IN THIS ISSUE
Gala Award Winners, Roundtable Update from John Rogers and upcoming event happenings!
March 2021 UPCOMING Events A video update From the President 03.05.21
First Friday Forum: Mayoral Candidate Forum
03.09.21
Coastal YPN: A New Form of Fitness
Watch Now - March Better Together Update - Mark Schuh
from the desk of the executive director “Renewal requires opening yourself up to new ways of thinking and feeling.” -- Deborah Day As we have learned over the past year, being open to new ways of thinking and feeling has been key to our ability as individuals, organizations and the community as a whole to be successful throughout the chaos. We looked at new and different ways to celebrate successes from across our County Deidre Martinez at the 2021 Chamber Champions Gala and we could not be more pleased with how it turned out. Another big thank you to all our sponsors, nominees, winners and participants in person and virtually. It was great fun to see so many of you. We are excited to embrace Spring! The warmer temps and melting snow have certainly made us more hopeful. The Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce has gone through some transition to ensure we are up to date
03.10.21
A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Rai of Prevea Health
03.16.21 & 03.31.21
A Virtual Conversation with Sheboygan County Division of Public Health
ROUNDTABLES MEETINGS:
03.10.21 WORKSITE WELLNESS 03.11.21 STRATEGIC SOURCING 03.30.21 MANUFACTURING
with the technology needs of the world moving forward. We recently installed smart screen technology with cameras and microphones, to ensure an interactive experience for our groups whether you choose to meet with us onsite or virtually. If you haven’t been into the Chamber office in a while, we’d like to invite you to pop in, say hi and check things out. Our Deep Dive groups have already begun using this technology and we’ve received great reviews thus far. Please also remember, the Conference space is available for use by Chamber Members by appointment. Please contact us if you have a need for meeting space. This quarter we will also begin the development of additional professional development opportunities. When we conducted the Economic Outlook Survey in December, our members, shared your needs as it relates to professional development for you and your teams. We’ve pulled together a group of community partners to work in collaboration on some of these efforts and we expect to bring additional opportunities to you by the third quarter of this year. We would also like some additional help from you. We’re are asking a few questions of our membership about our current Roundtables and what additional needs are out there. It will only take a couple of minutes, so please help us by completing the survey. The Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce is committed to providing value to our members, increasing economic vitality and the well-being of the business climate in Sheboygan County through, providing opportunities in Professional Development, Relationship Building, Governmental Affairs, Workforce Development and Young Professional Development. We are truly Better Together!
Molly, Coastal YPN Liaison Happy March everyone, another month here and gone! It is crazy to think that we are now in March, a whole year since the onset of this pandemic we have had to pivot our programming! I’d like to say we are now masters at pivoting, but I will stay humble and say we are still in the process of mastering it (; We had a very busy February here in Coastal Nation! We had our first committee meeting with our new and returning members, as well as, a very successful event to wrap up the month. We have so many new and great ideas within our committee that are going to bring great changes to our network. I am very much looking forward to our next events and the new opportunities we have to grow.
Molly Talaska
For those who missed it, we had an event on February 25 called Building a Business. We had two local small business owners come in and speak to our network about the tips and tricks to starting your own business. Nellie Weiss and Lynn Potyen gave great advice to everyone in attendance and were very helpful to those who were asking questions during the Q&A. A huge thank you to the two of you for being so great and having the answers to everyone’s questions. This event brought in a lot of traffic to our network and I am pleased to have had our largest number of attendees since last year! It is only up from here (: Our next event will be on March 9! We are going to be hearing from new business owners, Jonas and Johanna from MYOCYTE-Electric Muscle Stimulation. They will be talking all things EMS and will be demonstrating how it works with each person in attendance (if they would like). It is a new form of fitness brought to the US from Germany, where Jonas grew up and has taught this training. Register today to hear all about it and get to try the first EMS in Sheboygan!
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News from THE DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Happy March! The beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures are a wonderful change from the frigid, freezing temperatures we endured during much of February. Think Spring! Recently, I have been blessed with additional responsibility at your Chamber. Workforce Development has been added to my Membership Development responsibilities and I’m thrilled! For years I had the opportunity to work with many of our tremendous school districts & colleges through assigning and facilitating job shadows, Co-ops, youth apprenticeship and intern opportunities, with many of youth in the community. Along with Red Raider Manufacturing, securing an electric injection molding machine for Sheboygan Falls High School to Project GRILL, making sure our youth had full disclosure to investigate and explore business and manufacturing opportunities was my collaborative focus.
