Focus on Calumet
A bi-weekly update on economic development opportunities in Calumet County
and the region for businesses, entrepreneurs, and communities.
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On April 16, the Wisconsin Safer at Home order was extended to May 26, with several exceptions designed to continue to flatten the COVID-19 curve while helping businesses, communities, and residents regain some added functionality.
According to Dr. John Raymond, MD, CEO and President of the Medical College of Wisconsin, there are five key health and safety indicators for a safe restart to the economy that need to be followed in Wisconsin. These include the number of cases, testing availability, available hospital facilities, adequate PPE, and the ability to trace and monitor COVID-19 cases. As of April 16, Dr. Raymond indicates Wisconsin has made progress in the number of cases and available hospital care, while metrics in the other three categories still need improvement. Dr. Raymond presented these findings on a statewide webinar, “Lessons Learned from WI CEO’s” which also included a presentation by Dan Ariens, AriensCo. Newsletter readers are encouraged to attend the webinars, which will take place the next three Fridays, and to also listen to recordings of prior webinars to get fully informed. See the Upcoming Events section at the end of this newsletter for information.
Understandably, the extension of the Safer at Home order adds additional financial concerns for those businesses that must continue to remain closed. Calumet County is working with a statewide coalition being led by WEDC, New North, and other organizations to help create and deploy a safe and logical reopening of the economy. Please feel free to
contact us to share your stories or ideas.
The Federal CARES Act that was passed in early April provides relief for businesses and employees whose jobs or businesses have been affected by COVID-19. In particular, this included the Economy Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The funds were limited and were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Unfortunately, as of last Thursday, the SBA was unable to accept any additional applications. The Small Business Administration and the US Treasury are urging Congress to appropriate additional funds for the PPP. Congress is expected to reconvene in early May to consider additional funding, but no details are currently available.
Regarding the SBA programs, it is interesting to note that the SBA allocated what is normally 14 years’ worth of their typical loan portfolio in 14 days. Further, according to the WI Bankers Association, as of April 13, Wisconsin placed 10
th among US states and territories in terms of number of loans and total loan amount made.
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Additional COVID-19 resources for businesses:
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Launches Nationwide “Save Small Business” Initiative, includes Grants for Certain Small Businesses
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To combat the economic destruction threatening the survival of small businesses in every town across America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched the Save Small Business Initiative — a nationwide program to address small businesses’ immediate needs, mitigate closures and job losses, and mobilize support for long-term recovery.
The
Save Small Business Initiative
features a four-part campaign including financial aid, resources and guidance, advocacy, and polling, as well as a call to action for the larger business community and government to help small businesses. The financial aid portion of the campaign includes the
Save Small Business Fund
which opens on April 20. Funded by contributions from corporate and philanthropic partners, the Foundation will provide
$5,000 supplemental grants to small employers in economically vulnerable communities
including many of the zip codes in Calumet County. The Foundation is launching the grant fund in partnership with Vistaprint and with support from Merck, S&P Global Foundation, and Travelers.
A recent poll
conducted by the Chamber and MetLife found that more than half of small businesses (54%) have closed at least temporarily or will close in the next two weeks. One in four (24%) are two months or less away from permanently closing.
The Chamber is calling on every business leader and large company across the country to marshal available resources, talent, and unique capabilities to help small businesses in any way they can. Recognizing that many midsize and large companies also have been hit hard by the pandemic and the economic fallout, the Chamber is developing recommendations for companies that are in a stronger position to leverage their resources, core competencies, and new ideas to assist small businesses.
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New North Requests Help to get Funds into Local Communities
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New North Inc., in conjunction with its partner organizations and investors, has announced the creation of the #CensusChallenge, a campaign to encourage everyone in the New North region to respond and be counted in the United States Census 2020.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s goal is to count all people living in the United States, to count them only once, and to count them in the right place. For the next 10 years, the federal government will rely on the data collected in 2020 to help determine funds distribution across 316 Census-guided programs to states, counties, and communities.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL),
Wisconsin counties on average stand to lose $22,170 in federal funding over the next decade ($2,217/year) per person not counted.
