April 2018

Business Intelligence for the New North

Finding

Working

Capital

How to access funds to help your small business grow and prosper

Tech Builders

Construction

Hits vs. Dollars?

From the Publisher

April 2018 | $3.95

Business Intelligence for the New North

14

April Features 14 COVER STORY

Finding Working Capital

How to access funds to help your small business grow and prosper

20 CONSTRUCTION

20

Tech Builders

Technology driving useful innovation in northeast Wisconsin’s construction industry

Departments 30

4

From the Publisher

6

Since We Last Met

9

Build Up Pages

23 Professionally Speaking 24

Who’s News

28 Business Calendar 29 Advertising Index 30 Key Statistics

On the cover Cover illustration by Candeo Creative

www.newnorthb2b.com

NNB2B | April 2018 | 3

From the Publisher

Hits vs. dollars?

I’d take the money A tale of one business owner’s plight to place online performance ahead of bottom line results

by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher

Can there be a point at which marketers and business owners place too much reverence in the almighty value of the website hit?

Similarly, for all the good tens of thousands of website visits and social media engagements do for your business, your employees don’t want to get paid in website hits on their paycheck. Your office landlord won’t accept web hits in exchange for the monthly lease, and it’s a certainty your bank won’t permit website hits for the next installment on your business line of credit.

A close acquaintance who owns a business recently lamented about the extraordinary worth one of her clients placed in website hits and social media performance over actual dollar-for-dollar return on marketing investment.

Website hits and social media tracking can provide measurement of marketing effectiveness, but it’s a slippery slope to value these markers as currency in and of themselves.

We had a spirited conversation – I could relate to many of the experiences B2B faces in print media.

This associate who offers marketing consulting explained that her client planned to back off of a “more traditional” marketing avenue because it wasn’t generating the amount of website traffic as other social media avenues for this client’s business. The issue, she tried to explain to her client, is that there was an evident trail of dollar-for-dollar return on this client’s investment in the traditional marketing venue, and that – while it wasn’t generating the online engagement of the client’s social media channels – it brought paying customers through the door. In fact, the traditional marketing effort brought more than enough revenue in to cover the cost of the expense – a much more impressive result than could be proven through the expenses this client put into her social media marketing.

Yet in the end, this client firmly believed transferring marketing dollars from one strategy proven to cover its cost – and then some – on a consistent year-over-year basis was worthwhile in order to spend those marketing dollars generating even more hits online.

Yes, web and social media hits and touches and likes and licks are important. But in any marketing initiative for business, the cost for the campaign ultimately needs to be evaluated based on the hard dollars it ultimately generates.

That always has been – and simply always will be – a standard staple of effective business practices.

I know B2B readers don’t want to hear much about my college studies of metaphysical poetry – so I won’t go into painstaking detail – but I can’t help thinking about one of my favorite lines from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sonnet Love is Not All in which she writes: “Love is not all; it is not meat nor drink Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain.”

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I’m hardly begrudging the effectiveness of social media as a component of any organization’s overall marketing portfolio, but all too often in this day and age, marketers confuse return on investment with return on “engagement.”

As business owners and their marketing associates get all wrapped up in the hype of social media blitzes and training seminars and virtual lunch-n-learns, please don’t forget that social media marketing is all about marketing. It is a tool for generating business. And to be a business tool, it has to make money. Otherwise, it’s just another unfunded liability.

In search of “well” companies

New North B2B magazine, in collaboration with our sponsor Network Health, is about a month into the process of seeking nominations for our 13th annual Corporate Wellness Awards.

While we already have some outstanding workplace wellness programs to consider this year, the good news is that more than a month remains for you to boast about your own employer’s best practices in health and wellness management before the nomination deadline arrives on May 7.

See the ad promoting the 2018 Corporate Wellness Awards on page 25 of this edition, or simply go online to newnorthb2b.com to download a nomination form.

During the past dozen years, B2B and Network Health have recognized more than 30 employers across northeast Wisconsin for excellence in programs that improve the health and lives of employees and their families. Once again this year, we’ll acknowledge companies both large and small.

The winners will be announced in our June 2018 edition along with an in-depth article explaining why our judges selected these these healthy employers. The article will also share the strategies these companies have executed in order to improve employee health, lower group health care costs and ultimately bring down group health insurance premium increases over time. n www.newnorthb2b.com

Sean Fitzgerald Publisher & President x sean@newnorthb2b.com Kate Erbach Production x graphics@newnorthb2b.com Rachel Yelk Sales and Marketing Intern x intern@newnorthb2b.com Contributing writers Rick Berg Lee Marie Reinsch

NEW NORTH B2B is published monthly by WINNEBAGO B2B LLC for $20 per year or $3.95 for a single issue.

POSTMASTER: send address changes to: WINNEBAGO B2B LLC, P.O. Box 559, Oshkosh, WI 54902.

Bulk-rate postage paid at LaCrosse, WI. Reproduction of any contents of NEW NORTH B2B without express written permission of its publishers is strictly forbidden.

The appearance of any advertisement or product information does not constitute endorsement of any product or service by WINNEBAGO B2B LLC. Copyright 2018.

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Since We Last Met

Since We Last Met

Since We Last Met is a digest of business related news occurring in the Greater Green Bay, Fox Cities, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac areas in the one month since the previous issue of New North B2B. February 28 CompRex LLC of De Pere was among eight small high-tech businesses in Wisconsin selected to receive up to $75,000 through the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs for projects to commercialize their innovations. CompRex specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of compact heat exchangers and heat exchange reactors targeted for pressure and high-temperature applications in the energy and chemical markets.

February 28 The Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education selected Vickie Cartwright as its next superintendent, succeeding Stan Mack II, who plans to retire in June after six years at the helm of northeast Wisconsin’s third-largest school

2002 April 10 – Officials from Oshkosh Corp. delivered a new, donated Pierce Mfg. fire truck to the Fire Department of New York City. The truck, which carries the number “9-11,” was intended as relief to replace the more than dozen fire engines the department lost during the terror attacks on the city in September 2001.

2003 April 9 – University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students voted to approve a $21 million health and wellness center slated for construction along the Fox River. Students will partially foot the bill for the facility through increased tuition beginning in 2005.

2004 April 15 – The State of Wisconsin enacted its long-anticipated venture capital law, which provided $65 million of tax credits over the proceeding decade to encourage investors to invest money, time and expertise in new Wisconsin companies.

2008 April 11 – Plexus Corp. announced plans to construct an $18 million corporate headquarters building on the site of the former Glatfelter paper mill in downtown Neenah. The four-story, 94,000-sq. ft. building along Neenah’s waterfront will house 325 employees.

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district. Cartwright has served as the associate superintendent for exceptional student education at Orange County Public Schools in Orlando for the past four years. Prior to working in administration, Cartwright was a music educator for eight years. She will earn an annual salary of $195,000.

March 2 Three entrepreneurs from northeast Wisconsin were among the 50 semifinalists in the 15th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest. They include: Dayne Rusch of Pyxsee in Oshkosh; Amanda Santoro of Little Food Company in Appleton; and David Troup of Xensr in Green Bay. Their business plans were selected from among nearly 200 entries submitted statewide. The 50 semifinalists competing in the second phase of the contest will write 1,000-word executive summaries that will be judged in April.

2009 April 15 – Bankruptcy filings in Wisconsin increased 35 percent in the first quarter of 2009, following a 35 percent increase in bankruptcy filings statewide during 2008. Of the 6,172 filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wisconsin between Jan. 1 through March 31 of this year, more than 80 percent were Chapter 7 bankruptcies, the type that eliminate debt such as credit card, utility bills and medical payments.

2011 April 4 – The United Postal Service announced plans to close its Oshkosh mail processing facility and consolidate its operations into the Green Bay plant by the end of September, effectively eliminating 54 jobs in Oshkosh. The consolidation of operations is expected to save the postal service about $4.6 million a year.

2017 April 6 – The initial public stock offering for Schneider National Inc. of Ashwaubenon raised $550 million, selling nearly 29 million shares at $19 apiece. The trucking and logistics company indicated it raised about $228 million after fees by selling nearly 17 million shares, while the Schneider family sold about 12 million shares, grossing almost $230 million. Schneider trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SNDR.

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March 5 Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton announced plans to launch a neurodiagnostic technologist associate degree program this fall in an effort to help meet demand in the region’s health care industry for qualified professionals to test patient’s central and peripheral nervous systems. The twoyear program will teach students to monitor, study and record electrical activity from the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and muscles during neurological testing and surgical procedures.

