Chamber Connection, April 2015 by Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce

In this issue . . .

APRIL 2015

Member News Featured Member Ambassador of the Month New Members

Small Business Week is almost here! The week of April 20 to 24 will be filled with programs and events focused on celebrating small business. The week kicks off on Monday with a legislators’ forum and with open houses scheduled at last year’s Small Business of the Year Award recipients. The excitement continues on Tuesday with the announcement of the 2015 Small Business of the Year Award recipients.

Small Business Week events: MONDAY, APRIL 20: Legislators’ Forum, Small Business of the Year Award Open Houses TUESDAY, APRIL 21: 2015 Small Business of the Year Awards THURSDAY, APRIL 23: Business EXPO 2015, EXPO Business PM

On Thursday, join thousands of business people for Business EXPO 2015 at the Central Wisconsin Convention and Expo Center. Admission is free with your business card. The Business EXPO is followed by the EXPO Business PM, one of the largest networking events of the year, offering a unique opportunity to build new business relationships and strengthen existing ones. The week will finish with a Small Business of the Year Awards Ceremony which will be held on Friday at the Jefferson Street Inn.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 24: Small Business of the Year Awards Recognition Ceremony For more information on these events or to register, visit www.wausauchamber.com.

Member News

How to Submit Member News • Visit WausauChamber.com and log into the Member Information Center • In the navigation on the left, select ‘News Releases’ • On that page, choose the ‘Start a New Release’ button in the upper right-hand corner • Enter your information and press ‘Submit’ Submissions must be reviewed before they are posted on the website, so please allow one to two business days for it to appear on the Member News Page. If you haven’t joined the online Members-Only Information Center, now is the time. Visit the registration page and start using your benefits immediately!

Technical details

Please be sure to add us to your safe senders email list and set your browser to allow popups from the following sites. • Secure.chambermaster.com • Secure2.chambermaster.com • Chambermaster.com Contact the computer support technician at your company for assistance in understanding and locating ONLINE: your potential pop-up View blockers.

Help us Welcome the Newest Chamber Members!

Chamber Member News

Support the regional economy - do business with members. Waste Management Realign Redesign Life Coaching LLC

Acton Academy of Wausau Inc From the Forest

Midwestern Risk Advisors

Advanced Pain Management

The Anglers Choice Guide Service

Gander Mountain Wausau Sutton Transport Inc

CWE Inc

Wausau Animal Hospital

Bellevue University

Graebel Companies Inc

Basil

TEC

Medical College of Wisconsin - Central Wisconsin

Greystone Construction Company

Krautkramer & Block LLC Law Firm

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Brooklyn Taste LLC The Graphic Edge

Featured Member The Village of Weston - Making Things Happen By Daniel Guild, Administrator/Director of Economic Development, Village of Weston

Bringing in new businesses to our community and growing our tax base is a critical financial issue for all units of local government, especially in the wake of continued cuts and reductions in local aids and shared revenues from the state. Our focus and attention to growth, however, do not mean that we have forgotten about current local businesses. Village officials and staff want to do more to work with our businesses and help connect them to customers and opportunities for profit here in our Village. Last year, the Village launched our new ‘It’s Right, Here’ marketing and branding campaign. Our campaign has been built off of elements and work done by Marathon County’s ‘Wisconsin Central Time’ campaign work product, and will further focus and refine the broader message to speak, specifically, about what is happening well and right here in Weston. Our community is diverse and we want to give everyone the opportunity to become invested in and part of this campaign. We have recently published a co-branding guidebook to encourage organizations, agencies, partners, institutions, clubs, civic groups, and our local businesses to align their branding, marketing products, and messaging under the umbrella of an over-arching, community-centered voice. More information can be found about this effort on our website at www.westonwi.gov/ItsRightHere. As part of this work, we are excited to announce a new, ‘shop local; support local’ initiative as part of our, ‘It’s Right, Here’ marketing and branding campaign. In conjunction with our improved Weston Wire print newsletter, local partners will have opportunities to advertise within and help sponsor each publication. This will be a win for advertisers by getting them into a mailing which reaches every residence in the Village. Those civicminded partners will help our community defray the cost of publishing and printing important community news.

The Weston Wire newsletter will be packaged within a new ‘Weston Direct’ cover envelope which will contain supplemental advertisements, coupons, announcements, and event reminders from various community voices. More information can be found about this opportunity at www.westonwi.gov/WestonDirect. These particular activities were initiated and emerged out of a larger discussion about Weston strategy for community growth and economic development. Currently, Weston officials and staff are working diligently on a complete re-write of our Comprehensive Plan. These plans should, in general, plot the community’s plans for growth and development over the next 20 years. It is the standard practice in Wisconsin to redo these plans every 10 years and our current plan will expire at the end of 2016. The basis of comprehensive planning in local government dates back to 1999 when the Wisconsin Legislature enacted legislation that expanded the scope and significance of comprehensive planning in the state. The legislation, sometimes referred to as the state’s ‘Smart Growth’ law, provided a framework for the development, adoption, implementation, and amendment of comprehensive plans by regional planning commissions and by county, city, village, and town units of government. 10 years after Weston incorporated as a Village, our community adopted our first Comprehensive Plan in 2006.

