Focus on Calumet Newsletter

Focus on Calumet

A periodic update on economic development opportunities in Calumet County

and the region for businesses, entrepreneurs, and communities.

Monday, November 12, 2018

Honoring our nation's veterans on this Veteran's Day.

INSPIRE New North is Coming to Calumet and Outagamie Schools

INSPIRE New North is a web-based career preparation and readiness platform. By integrating career development tools, social media elements and workforce data into a seamless system, job creators, students, educators, and parents can connect efficiently and effectively. Using Inspire Wisconsin, employers and students complete profiles (companies showcase career opportunities and students indicate areas of interest and education). Inspire then links the two based on commonalities.

Calumet County’s Community Economic Development Program is partnering with the Heart of the Valley Chamber, CESA 6, and local school districts in portions of Calumet and Outagamie Counties to bring the INSPIRE platform to local students, employers, educators, and parents. Expect additional details about this important INSPIRE Calumet-Outagamie partnership in the upcoming months.

Inspire New North is part of the Inspire Wisconsin Network offering statewide, seamless collaboration in matching student career planning with business talent needs. For more information about INSPIRE, see www.inspirewisconsin.org.

Economic Development Workshop Assists Local Communities

On October 29, nineteen local government staff and officials gathered in the County Courthouse to advance their community economic development skills by listening to the community economic development expertise of Seth Hudson and Patrick Beilfuss of Cedar Corporation in Menomonie. The officials represented Brillion, Chilton, Harrison, Hilbert, New Holstein, Sherwood, and Stockbridge. Participants learned what business site selectors are looking for, and also how to be a successful community when it comes to community economic development. Positioning a community for economic success with the intent of creating/retaining jobs, growing income, and increasing the local tax base requires a multi-faceted approach. It begins with creating an economic development plan, and ideally will include understanding a community’s assets, addressing any internal shortcomings, determining appropriate incentives, and understanding the needs of local businesses and the current and future workforce.

Seth Hudson, Cedar Corp, taught an engaged group of workshop participants on October 29.

Cedar Corporation is a full-service integrated services firm established in 1985 with offices in four Wisconsin communities. Among the services provided are economic development and planning.

County Hires Stantec to Assist with Brownfields Efforts

Calumet County has entered into a contract with Stantec to apply for a US EPA Communitywide Brownfield Assessment Grant. If awarded, Stantec will implement and administer the grant. US EPA Communitywide Assessment Grants provide funding for developing inventories of brownfields, prioritizing sites, conducting community involvement activities, conducting site assessments, and developing cleanup and reuse plans related to contaminated brownfield sites. Applications are due to EPA in January, with award announcements expected in late spring.

Stantec is a global firm of designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers who focus on environmental sciences, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, project management, and project economics. Stantec is noted as a national leader in helping local units of government secure a variety of funding for brownfield planning, assessment, and clean-up resulting in iconic projects.

Calumet County communities interested in this project are encouraged to contact Mary Kohrell .

Job Vacancies Becoming Manufacturing “Crisis”

ThomasNet, Oct. 24, 2018 : Some problems, they say, are good ones to have… until they’re not. If you have a plate of nachos that’s overflowing with too many toppings, it’s a good problem to have only until you can’t finish them and you have to scrape the whole congealed mess into the garbage. Likewise, the manufacturing industry is dealing with its own oversupply and in this case, the delicious nachos are jobs.

The economy is booming , and the Department of Labor just released its jobs report where it hailed a fifth straight month where job openings eclipsed the number of unemployed people. Great news, right? Well, sort of. While the demand for workers has resulted in modest pay raises in some industries, a huge gap of nearly half a million jobs in the manufacturing space is causing its own problems.

According to a recent blog by Carolyn Lee – Executive Director of NAM’s non-profit The Manufacturing Institute – the 488,000 job vacancies reported by the Labor Department represents a gap that’s projected to grow in the years to come and not only could it hamper growth within the manufacturing sector, but it could do the same for the economy as a whole.

The topic of job vacancies is considerable in Calumet County. “Help Wanted” and “Now Hiring” signs are commonplace at many places of employment, including at most manufacturing sites. One local company, Amerequip, was featured in a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. Due to their hiring difficulties, the company has turned away over $10 million in business opportunities because they don’t have staff to make the products.

Competing for Holiday Help

Associated Press – Strictly Small Business (11/3/18): Small businesses are having a hard time finding holiday staff this year as they compete with behemoths like Amazon that are raising wages as the pool of available workers shrinks. (Amazon, FedEx, Target and UPS alone are forecast to hire 350,000 seasonal workers.) Human resources consultants say owners must get creative in whom they recruit and what they offer beside wages. AP’s Joyce Rosenberg dives deep and offers some tips:

Get creative. Recruit retirees, people who work off-hours (such as bartenders) and even stay-at-home parents, says Kate Zabriskie, owner of Business Training Works.
Be generous. Give seasonal staffers as big a hiring bonus as you can afford, and consider perks like gift cards or tickets to sporting events or the theater.
Partner. Luring seasonal staffers with discounts works, but you might have even more success if you band together with other stores, and offer discounts to each other's employees, Zabriskie says.
Host a party. Taco Bell this summer held events at four Indiana restaurants, drawing 80 attendees —half of whom were then hired. It’s a model that could work on a smaller scale, too.

