In This Issue
This month, we look forward to our second session of Creating Inclusive Workplaces on Inclusive Leadership: Key Differentiator During Unprecedented Times.
April 2023
From The Desk Of The CEO
“Whether they stem from business or personal situations, our relationships are what support us, connect us and allow us to progress in all aspects of our lives.” - Michelle Tillis Lederman, 11 Laws of Likability
Have you seen our new website? We are thrilled to have launched our new website and hope you have been enjoying it also. This is a significant investment and with its easier user interface capabilities, members will have better access to all things chamber and the community at large and visitors will have a more enjoyable experience as they search for member information. Do not forget we also offer a community calendar on our website for all to enjoy. This helps to keep our community connected and keep us all aware as there are things happening throughout Sheboygan County.
We have a busy spring and summer ahead of us. These opportunities have been developed as our commitment to you as our members. Providing professional development opportunities in our market, celebrating the successes of the young professionals, and helping new young talent build relationships and connect to Sheboygan County is vital to the workforce development attraction and retention efforts, but we need your help. Join us for these opportunities and help us connect with more of your staff, so they can also benefit from these programs. If you would like to get your staff members engaged, reach out klohie@sheboygan.org and she can help you get connected.
On April 19th, we are pleased to welcome Andres Gonzalez again for the second in our Creating Inclusive Workplaces professional development opportunities. This opportunity is free to all chamber members, and we would love you to join us. The room is almost full, so please register right away by clicking here.
Upcoming Events
04.12.23
Out to Dinner with Coastal YP’s: Harry’s Prohibition Bistro
04.13.23
vibe@5: Wade Elder Agency, LLCAmerican Family Insurance
04.14.23
Coastal YP’s: Earth Day Clean Up
04.19.23
Creating Inclusive Workplaces Session #2: Inclusive Leadership: Key Differentiator During Unprecedented Times
04.19.23
Chamber Travel: Flavors of India Trip Information Session
Deidre Martinez
Upcoming Events [
We are finalizing details for our Chamber Travel, November 3rd-14th, 2023 as we explore the Taste of India and celebrate Diwali, The Festival of Lights while we are there. Free airfare is still being offered for this once in a lifetime trip and we have several travelers from Sheboygan County already joining us. To learn more about this opportunity please join us for an information session at the chamber on Wednesday, April 19th from 5p.m.-6p.m. Click here to learn more or contact me directly at deidre@sheboygan.org.
In May we will kick off Young Professional Month with our Best Under 40 celebration and with more nominees to celebrate than ever before, we hope you will join us on May 4th at Village at 170 to cheer them on! Registration is open and we expect this to be another sell out event, so don’t delay and click here to get your ticket today! To follow our Best Under 40 celebration we will have several Young Professional opportunities available throughout the month of May. Attendees will have a chance to connect with other Young Professionals in the area, explore Sheboygan County and all our beautiful space has to offer as well as professional and leadership development opportunities. Please check our website often for updates to programming and opportunities that will be available or reach out to Kierra directly at kierra@sheboygan.org.
In June, we are preparing to welcome Interns and Co-op’s, as they experience all that Sheboygan County has to offer. If you are not familiar with the Intern and Co-op program, I strongly urge you to check it out. If you host interns/ co-ops throughout the summer help them get connected to our community by enrolling them in the program. Also, if you have newer team members that have recently moved to the area for work, they are welcome to join us also.
Visit our website to learn more about this program and the many other offerings we will have available.
We want you to Think BIG (betterment, improvement, growth), Influence Local! The Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce is committed to providing expertise for fostering dynamic organizations throughout Sheboygan County.
We are truly Better Together!
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Continued ] Round Tables Meetings: 04.06.23 SAFETY 04.06.23 STRATEGIC SOURCING 04.11.23 HR MANAGERS 04.12.23 BUSINESS OWNER SUCESS STRATEGY 05.03.23 New Member Orientation 04.20.23 UWGB Institute for Women’s Leadership: Celebrate 2023 Phenomenally You Viewing Party 05.02.23 Coastal YP’s: Pickleball 04.26.23 Out to Breakfast with Deidre Martinez: Parkside Family Restaurant 04.27.23 Ribbon Cutting: Ashford Place Multifamily Building
Kierra Brooks -
Special Events Coordinator & Office Assistant
April showers bring May flowers, so they say. But we wouldn’t know anything about that in Wisconsin. Am I right?
