Business development
Bank First now has 26 locations in Wisconsin after completing a merger with Denmark State Bank in August.
The C.A. Lawton Co.’s parent company, The Lawton Standard Co., acquired Northern Iron & Machine of St. Paul, Minnesota.
East Wisconsin Savings Bank and Lake City Federal Bank plan to merge. The combined savings bank will operate seven branches in Outagamie County and Wabasha County, Minnesota.
EnTech Solutions, Peterbilt Motors Company and Maki Trucking, LLC are partnering to incorporate an electric vehicle tanker truck to transport fuel for the Middleton digester renewable natural gas (RNG) facility. The truck will deliver RNG to the Dane County landfill facility, where the natural gas pipeline will deliver it to the West Coast. U.S. Gain, a division of U.S. Venture, Inc., will offtake the RNG for distribution to the transportation market in California. EnTech Solutions also is working with Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh on a clean-energy solar installation at the medical center site.
ThedaCare invested $3 million in Qventus, joining other investors in a $50 million growth investment in the provider of artificial intelligence-powered software for care operations automation. ThedaCare also is participating in the Wisconsin Department of Health Service’s Coverdell Stroke Program by becoming a Coverdell Stroke Care Partner. ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Appleton recently was reaccredited as a Chest Pain Center with Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Resuscitation from the American College of Cardiology. The Medical Center’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab also earned reaccreditation.
Business comings and goings
Bellin Health’s Fastlane drive-thru services moved to 1920 Libal St. in Green Bay.
Doma opened its new office and Cockloft Vintage opened a new store in the Broadway District in Green Bay.
Harbor Freight Tools is opening a new store in Fond du Lac.
GRAEF is moving to the Adams Street Garage building in Green Bay’s Downtown District from its previous office space at the Baeten Farms Executive Office Park.
MVP Storage recently purchased the 12,000-square-foot former Salvation Army building on Michigan Avenue in Sheboygan and leased this space to Good As Gold, an appliance outlet featuring new and refurbished appliances.
Nothing Bundt Cakes leased space at the Shoppes at the Village in Ashwaubenon.
The newest Skogen’s Festival Foods opened in Hartford.
Construction
The Mulva Cultural Center marked mid-point progress on its $95 million, 75,000-square-foot cultural facility in De Pere with a public tour. The center will feature traveling exhibits, a state-of-the-art theater, classrooms, a gift shop, a unique specialty restaurant and event space.
Bayland Buildings completed construction on a new 15,600-square-foot facility for Zeta Group Engineering in Wrightstown and is working on projects for NV Fire & Technologies in Green Bay, OakPark Dental in Oshkosh, Accurate Fire Protection in Larsen and at 911 Green Bay Road in Sturgeon Bay.
The Door County Maritime Museum announced that restoration work at Cana Island is nearly complete and the lighthouse tower and keeper’s quarters re-opened to the public in August.
Fox Cities Builders is working with the village of Nichols to construct the village’s new community center addition and on a storefront for McKayla Marie Sweets, a bakery in Green Bay.
Hoffman is assisting the Baraboo, Manawa and Northland Pines school districts with solar energy system planning.
The new 1.3-mile section of the Kaukauna Locks Trail opened in August. The project was assisted by a $300,000 grant from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region’s David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund. The same fund also gave a $50,000 grant to the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network to build the WI Ledge Rambler Geotourism Program.
Keller, Inc. is working on projects for Ashley HomeStore in Oshkosh, Community Blood Center in Appleton, Tectron Tube in De Pere, Dedicated Systems Inc. in Green Bay, St Francis & St Mary Catholic Church in Brussels, SIGMA Engineered Solutions in Markesan and Freedom Storage in Hartford.
Lawrence University unveiled its new welcome arch at the corner of College Avenue and Drew Street in Appleton.
Merge Development broke ground on the Urbane 115 mixed-use development in downtown Appleton.
