Profile: Central Wisconsin

On this episode of Profile, Michael and I visit with Ashley Schroeder, owner and wellness guide for the Garden, a wellness club that just opened in Plover. Ashley accrued years of experience working in sales, marketing, hospitality, fitness and event planning.  She has wrapped all of this together to now venture out to start a new business here in central Wisconsin.  We’ll learn from Ashley how the Garden is more than just a place to work out.  It’s a place for community to grow and be well together.  This podcast is a little different, because typically we talk to well established companies.  We recorded this episode just four days after they opened. It’s a rare opportunity to see into the first stage of a business that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.  To hear the story of how the Garden came to be and where it’s going, here’s Ashley.

www.mstc.edu
www.portagecountybiz.com
www.thegarden.life

www.mstc.edu/apply
www.mstc.edu/programs/Health-Wellness-Promotion
www.mstc.edu/programs/Entrepreneurship

www.mstc.edu/podcast

On this episode of Profile, Michael and I visit with Sarah Jo More, owner of The Main Grain Bakery.  Sarah Jo first started baking with a couple of friends out of second story apartment, delivering a weekly supply of sourdough bread to an email list of friends and family.  Eventually, they took the leap and opened a commercial bakery to success that surprised even Sarah Jo.  The Main Grain has now become a Stevens Point staple and synonymous with delicious and innovative baked goods. Sarah Jo also takes us beyond the Main Grain’s downtown location to share some developments with the Central City Market and how a group of entrepreneurs are revitalizing and preserving an historic building in Stevens Point.

To hear more of the story of the Main Grain Bakery, here’s Sarah Jo.

www.mstc.edu
www.portagecountybiz.com
www.maingrainbakery.com

www.mstc.edu/apply
www.mstc.edu/programs
www.mstc.edu/programs/culinary-arts

www.mstc.edu/podcast

Welcome to Profile: Central Wisconsin, a podcast about the origins of the organizations that make our community thrive.   

In early November, co-host Todd Kuckkahn resigned from the Portage County Business Council to embark on a new adventure.  On this episode of Profile, we have something special: two co-hosts and two guests.  First, Todd and I will interview the new Executive Director of the Portage County Business Council, Michael Witte.  We learn, of Michael broad range of experiences that have made him uniquely equipped to take the helm at the business council.

Then, tables are turned and Todd and Michael switch places.  Michael and I get the pleasure of learning about Todd’s journey to Central Wisconsin and where his path leads him next.  He has been a tremendous asset to the Business Council and will be sure continue to do great things.

To tell us about the recent past and future of the Portage County Business Council, here are Michael and Todd. 

www.mstc.edu/podcast
www.mstc.edu/partner
www.portagecountybiz.com
www.toddkuckkahn.com

www.mstc.edu/podcast

On this episode of Profile, Todd and I visit with Bill Fonti, CEO of Furniture and ApplianceMart.

Hold on, because Bill is a whirlwind.  He has a relentless commitment to work and life.  He started learning at an early age, first by watching his father operate an appliance store in Madison and later by picking up whatever work he could find as a teenager.  This work ethic has carried him through life and helped to propel Furniture and ApplianceMart to its current successful peak as one of the top retailers in the state. Bill also shares with us how his father, Vince Sr., had the vision to bring a store to Stevens Point and how this family business has grown throughout Wisconsin.  You’ll hear a story of hard work, commitment to family and community, and how these efforts can really yield results. But you’ll also hear that it’s not always about effort, but also intent. Bill share’s how they have set employee personal development as a benefit and how it has helped them to grow.  

www.mstc.edu/podcast
www.portagecountybiz.com
www.furnitureappliancemart.com

To learn more about the Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering Technology and Apprenticeship Center, visit:
www.mstc.edu/partner

www.mstc.edu/podcast

Todd and I had the great pleasure to interview Joe Kinsella, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Pointe Precision, a local machine shop with a global reach.  They make precision components to the tightest tolerances imaginable for the aerospace and medical industries.  Mission critical and life critical.  While they are now well established, the origin story of Pointe Precision is really one of hope and rebirth.  Joe was a manager a local manufacturing facility at a time when that organization decided to relocate out of state.  I’m sure you’ve heard this type of story before.  When the business leaves, it takes with it the jobs and leaves behind an empty building.  However, to keep the jobs local, Joe formed a new ownership group to buy all the manufacturing equipment and start a new company.  At that time, he saved 94 jobs.  Since it’s start, Pointe Precision and its leadership have been committed to this community.  Joe will tell this story and more.

