We’re Here to Help Your Business Succeed
BEN FRANKO
MELISSA PETERSON
VP/Commercial Lender 715.895.6124 | bfranko@frandsenbank.com
Market President 715.895.6123 | mpeterson@frandsenbank.com
EAU CLAIRE frandsenbank.com | Member FDIC 2 2021 Bravo to Business
CA091321
Real people. Real results.
Welcome to our first ever, Bravo to Business event. For almost 20 years, the Eau Claire Area Chamber has recognized businesses of all sizes, entrepreneurs and business leaders for their contributions to the business community. We created Bravo to Business so we could take the time to celebrate those wonderful accomplishments. Our goal with this new event, is to recognize more investors within the community and enhance the prestige, surrounding these awards.
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A letter from Chamber President &CEO, Dave Minor
We still and will continue to honor the Small Business of the Year (50 employees or less) and Community Development. We have however, added some new awards such as, Business of the Year (51+ Employees), Emerging Business of the Year and Young Professionals Best Place to Work. As the final event of our four signature events we host each year, this evening allows you our investors, to come together and support the wonderful businesses we have in Eau Claire and their achievements. As you enjoy this evening and we have that opportunity to honor this year’s finalists and those who have been chosen, we encourage you to think about next year and whom you would nominate! As a reminder, you can self-nominate yourself. Thank you for joining us, and we hope you have a fantastic evening.
Table of
Contents
04 07 08 10 14 18 19
Community Development Award Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce Workforce Initiatives Young Professionals Best Place to Work Award Small Business of the Year Award Business of the Year Award Past Award Winners Eau What a Night 2022 2021 Bravo to Business
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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Award
Sponsored by: Northwestern Bank
This award recognizes efforts in: cultural enhancements, chamber involvement, workforce issues, sense of community and economic development.
In 1947 a group of Eau Claire residents realized their children lacked a place to learn about nature in a hands-on way, so they founded Beaver Creek Reserve, a 160-acre youth camp for the community. In the last 74 years, Beaver Creek Reserve has increased from a 160-acre youth camp to a 400-acre premiere nature preserve and outdoor education facility. At the heart of the expanded BCR campus is the Wise Nature Center, housing most of the staff, the kid-favorite Discovery Room, and most of the indoor educational programming. The Citizen Science Center houses most of their adult education and a majority of the volunteer work, focusing on bird counts and banding, bat monitoring, and stream monitoring. In the summer, visitors can also tour their Butterfly House with hundreds of native Wisconsin butterflies. Tucked away for some seclusion and privacy, BCR also has several sleeper cabins that make a great spot for families or small groups looking to stay on the campus overnight for stargazing or an early morning hike. The BCR campus also plays host to two important partnerships, the Wildlands Charter School, which focuses on unique projectbased learning with a focus on the natural world, and the Hobbs Observatory, which is operated by the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society and offers public viewings through the two telescopes.
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And of course, over nine miles of trails weaving through multiple habitats, with trails along Beaver and Denheimer Creeks and the Eau Claire River. One of their biggest undertakings during the height of the pandemic was creating six new and unique video series. Their naturalist, Ruth, hosted Trailside Treasures, a series based on interesting things she found during hikes. The longer people remained in lockdown at home, the more people turned to hiking and outdoor exploration as a safe and solo way to get out of the house, prompting them to find interesting things in the wild. Ruth has recorded over 20 of these videos to date and plans to continue them going forward.
Beaver Creek Reserve Butterfly House.
Their naturalist, Megan worked on something a little closer to BCR, Butterfly House Tours. Each video in the series highlights another common species in our Butterfly House and what makes them unique, from the favorite Monarch to the lesser-known Cabbage White. Not all of the videos were for those visiting our YouTube page though, their naturalists also worked to create 17 virtual field trips for local schools. Their naturalists explored parts of their own campus or areas near local schools when inperson field trips weren’t possible.
They updated their Holiday Crafting for Kids event to a takehome friendly package, as well as their Earth Week Challenge to be more COVID friendly. Additionally, their naturalists created 33 online programs for kids and adults on topics such as fireflies, native owls, woodpeckers, Wisconsin native raptors, and beekeeping. Their annual Native Plant Sale was also done online, a massive undertaking that took a lot of coordination but sold over $8,000 worth of native plants. The Guild building.
The Guild unit.