The Census also provides the basis for reapportioning Wisconsin’s Congressional seats and as a foundation for the state legislature to draw Congressional districts and state legislative districts. Many New North residents received outreach materials from the United States Census Bureau in mid-March; to be counted, they simply can respond as directed. Those without such Census materials can respond and be counted by going to www.2020census.gov. Census takers will interview homes that haven’t responded to Census 2020.
The goal of #CensusChallenge is to increase the response rate of New North counties to more than 80 percent. Fact-finding by Matthew Christman, director of research & technology for New North Inc., showed that participation in Census 2020 by New North counties through April 7, 2020, ranged from a low of 10.2% to a high of 64.7%.
The highest value proudly belongs to Calumet County, but there are still 35% of Calumet County’s residents who have yet to respond. Spread the word – go to
www.2020census.gov
and get counted!
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Welcome to Four New Local Mayors
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Four cities in Calumet County welcomed new mayors recently. This is a higher than usual number of new mayors, and the county extends a welcome to each new official who is willing to contribute their time and skills towards improvements in their local communities.
Congratulations and appreciation for their service as City Mayors goes to the following departing leaders: Mayor Tim Hanna of Appleton, Mayor Gary Dieter of Brillion, Mayor Rick Jaeckels of Chilton, and Mayor Dianne Reese of New Holstein.
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Appleton
elected Jake Woodford as its new Mayor. Woodford has served in a senior leadership role working for the Chancellor of Appleton’s Lawrence University. He is a Lawrence University graduate, and served as a Calumet County Emergency Management intern while he attended Lawrence. Mayor Woodford campaigned on a strong community economic development vision. He resides in Appleton with his wife. This is his first elected office, though he has served on several City of Appleton committees. Woodford replaces retiring Mayor Tim Hanna, who served the City of Appleton for 24 years.
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Brillion
’s newly appointed Mayor is Mel Edinger. Edinger was appointed to replace Mayor Gary Dieter, who unexpectedly resigned in February. Mayor Edinger has served on the City Council since 1995, most recently holding the role of Council President. Edinger recently retired from Ariens Co where he worked for many years to support the company’s Lean environment. Edinger and the City’s leaders believe he was the best choice to serve the City until the Mayoral election next spring. He has been a Brillion resident since 1974.
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Chilton
’s new Mayor is Tom Reinl. Reinl is the owner of Reinl Accounting Inc. in Chilton where he works as an accountant. Mayor Reinl previously served as Chilton Mayor, and most recently was a member of the City Council. His community involvement includes serving as a board member for Chilton Area Catholic School, a board member for the New Hope Center Endowment Trust, a board member for Chilton Area Community Foundation, and former member of the Chilton Fire Department. He and his wife have a daughter and three grandchildren.
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New Holstein
residents elected Jeff Hebl as the city’s new Mayor. Hebl is a recently retired police captain and 27-year member of the New Holstein Police Department, and also retired as the City of New Holstein emergency management director after 22 years. Other elected positions include 12 years as a member of the New Holstein Board of Education holding positions of president, vice president, and deputy clerk. Hebl believes his experience with city budgets, personnel, policies, procedures, and management will allow him to serve the community well, in addition to his vision for revitalization.
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Schneider takes to Spring Cleaning Big Time
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TOWN OF RANTOUL – This is the time of year that people’s thoughts turn to spring cleaning. But when Bonnie Schneider thinks of spring cleaning, she thinks big. She decided to clean up Calumet County – or at least a few roads in the county. “I always do County Trunk E where our business is – Phil’s Pumping – and that road is always dirty,” she said. “It actually felt kind of good cleaning it all up, and then I went on a different road and just kept going.”