March 9 The U.S. Department of Labor reported 313,000 new jobs were created during February, leaving the national unemployment rate relatively unchanged at 4.1 percent.

Employment rose in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities and mining.

March 12 The state Department of Transportation began work on the $3.47 million project to improve one mile of State Road 116 in the City of Omro. The project improvements include a resurfacing and urban reconstruction of much of the roadway through the city. The project closes the highway and will detour traffic through the city until its completion in October.

It will also close and detour a portion of State Road 21 for a 30-day period during the summer in order to improve the intersection with Spruce Street.

March 12 Rep. Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay) announced plans to seek the City of Green Bay Mayor’s office in April 2019. Incumbent four-term Mayor Jim Schmitt indicated a few months ago that he would not seek re-election to another term. In making the announcement, Genrich said he would not seek re-election to a fourth two-year term in the state Assembly this coming November, leaving his seat open to two new challengers.

The Green Bay native was first elected to the 89th Assembly District office representing portions of the city in 2012.

March 15 Toys R’ Us Inc. notified state workforce officials of its plans to close all nine of its retail stores across the state and layoff 326 workers as part of previously filed bankruptcy and nationwide liquidation of assets. Both its Appleton and Green Bay stores will close May 14, effectively laying off the 46 employees in Appleton and the 37 employees in Green Bay. The Bay Area Workforce Development Board is providing transitional services for displaced workers from Toys R’ Us during the next several months.

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Listen better. Plan better. Build better.

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Design-build Commercial Industrial

NNB2B | April 2018 | 7

Since We Last Met March 21 The Wisconsin Senate held off on approving a bill that would have provided more than $100 million in job retention tax incentives to Kimberly-Clark Corp. because the company has not yet accepted the offer from the state. It also had not outright declined the state’s offer, which provides an estimated $100 million to $115 million in payroll tax credits if the consumer tissue and personal hygiene manufacturer does not lay off the 610 jobs and close two plants in Neenah and Fox Crossing, as it previously announced in late January.

Senate Republicans - who adjourned the 2018 legislative session to allow lawmakers to campaign for November elections - indicated the bill would be considered in a special extraordinary session at a later date if Kimberly-Clark officials agree to accept the terms of the state’s offer and not close any of its Fox Valley plants.

March 21 Gov. Scott Walker made recommendations to the federal government for 120 separate Economic Opportunity Zones

2018 Corporate Wellness Awards Coming in June 2018

Nomination deadline is May 7. Apply online at newnorthb2b.com.

across the state, including three in Green Bay, two in Oshkosh, and one each in Appleton, Ashwaubenon, Berlin, Fond du Lac, Menasha and Neenah. The Economic Opportunity Zone program was created through the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and provide incentives for tax-free, private investment within a defined geographic area for a 10-year period.

March 22 The University of Wisconsin Green Bay announced plans for at doctoral degree program in First Nations education beginning this fall, marking the first doctoral program offered by the university. The four-year, 54-credit degree program will focus on indigenous knowledge systems and will provide classes on weekends with some online delivery to accommodate working professionals. The doctoral program will enroll 15 students as a cohort every two years.

March 22 Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials announced a $2.2 million project to repaint the steel structure supporting the WIS 441 bridge crossing the Fox River on the east side of the Fox Cities. The project began in early April and is expected to finish by June 2019. The project is not expected to significantly impact vehicles traveling on the freeway. n

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Oshkosh • Green Bay • Appleton • Manitowoc

8 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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Build Up Oshkosh 1

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Oshkosh

Indicates a new listing

1 - 1041 Emmers Lane, Oshkosh Choice Bank, a two-story, 30,000-sq. ft. financial institution building. Project completion expected in June.

2 - 1025-1033 N. Washburn Ave., Oshkosh ATI Physical Therapy, a two-tenant commercial retail building.

3 - 100 Osceola St., Oshkosh University of Wisconsin Oshkosh RecPlex, a 181,000-sq. ft. intramural sports complex. Project completion expected in April.

Projects completed since our March issue: • Mercury Marine, 545 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac.

Coming to B2B in May 2018 Advanced Agriculture

Efficiencies Driving Wisconsin’s Traditional Industry

www.newnorthb2b.com

NNB2B | April 2018 | 9

Build Up Fox Cities

Build Up

Fox Cities

Indicates a new listing

1 - County CB & State Road 15, town of Greenville Cintas, a 54,000-sq. ft. industrial facility for laundry and maintenance. Project completion expected in July.

2 - 3000 W. Wisconsin Ave., town of Grand Chute Kolosso Toyota, a 68,732-sq. ft. automotive dealership and offices. Project completion expected in late 2018.

3 - 3600 Commerce Ct., Appleton Thrivent Federal Credit Union, a two-story, 24,000-sq. ft. commercial office building.

4 - W2801 Evergreen Dr., Little Chute Pods/Packerland Portable Storage, a 40,000-sq. ft. storage warehouse facility. Project completion expected in July. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 5 - 327 Randolph St., Little Chute Trigger Action Sports & CR Structures Group, a 29,838-sq. ft. multi-tenant commercial building.

Project completion expected in late summer. General contractor is CR Structures Group of Kimberly.

6 - 1650 Freedom Road, Little Chute Kwik Trip, a new convenience store, fuel canopy and car wash.

7 - 1402 Freedom Road, Little Chute Little Chute Area School District, a two-story addition to the existing middle and high schools for combined administrative offices. Project completion expected in summer.

8 - 3921 E. Endeavor Dr., Appleton Security Luebke Roofing, a 20,000-sq. ft. commercial building and warehouse. Project completion expected in June. General contractor is Millennium Construction of Appleton.

9 - 410 S. Walnut St., Appleton Outagamie County, an 87,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing county administrative office building.

10 - 720 W. Fifth St., Appleton Harbor House, an addition to increase bed capacity at the existing community services facility. Project completion expected in late spring.

11 - 5175 W. Abitz Road, town of Grand Chute Fabel Collision Center, a 32,779-sq. ft. automotive service facility. Project completion expected in November. General contractor is Millennium Construction of Appleton.

12 - 5714 Technology Cir., town of Grand Chute Team Services, a 5,940-sq. ft. office and warehouse building.

13 - County Road CB, Fox Crossing Secura Insurance, a 350,000-sq. ft. corporate headquarters office building. Project completion expected in early 2019.

Projects completed since our March issue: • Poly Flex, 311 Oak Grove Road, Kaukauna.

• Aldi, 2310 S. Kensington Dr., Appleton.

• Wisconsin Institute of Urology, 1265 W. American Dr., Fox Crossing.

• Galloway Company, 601 S. Commercial St., Neenah.

• Horseshoe Beverage Co., 590 Enterprise Dr., Neenah.

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Office • Retail • Restaurant Lodging • Automotive

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NNB2B | April 2018 | 11

Build Up Greater Green Bay area 2 1

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Monday, July 16, 2018

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Build Up

Greater Green Bay area 1 - 2810 Howard Commons, Howard Village of Howard, a mixed-use commercial retail and multifamily residential development.

2 - 1510 Brookfield Ave., Howard BCS International, a 92,400-sq. ft. warehouse and office building. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 3 - 1457 Donald St., Green Bay Hurckman Mechanical Inc., replace two existing smaller buildings with a new 8,400-sq. ft. industrial warehouse facility.

4 - 2125 Main St., Green Bay Royal Cleaners, a new commercial retail building. Project completion expected in April.

Indicates a new listing

12 - 1400 Richco Ct., De Pere Midland Plastics, a new manufacturing and warehouse facility with offices. Project completion expected in summer. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

13 - 1881 Commerce Dr., De Pere Kay Distributing Co., a 25,008-sq. ft. addition to the existing beverage distribution facility.

Projects completed since our March issue: • Prefinished Staining Products,4725 Anston Road, Howard.

• Carnivore Meat Company, 2878 Ontario Road, Bellevue.

• Wisconsin Public Service, 2800 Ashland Ave., Ashwaubenon.

• Circle Kennel Club, 1040 Circle Dr., Ashwaubenon.

5 - 1695 Bellevue St., Bellevue Cedar Corp., an 8,487-sq. ft. office building. Project completion expected in April.

6 - 1317 Lombardi Access Road, Ashwaubenon US Bank, a 3,895-sq. ft. bank branch office. Project completion expected in April.

