Recycle phone book, win a prize

Now that the new AT&T Real Yellow Pages has landed on your doorstep, you may be wondering what to do with the old one.

AT&T is teaming up with Allegiant Air, the Appleton YMCA, The Building for Kids, the Outagamie County Regional Airport and Waste Management to launch the ReDirectory Program.

Through the ReDirectory Program, Fox Cities families can bring in outdated phone books from now through Sept. 30 to the Appleton YMCA or The Building for Kids and not only help the organizations earn $500 each, but also get a chance to win four Allegiant Air round-trip tickets to Orlando.  Individuals can
earn one chance to win the tickets for every five outdated phone books brought in for recycling.  Two sets of four tickets will be awarded, and the winners will be announced at an event at the Outagamie County Airport in October.

Outdated AT&T Real Yellow Pages phone books can be dropped off at:

· Appleton YMCA, 218 E. Lawrence St., Appleton

· The Building for Kids, 100 W. College Ave., Appleton

Waste Management is donating the collection and recycling services for the program.

Business events fill up calendar

School is back in session and so are business events. Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in the weeks ahead:

Preventing workplace fraud is the subject of a free seminar sponsored by Schenck SC. The seminar will be held at various sites in the New North. Sept. 8 -- Holiday Inn City Centre in Green Bay; Sept. 9 at Pine Hills Country Club in Sheboygan;Sept. 16 at La Sure’s Hall in Oshkosh; Sept. 21 at Butte des Morts Country Club in Appleton; and Sept. 23 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. The workshops run from 8 to 9:30 a.m. To register, visit www.schencksc.com/events.

Link Greater Green Bay, a networking group for more than 1,700 Northeast Wisconsin LinkedIn users, will hold an in-person networking event from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at Townline, 2544 Lineville Road, Green Bay. Wayne Breibarth from Milwaukee and author of "Top 10 Gotta Do's of LinkedIn for Business Development Professionals” will be speaking at the event. To sign up or learn more, please click here.

The Midwest Business Brokers & Intermediaries Wisconsin Chapter will meet for a conference on Sept. 21 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The keynote speaker is Russ Ball, vice president of football administration and player finance for the Green Bay Packers.  The conference will also feature two panel discussions, a deal mart and networking. For more information, go to www.mbbi.org and click on upcoming events.

Converting Influence is hosting a special half-day event on Sept. 23 at Fox Valley Technical College. The event, which starts at 9 a.m., will focus on networking, displays and insider comments on converting growth. For more information or to register, please click here.

Schenck SC is hosting a seminar at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 1 at Butte des Morts Country Club called “The Anatomy of a Deal” that will focus on what issues sellers and buyers need to focus on when negotiating a deal. Shareholder LeRoy Matuszak will lead a panel discussion that includes representatives from Martell Construction, Inc. and Generation Growth Capital Inc. For more information, or to register, visit www.schencksc.com/events.

The Fox Cities Economic Development Partnership is hosting a workshop from on 7:30 to 11 a.m. on Oct. 5 on how to lower environmental and energy-related regulatory costs. The event will be held at the Bordini Center on the Fox Valley Technical College campus. To learn more or to register, click here.

The Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of Public Relations Society of America will hold a special event at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Brett Favre Steakhouse in Green Bay featuring PR celebrity Peter Shankman. The event is open to all communication professionals and will feature a 90-minute speech by Shankman on how companies, agencies and others can use social media to generate revenue. Please click here for more information.

Get Ready to Celebrate Entrepreneurship

It’s hard to believe the Venture Center is nearly five years old. I remember when it first opened on the campus of Fox Valley Technical College back in 2005. The Valley’s economy – and the rest of the nation’s – was in a very different place than it is today.

In the past five years as we have seen larger companies shred thousands of jobs across the New North, the Venture Center has helped entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground, creating new jobs at a time when they’re so desperately needed.

The Venture Center will celebrate its fifth anniversary by celebrating its entrepreneurs on Sept. 28 in the FVTC commons from 5 to 8 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to network, hear some of the center’s amazing success stories and listen to nationally renowned Barry Moltz, the author of “Bam!” and “Bounce!” The evening will also include hors d'oeuvres and refreshments provided by FVTC Food Services. The cost to attend is $35 in advance or $40 at the door.