It started a couple of weeks back, and she picked up so much litter that she decided to continue the clean sweep – with help from her friends Beverly Schmitz, Jeff Pagel and Alysa Pagel, who helped her take on Irish Road’s trash. She said it’s been her exercise for a couple of hours each morning. “I can’t believe how much garbage there is,” she said.
She started posting photos of the garbage on Facebook and then issued a challenge to others: “So my challenge to you today is to get out there and clean the streets of all the litter. Post a picture of what road or street you did and all the litter you accumulated. People will be amazed at all the garbage – 20 trash bags of garbage in two hours. We now have the time to make a difference in our communities. So spread the word and get to work. A busy mind and busy hands keep stress low, and that is very important right now.”
Schneider said it’s a great way to feel good about where you live, and she found plenty of trash in the roadside ditches, especially on Irish Road. “I did four miles on County E, from County Y to State 57,” she said. Then she did five miles on Irish Road, with the help of a friend. They each took a side of the road and kept one another company while practicing social distancing.
“When you do good, you feel good,” Schneider said in her challenge. “So get out there and get your kids busy. Life is good, and God is good, so let’s do our part. Have
a great day and enjoy your family time.” Schneider said she was surprised by the positive responses she got from issuing the challenge. So if you see folks cleaning up the ditch, thank Schneider for encouraging them in their spring cleaning. “Once the snow melted, it was a mess. Irish Road was terrible,” she said. “There’s plenty more [trash] out there for everyone.”
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Bonnie Schneider (above right), who lives on County E in Rantoul, got the idea to use the “social distancing” edict to walk roadside ditches and collect litter. Then friends joined her in the mission, and it didn’t take her long to fill the back of a pickup truck with bags of trash. The idea caught on as the word spread, and a family in the Town of Brillion (pictured above) spent part of a day cleaning up litter along County K and County PP four miles north of Brillion.
(Submitted photos)
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Brillion Rock the Block Receives Community Award
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The work done at last year’s Brillion Rock the Block did not go unnoticed by Habitat for Humanity. The group received the community award at last month’s Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity’s Annual Celebration of Partnership event. Rock the Block in Brillion took place last May and included the joint effort of Habitat for Humanity and Brillion citizens to revamp neighborhoods in the city. Special projects at various locations took place over the course of a long weekend. Planning for the event started in December 2017. There was $400,000 fundraised for the event. “Our host site of Faith United Methodist Church was awesome, and it was a central location for everyone. The volunteers, we had no problems filling slots and having everyone step up. Everyone came together,” Sarah Pielhop, one of the event’s organizers said, as she accepted the award last month. Pielhop represented Brillion last month at the awards night with Jason Pielhop, Jo Ann Mignon, Joanne Moehr, Sue Cohen, and Kim Buboltz. “To hear directly from the families having work done was just amazing,” Pielhop said. Ryan Roth and Sarah Wylie from Habitat from Humanity worked with the Brillion group on planning and physically throughout the weekend. “It was an awesome experience to work with everyone involved,” Pielhop said.
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The Brillion Rock the Block group received the community award at the Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity’s Annual Celebration of Partnership event. Representing Brillion were (back row left to right): Jo Ann Mignon, Kim Buboltz, Sue Cohen, Sarah Pielhop, Joanne Moehr, (front row) Jason Pielhop and Habitat for Humanity’s Ryan Roth.
(Submitted photo)
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SBDC puts in Overtime Serving Calumet County Businesses
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Since mid-March when COVID-19 effects started being felt on local business sales and productivity, the Small Business Development Center has directly supported 49 Calumet County businesses, with 50 hours of dedicated time to the county!
This has included assistance from the county’s regular business counselor, Ray York, supported by his colleagues, which included direct one-on-one support for business operational decisions, assistance with securing financing through the CARES Act SBA programs, and just general assistance. The SBDC team has also provided email updates regarding assistance programs, useful tools, and other relevant information during this time, typically sending one helpful email daily to clients they’ve served.