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The Village of Weston Making Things Happen Continued

Comprehensive Plans are organized into various chapters which cover a variety of topics related to the community’s growth and development including, but not limited to: parks and recreation, transportation, housing, natural resources, utilities, and economic development. Staff is currently working on the economic development chapter, as we work to refine our strategy and adjust our focus following the conclusion of the housing boom of the past decade, and, hopefully, as we emerge from the end of the Great Recession. More information can be found about Weston’s effort on our website at www. westonwi.gov/CompPlan2016. One of the first reports related to the Economic Development Chapter is our anticipated Retail Recruitment and Economic Development Plan. For the past nine months, Weston has been working with national consultant, The Retail Coach, on developing a strategy for recruiting and attracting new commercial and national franchised opportunities into Weston. I encourage you to review and digest the various work products that Retail Coach has developed for us, which can be found online at www.westonwi.gov/retail2015. I look forward to talking with you all more about these and other initiatives happening within our agency and throughout our community.

An ice sculpture at the YPWeek Bubbler Awards held on Saturday, April 11 at the Jefferson Street Inn.

Inaugural YPWeek a success locally, statewide Last week’s YPWeek was a weeklong platform for discovery, adventure and meaningful conversations about the issues that matter among young professionals in Wisconsin.

Nick O’Brien, Young Professionals & Special Projects Manager, planned a variety of events in Central Wisconsin attracting dozens of new members to the E3YP group. For more information about E3YP and upcoming events, visit E3YP.org.

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New staff at the

A number of new faces have joined our staff this spring:

CRAIG BERNSTEIN

JENNY RITCHAY

TITLE: Membership Development Director

TITLE: Events Manager

HOMETOWN: Currently living in Birnamwood

HOMETOWN: Wisconsin Rapids

BACKGROUND: A UW – Oshkosh and Milwaukee Technical College graduate and licensed funeral director. Previously worked in sales and customer service for a water/wastewater chemical and equipment supply company.

BACKGROUND: A UW – Eau Claire graduate whose first job after college was at Sea World in San Antonio. Also previously worked at Eastbay as an events coordinator.

RECENT READ: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahala

FAVORITE SNACK: Popcorn or chips and salsa

RECENT READ: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

FAMOUS PERSON YOU’VE MET: Nick O’Brien

FAMOUS PERSON YOU’VE MET: Aaron Rodgers while on a panel for his profile on 60 Minutes and Nick O’Brien

CHAMBER HIGHLIGHT, SO FAR: In my position, it is helping potential clients realize the opportunities the chamber can offer them.

CHAMBER HIGHLIGHT, SO FAR: Getting to know so many involved community members that I previously wouldn’t have had the chance to work with.

FAVORITE SNACK: Good old raisins and peanuts

NICK O’BRIEN

JUDY PITEK

BRIAN OTTEN

TITLE: Young Professionals & Special Projects Manager

TITLE: Programs Manager

TITLE: Marketing Manager

HOMETOWN: Durham, Missouri

HOMETOWN: Wausau

HOMETOWN: Wittenberg

BACKGROUND: Worked in insurance industry for local companies

BACKGROUND: More than 19 years with Gannett in Wausau in a variety of local and statewide positions.

RECENT READ: Top Secret Twenty One by Janet Evanovich

RECENT READ (Listen, actually): One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson

FAVORITE SNACK: Peanuts and popcorn

FAVORITE SNACK: Licorice

HIDDEN TALENT: Used to excel at yo-yo tricks

FAMOUS PERSON YOU’VE MET: Bob Barker and, of course, Nick O’Brien

FAMOUS PERSON YOU’VE MET: Either Al McGuire or William Shatner (or Nick O’Brien)

CHAMBER HIGHLIGHT, SO FAR: Coordinating and executing 13 YPWeek events in his first five weeks on the job

CHAMBER HIGHLIGHT, SO FAR: Meeting, working and getting involved with the great people and their business in my community.

CHAMBER HIGHLIGHT, SO FAR: Ask me after Small Business Week. I’ll have plenty to choose from!

BACKGROUND: A Culver-Stockton College graduate and former sports anchor at stations including WAOW RECENT READ: A podcast, actually, Serial FAVORITE SNACK: Pickles

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Ambassador of the Month Congratulations Ruth Sattler Ruth Sattler, regional leader with Primerica in Wausau, has Ruth has learned much been a Chamber Ambassador for five years. during her time as an Ambassador. She has met Sattler has owned a Primerica business for the past 20 many business owners with years. Prior to that, she worked at Social Services for 19 whom she has developed years. Her move to Primerica was a natural transition from friendships. And Sattler her position with Social Services as both help families with has learned how these financial solutions, rather than selling them products. businesses work. Ruth understands that many middle income families struggle today due to lack of financial education. Her goal is to help these families become properly protected, debt free, and financially independent. In addition to being an Ambassador, Sattler serves on the Board for Childcaring and on the Workplace Volunteer Council.