MillenniuM ConstruCtion, inC.

7 - 1580 Commanche Ave., Ashwaubenon Bellin Health Family Medical Center, an addition to the existing health care facility.

8 - 1901 Airport Dr., Ashwaubenon Jet Air, a 42,504-sq. ft. aviation hangar. Project completion expected in July.

9 - 1200 Flightway Dr., Hobart Synergy Sports Performance, an 18,000-sq. ft. indoor athletic training facility. Project completion expected in June. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

Featured Project: Security Luebke Roofing Appleton, WI

10 - 4400 block of County Road U, Wrightstown Tweet/Garot Mechanical, a 90,000-sq. ft. manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in late summer.

11 - 1450 Poplar St., Wrightstown Print Pro, a 65,000-sq. ft. manufacturing and warehousing facility. Project completion expected in April. General contractor is CR Structures Group of Kimberly.

425 W Wisconsin Ave. • Appleton 920.882.8700 millenniumconstructionwi.com www.newnorthb2b.com

NNB2B | April 2018 | 13

Cover Story

Hopping down the money trail How to access funds to help your small business grow and prosper Story by Lee Reinsch

OK, so your chocolate-bunny factory needs cash. You sold some massive orders for Easter and shipped out those rabbits in plenty of time for the retail stampede.

But now Easter is over, and your customers are like tortoises when it comes to ponying up.

Without money coming in, you’re low on funds needed to keep your business rolling – to buy ingredients, order new bunny molds, supplies, replace that old commercial mixer, pay the electric bills, make payroll. And of course you’re low on disposable hair nets.

To top it off, you’ve wanted to expand your product offerings to cream eggs, fudge lambs and maybe even confections for other holidays. That’ll require extra expenses, marketing dollars and new equipment.

Taking out a traditional loan isn’t the best option for you at this point because you don’t have much of a banking history. Additionally, the bank won’t agree to a long-term loan, and there’s no way you can pay back such a large amount in just a handful of years.

So are there any ways to get your hands on some greens to keep the chocolate flowing and the rabbits multiplying?

14 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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SBA programs

As a business owner, you could take any of several paths. Lines of credit, term loans, revolving loans, bank credit cards or community economic development programs, to name a few.

If you’re willing to endure a little extra paperwork, government-backed plans can offer flexible terms and lower interest rates than conventional bank loans.

U.S. Small Business Administration loans are open to small for-profit businesses based in the U.S. The SBA’s definition of “small business” bases itself on annual income and number of employees. While the definition varies dramatically from industry to industry, it includes most small businesses in northeast Wisconsin with a net worth of less than $15 million, as well as having less than $5 million in total net income.

Virtually all small businesses are eligible for SBA loans other than nonprofits, according to Mark Maurer, vice president of business banking out of the Green Bay office of Investors Community Bank.

“Manufacturers, service industries, hotels, motels, assisted living – all these types of business are eligible for these programs,” Maurer said.

With SBA-backed loans, lenders need some information beyond the basics to document that a business owner fits eligibility requirements. Ensuring the business owner is a U.S. citizen, has legal or permanent residency, and has no felony convictions are just a few of those requirements, said Jason Monnett, senior vice president and senior lender out of the Oshkosh office of WBD, a Wisconsin-based certified development company that prepares SBA loans for financial institutions.

“We need to clear any prior misdemeanor convictions and the like, so there are a few things related to personal history we need to dive into that a conventional lender might not,” Monnett said.

Two good options

Two of the most popular SBA lending programs are the 504 and the 7(a) guarantee.

“They can be used for pretty much most of the projects a company is looking to do,” said Maurer. “The typical project for a 504 is for a business to expand, acquire equipment, build a building.”

The SBA 504 program is for fixed assets, facility expansion and related costs. It can provide loans of up to $5 million, or up to $5.5 million for manufacturing and green buildings.

SBA 504 loans provide long-term, fixed-rate financing as a junior mortgage to the financial institution loan, according to Monnett.

SBA 504 loans involve funding from a three-member team: a financial institution, a certified development company like WBD, and the business owner. The business comes up with at least 10 percent of the project cost up front.

“During the financing phase, the lender provides up to 90 percent of the financing, with the expectation that the SBA 504 funding will ultimately reduce their loan (risk) to 50

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percent of the project,” Monnett said.

What the SBA 504 program doesn’t allow for is working capital or funding needed for startup costs, such as buying inventory.

That’s where the SBA 7(a) program comes in.

The 7(a) guarantee program is wider in scope than a 504 program loan, according to Monnett, though it may cost the business owner a bit more overall in total interest payments and fees. Loans under the 7(a) program guarantee are oftentimes at variable rates, though there are some options for a fixed-rate loan.

“It can be used for working capital, business acquisitions, buying out a partner in some cases – things that aren’t tied to fixed assets, such as real estate and equipment, like the 504 is,” Monnett said.

“A business will sometimes need working capital to fund growth because their accounts receivables are beginning to slow, or maybe they ship a product but don’t get paid until 30, 60 or 90 days after it’s shipped. So if they’re seeing growth in sales, they’re going to see growth in receivables, and they’re going to need to fund that working-capital need somehow.”

It’s a similar dynamic when a business’s investments are tied up on inventory.

“You normally don’t keep (inventory) forever because you hope to sell it, but you do need to pay for it,” Monnett said.

“To some degree their accounts payable can help finance some of that, because they may get some terms from their vendors before they have to pay.”

Basket of options

A few options to assist with small business financing include: P SBA 504 loans can provide long-term, fixed-rate financing, subordinate to the financial institution lender. The 504 portion is capped at $5 million – or $5.5 million for manufacturers and renewable energy projects. These loans can be used to acquire or improve real estate, purchase equipment, build or expand facilities, or refinance debt originally used to finance equipment and real estate.

P SBA 7(a) guaranteed loans of up to $5 million can be used to finance the acquisition of a business as well as provide working capital for inventory, acquiring equipment and real estate, purchasing furniture and other fixtures or refinancing existing debt.

P U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Business and Industry Loan Program offers sizeable loans to non-agriculture businesses in qualified rural areas with longer financing terms.

P Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Business Development Loan Program offers loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees in certain industries, from aerospace manufacturing to water technology.

For companies in parts of the state considered economically distressed, it waives some fees and offers lower interest rates.

NNB2B | April 2018 | 15

Cover Story

One total solution that reduces your risk.

That’s why it might make sense for a start-up business to finance working capital through a term loan, Monnett said.

“You know there’s going to be a gap between where you are now and when you get to the point where you can continue to operate the business, based on the cash being generated, and then service the payments on that loan.”

The SBA also offers two programs to provide guarantees on lines of credit: the SBA Express program, which has a loan limit of $350,000 and provides a 50 percent guarantee to the lender; and CapLines, which can finance larger working capital needs in particular niche industries.

“They are still lines of credit. They’re just enhanced by an SBA guarantee,” noted Meghann Kasper, senior vice president and Fox Valley market manager with Bank First National. The SBA guarantee allows more flexible terms than the bank might otherwise provide.

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“Say you’re buying a piece of equipment and (the bank) is not comfortable amortizing it for any longer than five years,” Kasper said. “But an SBA guarantee program will give us more comfort, and we might say, ‘OK, we’re now comfortable at seven or 10 years amortization.’”

That typically means more cash flow for the business. “If you’re amortizing over five years, that’s much shorter, payments are larger, and you won’t have as much cash flow,” Kasper said. “If you do it over seven or 10 years, your payment is smaller, so you have more cash flow available.”

Do chocolate bunnies count as livestock?

Contrary to what one might think, not all U.S. Department of Agriculture loans programs are just for farmers. One USDA loan, known as the Rural Development Business and Industry Loan Program – or RBI for short – is for a number of industries outside of the ag sector.

The USDA’s RBI program is similar to the SBA 7(a) program but allows much larger loans – up to $25 million – and nonprofits are eligible, as well.

“With USDA, you think farms, but it’s not. In fact, production farms like cattle operations and dairy farms are not eligible,” said Maurer of Investors Bank.

The catch for eligibility is organizations applying for the loan must be located in rural areas with populations of under 50,000.

These USDA loans can be used by business owners to refinance or restructure their debt. The program can be used for business acquisition, expansion, buying a new building and purchasing equipment.

Unlike SBA loans, which limit eligible businesses by size, USDA loans do not.

“It can be literally for a publicly-traded company,” Maurer said. “It’s not the typical use for it, but it could be.”