To register or learn more about this celebration of entrepreneurship, click here.

-- By MaryBeth Matzek

Extensive study begins of area counties

The largest and broadest study of socio-economic conditions in Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago counties is starting this month as work begins on the LIFE (Leading Indicators For Excellence) Study.

The 18-month project, which kicks off today, will inspect some 10 key indicators for economic, physical and emotional wellbeing in the three counties. Funding partners will focus on issue areas unique to each of the three communities, but key baseline data will be shared between the regions, allowing an unprecedented look at the area as a whole.

The project is being managed by the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. St. Norbert College Survey Center is administering data collection.

It will be interesting to see how the study unfolds and the insights it will provide on the region.

-- By MaryBeth Matzek

Chamber's annual event gets new look, location

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce’s annual business expo is getting a new name and a new location. This year, the annual event is rechristened Facebooth Fox Cities and will be held at the Players’ Choice on Highway JJ in Appleton on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The new name recognizes the way social media is changing business, but also draws attention to the simple fact that most business still gets done during face-to-face conversations. For more information, including how to reserve a booth, click here.

Other upcoming business events of interest include:

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce is hosting a small business seminar on creating leverage through competitive advantage beginning at 7:15 a.m. on Sept. 9 at FVTC’s Bordini Center. Greg Linnemanstons of Weidert Group is the speaker. For more information or to register, please visit www.foxcitieschamber.com.

Women of Management of Manitowoc County is holding a speed networking event at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 14 at the Holiday Inn in Manitowoc. To register, contact Tracy Gallagher at kurtgallagher@sbcglobal.net

The Northeast Chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) will meet Wednesday, Sept. 15 at the Holiday Inn Select in Grand Chute. Educational sessions begin at 4:15 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. Click here for registration.

Skyline Technologies is hosting a free executive breakfast for chief information officers at 7 a.m. on Sept. 17 at the Green Bay Country Club. “Meeting Your CEOs Expectations: What IT Must Do to Drive Business Performance”  event includes a review of findings from a 2010 C-level study conducted by Skyline, in partnership with the St. Norbert College Survey Center, on the value that local CEOs place on IT.  Following the study review, attendees will participate in a moderated discussion with an all-star panel of local CEOs. For more information or to register, click here.

Converting Influence is holding a half-day of networking, displays and inner comments on growth in the converting industry on Sept. 23 at FVTC. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. For more information, please visit Converting Influence.

Discover thought leadership strategies for modern, relevant marketing at the Entrepreneurial Innovation Series, “Thought Leadership Marketing,” set for 7:30 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Business Assistance Center on the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College campus. This portion of the ongoing series – coordinated by Advance, the economic development of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce – will highlight critical thought leadership strategies for modern marketing from traditional media to new avenues, including blogs, virtual events, podcasts and social networking. To reserve your spot, contact call 920-496-9010 or email at ckennedy@tittletown.org or dthompson@titletown.org.

The 2010 SCORE Conference will be held on Sept. 30 at DJ Bordini Center at Fox Valley Technical College. Speakers for the event include John Lombardi, the grandson of Vince Lombardi; Cheryl Perkins and Jeff Lindsay of Innovation Edge; and John Ingrisano. To register or for more information, please click here.

Building better workplace relationships is the focus of an Oct. 12 seminar at the Lambeau Field Atrium. Participants will learn about recognizing the problem behind the problem; learning a better way to provide feedback to employees; learning to calm yourself down; and more. The cost is $130 and includes lunch. For more information or to register, please click here.

For more information about what’s happening across the New North, click here.

 

Businesses' generosity on display with a flourish

This past week has been flush with examples why Northeast Wisconsin is such a great place to live.

First, last Wednesday golfers and businesses throughout the area turned out to help the U.S. Oil Open golf tournament raise more than $2.2 million in a single day. Companies – those big and small – donated to the event, which helps those in need from Oshkosh to Green Bay.

