Bruce Noll is one of the original members of the Polk County Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC) board of directors. Bruce serves as board treasurer, handling all finances for the corporation. He is a banker at Eagle Valley Bank in St Croix Falls, Wis.

Bruce is not only involved with the PCEDC but many other organizations within his local community. He is a founder of Youth Sports Unlimited, which is a joint effort by Luck, Frederic and Unity school districts to raise money for various youth sports activities such as hunter safety, girl/boy scouts or community sports teams. Over the past 26 years the organization has raised over $375,000. Bruce has also been a Unity Lion for more than 20 years.

He grew up on a small dairy farm outside of Alma, Wis. Bruce and his wife have lived in Luck, Wis. for the past 35 years. They have two grown children and four grandchildren. He enjoys golfing, singing, deer hunting and bird hunting. Bruce lso takes pleasure in raising and training bird hunting dogs.

He says the largest resource the PCEDC has to offer is the knowledge of the products available to local businesses and the ability to bring businesses together.

Featured Business Member

Happy 75th Anniversary Polk-Burnett

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative. The company was established by member-owners in 1938. Today, the co-op delivers reliable electricity to 20,000 rural families, farms and businesses.

“The rural electric co-op was built by local members with lines, poles and the notion that we all prosper by helping one another,” says general manager Bill Schmidt. “Today, the cooperative spirit continues and Polk-Burnett maintains a proud tradition of service and value.”

Polk-Burnett maintains 3,000 miles of power lines across 2,000 square miles in northwestern Wisconsin. The company does not own or operate power plants; electricity is generated by Dairyland Power Cooperative, with 88 percent of electricity generated from coal and 12 percent from renewable sources. The company’s subsidiary, Polk-Burnett Propane provides liquid petroleum services to 4,000 local customers.

Polk-Burnett is locally owned by members and governed by an elected board of directors. As a not-for-profit co-op, rates cover the cost of doing business and are not marked up to generate profit. Margins above and beyond the cost of doing business are returned to co-op members as capital credits.

“I invite you to learn more about Polk-Burnett and the benefits of cooperative membership,” says Schmidt. “We look forward to serving our local community for another 75 years and beyond.”

Visit PolkBurnett.com or call 1-800-421-0283 to learn more about co-op membership, electric services and propane services.

Save the date for The Polk County Economic Development Corporation Business Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.

The Polk County EDC is excited to announce that the Paradise Landing will be hosting the annual awards luncheon this year.

The Paradise Landing is located on County Road I in Balsam Lake, WI (715-485-3210).

There is an 11:30 Social and Lunch will begin at 12:00.

Speakers include:

• Ned Albert, Co-Owner Division 8, Frederic, Wisconsin
• Steve Healy, Polk County Economic Development Corporation

Annual Business Awards for:

•  Small Business
• Large Business
• Business Service Award
• Energy Efficiency
• Innovation

Cost is $20 per person.

For more information call 715-646-3369, email reply to:  info@polkcountyedc.com

Please plan to attend to recognize businesses in Polk County Polk County Economic Development Corporation.

Trudy Popenhagen is one of the original members of the Polk County Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC) since its incorporation in 2004. She is the current president on the PCEDC board of directors.

For the past 29 years, Popenhagen has been an employee of Xcel Energy. She serves as the community service manager working with area communities to provide them with information and advice about projects relating to electric and natural gas.She is also a member of Hudson Daybreak Rotary, The Phipps Center for the Arts and the UW-River Falls Foundation.

Popenhagen is married, has two grown children and enjoys spending time with her four grandchildren. She enjoys boating, golfing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and reading.

The PCEDC board just went through a strategic planning session to look at where the PCEDC is currently and where they would like it to be in the future. Popenhagen says it  also provided an opportunity to take a look at primary goals and how to achieve them.

Popenhagen hopes that businesses in Polk County will take advantage of the resources that the PCEDC has to offer and encourages any business to contact a member of the board if they have questions.

Schaffer Manufacturing, located in Milltown, Wis., specializes in metal fabrication. The company was established in 1993 in Luck, Wis. with a passion for customer service and state of the art manufacturing. Today, Schaffer Manufacturing has grown to be one of the most reputable metal fabricators in the country.

