Special Edition
January 2015
New and Improved
Chamber Website and Member Information Center We are proud to announce the launch the new website design which was developed to integrate with the our new membership database. 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!
How to Submit Member News Announcements Log into the Member Information Center. In the left-hand navigation, select News Releases. On that page, choose the “Start a New Release” button in the upper right-hand corner, enter in your information, and submit. Submissions must be reviewed before being posted on the website so please allow 1-2 business days for it to appear on the Member News Page. Questions? Contact the Chamber team at 715-845-6231 or email info@wausauchamber.com Technical Stuff 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 your potential pop-up blockers.
HAPPY 2015 Thank you for being a member of the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce!
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Member News
The Christmas spirit is alive in the greater Wausau area! Peyton’s Promise advocates, local businesses, and volunteers have been busy stocking the shelves of local food pantries. For November and December, AbbyBank pledged to match a total of $2,000 in donations to Peyton’s Promise. On December 19th, AbbyBank presented a check with a grand total of over $9,035 for the total money raised with the AbbyBank challenge along with the Elves Stocking the Shelves event. This program provided holiday meals to over 20 local food pantries. ThedaCare is the latest provider to join the Aspirus Arise Health Plan’s RightCarePlus program to help employers effectively manage health care costs and give employees control of their care. ThedaCare is a community health system consisting of seven hospitals. ThedaCare is the third-largest health care employer in Wisconsin. RightCarePlus uses innovative, data-driven techniques to address patient needs, from catastrophic and chronic illness to wellness and lifestyle management. Employees will have the opportunity to choose their primary care physician (PCP) upon enrollment, which will help better coordinate and manage their care. The 18th annual Festival of Trees raised $163,000 in support of Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice Services. The event, which took place at Stoney Creek Inn during the week of Thanksgiving, saw several thousand guests participate in the special
events. The Festival featured more than 140 holiday trees, wreaths and specialty items that were available via raffle or silent auction. The proceeds from Festival of Trees helps support two community bedrooms at Aspirus Hospice House for patients with limited ability to pay. Aspirus Wausau Hospital recently received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry – GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2014. The award recognizes organizations for their consistency in meeting patient care guidelines for heart attack patients. Aspirus is one of only 257 hospitals nationwide to receive the highest achievement from NCDR ACTION Registry. Recognized organizations strictly adhere to the treatment guidelines established by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association for both STEMI (complete blockage of a coronary artery) and NSTEMI (partial blockage) heart attack patients. Agosto Inc. and EO Johnson Business Technologies recently announced the sale of Agosto’s IT managed services business to EO Johnson. The sale was completed October 15, 2014, and since that time both companies have focused on notifying customers and transitioning the business. EO Johnson welcomes Agosto’s six Minneapolis IT technicians and engineers into their Locknet® Managed IT Services team and soon will establish
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Member News an office in the Minneapolis area. Until then, the new EO Johnson employees continue to work in the Agosto office. Agosto, one of the world’s most experienced Google for Work Premier Partners and cloud product development firms, is the fifth fastest growing company in Minneapolis according to Inc. Magazine, and is the Google Enterprise Global Partner of the Year for Cloud Platform. Andrew Halverson, Vice President of Business Development for Ellis Stone Construction Company, has been selected by the Portage County Business Council (PCBC) for the 2014 President’s Award. Jim Anderson, President of Ellis Stone Construction Company, said, “Andrew’s impact on this community will last for many years to come; and having him as a key member of the Ellis Stone Construction team is very exciting for us moving into 2015.” Keller Planners, Architects, and Builders, has been ranked the number three “Top Metal Builder” in the Nation in 2013 according to Metal Construction News’ annual ranking for tons of steel purchases. Keller purchased 8,182 tons of steel for construction in 2013. Keller was also ranked number eight in the nation and number one in Wisconsin by the same publication based on square footage. The Village of Kronenwetter has named Joe Krzysiak of 2288 North Glendalen Road as the winner of its annual Deck The Yard holiday decorating contest. Joe got his start putting up holiday lights with his dad when he was just a kid. Since then he’s always wanted to do something bigger and better. It takes him over 12 hours each year to put together the display, but he says it’s all worth it to see the cars stop in front of his house and see the smiles on all the families’ faces. The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is one of only 163 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive a National Endowment for the Arts
Challenge America grant, NEA Chairman Jane Chu recently announced. The Woodson Art Museum is recommended for a $10,000 grant to support hands-on programs led by a guitar designer and artisan during “Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar,” February 28 through May 31, 2015. Organized by the National Guitar Museum, “Medieval to Metal” comprises guitars from an Iberian baroque guitar to a twenty-first century B.C. Rich “Warlock” electric guitar along with images by legendary rock photographer Neil Zlozower, who captured many of the greatest guitarists, including Eric Clapton and Eddie Van Halen. The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum will promote its spring exhibition, Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar, with the help of a $28,250 Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) grant presented by Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett. Woodson Art Museum visitors will experience the art and artistry of guitar design starting February 28 through May 31, 2015, through design illustrations, guitars, and photographs of performing musicians bringing sound to life. Over thirteen weeks, the museum will host multiple programs for art and music fans alike, estimating an economic impact of over $295,000 from traveler spending at area hotels, restaurants, and retail stores. Marathon County’s Start Right program aims to help parents be the best parents they can be by providing prevention-focused education and support services during pregnancy and with children from birth to age five. Start Right was created in 1994 as a public-private partnership and, as the result of the support of Aspirus Wausau Hospital and Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital in Weston, it will continue to offer its Step by Step and First Steps programs to Marathon County families. Additional partners that support Start Right include the United Way of Marathon County, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation, City of Wausau, Marathon County, BA
