For 28 years, Terri Schulz has worked as president of the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce. But promoting the community and connecting its people are tasks she’s proudly tackled regardless of a paycheck her entire life. “I’m just a small-town girl,” she jokes. But, as Schulz recently shared with Insight, her passion for Waupaca keeps her motivated to think big.
How did you end up in your role as a chief chamber executive?
Terri Schulz: I am a native, born and raised in Waupaca. My mom and dad both had, and still have, businesses in the community, and I was just kind of raised in that atmosphere of entrepreneurship. My mom was a hairdresser, and for many years, the business was in our home, so I’d go in and help, clean brushes and answer the phone. [After high school] I took a job at a retail store and got involved in the chamber. I was on some committees and eventually ended up serving on the board of directors and became the president of the board. [Our executive] ended up quitting her position, and so our executive committee got together and, you know, “What are we going to do?” At that time, the position wasn’t really a full-time position. The chamber was growing, so we said maybe it’s time to make this a full-time position. So we put together the job description, got it all ready to go. We were meeting, and just off the cuff I said, “Oh, well maybe I’ll apply.” That night one of the members of the board called me and said, “Were you really serious about that?” And I said, “Well, I don’t know … maybe …?” And the rest is history. It’s been a long time, and you know what? I love it. I absolutely love the chamber.
What do you love about it?
I think the main thing that I love is that, as much as everything is the same every year, it’s different — which doesn’t make sense. (Laughs.) But I may go into work today and I’m talking to a business owner or I might be talking to someone who wants to come in and start a business or someone who wants to locate here. It’s just kind of a neat mixture. We also serve the tourism side of things, so we’re always talking to people who are looking to vacation by us, winter or summer. Some people say we’re a “small Door County.”
What are Waupaca’s strongest selling points?
We’re a small community, but we’re in a unique location with the Chain O’ Lakes and Hartman Creek State Park. And if you need something you can’t find in Waupaca, if you want to attend concerts or go to a zoo, you’re close enough to the Valley, Wausau, Stevens Point and even Madison and Milwaukee. We have a huge artist-driven culture in our community, and there’s lots of things to do. We have great businesses. Our school district is a great school district; if you’re raising a family it’s kind of the perfect place to be. If you’re a retiree, our community is easy to get around in. It’s a friendly community.
What’s top of mind for you?
My focus is whatever needs to be done! At a small chamber, you do it all. Working at the chamber does not mean Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. I mean, you’ll go to the grocery store and someone asks you a question. My husband doesn’t like that, but I kind of like that. I always tell people I’m not a celebrity; I still wash the dishes, clean the bathroom and sweep the floor. But, broadband is [a major focus]. The city itself is pretty good, but when you get out to some of our outlying areas, that’s a huge issue. We’re starting to put up towers and get access to those people. And, like any other community, it’s all about workforce development. They’re all looking to add. The last time I talked to the person at Waupaca Foundry, he said if he had 100 people walk in today he could hire them all. Gusmer Enterprises in the last year actually added 100 positions, and in a small community there’s a lot of job tradeoff. Our small businesses are in the same boat. We have grocery stores that can’t stay open as long as they used to because they don’t have the staff. Sometimes you feel like, “Oh, my gosh; maybe I should take on a second job.”
How are you able to do so much with such a small staff? What collaborations have you leaned on?
I think most people see us as a small chamber, but we try to emulate the larger chambers. When I started my position, I did not know — I mean, I volunteered at the chamber, but I didn’t really know — what a chamber did. So I got involved in the Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Executives and met some people from larger chambers who really became my mentors. We do a lot more programming than most small chambers. In a lot of small communities chambers are known as “the place that does the festivals,” and we still do that, but we do way more on the chamber side trying to support and help business.
We’re doing a lot with the school district. We’re trying to get kids to understand what’s in our community and what’s available and the great jobs we have in our community. Then, a year and a half ago, the city, the chamber and our school district got together after a local philanthropist came to us — he does a $50,000 grant every year — and said, “What do you think about hiring a grant writer? Could the three entities work together and share this person?” And so we did. We came together and ended up hiring a grant writer. He has brought over $2 million into our community through various projects. We have a great working relationship with our school district and our city, so it has been fun to bring all of that together.
