Dec 2017

Business Intelligence for the New North

Social Soaring Unique approaches to social media marketing success help northeast Wisconsin companies stay out in front of their customers

New Workforce Wave

Education

Not Just Corporate Welfare Anymore From the Publisher

December 2017 | $3.95

T h i s m o n t h ’s f e a t u r e s t o r y s h o w s y o u t h e p r o o f. O u r a g e n c y w a s f o u n d e d o n s o c i a l m e d i a m a r ke t i n g , a n d it’s still an integral part of what we do. Want in? We have an immediate opening for a communications director who thinks virally and doesn’t call it The Facebook. Apply online and get to know us while you’re there.

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Business Intelligence for the New North

18

December Features 18 COVER STORY

Social Soaring

Unique approaches to social media marketing success help northeast Wisconsin companies stay out in front of their customers

24 EDUCATION

New workforce wave comes ashore 24

Region’s technical colleges strive to fill New North workforce gaps, but employers still need more graduates

28 VOICES & VISIONS

Creature Comfort Care

Dr. Christina Lehner took her veterinary practice on the road eight years ago after two years in a clinic setting

Departments 28

4

From the Publisher

6

Since We Last Met

9

Guest Commentary

10 Corporate Earnings 12 Build Up Pages 31

Professionally Speaking

32

Who’s News

37 Business Calendar 37 Advertising Index 38 Key Statistics On the cover Cover illustration by Candeo Creative www.newnorthb2b.com

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | December 2017 | 3

From the Publisher

Not just corporate welfare anymore Incentive packages are increasingly a standard operating procedure in state and local economic development

by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher

Economic development has changed considerably in the past five decades.

So, too, have the incentives offered to companies looking to expand their footprint.

Businesses need more than just lowcost land to lure new jobs and taxable property improvements to a community.

Flexible tax credits – which have become a more popular option in Wisconsin during the past two decades – enable businesses to offset a portion of their tax obligation, ultimately helping to increase the bottom line.

Whether it’s in business, sports or encouraging your children to improve their performance in school, offering up an incentive comes with some measure of risk. For better or worse, willingness to take at least some level of risk when offering tax incentives to lure business growth is just par for the course in economic development in the 21st Century.

Fortunately, the level of risk can be fairly conservative and still provide a lucrative, attractive offer with little risk for a community. Such deals can be carefully crafted to ensure that the corporations receiving these development incentives follow through with their promises to invest and create jobs, and that they adhere to every state and local regulation in place to protect Wisconsin’s environment and quality of life.

The recent incentive packages approved for Foxconn and Oshkosh Corp. illustrate the point that – even though the financial numbers may appear big at first glance – the amount of risk to taxpayers is actually fairly conservative.

The $2.85 billion extended to Foxconn in the agreement ratified by Gov. Scott Walker on Nov. 10 includes up to $1.5 billion in job creation tax credits and up to $1.35 billion in capital investment credits, all spread out over the course of a 15-year span. And these are tax credits – it’s not cash already deposited in Foxconn’s Taiwanese bank account.

This incentive will provide annual credit toward the amount of state taxes Foxconn will ultimately owe after it’s up and running. The actual amount of tax credit Foxconn receives will be based upon the actual number of jobs it creates and continues to maintain at its proposed campus in Mount Pleasant. If Foxconn ultimately can not create 13,000 new jobs during the 15-year term of the contract, then it will never receive the full $1.3 billion in job creation tax credits it’s been offered.

4 | December 2017 | NNB2B

Likewise, if the value of the investments Foxconn constructs in Racine County don’t reach at least $10 billion in property valuation, then the company won’t receive the full $1.35 billion in capital investment credits offered. But the world’s largest electronics manufacturing service provider is likely to achieve that benchmark – the financing package to construct the facility includes a $500 million personal investment from Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou. That’s quite a commitment toward the long-term success of the company’s operations in the state.

What will become the first liquid crystal display manufacturing plant outside of Asia, Foxconn’s development is expected to add $78 billion toward the state’s gross domestic product over the course of the 15 years of the state incentive package.

In Oshkosh, the $13 million incentive package authorized by the city’s common council just two days prior to the signing of the Foxconn agreement aims to not only retain the headquarters for Oshkosh Corp., but to assist the heavy-duty truck manufacturer to continue its growth into the future.

The package includes as much as $6 million from a more traditional tax incremental financing proposal – which essentially uses incremental property tax paid upon improvements to a property – disbursed at $500,000 per year from 2020 to 2031. But tho se payments will only be made if Oshkosh Corp. can construct a headquarters valued at a minimum of $18.5 million by the end of 2019.

Like most contemporary tax incremental financing packages, this incentive is set up as a “pay-as-you-go” model, which is generally regarded as the safest approach for a community because expenditures are closely tied to the amount of additional tax revenue the development project generates.

The city’s proposal to Oshkosh Corp. also offers to provide $7.2 million in road work and various infrastructure projects such as street lights and an extension of the city’s Riverwalk to develop the area around the proposed headquarters facility, amenities that will benefit the entire community.

Unfortunately, there’s been a good deal of conjecture over the past four months labeling these incentive packages as “liabilities,” “corporate welfare” and “taxpayer giveaways.”

Perhaps that might have been a more resounding argument 40 years ago, but the game of economic development is more competitive in 2017 than it’s ever been before. With smart, conservative measures to mitigate risk, corporate incentive packages can be fair to taxpayers and ensure businesses grow Wisconsin’s economy for many years to come. n

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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 Chief Financial Officer Vicky Fitzgerald, CPA

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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.

2003 December 8 – Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law a measure that will provide an income tax credit to Wisconsin manufacturers equal to the sales tax they pay on energy used in the manufacturing process.

2004 December 8 – Toronto-based Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan agreed to purchase Alliance Laundry Holdings LLC of Ripon for $450 million. The deal is expected to close in February 2005.

2005 December 8 – Northeast Wisconsin Collaboration on the Regional Economy, or NEW CORE, changed its name to The New North during the second annual Northeast Wisconsin Economic Summit in Oshkosh. The new name and brand marketing effort will be supported with the hiring of staff for the organization.

2006 December 20 – WE Energies said it will sell its Point Beach Nuclear plant to FPL Energy, part of a group which operates nuclear power plants in Florida, Iowa and New England. FPL Energy will agree to sell 100 percent of the plant output to WE Energies, and will offer employment to all current employees at the 1,033-megawatt facility on Lake Michigan.

2011 December 1 – The Fox Cities Convention Center Community Coalition proposed an $18 million to $23 million exhibition hall on an Outagamie County parking lot behind the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in downtown Appleton. The committee also proposed the 18 communities in the Fox Valley should add a 3 percent hotel room tax to help finance the project.

2014 December 14 – International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 1947 representing more than 1,600 production workers at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac ratified a five-year extension to its current labor agreement which will carry through 2021. The existing contract approved in 2009 wasn’t set to expire until 2016.

6 | December 2017 | NNB2B

October 23 Fox Valley Pro Basketball announced a 5-year naming rights deal for the new arena it’s developing in Oshkosh as the home for the Milwaukee Bucks development league team, Wisconsin Herd. Signed in partnership between Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Menominee Tribal Enterprises and Menominee Casino Resort, the facility will be known as Menominee Nation Arena. The city’s namesake, Chief Oshkosh, was a revered tribal leader of the Menominee Nation for three decades from 1828 until his death in 1858.

October 24 The University of Wisconsin Green Bay received a total of $3.3 million in grants for two federal TRIO programs, including $1.7 million in funding for Upward Bound and $1.6 million for the Regional Center for Math and Science. The grant will support funding the programs for the next three years.

October 24 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. indicated it will provide state tax credits to Nestlé USA in Little Chute toward any new jobs the company creates over the next three years at its newly constructed 300,000-sq. ft. cold storage distribution center for Dreyer’s Ice Cream. The company expects to create nearly 100 jobs at the new facility. The total amount of the state Business Development Tax Credits to Nestle will be contingent on the actual number of jobs created.

October 25 Appleton-based ThedaCare indicated it will not develop a single, regional hospital facility and will rather invest in enhancing both of its existing hospitals in Neenah and Appleton. The company’s announcement ends nearly two years of speculation about where to locate a new Fox Cities regional medical center after ThedaCare officials began an 18-month facilities improvement study in early 2016.

October 25 Ryder Integrated Logistics notified the state it will close its offices and warehouse in Greenville, effectively laying off 159 employees by the end of the year. The Bay Area Workforce Development Board will provide transitional services for displaced workers, including job retraining.

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October 27 An economic impact study of the Fox River Lock System indicated the 17-lock system between Menasha and Wrightstown could generate as much as $290 million in estimated economic output over a 10-year period if it became fully operational, as well as added a $1.8 million visitor center along the river in Appleton. A total of $14.5 million was invested between 2005 and 2015 to restore 16 of the navigational locks, yet two of the locks remain closed to boat traffic, not allowing recreational boaters to travel the full distance between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay. The furthest downstream lock at Rapide Croche remains closed as a physical barrier to prevent invasive aquatic species from the Great Lakes invading the Fox River and Lake Winnebago. The Menasha lock was closed in September 2015 at the request of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to prevent the invasive round goby from entering Lake Winnebago. The study – conducted by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh economics department – also reported that if no further investment were made to reopen the Menasha lock, develop a boat transfer station at the Rapide Croche lock, and build the proposed visitor center, then estimated economic impact over the next 10 years would only amount to $43 million.

October 31 After more than 40 years, Appleton-based Book World announced it will close all of its 45 stores by early 2018, reflecting the trend of lower hard copy book sales from brick-

and-mortar retail outlets. Book World has 20 locations across Wisconsin, including stores in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac. The bookseller began more than 40 years ago and has stores in seven Midwest states.

November 3 The Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau awarded a $50,000 Tourism Development Grant to The Building for Kids Children’s Museum in downtown Appleton to develop an Innovation Lab for museum visitors.

November 3 The U.S. Department of Labor reported 261,000 new jobs were created in October, edging the national unemployment rate down to 4.1 percent. Employment in food services and drinking places increased sharply, offsetting a decline in September that reflected the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Job gains also occurred in professional and business services, manufacturing and health care.

November 7 Voters in the Freedom Area School District overwhelmingly defeated a referendum asking to borrow $66.7 million for a new high school and athletic fields, security upgrades and various building renovations. Voters also rejected a second referendum authorizing the district to exceed state-imposed

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Since We Last Met spending caps by $740,000 each year for five years to help cover operational expenses.

November 8 Officials from Microsoft Corp. and Madison-based gener8tor announced plans to launch gBeta, a nocost business accelerator for early-stage startups from northeast Wisconsin. The program will accept 10 businesses each year and is designed to help startups gain early customer traction on their product or idea and make them competitive applicants for fulltime accelerators and angel investment. gBeta includes partners offering their resources through UW Oshkosh Business Success Center, Venture Center at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, UW Green Bay Cofrin School of Business and Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corp.

November 8 The City of Oshkosh Common Council approved a roughly $10 million incentive package for Oshkosh Corp. to develop a new corporate headquarters in the community.

The proposal offers to sell about 35 acres of the city-owned Lakeshore Municipal Golf Course near the Interstate 41 Bridge crossing Lake Butte des Morts, as well as various property tax incentives and infrastructure development if Oshkosh Corp. constructs a headquarters facility valued at $18.5 million or more by the end of 2019. The company’s board of directors is considering proposals from other communities outside of Oshkosh as well, and was expected to make a final decision where to locate its new headquarters in late November after B2B’s press deadline for this edition.