All of these government-backed lending programs – whether through the SBA or the USDA – allow for longer-term financing than might otherwise be accessible to the business, according to Maurer.

16 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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“Say you want to buy a manufacturing site in Rhinelander,” Maurer cited as an example. “With traditional financing, the loan payback would be based on a 20year payback but is going to be a shorter term, maybe a 3- to 5-year note. The note would mature, the bank would get updated appraisals, and presumably you would renew the note.

“With USDA, in real estate, you can finance up to 30 years, and with the SBA, you can finance up to 25 years.

And for equipment, it’s 10 to 15 years,” Maurer said. “Conventional financing is maybe 5 to 7 years, so what it does is allow for a more cashflow-friendly debt structure and a longer term.”

Thus allowing you more time to ponder whether to eat the chocolate ears first, or save the bunny’s head for last. n Lee Reinsch of Green Bay worked 18 years at daily newspapers before launching her freelance business, edgewise, in 2007.

Raise a glass: How SBA programs brew more beer in April 2016. The brewery is marking its sixth anniversary with a party later this month.

With the SBA guaranteeing the loan and the money from the City of Sheboygan, the bank was more amenable to loaning to 3 Sheeps than it otherwise might have been.

“It gave everyone a little security and allowed (the bank) to approve the project and help us keep growing the way we have been,” Pauly said. “It was a really big step that traditional financing wouldn’t necessarily have allowed us to do – we didn’t have the years of financial numbers to back it up as you would normally expect, even though our forward projections all were great.”

Pauly worked with Mark Maurer at Investors Community Bank.

“The 504 program has more advantages in my opinion,” Maurer said. “It’s lighter on fees (than the 7(a) Guarantee), and a portion of the loan is fixed at a below-market interest rate for 20 years.

Especially as today’s interest rates are rising, this is a beneficial structure in that it mitigates the interest-rate risk a borrower may face with conventional financing, where they cannot access a long-term, below-market fixed rate.” ~ by Lee Reinsch

A few years ago, 3 Sheeps Brewing Co. of Sheboygan was a small, 10-barrel craft brewpub.

At 31 gallons per barrel, it meant the brewery made only 310 gallons at a time.

“It wasn’t the most efficient system, and we were maxed out,” said brewery owner and founder Grant Pauly.

He found an SBA 504 loan to be the just the financing vehicle to propel growth.

Along with revolving loan funds from the City of Sheboygan Redevelopment Authority, the SBA 504 loan through Investors Community Bank and WBD Inc. allowed 3 Sheeps to expand from 3,500 barrels per year to a new facility with the capacity to produce 35,000 barrels – about 10 times the output.

“It really took us from a 1,000-square-foot operation to a 40,000-square-foot facility with a 10,000-square-foot taproom, and a huge parking lot,” Pauly said. “It helped us to grow much faster than a brewery our size normally should have been able to.”

The new digs, in a building formerly housing a Coca-Cola distribution plant, formally opened

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NNB2B | April 2018 | 17

Construction

Tech Builders Technology driving useful innovation in northeast Wisconsin’s construction industry

Story by Rick Berg

18 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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Construction technology paid off for Fond du Lac community development officials when Kaukaunabased Keller Inc. presented them with a planning solution that would take most of the speculation out of spec building.

Rather than constructing a multi-million-dollar facility and then hoping for a buyer, Fond du Lac was able to develop a “virtual spec building” that can be used to attract potential tenants without substantial financial risk to the city.

Dyann Benson, the City of Fond du Lac’s community development director, said there are other advantages to creating a virtual spec building. Because the plans for the proposed 79,000-sq. ft. facility in the Fox Ridge Industrial Park are already approved by the city and state, the project is “shovel-ready” and can be operational in six months or less, rather than the more typical 9- to 12-month timeframe.

And, because the facility is only virtual at this stage, it can be customized to the buyer’s requirements, with minimal additional approval time required by the state.

Bob Poch, corporate manager at Keller who headed up the virtual spec building project, said the virtual plan allows potential buyers all the advantages of viewing a bricks-andmortar building.

“You can fly around the exterior at different angles, you can walk through the building as if you were physically walking through an actual building,” Poch said. “You can get just about any view you want, inside or out, and you can import furniture and equipment to see how that will look.”

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Poch, who previously served on Fond du Lac’s economic development organization board, said he believes architectural virtualization like that used on the Fox Ridge project can offer great appeal for other economic development groups that want to stimulate buyer interest without incurring the upfront cost of constructing a spec building.

More than that, he said, technology in general has improved the design and construction industry’s ability to serve its clients.

“I believe the biggest impact has been that the software we use today helps our clients better visualize what the project will look like when it’s all said and done,” Poch said. “It also helps us and our clients make better decisions in the planning process. The model is so real, it brings the building to life.”

Enabling collaboration, efficiency

Most design and construction professionals would agree with that assessment, likely adding that technology has also enabled them to work more efficiently. Pamela Talavera, chief operating officer at Appleton-based Consolidated Construction Company, said the merger of existing and new technologies has created efficiencies that would have previously been impossible. There’s a potent set of tools when you take a mainstream technology like videoconferencing, mix it with industry-specific applications like construction management software and building information modeling platforms (see “Technology at work in construction,” page 20). www.newnorthb2b.com

It doesn’t have to be a foreign language.

Successful Journeys Need a Guide™ 920.427.5077 www.guidentbusiness.com NNB2B | April 2018 | 19

Construction

Technology at work in construction Computer-aided design (CAD) software emerged in the 1980s and quickly changed the way architects, engineers and building contractors did planning and design. More recently, construction management software and building information modeling platforms have taken the process to another level of efficiency.

Construction Management Software is an integrated platform that combines multiple functions, including accounting, job costing, payroll and scheduling, while also promoting collaboration among subcontractors and enabling information sharing. Most construction management software incorporates a document management system that stores daily reports, change orders and other mission-critical documents in a central, accessible location. Some construction management platforms include mobile applications that enable field-to-office communications and real-time sharing of documents and drawings.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is sometimes confused with the software that drives it – products like Revit and ArchiCAD. The reality is that BIM is a generic process, not a specific product.

The goal of BIM, according to industry professionals, is to improve collaboration, provide more accurate fundamental information to support decision making, provide a standard way of storing information, and build data collection and sustainment of information into a contractor’s business processes.

An architecture, engineering and construction industry trade group called the National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee defines BIM as “a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A basic premise of BIM is collaboration, based on a shared digital representation.”

- www.nationalbimstandard.org

“Technology has given us the ability to work with clients and suppliers in multiple locations, to work through plans and drawings without having to leave the office and still be able to maintain really good communications,” Talavera said. “Building information modeling, for example, definitely helps in working with suppliers to model the building and identify conflicts pretty early in the process.”

Talavera recalled a recent project in which the modeling process identified that a proposed dust-collection system would conflict with the facility’s operations. Without the modeling, she said, construction would have progressed much closer to completion before the conflict was identified, resulting in cost overruns and project delays.

On a current project, Talavera said, “the architect is in New Jersey, the owner is in Arizona, we’re in Wisconsin and the building is being constructed in Texas. But with the technology we have available, everyone can stay connected and work efficiently without having to be onsite together all the time.”

At Green Bay-based Bayland Buildings, leaders on the operations and engineering sides agree that technology breeds collaboration and efficiency, which allows companies like Bayland to provide better outcomes for clients.

Chad Calmes, chief operating officer at Bayland, said the ProCore construction management platform used by the firm has streamlined processes throughout a project.

“All of our construction documents and field reports are funneled through the ProCore system,” Calmes said. “It helps our guys in the field do what they need to faster than they could before.

It keeps all our project information current and available to anyone who needs access to it, including outside

architects and suppliers. We’re all on the same platform and the information is at everyone’s fingertips.”

Additionally, the Revit software Bayland currently uses as part of its building information modeling platform is a significant upgrade from the software it previously used, said Roger Thiel, vice president of engineering services at Bayland.

“When we communicate with clients, subcontractors and material suppliers during the planning and construction process, being able to do that with 3D modeling is a huge benefit,” Thiel said. “We can share building plans in real time so that clients have a better understanding of what they’re getting and we are better able to respond to their changes.

“During the process, we can give a 3D model to the HVAC subcontractor, he can put his product into our model and send it back to us. We can see if there is a beam in the way of their ductwork or vice versa. We’re all working off the same plan, the same model, in real time. You’re solving problems on paper instead of out in the field, where it is much more expensive.”

