Providing Business Leadership in The Greater Menomonie Area Since 1938

December 2009

Volume 73, Issue 5

Chamber Statistics

Referrals Given 805

Walk-ins Served

Chamber office 413

Gift Certificate $19,020

Phone Inquiries

574

Chamber calls 258

Tourism calls 205

Misc. calls 111

Relocation Packets

29

Visitor packets 28

Website Hits 53,743

CV Rally 2004 1 Annual Banquet/Awards Night 1 Tourism Coordinator Update 1 Thank You Renewing Members 2 Welcome New Members 2 Chamber Ambassador Update 2 Ambassador News 2 Business After Hours 2 Board of Directors 3 Business to Business 3 Business Seminar 3 Annual Banquet Sponsors 4

Inside this Issue:

342 E. Main St. Menomonie, WI 54751 Phone: 715-235-9087 Fax: 715-235-2824 www.menomoniechamber.org

Golf Outing 1 Excellence in Education 1,9 Renewing Members 3 GMAYP 3M Regatta Boat Race Beverage Host 6 Downtown Redevelopment Business to Business Lunch.net 9 Leadership Luncheon 11 Bike Race 6,11,12 Destination Guides 6 Calendar 14 FreedomFest 15 Meet Derek 16 Sustainability Ribbon Cuttings

Inside This Issue

Chamber Statistics Referrals Given 27 Walk-ins S erved Chamber 156 Tourism 186 Total Walk-ins 342 Gift Certi ficate Sales $28,931 Phone Inquiries Chamber Calls 219 Tourism Calls 135 Misc. Calls 66 Total Phone Inquiries 420 Relocation Packets 3 Visitor Packets 9 Menomonie Bags 50

The Greater Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce News May 2011

Don’t miss your chance to get signed up for the Golf Outing…time is running out! Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at Whitetail Golf Course Contact Lisa at ceo@menomoniechamber.org or call 235-9087. Major Sponsor:   

Excellence in Education Banquet Honors Top Students! The 48th Annual Excellence in Education Banquet was held at Off Broadway Banquet Center on April 20, 2011. The event honored 72 students and six educators in Dunn County. The 6th Annual Greater Menomo-nie Area Chamber of Commerce Scholarship was also awarded to a high school senior. This year the recipi-ent was Elizabeth Styczinski from Colfax High School. Congratulations to all of the honored guests and their families. This event would not have been possible without the generous donations from our sponsors. Thank you to the following sponsors for your support of this very important event: Title Sponsor: University of Wisconsin-Stout Platinum Sponsors: Red Cedar Medical Center– Mayo Health System, RCU (Royal Credit Union), Wal-mart Distribution Center, WESTconsin Credit Union, Stout Ale House Gold Sponsors : 3M Company, Big Dot of Happiness, Chippewa Valley Technical College, Dairy State Bank, Phillips Plastics Corporation Silver Sponsors: Andersen Corporation, ConAgra Foods, Inc. Bronze Sponsors: Cardinal Glass, Dunn Energy Cooperative, KL Engineering, Inc., Northtown Ford, Peoples State Bank Supporting Sponsors: Bank Mutual, Bookends on Main, Cedar Country Co-op, Insty-Prints, Keyes Chevytown, Leipnitz Dental, Medicine Shoppe, Midwest Dental, Taco Johns, and Wisconsin Industrial Sand Company.

Thanks to Hybben Photography for providing the photos to the Chamber.

Scholarship Recipient: Elizabeth Styczinski from Colfax high School pictured above.

Chippewa Valley Technical Col-lege, pictured from left to right: Outstanding student, Danielle Buss, Campus Manager, Roxann Vander-wyst, and Educator of the Year, Lisa Harris Gore.

Royal Credit Union, pictured left to right in photo above: Chad Plath, Cheryl Hintzman, Holly Coombs, Linda Thomp-son, and Jeff Jaeger.

Thank You… to our Renewing Members!

