Recent News

Cedar Corporation’s Menomonie Location is a Win for Business

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Location, location, location … the old saying that location matters is true for real estate, but also for businesses. Cedar Corporation’s location in Western Wisconsin has contributed to the company’s success and growth over the past four decades. Headquartered in Menomonie, Cedar Corporation employees are an hour to the Twin Cities, making it easy to serve large regional clients. Simultaneously, nearby Eau Claire has grown, creating the need for their engineering, architecture, planning, land surveying, landscape architecture, and environmental services. While Cedar Corporation could have located in one of those cities, the founders wanted to be based in Menomonie –...
Vets Plus, Inc. Acquires Dairy Industry’s Merrick’s, Inc.

Friday, February 08, 2019

The acquisition of well-known dairy industry supplier Merrick's expands the Vet Plus portfolio and adds to its production capacity. Vets Plus, Inc., a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of animal health and nutrition products, announced that it has acquired Merrick’s Inc., maker of boluses, tablets, powders and electrolytes serving the production animal industry. The new entity, known as Merrick’s Animal Health, LLC, acquired Merrick’s assets effective December 14, 2018. It will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vets Plus, Inc., the Menomonie-based company founded in 1990 by Rajiv Lall. Vets Plus is an innovation leader in the global animal health industry, employing over 200 people at...
New center will focus on health in local community

Wednesday, February 06, 2019

MENOMONIE — Creating a healthier community one person at a time is the focus of an initiative to start a health and well-being center at University of Wisconsin-Stout. Read full article. 
Menomonie district to offer CVTC Academy courses in 2019

Monday, February 04, 2019

Menomonie students will have the opportunity to earn free college credits this summer in a new partnership between the Menomonie School District and Chippewa Valley Technical College. Menomonie students will have the chance to take free dual-credit classes through the CVTC Academies program, beginning in June 2019, in topics like IT software development, culinary arts and health technology. CVTC has partnered with school districts in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties, and is expanding its partnership with the Menomonie School District. Read full article. 
Is your company ‘Best for Vets’?

Friday, February 01, 2019

Do you work for — or know about — a company that goes the extra mile to recruit and support veterans? Make sure they get the credit they deserve! Military Times just launched our latest Best for Vets: Employers survey, which evaluates companies based on their culture, policies for military-connected employees and resources they devote to hiring veterans. The survey is open to for-profit companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies — but only the best will make the cut and be named “Best for Vets”. Read full article. 
Cheese, beer, ice roads: These are 18 of the 'most Wisconsin' stories of 2018

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Many things define life in Wisconsin. We love cheese, beer and the Packers. We'll do just about anything to get outdoors. Sometimes turkeys take over our towns, and we create highways on frozen lakes.  Here is a (subjective) list of the most Wisconsin things that we wrote about this year. Read full article. 
Q&A with Wendy Baumann about Invest in Wisconsin

Monday, January 28, 2019

Invest in Wisconsin (IIW) partners deliver affordable business, community facility and consumer auto loan products throughout the state. IIW ensures impartial access to capital, which helps to reduce disparities and accelerate social and economic impact in minority and low-income communities. Wendy Baumann, president and chief visionary officer of Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC), shares how IIW provides resources to assist businesses in the state.   Read full article.
WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES DRIVE DOWNTOWN GROWTH

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Shelley Nystrom started her soy wax candle business in earnest 14 years ago, crafting her wares in her kitchen and garage and selling them at craft fairs and farmers markets. Eco-friendly candles were just beginning to take off, and people quickly grew excited about Nystrom’s products, leading her to rent a space in Oshkosh in which she eventually opened a small retail space for her company, Eco Candle Co., before opening a second store in Neenah. When Nystrom grew tired of landlords raising her rent, she looked into buying a building in downtown Appleton, assuming she wouldn’t be able to afford it. She was pleasantly...
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Conagra’s Menomonie Plant Continues to Thrive

Friday, December 21, 2018

Pride. That one word describes the culture of Conagra’s Menomonie plant - pride in the quality of their raw ingredients, pride in the products they create, in the talent of their people, in the community and in their heritage. The Dunn County Conagra plant has existed on that same site for over 100 years and as Plant Manager Jeff Stevens put it, “We owe it to those that have gone before us and those who will be here long after to do what we can to ensure this plant will remain strong and be here to celebrate our 150th Anniversary...
After 70 Years, Market & Johnson is Proud to Call Western Wisconsin Home