As an example of how the technology benefits building contractors as well as clients, Thiel cited Bayland’s recent completion of the Menominee Nation Arena in Oshkosh, home to the Milwaukee Bucks’ development league team, the Wisconsin Herd.

“That was a fast-track project,” Thiel said. “From start to completion, that project took only about a year, which for a project of that size is impressive.

To do that, a lot of things have to go right, the process has to run smoothly, and you have to be able to make changes quickly. Without the technology we use now, that wouldn’t be possible.”

“ You’re solving problems on paper instead of out in the field, where it is much more expensive.”

Roger Thiel, vice president engineering services, Bayland Buildings

20 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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NNB2B | April 2018 | 21

Construction construction labor dwindles.

Technology evolves

Most industry professionals expect that technology innovations will continue to improve the way the design and construction process works.

“I would expect to see continued changes, because in just the two years we’ve been using ProCore, for example, it’s become much easier to use and much more robust in functionality,” said Calmes. “We’ve just recently been able to add mobile timecards and real-time payroll reporting, tracked right to the job.”

Calmes believes the move toward mobile applications will continue, “so that eventually everything that’s available on desktop will also be available on hand-held devices” at the job site.

Talavera believes robotics will play a greater role in the construction process, especially as the supply of skilled

“The technology can improve your efficiency, but you still have to put in the correct data and you still have to be able to analyze it correctly.”

Pamela Talavera, chief operating officer, Consolidated Construction Company

“In hotel construction, for example, I can easily see more use of modular systems, built in manufacturing plants with robotics, rather than being built in the field,” Talavera said.

“You could have complete bathroom systems constructed in the plant, then transported and put in place at the hotel. You would be reducing the hands-on work required in the field.

That can be critical, because already we don’t have enough resources in the field. That’s definitely a challenge we’re facing as an industry.”

In terms of design and engineering, “we’ve seen a lot of change in the 25 years I’ve been doing this,” said Thiel from Bayland.

“When I started, AutoCAD was still an emerging technology and we were still doing a lot of design manually. AutoCAD eventually became common, but now even that has been overtaken. With the technology we have now, we’re able to do much more sophisticated projects much more quickly than in the past. What I expect to see is more ability to use hand-held devices to create renderings in the field. The technology is all there. It’s just a matter of making it connect.”

One thing that won’t change is the human element, according to Talavera.

“The technology can improve your efficiency,” she said, “but you still have to put in the correct data and you still have to be able to analyze it correctly.” n Rick Berg is a freelance writer and editor based in Green Bay.

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Professionally Speaking

Professionally Speaking is a paid promotional spot in B2B.

Issues Regarding Debt Collection for Small Businesses

by Ann Patteson of Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. 844.833.0825 Debt collection is one of the many significant issues for businesses. Poor policies and practices can lead to damaged relationships with customers, financial loss and inefficient use of administrative time.

The first aspect of debt collection is a review of your standard customer agreement. Does it set forth an interest rate for past due payments? If no interest rate is specified, then the statutory rate of 5 percent per year may be charged. Does your customer agreement provide for the collection of actual attorney’s fees? Without such a provision, it is nearly impossible to collect actual attorney’s fees from your customer.

Another aspect of debt collection is to establish and enforce routine times to bill for services and goods, as well as standard follow up procedures (letters and/or calls) when bills go unpaid. Once a customer’s account reaches a certain level, the terms

of any future work or goods should be reconsidered to prevent the situation from worsening. Permitting a customer to owe your business a large amount of money may result in an unpleasant shift of negotiating power towards the customer with the past due amount, and it is far better never to let the situation develop to that point.

If, despite your best efforts, you still need to collect a debt, you may wish to consider retaining an attorney. Most likely the matter will be venued in small claims court, where in Wisconsin, the maximum claim is $10,000.

Moreover, unlike circuit court, certain employees and owners of businesses may represent themselves. Unfortunately, some debtors will only respond to a collection letter from a law firm because then they know the business is actually serious about wanting to get paid.

After having initiated legal action, it is still possible to work out a payment plan with a customer. Such a plan can be structured so that if a payment is missed, the customer

consents to a judgment less credit for any payments. Alternatively, the business can take a judgment, but agree not to enforce it if the payments are made.

When considering an investment in legal fees to collect a debt, the ability to collect the judgment needs to be evaluated, as well as the complexity of the case. Reviewing the online clerk of courts’ records may indicate other collection activity or tax warrants having been filed against the customer, as well as the disposition of those other collection activities.

For advice and counsel concerning debt collection, contact Ann Patteson at (844) 833-0825.

Ann Patteson is a Shareholder with Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. This article is intended to provide information only, not legal advice. For advice regarding a particular situation, please contact the attorneys at Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c.

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NNB2B | April 2018 | 23

Who’s News

Incorporations

New North B2B publishes monthly new business incorporations filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

Brown County

BELLEVUE BAKE SHOPPE LLC, Michael Vande Walle, 1840 Dickinson Road, De Pere 54115.

ANEW HOME STAGING LLC, Rhonda N. McDonough, 7795 Ava Hope Tr., De Pere 54115.

BLUE DOOR ARTWORKS LLC, Jane A. Hostetler, 622 George St., De Pere 54115.

EVER AFTER DESIGN LLC, Nicole L. Evers, 2009 County Road ZZ, De Pere 54115.

SCARLET CLEANING LLC, Graciela Ramirez Valencia, 432 N. Saint Bernard Dr., De Pere 54115.

THE BECKET SCHOOL OF CANINE TRAINING AND REHABILITATION LLC, Stephanie Hintz, 1712 Crimson Ct., De Pere 54115.

T&C PIZZA LLC, Todd Turiff, 1358A Mid Valley Dr., De Pere 54115.

FAMILY & FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY LLC, Susan Tran, 117 N. Broadway, De Pere 54115.

ARVESON LIVESTOCK LLC, Anthony Loren Arveson, 325 Wisconsin Ave., Denmark 54208.

FOOD TRUCK ARMADA LLC, Lloyd Thomas Graff, 2844 W. Mason St., Green Bay 54313.

HOSTED IT SOLUTIONS LLC, Todd A. Dorschner, 1246 Garland, Green Bay 54301.

DAILY BUZZ AT THE BELLIN LLC and BLACK AND TAN GRILLE LLC, Steven James Schneider, 130 E. Walnut St., #404, Green Bay 54301.

JENNEROUS SOLUTIONS FOR ACCOUNTING AUTOMATION LLC, Jennifer M. Smith, 1017 Cleveland St., Green Bay 54304.

SCHNEIDER TECH VENTURES LLC, Paul Kardish, 3101 S. Packerland Dr., Green Bay 54313.

LANCE’S LAWN CARE LLC, Lance Bethke, 1755 London Road, Green Bay 54311.

STAGETHREE LLC, Craig Dickman, 2914 Westline Road, Green Bay 54313.

WELL DONE CLEANING LLC, Janet Antonia Hilario, 1400 N. Baird St., Lot 121, Green Bay 54302.

PACKERLAND FINANCIAL WELLNESS LLC, Zachary Robert Munger, 1414 E. Mason St., Green Bay 54301.

IMPAQTFUL LIFE COACHING LLC, Jenene Nicole Calloway, 3084 Beth Dr., Green Bay 54311.

RED’S EXCAVATING 3.0 LLC, Kurt Bartline, 3080 Roundabout Ct., Green Bay 54313.

DUALE TRANSPORT LLC, Mohamed Abdirisack Mohamud, 1221 Packerland Dr., Apt. #206, Green Bay 54304.

ZACHS ACTION PIT BILLIARDS ARENA LLC, Zachary N. Marquardt, 2834 Josephine Cir., Green Bay 54311.

SZYMIK AFFORDABLE AUTO LLC, Zach D. Szymik, 619 Mather St., Green Bay 54303.

DHEA ONLINE MARKETING SOLUTIONS LLC, David Villwork, 1331 Bellevue St., #516, Green Bay 54302.

MERAKI SPA LLC, Amanda Van Lannen, 874 9th St., Green Bay 54304.

COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION LOGISTICS LLC, William C. Campbell, 1320 Packerland Dr., Green Bay 54304.

TITLETOWN PAINTING AND STAINING LLC, Brad Matthew Johnson, 2261 Fox Heights Lane, Green Bay 54304.

MILLIE’S BOUTIQUE LLC, Tamara Ann Kratowicz, 3226 Bitters, Green Bay 54301.

