired Kelly Patterson as director of nursing for Eden Rehabilitation Suites and Green House Homes. Patterson has 17 years of nursing experience.

Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp. hired Jeff Sheffler as vice president and loan officer working from the firm’s Green Bay office. Sheffler has 14 years of credit and commercial lending experience, having worked most recently as the government guaranteed lending program manager for Associated Bank.

Miron Construction Co., Inc. in Neenah hired the following new employees: Kyle Pieters as a project manager; Logan Krueger as an industrial estimator; Halie Schmidley as an estimator; Blake Titus as a virtual construction specialist; Alley Shepeck as a project coordinator; and Hunter Nelson as a warehouse mechanic. Tijan

Appleton-based Stellar Blue Web Design LLC hired Chase Meidam as a digital developer and Emily Janssen as an administrative and marketing assistant. Both Meidam and Janssen previously worked as interns for Stellar Blue.

Green Bay-based Navigator Planning Group hired Michelle Palubicki as director of marketing. Palubicki was formerly marketing manager at the Green Bay Packers and Wipfli LLP. She has 20 years experience in branding, marketing planning, advertising, creative direction and market research.

The University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac hired Jill Bangart as student affairs coordinator and Rhonda Stucky as director of continuing education. Bangart has four years experience in student affairs, having most recently served as student affairs coordinator at UW-Sheboygan. Stucky most recently served as an adjunct professor of educational technology at Marian University in Fond du Lac, while also operating her own business, ComputerEase Consulting.

McMahon in Neenah hired the following new employees: Sam Tijan as an architectural designer, with 17 years Rhodehamel

Prochnow

Jacobs

42 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

Flohr

Zarling

Bangart

Stucky www.newnorthb2b.com

WHO’S NEWS Bayland Buildings Inc. of Green Bay hired Christopher Gagnon as a sales representative. Gagnon has 13 years experience in the construction industry, having worked as a crewmember, foreman, project supervisor and project manager. Advanced Professional Services LLC in Menasha hired Sheryl Huhn as an executive search consultant. Huhn has more than 15 years experience in the recruiting industry, and focuses primarily in the area of accounting and finance. The Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce hired Kari Cassidy as manager of marketing and communications. Cassidy was previously a television news producer at WLUK-TV Fox 11 in Green Bay. Oshkosh Christian School/Valley Christian High School hired Bradley Dunn as head administrator. Dunn has 23 years experience instructing elementary students, leading Christian school teachers and building relationships with parents and donors. He most recently worked for NUNA International as an account manager.

Promotions Menasha-based Faith Technologies promoted Mike Jansen to CEO and Dick Merbach to president, replacing longtime CEO Rollie Stephenson and President Rick Schinke who together co-founded the company 40 years ago. Stephenson is transitioning into a role as chairman of the board for Faith, while Schinke is retiring but will remain as a director on the company’s board. Both Jansen and Merbach are each 30-year veterans of Faith Technologies. Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company in Neenah promoted Jared Ashland to vice president of information technology. Ashland has been with Jewelers Mutual since 2006, progressing from various positions within IT.

Individual honors Mike Weller, president of Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. in Appleton, received the 2013 Technical Education Champion award from the Wisconsin Technical College System District Boards Association. Weller was nominated by Fox Valley Technical College and was selected among 16 nominees from each technical college district in the state. He was recognized for the award for his leadership of several collaborations between Miller Electric and FVTC, particularly in efforts to help enhance welding training programs across the college’s service area. Weller

Gagnon

Cassidy

Dunn NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 43

BUSINESS CALENDAR Elections/appointments Dale O’Keefe, loan operations manager at CitizensFirst Credit Union in Oshkosh, has been appointed to the 22-member Services Council of the Wisconsin Credit Union League, which serves in an advisory capacity to both the not-for-profit league and the for-profit League Services Corp. O’Keefe has 30 years experience in the industry. Janice Jackering, service line operations director at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, has been appointed to the 2013 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The board is composed of nearly 500 leading experts selected from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations and nonprofits.

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. September 3 Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Power Networking Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber offices, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members. For information, call 920.437.8704 or email members@titletown.org.

