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Award Nominations Sought
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DCEDC is currently soliciting nominations for the annual Door County Industry of the Year Award and the Door County Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The awards celebrate businesses that help to create a positive business climate in Door County. The Industry of the Year award recognizes a construction, service or manufacturing business that has made a substantial impact on the community and enjoyed significant accomplishments during the past year. The Entrepreneur of the Year Award celebrates those individuals who have taken the initiative to start and grow a successful small business in Door County. Any Door County resident or business can nominate a business or entrepreneur; self-nominations are also encouraged. Nominations are due to DCEDC by Friday, February 20th. The award winners will be announced at the DCEDC 20th Anniversary Annual Meeting this spring. Nomination forms are available on the DCEDC website: www.doorcountybusiness.com/pdfs/nominationforms.pdf. |
Door County Legislative Day
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Save the date! The fourth Door County Legislative Day in Madison is tentatively scheduled for April 28-29. The purpose of Legislative Day is to educate state officials about Door County, and to lobby for state action to help address local issues and concerns. For those delegates with limited time, the main events are scheduled for Tuesday, April 28th, when delegates will call on state legislators in the afternoon and enjoy a reception, an authentic Door County fish boil and Door County entertainment with legislators and guests that evening.
A volunteer committee is working to develop the 2009 legislative and state agency agenda topics and issues that will be presented in Madison. To view the agendas and accomplishments of Legislative Day 2003, 2005 and 2007, or to provide input for the 2009 event, visit the Door County Legislative Day website at www.dclegislativeday.com/Issues.htm.
Door County Legislative Day is planned and executed by a volunteer Steering Committee, which is holding its first organizational meeting on Tuesday, February 3. If you are interested in volunteering to help with Legislative Day, please contact Bill Chaudoir at 920-743-3113 x203 or via e-mail: bill@doorcountybusiness.com. |
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DKBEP 8th Grade Career Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The annual Career Day for Door & Kewaunee County 8th grade students will be held on Tuesday, March 17th, 9am to 2:30pm at NWTC-Sturgeon Bay, sponsored by the Door Kewaunee Business & Education Partnership, NWTC and the Sturgeon Bay Noon Rotary Club. The Career Day program gives area students an understanding of local career clusters and the variety of occupational opportunities available; information about the skills that employers are looking for; and recommendations about what courses and extracurricular activities they might participate in during their high school years to prepare them to enter the local workforce. If you would like to volunteer as a presenter for Career Day, please contact Ann Bennett: ann@doorcountybusiness.com or 920-743-3113 x201.
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Northern Door Office Hours
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 DCEDC reminds new or existing business owners that the organization continues to offers monthly office hours in Northern Door County, providing business counseling and entrepreneurial services. The second Wednesday of each month, DCEDC Economic Development Manager Sam Perlman will offer free, one-on-one business counseling sessions, providing advice on business planning, financing, business incentives and other issues. As a member of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network, DCEDC has the ability to tap into the expertise of the statewide support network to help find solutions to business issues and questions. Individual, confidential sessions will be held Wednesday, February 11, beginning at 1pm in the Sister Bay Fire Station small meeting room, 2258 Mill Road. An appointment is requested and can be made by contacting Perlman at 920-743-3113 x 204 or via e-mail at sam@doorcountybusiness.com. Walk-ins are also welcome, based on scheduling.
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DCEDC Annual Work Plan
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The DCEDC Board of Directors and Staff have established our priority strategic objectives for 2009, including:
· securing the funding and approvals to implement the final phases of the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding Cluster Master Plan;
· support for improvements to the County's telecommunications infrastructure;
· partnering with other groups to help grow and strengthen the tourism industry;
· planning and execution of Door County Legislative Days in Spring 2009;
· develop and implement a Workforce Taskforce action plan to address labor market issues;
· grow our database of target groups to continue electronic newsletter marketing program to attract entrepreneurship;
· rejoin the Community Venture Network to identify and investigate new business leads for the County;
· continue the High School Home Construction program and initiate new DKBEP programs;
· secure a developer and begin redevelopment of the WireTech site for workforce housing;
· hold DCEDC board meetings offsite to provide exposure for corporation activities and for Board members to tour area businesses;
· assist in the creation of a Door County angel/equity investment pledge fund; and
· implement sustainable practices and energy saving initiatives at the Business Development Center.
The Corporation will also be engaged in our triennial private sector fundraising campaign. To view the entire DCEDC 2009 Strategic Work Plan, visit www.doorcountybusiness.com/pdfs/workplan2009.pdf. |
Law Affecting Business Seminar
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 On Friday, April 17th, 8am-12pm, Pinkert Law Firm LLP will be presenting its 3rd annual Law Affecting Business (LAB) Seminar free of charge for Door County businesses and employers at Stone Harbor Conference Center, 107 North First Avenue in Sturgeon Bay. The LAB Seminar is designed to provide businesses and employers with information concerning laws that might affect their businesses and to serve the needs of business owners, executives, human resource professionals and supervisors.
Topics to be addressed during the half-day seminar include: Unemployment; Collection Matters; Hiring and Firing Issues; and Buying and Selling Commercial and Industrial Real Estate. There are two ways to register for the free seminar: e-mail your name, title, company, address and phone number to lpeterson@pinkertlawfirm.com or call Pinkert Law Firm and speak to Laura Peterson at (920) 743-6505.
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Sustainable Business Practices and Strategies
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 Some businesses have enthusiastically embraced the idea of sustainability, while others remain skeptical. What is the business case for sustainability? Sustain Door is hosting a webinar presentation by Bob Willard on Tuesday, February 17, 11:30am-12:30pm, for a look at how businesses can capture the opportunities associated with sustainability. Willard is an international sustainable business expert and best-selling author of The Next Sustainability Wave and The Sustainability Advantage. The program will quantify the benefits of business sustainability strategies and communicate these advantages. Specific examples will be used throughout the presentation. The program will be held in the DCEDC conference room. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Rob Burke, Community Development Educator with Door County UW-Extension (920) 746-2260 or robert.burke@ces.uwex.edu.
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| Board Moves
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The New Year brings new members to the DCEDC Board of Directors. We are pleased to welcome Andrew Starr (ERA/Starr Realty & Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center) and Vicki Wilson (Door County Coffee and Tea & Door County Visitor Bureau) as voting members of the Board. Additionally, new Board officers were elected at the January Board meeting. Board officers for 2009 are: Chair - Roger Kinnard (Therma-Tron-X & DC Manufacturers Association); Vice Chair - Robert Starr (ERA/Starr Realty & DC Board of REALTORS); Treasurer - Greg Stephan (Associated Bank); and Secretary - Bill Chaudoir (DCEDC).
 We are especially grateful to our retiring board members for their many years of service to DCEDC and their strong support of our continuing efforts to improve the economic vitality of the County and its residents: John Severson (Anchor Bank) and Cindy Weber (Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center & Door County YMCA).
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