JUNEAU COUNTY, WISCONSIN USA - I&E Club Blog

October, 2014 - I&E Club Meeting....Getting Your Product/Prototype Manufactured

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:24:42 GMT

Presented by Northwest Wisconsin Manufacturing Outreach Center UW-Stout

Not only a “How To” on manufacturing but also learn of resources that can help you design and produce a prototype

Bring your Questions

Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way

NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.

Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date:     Thursday Oct 30th, 2014

Time:     5:30 PM Social Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts

Location:    Lemonweir Valley Telecom building, 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation: Getting a product/prototype engineered/designed and manufactured

Speaker: Paul Easterday has over 22 years of progressive engineering and manufacturing management experience ranging from family owned business to multi-billion dollar companies. As a manufacturing engineer and production manager, Paul supervised the implementation of Lean, Demand Flow Manufacturing, Just in Time, Project Management and Six Sigma methodologies. Paul is trained and is experienced with Safety Leadership, Contract Administration, Interactive Management, Cooperative Decision Making, Applied Ergonomics, and Strategic Planning. With over 27 years in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, Paul has a wealth of knowledge in organizational behavior and management.

Paul’s work as a Six Sigma Black Belt required him to lead quality, productivity, and delivery projects as well as Kaizen, 5S, and rapid improvement events. He has over 20 years resolving quality issues and directing a staff in an ISO 9001:2008 environment. He has experience in small and large group instruction from Six Sigma Green Belt to business communications to operational leadership.

Everyone is invited to join us at the CLUB!

You never know when you will run into that something or someone that helps you succeed!

For further information please contact: Terry Whipple @ 608-427-2070

“Finding out if Your Idea has a Chance”

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 14:02:58 GMT

Date:        Thursday, July 31st, 2014

Time:       5:30pm Networking 6:00pm Presentation Starts

Location: Lemonweir Valley Telecom building (LYNXX),

                   127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation:

Come find out the vast resources that are available to you via the WI Innovation Service Center. If you would like to know whether your idea has a chance, who your competition would be, who would be the best distributors or even who would most likely want to license your idea, YOU need to listen to Bud Gayhart talk about the services the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center has to offer.

Speaker:

As the Director of the Center for Innovation and Business Development, Ronald “Bud” Gayhart oversees the UW-Whitewater Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center (WISC). As WISC director, Bud provides oversight for WISC market research projects acting as a resource for proposal development and a leader for innovation within the center. Bud has spurred the development of new higher-level research products offered by WISC in response to changes in the business climate. Part of his insight as director comes from his personal experience as a former business owner who has developed new products and brought them to market. The manufacturing company Bud owned developed several new products under his direction and contracted with WISC for New Product Assessment reviews to provide data for informed decision making.

Everyone is invited to join us at the CLUB!

You never know when you will run into that something or someone that helps you succeed!

For further information please contact: Terry Whipple @ 608-427-2070

Need Help Designing, Prototyping and Manufacturing Your Idea? Maybe Assessing or Marketing?

Wed, 11 Jun 2014 12:51:33 GMT

Check out the Stout FAB LAB
Presented by Randy Hulke, Director for the UW Stout Fab Lab

Also, Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way
NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.
Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date: Thursday June 26th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts
Location: Lemonweir Valley Telephone building, 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation:
Bringing a product to market is fraught with challenges! Most of the time you have little room or funding for mistakes to happen. Come and learn how the Discovery Center Fab Lab http://www.uwstout.edu/discoverycenter/upload/NewProductDevelopment.pdf is a workshop for creative, high-tech innovators and people who have a need to design, prototype and build things. The Fab Lab provides access to a variety of tools, including computer-aided design and desktop manufacturing technologies, to help bring your idea to life.They can also help you in: Feasibility Assessment, Product Engineering, Product Evaluation, Access to Patent Licensing and Assess to Marketing Support!