Greater Menomonie Area Young Professionals On Tuesday, April 12th, the Greater Menomonie Area Young Professionals (GMAYP) did a little community service with their “Painting in the Park” event. Over 20 YP members showed up to

lend a helping hand. This was a family-friendly event where YP members brought their children ("future" YP members) to help paint. This event helped the Menomonie Parks Department by painting 9 picnic tables at the Wakanda Park Pavilion. The group grilled out and had lots of fun!

Young Professionals Next Event: Main Street Menomonie Photo Scavenger Hunt Date: Thursday, May 5th Time: 5:30-7:30PM Registration: 5:15PM Start: Raw Deal GMAYP will be hosting a photo scavenger hunt. Teams, made up of somewhat randomly part-nered people, will search Downtown Menomonie on foot to find items on the scavenger hunt list. Teams will earn points by taking pictures of what is found. The team who earns the most points WINS! This is a rain or shine event. In the case of inclement weather, we will have a happy hour start-ing at the Raw Deal. Things to remember: Wear comfortable shoes Bring a digital camera or camera phone (each team will need one) Members: Free Non-members: $10 (Will be paired up with the GMAYP member they come with) To register email richartzg@uwstout.edu.

Accelerated Orthodontics

Alliance Church of Menomonie

AmericInn Menomonie

Applebee's

Arts Coming Together, Inc.

Auth Consulting & Associates, Inc.

Confidential Records, Inc.

Culver's Restaurant

Cut Rite Meat Shoppe

Dan Wood, DDS

DBD International

Dunn County 4-H Program

Globe University

Goodwill Industries

Govin's Meats & Berries

Hand In Hand A Place For All Children

Hidden Valley Industries, Inc.

Holiday Station SSG Corporation

Jeff's Pizza Shop

Johnson Motors of Menomonie, Inc.

Kado Gallery

Living Art-N-Life

Maurices Corporation

Menomonie Market Food Co-op

Peoples State Bank-Boyceville

Phillips Plastics Corporation

Principal Financial Group

Robert Giede Design

Schuler Insurance Agency

Skoog's Parkside

Stout Technology Park Development Corp.

T & K Fireworks LLC

Ted's Pizza, Inc.

The Bridge To Hope

Veolia Environmental Services

Vintage Sign Shop

3M Menomonie Re-gatta Boat Race - USTS Title Series Coming to Menomo-nie Memorial Week-end, May 27th-29th

The Greater Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor’s Center welcomes for the first year

in Menomonie, the US Title Series to the 3M Menomonie Regatta on Memorial Day weekend 2011. This will be a new event with the US Title Series Boat racing as the center stage attraction. Wakanda Lower Park will be packed with events and activities including local food and drink ven-dors.

On Friday, May 27th from 6-8 p.m., there will be a ‘show and tell’ session in the pit area at Wa-kanda Park where all USTS racing boats and equipment will be on display. This session will include photo opportunities with drivers, autograph signing, and distribution of driver cards or team post-ers. This will be a fun event for drivers, teams, and spectators to talk and interact the evening before the racing action begins! 3M will be donating proceeds from the event to the Tainter/Menomin Lake Improvement Association to aid in improving our area lakes.

Beverage Hosts: Thank you May’s sponsor:

The Oaks Senior Living Thank you April’s sponsor:

Business to Business—News Briefs

WESTconsin Credit Union was recently honored by the Credit Union National Asso-ciation (CUNA) for outstanding marketing achievements in the credit union industry. WESTconsin received two Diamond and two Merit Awards, presented by CUNA’s Mar-keting and Business Development Council, a national network comprised of nearly 1,000 credit union marketing and business develop-ment professionals. Awards are given in each of 33 categories ranging from advertising to community events and beyond. Cedarbrook Church was recently awarded the 2010 Award of Excellence for their new building in north Menomonie. The award was presented to their builder, Mark Lewis (Cedar Falls Building Systems) by the Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association (MBCEA). The award received at the MBCEA annual meeting in Orlando, Florida in February. The combination of sustainable elements and creative use of materials made the building a truly unique structure. The 2nd annual Builders Garage & Surplus Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 21 from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. The event will be held rain or shine at Builders Crossing at the intersection of Jeffers Road and the North Crossing in Eau Claire. Proceeds from this year's event go to fund CVHBA's community service pro-jects. For more information contact the Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association at 715.835.2526. Due to lack of funding, Dunn County Solid Waste will not be holding a spring Hazard-ous Waste Collection in 2011. However, there will be one in September.. Senior Entertainment consultant Tim Stevens was recently honored by fair associations in two states for his service in the fair and festi-val industry. Leo Overland Memorial Show-man of the Year Award 2010 — presented to G. L. Berg Entertainment for Out-standing Service to the County Fairs of Iowa by the Association of Iowa Fairs. The Wis-consin Association of Fairs Convention awarded Tim a “Friend of the Fair Award”, presented to Tim Stevens for His Continued Dedication to the Wisconsin Association of Fairs 2010.

Cogitare Books, which will offer gently, used books and educational instructional materials will have its Grand Opening on Saturday, May 7, 2011 from 10:00AM to 5:00PM. Cogitare is located at 717 3rd Street East in Historic Downtown Meno-monie. Refreshments will be served. Dust off your dancing shoes as you prepare to dance the night away to music provided by the Menomonie High School Jazz Ensem-ble at the Menomonie Band Boosters’ Spring Swing to be held Saturday, May 14th at Menomonie High School. Dinner starts at 6 p.m., dance lessons start at 7 p.m., and the swing-dancing fun begins at 8 p.m. Bring along some extra money to bid on silent auction items or purchase raffle tickets for your chance to win wonderful items. This year’s theme will be ‘The Spirit of New Orleans’, so prepare to enjoy gumbo, po’boys, salad and Louisiana cole-slaw! Ticket prices for students and seniors are $5 for the dance only or $12 for dinner and the dance. Tickets for adults cost $8 (dance only) or $15 for both the dinner and the dance. Tickets are available now at Lam-mer’s Food Fest Courtesy Counter, and Menomonie High School. For more infor-mation, contact Jake Karkula (MHS Band Director) at 715-232-2609 extension 40156 or visit the Menomonie Band Boosters web-site at www.menomoniebandboosters.com. Over the last year, families in the Menomo-nie area have had their pick of free or low-cost health-promoting activities, all thanks to Red Cedar Medical Center’s Well-ness ROCKS program. These events can continue thanks in part to a generous Otto Bremer Foundation grant received by the program. Wellness ROCKS – Reaching Our Communities Kids is RCMC’s community wellness campaign, aimed to motivate chil-dren and families to live healthier and more active lives. Since the program started in December 2009, over 6,200 individuals have participated in over 35 events in Colfax, Elmwood, Glenwood City, Knapp and Menomonie.

Downtown Redevelopment Proposal Now Online A proposal for revitalizing downtown Menomonie is available on a website. The group’s goal is to define a comprehensive and market-driven strategy to revitalize downtown Menomonie. The proposal was first shared April 14 during public meetings at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts. At that time, the Re-development Steering Group and its design consultants presented the plan and took questions from the nearly 100 community members attending the meetings. The public is invited to view the proposal at http://menomonie2020.uwstout.edu. Feed-back can be provided using the online com-ment form. The Redevelopment Steering Group spon-soring the redevelopment initiative is a collaborative effort of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, City of Menomonie, Dunn County, Dunn County Economic Development Corp., Greater Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street of Menomonie and WESTconsin Credit Union. Do you have news to share about your business? Contact Toni at the Chamber office

by the 15th of each month to be included in the following issue of The Chamber News. E-mail info@menomoniechamber.org or fax to 715-235-2824.

