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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m J u l y 2 0 14 • I nsIgh t | 13 charging stations within the next several months. e Bay Breeze resort and the high Point Inn, both in ephraim, and the Village of egg harbor have all agreed to install charging stations in the coming months. e dCVB is actively recruiting other local businesses and communities to install charging stations, and will be creating a map and special page at doorCounty.com to update charging station locations. at the Bay Breeze resort, the plan is to have the charging station installed and ready for the start of the 2015 tourism season, says rachel Willems, director of operations and marketing. e stations are part of the resort's commitment to green tourism. "It's a real complement to our green initiatives," Willems says, noting the resort is certified by the state's "travel green Wisconsin" program, which promotes sustainable green practices in the tourism industry. While most vehicle charging currently takes place at home, Moore says the economics of installing and sponsoring a charging station tend to be positive for business owners. "e people that tend to buy these vehicles are more affluent and make good customers," he says. "Plus, it very logically fits into any sustainability commitment, and that is important to younger consumers." Promoting sustainable and ecotourism practices was also one of the drivers for the dCVB when it initiated the effort to build a network of charging stations in the county. ere are 46 businesses, parks and attractions in door County certified as "travel green Wisconsin." "ere are times when we, as tourism catalysts, are called upon to be leaders and visionaries and develop new and exciting opportunities in tourism development," says Jack Moneypenny, president and Ceo of the dCVB. "We are very excited to spearhead this initiative and make door County a leader." regional roundup u p f r o n t For links to economic development groups in the New North, visit www.thenewnorth.com/partners Development in the New North B y S e a n P. J o h n s o n » HigHWAy 41 CORRiDOR Brown, Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac Counties Fond du Lac County sees strong job growth in 2013 e digital age has fueled a red hot job market in fond du lac. In the latest job growth rankings published by newgeography, fond du lac ranked 174th out of 398 metro areas in the nation. at's an improvement of 179 places from the county's 2013 ranking. among similar- sized metro areas, fond du lac County jumped 102 spots, from 202 to 100. leading the way was the information technology sector, which grew at a brisk 12.5 percent, giving the county a ranking of 13 out of 317 metro areas measured. "It was a bit of a surprise, but when you think about it, the It sector is involved with just about every other sector, so there are a lot of opportunities," says steve r. Jenkins, president of the fond du lac County economic development Corporation. overall, Jenkins says the major companies in the county have reported business is coming in at a brisk pace. some sectors have not returned to pre-recession levels, but Jenkins says they are keeping busy enough that he sometimes has trouble getting through to them. of course, there are potential pitfalls on the horizon with a lot of unknowns related to the affordable Care act and potential emission regulations that could affect energy prices. But, Jenkins says the business base has shown its resilience the past several years. "ey've learned to work lean," he says. "We can't quit. We've got to keep moving forward." Aver Informatics raises $8.5 million in funding some major investors are betting big on aver Informatics. e green Bay area-based company, creators of a data management platform that simplifies health care reimbursement, recently received $8.5 million in series a funding from drive Capital and ge Ventures. e new funding will be used to accelerate growth, as well as expand aver Informatics' engineering and sales teams. e financing was announced as the company also landed two more clients for its soware services: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Molina healthcare. With the capital infusion, aver Informatics will be positioned to "transform the health care reimbursement process, providing higher quality care to patients at a substantially lower cost to payers," says kurt Brenkus, founder and Ceo. aver creates tools that can analyze vast amounts of data in a client's current claims systems and compartmentalize patient-care services into bundled payments. ese bundles, known as "episodes of care," create standard protocols for patient treatment and can reduce the delivery of unnecessary, expensive services. By transforming the "fee for service" system into an "episodic care" system, aver cuts costs for insurance companies, improves efficiency for medical providers and simplifies the payment process for patients. Implementing bundled payments using existing claims systems infrastructures used to take years, but aver's solution significantly shortens the time to weeks, also saving clients money. [continued ] »