November 9 Appleton-based specialty papermaker Appvion announced plans to consolidate its carbonless paper coating and rewinding operations into a facility it owns in Pennsylvania beginning in early 2018, and will trim its Fox Valley workforce by nearly a quarter. The company said it will cut about 200

hourly and salaried jobs in Appleton beginning in January and expects the layoffs and transition of work to Pennsylvania to be complete by late summer. The financially troubled company went into Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection in October and is consolidating its operations in an effort to emerge into solvency again.

November 9 Former Town of Greenville Administrator Dave Tebo was let go from his position as the town’s community and economic development director after being placed on administrative leave in mid-October pending the outcome of an undisclosed personnel issue. Tebo served as the town’s top appointed official for the past 17 years before moving into a newlycreated role with the town this past summer. Town officials did not specify the reason for Tebo’s departure other than to indicate it is a confidential personnel matter.

November 9 Canadian cheesemaker Saputo announced plans to close its Fond du Lac manufacturing facility next spring and move operations to a more modern facility in Barron County, effectively laying off 126 employees. The cost-cutting measure is expected to save the company $5.5 million a year in operating expenses. Saputo officials indicated some of the displaced employees will be offered jobs at some of its other facilities.

November 11 Employees from International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 1947 at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac voted against a labor contract renegotiation intended to help the manufacturer of outboard marine engines better recruit new production employees in the current labor market.

The union will continue to work under the existing labor contract it approved with Mercury in 2014 which extends through 2021. Mercury employs about 3,000 people in the Fond du Lac area. n

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Guest Commentary

Measuring quality

Why health care can attract business and workers to the state

by Tom Still, Wisconsin Technology Council

Every few years someone in state government laments, “We need a better brand for Wisconsin!”

Cabinet secretaries scurry about, agency communications directors scratch their heads over possible slogans, and marketing campaigns go largely unfunded.

Here’s an idea: Let’s talk about Wisconsin’s tangible business assets without making it all about tourism and cheese, as much as Badger state loyalists value both.

One such asset is quality health care, a commodity largely taken for granted inside Wisconsin and largely unknown to people and companies who may be thinking of moving or expanding here.

Much like an educated workforce, reliable public utilities and affordable business costs for land and talent are worth bragging about, so is quality health care. That’s the conclusion of a report issued in November by Wisconsin Technology Council.

“Taking the pulse: How quality healthcare builds a better bottom line,” examined leading indicators of health care quality, based on public and private data. It also compared quality rankings to costs. Key findings were: v Wisconsin is consistently one of the top states for quality health care, as measured by 200 metrics compiled by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. It ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2017. In the seven-state region surrounding or within a day’s drive of Wisconsin, only two other states – Iowa and Minnesota – ranked in the top quartile.

Wisconsin has ranked no lower than 7th nationally since 2006. v Wisconsin ranked just $3 above the national median ($4,666 versus $4,663) in the average employer share of single premium health insurance in 2015. That placed the state in the second-lowest cost quartile among the 50 states.

Wisconsin was $800 above the national median ($13,187 versus $12,387) in the average employer share of family premium health insurance for the same year, still outside the most expensive quartile. v Wisconsin health insurance premiums are growing slower than other states in the seven-state region and the nation, especially since 2010. For single coverage, the cost increase has averaged 2.2 percent per year versus 3.8 percent nationally. Wisconsin ranked second best in the nation in this category. For family coverage, the cost increase has averaged www.newnorthb2b.com

4 percent versus 4.5 percent nationally. Wisconsin is tied for 10th nationally in controlling the growth in family coverage premiums since 2010. v Wisconsin also ranks favorably in national and regional comparisons of deaths that could have been avoided by proper health care, Medicare 30-day hospital readmissions, hospital length of stays, mean inpatient charges, the percentage of the total population covered by health insurance, and use of electronic health records. All are rankings that speak to quality while controlling costs.

The logjam over Obamacare in Washington, D.C., has upended the health insurance market as companies and workers come to grips with rising costs. That confusion is playing out this fall in Wisconsin and elsewhere as group health plan enrollments come due for employers and employees alike.

One potential asset for Wisconsin is that it’s not a captive health insurance market. The report revealed that Wisconsin is one of only two states – New York is the other – in which the three largest insurers control less than 60 percent of the market. Other states in the seven-state region showed “top three” insurance market shares ranging from 67 to 97 percent, while the U.S. median is 90 percent. More choice may lead to more competition over time, even if Obamacare is dismantled.

Employers have a right to complain about health care costs, but they aren’t powerless to control the rate of increase or the outcomes.

As the report noted, individual companies, groups of companies or institutions have found ways to work with health systems. This is often accomplished through on-site clinics, incentive programs and prevention strategies that engage employees. Results include lower rates of absenteeism and people showing up sick; avoiding procedure costs through preventive care; and lower costs of care due to better physical fitness and health habits.

Examples cited in this report include Colony Brands and Monroe Clinic; Ashley Furniture and Gundersen Health System; Oshkosh-based Hoffmaster and Thedacare; Organic Valley and Vernon Memorial Healthcare; Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and Bellin Health in Green Bay; a collection of companies working with Columbus Community Hospital; and a mix of Chippewa Valley institutions working with Mayo Clinic.

Quality health care is not only nice to have – it’s an asset in the state-to-state race to attract and retain companies and workers. Let’s market one of the things Wisconsin does best. n Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal. Read the full report at www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | December 2017 | 9

Once each quarter, New North B2B runs a digest of quarterly financial reports from local publicly traded companies, or from out-of-the-area parent companies with significant operations in our northeast Wisconsin coverage area.

Schneider National

Brunswick Corp.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $1.1 Billion $1.1 Billion s 5% Income $36.9 million $36.8 million s <1% EPS 21 cents 24 cents t 13% The Ashwaubenon-based transportation and logistics services company indicated improved demand and increased economic activity allowed the company to accelerate pricing during the quarter, driving revenue growth. The company invested heavily in driver recruitment and pay â&#x20AC;&#x201C; attracting more than 500 new drivers during the quarter â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in anticipation of higher fourth quarter and 2018 demand.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $1.1 Billion $1.1 Billion s 4% Income $79.0 million $85.4 million t 7% EPS 88 cents 93 cents t 5% The parent company of Mercury Marine operations in Fond du Lac reported sales in its marine engine segment of $669 million increased 7 percent compared to the third quarter 2016. Sales increases were led by the outboard engine business and the parts and accessories business.

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Bank First

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Income $3.8 million $3.8 million s 2% EPS 62 cents 60 cents s 3% The Manitowoc-based financial institution with significant operations across northeast Wisconsin indicated its earnings were impacted by $720,000 in expenses related to its recently completed acquisition of Waupaca Bancorporation, Inc., decreasing earnings by 12 cents per share. The bank reported total loans grew $77.8 million, or 8 percent, to $1.1 billion in the one year from the end of the third quarter 2016.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $3.6 Billion $3.5 Billion s 3% Income $640 million $535 million s 20% EPS $1.85 $1.50 s 23% The parent company of Miller Electric Manufacturing operations across the Fox Cities reported an $80 million favorable legal settlement during the quarter added 14 cents per share to its earnings. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s welding segment, which includes Miller Electric operations, increased its revenue by 4 percent.

County Bancorp Inc. Bemis Company Inc.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $1.0 Billion $1.0 Billion s <1% Income $55.6 million $68.6 million t 19% EPS 61 cents 72 cents t 15% The Neenah-based manufacturer of flexible packaging announced the remaining details of its restructuring proposal aimed at savings of $65 million annually, including plans to close four of its manufacturing facilities during 2018, saving an estimated $17 million per year. During the next three years, Bemis also plans to cut 500 administrative positions, saving an additional $35 million each year.

10 | December 2017 | NNB2B

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Income $3.6 million $3.1 million s 16% EPS 52 cents 46 cents s 13% The Manitowoc-based financial institution with significant operations across northeast and central Wisconsin reported $51 million in loan growth during the third quarter. The bank has experienced $96 million total loan growth since the beginning of the year, driven by a $52 million increase in agricultural loans and a $45 million spike in commercial lending. Total deposits have increased 15 percent from the same time a year ago to $1.1 billion.

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Humana Inc.

Oshkosh Corp.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $13.3 Billion $13.7 Billion t 3% Income $499 million $450 million s 11% EPS $3.44 $2.98 s 15% The health and benefits company with extensive operations in the Green Bay area reported strong performance from its individual Medicare Advantage program during the quarter, as well as better-than-expected results from its group and specialty segment.

4Q 2017 4Q 2016 Revenue $2.0 Billion $1.8 Billion s 12% Income $93.5 million $61.5 million s 52% EPS $1.23 82 cents s 50% The manufacturer of specialty vehicles reported full fiscal year 2017 revenues of $6.8 billion increased 9 percent from fiscal 2016 receipts of $6.3 billion, driving annual earnings of $286 million, or $3.77 per share, up from fiscal 2016 income of $216 million, or $2.91 per share. Revenues in the company’s defense segment increased 27 percent to $597 million during the fourth quarter.

Associated Banc Corp.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Income $62.7 million $51.6 million s 21% EPS 41 cents 34 cents s 21% The Green Bay-based financial institution reported it increased deposits by 10 percent in Wisconsin. The bank increased its loan portfolio by 4 percent during the quarter to $20.9 billion, driven by a $988 million increase in consumer lending.

Commercial and business lending decreased $259 million from the third quarter 2016 to $7.3 billion.

Plexus Corp.

4Q 2017 4Q 2016 Revenue $670 million $653 million s 3% Income $29.0 million $19.1 million s 52% EPS 84 cents 56 cents s 50% The Neenah-based contract electronics manufacturer reported fiscal 2017 revenue of $2.5 billion was down just 1 percent from fiscal 2016 receipts. For the year, the company posted record operating profit of $130 million and net annual income of $112 million, or earnings of $3.24 per share, up from 2016 earnings of $76.4 million, or $2.24 per share.

Dean Foods

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $1.9 Billion $2.0 Billion t 1% Income $1.4 million $14.5 million t 90% EPS 2 cents 16 cents t 88% The dairy-based foods company with extensive operations in Wisconsin, including the Green Bay area, noted milk volume was down 7 percent across all products during the quarter – from 651 million gallons down to 608 million gallons – partially due to production challenges associated with the hurricanes in both Florida and Texas. The company said it continues to service customers from other plants.

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WEC Energy Group Inc.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $1.7 Billion $1.7 Billion t 3% Income $215 million $217 million t<1% EPS 68 cents 68 cents Unch.

The parent company of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and WE Energies reported retail deliveries of electricity were down 2.5 percent during the first nine months of 2017 as a result of the significantly cooler summer weather compared to the summer of 2016. Residential electricity use decreased by 4.6 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

Neenah Paper

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $245 million $233 million s 5% Income $18.8 million $16.4 million s 15% EPS $1.10 95 cents s 16% The papermaker with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported an earnings increase of 12 cents per share during the quarter resulting from a favorable insurance settlement of $3.5 million. During the quarter the company paid $45 million to acquire Coldenhove, a Netherlands-based leader in digital transfer media, expanding its performance materials portfolio.