GMACC Leadership Luncheon Series

Thursday, May 5th, 2011 Featuring…”“Increasing Employee

Commitment” Presented by….Kari Dahl

Did you know that often times when you engage your employees in a survey to better the work place, it actually could have the opposite impact? In this session, you will find out why. You will also be introduced to an assessment, and learn how to process the data properly with your employees. Implementing this knowledge can give your organization great results in increasing employee commitment. The program is scheduled from 11:30AM to 1:00 PM. Lunch is provided with the cost of the series, members $15 or non mem-bers $20. Keep in mind that these classes fill up fast and reserva-tions are required. You will want to respond to reserve your spot quickly. You can simply fax 715-235-2824 or email your request with the number attending to info@menomoniehamber.org and we will register and invoice you, or you can register online. Leadership Luncheon is Sponsored this month by:

Lunch.net An interactive networking event served over lunch to foster new business partnerships. When: Thursday, May 19, 2011 Time: 11:30AM - 1:00PM Where: Keyes Chevytown, 303 Oak Avenue Who: Anyone Who Wants to Make New Business Contacts, Community Contacts/Relationships/Partnerships Cost: Members $15-Bring your Business Cards Non-Members $20-Bring your Business Cards Looking for a great way to fit networking into your hectic schedule?

Then join us for the Greater Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2nd year of Lunch.net programming. You will have the opportunity to make several new business contacts all while enjoying lunch. To register call 715.235-9087 or email info@menomoniechamber.org Sponsored this month by:

Volunteers Wanted

Mark the date for Saturday, June 18th the Nature Valley Grand Prix will roll through Menomonie. We are seeking over 200 volunteers for this event. Please log on to www.naturevalleybicyclefestival.com click on the volunteer link

at the top of the page, click on Menomonie. Fill in your name and infor-mation and scroll down to check off where and what time you would like to volunteer. “What a cool site” While you are on the site check out the Menomonie section on the Grand Prix Race.

2011 Menomonie Destination Guides

The Greater Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce & Visi-tors Center is excited to offer the 2011 Destination Guide. It is printed and we are working hard at distributing the guides. The guide is a great reference for area events, dining, lodging, camping, recreation, history and more. We will be distributing approximately 39,000 Destina-tion Guides to: Area businesses, Local Chambers and Convention Bureaus, visitor information centers, Gateway Visitor Infor-mation Centers throughout the state, and put in all area relocation and visitor packets. If you are interested in displaying the brochures at your business or want to be an advertiser in next year’s guide please contact Joan Friedenfels at 715-235-9087.

48th Excellence In Education Banquet Continued

Menomonie High School, pictured above from left to right seated: Lisa Cole, Abbie Jensen, Courtney Sawle, Sarah Thielman, Fallon Schwoch, Benjamin Hulett, Jennifer Wolf, Christina Mollan, Pictured in the middle row are Educator of the Year, Corey Davis, Eric Besse, Alexis Tarter, Erin Simpson, Jennifer Rogers, Rachel Stark, Elizabeth Holland, Eli Sankey, and Principal David Munoz. Pictured in the back row are Xavier Schwartz, Steven Eiden, Garrett Anderson, Geoffrey McConohy, and Brent Stout. (Not pictured: Nick Didier, Samuel Korpela, Sydney Reinhardt, Brooke Sample, Joshua Wemmer, and John Werner).

University of Wisconsin-Stout, pictured below from left to right seated: Heather Wilm, Lisa Westaby, Jennifer Kreitzer, Nicky Gehrman, and Educator of the Year, Bethany Jurs, Tiffany Hahn, Jami Kupczak, and Associate Vice Chan-cellor, Jacalyn Weissenburger. Pictured in the second row are Joshua Gauthier, Andrew Lange, Briana Wyzlic, Stephanie Franklin, Benjamin Ferron, Jordan Erick-son, and Thomas Burmeister. Pictured in the back row are Gary Gilles and Braden Witbeck. (Not pictured: Sonya Arendt, Thomas Colling, Vanessa Kuet-tel, James Sojka, Keith Verperman, Daniel Rockwood, Laura Olsen, John Papenheim, and Ashley Matos).

