BizNews Greater La Crosse with Vicki Markussen

Apprenticeships used to be for the trades - carpentry, electricians, plumbers. Today there’s  more than 11 career fields available to students. CESA #4 provides many services to more than 26 school districts in Western Wisconsin. Amanda Langrehr, with CESA #4, joins to discuss:

• The many ways students can explorer careers
• What fields apprenticeships can be in
• What’s involved in apprenticeships
• How parents can direct their children to career options

You will have a better idea of how students can begin working in their career at an early age - even if they rule it out. The experience teaches both them and their employer - even if it’s that they don't’ want to pursue that path after all.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first housing endeavor for Nick Roush and wife Mandy was so bad, his mom though he hadn’t seen the inside when he bought it. After spending $60,000 — all on credit cards to fix it — Roush had to tear it down and start over. Roush Rentals has learned a lot in its 25 years of building. It now has 225 successful units. Rouch's philosophy: Find the win-wins for people, the cities he builds in, and his company. In this podcast you’ll hear:

• How they keep young professionals in the area
• How they can build more new homes in La Crosse, helping property taxes and schools
• What goes into developing property over time
• What tools city’s can bring to the table to help build more housing
• Why renting to the unsheltered is tough for property owners

You’ll leave with a better understanding of the risks of developing properties, the vast need for housing, and the opportunities.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Linda’s Bakery is a staple, not just in West Salem, but throughout La Crosse County. They have been baking donuts for 50 years this year – and they even took over from someone else. It’s a local family business with all the stories to go with it. The new co-owner, Bob Anderson joins to talk sweets, health craze, online shopping, wholesale baking and forgetting ingredients mid-baking. Here, you'll learn what has made Linda’s Bakery a memory of generations.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 2 of our conversation with La Crosse Parks, Recreation and Forestry director Jay Odegaard and the role his agency plays in beautifying the city and making it a place where people want to live and visit. 

Here Odegaard talks about:

• Special trees with pods are being planted downtown
• The Pearl Street Walkway should be completed
• The Hatchery, the former Fish Hatchery and Tourism Bureau building in Riverside ark is completing, and
• How the City is repairing its trails

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The City of La Crosse plays a key role in helping those who live here, as well as visitors, have more fun. Jay Odegaard, La Crosse's Parks and Rec director joins. He's the man who heads most of that work. We had so much to talk about with Odegaard that this is just part one of that interview. Here, he talks about:

• Flood cleanup and how it impacted businesses
• New Northside transient dock
• Data shows boaters are coming from many Midwest locations to La Crosse
• The extension of the levy at Riverside Park is expected to bring more boats docking
• How Bass Masters – the Super Bowl of fishing – has brought even more tournaments to town.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason Gilman, owner of JBG Planning, LLC, is the project manager for the River Point District near downtown La Crosse. he joins to talk about how it’s taken 30 years to develop what used to be called the old Mobil oil site — the land that is being developed across from Festival Foods on Rose Street.

In this podcast, you will hear: 

• What’s being built
• How it will get approved
• What it means for La Crosse

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Skinner and Chris Barton, owners of Paulin's Provision, join. The two grew up on the northside of La Crosse, but went on to work at esteemed restaurants in Minneapolis and Seattle. When COVID hit, however, they came back home and launched a business back in the old neighborhood. They bought the Vogue and named it Paulins Provision, a grocery store named after a family member, where they sell shelf-stable food products. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When her business partner’s husband got a job on the West Coast, Tracy Endrizzi found herself owning two businesses in La Crosse — a sassy and snarky gift shop, plus her original art studio for people to make customized gifts and art. Tracy joins, and you’ll learn how she and her partner previously kept reworking how their businesses went together in two small spaces — both knowing something unique was there with the two operating jointly. Add in the expansion during the pandemic to incorporate Tracy’s husband, Joe, now doing glassblowing in preparation for retirement. But the store’s approach to its place in a quiet neighborhood makes it unique. Hear how Tracy successfully created a “third place” that recaptures the feel of friends and neighbors having a place to come together and connect. You’ll hear:

• How she bought a building with no vision yet
• Worked with the city to adapt it
• Changed her business model several times
• Unexpectedly bought her partner's business
• Learned about the cost of buying the wrong products, profit margins and other challenges in retail
• Connects the community
• Finds inspiration
• Helps local businesses

All out of about 600 square feet on 16th & Market Streets in La Crosse.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A continuation of an interview with Inland Packaging owner Mark Glendenning. He is a founder of a group called The Upper Mississippi Manufacturing Association (TUMMA) that unites large and small manufacturers to encourage students to experience and pursue professional careers in manufacturing. It’s not just line workers, it’s engineers, human resources, marketing, and more than 11 different professionals often employed by manufacturers.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you have a lot of customers and that industry begins to shrink, listen to how Inland Packaging in La Crosse identified new markets and grew. Owner Mark Glendenning shares the story of how his grandfather came to purchase what was then a business card and stationery business to how his father created a customer-centric culture and began producing labels for its biggest customer - G. Heileman Brewery. When Mark Glendenning took ownership, he diversified into flexible food products - like cream cheese containers through mergers and acquisitions. This once 70-employee company now employs 420 with locations in Neenah, Wis., and in Pennsylvania. La Crosse, however, remains its headquarters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.