www.mstc.edu/podcast
www.pointeprecision.com

To learn about the Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering Technology and Apprenticeship Center visit:
www.mstc.edu/partner

www.mstc.edu/podcast

On this episode of Profile, Todd and I visit with Scott Groholski, president and owner of Point of Beginning, a civil engineering, land surveying and landscape architectural firm.  They’re the team you call when you want to find out where and how to locate your project.  You’ve seen them out in open fields and roadways with their bright yellow vests and equipment mounted on tripods.  They have worked on everything from Heartland Farms Field in Amherst to Lambeau Field in Green Bay.  We’ll learn how Scott’s professional journey started at Mid-State Technical College where he both studied and played on the basketball team.  His love of sports has continued to influence his professional portfolio and how he manages the Point of Beginning team. 

www.mstc.edu/podcast
www.pobonline.com
www.portagecountybiz.com

To find out how to contribute: 
www.mstc.edu/partner

To enroll today:
www.mstc.edu/registertoday

www.mstc.edu/podcast

Welcome to Season 2 of Profile: Central Wisconsin!  We kick off this season with an interview with Les Dobbe,  Director of Business Development at Lineage Logistics, a cold storage and distribution center.

Les is an entrepreneur and dealmaker, but really, he’s a solutions guy. He figures out what you want, how much you need, where to get it from, when you need it, how to get it to you and where to put it. This is the model of traditional logistics.  You have someone who knows someone who knows someone else, and these personal connections make the world turn.  However, this is not the future of logistics.  Les peels back the curtain of his giant distribution center to reveal how high-tech data analytics and information are now the new driving force for innovation in this industry.  Lineage Logistics is more than just a big cold box.  They leverage their large network to find the most efficient path from producers to consumers.  We had no idea how interesting material handling and distribution could be, so this interview is a little longer than normal. Trust me, it’s worth it.

www.mstc.edu
www.portagecountybiz.com
https://www.lineagelogistics.com/facilities/stevens-point

www.mstc.edu/podcast

Todd and I have the opportunity to visit with Jason Blenker, President of Off-Site Construction Solutions for Drexel Building Supply and former co-owner and president of Blenker Building Systems.  Just after college, Jason was recruited to work for one of the country’s largest home builders. After several years, he decided to return to rural Wisconsin to join the family business. Along with his parents and two brothers, they grew a traditional construction contractor into a family of 5 separate companies, each providing a unique solution to the building industry.  However, what really set them apart was their novel approach to construction. They specialized in a form of off-site construction, where they would build the walls in a factory and then ship the completed walls and components to the job-site where they would assemble the pieces in short order. This expedited the construction process and promoted efficiency of time and materials.   Last year, the manufacturing arm of Blenker Companies, Blenker Building Systems, merged with Drexel Building Supply to develop an even more diverse portfolio of building solutions.  We’ll learn about the past and future of these two great local businesses. To share the stories of both Blenker and Drexel, here’s Jason.

www.mstc.edu/podcast

On this episode of Profile, Todd and I visit with Gautam Malik, Chief Operating Officer of local innovative manufacturer Gamber-Johnson.  Gautam is not your typical COO. Not because he was born in India and immigrated to the United States to live the American dream and not because he manages an organization that managed to shift from making wooden furniture to rugged mounting systems for high tech equipment, but because he has a unique and fresh take on how operations should be managed. You’ll hear how Gamber-Johnson has used facilitated collaboration and communication by building an office with no offices and no departments. This has allowed them to become a nimble, dynamic organization.  A company that is poised for global growth and one that we are fortunate to have headquartered right here in Central Wisconsin. 

www.mstc.edu/podcast

 On this episode of Profile, Todd and I are have the pleasure to be joined by two members of the Wysocki family; enterprising founder, Louis, and his business savvy son and the current CEO, Russell.

 As always, this episode starts with some history, but given the privileged opportunity to interview Louie, we take a deeper dive into some history of our community.  He shares how the Wysocki family went from plowing a 50 acre field with a car to now tending over to 25,000 acres with high-tech precision equipment. Louis’ efforts not only grew the family farm, but empowered the greater distribution of Wisconsin potatoes throughout the country. Because of his leadership roles in numerous trade organizations, Louis was recently recognized as one of the 50 most innovative and influential individuals in the industry by Potato Grower Magazine.

 The Wysocki Family of Companies is more than just a produce farm.  They also include a separate entity for storage, processing and packaging, called Paragon Potato Farms, and one for sales and marketing called RPE.  As the current CEO, Russell will share with us his vision for the future and how they plan to use water conservation and solar energy to take a leading role in sustainable operations.

This is surely not an episode to miss.  

www.mstc.edu/podcast