Beaver Creek Reserve staff.
Beaver Creek Reserve is nearly 75 years old. They have been lucky to serve the community for all of these years and they are continuing to find new ways to innovate and improve to reach more of the community and become a better resource for the people they serve. All while continuing to be the place adults remember fondly from field trips as a child, the place families go to explore, and the place anyone can come to connect to the natural world.
The Pablo Group is made up of a collection of businesses, which includes hotels, restaurants, commercial buildings, apartment complexes, and single family homes. The Pablo Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Pablo Group. In other words, Pablo Foundation is in the business of giving away money to non-profit organizations to support their mission of creating a healthy and environmentally and financially sustainable Eau Claire area. The Pablo Group is made up of a collection of businesses, which includes hotels, restaurants, commercial buildings, apartment complexes, and single family homes. Whether in the for-profit or non-profit arenas, the themes of creating health and sustainability as set forth by Pablo’s founders – Zach Halmstad, Julia Johnson, and Jason Wudi – are consistent principles embedded in every decision made.
They truly put their planet and their people first and believe the profits will naturally follow. This means purchasing eco-friendly and biodegradable takeout containers and utensils for restaurants, even if they cost more. This means keeping restaurant and hotel staff employed during a pandemic, even if it doesn’t make financial sense. This means paying every employee, from their hotel cleaners to dishwashers, reasonable wages so they can comfortably live in Eau Claire and further contribute to the community. This means responsibly sourcing building materials and implementing renewable energy sources while putting up hotels and commercial buildings to revitalize downtown to enhance the economic landscape of Eau Claire. At the non-profit level, this means purchasing houses to provide safe and affordable housing for housing-insecure families, and to increase the number of single-family owner-occupied homes in Eau Claire’s downtown area. This means asking their grant applicants to look into alternate renewable energy sources and agreeing to fund those projects, even if it costs more. This means being very intentional with stretching the impact of every single dollar of the $9,470,866 that Pablo Foundation has gifted since its inception in 2018 to making the Eau Claire area a more vibrant and inclusive community. While Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion have become hot topics following the death of George Floyd, Pablo’s initiatives have always been built on inclusivity. Within the past twelve months, Pablo Group spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on the following EDI trainings: • Hmong 101 Workshop • Microaggression training • Introduction to Poverty-Informed Practice • Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace • The Intersection of our Lived & Learned Experiences Through the Lens of Belonging • Gray Area Thinking • Unconscious Bias Training
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With so many individuals and organizations stepping up to meet the challenges brought on by the COVID pandemic, WIN is proud to play a part in enhancing the Eau Claire area’s resilience and continued recovery. WIN Technology has long been a quiet but strong supporter of area non-profits, causes, local small businesses, and the community at large. This commitment is not something new for WIN Technology. they are guided by the 29 fundamentals that make up “The WIN Way.” These fundamentals describe the values, behaviors, principles, and practices that are the foundation of their unique culture. It is who they are, and it is what drives their extraordinary success. One of these fundamentals is Make a Difference, which describes how employees and their organization are not only encouraged but expected to be an active part of the community and contribute time, effort, and resources to make their communities better. To help support their Make a Difference fundamental, each employee at WIN Technology annually is allocated sixteen hours of paid Volunteer Time Off (“VTO”). Over the last year, employees have used VTO to better the community through events such as roadside clean up with Eau Claire Highway Department, United Way Day of Caring, and the Polar Plunge. In early March of 2020, at the onset of the COVID pandemic locally, they immediately tackled the challenge of enabling a completely work from home environment for their staff. Simultaneously, they launched an employee donation match program where WIN Technology matched their employees’ donations to area non-profits of their choice, raising over $20,000 for local non-profits.
Community service, United Way Day of Caring.
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WIN Technology employee meeting.