I want to start by welcoming all the new Young Professionals in the area by inviting them to join our Young Professionals group! We are welcoming, friendly, and would love to see you at the upcoming events! To learn about our upcoming events follow us on our social media at coastalypnetwork on LinkedIn, Instagram and at coastalypn on Facebook! You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter at Sheboygan.org. Be sure to look for a Coastal Young Professionals sign to find our group at each event.
This past month we had our first Dinner with YP’s at Local Press Eatery, turnout was fantastic! We saw new and familiar faces while having a nice time chatting and getting to know each other on a personal level. Later that month, one of our committee members lead us on a Behind the Scenes Tour at Kohler Power Systems. YP’s had a chance to have a free professional headshot taken after the tour! In April we have even more events and programs to be on the lookout for. We have partnered with Kohler Wellness to bring YP’s multiple chances to experience Kohler facilities, all complimentary experiences. Join us at Yoga On The Lake and take the Barre Express class with us over the lunch hour!
Lastly, I’m happy to say the wait is over! Our annual celebration of Young Professionals is finally here! The Best Under 40 Awards are coming up and although nominations have closed, registration is OPEN for the event on May 4th. Click here so you don’t miss out on being a part of celebrating some of the young talents we have in our area. If you weren’t nominated this year, who knows, next year may just be your time to shine! We will be giving away thirteen awards at this event and recognizing all nominated. The next big event to mark your calendar for is new to YP Month, YP’s Mini-Conference with the theme, Growing in Your Career. We will have two keynote speakers that you will not want to miss. This event will take place on May 24th from 3-7 pm. It’s an excellent opportunity for networking and professional/personal development. Tell your employees, employers, and friends. Sign up for both events on our new and improved website at business.Sheboygan.org/events. I promise you, you don’t want to miss out! If you have any questions at all, please reach out to me at kierra@sheboygan.org and I’ll be happy to help!
As always, Stay Connected Sheboygan!
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Kierra Brooks
Scott Kuehn - Director Of Membership & Workforce Development
Welcome to April, I hope…
I know I kept saying Spring is right around the corner and we’ve had a mild winter in the last couple editions of this Newsletter but yikes, I didn’t know I’d jinx the start of our Spring!
As we move into the second quarter of 2023, I’d like to make sure everyone is aware that we launched a beautiful, new website that is more interactive to our members, and a lot more intuitive, eliminating the need to double or triple click in certain areas of the site.
Kudos to Engaged Marketing Company for doing a terrific job on building our new site!
If you know a business owner who has not yet become a Chamber member, please let me know so we can connect. I’d love to touch base and share all the wonderful opportunities we have to offer with others in our community. My email address is scott@sheboygan.org and they can reach me directly at (920) 395-8705 and thank YOU in advance!
A couple important dates to get on the calendar: Our Annual Golf Outing is at Quit Qui Oc this year and will be held in beautiful Elkhart Lake on August 30th with a shotgun start at 10am. Also, I’ll be seeking out volunteers to run some fun experiments for STEAMfest, which will be held at UWGB, Sheboygan Campus on October 12th. Please don’t hesitate to email or call me regarding either date.
Don’t forget, Member News is part of your membership and at no additional cost you may post every day, every week, etc., whatever makes sense for your business and staff. Please reach out to me if you’ve never posted before and we can walk through this process, or you can send me what you’d like to post. It’s quick, easy and it’s a great way to let everyone in Sheboygan County know who you are, what your business does or if you’ve got an event coming up!
Some other things to think about as we move through 2023:
• Deep Dive opportunities are a great way to meet new Chamber members and their respective businesses and gain referrals in the process. Every member is from a different business sector, so no two members are alike in any one group! Who do you want to do business with? People you know and trust of course. Join a Deep Dive today! Check out a short video at www.sheboygan.org to learn more about Deep Dives.