SHARK BOOKKEEPING LLC, Sharon A. Meidam, 1001 Liberty St., Green Bay 54304.

SPOTLESS CLEANERS LLC, McKenna L. Gerth, 5365 Edgewater Beach Road, Green Bay 54311.

JUSTIN DARRACOTT DRESSAGE LLC, Justin Darracott, N734 Old 47 Road, Pulaski 54162.

SAGE SALON LLC, Brianna Schramm, 1502 Snow Shoe Tr., Suamico 54173.

24 | April 2018 | NNB2B

Fond du Lac County

SOLID FOUNDATIONS HANDGUN TRAINING LLC, Russell L. Bernhagen, 120 S. Poplar St., Campbellsport 53010.

FINAL ANSWER CLEANING LLC, Toni Gilster, W977 County Road F, Campbellsport 53010.

MK SMALL ENGINE AND RENTALS LLC, Michael Voigt, 102 S. Railroad St., Campbellsport 53010.

LOEHR FARMS LLC, Ronald L. Loehr, W1851 Mushroom Road, Eden 53019.

HUNT N FISH GUIDE SERVICE LLC, Robert Henry Schneider, N4695, Eden 53019.

COMPUTERSHARE INC., Leighanne Spiliakos, 467 E. Bank St., Fond du Lac 54935.

YOUR HIGHNESS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC, John Carter, 92 N. Park Ave., Fond du Lac 54935.

ULTIMATE LAWN CARE LLC, Tyler Jacob Albrecht, 521 E. 10th St., Fond du Lac 54935.

PA’S PALLET’S LLC, Kurtis P. McAuly, 229 E. Cotton St., Fond du Lac 54935.

DORZOK DISPATCHING SERVICES LLC, Ashley Dorzok, W3631 County Road WH, Malone 53049.

CARING GUARDIANSHIP INC., Alecia Sarauer, W3270 Schmitz Road, Mount Calvary 53057.

HONEY HOLLOW HANDMADES LLC, Vicki Lynn Ebel, 8041 State Road 91, Ripon 54971.

DM CAREER PATHWAY CONSULTING INC., Denise K. Martinez, 530 Russell Dr., Ripon 54971.

PIPPING CONSTRUCTION LLC, Dennis E. Pipping, N6106 County Road C, Rosendale 54974.

OPYS TOOL REPAIR LLC, David L. Oppermann, 728 Buwalda Dr., Waupun 53963.

Green Lake County

MORIARTY REFRIGERATION SALES AND SERVICE LLC, Robert Moriarty, 318 N. Washington St., Berlin 54923.

Outagamie County

SANDERSON FARM LLC, Patricia Robbins, 3125 E. Canvasback Lane, Appleton 54913.

PBC SOFTWARE DESIGN LLC, Peter Czurak, W5922 Geranium Dr., Appleton 54915.

VAN MAREN TRUCKING LLC, Ross Van Maren, 516 N. Bennett St., Appleton 54914.

JW ELECTRICAL SERVICES LLC, Joseph Wunderlich, N2880 Mayflower Road, Appleton 54913.

THE APPLETON INN LLC, Carole M. Leroy, 300 W. Prospect Ave., Appleton 54911.

FOX CITIES PARTY RENTAL INC., Jared Wildes, 3101 E. Evergreen Dr., Appleton 54913.

CTC FABRICATION LLC, Jason Kenneth Eake, 35 Fairway Ct., Appleton 54915.

THE BERG FINANCIAL GROUP LLC, Michael Berg, 6505 N. Headwall Cir., Appleton 54913.

RECLAIM COUNSELING LLC, Kimberly G. Lee, 54 Bellaire Ct., Appleton 54911.

TECHLIN FARMS LLC, Lloyd Techlin, N3247 State Road 47, Appleton 54913.

WICHMANN CREMATION SERVICES LLC, Daniel P. Densow, 537 N. Superior St., Appleton 54911.

WISCONSIN LASER CENTER LLC, Thomas Brodhagen, 1440 S. Oneida St., Appleton 54915.

BROWN & GREINER CARPET & UPHOLSTERY CLEANING & WATER RESTORATION LLC, Tom Brown, W3945 Rock Road, Appleton 54913.

BEFORE DAWN BOUTIQUE LLC, Erica D. Rucker, 3735 N. Capitol Ct., Appleton 54913.

KARMA ~ A FITNESS STUDIO LLC, Clint J. Broemer, W5361 County Road KK, Ste. F, Appleton 54915.

TRUE LIFE FITNESS LLC, Tracy Ann Schimmers, 421 Albert Way, Appleton 54915.

SPRANGERS AUTO BODY REPAIR LLC, Ryan P. Sprangers, N2429 County Road N, Appleton 54913.

MAYER DELIVERIES LLC, Jeffrey J. Mayer, 3501 W. Sunset Ct., Appleton 54914.

SUSH’S PHO XPRESS LLC, Shoua Lee, 2813 S. Wheatfield Dr., Appleton 54915.

TAPERZ BARBER SHOP LLC, Cainan Lee Davenport, 812 W. Washington St., Appleton 54914.

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AASCEND CHIROPRACTIC INSTITUTE S.C., Randall L. Blohowiak, 842 N. Westhill Blvd., Appleton 54914.

BRAND GUYS MARKETING LLC, Kyle Mark Klemmer, 3670 Cherryvale Cir., Appleton 54913.

KNIGHTHAWK AVIATION SERVICES LLC, Liam Michael Bruen, 4524 N. Windcross Dr., Appleton 54913.

DOOR COUNTY CHERRY COMPANY LLC, James Joseph Trudeau, 4575 W. 4th St., Appleton 54914.

FOX VALLEY ANIMAL SANCTUARY AND RESCUE CORP., Scott Kopelke, 2515 N. Ullman St., Appleton 54911.

PEERLESS DESIGN STUDIO LLC, Brett Evers, 903 W. Lorain St., Appleton 54914.

AUDIOLOGY AND HEARING SERVICES OF THE FOX CITIES LLC, Thomas Parry, 700 E. McArthur St., Appleton 54911.

WISCONSIN ADVENTURE SUPPLIES LLC, Kyle Michael Hermans, 1539 E. Amelia St., Appleton 54911.

FOX VALLEY HUMAN RESOURCE SOLUTIONS LLC, Stephanie Lewandowski, 2702 E. Corridor Dr., Appleton 54913.

HICKORY FARM ANTIQUES LLC, Brandon Daniel Villarruel, 656 N. Hickory Farm Lane, Appleton 54914.

THE CERVICAL SPINE INSTITUTE AND NEUROMONITORING LLC, Thomas M. Wascher, M.D., W7446 Spring Valley Dr., Greenville 54942.

JJ INK LLC, Joshua Helm, W6305 Birmingham St., Greenville 54942.

HARVEYS BAR LLC, Harvey A. Sprangers, 4481 Coriander Ct., Kaukauna 54130.

FOX VALLEY AUTISM TREATMENT PROGRAM S.C., Staci Ferg, W556 Wrightstown Road, Kaukauna 54130.

ULTIMATE MASONRY LLC, Chad Mantei, 2802 Garners Creek Ct., Kaukauna 54130.

THREE COLORS ART & DESIGN LLC, Sheri Lowney, 2825 Meadowview St., Kaukauna 54130.

ROLLING ACRES LAWN SERVICE LLC, Timothy Michael Kelly, W131 Rolling Acres Ct., Kaukauna 54130.

HEART AND HOMES SUPPORT SERVICES LLC, Michele Lefevre, 829 W. Elm Dr., Little Chute 54140.

SAFEHOUZ BAR LLC, William Sherard Walker, 3955 Valley Stream Cir., Oneida 54155.

SPECIALTY AUTO BODY LLC, Brandon Hentges, 925 Deerwood Ct., Oneida 54155.

MAASS FARMS LLC, Michael M. Maass, W2282 State Road 54, Seymour 54165.

COPPER ARROW PHOTOGRAPHY LLC, Aubray Vande Corput, W2220 Shady Road, Seymour 54165.

RAPHAEL VANDE HEI TRUCKING LLC, Raphael George Vande Hei, N7929 County Road Y, Seymour 54165.

CREATIVE COMFORT HEATING & COOLING LLC, Jayde William Dimmick, 245 N. Main St., Seymour 54165.

Winnebago County

EIQ FILMS LLC, Kimberly Nichole Resch, 7632 Haase Road, Larsen 54947.