As the pandemic forced closures, capacity restrictions, and social distancing concerns with in-person dining, as a company they made a concerted effort to order takeout on a regular basis and financially support local restaurants. Additionally, they made special donations to the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Pablo Center for the Performing Arts, Eau Claire Children’s Theater, and to the UW-Eau Claire and Chippewa Valley Technical College student relief funds. Knowing that WIN Technology’s donations and patronage alone would not be enough for local organizations to survive, they financially supported WEAU TV’s efforts to highlight local businesses by sponsoring Local Business Resources Guide, in addition to their continued sponsorship of the Buckshot Run and many other community events. They offered local customers discounts on services already under contract, effectively writing down or off income. However, one of the most substantial contributions they made to the community was the deployment and offering of Perigon, WIN Technology’s proprietary webcasting platform. As businesses and non-profits shifted from in-person to virtual events, they provided free licenses and use of Perigon as well as their employees’ time to ensure success of hundreds, if not thousands, of virtual events. Local organizations such as the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce, the Eau Claire Economic Development Corp., Junior Achievement, Pablo Center, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, and many more all benefited from free use of Perigon.
The Perigon platform was developed in-house by WIN Technology over the past five years and experienced great commercial success over the past year, and yet despite the demands of customers willing to pay for their services, WIN never strayed from supporting those organizations in our community who truly needed help first.
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YOUNG PROFESSIONALS BEST PLACE TO WORK Sponsored by: Market & Johnson, Inc.
Award
This award honors employers that invest in the development of young professionals, who offer exemplary work environments, look to hire young professionals who are under 41 years old and strongly support as well as demonstrate commitement to those young professionals.
Their 83-year-old culture is built on the belief that their staff and customers are the foundation of their company. Benedict Sales and Service has been family-owned since 1938 and is currently in its 4th generation of ownership with Tony and Luke, who both happen to be Young Professionals. Every generation has taken pride in going the extra mile for their team. Whether it is helping someone through a rough patch in life, providing guidance and training to help them elevate their work to the next level, or providing fun work events throughout the year to build camaraderie amongst the staff, their staff is part of their family. Their dad always told them, “If you take care of your customers and employees, the rest will take care of itself.”
Another big driver of their YP engagement as a company is their community involvement. As a small business, they have always felt a strong sense of community and that they owed it to the area to give back as much as they can. Their family and staff have been involved with countless boards, event committees, and sponsorships; from Chamber and YP boards to the Children’s Museum, Helpful Hearts, Chippewa Valley Boy Scouts, Junior Achievement, Boys & Girls Club, UWEC Athletics, CCEDC, Youth Sports, Feed My People, Farm Technology Days and many more. They have several YP hires that have cited their involvement as one of the major reasons they wanted to join the team.
Staff taking part in food drive.
Green Mill pizza challenge.
Office dogs.
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A common feedback they hear when hiring new staff, especially from young professionals, is that they want to work where they see growth potential. Their philosophy as a company is that if they aren’t growing and pushing the boundaries, someone else will. Their aggressive approach toward smart growth has been working. Back in 2009 when they won Small Business of the Year, they saw some good growth and were up to 38 full time employees. They provided service within 1.5 hours of the Chippewa Valley at that time. Today, they have over 95 employees, which is over 250% growth! Over 50% of their company is actually young professionals at 55 total staff. It is safe to see they are a growing company.
Royal’s “Community Give Back” initiative includes ongoing activities that are planned each quarter by several committees; two of the four of these planning groups are led by young professionals.
Royal Credit Union’s roots run deep in Eau Claire, going back to their start in 1964 serving employees of the Uniroyal Tire Company. While they have a healthy respect for this history, they also keep looking ahead with anticipation. Part of their future‐ focus includes actively seeking young professionals to join their team and ensuring that Royal meets their unique needs. Every year, Royal partners with UW‐Eau Claire to offer internships. These experiences bring job skills and experience to the college students—but they also bring a wealth of fresh ideas and perspectives to the credit union. They grow their “youngest” young professionals who work as tellers in their in‐school branches at Memorial and North High Schools as part of their School $ense program. Several of these young professionals have gone on to seek full‐time employment at Royal after high school. For their current team members, they offer a Young Professionals program (Royal YP) to grow young talent through events and resources that encourage industry education, leadership, and advocacy through service excellence.
Young Professional Giveback Conference.
More recently, they created a Young Professional Credit Union Activist Program, providing opportunity for young professionals to expand industry knowledge and engage in advocacy by visiting with state and federal Royal Credit Union President & CEO, elected officials. Brandon Riechers
President and CEO of Royal, Brandon Riechers, was thrilled to participate in a Credit Union National Association podcast with their YP CU Activist to share their innovative program with a national audience. Royal is guided by a core purpose—to create a positive impact in the lives they touch. Team members live this purpose both at work and off the clock. Their young professionals are no exception.
