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| DCEDC Holiday Social |
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Wednesday, December 19
4-6pm
185 East Walnut Street
Sturgeon Bay, WI
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| Door County I&E Club |
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Tuesday, January 8
6-8pm
NWTC-Sturgeon Bay
"Franchises as a Strategy for Business Start-up or Expansion" |
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The early onset of snowy winter weather this year has put all of us in a festive mood. During the month of December, the DCEDC staff would like to wish each of you a joyous holiday season, filled with family, fun, food and frivolity.
We hope you all have a safe, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year! |
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2007 Recap/2008 Forecast
2007 was a busy and exciting year for Door County and DCEDC. Palmer Johnson Yachts completed Phases One and Two of the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding Cluster Master Plan by adding 16,000 sq ft to their current building and the construction of a 12,500 sq ft paint facility. Twelve businesses, the City of Sturgeon Bay, Sturgeon Bay Utilities and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. contributed labor, materials and $13,000 to make landscape improvements along Highway 42/57 where it borders the Sturgeon Bay Industrial Park. DCEDC coordinated the fundraising, planning and execution for Door County Legislative Days; DCEDC staff provided leadership for the 85 delegates who made the trip to Madison for two days of meetings with legislators and state agency secretaries and representatives to present agenda items important to the Door County community. Twenty families closed on a home purchase utilizing the Door County Housing Assistance Program, which provided down payment loans to the income-eligible households. The Door/Kewaunee Business & Education Partnership received a $31,000 Community-Based Economic Development grant from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to fund a Regional Training and Development Program designed to provide career awareness for area youth to help fill the future employment needs of businesses in the region, which included the inaugural high school home construction project. In August, Secretary Gassman of the Department of Workforce Development presented two Workforce Advancement Training Grants amounting to $58,000 to Palmer Johnson Yachts and Bay Shipbuilding. Charter Communications completed a $33,000 upgrade to their facilities to include the Sturgeon Bay Industrial Park for deployment of their "triple-play" data/voice/video services. A summary of our 2007 Major Accomplishments is available on the DCEDC website .
The DCEDC Board of Directors recently established our priority strategic objectives for 2008, including support for the improvement of the County's telecommunications infrastructure, with fiber optics or wireless technologies; securing the funding and approvals to implement the final phases of the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding Cluster Master Plan; develop and implement the Workforce Taskforce action plan to address labor market issues; join the Community Venture Network as a potential source of new business attraction; assist the initiative to extend the runway at Cherryland Airport to 5000 feet; work with the County Planning Department on development of the Housing and Economic Development components of the County's Smart Growth Plan. As always, the DCEDC staff will continue to be available to provide on-going guidance and assistance to the entrepreneurs and business owners of Door County. |
DCEDC Takes Entrepreneurs to the NxLevel™ of Business Planning
DCEDC, in association with the UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center, is proud to once again sponsor the NxLevel™ Entrepreneurial Training course in Door County. Beginning January 28 at NWTC- Sturgeon Bay, this ten-week course takes students through a step-by-step approach to writing a professional business plan. The course is designed for those who are considering starting their own business, existing small businesses struggling to get a handle on all the details or successful businesses looking to grow.
The cost for the NxLevel™ Entrepreneurial Training course is only $250, including books. The course usually costs $1000, however, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network are offering an Entrepreneurial Training Grant to qualified applicants that covers 75% of the tuition. Registration forms and additional information are available from DCEDC.
As a preview to the course, DCEDC and the Sturgeon Bay Noon Rotary Club will host a free introduction to business-planning seminar, "Starting A Business in Door County," on Monday, January 14, 6-8pm at NWTC - Sturgeon Bay. This one-evening course will talk about some of the basics that go into a start-up business. The session will also allow interested students to sign up for the NxLevel™ Entrepreneurial Training course and apply for the Entrepreneurial Training Grant. |
Telecommunications Improvements
On December 18, the Door County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the hiring of Access Engineering LLC to write and release a request for proposals from service providers for a countywide fiber optics telecommunications network. Access would request details from companies interested in deploying a state-of-the-art fiber to the premises network that would dramatically improve the speed of information and data for County businesses and residents. The proposed network would help to advance the ability of existing businesses to grow and also provide an appealing lure for potential new business opportunities. Responses to the RFP are expected to be submitted to the County early in 2008. |
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Regional Business Plan Contest
Area entrepreneurs are encouraged to enter the Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Competition for a chance to win a portion of the $25,000 in total cash prizes being awarded. The goal of the Northeast Wisconsin business Plan Competition is to encourage the preparation of business plans for start-up businesses, making significant changes to existing businesses or launching new products in northeast Wisconsin
The competition is in its third year. Past winners have represented businesses from throughout the northeast Wisconsin region and have included innovative ideas such as a tea lounge, a luggage delivery service, a home security watch service, an organic women's clothing company and WaterScape Designs LLC from Forestville. A total of $25,000 in prizes will be awarded with a top prize of $10,000. Second place will receive $6,000; third will receive $4,000; fourth will receive $3,000; and fifth will receive $2,000. The prize money must be used to put the business plan into action within one year of its receipt.
Entry deadline is January 11, 2008, at 5 p.m. Entry forms and specific entry information is available at www.thenewnorth.com. |
Micro Loan Program
DCEDC and the City of Sturgeon Bay have set aside $125,000 in the City's Revolving Loan Fund to create a Micro Loan Program to assist businesses adversely affected by recent downtown street reconstruction. The program will provide working capital and equipment loans of up to $20,000 per business. Eligible businesses must be physically located in the downtown Third Avenue reconstruction area. The interest rate, payment plan and the loan term will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the loan committee at the time of application review. The minimum annual interest rate is 3%.
This program will cease accepting applications when the budgeted funds are committed or the program sunsets on December 31, 2008, whichever occurs first. Interested businesses should contact Bill Chaudoir or Sam Perlman |
Perlman Wins Innovation Award
Sam Perlman, Economic Development Manager for DCEDC, was recognized as a 2007 "Wisconsin Innovation Champion" by the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The award was announced at the UW-W Ideas to Profits conference in September.
"Sam is a valuable member of our economic development team, and this award is richly deserved," said DCEDC Executive Director Bill Chaudoir. "His leadership of several of our initiatives to support and grow new companies in Door County benefits our entire business community." | |
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