Speaker: Randall Hulke - MBA, Executive Director - Applied Research and Technology Transfer, Executive Director - UW Stout Discovery CenterMBA Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.
Responsible for providing leadership and direction to UW Stout’s cross-disciplinary applied research and technology transfer enterprise, including the Discovery Center.

Office: 715 232-5024 Email: hulke@uwstout.edu

You never know when you will run into that something or someone that helps you succeed! For further information please contact: Terry Whipple @ 608-427-2070

Internet Marketing- Doing it Right!

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 15:07:31 GMT

Presentation by Jeremy Oler of Trust Ladder Internet Marketing

Also, Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way

NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.

Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date:             Thursday, April 24th, 2014

Time:             5:30 PM Social Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts

Location:      Lemonweir Valley Telecom building (LYNXX), 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation:

Come learn about what the current trends are and what's working now in internet marketing. Whether you run a business, sell a product, or direct a non-profit. Consumers need to find you and internet marketing is becoming more and more complex and competitive. So knowing what should be focused on is very important. So you don't waste your marketing dollars and time. Should you be running a PPC campaign? Writing a Blog? Investing in Email Marketing? Building a Social Media presence? Building reviews and testimonials? Leveraging LinkedIn? Using direct mail? Doing Outbound or Inbound marketing? Using Telemarketers? Building up Citations? Running an SEO campaign? Wait! Wait! Wait! What does half of that stuff mean??? In this informative talk find out what others are having success with in their online marketing and where you should start.

Speaker:

Before becoming the Director of "Trust Ladder Internet Marketing in 2013 Jeremy Oler ran 3 other businesses and was a consultant to businesses in the telecommunications and financial services fields and has over 20 years experiences as an consultant, entrepreneur and business owner. Jeremy got his start as a business owner at the age of 22 when he started "Custom Communications". A telecommunications company that installed computer and phone technology for small businesses and local governments. After selling that business, Jeremy's second endeavor was "New Path Financial Educators" a company with the goal of educating families about money and showing them how to create a financial plan. After 15 years in the financial services industry Jeremy retired last year to start in his newest challenge as Director of "Trust Ladder Internet Marketing" which is a company designed to help business owners navigate and succeed at marketing their company or product online.

You never know when you will run into that something or someone that helps you succeed!

March 27th, 2014 I&E Club - Selling into the NEW ECONOMY

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 20:42:49 GMT

Presented by syndicated talk show host Josh Tolley
Josh is ranked one of the top 100 business trainers in the world!

Also, Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way

NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.
Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date: Thursday March 27th, 2014

Time: 5:30 PM Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts

Location: Lemonweir Valley Telephone building, 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas, WI

Presentation:
Starting a business or bringing a product to market is fraught with challenges! Most of the time, you have little room or funding for mistakes to happen. Josh will be the special guest speaker at the March 27th Inventors and Entrepreneurs meeting and will be addressing how we are now in a new type of economy...therefore, if you want to succeed……. you have to know how things have changed and learn the new ways to market your product or service.

Speaker:
Josh Tolley is a syndicated radio talk show host with listeners in all fifty states and one hundred and fifty nations. He has been seen on national and international television talking about subjects ranging from business to politics. His book, “Quit Your Job or Die: Discover the Importance of Self-Employment” has changed lives, and he is ranked as one of the Top 100 business trainers in the world. As a leading business/behavioral strategist he has developed systems which are revolutionizing human interaction.

For well over a decade now Josh Tolley has been helping businesses from start-ups to major corporations make the adjustments to move from failing to successful. To quote one of Josh’s clients, “I have been to the ‘experts’ like Tony Robbins, I have had a professional business coach for over a year, and I am part of a national franchise organization; I have learned more about business and success from Josh in two weeks than I have from I have from all the previously mentioned.”

You never know when you will run into that something or someone that helps you succeed!

For further information please contact: Terry Whipple @ 608-427-2070

January 30th, 2014 I&E Club

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:06:47 GMT

Using Social Media to Improve Your Web Site Performance

By Dan Hellman

Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way

NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.

Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date:             Thursday January 30th, 2014

Time:             5:30 PM Social Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts

Location:      Lemonweir Valley Telecom building, 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation: Hear how you can Drive traffic to your web site and improve your search ranking using many of the simple social media tools free for the taking.

Speaker: "Dan Hellman has a law degree in the patents field but has also been studying internet marketing and online product launches for the last decade. Dan will show you how to utilize simple social media products to vastly improve the effectiveness of your web marketing. Anything can happen with on-line marketing…..you may even go viral!!

Dan will also give you some of the fundamentals of internet marketing and tell you the pitfalls you need to avoid if you are to have success selling your product online.

Finally, you will learn the secret that separates the winners from the losers - how to implement everything you learn and actually get it done."

Everyone is invited to join us at the CLUB!

You never know when you will run into that something or someone that helps you succeed!

For further information please contact: Terry Whipple @ 608-427-2070

November 21st, 2013- I&E Club Meeting/Christmas Party

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 13:10:56 GMT

The Kwik Trip Story
By John McHugh, Manager of Corp Communications
Also hear how you can approach Kwik Trip with ideas of service or product

Feel free to bring treats for social networking time!

Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way
NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards.

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.
Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date:            Thursday November 21, 2013
Time:            5:30 PM Social Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts
Location:      Lemonweir Valley Telecom building, 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation:    Hear the fantastic story of how Kwik Trip went from a single humble convenience store to over 400 stores with over 10,000 coworkers. You will also hear how best to approach Kwik Trip with new ideas or services.

Speaker: John McHugh is the Manager of Corporate Communications, Leadership Development, and Training for Kwik Trip, Inc., based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In his role at Kwik Trip he has helped the company achieve recognition as a Top Workplace as listed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Des Moines Register. In 2013, Kwik Trip was named #21 on the list of national Top Workplaces.
Prior to joining Kwik Trip in 2004, John was an instructor and principal at Aquinas High School in La Crosse. He holds degrees from the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. John is President of the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television, Vice President of the Franciscan Spirituality Center and sits on the Boards of the Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, the Seven Rivers Alliance for Economic Development and the La Crosse Compassion Project.

His enjoyment in giving keynote addresses on a variety of topics has brought him throughout the United States, Ireland, and Italy. He and his wife Maggie enjoy living at their log home near Sparta, Wisconsin.

October 31st, 2013 I&E Club Meeting

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 20:44:50 GMT

Getting Your Product/Prototype Manufactured
Presented by Northwest Wisconsin  Manufacturing Outreach Center UW-Stout

Not only a “How To” on manufacturing but also learn of resources that can help you
design and produce a prototype

Bring your Questions

Meet with our many other Resources that can help you along the way
NETWORKING & Hors d'oeuvres afterwards

The “I&E Club” invites businesses and the public to join them at their next meeting.

Come, Network with like-minded people and learn from each other.

Date:             Thursday Oct 31st, 2013
Time:             5:30 PM Social Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts
Location:      Lemonweir Valley Telecom building, 127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas

Presentation: Getting a product/prototype engineered/designed and manufactured

Speaker:
Paul Easterday has over 22 years of progressive engineering and
manufacturing management experience ranging from family owned business to
multi-billion dollar companies. As a manufacturing engineer and production
manager, Paul supervised the implementation of Lean, Demand Flow Manufacturing,
Just in Time, Project Management and Six Sigma methodologies. Paul is
trained and is experienced with Safety Leadership, Contract Administration,
Interactive Management, Cooperative Decision Making, Applied Ergonomics, and
Strategic Planning. With over 27 years in the Wisconsin Army National
Guard, Paul has a wealth of knowledge in organizational behavior and
management.

Paul’s work as a Six Sigma Black Belt required him to lead quality,
productivity, and delivery projects as well as Kaizen, 5S, and rapid improvement
events. He has over 20 years resolving quality issues and directing a
staff in an ISO 9001:2008 environment. He has experience in small and
large group instruction from Six Sigma Green Belt to business communications to
operational leadership.