Royal focuses on developing their team members and promoting from within, with leader and non‐leader tracks to encourage career advancement. In Royal’s Eau Claire area alone, more than 63% of their workforce is under 41. Their organization’s future is bright and they are creating an environment that attracts and retains young professionals.
Wipfli’s core values of integrity, caring, excellence, teamwork, and perseverance have defined Wipfli throughout our 100-year history. These core values remain the cornerstone of how they interact with each other, with their clients, and in the community. Guided by their strategic vision, they are a future-focus firm. Core to that vision is a commitment to their people, and ensuring their talent is well positioned to serve their clients. In 2020, the global pandemic challenged them all to embrace change and adapt at a rapid pace. They are proud to say the team at Wipfli rose to that challenge and met unprecedented global and local disruption with the confidence and integrity of a firm well prepared for the future. They took steps to ensure their team had the flexibility and resources to overcome any challenges created by the new virtual work environment. They built trust by retaining the bulk of their workforce and providing information to ensure team members felt safe working from home or in our CDCcompliant workspaces and listening to their feedback to improve our communications and response to the crisis. With half of 2021 under our belts, they can confidently say they have proved that they are a fast, flexible, and future-focused firm capable of adapting and providing a steady hand for their clients and for the dedicated associates who work at Wipfli. Their relationship with their clients is also built on trust, and that trust starts with curiosity. They strive to practice curiosity with their clients by listening intently, gaining a deep understanding of their needs, and providing solutions that make sense and fit their financial circumstances. They continue to help clients respond to challenges presented by the pandemic in wide-ranging ways. Never has their mission to “create lasting, positive impact for our clients, associates, and community” been more vital that it is today. In a world that has experienced so much change and transformation, their clients inspire them to accelerate their future focus and transform together.
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SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEARAward Sponsored by: Charter Bank & Wipfli
This award honors and recognizes those businesses that have experienced growth and sustainability within their company. They showcase entrepreneurship, innovative products or services and an overall response to adversity. They have involvement with the community, stewardship and commitment to good business practices, as well as strong workplace culture and employee relations.
Over the past 11 years, Martin Dental has seen such tremendous growth that they have been able to hire an associate doctor, two additional dental hygienists, two additional clerical team members, and a sterilization technician. Their total patient count more than doubled over the past six years, and they are averaging over 50 new patients each month. When they founded Martin Dental in 2010, they began with a vision of serving their patients by developing relationships first and then customizing high quality treatments to suit their specific needs. They set out to take on a flooded dental marketing in the Chippewa Valley with hopes that their small dental practice would rise to the top while competing against other successful and fully established practices. After gradually converting their old dental office from a three treatment room clinic to five, it became increasingly apparent that they were bursting at the seams and needed a new space. They began our architectural and construction planning for our new dental clinic during 2019. Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020 and their industry completely shut down for nearly two months, just as the construction was getting underway. It was nearly impossible to acquire proper PPE to allow their team to safely treat patients and the cost to procure dental materials was rising quickly. Nevertheless, after some careful consideration and confidence that their practice would persevere, they began constructing a new dental clinic with state of the art equipment and safety measures in place.
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Martin Dental building exterior.
Owners, Tony & Jessica Martin.
They have felt the love and support of the community since reopening, as they remained in constant contact with their patients, keeping them informed of the measures they had taken to keep them safe while receiving dental care. When the pandemic started, they decided to take the stance on being a proactive leader in safety for their patients, investing over $20,000 in additional equipment and supplies to practice dentistry more safely. The equipment upgrades were not a requirement or mandate, but they felt the investment was the right thing to do to protect their team and patients. Their new clinic features a state of the art HVAC system with three s eparate zones utilizing HEPA and UV light technologies to filter and sanitize the air.
Community involvement and leadership is extremely important to Martin Dental. They have been members of the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce for over ten years and have donated to many nonprofit and local organizations over the years. Of particular note, Tony raised thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society as a spokesman for the Real Men Wear Pink Campaign. He also helped raise funds for the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre as a competitor in Dancing With The Eau Claire Stars. Their associate, Dr. Viall, is currently a member of Young Professionals of the Chippewa Valley and participated in Leadership Eau Claire in 2020/2021. Jessica has served in a leadership capacity for the Women’s Giving Circle and been a member of two local networking organizations for over seven years. Additionally, she is on the leadership team of Polka Dot Powerhouse, a women’s connection company that started in the Chippewa Valley which has become an international organization over the course of her involvement. Jessica also serves as a Support Director Consultant for four local Business Networking International (BNI) chapters. In this director role, she supports and leads approximately 100 small business owners in the Chippewa Valley to be more successful.