Elk Mound High School, pictured in photo from left to right seated: Courtney Bodart, Skylar Haubert, Ariel Fuller, Pictured in the back row are Kimberly Schuch, Bailey Kramer, Educator of the Year, Gerry Murphy, Principal Paul Weber, Jenna Spagnoletti, and Brett Bach-man. (Not pictured: Logan Yakesh, Larissa Haberberg).

Boyceville High School, pictured from left to right: Desiree O’Connell, Educator of the Year, Mike Kruszynski, Travis Bird, Brittany Hoffman, Sara Simonson, Principal Steve Glocke, and Madilyn Wold.

Colfax High School, pictured above left to right: Principal John Dachel, Educator of the Year Amy Bowe, Elizabeth Styczinski, Kortney Moonen, Erinn Spinger, Sierra Hinwood, Sarah McMahon, Andrew Almquist.

Board of Directors

Officers President

Steve Lindberg Red Cedar Medical Center-Mayo

Health System President-Elect Stacy H. Wigfield

REACH, Inc. Secretary/Treasurer

Jeffery Jaeger RCU

Past President Merry Lienau

Workforce Resource, Inc. Members at Large

Dave Williams UW-Stout

Gary Barnett Menomonie Recreation

Department

Directors

George Brewe WESTconsin Credit Union

Jim Boecker 3M Company Steve Cook

Northtown Ford Karen Hofland

Century 21 Premier Group Jon Menz

Workforce Resource, Inc. Grady Richartz

University of Wisconsin-Stout Jacob Spies

Dairy State Bank Tom Johnson WIPFLI, LLP

Roxann Vanderwyst Chippewa Valley Technical College

Brad Waznik WMG Waznik-Moseler Group, LLC

Chamber Staff

Lisa Montgomery Chief Executive Officer

Brent Bauer • Accountant

Toni Oas • Administrative Assistant Joan Friedenfels • Tourism Coordinator Jolene Sterry • Weekend Staff Sarah Lannon• Weekend Staff Nancy Ohvall • Special Projects

Questions or Comments? Contact Us!

PH: 715-235-9087 FAX: 715-235-2824

342 East Main Street Menomonie, WI 54751

Meet Derek Ramthun

Derek is a senior in the Hospitality & Tourism Program at the University of Wisconsin Stout. Derek has been assisting us with our tourism initia-tives, helping with our FreedomFest celebration planning and other tour-ism projects. Each week Derek sends to our tourism partners a weekly tourism newsletter which assists visitors on what to do in Menomonie while they are visiting. We are so fortunate to have hospitality students

from UW-Stout work with us on our tourism efforts within the community. Thank you Derek and good luck after graduation!

Sustainability

The West Wisconsin Sustainability fair will be on Saturday, July 16th 2011 at the fairgrounds. Has your business been awarded with a green or sustainability recognition? We are looking for businesses who have sustainable practices in place and have been recognized for it. Last year the Chamber took an active roll on going green and was awarded with the Travel Green certificate. Please contact Joan Friedenfels, Tourism Coordinator for more information on how we can promote your green efforts! Sustainable Dunn would like to have your business be part of the upcoming sustainability fair.

Ribbon Cutting Friday, April 8th, 2011 a Ribbon Cutting was held at REMAX. REMAX Affiliates has a new location at 1321 Stout Road. They are very happy with their new office in the Jeatran business complex. Great exposure, great neighbors and just across the street from Culvers! REMAX is the nation’s leader in real estate transactions and has offices in 84 countries. The focus of REMAX is having the best sales force, not necessarily the biggest, and having experienced professionals with a deep belief in themselves, a higher level of training, an unmatched work ethic, and a serious approach to their careers.