In 2020, Alliant Energy announced plans to build 12 solar farms across Wisconsin that will generate enough energy to power nearly 300,000 homes. In July of this year, construction on the 1,000-acre Onion River Solar Project in Sheboygan County’s town of Holland began. Also in July, Alliant completed two smaller customer-hosted projects: a 1-megawatt City of Sheboygan Solar Field in the Sheboygan Business Center and the 2.25-megawatt Kohler Solar Field on Kohler Company property.
Outagamie County’s Recycling and Solid Waste department partnered with Atlanta-based Mas Energy to build a new $25 million natural gas processing facility to convert greenhouse gas emissions produced at the landfill into renewable energy.
The new all-abilities Purple Octopus Playground at Above & Beyond Children’s Museum in Sheboygan opened to the public in August.
Sleep Inn & Suites Sheboygan I-43 was sold for $2.15 million by Shreedhar Hotels LLC to Madison-based Aruj Hospitality LLC.
The Town of Sheboygan approved a conditional-use permit for S/Point Ventures Acquisitions LLC to construct a 6,500-square-foot building at Highway 42 and Interstate 43 to be leased to Olive Garden — the first location for the restaurant in Sheboygan County.
TR Karrels and Associates is the architect and Cardinal Construction the general contractor on the new Day By Day Warming Shelter that will be built at Ceape Avenue in Oshkosh. The new single-story shelter will be 12,900 square feet and will have a 50-bed capacity.
Walmart in Sheboygan underwent a remodel as part of the company’s $150 million investment in 28 stores across Wisconsin.
Watershed Hotel and Event Center opened at 15th Street in Sheboygan.
Education
HSHS St. Vincent Hospital welcomed high school students from across Northeast Wisconsin for its first Healthcare Bootcamp event for juniors and seniors interested in careers in health care.
Lakeland University unveiled its new Fox Cities Center location at the Fox Valley Technical College campus.
Moraine Park Technical College presented Ascendium Education Group and Legal Action of Wisconsin in Madison with the college’s 2022 Community Partnership Award.
UW-Green Bay received the 2021 Climate Changemaker Award and a $25,000 grant from the national wireless communication trade association CTIA Wireless Foundation. UW-Green Bay also was selected again for Campus Pride’s “Best of the Best” list.
UW-Oshkosh was awarded a $1.6 million National Science Foundation grant for research on the social and environmental conditions that contribute to toxic algal blooms in freshwater systems. UW-Oshkosh also was one of the 187 schools nationwide to be awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Education to continue its Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. And Nurse.org recently recognized the campus’s accelerated BSN option as the second-best online nursing program in the nation for non-nurses.
Awards
Ahern is a BUILD Wisconsin Award winner, recognized by the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin in the Specialty Contractor-Mechanical category for work performed on the Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Campbellsport High School projects.
First Business Bank announced its parent company, First Business Financial Services, Inc., was ranked among the top 20 banks nationwide with $1 billion to $5 billion in assets under management by Bank Director magazine in its annual RankingBanking list.
The following New North businesses were among the 50 Wisconsin organizations ranked on the annual Inc. 5000 list, a ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America: American Tent, Green Bay; Agency Elevation, Freedom; 5G Benefits, Fond du Lac; Enthusiast Enterprises, Appleton; Cailleo Properties, Green Bay; Landro Realty, Kimberly; Black-Haak Heating, Greenville; Carnivore Meat Company, Green Bay; Packer Fastener, Green Bay; Headway, Green Bay; and Weidert Group, Appleton
“The Legend of the Lost Emerald,” a PBS Wisconsin Education educational adventure video game, was created with the support of Fox Valley donors and won a gold medal at the 2022 International Serious Play Awards Program.