In anticipation of a greater proportion of the population having high-deductible health plans, or still being unable to afford insurance, ReforMedicine was founded in 2011. As a direct-pay practice, with none of the costs associated with third-party insurance billing, ReforMedicine has been able to keep its costs low and offer transparently-priced care and services at drastically lower rated then present in the marketplace regionally. As primary care physicians/providers serve as both drivers and directors of the majority of health care expenditure, employers have come to understand that a “Primary Care Strategy” that included contracting with primary care providers directly, is necessary in order to truly lower the cost of health care for their people on a go-forward basis.
Cardinal healthy clinic.
They are extremely proud, grateful, and humbled to be in the position they are now in, which is why they took this opportunity to portray how far they have come as a business. They intend to continue to serve their patients with high quality dental care and give back to the community that has been so wonderful to them. ReforMedicine group photo.
ReforMedicine has adapted to include not only fee-for-service care for individuals who have high deductibles or no insurance, but also a membership approach for employers that ensure that the primary care provider is not only working for the patient, but also has the best interest of the employer’s plan in mind when ordering/referring for traditionally higher-cost medical services. Celebrating their 10th Anniversary in September 2021, ReforMedicine has had the privilege over those ten years to care for over 14,000 individuals, approximately 3,400 of whom are now covered under their employer-sponsored membership plans. They are honored to call 16 local employers their ‘Partners’ in providing healthcare to their employees.
Comfort and convenience are the hallmarks of Martin Dental’s office operations.
From one doctor and one staff in 2011 to now employing seven providers, and nineteen staff, ReforMedicine has been living up to its moniker – reforming and reshaping the way individuals and employers think about and strategize around their health and healthcare.
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At this time they are certified by 12 of the major manufacturers with two more in the works. In 2018 they were able to open a second location in Altoona. This offers advancement opportunities for existing employees and allows them to serve another area community. With two locations currently, their goal is to have a third by the end of 2023.
Trubilt is a second generation family business that is committed to growth and being the Chippewa Valley’s most progressive shop. They run on their five core values: Accountable, Innovative, Profitable, Selfless & Fun. Their core values are displayed proudly throughout their buildings. Any potential employee or interviewee is asked about what each means to them in the workplace. Their staff is asked about and evaluated on them during their annual review process and asked to give examples as to how they live out those core values on a daily basis. When they do their yearly strategic plan, these five core values are at the heart of it all. They ensure that vehicles are repaired to the requirements of the manufacturer and not what the insurance companies dictate. They are committed to pushing the envelope in their industry and ensuring that they are changing at the speed that the vehicles are changing. They have two technicians that are platinum certified by ICar and one of their painters is Master Certified from Axalta Coating Systems. He is one of less than 150 in the nation that are Master Certified. They invest not only in technical training for their staff, but six of their staff has also graduated from the Discover Leadership program in Texas.
Trubilt building exterior.
Owners, Luke Salter, Amy Wolfe & Jerry Salter.
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Trubilt provides employees with the tools needed to be successful in their daily work environment.
They have built and maintained a loyal customer base by word of mouth referrals, their customer service and their communication while your vehicle is being repaired. While customers don’t enjoy when their vehicle is in the shop, it is with an extreme amount of pride that they’ve continued to be loyal to Trubilt. Trubilt been able to ‘sweeten the deal’ by offering a value add when customers have their vehicle repaired with them.
At their Eau Claire location they offer a Detail 4 Life program which allows four free vehicle cleans every year for as long as you own your vehicle. At their Altoona location they offer their Give Back program which donates 2% of their customer’s repairs to a local non-profit of their choosing.
