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 19th. The award winners will be announced at the DCEDC Annual Meeting this spring. Nomination forms are available on the DCEDC website: www.doorcountybusiness.com/pdfs/nominationforms.pdf. |
The Natural Step for Business
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 DCEDC is once again partnering with Sustain Door to offer The Natural Step for Business class. The six-week course will provide a forum for local business and community leaders to explore concepts of economic, environmental and social sustainability, and learn ways to implement The Natural Step framework and process of sustainable change to their particular organizations. The Natural Step is a framework for sustainable decision-making that utilizes systems thinking and scientific principles. It has been used successfully for over 25 years in large and small companies and communities in many places around the world. The Natural Step for Business course begins Monday, February 22 and will meet weekly through March 29, 5:30-7:30pm in the DCEDC conference room. The course will be conducted as a book discussion with participants reading assigned chapters of Dancing with the Tiger: Learning Sustainability Step by Natural Step, by Brian Nattrass and Mary Altomare. The discussion will be supplemented by media presentations and expert guest speakers. The registration fee for the study circle is $30 per person ($25 for additional representatives of a single organization) which includes the cost of the book. The course is limited to fifteen participants to facilitate discussion. For more information or to sign up for the class, contact Ann Hippensteel at Ann@WindandSun.com or Janet Frick-Warecki at janet@doorcountybusiness.com, 743-3113, ext. 200 by Friday, February 12. |
Marketing Seminar Series
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DCEDC, the Door County Visitor Bureau and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College are presenting a free marketing seminar series for Door County business owners on Tuesday, February 16 and Tuesday, April 20, 1:30-3:30pm at the Gibraltar Fire Station, 3496 County Highway F between A and 42. On Tuesday, February 16, Dana VanDen Huevel, founder and president of The Marketing Savant Group, will discuss "Using Social Media to Connect With Your Customers Online." On Tuesday, April 20, Steve Tyink, Vice President of Business Innovation for Miron Construction Co. Inc., will present an interactive workshop entitled "Standing Out: The Clues & The Cause," on the revolutionary, breakthrough concept of Customer Attachment. For more details about the programs, visit http://www.doorcountybusiness.com/email/MarketingSeries2010.html. To attend either or both sessions, please RSVP via e-mail to janet@doorcountybusiness.com. |
DKBEP 8th Grade Career Day
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 The annual Career Day for Door & Kewaunee County 8th grade students will be held on Tuesday, March 16th, 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. |
Small Business Counseling
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 DCEDC has over many years developed a strong partnership with the UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center. One of the most important features of the collaboration has been the availability of a business counselor in Door County. The first Thursday of each month, Chuck Brys, Business Counselor for the Small Business Development Center, provides free, one-on-one business counseling sessions for any new or existing business owners in Door County. Individual, confidential sessions with advice on business planning, financing and other issues are held at the Door County Business Development Center. Brys is a CPA and former Chief Financial Officer for several Wisconsin companies, with over 30 years of business experience and knowledge to share with local entrepreneurs. An appointment is required and can be made by contacting Janet Frick- Warecki at 920-743-3113 x 200 or via e-mail at janet@ doorcountybusiness.com. In 2009, Brys conducted 114 counseling sessions with 62 distinct Door County clients. The 114 sessions encompassed almost 235 counseling hours. The mix of clients included 35 that operated existing businesses and 27 that were in some stage of evaluation and/or start up. Of the 27 clients he saw that were evaluating businesses, nine actually started doing business last year. |
Census 2010
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 The US Census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years, mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Accurate Census data is vitally important to our community, as it is used to distribute Congressional seats to states, make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. Watch your mail for your 2010 US Census form in mid- March; complete and mail back by April 1. Federal law protects any personal information you share during the census. For more information about the census, please go to www.census.gov/2010. The Door County League of Women voters has produced an informational video about the 2010 Census featuring local leaders (including our own Bill Chaudoir!) and is available on-line at www.doorbell.net/video/census2010.wmv. |
Revolving Loan Funds
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DCEDC and the City of Sturgeon Bay Revolving Loan Fund program recently worked with two companies to provide business start-up and expansion financing and help create new jobs in the community. Kitty O'Reilly's Irish Pub received a $40,000 loan to help finance the start-up of the new bar and restaurant on the city's West side. Therma-Tron-X is using a $250,000 loan to purchase equipment that will enable TTX to meet future manufacturing demands with local resources. The two companies project creating twenty new jobs in the local economy in the next three years.
DCEDC administers Revolving Loan Fund programs offered by DCEDC, the City of Sturgeon Bay and the County of Door, to facilitate the expansion or start-up of local businesses. Cumulative impact of the three Revolving Loan Fund programs includes almost $38 Million in private investments, and the creation of 473 new jobs and the retention of 63 existing jobs. DCEDC currently maintains a loan fund balance of $860,000 that is available to lend to eligible growing businesses. |
Protecting Your Water
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Door and Kewaunee Counties are faced with significant challenges when trying to protect ground and surface water because of the karst topography underlying our communities and countryside. Protecting drinking water in at-risk karst geology areas was one of the agenda items featured during 2009 Door County Legislative Days.
The League of Women Voters of Door & Kewaunee Counties, the Door County Environmental Council and Sustain Door are presenting a free program onThursday, February 25, 6:30pm at Crossroads at Big Creek (2041 Michigan Street, Sturgeon Bay) to explore the nature of this risk to water quality and a proposed legislative tool-kit that can allow counties to protect their water.
Student volunteers with the Niagara Escarpment Awareness Team (NEAT) will demonstrate how the local karst topography affects the water quality. At 7pm, guest speakers Melissa Malott, Water Program Director for Clean Wisconsin, Inc., and Denny Caneff, Executive Director of the Wisconsin River Alliance, will explain what can be done to create a special management zone in Northeast Wisconsin to address these risks. For more information, please contact Barb Graul at 920-743-6843. |
Board Officers
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DCEDC Board of Directors officers were elected at our January Board meeting. Board officers for 2010 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). | |