The Value of Innovation and the Role of the I&E Club in the Local Community

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 20:35:20 GMT

Guest Column from Terry Whipple, Executive Director, Juneau County Economic Development Corporation
-     Creator, I&E Club model for rural economic development
-     Speaker, inaugural meeting of the Evansville Area Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club
-     Keynote Speaker, 2008 Evansville Economic Development Summit

When I stepped into the role of helping Juneau County’s economy, I took
a birds-eye view of what was happening in the rural community economy as well as
workforce trends. What I saw was the following: The risks and rewards of
entrepreneurialism were being downplayed; in fact, the community culture
supporting entrepreneurialism had diminished to the point where even the
exploration of ideas was considered dangerous. Failure at any step of the
business building process was considered so traumatic that support for budding
innovators and entrepreneurs was scarce.

At the same time, there were noticeable changes within our communities
and our economies, especially in rural areas. Overall, things were speeding up.
New innovations, productivity gains, automation, off-shoring and obsolescence
were quickly transforming America into a country that needed fewer and fewer
employees, especially those in low skilled labor. Many low skilled labor jobs
had disappeared altogether.

To address these changes, Juneau County formed the first Inventors
& Entrepreneurs (I&E) Club in 2003. Our goal was not necessarily to
create new businesses or jobs but to bring forward a culture that supported and
encouraged the exploration of ideas within our communities, thus helping to
build a base of people who knew how to explore these ideas. If we were
successful, we knew new businesses and jobs would follow suit.

The I&E Club concept was a grassroots movement that was open to any
community to copy or adjust as it saw fit. At one point, over 40 I&E clubs
existed in Wisconsin and an unknown number had cropped up in the Midwest.

There was never a central “I&E Club command” or any formal
organizational structure; as a result, many I&E clubs formed and transformed
on their own. Many I&E clubs became successful. However, as their founders
or champions moved on, many I&E programs ceased to exist except in name
only, as a light network of like-minded individuals. Still, about a dozen
Wisconsin I&E clubs have flourished. The Juneau County I&E Club is one
of these clubs and continues to go strong in its 11th year, hosting 25-75
attendees each month.

I became associated with Evansville via Judy Whalen, who was hired by
Evansville to lead the community through its Economic Development Plan. Judy had
been to a number of Juneau County I&E Club meetings and really understood
the need for grassroots level entrepreneurial support. Judy also introduced me
to another person that really got it- that person was Mayor Sandy Decker. Mayor
Decker invited me to speak at the Economic Development Summit and to facilitate
the first Evansville Area I&E Club meeting later on.

The first Evansville I&E Club meeting was a fantastic and energetic
event. Our meeting room was filled with a diverse array of individuals, which is
great because diversity propagates the development of ideas. In fact, it is only
when you have inventors, businesspeople, artists, investors, manufacturers and
entrepreneurial resources that you attain an entrepreneurial culture.

I commend Evansville for not only understanding the forces of economic
change but for moving aggressively to energize its citizens to step out and
innovate, create, take risks and fail, and finally, to succeed.
The future does not belong to those who are the strongest or the smartest
but to those who are best able to adapt.

Finally, being successful as an entrepreneur is a lot like the lottery:
You can’t win if you don’t play. The residents of Evansville are out there
playing- and that’s a great thing!

I&E Club Meeting, 5:30 pm on 6-27-13

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:56:42 GMT

Hope to see you at our Annual I&E Club BBQ meeting on the 29th of August. Bill McHenry will be speaking on how to take an idea and bring it to market....and how best to introduce it to the world.

Date: Thursday, August 29th
Time: 5:30 PM Social Networking – 6:00 PM Presentation Starts
Location: Lemonweir Valley Telecom building (LYNXX),
127 Hwy 12/16, Camp Douglas, WI