April 2021 Better Together Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE

Update from Acuity Ben Salzmann, Best Under 40 Awards Registration now open and more!

April 2021

UPCOMING Events

04.07.21

Member Orientation

A video update From the President

04.07.21

A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Rai of Prevea Health

04.13.21 & 04.27.21

A Virtual Conversation with Sheboygan County Division of Public Health

Watch Now - April Better Together Update - Mark Schuh

from the desk of the executive director “New beginnings are in order, and you are bound to feel some level of excitement as new chances come your way.”

-Auliq Ice We are certainly feeling the excitement at the Chamber office. Over the past few weeks, we have welcomed groups back into our conference rooms and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see so many old friends and meeting many new ones along the way. We Deidre Martinez invested in new technology this year and we are so pleased with the feedback we have received thus far. Are you looking for a space to host a small group? Are you in need of updated technology to provide a truly hybrid experience? Reach out to the Chamber office if we can help in anyway or stop by Monday through Friday. Say hello and check it out for yourself.

04.17.21

Ribbon Cutting - Parm’s Landscape Management

04.28.21

Coastal YPN: A New Form of Fitness

ROUNDTABLES MEETINGS: 04.07.21 NONPROFIT 04.13.21 HR MANAGERS 04.14.21 BUSINESS OWNER SUCCESS

We’ve also been very busy evaluating existing programming and feedback from members. This has given us an opportunity to consider and develop new opportunities, to ensure we are meeting the current and future needs of membership based on the feedback that has been shared. Our new professional development committee is considering fresh ideas and we expect some new offerings to be made available before end of year.

As things continue to progress, you’ll be pleased to find more and more events and programs already available on our website and we encourage you to register early as they will fill up early. Our Focal Point series will begin again in May and we have two wonderful Executive Series scheduled this year that you won’t want to miss. Happy Spring everyone, let’s embrace new beginnings together!

Molly, Coastal YPN Liaison Happy April! Boy am I ready for some warm weather!

Our network had a very successful March with our Coastal YPN Welcome and Social event, having double digits in attendance. We began talking about new initiatives that our committee has brought to the table and our members are very excited to continue coming to young professional events! We have quite the Summer planned, so keep watching our Facebook for the events we have coming up.

The Sheboygan County Best Under 40 nominees are in and judging is underway. That Molly Talaska can only mean one thing! We are now accepting in-person registrations to the 2021 Sheboygan County Best Under 40 Awards Dinner to be held on Thursday, May 13th at the Elks Lodge #299. Click below to learn more and register today. Keep an eye on our social media pages to learn who the nominees are!

The Coastal YPN committee is excited to present our end-of-the-month event, A New Form of Fitness on Wednesday, April 28th. Join us as we hear from Jonas and Johanna on their new business advancements in Electric Muscle Stimulation.

After their presentation, they will be allowing each person in attendance to try the EMS! Click HERE to find out more and register.

Click To Register Now!

2.

News from THE DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT I hope you and your family had a wonderful Spring break and a blessed Easter season. The weather was awesome, and hopefully you were able to get out and enjoy!

As we enter April, Explore Your Future comes into focus. Although this event will look different than previous years, we still plan on exploring personalities, hear from a couple of our major sponsors of the event, Acuity Insurance and Masters Gallery, and engage with our county sophomores to explore their future! The weeks of April 12 and 19 are sure to be educational, fun, and engaging!

Some things to think about as we move through 2021:

Scott Kuehn

• If you have not joined a Deep Dive yet, there are still openings for Deep Dives B and E. Deep Dive B meets every 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month starting at noon, and Deep Dive E meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday starting at 4:00pm each month. Give me a call or email me at scott@sheboygan.org and join a family of Deep Divers today!

• Roundtables are a terrific way to meet others within your business sector. Whether it’s Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Not for Profit, and others, you’re sure to learn something from your peers. These peer-to-peer networking groups can help any one of your employees, or yourself, accelerate your learning curve, and minimize potential setbacks within your organization. Our own John Rogers does an outstanding job keeping each group on task, and always shares his own wealth of knowledge. Contact john@sheboygan.org and join a Roundtable today!

• Our Young Professionals network goal is to attract, engage and retain young, diverse talent to Sheboygan County by providing opportunities for young professionals to design their social culture, serve as civic innovators and community stewards, and develop into the next generation of leaders for Sheboygan County. If you are interested in joining the YP network, please contact Molly Talaska at Molly@sheboygan.org • Check out the chamber calendar at www.sheboygan.org and make sure you mark the remainder of 2021 for all events coming up this year, it is sure to be an exciting and rewarding year!

It’s time to bring on those April showers so May flowers can bloom, the grass can green-up, and golf courses can get ready for a wonderful year of play. And speaking of golf, don’t forget to mark your calendar for Wednesday, September 8 to join us for our annual Chamber Golf Outing. This year we will be in beautiful Elkhart Lake at Quit Qui Oc Golf Course.

Email or call me today for sponsorship opportunities!

And finally, I am looking forward to another year of Meet a Member Friday and having the opportunity to meet so many of our wonderful Chamber members throughout 2021!

