Features

Is there such a thing as a recession-proof job? Some jokingly have said the funeral industry is  one such career. But in light of changing trends – most notably the marked increase in cremation rate – funeral homes, cemeteries and others in the death care industry are facing challenges and seeking Read More...

Finding a job after graduation is always a challenge. Add to the mix the worst job market in a generation and the outlook is even less promising.

Area technical colleges are seeking to reverse that perspective by carefully cultivating relationships with employers to help graduates have a leg up once they hit the job market.
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Businesses in the New North are predicting a better 2010 with higher profits and sales while also expanding their workforce.

A survey conducted by First Business Bank and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh last fall of more than 350 area companies found that 85 percent of respondents predict a better 2010 with more than 50 percent predicting higher sales and predictability for the next 12 months.

Making tough decisions is an everyday affair for most business leaders. It helps when you have your priorities in check – and it’s even better when you use a proven tool for making those decisions quickly, without regret.

“As leaders, our decisions affect not just ourselves but everybody in our universe,” says Suzy Welch, author of the best-seller Read More...

Watching a laser engraving cutter at Fox Valley Technical College’s Fab Lab, Yuriy Saprykin was clearly impressed. A deputy in the legislative assembly from the Krasnodar Region of Russia, Saprykin was soaking up everything he heard.

“It’s impressive what they have here,” he says, referring not only to FVTC, but also to the partnerships between businesses, education organizations and government in the Appleton area. “The businesses and city work well together and try to help each other. We would love having something like this back at home. It has been an incredible learning experience.”
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When new employees start at Affinity Health System, they are together for a couple of days during orientation and then go their separate ways throughout the Menasha-based health care system. For many of them, it’s often the last time they interact.

Until now. This past spring, Affinity launched a Facebook page for new employees, allowing them to connect and share thoughts and stories long after orientation is complete.
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Neal Verfuerth, president/CEO of Orion Energy Systems, Manitowoc, is a master at innovation. When faced with doubt by prospective customers of his patented lighting system, he created a meter that helped them see how much money could be saved on their energy bills. If they still had doubt, he offered to install the lighting system for free – and accept payment based on the measured savings customers realized. Sheboygan Falls-based Bemis Manufacturing became a believer when it began using 50 percent less energy.
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The construction barrels along U.S. 41 in Oshkosh are just a sign of things to come. From now until 2016, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is overhauling U.S. 41 between Hwy. 26 just south of Oshkosh to the Breezewood Lane/Bell Street exit in Neenah. The project will widen the highway to three lanes in each direction, build another causeway over Lake Butte des Morts and reconstruct exits throughout the corridor.
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Buy local. Those two little words are gaining traction with consumers as more shoppers are thinking about where the stuff they buy is coming from. While some shoppers are focused more on the “green” aspect of buying local – items produced locally create a smaller carbon footprint – others see how buying local provides an economic shot-in-the-arm to a community.
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Tom Martin has long dreamed of a Brown County children’s advocacy center. But as government budgets contract and individual giving declines, Martin of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin turned to collaboration with other agencies and nonprofits to create a center where children can discuss their abuse and receive treatment. Currently in cases of suspected abuse, children have to repeat their abuse stories several times in different environments and may undergo multiple medical exams, which adds to their stress.
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Today’s economic woes may cause local executives more than their fair share of 12-hour-plus work days, plenty of sleepless nights, bouts with migraine headaches and/or indigestion and – often – a regrettable work/life imbalance.

But here in Northeast Wisconsin, one impact that apparently has yet to be experienced by hard-working senior managers is the erosion of well-deserved paid time off. Often a component of paid time off benefit packages, vacations are seemingly being taken by executives without worry, according to area senior managers and human resources professionals alike.
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Northeast Wisconsin’s economy may be on the rebound, according to a survey of business owners and chief executive officers.

The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse survey measures current economic conditions compared to three months ago as well as what business leaders think will happen in the coming three months. At the end of the first quarter of 2009, the survey recorded an 80.5 score – up from its all-time low of 63.8 recorded at the end of 2008. A score of 100 is considered neutral so anything below 100 means there are more negative views than positive when it comes to the economy.
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It’s something everyone wants to know: When is the economy going to turn the corner? While they don’t have crystal balls, economists are often the ones we turn to in times like this to find out when the economy will start humming along again. Unfortunately, economists don’t have the answers, but they can share their expertise on what indicators to keep an eye on to see where the economy is going.
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Since the recent agreement by the Wisconsin legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle to ban smoking statewide in all workplaces – including bars and restaurants – on July 5, 2010, interest in workplace smoking cessation programs is likely to light up.

There’s an attractive business case for persuading workers to give up tobacco – lower health care costs, higher productivity, reduced absenteeism, according to Geraldine H Read More...

When Oprah Winfrey joined Twitter in April, many observers saw it as a watershed moment for the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Pundits began theorizing Twitter and its social media siblings – LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook – were poised to change the way businesses and individuals communicate.

That assessment may be premature, at least in Northeast Wisconsin. A recent survey by Leonard & Finco Inc. found that 44 percent of area business and community professionals were not engaged in any form of social media. Although businesses aren’t there yet, they are curious, says Susan Finco, owner and president of the Green Bay public relations firm.
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Obstacles to business success are everywhere today. Nobody has all the answers – but successful leaders in the New North have found innovative ways to profit and thrive.

To share the best advice with our business-to-business readers, Insight magazine has teamed up with Innovationedge to launch InForum: A conversation on a provocative topic designed to connect you with thought leaders for insight on innovative ideas that work.
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When “Wicked” rolled into the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in February, marketing director Tara Fletcher used social networks to get the word out about the hit Broadway musical and to keep the buzz going.

As part of the P.A.C.’s comprehensive marketing campaign, Fletcher utilized Facebook and Twitter to reach customers and keep them up-to-date on all things “Wicked.” For example, she used the center’s Facebook fan page to promote a special cabaret event and used Twitter to send out links to media coverage and fans’ thoughts on the show to the center’s followers.
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