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

3Q 2017 3Q 2016 Revenue $4.6 Billion $4.6 Billion s 1% Income $567 million $550 million s 3% EPS $1.60 $1.52 s 5% The manufacturer of consumer paper and tissue products with significant operations in the Fox Cities reported it achieved $125 million of cost savings in reduced marketing, research and general spending. Those results were partially offset by $115 million of higher input costs, driven by price increases for pulp and other raw materials.

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NNB2B | December 2017 | 11

Build Up Fond du Lac 1

3

2

Build Up

Fond du Lac

Relax.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got you covered.

Indicates a new listing

1 - 660 Van Dyne Road, Fond du Lac BCI Burke, a 27,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial facility for office and production space. Project completion expected in December. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

2 - 545 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac Mercury Marine, an addition to an office building on the manufacturing campus.

3 - 45 S. National Ave., Fond du Lac Marian University, a two-story, 18,200-sq. ft. addition to the existing science bulding on campus. Project completion expected in late 2018.

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Build Up Oshkosh

5 4

6

7

Build Up

Oshkosh

Indicates a new listing

4 - 1041 Emmers Lane, Oshkosh Choice Bank, a two-story, 30,000-sq. ft. financial institution building. Project completion expected in June.

5 - 3321 County Road A, Oshkosh A.P. Nonweiler, an addition to the existing coating process facility.

Projects completed since our November issue: • Radiology Associates of the Fox Valley, 145 N. Rolling Meadows Dr., Fond du Lac. • Fox Valley Pro Basketball/Oshkosh Arena, 1212 S. Main St., Oshkosh.

6 - 100 Osceola St., Oshkosh University of Wisconsin Oshkosh RecPlex, a 181,000-sq. ft. intramural sports complex. Project completion expected in spring.

7 - 495 W. Waukau Ave., Oshkosh Fox Valley Metrology, an addition to the existing industrial facility. Project completion expected in December.

Coming to B2B in January 2018 Advanced Manufacturing Working Faster, Smarter and Safer

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | December 2017 | 13

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 - N912 Craftsmen Dr., town of Greenville Fox Valley Spring Co., a 24,500-sq. ft. addition for expanded manufacturing and office space. Project completion expected in February. General contractor is Consolidated Construction Company of Appleton.

13 - 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.

14 - 2310 S. Kensington Dr., Appleton Aldi, a new retail grocery building. Project completion expected in spring.

3 - 4531 W. Wisconsin Ave., town of Grand Chute Cheddarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scratch Kitchen, an 8,069-sq. ft. restaurant building.

15 - 355 W. Lawrence St., Appleton Fox Cities Exhibition Center, a 65,000-sq. ft. convention and meeting facility. Project completion expected in December.

4 - 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave., town of Grand Chute Kolosso Toyota, a 2,432-sq. ft. addition to the existing collision center and a separate 1,283-sq. ft. car wash facility.

16 - 410 S. Walnut St., Appleton Outagamie County, an 87,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing county administrative office building.

5 - 4815 N. Lynndale Dr., town of Grand Chute Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve, 18,200-sq. ft. environmental center. Project completion expected in December.

17 - 720 W. Fifth St., Appleton Harbor House, an addition to increase bed capacity at the existing community services facility.

6 - 3801 N. Richmond St., town of Grand Chute Meijer, a 200,206-sq. ft. department and grocery superstore and a separate 3,366-sq. ft. convenience store. Project completion expected in January.

18 - 660 Watermark Ct., Fox Crossing Precision Installations, an 18,902-sq. ft. manufacturing assembly facility and offices. Project completion expected in January. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

7 - 3912 N. Lightning Dr., Appleton GLK Foods, a new commercial office building.

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

8 - 400 Randolph Dr., Little Chute Memories Antique Mall, a 10,800-sq. ft. addition to the existing retail building.

9 - 327 Randolph St., Little Chute Trigger Action Sports and CR Structures Group, a 36,946sq. ft. multi-tenant commercial building. Project completion expected in April. General contractor is CR Structures Group of Kimberly.

10 - 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 mid-2018.

11 - 311 Oak Grove Road, Kaukauna Poly Flex, a 36,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing industrial building for expanded warehousing space. Project completion expected in February. General contractor is CR Structures Group of Kimberly.

20 - 1775 E. Shady Lane, Fox Crossing Michels Power, a 10,368-sq. ft. addition to the existing commercial building. Project completion expected in December.

21 - 1265 W. American Dr., Fox Crossing Wisconsin Institute of Urology, a 34,837-sq. ft. medical clinic.

22 - 1251 Jacobson Road, Fox Crossing Wisconsin Department of Corrections, a 13,040-sq. ft. commercial office building.

23 - 590 Enterprise Dr., Neenah Horseshoe Beverage Co., a 20,000-sq. ft. addition to the existing manufacturing facility for a bottling plant. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

Projects completed since our November issue: â&#x20AC;˘ Grand Chute Community Center, 1850 W. Grand Chute Blvd., town of Grand Chute.

12 - 3989 E. Endeavor Dr., Appleton Custom Offsets, a 20,000-sq. ft. auto parts retail facility, shop and offices. Project completion expected in December. General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

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Build Up Greater Green Bay area 1 &2

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Greater Green Bay area

Indicates a new listing

1 - 1803 Condor Lane, Howard Feldsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewelers, a 5,918-sq. ft. retail building. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

4 - 1250 Velp Ave., Green Bay La Java Express, a commercial retail building for a coffee shop.

Project completion expected in December.

2 - 1558 Brookfield Ave., Howard BCS International, a 92,400-sq. ft. warehouse and office building. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay.

5 - 2231 N. Quincy St., Green Bay Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, a wastewater treatment facility. Completion expected in early 2018.

3 - 2740 W. Mason St., Green Bay Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, a two-story Great Lakes Energy Education Center. Project completion expected in early 2018.

6 - 2230 Main St., Green Bay Starbucks, a 6,018-sq. ft. multi-tenant retail building to include a coffee shop. Project completion expected in December. General contractor is Frontier Builders & Consultants of Kaukauna.

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7 - 2999 E. Mason St., Green Bay Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe, a new retail bakery and shop.

8 - 2629 Eaton Road, Bellevue Dorsch Collision Center, an automotive collision repair facility.

Project completion expected in January.

Suttner ACCOUNTING

9 - 1751 Allouez Ave., Bellevue Eagle III, addition to the existing ambulance dispatch facility.

10 - 1695 Bellevue St., Bellevue Cedar Corp., an 8,487-sq. ft. office building.

11 - 2801 S. Webster Ave., Allouez Cerebral Palsy Inc., an addition to the existing human services center office. Project completion expected in December.

General contractor is Keller Inc. of Kaukauna.

12 - 1016 N. Broadway, De Pere St. Norbert Abbey, an addition to the existing religious administrative facility.

13 - 2800 Ashland Ave., Ashwaubenon Wisconsin Public Service, a 31,788-sq. ft. regional employee training center. Project completion expected in March.

14 - 1200 Flightway Dr., Hobart Synergy Sports Performance, an 18,000-sq. ft. indoor athletic training facility. Project completion expected in spring.

General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. 15 - 4400 block of County Road U, Wrightstown Tweet/Garot Mechanical, a 90,000-sq. ft. manufacturing facility. Project completion expected in late summer.

Stephanie Geurts, CPA Partner sjg@suttnercpa.com 920.235.6789

16 - 600 High St., Wrightstown Wrightstown Community Wellness Center, a 8,564-sq. ft. addition to the existing high school for a civic facility. Project completion expected in December 17 - 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.

18 - 2110 American Blvd., De Pere 8 Line Supply, a 10,000-sq. ft. manufacturing and warehouse facility. Project completion expected in December.

19 - 2125 American Blvd., De Pere Battlehouse/Ninja Warrior, a two-story, 17,152-sq. ft. indoor recreation facility.

Tax Planning & Preparation Financial Statements Bookkeeping/Write Up Payroll Services Visit suttnercpa.com/client services for a more complete list of services

Projects completed since our November issue: • PetSmart, 2280 E. Mason St., Green Bay. • Anduzzi’s Sports Club, 1992 Holmgren Way, Ashwaubenon.

• Midwest Expansion, 2654 S. Oneida St., Ashwaubenon.

• De Pere Cabinet, 1745 Matthew Dr. East, De Pere.

• Kwik Trip, 1328 O’Keefe Road, town of Ledgeview.

Quality ❘ Value ❘ Timeliness www.newnorthb2b.com

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Cover Story

Social Soaring Unique approaches to social media marketing success help northeast Wisconsin companies stay out in front of their customers

Story by Rick Berg

In little more than a decade, social media has grown from a quirky add-on in a few companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; marketing efforts to a must-have marketing staple for most businesses. Whether social media succeeds or not for those companies depends a lot on how well it is integrated into an overall marketing strategy.

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When the Pew Research Center began tracking social media in 2005, barely 5 percent of the American adult population used social media regularly, and most of them were in their 20s. Little surprise, then, that few businesses put much time or effort into social media as a marketing tool. As recently as 2010, fewer than half of all U.S. adults were regular social media users. Today, social media use is well above 80 percent and recent surveys find that more than 90 percent of businesses use social media in some form as part of their marketing efforts.

That some of those efforts fall short has a lot to do with the relative newness of social media and the resulting misconceptions about how to use the medium to full advantage. Marketing strategists in northeast Wisconsin say there are some key factors to consider when designing a social media strategy.

“Some companies feel social media is the answer for all marketing needs, while others feel social media isn’t right for their brand so they avoid it altogether,” said Lisa Piikkila, owner and creative director at Appleton-based Coalesce Marketing & Design. “The truth is social media is a necessary component of marketing communications. Due to its prevalence, your company should have some presence on social media, and you should be paying attention to what’s being said about your company online.

“It’s the ‘who is driving the bus’ scenario. If you’re not driving the message, then someone else might, so it’s important to put your message out there the way you want to be seen and heard. Monitoring what is being said about your company and who is saying it can also provide an opportunity for you to provide rapid response customer service.”

Greg Linnemanstons, president of the Appleton-based Weidert Group, said that to succeed at social media marketing, businesses need to move beyond having a social media specialist or team to developing a company-wide “social media mentality” – especially one that is driven by the company’s salespeople.

“You need to have your customer-facing people buy into your social media protocol,” Linnemanstons said. “Whenever you publish a blog, you want your salespeople to share that on LinkedIn or Twitter or Facebook and comment on it. If you have 40 or 50 people doing that with discipline, you’re going to get thousands of prospect eyeballs on that and hundreds of shares and that creates credibility.”

When the Pew Research Center began tracking social media in 2005, barely 5 percent of the American adult population used social media regularly, and most of them were in their 20s. www.newnorthb2b.com

Social Success Story

Leveraging Heid Music’s Social Media Coalesce helped Heid Music leverage its social media channels to increase participation and submissions to its annual Music in our Schools Month Giveaway – the Big 10+ Contest. Using a photo contest app that was installed as a tab on Heid Music’s Facebook page and embedded on a landing page at Heid Music’s website, entrants were asked to upload a photo that best represented their school music program. Students and their families, community members, and educators were also able to enter by sharing and tagging a photo with the contest hashtag #Big10Music on their personal Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages. Entrants then solicited votes for their photos for a chance to win a musical prize for their school.

The results from this year’s contest: the number of unique contest entries and participating schools both increased 100 percent, while the number of contest votes increased more than 1,600 percent. A significant increase in Facebook likes and website traffic was also directly attributable to the social success of the contest.