Ruth has also learned a lot about how our city works Ruth Sattler and how Ambassadors can assist new businesses by promoting their growth. She enjoys the opportunity to help share community resources.

ONLINE:

View Recent Ribbon Cuttings and Groundbreakings 2111 STEWART AVE., WAUSAU - 715-842-8121

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Workplace Health The Importance of Getting Moving at Home and at Work By Dr. L. Voigt Smith, PT, DPT, OCS, CredMDT

Sedentary lifestyles present a huge problem both at home and in the work place. The average adult in America now drives one hour, watches over four hours of television, and often is exposed to multimedia screens at least eight hours a day (Nielsen, Council for Research Excellence, 2009, U.S. Department of Transportation Survey 2004). Microchip technology has drastically influenced our culture and reduced how much Americans move; generally people are sitting more and moving less. This has had a direct impact on the health of society. Among many benefits, exercise has the ability to reduce or prevent diabetes, obesity and many cancers; lack of activity and exercise can do the opposite (US Department of risk for all-cause early death. Also, Health and Human Services. 2008 there is a two-fold increase in the risk for cardiovascular-related early physical activity). death, when compared with those Here are some points to consider: reporting the most moderate to First, according to Dr. Charles vigorous physical activity (of seven Matthews, four to seven hours a week hours or more per week) and less of moderate to vigorous physical than one hour of television a day. activity is helpful. However, when The take home message is even with this is combined with daily television regular exercise, too much sitting viewing of five to six hours, research and inactivity can kill you! indicates up to a 50% increase in the

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Photo by Mike Winner

Second, besides mortality issues, inactivity has been linked to chronic pain (Holth H, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2008). To contrast, research has shown fibromyalgia functional chronic pain problems can be significantly improved with appropriate therapeutic education and exercise (S. E. Gowans 1999, American College of Rheumatology). For individuals needing skilled health

The Importance of Getting Moving at Home and at Work

Continued

provider services, restrictive discomfort and function also can be greatly improved with physical therapy (Gail D, Physical Therapy, December 2005) often at a significant health care cost reduction (Fritz J, Spine, 2012). In a nutshell, the best solution to sedentary issues is to set goals (short-term and long-term) to get moving more at work, in the community, and at home!

levels and motivate individuals to sit less and be more active; individuals can now also get pedometer step count applications for their cell phones. An emphasis by company leadership to consistently exercise and keep moving also can help; many industries adopt corporate fitness and wellness programs to help achieve this. Finally, great lifestyle is all about good informed choices and time management. Lunch-time and breaks are great opportunities to get moving. While it seems noble to work through these breaks, it is not healthy. We all have a responsibility to be proactive with our health. Therapeutic exercise and adequate daily activity need to become ongoing high priority habits. The first day we ignore these often is the first day of a bad lifestyle change. Consider the words of Earl of Derby, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.â&#x20AC;?

Third, a highly-trained doctor of physical therapy has many therapeutic tools and resources available to assist one to function better, be more active, and improve the quality of how they move. One unique Dr. L. Voigt Smith is the owner of Backsmith Advanced clinical example is the Backsmith Selective Stabilization Physical Therapy LLC in Weston. Support. This innovative (twice patented) device often helps improve posture and strength, as well as tolerance for standing, walking and functional exercise (backsmithadvancedphysicaltherapy.com). The tool often is highly beneficial for individuals with restrictive back-related weakness, instability, and tightness. Other devices are available to enhance movement and activity in the work place, as well as at home. Next, many occupational settings now allow individuals to use treadmill desks as well as work stations which allow one to both sit and stand. A study showed there was a significantly reduced amount of work place sitting time, as well as a 54% pain reduction in neck and upper back pain of subjects, with versatile high/low desk utilization (Nicolas P. Pronk, 2011, CDC). A more inexpensive tool option is a light weight and portable pedometer. Research on pedometers (Johnston J, University of Indiana, 2013), has indicated these devices (ranging from $30 to around $200) can qualify activity

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SAVE THE DATE Saturday, May 9, 2015: 9:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Open to Community NTC Wausau Campus

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FESTIVAL

Create, Explore, and Discover with us!

Activities That “WOW!”

Can you walk on water? Make ice cream in 60 seconds? Make a magnet float in mid-air, no strings attached? Let Mind Trekkers be your guide as you explore the excitement of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math! For more information, visit: http://www.ntc.edu/mind-trekkers or http://www.mindtrekkers.mtu.edu. FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS EVENT, contact Jennifer Van Vlack at 715.803.1026 or email vanvlack@ntc.edu.