“At Schaffer Manufacturing we go above and beyond the expectations of the customer,” says Steve Schaffer, sales associate for Schaffer Manufacturing. “We are always striving to add as much value as possible to the customer, not just make parts. Whether it’s engineering support, recommending design changes, making prototypes, reverse engineering or working with our customers’ engineers to figure out the best way to manufacture something, we are always doing our best to go out of our way to make sure that they are getting the best possible product for the best price.”

Because of their diversified capabilities, Schaffer Manufacturing works with reputable global companies in several key industries including mining, construction, agriculture, information technology, quality testing equipment, snow removal equipment, ballistic targets, recycling equipment and dredging barges.

At Schaffer Manufacturing, their top priority is customer service and quality. The three main components of manufacturing, Schaffer says, are price, lead-time, and quality. When all three are equally exercised, it creates the ultimate customer experience.

“Any manufacturer can provide cost-effective services, but quality will always remain our top priority,” says Schaffer.  “That is the Schaffer way.”

United States Senator Ron Johnson will be visiting Polk County on Wednesday, April 3^rd from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM to give a short presentation on Economic Development in Wisconsin and answer questions from attendees.  Steve Healy, Director of the Polk County Economic Development Corporation will introduce Senator Johnson before his presentation.

Event Location:

Paradise Landing*
264 County Road I
Balsam Lake, WI 54810
715-485-3210
www.paradiselandingwi.com .

Senator Johnson serves on the following committees:

• Budget, Commerce
• Science and Transportation
• Foreign Relations
• Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
• Small Business and Entrepreneurship

The event is open to the public and the Polk County Economic Development Corporation encourages Polk County Businesses owners, government officials, and citizens to attend this event.

*Paradise Landing is opening its doors just for this event!  Attendees are encouraged to stay for a meal or drinks afterwards to support the local economy.

Contact:
Joni Geroux, Outreach Program Manager
University of Wisconsin – Stout / NWMOC
715.232.5270

February 28, 2013

WEDC Announces That Phase lll of the Profitable Sustainability Initiative
Has Openings for 32 Additional Companies
PSI Pilot Program Already Has Demonstrated Substantial ROI for Manufacturers, State of Wisconsin

MENOMONIE, WI — An innovative program to promote sustainable manufacturing in Wisconsin has openings for 32 additional manufacturers.

The Profitable Sustainability Initiative, managed by the Northwest Wisconsin Manufacturing Outreach Center, headquartered at University of Wiscosin-Stout, and the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP), helps small and midsize manufacturers develop sustainable practices that save money and improve competitiveness.

Initiative participants, on average, realized annual savings of $146,783 and broke even on their investment in 10 months. The PSI, which is open to manufacturers throughout the state, is funded by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Earlier phases also received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Applications from manufacturers are reviewed for alignment with program goals and objectives as established by the WEDC, as well as the applicant’s commitment to sustainability described in the application essay.

Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

“This is an innovative program to promote sustainable manufacturing in Wisconsin. Expanding this program to more manufacturers makes solid business sense for our state,” said Reed Hall, CEO and secretary of WEDC. “The tremendous success, both in profits and environmental impact, has positioned Wisconsin as the most sustainable manufacturing state in the nation.”

A 2011 Next Generation Manufacturing Study showed that 67 percent of Wisconsin manufacturers indentified sustainability as important to their business, compared with 59 percent of
manufacturers nationwide. About 33 percent of state manufacturers at that time reported making good- to world-class progress with their sustainability initiatives, compared with 27.5 percent nationwide.

A similar study in 2008 found that only 35 percent of manufacturers in the state highlighted sustainability as an important issue and fewer than 20 percent of the state’s industrial firms were making good to world class progress in implementing environmental-related initiatives. The PSI program – the only one of its kind in the U.S. – features a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability, using partners with specialized expertise to help drive improvements. Under the program, a team of energy, environmental, logistics, lean and finance experts are dispatched to take a 360-degree view of the participants’ business enterprises to diagnose, assess and implement improvements.

Since its inception, the program has led to $47 of economic activity for every $1 of state investment.

Three-year financial and environmental project impacts for the initial 101 participating firms include:

• $44.5 million in savings
• $88.6 million in increased/retained sales
• $11.7 million in investment
• $149.7 million total economic impact

Environmental effects include reductions in:

• Electricity: 22.7 million kilowatt hours
• Carbon dioxide equivalents: 23.2 metric tons
• Transportation: 917,000 miles
• Solid waste diverted from landfills: 26,793 tons
• Air emissions: 51 tons

Interested manufacturers should contact Ted Theyerl, PSI Project Manager at NWMOC at 715.874.4658 or theyerlt@uwstout.edu.