Relevant content is key

Successful social media marketing is tied to creating an interactive component with the organization’s clientele, said Michaela Paukner, brand manager at Oshkosh-based Candeo Creative. Candeo started out as strictly a social media marketing firm, Paukner said, and now integrates that social media expertise into a broader marketing strategy.

“People often forget that there is this interactive piece that needs to be there,” Paukner said. “It can’t be ‘Oh, I’m just going to write this quick little post and immediately see these results.’ It really needs to be relevant, because if the audience doesn’t care about what you’re communicating to them, it can actually hurt your business.”

Linnemanstons said the notion of creating relevant content is paramount in any successful social media effort. Weidert, he said, encourages clients to post sales-neutral information designed to help improve the client’s business to capture their customers’ attention and build trust in a way that sales-driven content cannot.

“It starts with understanding who it is you’re trying to have a conversation with and then understanding the questions they’re asking,” Linnemanstons said. “It’s about getting in their shoes and anticipating how they need help. You’re being as intentional as any focused publisher. That’s what we tell our clients. Stop thinking of yourselves as sales and marketing and think of yourself as publishing to help your prospects. Social media fits naturally with that, because social media in its purest sense is about having relevant, intelligent conversations about topics people care about.”

Weidert used that strategy with its client Gordon Flesch Company (see “Aligning Sales and Marketing Through Information-Driven Content” on page 20) which, like many companies, struggled to get its sales and marketing teams

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Cover Story

Social Success Story

Aligning Sales and Marketing Through Information-Driven Content Gordon Flesch Company was struggling with two challenges. One, the sales and marketing teams rarely seemed to be on the same page. Two, the company’s website was often populated by outdated and inconsistent messaging, usually related to products rather than to ways they could help improve a prospect’s business.

The solution from Weidert Group in Appleton was to create an inbound marketing and inbound sales program that featured a series of blogs and other social media messaging targeted to help clients and prospects solve problems in their businesses. Marketing’s responsibility was to create the messaging and track the lead response and sales conversion, while sales was charged with promoting the messaging throughout their sales networks.

The results: within five months of the program’s launch, Gordon Flesch had its 100th qualified sales lead. Less than a year into the campaign, Gordon Flesch’s sales revenue increase tied to the campaign hit nearly $1 million.

“Monitoring what is being said about your company and who is saying it can also provide an opportunity for you to provide rapid response customer service.”

- Lisa Piikkila, owner and creative director, Coalesce Marketing & Design in Appleton aligned. The solution was a series of scheduled blog posts on relevant topics, developed by the marketing team and promoted externally by the sales team.

The key to that strategy, Linnemanstons said, was a leadtracking system that would show the sales team how the social media strategy was benefitting them, which would in turn motivate them to actively promote the social media messaging to their clients and prospects. Less than a year into the program, sales had reached nearly $1 million.

“Sales people are nothing if not pragmatic,” Linnemanstons said, “so the best way to motivate them to be active participants in the social media effort is to have them see some early success.”

The Gordon Flesch campaign won Weidert an Impact Award from HubSpot, a developer of inbound marketing software platforms.

Choosing the right media for the message

Success at social media marketing depends on adapting tactics to a specific goal, said Adrian Bredeson, director of search engine optimization and social media at Oshkosh-based E-Power Marketing, rather than adopting a cookie-cutter approach.

“Success is going to be defined differently, depending on your goals, and that’s going to look very different if you’re selling a specific product or you’re trying build brand awareness,” Bredeson said. “You have to understand what your goal is.

Also, the brands that do social well are very picky and strategic about what social media channels they’re active on for a given campaign. It’s more important to be active on the right channel than it is to be all over the place.”

A series of informative and helpful blogs are published on Gordon Flesch Company’s website.

Twitter and LinkedIn posts from the company’s accounts drive traffic to the blogs. More importantly, the company’s salespeople take responsibility for driving the message out to their sales networks.

Bredeson cited E-Power’s work with the International Housewares Association (see “Building Year-Round Brand Awareness for a Seasonal Organization, page 21) as an example of targeted social media marketing. IHA, she said, had often been hampered by the perception that it was largely a seasonal organization, best known for its annual International Home and Housewares Show. Typically, a flurry of social media activity occurred around the time of the March event, but fell largely silent the rest of the year.

Primarily using Facebook and Twitter, E-Power helped IHA

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develop a year-round series of posts focused on educating the housewares industry and driving more traffic to the association’s website.

“The idea was to keep people engaged after the show is over,” Bredeson said.

“We wanted to create a consistent level of engagement. There were always webinars and other events going on throughout the year, but people weren’t necessarily aware of them because there was such a drop off in engagement after people left the show in Chicago.”

The goal for the IHA marketing efforts was brand awareness, as opposed to product sales, but Bredeson said setting metrics to track success in brand awareness is no more complicated than tracking sales.

“You can easily measure page likes, of course, but you can also dive down deeper into how they are engaging with your website, whether they are sharing your content, and you can track the reach of your hashtags.”

Likewise, platform selection is another key to social media success, said Annie Mares, account strategist at Coalesce.

Social Success Story

Building Year-Round Brand Awareness for a Seasonal Organization E-Power Marketing in Oshkosh helped the International Housewares Association overcome its perception as a once-a-year event promoter to become a year-round education provider for the housewares industry. A year-round schedule of blogs, Tweets and Facebook posts helped provide the following results: 8 8

8 8

A 148 percent increase in show registrations.

A 32 percent increase in website traffic to planning pages for the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show.

A 39 percent increase in website traffic to the member education section of the website.

A 180 percent increase in Facebook reach.

“Companies must take time to determine and define their audience demographics to make sure they are utilizing the most fitting social media platforms for their brand,” Mares said.

“For instance, surveys show that of all the social media channels available, ages 16-24 use Tumblr and Instagram most often, while 25-to-34-year-

olds use Instagram and Pinterest the most, and ages 45-64 primarily use Facebook.”

Finding the right tone to fit the strategy and the medium is also essential.

“Companies should also consider how and why people use and interact with

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Cover Story various social media channels,” Mares said. “For instance, while Facebook is typically more conversational, LinkedIn is more business-focused and used to reach professionals by industry or job type.

Social Success Story

Pumping Up ATW and Community Blood Center Candeo Creative’s Spring Break Escape campaign for Appleton International Airport had a goal to increase ticket sales from ATW to various Allegiant Airlines destinations during spring break 2017 and increase awareness about direct flights available at ATW. The Spring Break Escape Facebook ticket giveaway contest received more than 23,000 entries and reached more than 848,000 people.

ATW’s Facebook page also garnered nearly 2,000 new likes in two months. ATW had more than 700 tickets purchased over the two-month period, about 200 more tickets than during the year before.

A separate initiative from Candeo – its #Path4Platelets campaign for Community Blood Center in Appleton – was intended to increase the amount of platelet donations at all Community Blood Center locations and educate the public about the need for platelets in northeast Wisconsin.

The #Path4Platelets campaign created more than 388,000 impressions on Facebook posts, more than 3,100 actions taken on the posts, and the video reached more than 52,000 people. Over the three-month duration of the campaign, the Community Blood Center saw a 28 percent increase in donors – exceeding its goal of 6 percent – and experienced a 17 percent increase in overall donor base and a 15 percent increase in donor frequency.

In all of 2016, Community Blood Center saw year-over-year growth of only 8 percent. Leadership for the organization said it had been three years since they had a donor frequency as high as it was after the social media campaign.

Connect online TODAY 22 | December 2017 | NNB2B

“Making sure your content is appropriate for the platform is also important. Keep in mind that features on social media platforms are often expanding or evolving, so social media managers should stay up to date on platform changes and overall industry trends. For example, now that Twitter has increased its character limit from 140 to 280, brands are now able to expand their messaging and provide more content to their followers.”

Measuring success

Paukner from Candeo said organizations should not make the mistake of thinking social media marketing is an intangible tool that can’t be relied on to produce measurable results.

“There is a lot of data available from all of the platforms you use,” Paukner said. “That can provide you with tangible business results.”

“There are many ways to measure results and the success of social media marketing activities,” Mares said. “Increases in page likes and followers, the amount of engagement with your brand’s social media channels, the number of leads generated and sales results tracked to social media efforts are just a few.

If you don’t know where to set your benchmarks, start by trying to improve previous social performance by analyzing the built-in analytics on the social platforms. The various social platforms can be used differently to produce different results.

Other benefits might include talent recruitment, networking, collaboration and fundraising.”

One key benefit of tracking social media metrics is that it helps refine future efforts, according to Linnemanstons.

“You can begin to see patterns developing,” Linnemanstons said. “Then you can double down on efforts that are working and redeploy resources from efforts that aren’t working as well. It’s like a living lab, watching results unfold in real time.”

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"The cautionary note is that people should be skeptical about social media. It’s a jungle out there, with a lot of noise and chaos."

WE’RE GROWING! M O R E LO C AT I O N S TO S E R V E YO U

- Greg Linnemanstons, president, Weidert Group in Appleton

CHETEK CLINTONVILLE IOLA

Separating your social voice from the noise Piikkila at Coalesce said any successful social media effort should be tied into a broader strategic marketing plan.

“Since there are many ways to reach and communicate with your customers and prospects, it’s extremely beneficial to have a well-defined brand in place and to view social media as one component of a comprehensive marketing strategy,” Piikkila said. “The demographics and interests of your target audience should be taken into account when determining the right media mix for your brand. In some cases, this mix includes TV ads, direct mail and Facebook. For others, it might be outdoor advertising, email and Twitter.

“It’s important to keep in mind that not all social media platforms are created equal and some may not deliver effective marketing results for your brand, and therefore, are not worth considering. A strategic marketing plan will help you reach your target audiences where they are with the most effective messaging and visuals, including on social media.”

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“Your social media efforts really need to be part of a cohesive, targeted messaging effort,” said Paukner. “We believe a strong social media strategy is vital to most marketing efforts, either by driving it or supporting the more traditional marketing efforts. It has to be relevant to the audience and keep the right tone for the brand to make sure social media fits into that broader strategy.”

Yet, social media offers no silver bullet, Linnemanstons warns.

“The cautionary note is that people should be skeptical about social media,” Linnemanstons said. “It’s a jungle out there, with a lot of noise and chaos. There’s no easy button for doing social media. You need to be very mindful of what you are doing and how you are doing it, and you need to have a very intentional, disciplined, committed plan.”

Listen better. Plan better. Build better.

Bredeson has been doing social media marketing for nearly a decade and noted its evolution from upstart to mainstream.

There’s both good and bad news associated with that.

“It’s become so much more engaging,” Bredeson said. “At first it was as simple as popping up a post on your Facebook page.

Now there’s just so much more noise out there, so you have to be more engaging and strategic to make sure your message is heard. What people expect from brands on social has changed so much. People are coming to social to really engage with brands, and if you’re not engaging and doing it quickly, you’re creating a bad customer experience and that damage can last a long time.” n Rick Berg is a freelance writer and editor based in Green Bay. www.newnorthb2b.com

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Education

New workforce wave comes ashore

Region’s technical colleges strive to fill New North workforce gaps, but employers still need more graduates Story by Sean Fitzgerald, New North B2B publisher With workforce shortages continuing to plague employers in northeast Wisconsin for the foreseeable future, career preparedness programs through the region’s technical colleges churn out graduates trained for in-demand job skills at record rates.

But in some cases, it’s still not enough to feed the roster for the area’s hungry employers.