The SBDC notes with satisfaction that customers recently started receiving deposits of their SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan advances and Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans, which will help provide relief to at least some of the Calumet County businesses that applied. The Sheboygan News recently carried
an article about the amazing services York provides to businesses in Sheboygan County.
A reminder that Ray York is also eager to serve entrepreneurs and start-ups that are considering going in to business, and that it isn’t too late for businesses feeling the effects of COVID-19 to contact the SBDC. Use the
online contact form, or reach Ray by phone (920-946-9379) or
email.
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Country Visions Purchases former Brillion Shopko Building
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The building that used to house Shopko Hometown in Brillion has a new owner with plans for the facility. Country Visions Cooperative, the Reedsville farm supply cooperative, has purchased the building on West Ryan Street. “I think this is a big deal for us. It’s a great location, excellent visibility with the neighbors we have around there. I just think Brillion’s a great community to be in,” Steve Zutz, President and CEO of the company, told The Brillion News.
The building has been vacant since spring 2019 when Shopko closed operations. The site includes 5.7 acres of property and a 36,000-square foot steel building. The building will serve multiple purposes for Country Visions Cooperative, including retail. The company hopes to open this fall, but with the unknowns of the world, that is a fluctuating timeline.
We were looking at this last fall, looking at the potential things we could do with it. We kind of backed off a little bit as we got into the early winter months and then brought it back to discussion again and came up with a reasonable price on the building and pulled the trigger on it,” Zutz said.
The terms of the sale will not be disclosed. “Obviously, there will be a lot of work to do to get our retail presence started in there. We won’t utilize the whole building for the retail presence. We’ll have warehousing in the building and potentially some new things that we move into the future that haven’t been determined yet,” Zutz said.
Country Visions’ locations include Reedsville, Mishicot, Sheboygan Falls, and De Pere. In addition to retail, they offer agronomy, propane, refined fuels, and grain divisions, with convenience stores and quick food restaurants.
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Lunda Construction Provides Experience to Heavy Civil Construction Projects
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By Megan Roehl, former intern
Lunda Construction began in 1938 constructing box culverts and bridges in the Black River Falls area. Their business now offers construction, maintenance, and emergency repair of roadway bridges, railroad bridges, and industrial projects such as dams, earth retention systems, river walks, and shoreline protection. They offer full service to the Midwest with offices in Hilbert, Waukesha, the Twin Cities region, and their headquarters in Black River Falls. Through the heavy influence of Hilbert Native Paul Gehl, Lunda began their operations in Hilbert around 1973.
The Hilbert Lunda office employs over 100 employees whose skills range from carpenters, operating engineers, welders, fabricators, mechanics, logisticians, engineers, estimators, and project managers. Within the Hilbert yard, many structural components are fabricated and sent into the field for construction projects throughout the Midwest. Being in business for over 82 years, Lunda is able to deliver high-quality, complex projects by leveraging their significant experience and knowledge of heavy civil infrastructure construction.
This ability to deliver changing projects is demonstrated throughout several projects in northeastern Wisconsin. This includes constructing a majority of the bridges along the local I-41 corridor, including the I-41 crossing over Lake Butte Des Morts, the I-41 corridor in Green Bay, the state highway 441 crossings over Little Lake Butte Des Morts, and the I-41/441 interchange in Fox Crossing. Projects are not limited to just bridges; recently they constructed the Giant Wheel at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay. In 2011, Lunda Construction became a subsidiary of the Tutor Perini Corporation, based out of California. They are the 12
th
largest contractor in the United States, and Lunda has become one of the largest heavy civil contractors in the Midwest with an expansive fleet of construction equipment that includes one of the largest inventories of cranes and barges in the Midwest.