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BUSINESS OF THE YEARAward Sponsored by: Charter Bank & Wipfli
This award honors and recognizes the incredible impact businesses have on our local economy and how they give back. They have more than 50 full-time employees and have shown stability or growth in sales, services or have expanded their products and services. They have demonstrated a commitment to ethical business practices, employee support & development, strong corporate citizenship as well as community leadership. In an effort to go the extra mile and show they care, they hired Occupational Chaplains of America (OCA) through Neal Bennett. As they grew, it became clear that they were not properly equipped to help thei staff outside of the workplace. Everyone goes through personal trouble every now and then, and often times it gets outside of the realm of what they (the Benedict family) are able to provide. OCA is there to help their staff when they need it. Benedict Sales and Service has been family-owned since 1938 and is currently in its 4th generation of ownership with Tony and Luke Benedict. Tony and Luke bought out their parents on September 30, 2020, right in the middle of the COVID pandemic. The statistics are a little daunting, but with a quick google search you can find many sources stating that less than 3% of businesses operate into their 4th generation. They happily continue to go against the odds. Culture is key when it comes to Benedict Sales and Service. Their work family mean a great deal to them, and they are not just numbers on a financial sheet.
Company events also play a huge part in the culture of their business. They host a number of annual events that bring the company together, e.g. fan deck nights for both the Eau Claire Express as well as the La Crosse Loggers; a “thank you” cookout during the summer as they near the end of their busiest time year; an annual company Christmas party is a fun evening with full appetizer spread, bar, steak/seafood dinner and company awards. The last few years they have done an ugly sweater themed Christmas party, which has been a big hit! Occasionally, a Benedict will go around with a case of beer and hard seltzers for Free Beer Friday. They also will hold an ice fishing contest in the winter, with company sponsored food and prizes for those that want to attend. The social fun side of being a business family can be just as important as the daily work they complete. They feel it is important to provide opportunities and events for their employees and their families. It is a means of appreciation for not just the time the team gives to Benedict Sales and Service, but the time their families give as well. They would not be the company we are without all of their staff. The piece that really ties together their family business and brings it full circle is their community involvement. They are so appreciative to their local communities that support them that it is just as important to return the favor and give back.
Old service van.
Luke and Tony’s parents, Tim and Amy Benedict.
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Their family and staff have been involved with countless boards, event committees, and sponsorships; from Chamber and YP boards to the Children’s Museum, Helpful Hearts, Chippewa Valley Boy Scouts, Junior Achievement, Boys & Girls Club, UWEC Athletics, CCEDC, Youth Sports, Feed My People, Farm Technology Days and many more. They aren’t the biggest business in the area, nor do they have the deepest pockets as a business, but it is very important to them and their staff that their community involvement is top notch. They have several hires that have cited their involvement as one of the major reasons they wanted to join the team. Huebsch employee Bao, customer service.
Company express game.
Words don’t do justice in describing the sense of pride their family feels in Benedict Sales and Service and their work family. In over 83 years of business, there are many ups and downs, from financial hardships, fires burning down the business, expansion/ growth and transitioning the business into the next generation. Time and time again it is their team that pulls them through, and they keep getting stronger.
Their 10-year plan is to double our business in the markets we already serve, a growth rate they have been on for several years. Thanks to the excellent customer service their employees provide, they maintain very high customer retention while also attracting many new customers. Additionally, they have been adding new products that they can serve on their existing service routes. Two examples of these new products are a first aid service and an online corporate apparel store called HuebschDirect. com. Advantages of HuebschDirect.com include in-house fulfillment, low order minimums, and free personalized delivery for customers that they already service. The Covid-19 crisis put a spotlight on new ways they could support their community. Huebsch sourced kN95 face masks from overseas and donated them to Eau Claire and Chippewa counties in WI along with Dakota County in MN to be used for first responders and other county personnel. They also supported the local Mask Beez fabric face mask donation drive by picking up nearly 20,000 masks at Festival Foods locations and laundering them before distributing them back to medical facilities in the Chippewa Valley. Additionally, they manufactured fabric face masks for their own employees and customers along with donating hand sanitizer and other pandemic supplies to several local charities.
Huebsch is very proud of their company and its heritage in the Chippewa Valley. Huebsch was founded in 1891 and has been owned and operated by their family for over 130 years. While the business they are in today has evolved from when they were founded, certain things are still with them – namely their values. These include their commitment to excellent customer service, appreciating their employees, and giving back in the communities they serve. They are in the midst of a large expansion of their Eau Claire facility. As part of that project, they are upgrading equipment and processes at both plants in Eau Claire and Eagan, MN. They have several objectives: improved safety and security, capacity for growth, improved efficiencies, making jobs physically easier, improved climate control, and sustainable measures to reduce consumption of natural resources.