And this weekend, businesses are showing their support for a Neenah family selected by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to receive a new home. Every little bit helps. Lexington Home of Green Bay is building the home (in just one week don’t forget!) while GingeRootz in Appleton is one of several restaurants who stepped forward to provide food to the more than 3,000 volunteers from throughout the region (many are from the sponsoring companies, including Affinity Health System, Keller Inc., Faith Technologies and too many more to name).

The U.S. Oil event and Extreme Makeover show are just two examples of the generosity of the businesses in the New North. I think it’s something you won’t find in every community.

I’m heading out to the construction site today and am eager to talk to the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition volunteers and businesses about why they got involved. As they say on TV, stay tuned to see what happens.

--By MaryBeth Matzek

Innovators focus on benefits, customer experience

When it comes to innovation, companies are focusing on providing enhanced benefits and customer experience. That’s the findings of the new Innovation Industry Pulse Poll, which was released this week by Neenah-based Innovationedge.

The survey, which is done quarterly, targets executive and management-level professionals from global organizations. The survey captured the current pulse across industries on innovation leadership, measurement and strategy.

Sixty-five percent of company leaders say their innovation strategy is focused on enhanced benefits while 56 percent take a hard look at customer experience to differentiate themselves from competitors. A total of 86 percent of companies believe their company communicates a strong belief in the value of innovation to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Only 12 percent surveyed stated that their strategy is focused on differentiating their products by cost alone.

In the survey, 88 percent of respondents with centralized innovation structures said their long-term innovation efforts were focused on “changing the game,” as opposed to only 43 percent of respondents who work with decentralized systems. About one-third of respondents had a combination of centralized and decentralized approaches. However, in response to a combined approach, one respondent indicated that, “strategic direction and development is mostly centralized.”

“Companies are striving to better understand how to deliver top-line growth and deliver innovation in today’s tough business climate. The key lies in understanding that true demand for innovation originates with the end user, their expectations and habits which are evolving in response to the current economic climate,” says Cheryl Perkins, president and founder of Innovationedge. “Companies must deliver improved or equivalent functionality and performance and generally at a competitive price to satisfy the end user’s needs and expectations. Satisfying these needs and expectations is a proven strategy for success.”

--By MaryBeth Matzek

Study: Golf major industry for state

Golf is more than just a way to spend your down time. It’s also an economic engine that drove $1.2 billion into Wisconsin’s economy in 2008.

Golf not only brings visitors to the state – such as this week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straights in Sheboygan County, it also drives new construction and residential development, generates retail sales, and creates demand for a myriad of goods and services. When the total economic impact of these golf-related activities is considered, Wisconsin’s golf industry generated approximately $2.4 billion of direct, indirect and induced economic output, $771.5 million of wage income and 38,431 jobs in 2008. Wisconsin's nearly 500 golf facilities in the state, like most small businesses, serve as the main driver in the golf economy.

That means golf is one of the state’s biggest industries. Medical device manufacturing pours $2.4 billion in direct revenue in the state, corn production accounts for $1.7 billion and breweries ring up $851.3 million.

"Golf is more than just an enjoyable pastime for thousands in Wisconsin; it is a billion-dollar industry that serves as a major contributor and driver of jobs, wage income and tourism," says Joe Steranka, the PGA’s chief executive officer. "The PGA of America is pleased to return to Wisconsin to present the 92nd PGA Championship and to show off to a viewing audience of more than 500 million worldwide what a truly amazing venue Wisconsin has to offer."

The Wisconsin Golf Economy Report, prepared by SRI International, was commissioned by GOLF 20/20 for the Wisconsin allied golf associations including the Golf Course Owners of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association, the Wisconsin PGA Section and the Wisconsin State Golf Association.

-- By MaryBeth Matzek

Business events heating up the calendar

 

The heat is definitely on outside and the business calendar is also heating up. Here are some upcoming events you may want to check out:

The Aug. 17 New North Social Media Breakfast will focus on networking. The event starts at 7:30 a.m. and will be held at the Orchard inside the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton. There’s no official agenda for the gathering – just plenty of time and encouragement to talk with other social media users about what works (or doesn’t work). Sign up by clicking here.