Have a terrific month, and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, or just want to meet for a cup of coffee and chat. Because you know what? We are so much #BETTERTOGETHER!

3.

Business improvement through chamber roundtables “Thanks!”

Thanks is the one word opener for this Better Together summary of our recent roundtable survey.

After reviewing the survey we are very excited to share the results and highlights. We had over 80 parcipants who completed the survey: • 5 or more from every roundtable answered the survey questions • Generally, you really like what the roundtables do for you – networking, learning, ideas, etc.

John Rogers

• Many enjoy the opportunity to visit other locations so once we are able to return comfortably to in-person roundtables [maybe in May or June], please be ready to host. This applies the most to those roundtables that were already meeting away from the Chamber [Nonprofit, Safety, Strategic Sourcing and Manufacturing]. Sometimes we have to relocate because the Chamber’s large conference room is in use by another group such as a Deep Dive • Different ice-breakers are on the horizon instead of the one word openers such as: a 30 second overview of your work, what you are reading that has helped you in your work, maybe others • Limiting discussion topics to professional issues not personal challenges • Narrowing who should attend a specific roundtable; more on that when you get an invitation/reminder email Evolving – the one word closer because the roundtables are evolving to improve.

4.

ACUITY SPONSORS 2021 EXPLORE YOUR FUTURE PROGRAM As a parent and a grandparent, I know how important it is that our children find rewarding, successful careers when they grow up. There are many opportunities to achieve that goal right here in the Sheboygan County area, and the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce’s Explore Your Future program is a valuable resource to introduce students to those opportunities.

Acuity is proud to be the Presenting Platinum sponsor of the 2021 event. Through the Explore Your Future program, high school students have the chance to explore different career pathways and connect with local employers to learn about jobs in the area. The program also helps students prepare for success in those careers by introducing them to other local resources, such as hands-on training, job shadowing, and apprenticeships.

Ben Salzmann Acuity Insurance President & CEO

Our sponsorship of Explore Your Future is a reflection of Acuity’s long-standing support for education and career preparation. This includes financial contributions to high schools and colleges, as well as the Acuity Technology Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Sheboygan Campus. And we look forward to the day that we can once again open our headquarters to in-person visits and to host academic contests and career exploration activities for students from the Sheboygan community and throughout the state.

Acuity is also proud to offer many jobs that offer tremendous potential for advancement and personal growth. Over 30 percent of the more than 100 people we hired last year are new graduates. We have created a campus where young adults are welcomed into a safe, friendly, and connected community. Additionally, Acuity’s great workplace environment and employee-focused culture keep people here in the community.

There are tremendous career opportunities at Sheboygan-area employers, including at Acuity, and the Explore Your Future program is a valuable way for students to gain knowledge and build skills needed for success. And for parents, this program provides an additional benefit: when our children stay local, it makes it easier to visit them and see our grandkids!

Thank you for your 2021 Explore Your Future Sponsorship!

5.

Community spotlight Article: sheboygan first!

The Whistling Oak Apartment project, introduced its “Sheboygan First” theme in a Zoom call in July of 2020 that was facilitated by the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce. With the devastating effects of shutdowns felt everywhere, this program was designed to elevate employment in the community and help, in some small way, the community recover economically.

Since then, Wisconsin Lakefront Property Management has been working diligently to bring on board as many Sheboygan County vendors as possible. “I am pleased to announce we now have more than ten Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce member businesses, participating in this construction project and I expect to add more as the project progresses. As we continue to grow and develop Sheboygan County, it is extremely important that we are doing business locally and giving our local businesses an opportunity to bid on local development jobs” stated Deidre Martinez, Executive Director of the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce.

In early 2020, Eileen Robarge, Owner and Operating Director of Wisconsin Lakefront Property Management LLC approached the Sheboygan County Chamber team to establish a virtual call for Chamber Members who may be interested in bidding on the property development: Whistling Oak Apartments. The use of Sheboygan County talent evolved from there. Whistling Oak is a 98 unit apartment complex that will include one and two bedroom units with rental rates starting at $950 per month. The apartment homes are located in the Town of Sheboygan with the first building expecting occupancy in the summer of 2021.

“Our vision is simple, we want to provide the Sheboygan area with additional apartment homes to meet a substantial need in the community for apartment homes with the latest in design trends and that are new and bright while still being priced more appropriately for the average income of the area,” explained Eileen, “Our units will be fresh with clean lines, open floor plans and modern amenities but will be offered at a price point we know our future residents are comfortable with during good economic times and in bad.”

6.

past events

First Friday Forum: Mayoral Candidate Forum

Coastal YPN: Welcome and Social

7.

stay up to date!

09.08.21

Annual Golf Outing

Covid-19 Resources Promising Case Count and Vaccination Trends will Allow for Easing of Restrictions for Vaccinated Individuals Sheboygan County Public Health COVID-19 Resources

Sheboygan

County Chamber

8.

Newsletter sponsorship opportunities now available!

Please contact Scott Kuehn at 920-918-1315 or scott@sheboygan.org for more information.