Tuesday, December 04, 2018

Since 1948, Market & Johnson (M&J) has been serving western Wisconsin as the region's’ premier construction management and general contracting firm. Having built or managed the construction of hundreds of properties throughout the area, their work can be seen in civic and municipal buildings, healthcare and manufacturing facilities, mixed-use and commercial projects, and more than 100 local schools. They have had seventy years of success because of their people, the quality of their work, and ties to the local community. Ultimately though, their strategic advantage lies in their workforce. Market & Johnson employs over 350 construction experts, most of whom...
Fulton's Workshop is the intersection of industry and art

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

A mistake that’s easy to make is to frame business as one thing and art as its antithesis, the former a matter of efficiency and profit and the latter looser, but a new wing at the Dunn County Heritage Museum in Menomonie, shows the two are twined. The 15,000 square foot wing, called Holtby Hall, houses the museum called Fulton’s Workshop, which celebrates industrial arts. Industrial arts is descriptor from way back that still succinctly conveys the art in industry. Just as business can be bolstered by an artist’s touch, creativity can be parlayed into profit, and Fulton’s Workshop shows...
Local students explore careers at Manufacturing Day

Monday, November 26, 2018

On their way to visit the Chippewa Valley Technical College Manufacturing Education Center in Eau Claire on Manufacturing Day, students from River Falls and Ellsworth high school stopped for a couple of other tours. “We were able to top at Schmitt Prototypes and Prototype Solutions in Menomonie on our way,” said Julie Winegar, tech ed teacher at Ellsworth High School. “It was great for them to see that manufacturing is not a dirty job and is pretty high tech. And at Prototype Solutions they work with Marvel Comics and make pieces of Iron Man suits for theme parks.” “We stopped at the...
UW System: A $24 billion impact on Wisconsin's economy

Friday, November 23, 2018

Janell Topczewski entered UW-Parkside as the third person in her family to attend the university. Janell’s brother Joseph graduated from UW-Parkside in 2007 and is now a chemistry professor at the University of Minnesota. Her brother Jeremy graduated in 2011 and is an art teacher in the Racine Unified School District. Janell also graduated in 2011 and recently joined CNH Industrial Capital as a credit analyst, after serving in various roles with Racine County Economic Development Corporation for seven years. Even though UW-Parkside is the youngest university in the UW System — celebrating 50 years of serving the region this year —...
Walker, Evers explain plans for job creation, economic development in Wisconsin

Thursday, November 22, 2018

MADISON, Wis. - Job creation and the economy are key issues heading into the Nov. 6 election in Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker appeared at an event for the state's biggest business lobbying group, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, focused on Wisconsin's business climate. "My belief is, if you're an able-bodied working-age adult in this state, my expectation is you work at least 30 hours a week and that you're able to pass a drug test before you get assistance," Walker said in his keynote address.  His Democratic challenger, Tony Evers, sat down Tuesday for an interview with News 3. Evers said Walker's job plans focus too...
65 ways to get started with downtown revitalization

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Join the WEDC Connect Communities program (if you are not already) or consider joining the Main Street program if you’ve been participating in Connect Communities for a while and are ready to take the next step. Hold a downtown stakeholder meeting. Show PowerPoint presentations or videos available from Wisconsin Main Street or ask a member of the staff to make a presentation. Then figure out the strengths and weaknesses of your downtown and set some goals. Beat the streets … know your constituents and keep them informed! Learn the needs of your downtown businesses by communicating with them on a regular basis. React with appropriate projects. Publish a newsletter to keep primary stakeholders and...
WEDC accepting applications for Entrepreneurship Support Program

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

MADISON, WI.  – The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is now accepting applications from nonprofit and community-based organizations for a grant program designed to advance the statewide climate for entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurship Support Program provides financial assistance of between $10,000 and $100,000 for projects that promote entrepreneurship and provide Wisconsin entrepreneurs with key resources, including training, mentorship, and business development and financial services. Launched in 2016, the initiative has provided nearly $1 million in grants to 17 organizations statewide to help fund activities such as prototyping assistance, legal services, and outreach to underserved entrepreneurs. Those grants have enabled organizations to provide services to...
Wisconsin school districts encouraged to apply for Fab Labs Grants

Monday, November 19, 2018

MADISON, WI.  – The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is now accepting applications for the fourth year of its Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) Grant Program, which provides funding to help public schools build or expand fab labs. The grant program supports hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) education by assisting public school districts with equipment purchases for instructional and educational purposes in fab labs. Fab labs are high-tech workshops with the latest equipment, including computer-controlled manufacturing components such as 3D printers, laser engravers and computer numerical control routers. WEDC’s investment in the program puts fab labs within reach for schools...
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