Lunda’s strong success can be credited to their employees' strong work ethic and experience. Lunda employees are committed to continually providing high-quality work, especially in their skilled trades. The company continues to develop strong employees and foster a commitment to Calumet County through their representation on the newly formed Business Education Partnership, employing three youth apprenticeship students, and attending the Calumet County career event along with skilled trade career fairs in the region. They plan on cultivating these strong community relationships and employees by continuing to offer these partnerships. Lunda looks to consistently deliver high quality projects while maintaining stable company growth.
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- The Job Center of Wisconsin keeps an updated list of jobs for job seekers. It is searchable by type of position and community.
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Lessons Learned from WI CEOs
Weekly Webinar Series continues every Friday through May 8
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Fridays: April 24, May 1, May 8
11:00 am
The COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to all types of Wisconsin businesses whose operations are impacted by disruptions to their supply chains, demand for their products, and worker unavailability. As members of the Wisconsin business community, we want to help you address your company challenges by engaging, collaborating, and communicating with you and our thousands of valued businesses across Wisconsin.
Join our CEO Leadership Series webinars to hear from state business and health leaders on the latest medical updates, insights into how companies are adapting their operations to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these best practice examples might apply to your business.
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Get the Right Financing for Your Business
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Join a group of fellow entrepreneurs, small business owners, a former accountant and former financial institution president in this workshop series about getting a loan/investment you need in order to launch your startup or grow your small business.
You'll learn why writing a professional proposal for financing instead of sharing an "idea," leads to the outcome you want. This workshop series is for startup and growth companies in all life stages and within all industries.
You will learn about:
- The lender concept, use of a risk rating & what makes a good rating vs a poor one
- How daily business decisions create the cash flow of business
- Ways to create better short-term and long-term cash flow
- Successful techniques to negotiate with lenders and how to choose the right lender for you and your business
- The value and benefits of projections supported with written assumptions
Three session class starts Monday, May 18, 2020
Fee: $299.00
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Intro to the Amazon.com Selling Platform
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Explore the fundamental information needed to sell products on Amazon and help build your business. Discover the common business models sellers use, learn the differences between the models and explore which one will work best for you.
You will learn about:
- Amazon product sourcing vs. launching a new product
- Amazon MFN and FBA Programs
- Upsides and downsides to selling on Amazon
- Critical concepts to selling on Amazon
- Third party tools to simplify selling on Amazon
- Strategies to move your business off the Amazon.com platform
Monday and Tuesday, May 11-12, 2020
Estimated fee: $89.00
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E-seed Express: Entrepreneurship Training
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Participants develop a business plan through completion of weekly activities and business planning templates. Experts from the small business and entrepreneurial community provide insight into legal, management, marketing, technology, accounting and financing aspects of operating a successful small business.
You will learn about:
- Small business ownership - is it right for you?
- Identifying and analyzing your industry, competition, and market
- Legal issues facing business owners
- Bookkeeping and accounting systems
- Networking with other peers, small business owners, entrepreneurs & business leaders
Starts Monday, June 8, 2020
Fee: $299.00
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Virtual!
Explore Starting a Business
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
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Virtual!
Work for Yourself at 50+
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
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Managing Offsite Employees
How to stay connected with a dispersed workforce
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Explore how to manage a remote workforce successfully. Learn how to communicate effectively, maintain a sense of community, cultivate teamwork and develop relationships built on trust.
Learn About:
- Identifying the resources necessary for a productive dispersed team
- Establishing relationships built on mutual trust
- Leveraging virtual meetings and effective communication
- Keeping team members on track and accountable
- Warning signs of an unproductive employee and creating solutions
- Following a set of best practices for successfully engaging remote employees
Friday, April 24, 2020 | 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Fee: $149.00
This is an online class. To access the class you will need an internet connection with audio and video preferred.
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Calumet County Community Economic Development contact information:
Mary Kohrell,
Community Economic Development Director
Connie Leonhard
, Program Assistant
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