In the most recent standardized report on six-month graduate success rates issued earlier this year for 2016 graduates, each of the technical colleges across the New North boasted 94 percent employment for its matriculated students within six months of graduation. Many reported record levels of average pay for those students newly in the workforce.

Appleton-based Fox Valley Technical College reported a record 24 | December 2017 | NNB2B

62 of its academic programs had 100 percent employment within six months after graduation, indicating just how eager employers are to recruit and hire fresh graduates before their competitors swipe these prospective employees off the shelf.

Illustrating that point, FVTC’s student Electronics & Automation Club has a full schedule of guest speakers from industry for the rest of the year without even making calls to invite speakers to attend, said Steve Straub, dean of manufacturing and agricultural technologies at the school.

Students engaged in this club – which meets twice monthly – are so highly sought after by manufacturers across northeast Wisconsin that leaders from these various manufacturers are proactively contacting the club and asking to present to its student members as guest speakers. Those not on the club’s

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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New North Technical College Graduate Success Data 2016 n thi wi on ry ati ala adu e s gr rag of ve hs ’ a ont tes m he ua 6 n t ol ad thi ho Gr wi d sc yed de plo ten em at nt ey h rce e t Pe er s wh ion ct sit ree tri po eg dis in eir d yed th plo to em ted nt la e rce r Pe n thi wi tion yed ua plo rad em f g nt s o rce nth Pe mo six Fox Valley Tech

94%

83%

63% $36,200

Northeast Wisconsin Tech 94%

80%

69% $39,997

Moraine Park Tech

82%

44% $35,326

94%

* all data is from each college’s graduate follow-up reports for the 2015-16 academic year agenda for the coming year have been placed on a waiting list, Straub said.

“We’re scheduled way out and haven’t even had to make a phone call to find speakers,” Straub said, indicating many of these manufacturers are seeking to recruit first-year students early for internships while they’re still in school and extend job offers prior to graduation for students in their final semester.

“There’s just not enough graduates out there to be drafted by these companies,” Straub said. “Particularly with automation, we need more and more people to understand automation technology and how to apply it.”

Lucrative job opportunities

The opportunities are lucrative for a motivated, hard-working graduate. Students from Fox Valley Tech’s automated manufacturing systems program, for example, reported an average starting salary of $50,500 in 2016, shortly after getting started in their jobs. Those graduates who have been out of the program and on the job for five years or more report an average salary of $74,000, according to Fox Valley Tech’s graduate success report for 2017.

Similarly, Fox Valley Tech’s mechanical design associate degree graduates are reporting an average salary of $38,000 within six

Appleton-based Fox Valley Technical College reported a record 62 of its academic programs had 100 percent employment within six months after graduation ...

At Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, a 2015 public referendum to borrow $66.5 million for facilities enhancements across the campus expanded the manufacturing technologies labs, but they’re not nearly full.

“Our biggest challenge is that we have all this additional capacity,” said Joe Draves, associate dean for trades and engineering technology at NWTC, indicating that the school could fill additional course sections if there were simply more students.

And that’s too bad, Draves said, because students in NWTC’s one- and two-year manufacturing programs are often receiving job offers during their final two semesters in school. NWTC’s machine tool – CNC technician one-year technical diploma program boasted 100 percent employment among its 44 graduates in 2016.

“The majority of those students, before they even graduate, are employed,” Draves said. www.newnorthb2b.com

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Education months of graduation, while those still employed in the field at the 5-year mark are making $51,000 per year, on average.

At Northeast Wisconsin Tech, the aforementioned one-year machine tool technical diploma program provided a median annual salary of $37,400 within six months of graduation, while its one-year welding technical diploma program provided its 91 graduates with an average annual salary approaching $34,000. Draves said the short-term commitment to these one-year programs is a small sacrifice of time and tuition for a lucrative set of skills in a highly sought after career field.

“The upside potential for students in these programs is tremendous,” Draves said. “They go out and get a job where they’re making $33,000 to $35,000-plus.”

Heeding the call from local manufacturers in the Greater Green Bay area, NWTC is putting together another one-year technical diploma program – this one focused specifically on metal fabrication – that it intends to begin offering in fall 2018.

Getting students in the door

Demonstrating just how hungry New North region employers are for qualified job candidates, the recent Northeast Wisconsin Career Expo held in Ashwaubenon in late September featured more than 3,100 available jobs across the region, including some positions that paid in excess of $60,000 per year.

More often than not, Draves said, employers hiring these graduates will foot the bill for their new hires to continue to get more training toward an associate degree or additional certifications in their field.

Yet, the challenge of matching newly-minted graduates with the in-demand job openings employers are looking to fill has more to do with low student interest to enroll in advanced manufacturing and other technical programs more than anything else.

“There’s just not enough graduates out there to be drafted by these companies.”

Draves said NWTC’s goal is to provide enough graduates each year to fill at least 60 percent of the job postings available in a particular field of work within its district.

- Steve Straub, dean of manufacturing and agricultural technologies, Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton

“Unfortunately, we’re well below that,” Draves said, noting the school continually enhances its efforts to attract more students to its programs.

Straub indicated one strategy for Fox Valley Tech has been increased outreach to high school students, their parents and teachers to learn more about the programs, facilities and

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state-of-the-art equipment offered by the region’s technical colleges.

“Additionally, we’re continuing to work with (K-12) schools offering students a chance to earn dual credits through our programs,” Straub said.

The initiative has been surprisingly effective, with a large number of high school graduates transitioning directly from high school into their degree program at Fox Valley Tech with a bank of credits they’ve already earned. Last year 339 students participated in the dual credit transfer program between their high school and Fox Valley Tech. This year the school has a goal of increasing that number to 370 high school students.

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2018 Media Kit & Advertising Rates now available

At Northeast Wisconsin Tech, the ... one-year machine tool technical diploma program provided a median annual salary of $37,400 within six months of graduation ...

Keeping it local

The notion of so-called “brain drain” – the idea that a number of graduates educated and trained in northeast Wisconsin will move away from the region after graduation – continues to be a regular concern for economic development officials and employers alike.

Historical data from the 1980s and 1990s provided some baseline evidence to support the notion of brain drain. But technical colleges from the region have typically demonstrated a higher number of graduates living and working in the region years after graduation. The most recent Graduate Follow Up report from Northeast Wisconsin Tech indicated 69 percent of its students matriculating in 2016 were employed within the district, while Fox Valley Tech reported 63 percent of its 2016 graduates were employed within the district.

That metric was slightly lower at Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac, where 44 percent of 2016 graduates remained employed within the district. But those numbers are often higher for individual degree programs such as nursing, where nearly 100 percent of Moraine Park nursing graduates are employed nearby in the healthcare field.

Administrative leaders from many of the area’s technical colleges indicate their mission is to “maximize the skills of people living in the area,” which often explains the high ratio of graduates remaining nearby to work after completing their studies.

Often the average age of technical college students is in the mid-20s, meaning there’s a better chance that students have already sprouted roots in the region such as purchasing a home, getting married, starting a family or beginning a career.

Such community connections also lead to a higher number of graduates remaining in the area after graduation. n www.newnorthb2b.com

Contact sean@newnorthb2b.com or go online to www.newnorthb2b.com More than 15 years serving the New North

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | December 2017 | 27

Entrepreneurship

V V

oices isions &

A monthly conversation with New North small business owners, each shedding light on the local economy through the perspective of their industry sector.

by Lee Marie Reinsch

A housecall might conjure up the image of the old-time country doctor with his black bag, visiting the ill at their bedsides and delivering babies on kitchen tables.

That picture has been transformed for the times, only instead of children with polio or mothers with rheumatic fever, this traveling doc treats arthritic St. Bernards and terminally ill cats.

Dr. Christina Lehner took her veterinary practice on the road eight years ago after two years in a clinic setting.

She found she could better treat pets one on one – in their familiar habitats – than in an often commotion-filled office. Her mobile veterinary service, Creature Comfort Care, covers a 100-mile radius of Oshkosh and operates on a housecall-only basis.

When did you realize there was a need for what you do?

Christina Lehner Creature Comfort Care

Based in Oshkosh –

Mobile across eastern Wisconsin

creaturecomfortcare.com

The clinic where I worked had a client call for a housecall euthanasia.

It was a big dog, with very painful arthritis, and the client was physically unable to get this dog to the office. Nobody wanted to go – they didn’t know what the setting would be like and were concerned about complications. As the new person at the practice, I was first to volunteer. I thought it could be exciting to get out of the clinic.

I was so touched by how much better it was not only for the owners but the pet, who was resting by the fireplace, comfortable in his favorite bed, with toys and family around. The family was throwing thanks on me, and I was thinking I’m the one who’s grateful for this experience. Not long afterward I asked my boss if I could offer this in conjunction with the practice after hours. It took off from there because there was a niche need.

So you enjoy not working in an office?

Yes, definitely. Many other doctors don’t. Many people in any field feel more safe and secure in a regular office. I find it exciting. You get to see where the pet is living and even help with things like organizing

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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the pet’s living space, making things easier for the pet to get around or get to the food bowl. For me, that’s all part of patient care. Plus, the client gets longer appointments, and that’s important. I’d rather earn less but have a more fulfilling job and get to know patients and their families.

I have three niches: acupuncture as well as cold laser; hospice and palliative care; and home euthanasia. I was just certified in hospice and palliative care in one of the first-ever programs, so there are only about 40 of us worldwide so far. I do help with regular veterinary care by request.

The acupuncture points are points where there’s more nerve density, the nerves are superficial and can be targeted more easily. Other times we’ll find trigger points where the muscles are tight and sore. We can use an acupuncture needle in that area and we’ll see the needle fold over, showing that the muscle is more relaxed. It’s neat how you can place a small needle into certain areas and create a cascade of events that affects pain control and pain management throughout the whole body. It’s scientifically based and a safe and effective way to modulate pain control and help with other conditions. It’s a nice complement. Many times a pet is on multiple pain relievers and still not getting the relief they need.

What is pet hospice?

What other things can acupuncture treat?

What does a mobile vet service do?

We lump hospice with palliative care, which is pain control and comfort care. Patients typically have a lifelimiting disease such as bad arthritis that limits normal functions or a terminal disease. It’s really a mind-shift where we go from curative to comfort care, which can be from pain control to preparing for when to consider euthanasia. In some cases there’s even debulking surgery, as with a tumor. Sometimes even partially removing a tumor can offer some comfort.

What’s the benefit of pet hospice?

It can be helpful for seizures, anxiety, bladder inflammation, skin conditions and so much more. I definitely use it most for pain control and mobility, but the sky’s the limit.

Where does one learn pet acupuncture?

Only a few schools nationally offer it. I went to Colorado State University, which was a solid year or 18-month program. I wanted a program based more upon scientific evidence versus traditional Chinese medicine. Even though it’s the same practice, there are different

The goal is to enhance quality of life, and often you can actually extend life a little longer than if you were doing purely curative measures. I’ve had pets diagnosed with cancer that were given one month to live end up living a year and a half of really good quality of life. It sounds really sad, and hospice is one of those hot-button words that sounds intimidating and scary, but it can actually be a beautiful time. Often the pet does much better than anyone ever anticipated because it’s much more comfortable and can deal with things better.

What animals do you work with?

Mostly dogs and cats and the occasional goat. I’m definitely not a goat expert, but occasionally we’ll get calls for them. I’ve done acupuncture on rabbits. A lot of us have special niches related to those pets so it’s easy to refer people to someone with the specific equipment and handlers geared toward them.