TLC SNOW SERVICES LLC, Shawn Hewitt, 911 ½ London St., Menasha 54952.

HOFFMAN MINING & EXCAVATING LLC, Joseph F. Franzoi, IV, 514 Racine St., Menasha 54952.

NEPALESE APPLETON YOUTH ASSOCIATION INC., Buddi Sagar Subedi, 3082 Winnipeg St., Menasha 54952.

BOBKAT ROOFING LLC, Salomon Lopez Lara, 228 Olde Pulley Lane, Menasha 54952.

INTEGRITY APPRAISAL WISCONSIN LLC, Lee De Groot, 1428 Midway Road, Menasha 54952.

MIDWEST ROOFING LLC, Amado Briones, 647 London St., Menasha 54952.

OSHKOSH FURNITURE DIRECT LLC, Andrew J. Glatczak, 123 Highland Ct., Neenah 54956.

JESSICA’S BEAUTY AND BARBER LLC, James Martin, 701 S. Park Ave., Neenah 54956.

ZODIAC BEAUTY SUPPLY LLC, Latoyia Hurst, 146 N. Western Ave., Neenah 54956.

APPLETON DENTAL GROUP LLC, James R. Phelan, 219 E. Wisconsin Ave., Neenah 54956.

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Nominate it for B2B’s 2018 Corporate Wellness Awards.

Download a nomination form at newnorthb2b.com.

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NNB2B | April 2018 | 25

Who’s News NEW CONTROL SYSTEMS LLC, Lowell A. Kempfert, 1768 Oakridge Pl., Neenah 54956.

LLJ ACCOUNTING LLC, Lora Lynn Jolin, 3468 County Road G, Neenah 54956.

JONESLAW LLC, Heather Bryanna Jones, Esq., 130 W. Franklin Ave., Neenah 54956.

TOTAL TAN & BOUTIQUE LLC, Britni Ryan, 1031 Cecil St., Neenah 54956.

OMRO TAE KWON DO LLC, Shannon Davis-Foust, 4946 Broderick Road, Omro 54963.

COVENANT CARPENTRY & DESIGN LLC, Joshua Donald Stertz, 8464 Oak Hill Road, Omro 54963.

GUIDED PROBLEM SOLVING (GPS) TRAINING & CONSULTING LLC, Lorinda F. Lewis, 3390 Walden Lane, Oshkosh 54904.

BUTCHERS CHOICE SPICES LLC, Jennifer Ann Heim, 3387 Rosewood Lane, Oshkosh 54904.

INSPIRED JOURNEY TRAVEL SERVICES LLC, Pamela Hart, 2708 Oakwood Cir., Oshkosh 54904.

BELTER FINANCIAL DESIGNS LLC, Thomas S. Belter, 2395 Shore Preserve Dr., Oshkosh 54904.

OSOWSKI LAW LLC, Beth Osowski, 1486 W. South Park Ave., Oshkosh 54902.

NETT’S PAINTING LLC, Raymond J. Nett, 3149 Bellfield Dr., Oshkosh 54904.

SIP ORGANIC JUICEBAR LLC, Megan Bartelt, 1433 N. Oakwood Road, Oshkosh 54904.

HERZOG’S HOME IMPROVEMENT LLC, Jeremy Paul Herzog, 310 Waugoo Ave., Oshkosh 54901.

RECKER REMODELING LLC, Thomas C. Recker, 3290 Meadowbrook Road, Oshkosh 54904.

OSHKOSH SPINE WELLNESS CENTER LLC, David Donald Joseph Augustine, 1210 S. Koeller St., Oshkosh 54902.

ACE TREE, LAWN & SNOW MAINTENANCE LLC, Chad Ader, 1535 W. Bent Ave., Oshkosh 54901.

J AND T’S HOME MAINTENANCE LLC, Tammy Wara, 448 W. 11th Ave., Oshkosh 54902.

RYMERS LAKESHORE MART LLC, Bethany D. Rymer, 7893 S. U.S. Hwy. 45, Oshkosh 54902.

VERICH LAW LLC, Jillayne Y. Verich, 5878 Pointe West Dr., Winneconne 54986.

Building permits

B2B includes a monthly list of building permits (not to include residential projects) in excess of $400,000.

FOX VALLEY TECHNICAL COLLEGE, 1825 N. Bluemound Dr., town of Grand Chute. $562,248 for interior alterations to the chemistry lab in the existing school. General contractor is Miron Construction Co. of Fox Crossing. February 1.

DEALER INSPIRE, 423 W. College Ave., Appleton $900,000 for an interior renovation of the existing commercial office building. General contractor is Blue Sky Contractors of Appleton. February 7.

AGNESIAN CANCER CENTER, 480 E. Division St., Fond du Lac. $779,452 for interior alterations to the existing health care facility. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction Inc. of Fond du Lac. February 6.

WINNEBAGO COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 500 E. County Road Y, Oshkosh. $450,000 for a new event stage on the site of a former racetrack. Contractor is Pheifer Brothers Construction of Neenah. February 14.

TRI CITY GLASS & DOOR, 2801 N. Roemer Road, Appleton. $3,589,788 for an interior renovation of the existing commercial glass retail and service facility. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna. February 16.

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26 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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New locations

New hires

CAPITAL CREDIT UNION opened a branch at 1395 S. Broadway St. in the town of Ledgeview. It’s the financial institution’s 25th branch in northeast Wisconsin.

PREVEA HEALTH added Dr. Danae Steele as a maternal fetal medicine physician at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay.

MAY’S EGG ROLLS opened at 154 N. Broadway in Green Bay’s Broadway District.

Owners May Ly and Tom Xiong launched the Asian foods restaurant specializing in egg rolls, spring rolls and Pho, as well as other Hmong, Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

Appleton-based COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER hired Matt Lyons as vice president of finance. Lyons previously led the accounting department at AIA Corp. in Neenah.

Mergers/acquisitions

ENVISION GREATER FOND DU LAC hired M. Scott Powell as vice president of economic development. Powell has 12 years of economic development experience, most recently serving as economic development program manager in Tempe, Ariz.

Miller Implement Co. of Saint Nazianz acquired PRO MOTORSPORTS of Fond du Lac. The power sport dealership will be renamed Miller Implement & Pro Motorsports of Fond du Lac.

CHOICE BANK in Oshkosh hired Fred Siemers as an executive vice president and chief credit officer. Siemers has more than 25 years of banking experience, most recently working for the past five years as president and CEO of River Cities Bank in central Wisconsin.

CRANE ENGINEERING in Kimberly acquired Eau Claire-based RD Smith Company, Inc., a fluid processing equipment distributor. The acquisition extends Crane’s distribution network into Minnesota and Iowa.

EPIPHANY LAW LLC in Appleton hired Mark Schubert as an attorney. Schubert focuses his practice in estate planning, probate and trust settlement, and elder law.

Pioneer Development acquired the ACCU-LUBE/QUICK LUBE, INC. retail location on Northland Avenue in Appleton.

R.A. SMITH in Appleton hired Luke Siebert as a civil engineer within its transportation services division. Siebert has 13 years experience in transportation engineering, most recently working with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Business honors Oshkosh-based marketing agency CANDEO CREATIVE won a gold American Advertising Award for a cross-platform integrated marketing campaign created for the Oshkosh Convention & Visitors Bureau. The campaign moves on for consideration at the American Advertising Federation district competition, which includes entries from four states.

Menasha-based GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN hired Chris Hess as its president and chief executive officer. Hess most recently served as vice president of market development and sales for ThedaCare in Appleton. He also previously worked as corporate marketing manager at U.S. Venture in Kimberly.

De Pere-based PERFORMA INC. hired Nick Grahl as a structural engineer and Amanda Ramseier as an administrative assistant. Grahl previously served four years in the U.S. Navy, and most recently served seven years in the reserves for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The 30th Annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards recognized seven companies from the state, including OSHKOSH CORP. in the mega-size category and CARNIVORE MEAT COMPANY LLC of Bellevue in the global brand growth category.

SM ADVISORS INC. in Green Bay hired Mark S. Zelinski as a strategy and talent advisor. Zelinski has more than 40 years of professional experience in strategic plan development, talent planning, plan execution, leadership and coaching and mentoring.

ST. PAUL ELDER SERVICES, INC. of Kaukauna received the Excellence in Dementia Care Award from LeadingAge and Integrace for its innovative Passages program.

