Business development
ThedaCare has created a graduate medical education program and hired Christopher Stenberg as the program’s leader. The program creates advanced training opportunities for individuals who have completed medical school, including residencies, fellowships, internships and other specialty programs. Initial residencies will support primary care and specialty physician needs.
Following a two-year collaborative process, marketing and digital consulting firm Blue Door Consulting announced the expansion of its team to include web development company Wisnet.com. The teams are joined as one under the Blue Door Consulting name with all five members from Wisnet transitioning to Blue Door Consulting. The resulting 53-person agency offers brand and design, content marketing, web and digital and design thinking.
Vesta, a CPA-led, mid-sized professional service firm in Fond du Lac, is the new name for Huberty, which operated as such for 40-plus years.
Marion Body Works announced the addition of Axes and Irons Fire and Rescue Equipment to its dealer network. Axes and Irons of Coopersville, Michigan is the official Marion Body Works Fire Apparatus dealer for Michigan and Ohio.
Fulcrum Container LLC’s name has changed to N.E.W. Plastics Corp. Fulcrum, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, is an industry leader in the custom blow molding of high-quality plastic containers. Fulcrum was acquired by N.E.W. Plastics in 2016 and at the time retained its name.
The SSM Health Treffert Center, which provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment of autism and behavior and communication disorders in children and adults, opened the new SSM Health Treffert Studios in Fond du Lac.
An affiliate of Phoenix Investors, a private commercial real estate firm headquartered in Milwaukee, announced it will convert its property at 2225 American Drive in Fox Crossing into a large self-storage facility. Consisting of approximately 65,000 net rentable square feet, Phoenix intends to add up to 600 self-storage units to the property. In addition to the self-storage conversion, the facility will offer more than 100,000 square feet of RV and boat storage parking and several executive office suites.
Edgewater Door will build a 45,000-square-foot building in Neenah’s Southpark Industrial Center. The city approved a developer agreement under which Edgewater Door will acquire 10 acres at 2455 Schultz Drive for $195,000 and develop a new $2 million manufacturing facility.
Construction
TML Auto LLC broke ground for a new facility at N1425 Mayflower Drive, across the road from its existing location in Greenville. The 5,960-square-foot facility will feature a showroom, offices and an auto lot. The project is the third expansion for the 36-year-old company owned by Todd and Debbie Lemmens along with their son Michael, who manages the auto sales part of the business. Frontier Builders & Consultants is the general contractor on the project.
Keller, Inc. has been chosen as the general contractor on an interior build-out project for Fabel Repair located at 1991 Prospect Court in Appleton and a 2,900-square-foot interior build-out project for The Community Blood Center in Green Bay.
The City of Peshtigo broke ground on the addition and renovation to its Fire Station No. 1. Immel Construction will be the contractor on the project and UPEA is the architect and engineer.
Bayland Buildings recently held ribbon cutting ceremonies for Chilton Fire Department, One Source Technologies in De Pere and Mission Specific Worldwide in Fort Atkinson. Bayland is currently working on projects for Chilton City Hall and Police Department, Performance Coatings in Oconomowoc, Green Bay Advanced Oral Surgery in Green Bay, Green Bay Endodontics in Howard and Club Car Wash locations in Beloit, Manitowoc and University Avenue in Green Bay.
Awards
The NEW Zoo & Adventure Park has earned accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. The NEW Zoo was one of 22 facilities that earned accreditation this year and has held accreditation from the organization for 27 years.
Two Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc. projects have been recognized by the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin 2023 BUILD Wisconsin Awards. Hoffman was named a winner in the Commercial Projects, New Construction category for Clintonville Middle School, and in the Commercial Projects, Renovation category for St. Rose Motherhouse.
The Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance’s Excellence in Manufacturing/K-12 Partnerships Awards recognized the following award winners. Education: Brighter Image – Seymour Community School District; Career Pathmaker – Administrator – Vicki Porior, Oshkosh Area School District; Career Pathmaker – Educator – Elizabeth Kust, N.E.W. School of Innovation; Career Pathmaker – Educator – Paul Endter, Appleton West High School; Career Pathmaker – Tech Ed Teacher – Justin Casper, Two Rivers High School; Education Innovation – Fond du Lac High School; Higher Education Award – Christine Brown, Fox Valley Technical College – Wautoma; and Manufacturing Partnership – Wabeno High School. Manufacturer award winners: Brighter Image – Miller Electric Mfg. Co.; Educational Partnership – Advanced Tooling Specialists; Leadership – Samuel Pressure Vessel Group; Manufacturing Innovation – Team Industries; Visionary – Gregorio Balandran, Amcor; and Youth Apprenticeship – Walker Forge. A community partnership award was presented to Fox Valley Technical College, Goodwill NCW and Rawhide Youth Services. 2024 All-Star and All-Star Mentor Awards recipients hail from the following companies: Fincantieri Ace Marine, Fives Giddings & Lewis, Georgia-Pacific, Great Northern Laminations, HUI, Nicolet Plastics, Rockline Industries, Samuel Pressure Vessel Group and STRYKER.