How does pet acupuncture work?

The pre-acupuncture exam starts with feeling the muscles for areas where the pet is tense, often by watching their body language for little flinches or a look that tells us there’s pain, or by watching them walk. A lot of time in conventional medicine, you’re looking for more overt signs.

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | December 2017 | 29

Entrepreneurship languages used between Chinese and Western medicine.

I was really happy with the curriculum and everything I learned.

Do you do typical vet services like X-rays?

We don’t have X-ray capability but I definitely practice Western medicine as well. It’s the best of both worlds, holistic and Western. If an X-ray is needed, I’ll refer out to a local clinic and try to get that relationship started between the vet, the family and our care. I prescribe medications, do blood work checks, etc. I have a small lab at home with a centrifuge. We also use a lab that picks up samples.

Euthanasia sounds depressing. Is it difficult?

It certainly is almost always hard, but it can be a beautiful gift that you give your pet when you’re able to love freely with an open heart and know that you’re making the right decision for your pet. But without a doubt, they’re hard situations, and I think if you don’t understand the love of a pet and personally experience what that’s like, I think it would be hard to relate.

What happens to the pet’s body when you leave?

Families have several options – some will want to pursue home burial or taking their pet to a crematorium on their own. Sometimes we just help with that transition and help the family after separation.

If the family chooses cremation, we work with two excellent crematoriums. There are only two in the state I’ll work with. If families elect cremation, certainly we’ll take the pets and go directly to the crematorium, or pre-arrange for the crematorium to come to us just like a regular vet clinic.

What challenges does your line of work pose?

One of the biggest is the urgency of requests. Often it’s when families have a pet with a newly diagnosed condition, or there’s a lot of pain and they didn’t realize it until that moment, and families want help right away. That can be hard, just not having another backup veterinarian.

Same-day requests are very common. Sometimes we can get to them, but sometimes they’re far away, where it could be an hour drive one way, and you can see how that could easily take up half the day if you’re trying to get to an urgent appointment.

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Submitted photo

​Dr. Christina Lehner shakes paw with Luger, her in-laws’ German wirehair. L​ ehner’s mobile veterinary practice, Creature Comfort Care, covers a 100-mile radius of Oshkosh.

Do you get calls in the middle of the night?

I have, and I’ve taken some very late calls or very early morning calls in the past. But one year I got the flu and got three of those requests. It was awful. After that, I realized I needed to set some business boundaries in order to be there for other patients and still stay healthy myself. I feel like we’re very fortunate to have a couple emergency clinics in the area. I certainly help with urgent and emerging situations during the day, but at night I really encourage using the emergency centers.

Do pet owners ever become an issue, since you’re in their territory?

Most times no. Certainly it’s expected with what I do when the emotions tend to run high, but families are grieving, whether because of euthanasia or perhaps they learned their pet has a bad illness. So there are a lot of highly emotional cases.

The difficult ones are where the family is going through the anger stage of grief and directs it toward the family veterinarian. Thankfully that’s not very common, and that’s why it’s important to know the stages of grief and understand what it’s like to go through it and keep it in perspective. Often the family just needs to get the anger out and have somebody who recognizes it and will listen. n

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Professionally Speaking

Professionally Speaking is a paid promotional spot in B2B.

Immigration Law Affects All Employers

by Geoffrey Lacy of Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c.

Since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, U.S. employers have been placed on the front lines of immigration enforcement.

Employment opportunities, so the theory goes, are a fundamental motivator in cross-border migration. The political compromise struck in 1986, namely to exchange legalization for those residing in the U.S. with interior enforcement through employer obligations, failed to stem the tide of that migration.

Now, 30 years later, the U.S. still has a large undocumented population and now employers are faced with significant labor shortages in many industries. Employers remain on the frontline of federal law enforcement – often unwittingly and unknowingly. A little less than a year into the Trump Administration, we will take a few minutes to look at where the Administration appears to be going with respect to this issue.

DACA Discontinued – Beginning in 2012, the Obama Administration extended

844.833.0824

temporary employment authorization and protected status to many individuals living in the U.S. as noncitizens who were brought here before reaching the age of 16. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provided employment authorization for some roughly 800,000 recipients who could establish that they had been brought here as minors and were presently either employed or attending school, and that they had no significant criminal record.

In the early months of the Trump Administration, DACA was discontinued.

The last applications to extend registration (valid each time for two years) were to be filed by October 5, 2017. This means that the individuals who obtained employment authorization through DACA will be losing that status and employment authorization.

Dream Act Re-Revisited – Meanwhile, the latest rendition of the now 16-year-old Dream Act has been introduced. The bill would provide permanent lawful status to those who resemble the DACA recipients.

This is not yet law and may never be – it was first introduced in 2001. President Trump

has signaled support for the bill, but it faces significant opposition in both chambers of Congress.

Interior Enforcement Efforts – The Trump Administration has stated that it intends to place significant additional investment in enforcing immigration laws through workplace investigations, site visits and raids. While discussions of border walls dominates press coverage, for Wisconsin employers, the more immediate need is to make sure that employment verification (I-9 and/or E-Verify) processes are in place and reviewed, and that someone in the company is assigned this responsibility.

Geoffrey Lacy is a founding shareholder with Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. and is located in the firm’s Green Bay office.

This article is intended to provide information only, not legal advice. For advice regarding a particular labor or employment situation, please contact the attorneys at Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. (www.strangpatteson.com).

Set yourself up for Success – Build Rapport with your Commercial Lender

by John Hill of Verve, a Credit Union

920.230.3021

It’s a phrase we’ve all heard a million times, “communication is key,” and it’s one that can help set your business up for long-term success.

In the good times and the bad, letting your lender know what’s on the horizon for your business can mean the difference between growth and downsizing.

be proactive so you can work through any business struggles or opportunities together. Your lender might even give you some ideas to make a big issue – one that seemed impossible to overcome – more manageable.

Think of your commercial lender as a true business partner.

1. Be proactive – Simply put, communicating with your lender quarterly, monthly or even more frequently on how the business is going – good or bad – gives your lender a true picture of how your business is doing.

It’s better for you (and your lender) to

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2. Be honest – It’s hard to say, “I’m struggling,” which is where a close relationship with your lender is crucial.

If you have a great relationship, having hard conversations isn’t as difficult.

3. Listen – Listening – to hear and really understand someone – is a learned skill and a key component of building a successful business. Find a lender who listens to your goals, connects with you on a personal level and one that you trust.

There’s no such thing as TMI when it comes to your business.

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

Whether you have a current financial need or not, sharing updates with your commercial lender on a regular basis can help you prepare for the good and the bad. You should never be afraid to approach someone who could have an impact on making your dreams come true.

John Hill (jhill@verveacu.com) is the Vice President of Business Lending at Verve with more than 15 years of experience in the lending industry and a passion for helping entrepreneurs meet their goals.

Founded in 1937, Verve, a Credit Union, is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative with more than $800 million in assets and serving more than 56,000 members at 15 locations. Learn more at verveacu.com. Federally insured by NCUA.

NNB2B | December 2017 | 31

Who’s News

Incorporations

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

Brown County

SAVVY WATER SOLUTIONS LLC, Heidi L. Blake, 3590 Solitude Road, De Pere 54115.

ILLUMYX LLC, Christine A. Utech, 1537 American Ct., De Pere 54115.

TUNDRA APPAREL AND PROMOTIONS LLC, Christopher McKeefry, 1122 Countryside Dr., De Pere 54115.

SALON NIRVANA LLC, Alissa Sieloff, 102 S. Broadway, De Pere 54115.

SILVER SPOON DINER LLC, Timothy R. Czarneski, 655 Copenhagen Lane, Denmark 54208.

NORTHWOODS FAMILY PHYSICAL MEDICINE P.C., Mark Bugni, 2360A Duck Creek Pkwy., Green Bay 54303.

THE DOUGH SHOPPE LLC, Shannon Heupel, 3196 Shady Lane, Green Bay 54313.

ATG BUILDING CONSTRUCTION INC., Hugo A. Garcia-Calles, 803 Klaus St., Green Bay 54302.

SET IN STONE MASONRY LLC, Donald Woods, 918 13th Ave., Green Bay 54304.

CRAFTSMAN CONCRETE LLC, Howard Shaffner Hauser, 2884 Mount Carol Dr., Green Bay 54311.

ADJ CONSTRUCTION LLC, David W. Deffke, 2055 Packerland Dr., Green Bay 54304.

NICS BREAKFAST BRUNCH AND COFFEE CAFE LLC, David Nichols, 3036 Northwood Road, Green Bay 54313.

BLUESHIFT GLOBAL VENTURES LLC, Craig Dickman, 400 S. Washington St., Green Bay 54301.

GREEN BAY HALAL FOODS LLC, Dahir O. Nur, 1845 Velp Ave., Green Bay 54303.

TITLETOWN FIRE FITNESS LLC, Rolland Young, 2650 S. Ashland Ave., Green Bay 54304.

RAGS 2 RICHES CLEANING SERVICES LLC, Kristal J. Pinkard, 431 Westplain Dr., Green Bay 54303.

CHALET DESIGNS SALON AND BOUTIQUE LLC, Natalie Ann Lasecki-Fischer, 801 Hoffman Road, Green Bay 54301.

VAN DONSEL PIANO SERVICES LLC, Scott Van Donsel, 1452 Russell St., Green Bay 54304.

DINA DEGROOT REALTY LLC, Dina Degroot, 2121 S. Oneida St., Green Bay 54304.

N.E.W. ADVISORY SERVICES LLC, Debra A. Deleers, 3008A Walker Dr., Green Bay 54311.

YOUME SUSHI INC., Lin Li, 2066 Central Dr., Green Bay 54311.

M&O CLEANING SERVICES LLC, Miguel Rivera, 1331 Bellevue St., Green Bay 54302.

ACTS 1:8 FOUNDATION INC., Jeff Van Beaver, 2145 S. Oneida, Green Bay 54304.

Connect online TODAY 32 | December 2017 | NNB2B

J & S CLEANING SERVICES LLC, James M. Glass, 1437 Beech Tree Dr., Green Bay 54304.

ON THE MARK DYSLEXIA CLINIC INC., Patricia A. Shafer, 2825 Castle Hill Lane, Green Bay 54302.

C&M EXCAVATING AND LAND CLEARING LLC, Cody J. Egan, 4568 Creek Valley Lane, Hobart 54155.

MARK MOREAU CARPENTRY LLC, Mark G. Moreau, 4755 Doris Road, New Franken 54229.

ONEIDA ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS LLC, Jeffrey House, 2555 Packerland Dr., Oneida 54313.

INDIGENOUS PACT FOUNDATION INC., Kurt T. Brenkus, 770 Brookwood Cir., Oneida 54155.

RETIRED GUY PAINTING LLC, Leslie Ray Marlowe, 2934 Van Hoof Road, Suamico 54313.

DOOR COUNTY BEVERAGE LLC, James Carter, 311 Clay St., Wrightstown 54180.

Fond du Lac County

COREYS CUSTOM TRUCKING LLC, Corey R. Mueller, N3557 Timberlane Dr., Campbellsport 53010.

JOSIAH’S LAWN CARE LLC, Josiah Timothy Poss, 760 Mequon Ave., Fond du Lac 54935.