The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council announced its 2022 Sustainable Business Award Finalists, which included regional finalists. Sustainable Product category finalists included Green Bay Packaging, Fork Farms and Kohler WasteLAB. Sustainable Leadership – Executive category finalists were Mercury Marine President Chris Drees and Appvion Chief Sustainability Officer Michelle Miller. Scott Loucks, Sustainability Manager at Mercury Marine, is also a finalist in the Sustainable Leadership – Champion category. The 15th annual awards will be presented Nov. 15 in Green Bay.
Werner Electric Supply received a tED Magazine 2022 Best of the Best Marketing Award for the company’s 2021 IN4M event hosted at Lambeau Field.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce was recognized by the Association of State Chamber Professionals with two national awards for membership retention. Year-over-year, WMC retained 92% of its members and 96% of dues revenue from membership.
Grants
The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services distributed $24.8 million to Wisconsin fire departments, including departments in the New North, as part of the 2% dues program.
The City of Sheboygan received a $5.3 million U.S. Department of Transportation RAISE Grant to construct a swing-bridge across the river, connecting the two sides from the Virginia Avenue terminus on the north to the South Pier Boardwalk.
Connections for Mental Wellness was awarded $300,000 from the Medical College of Wisconsin Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin-Behavioral Health Phase III initiative to continue its school-based mental health initiative.
The Green Bay Packers Foundation awarded $1.35 million in impact grants to seven Brown, Dane and Milwaukee County nonprofit organizations. The foundation also awarded the Challenger League and Fox Valley Pop Warner with a $200,000 grant for the Challenger Field Redevelopment Project at Plamann Park in Appleton. The Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks teamed up to sponsor three planeloads of local veterans on the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight’s 65th “mission,” scheduled for Oct. 8. The Green Bay Packers also announced that former Packers fullback John Kuhn will be moving to the broadcast booth as color analyst. The Packers Radio Network added a new Milwaukee flagship station, iHeartRadio Milwaukee’s 97.3 The Game WRNW. Fans in the Fox Valley area can tune into WYDR 94.3 FM in Neenah-Menasha.
On Broadway Inc. in Green Bay was the recipient of a $46,800 destination marketing organization grant from the Wisconsin Department of Administration.
The M&M Area Community Foundation recently awarded more than $18,000 in grants from the Women’s Giving Circle Restricted Endowment Fund to support projects and programs directly impacting women and girls throughout Marinette and Menominee counties.
The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh Alumni Association raised $12,000 during its first golf outing fundraiser to support the club and its camp, Camp Radford. The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh received a grant from Guitars 4 Gifts to purchase 10 ukuleles for a summer music program.
All the Rest
Paper Converting Machine Company came to the aid of Sierra Hygiene Products, a paper converting manufacturer in Frostburg, Maryland, by providing service technicians to assemble and install two paper rewinders from a company in China. Due to visa complications, the original service technicians were unable to travel to the U.S.
Thompson Center on Lourdes temporarily moved most of its programs and activities to the Sacred Heart Parish because of a fire that occurred at its facility Aug. 11. No one was injured, including the facility’s resident birds.
PMI Entertainment Group has reached an agreement with Pelkin’s Smokey Meat Market to provide the official hot dogs, brats and beef snacks at the Resch Center and Resch Expo.
Shea Electric & Communications, LLC of Oshkosh is partnering with Wilson Electronics on 5G booster installation in the region.
The Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation completed a significant rebranding for Someplace Better, including a new website at someplacebetter.org.
The Wisconsin State Building Commission approved about $306 million in key projects in 13 counties, including construction of a new facility to house secure residential treatment and diversion programming at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution and to complete work at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.
The self-unloading freighter Mark W. Barker, the first bulk carrier to be built on the Great Lakes in more than 35 years, visited the Port of Green Bay in August. The vessel was constructed at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and is owned and operated by Interlake Steamship.
St. Paul Elder Services in Kaukauna is participating in the WisCaregiver Careers Program, a Wisconsin workforce development initiative helping to address the shortage of certified nursing assistants in nursing home facilities.