About the NWMOC:

The NWMOC, under the Discovery Center umbrella at UW-Stout, is a partner in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The NWMOC and their NIST MEP affiliates work with small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers to help them create and retain jobs, increase profits, and save time and money. Last year, through third-party independent surveying, clients reported over $13.9 million in impacts and 123 jobs created or saved as a result of NWMOC services. The NWMOC provides these services to manufacturers in 33 counties in northern and western Wisconsin to help them compete in a global economy.

Contact:

NWMOC: Larry Blackledge at blackledgel@uwstout.edu Phone: (715) 232-1649

Johnson Motors of New Richmond and NEI Electric recently worked together updating their facility along with updating their parking lot and exterior lighting to LED’s.  By updating the lighting, their exterior energy consumption will be cut by 70%.  This is a substantial energy and cost savings.

Johnson Motors has locations in New Richmond, St. Croix Falls, and Menomonie Wisconsin.

NEI Electric has three locations, St Paul, MN, St. Croix Falls and Eau Claire, WI which service Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota.   Contact NEI Electric for your personalized Energy Savings Plan.

For more information visit our website at www.neielectric.com

Contact: Amanda Troff
Tel. 715-483-5953
Email: atroff@neielectric.com

We invite anyone interested to join us in Madison on Feb 6 to discuss key economic development issues with state legislators. 

The Greater St. Croix Valley Partnership is a collaboration between the counties of Polk, St. Croix, Pierce, and Dunn counties.  This is an annual event to build awareness of our area with other state legislators, to advocate for key legislative priorities, and to thank legislators for past successes. 

The event is free and open to area citizens who are interested in traveling with us to Madison for the one-day event.  Appointments with legislators will already be set up for groups of three people, so it is easy to participate. All key defined issues, and materials will be available. 

If you are interested, please contact the St. Croix EDC at 715-381-4383. 

Polar Pete’s Seafood and Meats Breaks Ground in St. Croix Falls.

Free Product samples to be showcased at “Wild About Wellness, a Free BBQ and Health Fair” at the Osceola Medical Center campus on Saturday, October 13th.

L to R: Andy Schad, Matt Page, Kyle Ward, Dawn Ward, Holly Helms, Gary Verhasselt-Verhasselt Construction, Peter Ward, and Michelle Ward

Ground broke on Hwy 8 in St. Croix Falls this month for a brand new retail store. Polar Pete’s Seafood and Meats, a new venture by the Ward family (owners of the local Ward’s Balsam Lake Resort and CWS Security Watch), will specialize in selling a wide variety of meats and seafood at prices that will rival big box stores. Among the hundreds of items in stock regularly will be favorites such as boneless, skinless chicken, hamburger patties, baby back ribs, flat iron steaks, sashimi grade Yellowfin Tuna and scallops, as well as wings and appetizers items. They will also feature specialty items from time to time such as wild game and alligator.

“Because of our relationships in the industry, we are able to buy direct from the producers and sell to consumers without adding in middleman costs, and then pass these savings on to our customers,” said Peter Ward, owner of Polar Pete’s Seafood and Meats. The meat and seafood products are selected from these producers for quality and freshness, and are sold flash frozen to customers for full flavor and convenience. “There are plenty of recognizable brand names in our freezers,” said Ward, “Hillshire Farms, Tyson, Jeni-O, Morreys etc. “We are thrilled to have found a way to offer the chance to purchase these excellent meat products at great prices to our community,” said Ward.

The future plans for Polar Pete’s Seafood and Meats not only include being a regular stop for meat and seafood purchases, but also as a destination spot for those in, or traveling through the area. The retail store will also feature fresh, frozen custard, made on site, and offer a kid-friendly courtyard style area to enjoy eating the delicious treat. People will also be able to purchase other local favorites.

The store is scheduled to open early 2013. If you are curious about the products, be sure to visit “Wild About Wellness, a FREE BBQ and Health Fair Event” on Saturday, October `13 at the Wild River Fitness/Osceola Medical Center campus in Osceola, WI from 2 – 5 pm. Free product samples of selected meats will be showcased at this event. Be sure to follow the progress on the Polar Pete’s Seafood and Meats Facebook page or check out the website at www.PolarPetesWI.com.