Huebsch employee Matt, on a delivery.
United Way Day of Caring.
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They are also extremely proud of their efforts to attract and retain doctors in this community by continuing a longtime family medicine physician residency program based in Eau Claire, now called the Prevea Health Family Medicine Residency Program (formerly UW Health). Their robust corporate health and wellness services also help local businesses keep their employees healthy, production volumes up and costs down. Prevea Health is honored and privileged to serve the health care needs of the Chippewa Valley since 2015. While Prevea is still fairly new to this community, their rapid growth, commitment to personalized care and investment in the health, wellness and safety of their communities have shaped them into a distinct and trusted source of health care in this region. This hasn’t always been easy as they planted their roots here in a landscape flush with health care options such as larger and well-known systems like Mayo and Marshfield. Founded in Green Bay, Wis. in 1996 with just three clinics, Prevea Health has grown to more than 100 locations across Northeastern and Western Wisconsin.
Prevea Cancer Center staff.
Mobile mammo unit.
West Clairemont location.
Today, if you took your favorite pen and marked every Prevea location on a map of the Chippewa Valley, you just might see more dots than the number of craft beers you can get on tap along Water Street. This growth is a reflection of theur dedication to making high-quality health care accessible and close to home – whether you live in the growing city of Eau Claire or more rural communities like Mondovi and Ladysmith. As Prevea has expanded on the map, they have created jobs and enhanced health care in the community along the way. In addition to bringing in skilled primary care and specialty providers, they have opened state-of-the-art medical facilities such as the Prevea Cancer Center at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, the Prevea Altoona Medical Office Building in the River Prairie development and their new “clinic on wheels” – the Prevea Health/HSHS mobile mammography unit helping to combat breast cancer, particularly in more rural areas.
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At Prevea, they are committed to giving back to the communities they serve. Their most recent sponsorships include the upcoming Eau Claire Marathon and Volume One’s Saturday Morning Hullabaloo: Kids Concert Series. They have a partnership with River Prairie Park which provides funding for ongoing operations and maintenance, community events, wellness initiatives and programming. This includes the beautiful Prevea Amphitheater at River Prairie Park. They are also honored to have assisted the Altoona School District in hitting a $1 million fundraising goal for a new sports complex at Altoona High School. They are extremely proud of the impact they have made on this community thus far, but nothing, in their humble opinion, compares to the way the Prevea family has stepped up to care for, protect and inform the community amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. When the community had questions, they stepped forward to answer. When there came a need for testing, they stepped up in a big and innovative way. And, when it came time to vaccinate their communities for COVID-19, they stepped up in an even bigger way. Their processes, including the design and operations of their mass vaccination clinics have not only been praised, but requested by state and local leaders as well as health care leaders as they look to set a standard for the future.
Royal is guided by a core purpose—to create a positive impact in the lives they touch. One of their core values is “do the right thing” and they are committed to ethical business practices. People visit their branches when they need advisory and consultative services because they know they are trustworthy. Even as their digital product and service offerings expand, their branches continue to be vital resources to provide relationship‐ building service in their communities.
Group photo.
Both the credit union and individual team members have been recognized Royal staff, Kim Leboeuf & for corporate citizenship and community George Younes leadership. Team members volunteer over 3,000 hours each year at local charities, community projects, and civic groups. Royal’s annual performance reviews include team member participation and leadership on external committees and professional associations—so team members are reminded of the value and rewarded for taking this initiative to give back. Royal is hopeful and excited about the future. At Royal, they continue to innovate, expand, and serve. The Eau Claire community is likewise poised to embark on new projects that will bring growth and possibilities.