Scott Kuehn
Fast forward to 2021, and I’m happy to say we are on the verge of kicking off the Explore your Future event. During the weeks of April 12 and 17, INSPIRE Sheboygan County and your County Chamber will be collaborating with school districts to maximize efforts in assisting our county wide 10th grade students to learn more about their respective personalities, listen to professionals from around the county, and ultimately make connections with coaches from many of our fine businesses and manufacturers. This event will be both in-person for some schools, and virtual for many others. It’s going to be a great event that will add additional insight to all our sophomores in Sheboygan County! Some things to think about as we move through 2021: • If you have not joined a Deep Dive yet, there are still openings for all groups. Start 2021 by engaging with other members of the chamber from various business sectors. Health care, real estate, banking, insurance, painting and staining, attorneys, and many others are represented by exceptional people living in your county. Join a family of Deep Divers today! • 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 any one 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 Molly Talaska at Molly@sheboygan.org • Check out the chamber calendar at www.sheboygan.org and make sure you mark the remainder of 2021 for all events coming up this year, it is sure to be an exciting and rewarding year!
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And finally, I am looking forward to another year of Meet a Member Friday and having the opportunity to meet so many of our wonderful Chamber members throughout 2021! Have a terrific month, and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, or just want to meet for a cup of coffee and chat. Because you know what? We are so much #BETTER TOGETHER!
Business improvement through chamber roundtables When it was on TV, did you watch Tim Allen’s show Home Improvement? Tim’s neighbor Wilson often provided what some would call ‘pearls of wisdom’ that Tim used, often in his own crazy, humorous way. What improvement ideas can you learn from your ‘business neighbor’? In some cases your ‘business neighbor’ might sit in a cubicle close to your own. For example, are there two of you working in Human Resources? If so, you get up and visit your neighbor for advice on a challenge best addressed through a peer-to-peer exchange of questions and dialog. What if there is no one else at your business you can talk to because you have no peers – you are the only Safety Manager or you are the Business Owner, a sole proprietor or the CEO? Peer-to-peer exchange is why the Chamber hosts a variety of roundtables to help you get those ‘pearls of wisdom’ from a Wilson.
John Rogers
Currently, there are 8 roundtable varieties: Worksite Wellness, Strategic Sourcing, Sales and Marketing, Nonprofit Executives, Safety Managers, HR Managers, Business Owners and Manufacturing. Soon, we may launch a new one. Be ready for the announcement! The roundtables are a Chamber success story! Registrations in 2020 were up compared with 2019 despite the COVID-19 requirement for virtual roundtables. Why? Because the peer-to-peer dialog that occurs during the roundtable itself, and the networking with peers that will develop, helps you in your work environment. Every week, The Chamber Buzz will alert you to roundtables on the horizon with a link to learn more. Plus, if you have any questions, you can send your questions to our Business Roundtable Facilitator, John Rogers, using his email address john@sheboygan.org. Get your name on our email address lists and John will send invitations and reminders. However, we want to improve the Chamber roundtable program so we have a quick and easy survey for you. Please help us by opening this survey link and answering the questions. Your responses will help us make useful changes and improvements. Think of yourself as Wilson!
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past events
First Friday Forum: Brian Doudna of the Sheboygan County Economic Development
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2021 Chamber Champions Gala Winners Announced The Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners of the 2020 Chamber Champions Gala, held on Thursday, February 18, 2021, at the Stephanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Chamber’s combination of inperson and virtual event welcomed thousands of viewers who celebrated the accomplishments of over 70 Chamber Champion Award nominees.
Manufacturer of the Year: Old Wisconsin Sausage Company Sponsor: Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce
Services Organization of the Year: Sheboygan County Division of Public Health Sponsor: Prairie States Enterprises, Inc.
Nonprofit Charity of the Year: Sheboygan County Food Bank Sponsor: Lakeshore Community Health Care
Working Together: Sheboygan County COVID-19 Relief Fund (United Way of Sheboygan County/Sheboygan Service Club) Sponsor: Prevea Health
Ambassador of the Year: Nellie Weiss, UnitedOne Credit Union Sponsor: Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce
Resilient Business of the Year: Parm’s Landscape Management, Inc. Sponsor: CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP)
Safety Leader of the Year: Masters Gallery Foods Sponsor: Wisconsin Lakeshore Safety Council
Culinary Star of the Year: The Blind Horse Restaurant & Winery Sponsor: Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce
Retailer of the Year: Aventuron Sponsor: Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce
Pay It Forward: Jeff Strauss from Tactik Lighting and he is “paying it forward” to the Wounded Warrior Project Sponsor: Van Horn Auto Group
Also recognized were retiring board members: James Van Alstine (RCS Empowers, Inc.) and past Board President, Martha VandeLeest (RCS Empowers, Inc.) The emcee for the evening was Jeff Frieders, 104.5 The Point, Midwest Communications. Sponsors of the evening included Masters Gallery Foods, Prevea Health, Van Horn Automotive Group, Sargento Foods, Gabe’s Construction and UnitedOne Credit Union.
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stay up to date!
04.12.21 & 04.17.21 Explore Your Future
09.08.21
Annual Golf Outing
Sheboygan
County Chamber
Newsletter sponsorship opportunities now available! Please contact Scott Kuehn at 920-918-1315 or scott@sheboygan.org for more information.
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