September 4 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Jor-Mac Company, 155 Main St. in Lomira. Cost to attend is $5. For more information or to register, go online to www.fdlac.com or call 920.921.9500. September 10 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. September 10 Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m. at Gardens of the Fox Cities, 1313 E. Witzke Blvd. in Appleton. For more information or to register, go online to www.foxcitieschamber.com. September 10 Fond du Lac Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club, 5 to 7 p.m. at Elks Club, 33 Sheboygan St. in Fond du Lac. No cost to attend. For more information, visit www.fcedc.com. September 11 Green Bay Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 6:30 p.m. at La Grange Ledgestone Barn, 5332 Dickinson Road in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members. For information, call 920.437.8704 or email members@titletown.org. September 11 Women in Management – Fox Cities Chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fox Rivertyme Banquets, 111 E. Kimball St. in Appleton.

UW Oshkosh MBA Fall Development Opportunities Information Sessions

Interested in earning your MBA? Attend an upcoming information session to learn about our Professional and Executive MBA offerings. Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. UW Oshkosh Sage Hall, Room 2239 Thursday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. UWO Green Bay Executive Education Center Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. Holiday Inn, Evergreen Room, Stevens Point Thursday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m. Holiday Inn, Room A, Fond du Lac

MBA Leadership Series

Want to stay current on business trends and best practices? Attend an upcoming program.

Leading Change

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 8 a.m. to Noon Led by Tony Herrera, PhD UWO Appleton Executive Education Center

Coaching: Fostering an EDGE for Success Thursday, Nov. 14, 8 a.m. to Noon Led by Doug Killough, PhD UWO Green Bay Executive Education Center For more details and to register, visit uwosh.edu/go/leadership.

Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. UWO Appleton Executive Education Center For more details and to register, visit uwosh.edu/go/mba-info.

44 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

www.newnorthb2b.com

BUSINESS CALENDAR Program is “Webbing Your Social Networks,” presented by Barb Dreger, director of marketing at Fox Valley Technical College. For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org, email wimfoxcities@gmail. com or call 920.735.4844.

Miller Electric Mfg. Co., J. J. Keller & Associates, Bergstrom Automotive, Professional Financial Management, Miles Kimball Co., Sturm Foods and Werner Electric. No cost to attend. For more information, go online to www.fvtc.edu/openhouse.

September 12 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 Women in Management 101. For more information or to register, go online to www.wimiwi.org or email Patty at pshea@ sheaelectricllc.com.

October 22 Labor Management Council of Northeast Wisconsin Fall Conference and Annual Meeting, 8 a.m. to noon at Plumbers & Steamfitters Hall, 2700 Northridge Road in Kaukauna. Sessions will focus on health care reform, wellness programs and the federal Affordable Health Care Act. Cost to attend is $35 if registered before Sept. 30 and $45 after, and includes breakfast and materials. For more information or to register, go online to www.lmcouncil.org or call Steve at 920.882.7712.

September 17 A.M. Oshkosh, a morning networking event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:45 to 9 a.m. at ReBath of Central Wisconsin, 230 N. Koeller St. in Oshkosh. Cost to attend is $2 and registration is required by going online to www.oshkoshchamber.com or calling 920.303.2266. September 17 Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Business Connection, 5 to 7 p.m. at Season’s Food and Spirits, N7640 County Road WH in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5. For more information or to register, go online to www.fdlac.com or call 920.921.9500. September 19 Best Practices in International Trade, a forum from Fox Valley Technical College’s Global Education and Services department and Northeast Wisconsin International Business Network, 7:30 to 10 a.m. at FVTC’s D.J. Bordini Center, 5 Systems Dr. in Appleton. Event will include a presentation on international trade experiences from Johnsonville Sausage and The Solberg Company. Cost to attend is $39 and includes breakfast and materials. To learn more or to register, go online to www. fvtc.edu/newibn. October 1 High Demand Careers, a panel discussion with regional employers as part of Fox Valley Technical College’s annual Community Open House, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the college’s Jones Dairy Farm Culinary Theatre, 1825 N. Bluemound Dr. in Appleton. Employers participating include: Oshkosh Fire Department, Quad Graphics, Alta Resources, N&M Transfer, Plexus,

Better Business Bureau New Members

Businesses accredited through the Northeast Wisconsin office during July 2013 Abel Plumbing, Oshkosh Accel Automotive, Oconto Falls American Animal Hospital, Neenah Baldwin Building Improvements, Menasha Blackstone Metal Works, Oshkosh Color ME Green, Neenah Cover All Metal & Roofing, Weyauwega Diecastmodels.co, Sheboygan Hamachek Home Inspections, Manitowoc Premier Lawn Care, Manitowoc Proto-1 Manufacturing, Winneconne RJI Professionals, Inc., Golden RTFT Construction, Green Bay Still Waters, Inc. of Green Bay, De Pere