SECURA Insurance was named on the 2023 Rising Insurance Star Executives Elite 50 Internships list, which recognizes the 50 best internship programs in the insurance industry across the U.S. This is the second year SECURA has been named on the list.
Lubenow Companies Inc., Green Bay, has been presented with its fifth consecutive Acuity Insurance Safety Award in recognition of outstanding fleet safety in 2022. This award recognizes Acuity Insurance business partners who demonstrate exceptional commitment to upholding stringent workplace safety standards.
Acuity earned Gold Spark Awards in both commercial lines and personal lines from Ivans for the insurer’s agency connectivity successes. The Ivans Spark Awards recognize companies that are sparking digital connectivity by using technology to support the growth of their agency partners across the policy lifecycle. Acuity also was honored for Workplace Culture Innovation in the 2023 PropertyCasualty360 Insurance Luminaries recognition program, which honors insurance carriers that are modernizing and humanizing the property and casualty insurance business.
For the 21st year, Deloitte recognized 75 of the largest and most successful private companies — the Wisconsin 75 — for the impact they make. The New North businesses recognized are: U.S. Venture Inc., Appleton; Kohler Co., Kohler; Schreiber Foods, Green Bay; Schneider, Green Bay; Menasha Corp., Neenah; Green Bay Packaging, Green Bay; Acuity, Sheboygan; Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth; Miron Construction Co. Inc., Neenah; Masters Gallery Foods Inc., Plymouth; The Boldt Company, Appleton; Bergstrom Automotive, Neenah; Brakebush Brothers Inc., Westfield; SECURA Insurance, Neenah; AriensCo., Brillion; Great Northern Corp., Menasha; Faith Technologies Incorporated, Menasha; Lakeside Foods, Manitowoc; Bemis Manufacturing Co., Sheboygan Falls; Fox World Travel, Oshkosh; J.F. Ahern Co., Fond du Lac; Werner Electric Supply, Appleton; Jewelers Mutual Group, Neenah; and J. J. Keller & Associates Inc., Neenah.
Von Stiehl Winery, the oldest licensed winery in Wisconsin, was awarded six silver medals and one gold medal in the annual USA Wine Ratings International Competition. This competition rates wines from all over the world on a 100-point system based on quality, value and packaging. Von Stiehl’s 2019 Soaring Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon brought home the 90-point Gold Medal.
Aurora Medical Center – Manitowoc County was recognized among the Top 100 Hospitals in the nation by PINC AI (formerly IBM Watson). Based on objective, quantitative analysis of publicly available data, winning hospitals deliver better outcomes while operating more efficiently and at lower costs.
Business comings and goings
Rooted In Inc. opened at 330 S. Broadway in downtown Green Bay. It’s a new nonprofit organization with a mission to strengthen the health of the Greater Green Bay community through partnerships and seed-to-table programs that create and maintain a sustainable local food system.
The Grand Meridian in Appleton, which opened in 2005, is closing its doors at the end of the year. The VandeYacht family said it has been unable to find a buyer for the facility who would continue to operate it as a banquet hall, so the family is selling to someone who will use the building for another purpose. Owner Ken VandeYacht died in October 2022.
Grants
First 5 Fox Valley will receive a $2 million grant earmarked to establish a Family Resource Center in Outagamie County. F5FV is one of two organizations chosen to receive a grant from Outagamie County, as part of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act investment program.
All the rest
The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh celebrated the completion of Phase 1 of its building project, the Radford Center expansion of the Bergstrom Automotive Learning Center classrooms and full renovation of J. Wilcox Head Start. This is part of the club’s $18 million building expansion.
UA 400 Pipe Trades and the Mechanical Contractors Association held its fourth annual Apprentice Signing Day at the UA 400 Training Center in Kaukauna to recognize 102 first-time apprentices as they begin their five-year apprenticeships. The breakdown of the apprentices by trades is as follows: 17 fabricators, 18 HVAC service technicians, 20 plumbers and 47 construction steamfitters.
Palmer Group and Fox Valley Technical College have been named Pulse Champions of Young Professionals by the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce. This designation recognizes employers who pledge to provide support and a positive work environment for YPs within their company.