DOWNTOWN AUTO REPAIR AND SALES LLC, Todd David Osier, 336 S. Main St., Fond du Lac 54935.

FOND DU LAC CANOE & KAYAK CO., Louie A. Lange III, 9 Sheboygan St., Fond du Lac 54935.

JOHNSON’S AUTO BODY OF FOND DU LAC LLC, Steven D. Johnson, 651 Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac 54935.

FOX VALLEY EXPOS LLC, Matthew L. Nehring, 821 Ellis St., Fond du Lac 54935.

QUALITY CLEANING SERVICES FDL LLC, Julia Esperanza Lopez Decuir, 591 4th St., Fond du Lac 54935.

HARLAN MECHANICAL LLP, Jason Harlan, 223 Chapleau St., North Fond du Lac 54937.

WISCONSIN INDEPENDENT LIVING LLC, Corinna Lee Lundquist, 816 Newbury St., Ripon 54971.

SUDS N DOGS LLC, Jack E. Altwies, 524 Vermont St., Ripon 54971.

MAIL LIST PROCESSING LLC, Deanne E. Braun, N8720 Townline Road, Van Dyne 54979.

NORTHERN STAR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, Jessica Lynn Ring, W9123 Wild Goose Road, Waupun 53963.

SUNDARA ESSENCE YOGA LLC, Lori Jean Klosterman, N2833 County Road M, Waupun 53963.

Oconto County

HELMLE CONSTRUCTION & CONCRETE LLC, Scott Michael Helmle, 3091 Sandalwood Road, Abrams 54101.

ORGANIZE ELITE LLC, Joely Maureen Vierck, 6070 Main St., Abrams 54101.

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ALLEN’S A-1 LANDSCAPING SERVICE LLC, Walter Allen, 5110 U.S. Hwy. 41, Abrams 54101.

Outagamie County

CLEARTREND LLC, Mark Scheffler, 100 W. Lawrence St., Appleton 54911.

VALERIE HAMILTON PSYCHO THERAPIST LLC, Valerie Hamilton, 2401 W. Cortland Dr., Appleton 54914.

KAUKAUNA STORAGE LLC, Michael Van Lanen, N336 County Road N, Appleton 54915.

FULLY FOCUSED MUSIC LLC, Byron Keith Brown, Jr., 311 N. Casaloma Dr., Appleton 54913.

RIVERS BARBER SUPPLIES LLC, River James Tyrrell, 1512 Tri Pkwy., Appleton 54914.

KP HEATING & COOLING LLC, Richard Peterson, 5601 W. Integrity Way, Appleton 54913.

WIGGLES AND GIGGLES DAYCARE LLC, Theresa Jeanette Bumann, 2600 W. Glenpark Dr., Appleton 54914.

EXODUS CHURCH APPLETON INC., Joshua A. Crabb, 1730 S. Peabody St., Appleton 54915.

MIDWEST WHEELCHAIR RAMP LLC, Jillian Leigh Irish, W6235 Contractor Dr., Appleton 54914.

SUNRISE MASSAGE LLC, Meili Huang, 311 S. Kools St., Apt. 8, Appleton 54914.

KAVELLA SALON LLC, Katie Godfroy, 217 S. Nicolet Road, Appleton 54914.

FLYING FORTRESS FIREWORKS LLC, David Jerome Vandeloo, W2802 Emons Road, Appleton 54915.

CURBSCAPE OF WISCONSIN LLC, Cody D. Olson, 948 E. Frances St., Appleton 54911.

BLANK SLATE COLLECTIVE LLC, Bradley D. Cebulski, 338 W. College Ave., Appleton 54911.

ANNA’S SUPERMARKET LLC, Austin Thao, 206 S. Memorial Dr., Appleton 54911.

PENINSULA PEDAL PARTY LLC, Christopher Hale Saladin, N3050 Reiland Road, Appleton 54913.

NEXT LEVEL FITNESS 24-7 DE PERE LLC, Kathy L. Martin, N3984 State Road 55, Freedom 54130.

GREEN BAY STORAGE CENTER LLC, Joseph Murphy, W1970 Industrial Dr., Freedom 54130.

HONEY DONE MAINTENANCE LLC, James Duwe, 3013 W. Parkridge Ave., Grand Chute 54914.

INSPIRATIONAL SPORTS COMPLEX LLC, James Micheal Drechsel, W6423 Rocky Mountain Dr., Greenville 54942.

MICHELLE MICOLEY DESIGN LLC, Michelle Holly Micoley, W6347 Boonesborough Dr., Greenville 54942.

EMPIRE EXTERIORS LLC, Glenn Robert Procknow II, N1479 Fawn Ridge Dr., Greenville 54942.

BNH LIGHTING.COM LLC, Jeremy Bellile, 444 N. Olk St., Hortonville 54944.

SMILES AND SNAPS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC, Bethany Hoffmann, 211 Embarrass St., Hortonville 54944.

ARCTIC BLAST CRYOTHERAPY LLC, Eric R. Clausen, 223 N. Pine St., P.O. Box 187, Hortonville 54944.

LEWIS DRAFTING LLC, Kenneth J. Lewis, W2161 Out of Town Lane, Kaukauna 54130.

SUITCASE PUBLISHING COMPANY LLC, Lyssa Schmidt, 801 Grand Ave., Little Chute 54140.

HEART OF THE VALLEY FIRE FITNESS LLC, Amanda J. Crout, 157 W. Greenfield Dr., Little Chute 54140.

Without execution, they’re just numbers.

Let us do the math.

Successful Journeys Need a Guide™ 920.427.5077 www.guidentbusiness.com

MillenniuM ConstruCtion, inC.

Featured Project: Security Luebke Roofing Appleton, WI

Winnebago County

LANDOLT APPRAISALS LLC, Melissa S. Landolt, 8325 Pheasant Run Tr., Larsen 54947.

XPRESS LAUNDRY CENTERS OF WISCONSIN LLC, Steven Thomas Dietzen, 2412 Manitowoc Road, Menasha 54952.

GOODKIND CARPENTRY & SERVICES LLC, Louis Flaum, 1 Main St., Apt. 1, Menasha 54952.

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15 Years v 2002 to 2017

425 W Wisconsin Ave. • Appleton 920.882.8700 millenniumconstructionwi.com NNB2B | December 2017 | 33

Who’s News ALL SEASONS LAWN AND SNOW SERVICE LLC, Gale Gene Davey, 1232 Grove St., Menasha 54952.

CANVAS HAIR STUDIO LLC, Stacy Weyenberg, 961 Bridgewood Dr., Neenah 54956.

TWIN OAKS HOMES LLC, Amy L. Menzel, 675 Deerwood Ave., Neenah 54956.

VALLEY LAWN CARE & SNOW REMOVAL LLC, Leonard Grimes, 2054 Irish Road, Neenah 54956.

JUST LIMITS GUIDE SERVICE LLC, Brandon John Arndt, 1190 Christopher Dr., Apt. 6, Neenah 54956.

KRISTIN STERKENBURG FINE ART STUDIO LLC, Kristin J. Sterkenburg, 2947 E. Ridge Pl., Neenah 54956.

SPRINGHETTI PRODUCTIONS LLC, Rachel Hoss, 975 W. American Dr., Neenah 54956.

ACT LIFE AND LEADERSHIP COACHING LLC, Nina Gandolfo Brandes, 1745 Cliffview Dr., Oshkosh 54901.

EL DORADO GAMES LLC, Daniel Aronson, 1115 Sawtell Ct., Oshkosh 54902.

GRAND UNION BAND LLC, Steven Mark Paulick, Jr., 1202 Willow Bend Lane, Oshkosh 54904.

GAUGER TREE CARE LLC, Michael Gauger, 734 Woodland Ave., Oshkosh 54901.

T&O LANES LLC, Erik Gialdella, 275 N. Washburn St., Oshkosh 54904.

OSHKOSH HERALD LLC, Karen L. Schneider, 4958 Island View Dr., Oshkosh 54901.

HEALING ART OF REIKI FOR PETS LLC, Catherine M. Lehrer Franzen, 3777 Glenhurst Lane, Oshkosh 54904.

SOCIALITE EVENTS AND CO. LLC, Sarah Helen Forseth, 4295 Leonard Point Road, Oshkosh 54904.

ALGOMA STORAGE LLC, Wallace Wagner, 2260 North Haven Lane, Oshkosh 54904.

K & M BUILDERS OF PICKETT LLC, David Audrey Kennedy, 953 County Road M, Pickett 54964.

Building permits

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

BADGER LIQUOR CO., 850 Morris St., Fond du Lac. $1,600,000 for an interior alteration of the existing corporate office building. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction of Fond du Lac. October 2.

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE, 2740 W. Mason St., Green Bay. $6,900,000 for renovations to the trades, manufacturing and construction building on the campus. General contractor is Immel Construction of Green Bay. October.

CEDAR CORP., 1695 Bellevue St., Bellevue. $1,476,765 for an 8,487-sq. ft. office building. General contractor is Alliance Construction & Design of Wrightstown.

October 4.

RETLAW HOTEL/LEGENDARY HOTELS, 1 N. Main St., Fond du Lac. $745,000 for interior alterations to the existing hotel building. General contractor is Rodac Development & Construction of Ashwaubenon. October 5.

FELDSTEIN’S JEWELERS, 1803 Condor Lane, Howard. $790,000 for a 5,918-sq. ft. retail building. General contractor is Bayland Buildings of Green Bay. October 10.

MARIAN UNIVERSITY, 45 S. National Ave., Fond du Lac. $9,090,000 for a twostory, 18,200-sq. ft. addition to its existing science building on campus. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction of Fond du Lac. October 12.

KERKHOFF INTERIORS & DESIGN, 317 N. Main St., De Pere. $400,000 for interior alterations to the existing commercial building. Contractor is Pyramid Structures of Howard. October 13.

Wishing you and yours a safe and joyous Holiday Season from all of us at With Offices in the Fox Cities, Madison, Milwaukee & Wausau

CONTACT US AT WWW.KELLERBUILDS.COM | 1.800.236.2534 34 | December 2017 | NNB2B

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Nackers

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Strickland

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Williams

UNCLE MIKE’S BAKE SHOPPE, 2999 E. Mason St., Green Bay. $695,000 for a new retail bakery and shop. General contractor is Alliance Construction & Design of Wrightstown. October.

PERFORMA INC. of De Pere received an Excellence in Structural Engineering Award from Structural Engineers Association of Wisconsin for the work it conducted on the skywalk component link at Belmark in De Pere.

EAGLE III, 1751 Allouez Ave., Bellevue. $450,000 for an addition to the existing ambulance service facility. General contractor is Portside Builders of Sturgeon Bay. October 18.

The Public Relations Society of America - Northeast Wisconsin chapter presented its 2017 Premier Grand Award of Excellence to HILLSTROM PR of Green Bay in the online communications category, as well as the following Awards of Excellence: HILLSTROM PR in the integrated communications category; LEONARD & FINCO PUBLIC RELATIONS of Green Bay in the online communications category; and O’CONNOR CONNECTIVE of De Pere in the brand/reputation management category.

MERCURY MARINE, 545 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac. $844,000 for an addition to one of the office buildings on the manufacturing campus. General contractor is C.D. Smith Construction of Fond du Lac. October 18.

SCHWABE NORTH AMERICA, 825 Challenger Dr., Green Bay. $500,000 for an interior alteration within the manufacturing facility. General contractor is Schuh Construction of Seymour. October.