Advertiser Index Aspen Coffee & Tea www.aspencoffee-tea.com................................. 46 Bank First National www.bankfirstnational.com.................................. 23 Bayland Buildings www.baylandbuildings.com................................... 18 Better Business Bureau www.wisconsin.bbb.org............................... 39 Borsche Roofing Professionals www.wiroofer.com........................... 12 Builders Exchange of Wisconsin www.bxwi.com............................ 17 Capital Credit Union www.capitalcu.com........................................ 32 Care Plus Dental Plans www.careplusdentalplans.com........................ 36 CitizensFirst Credit Union www.citizensfirst.com . ............................ 28 Clean Image Janitorial www.cijanitorial.com................................... 41 Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative www.CommonGroundHealthcare.org.22 Davis & Kuelthau, s.c. www.dkattorneys.com..................................... 5 Evergreen www.EvergreenOshkosh.com............................................. 40 Fast Signs www.fastsigns.com....................................................... 39 First Business Bank www.firstbusiness.com. .................................... 35 First National Bank ~ Fox Valley www.fnbfoxvalley.com. ................... 36 First Weber Commercial www.firstweber.com/commercial..................... 33 Fox Valley Savings Bank www.FVSBank.com................................... 33 Guident Business Solutions www.guidentbusinesssolutions.com............ 12 J. F. Ahern Company www.jfahern.com.......................................... 41 Keller Inc. www.kellerbuilds.com. ................................................... 37 Moraine Park Technical College www.morainepark.edu....................... 7 National Exchange Bank & Trust www.nebat.com............................. 2 Navigator Planning Group www.navigatorpg.com............................. 37 Netsonic www.netsonic.net........................................................... 13 Network Health Plan www.networkhealth.com . ................................ 47 NEW Building & Construction Trades Council www.newbt.org.......... 31 NWTC Corporate Training & Economic Development www.corporatetraining.nwtc.edu......................................................... 29 Outagamie County Regional Airport www.atwairport.com. ................ 27 Painting Pals www.paintingpalsllc.com. ........................................... 48 Ramada Plaza Green Bay www.greenbayramada.com........................ 29 R&R Steel Construction Company Inc. www.rrsteelconstruction.com..... 26 Sadoff & Rudoy Industries www.sadoff.com................................... 14 Skyline Technologies www.skylinetechnologies.com............................ 26 Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream www.stopsellingvanillaicecream.com....... 34 Tri City Glass & Door www.tricityglass-door.com................................ 43 The Avenue www.theavenue91.com.................................................. 9 UW Oshkosh College of Business www.mba.uwosh.edu................... 44 Winnebago County Solid Waste Management www.co.winnebago.wi.us/solid-waste/container-rental-program. ..................... 43

NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013 l 45

KEY STATISTICS Per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

$3.54 August 11 $3.56 August 4 $3.61 July 28 $3.65 Aug. 18, 2012 $3.87 August 18

Source: New North B2B observations

July

895,000

5.9%

from June

20.9%

from July 2012 June

$1.419 billion

4.7%

from June 2012

July

$424.5 billion

0.2%

from June

5.4%

from July 2012 (2007 = 100)

July

99.1

0.3%

from June

2.0%

from July 2012 (Manufacturers and trade)

June

$1,655 billion

Unch. from May

3.5%

Appleton Fond du Lac Green Bay Neenah Oshkosh Wisconsin

June May June â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;12 8.7% 8.2% 9.1% 8.6% 7.6% 7.0%

8.0% 7.5% 8.6% 8.3% 7.2% 6.7%

9.0% 8.4% 9.6% 9.8% 7.9% 7.4%

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

$0.619 July $0.635 Aug. 2012 $0.602 August

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

July

June

55.4 50.9

from June 2012 If there are indicators youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see in this space, contact our office at 920.237.0254 or email info@newnorthb2b.com.

46 l NEW NORTH B2B l SEPTEMBER 2013

www.newnorthb2b.com

FOx CITIEs MARATHOn HEALTH And WELLnEss ExPO sPOnsOR

Ensuring YOUR HEALTH

AT nETWOrK HEALTH, WELLnEss is THE gOAL. By engaging our customers and listening to what they want, we can design unique programs that empower and reward. The results? Better health and lower costs. Maybe that’s why most network Health customers actually use our wellness programs. That’s what a health insurance plan should do, help ensure your health.

networkhealth.com 800-826-0940 HMO plans underwritten by network Health Plan. POs plans underwritten by network Health Insurance Corporation, or network Health Insurance Corporation and network Health Plan. self-funded HMO and POs plans administered by network Health Plan.

sAL-171-01-5/13