Local Business Updates

Ariens and City of Brillion Acquire Former Brillion Iron Works Site

Appleton Post Crescent, Oct 15, 2018: The purchase of the former Brillion Iron Works property by Ariens Company is complete. The purchase, first announced in November, comes through the formation of a new company, Brillion Works LLC, which will focus on the redevelopment of the 140-acre property in Brillion, Ariens announced in a statement released Monday. "Initial plans call for development zones that will include light manufacturing, commercial, and residential areas," the release said. Ariens is already renovating one of the buildings on the site, establishing a third facility located in the city that is dedicated to manufacturing and order fulfillment, the company said.

Ariens employs about 1,100 people in Brillion at two manufacturing plants and its corporate headquarters. “This project involved a combined effort between Ariens Co. and the city of Brillion, supported by the Brillion Redevelopment Authority, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the economic development community,” Dan Ariens, chairman and CEO of Ariens, said in the statement. “We are ready to write the next chapter for Brillion and there are many exciting possibilities due to the size, location, and nature of the property.”

Romenesko Family Dentistry

Romenesko Family Dentistry, Brillion, is growing. Dr. Bryan Mick has joined the team with Dr. Nick Romenesko, allowing the office to expand office hours and serve more patients in the Brillion region.

Upcoming Events

2018 New North Summit Program to Feature Business Leaders from Region

Three business leaders from the region highlight the program for the 15th annual New North Summit, set for Thursday, December 6, at the new Fox Cities Exhibition in downtown Appleton. Speaking at the 2018 Summit, which is themed “Net-Work,” will be Michelle Schuler of TechSpark Wisconsin at Microsoft, Phil Flynn of Associated Bank, and Mary Goggans of Encapsys, LLC.

The three speakers will follow the popular ‘ED Talk’ format utilized at the Summit since 2015. ED Talks are the New North version of TED Talks, focusing on Economic Development themes from the perspective of business leaders in the region. The speakers will engage the audience through a storytelling format to expose them to new ideas.

Small Business Development Center Classes

Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers

In this workshop, you will learn basic financial management skills every businessperson should know. Topics will cover the three major financial statements, sources and uses of cash, cash budgeting, break even analysis, and an introduction to financial ratios. Emphasis is placed on the practical uses of financial information as a diagnostic tool to understand a company’s health. Using real-life examples and exercises, participants will learn simple and necessary skills they can immediately apply to their workplace.

December 4, 2018 | 8:30 am-3:30 pm | $200

Advance Business & Manufacturing Center, 2701 Larsen Road, Green Bay

Lead with Humor - A Few Simple Words for Change and Laughter

Fun at work? Humor at your desk? Improv in the board room? If marketing helps in telling your story and we are supposed to be functioning in teams to accomplish great things at work, why is work so serious? Finding our voice at work, and the humor in it, is so challenging for young leaders. Liysa Callsen will turn that serious journey through a silent world into stories, improv, audience participation and tips that will give you a fresh perspective on your obstacles, teach you to use humor in life and in business, help you embrace diversity to form stronger teams and enjoy the art of communicating beyond words.

January 15, 2019 | 8:30 am-3:30 pm | $200

Advance Business & Manufacturing Center, 2701 Larsen Road, Green Bay

Click here for more information or to register

Fox Valley Technical Center - Chilton Center

Feasibility of International Trade

Examines critical steps and decisions needed to determine the feasibility of international trade initiatives. Introduces market research, organizational readiness, cost analysis, and risk analysis to determine if a concept fits a company's strategic direction and improves its bottom line. Develops strategies to mitigate identified risks.

January 22-March 12, 2019 | 5:30-8:20 pm | $637.45

FVTC - Chilton Regional Center, 1200 E. Chestnut Street, Chilton,

Click here for more information or to register

Free Small Business Counseling Available

Once a month, a counselor with the Green Bay Small Business Development Center meets with entrepreneurs and existing business owners at the Calumet County Courthouse in Chilton; he is also available to meet with Calumet County entrepreneurs and businesses on a periodic basis at other locations in the county or his office as schedules permit. These free, individual business counseling sessions are held to help answer questions and put businesses and entrepreneurs in a better position to make the best decisions for themselves and their businesses.

To schedule an appointment with the business counselor, contac t Mary Kohrell using the information provided below. The next regularly scheduled session will be held on December 18.

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