Theresa Lehman, director of sustainable services at Miron Construction in the Town of Menasha, will discuss the importance of going green during a free presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 17 at the Country Inn and Suites. Lunch will be provided by the Glass Nickel Pizza Co. To register, please e-mail Lauren.Bednar@CountryInns.com.

A free seminar on starting a business in the current economy will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 17 at the Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce, 101 E. Wisconsin Ave., Kaukauna. Experts from QuickStart Inc. will discuss current issues involving getting a business loan, SBA loan gurantee changes and putting together a comprehensive business plan. To RSVP, please call Mike Gawlik at (920) 730-4060.

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce is holding a small business seminar on creating leverage through competative advantage beginning at 7:15 a.m. on Sept. 9 at FVTC’s Bordini Center. Greg Linnemanstons of Weidert Group is the speaker. For more information or to register, please visit www.foxcitieschamber.com.

Women of Management of Manitowoc County is holding a speed networking event at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 14 at the Holiday Inn in Manitowoc. To register, contact Tracy Gallagher at kurtgallagher@sbcglobal.net

Skyline Technologies is hosting a free executive breakfast for chief information  officers at 7 a.m. on Sept. 17 at the Green Bay Country Club. “Meeting Your CEOs Expectations: What IT Must Do to Drive Business Performance”  event includes a review of findings from a 2010 C-level study conducted by Skyline, in partnership with the St. Norbert College Survey Center, on the value that local CEOs place on IT.  Following the study review, attendees will participate in a moderated discussion with an all-star panel of local CEOs. For more information or to register visit www.skylinetechnologies.com.

Converting Influence is holding a half-day of networking, displays and inner comments on growth in the converting industry on Sept. 23 at FVTC. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. For more information, please visit here.

The 2010 SCORE Conference will be held on Sept. 30 at DJ Bordini Center at Fox Valley Technical College. Speakers for the event include John Lombardi, the grandson of Vince Lombardi; Cheryl Perkins and Jeff Lindsay of Innovation Edge; and John Ingrisano. To register or for more information, please visit here.

Building better workplace relationships is the focus of an Oct. 12 seminar at the Lambeau Field Atrium. Participants will learn about recognizing the problem behind the problem; learning a better way to provide feedback to employees; learning to calm yourself down; and more. The cost is $130 and includes lunch. For more information or to register, please click here.

For more information about what’s happening across the New North, click here

Events help entrepreneurs connect

Entrepreneurs know that learning from other people is a great way to help their own businesses. That being said, there are a couple of events in the New North that will allow small business owners to do just that:

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Small Business Development Center is holding a seminar on creating a successful marketing plan at five sites in the region during September. This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of writing such a plan, including how to research market conditions and trends to develop winning strategies for product/service mix, pricing, promotion, location/distribution and positioning. The event will be held Sept. 21 in Wautoma, Sept. 22 in Sheboygan, Sept. 23 in Fond du Lac, Sept. 28 in Fond du Lac and Sept. 29 in Oshkosh. The cost is $35 per person and includes materials. To register or more information, click here.

In October, the Small Business Development Center will tackle how to write business plans. Those workshops are scheduled for Oct. 19 in Wautoma, Oct. 20 in Sheboygan, Oct. 27 in Oshkosh and Oct. 28 in Fond du Lac. This workshop discusses the basics of writing a business plan, including how to analyze market conditions to develop marketing, financial and management plans. Cost is $35 and includes materials. To register or for more information, click here.

The DJ Bordini Center at Fox Valley Technical College is hosting an event Sept. 30 for small business owners featuring top entrepreneurs. Organized by the SCORE chapter of the Fox Cities, the event includes a panel discussion featuring John Lombardi, the grandson of Packers’ coaching legend Vince Lombardi, Mark Burwell, national director of E-Hub, and Cheryl Perkins and Jeff Lindsay, founders of Innovation Edge in Neenah. Click here for details and registration.