• Roundtables are a terrific way to meet others within your business sector. Whether it’s Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Not for Profit, and others, you’re sure to learn something from your peers. These peer-to-peer networking groups can help anyone
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Scott Kuehn
of your employees, or yourself, accelerate your learning curve, and minimize potential setbacks within your organization. Our own John Rogers does an outstanding job keeping each group on task, and always shares his own wealth of knowledge. Contact john @sheboygan.org and join a Roundtable today!
• Our Young Professionals network goal is to attract, engage and retain young, diverse talent to Sheboygan County by providing opportunities for young professionals to design their social culture, serve as civic innovators and community stewards, and develop into the next generation of leaders for Sheboygan County. If you are interested in joining the YP network, please contact Kierra Brooks at kierra@sheboygan.org.
We’ve had a number of ribbon cuttings, a couple vibe@5’s already this year, and we’re only getting started! We look to celebrate YOU and YOUR contributions many more times this year, so buckle up and get ready for another terrific year with YOUR Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce! #BETTERTOGETHER
Christy Jacobs - Director Of Events
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep, and we know it.” – Hal Borland
Yes, Spring is in the air. It may be hard to believe but it really is! April brings us a few new adventures when it comes to events at the Chamber.
April 13th will start us off with a vibe@5 at Wade Elder Agency, American Family Insurance. Be sure to register for this event and help us welcome Wade into the Sheboygan Chamber community at his vibe@5 with the ribbon cutting at 5:45 p.m.
Christy Jacobs
April 19th, we continue our Professional Development Opportunity series with: Creating Inclusive Workplaces – Key Differentiator during Unprecedented Times with Andres Gonzalez. If you missed his first presentation, you missed out! A fantastic presenter with great info and experience. Continuing education credits are available for this event. Register here!
April 20th is something I am so very excited about! We are collaborating with UWGreen Bay Institute for Women’s Leadership and the Professional Women’s Connection of Sheboygan to bring you a virtual viewing opportunity of their event Celebrate 2023 Phenomenally You! Join us for an evening of networking, connecting, and gathering inspiration from women in the community. To learn more, click here.
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We will be starting our 2nd quarter of programming under Governmental Affairs and Business Advocacy. Think old First Friday Forums. We will be focusing on Tourism in our community. More to come on that topic over the next few weeks.
If you have any special areas of interest for this topic, feel free to reach out to me and share. I look forward to seeing you at one of or maybe all three of these amazing events planned for April.
Cheers!
~Christy
John Rogers - Business Roundtables Facilitator
My ‘Better Together’ Niche
If this is redundant, I’m sorry, but a career path can be full of twists and turns. When an aspiring marine biologist meets too many unemployed marine biologists, what is there to do next?
For me it was environmental engineering and that is what I did directly and indirectly from when we moved here in 1977 until I was introduced to the world of economic development. Plus, during the years of 1971-1996, my concurrent career was the US Navy where I served as ‘peace keeper’. I did not see one second of hostile action.
When Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce hired me in 2007, my purpose was economic development and this was a few years before Sheboygan County Economic Development was launched. Before SCEDC, we were able to accomplish a few significant projects, but let’s discuss those in person.
It was not long after I retired from my full-time job with the Chamber that I was asked to return to facilitate a few roundtables. Few has morphed into eight and I truly enjoy every one of them. Yes, it is true that the Business Owner roundtable on April 12 will be my 500th! Roundtables have become my ‘Better Together’ niche. Numerous ‘Urgent and Important’ topics, thousands of one-word openers and closers, and too many honest-to-goodness friends are what keep me going. How many past 500 will there be? It has taken 15 years to get to 500. Time will tell.
I am so incredibly blessed!
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John Rogers
March
March In Review
March
March
March 15
vibe@5: Key Insurance
March 16
Leadership Sheboygan County: Education Day
March 21
Ribbon Cutting: Sheboygan Senior Community (SSC) Solar Field
March 22
Out to Lunch with Deidre Martinez: Bread & Bean Eatery
March 22
Coastal YP’s: Kohler Power Systems Tour
March 22 - 23
WCCE Spring Training
7.
1
New Member Orientation
2
New Chamber Website
8
Out to Dinner with Coastal YP’s: Local Press Eatery