GEORGIA PACIFIC CORP., 1919 S. Broadway, Green Bay. $4,320,000 for interior renovations to the first floor offices. General contractor is Miron Construction of Fox Crossing. October.

Business honors Fond du Lac-based Marian University presented its Entrepreneur of the Year Award to the WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS. The Appleton-based baseball organization is the owner of the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders, a new franchise which recently completed its inaugural season in the Northwoods League.

C.R. MEYER of Oshkosh earned the Level III Safety Awareness, Compliance and Education recognition from Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin.

KONDEX in Lomira received the AE50 Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers for its Straw Claw Chopper Blades. It’s the fourth such innovation award Kondex has received for its agricultural products.

Greater Green Bay Chamber presented the following 2017 Manufacturing Awards of Distinction: Small Company Award to PRO PRODUCTS INC. of Sturgeon Bay; Medium Company Award to DE PERE CABINET INC.; Large Company Award to GREEN BAY PACKAGING INC. of Ashwaubenon; and Workforce Development Award to ROBINSON METAL INC. of De Pere.

Stellmacher

www.newnorthb2b.com

Klarkowski

New hires BAYLAND BUILDINGS, INC. in Green Bay hired Tyler Nackers as safety director.

Nackers is certified as a construction health and safety technician.

DOWNTOWN GREEN BAY, INC. and OLDE MAIN STREET, INC. in Green Bay hired Jessica Weed as events manager for both organizations. Weed has five years experience in coordinating, planning and managing events.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN GREEN BAY hired Kelli Strickland as the executive and artistic director of the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts. Strickland most recently served as executive director at The Hypocrites in Chicago for the past two years.

Appleton-based packaging material manufacturer FLAIR hired Greg Cornette as senior corporate logistics manager. Cornette has more than 20 years experience in supply chain operations.

MIRON CONSTRUCTION CO. in Fox Crossing hired Matthew Selle as a virtual construction specialist, Kimberly Dieck as a payroll professional and Alex Williams as a project manager. Selle has more than five years experience in the construction industry.

KERBER ROSE S.C. hired Melanie Stellmacher, CPA as a tax manager in the accounting firm’s Oshkosh office. Stellmacher has more than 15 years of accounting experience.

PERFORMA INC. in De Pere hired Kevin Klarkowski as an engineer. Klarkowski has 29 years experience in structural engineering.

Michel

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

Cords

Gaber

DeMeuse

NNB2B | December 2017 | 35

Who’s News

Selkow

Sieger

Chatterton

SAWYER CREEK ORTHODONTICS in Oshkosh hired Brian Michel, D.D.S. as an orthodontist.

Kaukauna-based FOX RIVER NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM AUTHORITY hired Jeremy Cords as its executive director, overseeing all strategic and operational aspects of the historic Fox Locks system. Cords worked the past 18 years with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a conservation warden and a recreational safety warden.

ELEMENT in De Pere hired Bree Gaber to work in content marketing, account service and public relations. Gaber has four years experience in marketing, previously working in marketing communications at Bemis Company in Neenah.

WERNER ELECTRIC SUPPLY in Appleton hired Jerry DeMeuse as a territory sales manager. DeMeuse previously worked as the vice president of commercial development for Schneider in Ashwaubenon, and also served as the vice president of the company’s logistics center.

KELLER, INC. in Kaukauna hired Chris Selkow and Adam Sieger as concrete craftsmen.

Appleton-based WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS hired Megan Chatterton and Kyle Fargen as group sales representatives. Chatterton has worked for two Northwoods League franchises during the past two seasons, most recently serving as the director of ticket operations for the Kenosha Kingfish.

Appleton-based THEDACARE hired Vicky Barnthouse as chief nursing executive.

Barnthouse has 25 years experience in various nursing roles, having most recently served as chief nursing officer at Valley Hospital in Las Vegas.

Promotions

36 | December 2017 | NNB2B

Corsi

Barnthouse

Boland

MARIAN UNIVERSITY in Fond du Lac promoted Russel Mayer to provost and Cyndi Nienhaus to associate professor of religious education/teacher education. Mayer joined Marian in 2016 as vice president for academic affairs. Nienhaus has been with Marian since 2008.

De Pere-based ELEMENT promoted Kasey Steinbrinck from content marketing specialist to director of content marketing and promoted Chloe De Young from public relations specialist to public relations manager. Steinbrinck joined Element in 2015, while De Young has been with the agency since 2016.

KI in Bellevue promoted Debbie Breunig to vice president of architectural and design markets. Breunig has been with KI for more than 20 years, most recently serving as vice president of KI Healthcare.

THELMA SADOFF CENTER FOR THE ARTS in Fond du Lac promoted Jacqui Corsi to executive director. Corsi has served as the interim executive director since July, and previously worked as the organization’s director of marketing and operations for the past five years.

Ashwaubenon-based PELLA WINDOWS & DOORS OF WISCONSIN promoted John Ryun to commercial sales manager. Ryun has been with the company since 2016 and previously served as an architectural sales consultant.

WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS in Appleton promoted Brittany Ezze from group sales representative to director of group sales, and promoted Seth Merrill to corporate marketing manager. Ezze has been with the team for four seasons, while Merrill – who previously was the director of group sales – has been with the team for seven seasons.

Individual awards WILLIAM BOWMAN, CPA, senior advisor at Aegis Financial in Oshkosh, was named to the Raymond James’ Leaders Council for the fifth consecutive year.

NORTH SHORE BANK in Green Bay promoted Chris Boland to vice president and consumer lending manager. Boland has been with the bank for six years as a mortgage production manager.

Breunig

Fargen

Ryun

Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh inducted MARY JONES into its EAA Ultralight Hall of Fame recognizing her more than 30-year career with the organization’s aviation publications.

Bowman

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

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Business Calendar The Public Relations Society of America - Northeast Wisconsin chapter presented its Communicator of the Year Award to TRICIA GARRISON, public affairs educator at Green Bay-based NEW Water.

Business calendar

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

DECEMBER 4 After 5, an event from Current, the Greater Green Bay Area young professionals organization, 5 to 8 p.m. at Copper State Brewing Company, 313 Dousman St. in Green Bay. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, visit www.greatergbc.org.

DECEMBER 12 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.

DECEMBER 12 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Connection Breakfast, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce building, 120 Jackson St. in Oshkosh. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

DECEMBER 13 Greater Green Bay Chamber Business After Hours, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Woodfield Village Senior Housing, 445 Cardinal Lane in Green Bay. No cost to attend for chamber members. For more information, visit www.greatergbc.org or email fyi@greatergbc.org.

DECEMBER 5 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. For more information, visit www.greatergbc.org or email fyi@greatergbc.org.

DECEMBER 14 Crucial Conversations, an event from Young Professionals of Fond du Lac, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Society Insurance, 150 Camelot Dr. in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members and $15 for nonmembers. For more information or to register, visit www.fdlac.com.

DECEMBER 6 A.M. Oshkosh, a morning networking event from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 7:45 to 9 a.m. at UW Oshkosh Alumni & Welcome Center, 625 Pearl Ave. in Oshkosh.

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

DECEMBER 14 Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Briefing: Legislative Updates and Changes from the Trump Administration, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the law offices 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.

DECEMBER 6 Envision Fond du Lac Area Coffee Connection, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Catholic Financial Life, 976 E. Johnson St., Ste. 800 in Fond du Lac. Cost to attend is $5 for members. For more information or to register, call 920.921.9500 or email info@fdlac.com.

DECEMBER 14 Women in Management – Oshkosh chapter monthly meeting, 11:30 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.

DECEMBER 7 Young Professionals Paint, an event sponsored by Propel Oshkosh, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Fire Escape, 428 N. Main St. in Oshkosh. Cost is $8 for members or $33 for nonmembers. For more information or to register, call 920.303.2266 or go online to www.oshkoshchamber.com.

DECEMBER 14 Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m. at Grand Meridian, 2621 N. Oneida St. in Appleton. No cost to attend. For more information or to register, visit business.heartofthevalleychamber.com. n

Thank you

to the advertisers who made the December 2017 issue of New North B2B possible.

AEGIS Financial ⎮AEGISfinancialplanners.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Appleton International Airport ⎮atwairport.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Bank First National ⎮bankfirstnational.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Bayland Buildings ⎮baylandbuildings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Borsche Roofing Professionals ⎮wiroofer.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Candeo Creative ⎮candeocreative.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Consolidated Construction Company ⎮1call2build.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CR Structures Group ⎮crstructures.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Excalibur Edge Charity Golf Classic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Guident Business Solutions ⎮guidentbusinesssolutions.com. . . . . . . 33 Investors Community Bank ⎮investorscommunitybank.com. . . . . . . . 40

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Kaldas Center for Fertility, Surgery & Pregnancy, S.C. ⎮ kaldascenter.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Keller Inc. ⎮kellerbuilds.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Millennium Construction Inc. ⎮millenniumconstructionwi.com. . . . . . 33 Network Health ⎮networkhealth.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 NWTC Corporate Training & Economic Development ⎮ corporatetraining.nwtc.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 St. Norbert College MBA program ⎮snc.edu/mba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy ⎮strangpatteson.com. . . . . 31 Suttner Accounting ⎮suttnercpa.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Verve, a Credit Union ⎮verveacu.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 von Briesen & Roper ⎮vonbriesen.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

NNB2B | December 2017 | 37

Key Statistics LOCAL GASOLINE PRICES Per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

NOVEMBER 19. . . . . . . $2.51 NOVEMBER 12. . . . . . . $2.54 NOVEMBER 5 . . . . . . . $2.58 OCTOBER 29. . . . . . . . $2.45 NOV. 19, 2016. . . . . . . $1.95

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

U.S. RETAIL SALES

OCTOBER

$486.6 BILLION 0.2% from September 4.6% from October 2016

Source: New North B2B observations

EXISTING HOME SALES

OCTOBER

HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE BROWN County .................301.......................$169,900 FOND du LAC County .......109 ...................... $147,000 OUTAGAMIE County .........238 ......................$160,000 WINNEBAGO County ........237.......................$139,900 WI DEPT. REVENUE COLLECTIONS

October FY 2018 collections from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue were not released as of B2B press time.

38 | December 2017 | NNB2B

U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (2012 = 100)

OCTOBER

106.1

0.9% from September 2.9% from October 2016 AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC (Local enplanements)

OCT. 2017 0CT. 2016 Appleton Int’l ATW..................... 27,227......... 25,323 Austin Straubel GRB..................... 27,494 ...... 29,849

15 Years v 2002 to 2017

LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT

SEPTEMBER AUGUST SEPT. ‘16 APPLETON ........3.0% ...... 3.3% ........ 3.5% FOND du LAC ....2.8% ...... 3.4% ........ 3.3% GREEN BAY........3.0% ...... 3.2% ........ 3.8% NEENAH .............2.8% ...... 3.4%......... 3.3% OSHKOSH ..........2.9% ...... 3.3% ........ 3.6% WISCONSIN .......3.0% ...... 3.4% ........ 3.8%

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

NOVEMBER...................$0.473 OCTOBER..................... $0.355 NOVEMBER 2016......... $0.460 Source: Wisconsin Public Service

ISM INDEX Numbers above 50 mean expansion.

Numbers below 50 mean contraction.

OCTOBER . . . . . . . . . 58.7 SEPTEMBER. . . . . . . 60.8

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