When WIN Technology (formerly known as Wisconsin Independent Network) was formed in 1997, few could have foreseen the diversified technology company they would become some twenty-four years later. In the early years, they were a small intraWisconsin regional fiber optic backhaul provider and struggled as a start-up in the midst of the dot-com bubble bust.Through hard work, long hours, and a focus on customer service and responsiveness, they earned new revenue opportunities and turned profitable. By 2014, they had established themselves as one of the premier regional fiber optic networks. From that point on, they have been relentless on their mission to strategically grow WIN Technology staff build services from the ground up. and diversify. Through acquisition and internal development, they diversified from a fiber optic backhaul provider into a multi-module telecommunication, information technology, and managed services provider. Between 2016 and 2018, their employee count more than doubled jumping from 55 to 134. Thanks to their robust diversification efforts they have had consistently positive revenue growth year-over-year. With that diversification Wisconsin Independent Network was rebranded as WIN Technology. WIN Technology’s unique commitment to its customers and employees is memorialized in 29 fundamentals, known as the “The WIN Way.” These fundamentals describe the values, behaviors, principles, and practices that are the foundation of their unique culture. It is who they are, and it is what drives their extraordinary success. One of these fundamentals is Make a Difference, which describes how employees and their organization are not only encouraged but expected to be an active part of the community and to contribute time, effort, and resources to make their communities better. WIN Technology lives this fundamental out in many ways, including paid Volunteer Time Off for employees, sponsorship of dozens of local events and causes, and the provision of free technology services to many area organizations such as the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce, the Eau Claire Economic Development Corp., Junior Achievement, Pablo Center, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, and many more.
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WIN Technology building exterior.
Royal Credit Union’s roots are in Eau Claire, going back to their start in 1964 serving employees of the Uniroyal Tire Company. Today, they offer financial products and services for their 235,000+ Member‐ owners across Wisconsin and Minnesota, but their home and base of operations remain steady in Eau Claire. Both 2020 and continuing into 2021 have been record years for Royal. They have many growth strategies and successes, including mergers and acquisitions, expanded digital offerings, record direct lending volume, and business banking expansion. Royal values their Members and continues to deepen their relationship with them, which is working since their Member loss is 6‐8% vs. national average of 12%.
Past Award Winners Community Development Award
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
John Mogenson & Stuart Hagen Northern States Power Ayres Associates Chippewa Valley Technical College Royal Credit Union Luther Midelfort-Mayo Health System Craig Carlson, Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation Children’s Museum of Eau Claire Cigan Properties Sacred Heart Hospital Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Wipfli Weld, Riley, Prenn & Ricci Chippewa Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association Sculpture Tour of Eau Claire Eau Claire Ski Club & Flying Eagles Ski Club JAMF Software Country Jam USA Commonweal Development Corporation City of Altoona – River Prairie Marshfield Clinic Health System
Small Business Person of the Year Award 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Trubilt Auto Body—Duane Dingmann Video Monitors—Bob Conlin & Jerry Carpentier Cigan Properties/Banbury Place—Bill Cigan Jim Carter Automotive—Jim Carter The Brass Gavel/Karen’s Catering— Karen Severson Gramac’s—John Bergeron Kerm’s Pick N Save—Kerm Walker Delta Technology—Jim Anthony Market & Johnson—Marv, Dan & Howie Market Prudential Benrud Realty—Michael Benrud Badger Window Systems Inc.—Doug Olson & Art Syth Bergman Companies Inc.—Bill Bergman Alive! Alive! Associates—Mike & Nancy McKinley
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
StrandWare—Mike Strand Logicare—David Elvig Haselwander Companies—Neil & Charles Haselwander McDonough Manufacturing—Sue Tietz Donnellan Real Estate—Dave Donnellan Markquart Inc.—Lee Markquart BTIO Educational Products Inc.—Mary & Rick Jurmain Peoples National Bank—Mike O’Meara Commonweal Development Corp.— Dan Clumpner & Stuart Schaefer
Small Business of the Year Award 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Huebsch Services Charter Bank Eau Claire Ken Vance Automotive (1)Sterling Water, dba Culligan (2) Documation, LLC (1) L&M Mail Service (2) Minnesota Wire (1) Nohre & Company, S.C. CPA’s (2) Benedict Refrigeration (1) J. Theisen Real Estate (2) Silver Spring Foods (1) Curt Manufacturing, Inc. (2) Student Transit--Eau Claire (1) Tru-Lock & Security (2) Gordy’s County Market (1) Hoeft Builders (2) EO Johnson Office Technologies
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2021 Bravo to Business
2014 2015 2016 2017 2020 2021
(1) Applied Data Consultants (2) RB Scott Company (1) Greener Grass Systems (2) MEP Associates (1) Royal Construction (2) Volume One (1) C&M Properties & Construction (2) Kristo Orthodontics (1) Boxx Sanitation (2) Rain Master (1) Coffee Grounds (2) Precision Systems
2021 Bravo to Business
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