BizNews Greater La Crosse with Vicki Markussen

Many local boards are filled with individuals who care about our community — many of them are current or retired business leaders. In today’s spotlight, we focus on a West Salem dad with young kids, who is literally blazing trails by being heavily involved in the Outdoor Recreation Alliance, as it buys a large parcel of land on the outskirts of La Crosse. Stephen Cohen, a financial advisor with Edward Jones in West Salem, brings the biking fun to West Salem with a new trail-head and bike park. Then he even touches on how his board involvement with Explore La Crosse helps him monitor how the remaining room tax dollars for West Salem get spent. 

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Every state has regions recognized by the federal government - the Economic Development Agency (EDA) - to help communities plan and to help businesses grow. On this episode, Jon Bingol, the head of Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission for western Wisconsin’s nine counties, joins. Bingol talks about how plans that impact how cities grow, handle hazardous situations and plan, including recreation. Bingol also helped hand more than 560 businesses a $10,000 check to put them into vacant commercial space to stimulate the economy as the pandemic eased. He talks about The Upper Midwest Manufacturing Alliance or TUMMA’s work to encourage people to get employed in manufacturing. We also learn about Revolving Loan Funds available to help businesses that just can’t get the final financing they need – called gap funding — and how they may be able to apply for these loans that can fill that gap. Once repaid, they get loaned to the next company. These are all funded with your taxpayer dollars. Listen in to learn more.

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The building trades have said for years that they need more workers. Now the shortage is impacting our ability to get service for electrical, plumbing, remodeling and more. The La Crosse Area Builders Association (LABA) is trying something new. On April 18, it is launching “Build My Future,” which is an interactive way for students to engage with their possible career. LABA volunteer Adam Kirschner with Energyline and the Builders Association’s Executive Officer Tena Bailey discussed their work getting students to consider pursuing a well-paying, low-to-no debt career path in the trades. 

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Roxanne Aubrey and Rachel McFarland join BizCast Greater La Crosse to talk about their newest in a series of publications, this one called Demystifying City Governments, which was released Thursday. The Ope! Publishing owners started about two years ago, putting out small magazines named Zines. Their newest series tries to help people engage with their government. Aubrey and McFarland sat down with host Vicki Markussen to talk about how they hope to grow these self-published booklets. Find the Demystifying City Governments zine at their ope.pub website or any of these places: 608 Brewing Co., Another Green World, Art Pop, Blue Bird Bakery, Bodega, Clocks of Main , Dan’s Shoe Repair, FJ Robers Library on French Island, Global Grounds, Gold Heart Tatoo, Grounded, Hope Restores, J’s Café, Kroners, Larson’s General, Main Library, Pearl Street Books, Pearl Street Brewery, Peoples Food Co-op, Planted Parenthood, REACH Center, Riviera Salon, Root Note, Turtle Stack, Wrench and Roll Bike Shop, as well as the high schools and UW-La Crosse.

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The Wall Street Journal named La Crosse an emerging market for affordable housing – not based on what it has – but on the conditions for affordability. This didn’t surprise Damon Olson, President of the La Crosse Area Realtors Association and guest. Olson discusses how the housing market is doing – average sale price and how easy or hard it is to buy right now. He also talks about what’s happening with commercial real estate and how larger markets are leading the way on how space is getting repurposed. 

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Fun Fur Pets owner Eve Molzhon joins, the same week she opened her second location in Greater La Crosse – called Pawsome Pet Country Club. Molzhon is a once cellphone salesperson, turned West Salem print shop owner, who got an idea for opening a doggy daycare. Molzhon listened to customers to keep expanding her services and is still passionate about the rewards of picking up dog, cat, ferret, and even parrot poo all day because it allows her to give back to the community and those pets. 

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Rivoli owners, Clara and Jonathan Gelatt join Bizcast.

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Sam Bachmeier, Community & Economic Development Specialist with La Crosse County joins. Sam is in charge of helping businesses and communities grow through programs. The county’s newest program is an acquisition and demolition grant that will pay you money to tear down a building, and use funds to pay for part of the rebuilding, as long as it contains a residential component. Programs include funds for microloans that may cover gaps in financing to get your business going, money available if you are adding jobs, and funds if you want to take your businesses into expanded hours, offer new products and other expansion efforts. 

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Brilliant Bodywork Medspa owner Stephanie Andersen-Stevens joins to share why she chose to relocate to La Crosse and how her disability is inspiration for helping others, as she strives to become the area’s premier medspa. Andersen-Stevens talks about creating a culture where people feel safe talking about their imperfections and trust they’re getting the right care. Plus, learn why the Medspa moved to La Crosse — how Andersen-Stevens took it from a side-hustle business, while working a full time job, to a company that keeps growing. They’re now located just south of La Crosse’s City Hall in a building some remember as the former County offices and courthouse. The owners used a grant program the State of Wisconsin, made available as part of its American Rescue Plan Act funding, to get businesses into empty offices and storefronts.

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La Crosse Regional Airport director Ian Turner joins. The airport is getting an additional flight to Chicago and Delta is promising larger planes. Turner says this should help with pent-up demand and how this is a bright spot, after numbers in November showed 20,000 fewer people getting on planes in La Crosse. Turner also discusses the pilot shortage and the TSA Precheck service enrollment happening in May. 

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