MENOMINEE NATION ARENA in Oshkosh hired Ralph Harrison as the director of marketing and communications. Harrison previously retired from a career in the auto sales industry, and most recently volunteered to work security at arena events.

FAITH TECHNOLOGIES in Menasha received two gold-level Projects of Distinction Awards from Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin for its work on One Menasha Center in Menasha and the renovated and expanded athletic facility at Ripon College.

Appleton-based THEDACARE hired Maggie Lund as its chief human resources officer.

Lund previously worked 18 years with Mercy Health in Cincinnati where she was system vice president of human resources. Prior to that, she was vice president of human resources and organizational development at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.

WERNER ELECTRIC SUPPLY in Appleton hired Rebecca Usiak as a customer service manager. Usiak has 18 years experience in sales, pricing and customer service, most recently working as a business relationship manager for Valley Bakers in Greenville.

Steele

www.newnorthb2b.com

Powell

Siemers

Schubert

Siebert

Hess

NNB2B | April 2018 | 27

Who’s News

Grahl

Ramseier

Zelinski

Individual awards Pulse Young Professionals Network in the Fox Cities presented its 2018 Young Professional of the Year Award to BRAD CEBULSKI, president of BConnected LLC in Appleton.

Leadership Green Bay presented its annual Leo Frigo Leadership Award to JODI ARNDT LABS, an attorney with the law firm Conway, Olejniczak & Jerry S.C. in Green Bay.

Business calendar

New North B2B encourages businesses and organizations looking to attract interested persons to upcoming events to email sean@newnorthb2b.com.

APRIL 3 Greater Green Bay Chamber Power Networking Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members and $35 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.greatergbc.org or email fyi@greatergbc.org.

APRIL 4 Envision Fond du Lac Area Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Haentze Floral Co., 658 Fond du Lac Ave. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information or to register, visit www.fdlac.com.

APRIL 10 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours, 8 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, visit business.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

Harrison

Lund

Usiak

APRIL 10 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Connection Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for members. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

APRIL 12 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m. at Prime Steer Supper Club, 704 Hyland Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, visit www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

APRIL 12 Women in Management – Oshkosh chapter monthly meeting, 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Sure’s Banquet Hall, 3125 S. Washburn St. in Oshkosh. Cost to attend is $12 for members or $15 for nonmembers. For more information or to register, visit www.wimiwi.org or email Susan at sbach@wisconsin.bbb.org.

APRIL 19 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Card Exchange, 8 to 9 a.m. at Sunflower Spa, 1024 S. Olde Oneida St. in Appleton. No cost to attend for members. For more information or to register, visit www.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

APRIL 19 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Briefing: “The Very Latest in Providing Reasonable Accommodations to the ADA and WFEA,” 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the law firm of von Briesen & Roper, 2905 Universal St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

APRIL 24 A.M. Oshkosh, a morning networking event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:45 to 9 a.m. at Fox Valley Metrology Ltd., 3114 Medalist Dr. in Oshkosh.

Cost to attend is $2. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

HIGHWAY 41/441 CORRIDOR Commercial and industrial sites available COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL SITES Many sites located in tax increment districts FAVORABLE TAX & UTILITY RATES Fully-serviced sites available QUALITY SERVICES Schools, park system and municipal services JAMES FENLON 28 | April 2018 | NNB2B

•

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR

•

920.423.3850

•

LITTLECHUTEWI.ORG www.newnorthb2b.com

APRIL 26 Greater Green Bay Chamber Annual Future15 & Young Professional Awards, 5 to 9 p.m. at Hyatt Regency, 333 Main St. in Green Bay. Cost to attend is $50. For more information or to register, visit www.greatergbc.org.

BRINGING GREAT IDEAS TO LIFE.

MAY 1 Greater Green Bay Chamber Power Networking Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 300 N. Broadway, Ste. 3A in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members and $35 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.greatergbc.org or email fyi@greatergbc.org.

THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE.

MAY 2 Envision Fond du Lac Area Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Wisconsin Building Supply, 450 W. Johnson St. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information or to register, visit www.fdlac.com.

MAY 8 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours: “Being a Compassionate Employer or Co-Worker,” 8 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Kaukauna. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, visit business.heartofthevalleychamber.com.

MAY 8 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Connection Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the chamber office, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for members. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

MAY 10 Women in Management – Oshkosh chapter monthly meeting, 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Sure’s Banquet Hall, 3125 S. Washburn St. in Oshkosh. Cost to attend is $12 for members or $15 for nonmembers. For more information or to register, visit www.wimiwi.org or email Susan at sbach@wisconsin.bbb.org. n

4201 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Appleton | 101 City Center, Oshkosh

BankFirstNational.com

Thank you

to the advertisers who made the April 2018 issue of New North B2B possible.

Badger Sportsman magazine x badgersportsman.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Keller Inc. x kellerbuilds.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Bank First National x bankfirstnational.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Maple Pub x menomineenationarena.com/maple-pub. . . . . . . . . . 19

Bayland Buildings x baylandbuildings.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Millennium Construction Inc. x millenniumconstuctionwi.com. . . . . . . 13

Candeo Creative x candeocreative.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Network Health x networkhealth.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Consolidated Construction Company x 1call2build.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

NWTC Corporate Training & Economic Development x

CR Structures Group ⎮crstructures.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

corporatetraining.nwtc.edu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Day by Day Warming Shelter Mile of Style x warmingshelter.com. . . . . . 7

Oshkosh Public Museum x oshkoshmuseum.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Epiphany Law x epiphanylaw.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Sadoff Electronics Recycling x SadoffEcycle.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Excalibur Edge Golf Classic x birdeasepro.com/EECharityGolf. . . . . . . 12

Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy x strangpatteson.com. . . . . 23

Fox Valley Savings Bank x fvsbank.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

UW Oshkosh Online Education x uwosh.edu/go/online. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Guident Business Solutions x guidentbusinesssolutions.com . . . . . . . 19

Village of Little Chute x littlechutewi.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Investors Community Bank x investorscommunitybank.com . . . . . . . . 21

von Briesen & Roper x vonbriesen.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

J. F. Ahern x jfahern.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

www.newnorthb2b.com

NNB2B | April 2018 | 29

Key Statistics

If there are indicators you’d like to see in this space, contact our office at 920.237.0254 or email sean@newnorthb2b.com.

LOCAL GASOLINE PRICES

U.S. RETAIL SALES

Per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

MARCH 18 . . . . . . . . .

MARCH 11 . . . . . . . . .

MARCH 4 . . . . . . . . . .

FEBRUARY 28. . . . . . .

MARCH 18, 2017 . . . .

$2.41 $2.39 $2.38 $2.39 $2.18

LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT

FEBRUARY

$492.0 BILLION 0.1% from January 4.0% from February 2017

Source: New North B2B observations

EXISTING HOME SALES

FEBRUARY

HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE BROWN County ................. 173.......................$171,500 FOND du LAC County .........65 ......................$142,000 OUTAGAMIE County ...........97 ......................$170,400 WINNEBAGO County ........108.......................$143,750 WI DEPT. REVENUE COLLECTIONS

JANUARY 2018

$1.930 BILLION 2.6% from January 2017

U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (2012 = 100)

FEBRUARY

108.2

1.1% from January 4.4% from February 2017 AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC (Local enplanements)

FEB. 2018 FEB. 2017 Appleton Int’l ATW.....................24,299..........21,720 Austin Straubel GRB.....................22,058 .......19,467

JANUARY DEC. JAN. ‘17 APPLETON ........2.8% .......2.6% ........ 3.4% FOND du LAC ....2.8% ...... 2.4% ........ 3.5% GREEN BAY........3.1% .......2.7% ........ 3.9% NEENAH .............2.6% ...... 2.3%......... 3.5% OSHKOSH ..........2.7% ...... 2.3% ........ 3.3% WISCONSIN .......3.1% .......2.7% ........ 4.0%

NATURAL GAS PRICES Prices for small businesses using less than 20,000 therms. Listed price is per therm.

MARCH........................ $0.449 FEBRUARY....................$0.519 MARCH 2017............... $0.508 Source: Wisconsin Public Service

ISM INDEX Numbers above 50 mean expansion.

Numbers below 50 mean contraction.

FEBRUARY . . . . . . . . 60.8 JANUARY . . . . . . . . . 59.1

IS BETTER

Business Law | Estate Planning | Litigation www.EpiphanyLaw.com | 920.996.0000 30 | April 2018 | NNB2B

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