Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/180153
on the web ThedaCare: www.thedacare.org Shawano County Economic Progress Inc.: www.shawanoecondev.org/ Arty's: www.drinkartys.com that will benefit the entire community. "Education and health care are the twin building blocks of any community and having quality health care is an attraction not only to businesses looking to locate in a community, but for families looking for a place to live," she says. The consolidation will also cut ThedaCare's operating expenses by just under $1 million annually and replacing the former hospital will help save millions of dollars in the years to come in maintenance and energy costs. "We will be able to take those savings and put them back in to improve patient care," Erdmann says. The new hospital is expected to open in 2015 and ThedaCare and the City of Shawano are working together to develop a plan for the current hospital property. ThedaCare isn't the only Shawano business expanding. Cooperative Resources International (CRI) recently expanded its presence in the city with the opening of a new distribution center housed in the former Schmidt Lumber building. When it's at capacity, CRI will store up to 8 million units of dairy and cattle semen in the facility, says Terri Dallas, CRI vice president of information and public relations. CRI is a cooperative organization focused on improving the health of dairy herds using artificial insemination. The business employs 1,400 employees, including 170 in Shawano. The company opted to open the new warehouse instead of expanding a distribution center in Tiffin, Ohio. Dallas says the new facility will add up to seven jobs. w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m Courtesy of Art y's Waupaca County Economic Development Corporation: www.wcedc.org Arty's, an Old Fashioned Sweet-in-a-bottle company in Clintonville, is in full expansion mode because of assistance from the city and from a Waupaca County revolving loan fund. Waupaca County economic development officials hope to help more start-ups and small businesses succeed by using the funds. Wisconsin Film & Bag also recently put the finishing touches on its Riopelle-Bush Recycling Center. The new facility will be used to recycle polyethylene film — the type of plastic wrapped around pallets of products to hold them together. The company spent the last few years developing a process to recycle the plastic. Wisconsin Film & Bag spent about $8.5 million developing the new recycling process and filed a patent for it. The new facility is housed in the former Kamatsu America building, about a half-mile from Wisconsin Film & Bag's other facilities in Shawano. Loan fund helps launch Arty's Old Fashioneds Economic development directors have several tools to help businesses. For David Thiel, director of the Waupaca County Economic Development Corporation, the revolving loan fund is the unsung hero of his arsenal. "While the economy has perked up quite a bit and many businesses are doing well, it is still very hard for start- up and small businesses to get financial help. It's a lot harder than it used to be when it comes to securing funds from lenders," he says. That's where the revolving loan fund comes in. In the revolving funds, money comes from a central fund and is given to multiple businesses. "There have been several businesses that have really benefited from our revolving loan fund and it's been gratifying to see them succeed," Thiel says. One of those businesses, Arty's, is still in its infancy, but is in full expansion mode thanks to the revolving loan fund from Waupaca County and assistance from the City of Clintonville. In the summer of 2012, Arty's hit the market bottling and selling the popular Wisconsin cocktail, the old-fashioned. The company started in an old restaurant in Embarrass before moving to a larger location in Clintonville; it put up $500,000 in sales during its first year. "My nephew and I were sitting on a boat and thinking, 'This would be a nice time for an old-fashioned. [continued] » O c t o b e r 2 013 • Insight | 45