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Member News and Esther Greenheck Foundation and the Judd S. Alexander Foundation. For more information on Start Right programs and services, please contact the Marathon County Health Department at 715.261.1900. The Marathon County Historical Society is proud to announce the opening of their new exhibit Threat to Life and Limb: A History of Medical Care in Marathon County. This new exhibit will be on display in the second floor gallery through April 15, 2015. Displays include a local doctor’s tools of the trade, a turn-of-the-century doctor’s office, vintage nurses’ uniforms, a variety of medicine bottles from area pharmacies, patent medicine ads and examples, and the training program for local nurses’ aides. The Marathon County Historical Society announces its new lecture series History Speaks, which includes a wide variety of topics, including several of its popular genealogy workshops, presented by local experts and history enthusiasts. The first presentation is The Ethnic History of Marathon County by Gary Gisselman on Sunday, January 11, at the Woodson History Center at 2:00 pm. Marathon County Historical Society Librarian Gisselman follows the path of early immigrants from their homelands to their new home in Marathon County. He will explore how and why immigrant groups such as Germans, Polish, Czech and Pomeranians settled in tight knit communities that reflected their ethnic and religious backgrounds. Eric L. Madson, ChFC®, CRPS®, CLU® recently received his Chartered Retirement Planning SpecialistSM (CRPS®) designation through the College for Financial Planning®, which focuses on the design, installation, maintenance and administration of retirement plans. Eric is a Financial Consultant at Midwest Professional Planners, Ltd. (“MPPL”), a SEC registered investment advisory firm filed in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Texas
and Florida. Eric joined MPPL in 2000, is a Partner of MPPL Financial and has been providing financial planning, insurance, investment, and retirement advice to the Duluth area for over 30 years. Atrial fibrillation is a condition when the heart beat is irregular and often rapid; it is the most common type of arrhythmia in the United States, affecting approximately 2.7 million people. Irregular heart rhythms impair the heart’s ability to effectively pump blood throughout the cardiovascular system. Now, the One Heart Team of Marshfield Clinic and Ministry Health Care at Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital in Weston has a new tool to treat atrial fibrillation. One of the treatments for atrial fibrillation is radiofrequency ablation. Recently, Sanjay Kumar, MD, FACP, FACC a Marshfield Clinic Electrophysiologist on staff at Ministry Saint Clare’s, successfully performed the first contactforce ablations for Atrial Fibrillation in the state of Wisconsin using the TactiCath Quartz ablation catheter. Ministry Health Care is pleased to share its first digital Community Report, which features success stories of the person-centered care taking place every day within Ministry and the communities we serve. Please visit Ministry’s 2014 digital Community Report. The 2014 Community Report stories are told through the voices of Ministry’s patients, family members, associates, clinicians, volunteers and other community members. Ministry Health Care hopes that this digital Community Report gives the community a deeper understanding of who they are, and what they are called to do. During the Special Olympics Wisconsin’s Northern Fall Sports Tournament, 46 athletes received a free sports physical as part of the fourth annual MedFest event. Volunteer physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and medical students led this free health screening which, after an initial check of medical
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Member News history, height/weight and blood pressure, provided cardiac, musculoskeletal and orthopedic testing as well as an abdominal evaluation. Four years ago, Ministry Health Care partnered with Special Olympics Wisconsin’s Healthy Athletes program, and the organization now supports MedFest through volunteer recruitment, supplies and extending provider insurance to the event. A total of 182 athletes have received sports physicals. Bill Hebert, Jr. has been named assistant dean for student affairs and enrollment management at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County (UWMC). He comes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he most recently served as assistant director for the Center for Educational Opportunity. Hebert began his UWMC duties on Jan. 2 and has over 20 years of progressive leadership in higher education. From 2008 to 2010, he took a break from higher education and worked as a senior grants manager for Feed the Children, an international non-profit organization.
Traditional and non-traditional students throughout central Wisconsin looking to complete their bachelor’s degrees and pursue careers in human services now can do so through a new partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County (UWMC) and the UW Oshkosh College of Education and Human Services. This fall, UWMC became a regional site for UW Oshkosh’s Human Services Leadership Collaborative (HSLC) degree program and will provide pre-advising to potential students. Six other UW Colleges in the state also offer the degree, which features courses using distance education technology. The YWCA Wausau believes in and dedicates itself to widespread community impact with women as the catalyst. A community of healthy, empowered, and informed women creates a community of healthy, empowered, and successful families. Your support of the YWCA through “Women of Vision” enables them to achieve this mission. You are invited to nominate a woman who has provided inspiring, innovative, impactful leadership and/or made significant contributions to girls, women, and / or minorities in central Wisconsin. Please contact the YWCA Wausau for a nomination application at 715842-3381 or by visiting their website. Deadline for nominations is Friday, January 16, 2015. The YWCA Wausau is accepting applications for the “Women of Tomorrow” Scholarship Awards program. These are available to any graduating high school female or returning adult female student age 24 and over. Deadline for applications is Friday, February 15, 2015. All nomination forms and scholarship applications are available by stopping in at the YWCA Wausau, 613 Fifth Street, Wausau, WI, 54403, or by visiting their website.
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