INSIGHT - Business-to-Business Publication

Best Bet Busines Events for Week of June 17

Compiled by Insight — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:23:58 +0000

The Fond du Lac Area Agri-Business Council is hosting Breakfast on the Farm from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 23 at the Diederich family farm, the 3-D Dairy, N8148 Schaefer Road, Malone. Tickets are $6 in advance and are available at the Association of Commerce office and at local banks. The event includes local cheese samples, farm tours, and a large country breakfast.

Tuesday, June 18: The Manitowoc Women In Management chapter is holding its 3rd annual June Social from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 4601 Calumet Ave., Manitowoc. The networking event includes keynote address by Victor Schueller, author of “Mediocre No More,” an appetizer buffet and vendor fair. The event is co-sponsored by Silver Lake College. The cost is $25. To register, visit www.WimiWi.org.

Thursday, June 20: The Young Professionals of Fond du Lac will host a Hot Topic event, “Career Development Part II with Todd Koss” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The workshop includes hands-on learning exercises and a lunch. The cost is $10 for YPF members and $20 for non-members. To register, visit www.fdlac.com.

Tuesday, June 25: The Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce is hosting an ACUniversity class, “Crucial Conversations: How to Talk When the Stakes Are High,” from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Fond du Lac YMCA. The cost is $25 for Association of Commerce members and $35 for general admission. The Speaker will be Sue Roettger of Mid-States Aluminum. Visit www.fdlac.com.

Wednesday, July 10: The UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center will partner with the city of Green Bay and other entities to offer an “Opportunities in Franchising” workshop from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Hyatt on Main, 333 Main St. The event is presented by the International Franchise Association. The cost is $25. Pre-registration is required at www.uwgb.edu/sbdc.

Fox Cities Chamber’s awards luncheon showcases top businesses

Compiled by Insight — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:28:55 +0000

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry showcased the best of the best businesses in several categories at its 2013 Business Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, June 12 at the Radisson Paper Valley hotel in Appleton.

Business of the Year winners are:

Manufacturing: Gardan, Inc.

Service: Cypress Benefit Administrators

Wholesale/Retail: Wilmar Chocolates.

Rising Star winners are:

Manufacturing: Landfill Reduction & Recycling

Service: The Chiropractic Advantage

Wholesale/Retail: Branching Out & Company

The winner of the Corporate Citizen Award or Corporate Leadership Leadership Award is Community First Credit Union.

Company Innovation winner is Fox Valley Technical College.

The winner of the Exemplary Marketing and/or Performance Award is Network Health Plan.

About 450 people attended the awards luncheon, which was a part of the Business Trifecta, which includes the Business Expo and the Business Connection. For more information, visit www.foxcitieschamber.com.

Fox Cities Chamber Business Award nominees announced

Compiled by Insight — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:16:02 +0000

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry has announced nominees for the 2013 business awards, which will be presented during its Business Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, June 12 at the Radisson Paper Valley hotel in Appleton.

Nominees for Business of the Year in the Manufacturing category include Alpha-Prime, Inc., and Gardan, Inc. In the Service category, nominees are Copper Rock Coffee Company, Cypress Benefit Administrators, and Ledgeview Partners. In the Wholesale/Retail category, nominees are United Paper Corporation and Wilmar Chocolates.

In the Rising Star category, nominees in the Manufacturing category are Landfill Reduction & Recycling and Grassroots Machining, LLC. In the Service category, nominees are Basement Repair Specialists LLC, Red Shoes PR and The Chiropractic Advantage. Wholesale/Retail businesses nominated are Branching Out & Company and Safe Ship.

Nominees for the Corporate Citizen Award or Corporate Leadership Leadership Award are Cold Stone Creamery, Community First Credit Union and Great Harvest Bread Co.

In Company Innovation, nominees are Basement Repair Specialists LLC, Carmella’s restaurant and Fox Valley Technical College.

In the Exemplary Marketing and/or Performance Award, nominees are Basement Repair Specialists LLC, Network Health Plan and Insight Publications.

The awards luncheon is a part of the Business Trifecta, which includes the Business Expo and the Business Connection. For more information, visit www.foxcitieschamber.com.

Best Bets Business Events for Week of June 10

Compiled by Insight — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 16:33:30 +0000

Wednesday, June 12: The Fox Cities Chamber Business Trifecta will be at the Radisson Paper Valley hotel in Appleton. The event includes the Business Awards Luncheon, the Business Expo and the Business Connection. The Luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Cost to attend the luncheon is $25 a person, or $275 for a table of 10 (preferred seating). For more information about the expo, visit www.foxcitieschamber.com or call (920) 734-7101.

Tuesday, June 18: The Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce will host a Business Connection event from 5 to 7 pm. at Spectrum Banquets and Catering, 605 Fond du Lac Ave. The cost is $5 and 2 business cards.

Tuesday, June 25: ACUniversity, a program of the Fond du Lac Association of Commerce, is offering the course “Crucial Conversations” from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Fond du Lac YMCA – Lower Level Multipurpose Room, 90 W. 2nd Street. Presenter Sue Roettger of Mid-States Aluminum Corporation will offer basic tools for successful dialogue during difficult situations. ACU classes are open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is recommended. Cost for the class is $25 for members, $35 non-members. Visit www.fdlac.com to register or call (920) 921-9500.

New Door County event features wine and cheese tasting

Compiled by Insight — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:38:45 +0000

The Sister Bay Advancement Association has added a new event to its day of special waterfront activities on Saturday, June 8.

The Sip & Savor, planned from noon to 4 p.m. on the north side of the Sister Bay Village Hall property, 10693 Highway 42, will feature wine and hard cider from six Door County wineries: Harbor Ridge, Island Orchard Cider, Orchard Country, Red Oak, Simon Creek and Von Stiehl. The event also features Door County cheesemakers, including Renard’s, Door County Creamery and Schoolhouse Artisan.

The day’s events also include musicians, the annual Children’s Parade, Taste of Sister Bay and Paddlefest, which is organized by Bay Shore Outfitters and provides the opportunity to try kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding. The day ends with a campfire and s’mores at Beach Park.

Tickets are $10 for the Sip & Savor, $10 for food at Taste of Sister Bay, and $5 for children ages 10 and younger.

Best Bet Business Events for Week of June 3

Compiled by Insight — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:58:11 +0000

The Green Bay Chamber of Commerce will host its Business Recognition Awards at the KI Convention Center, 333 Main St. in Green Bay on Thursday, June 6. A business showcase opens at 11 a.m., followed by the luncheon at 11:55 a.m. and the awards program to follow. For more information, call Marilyn Heim at (920) 593-3419.

Tuesday, June 4: Schenck is hosting a seminar “The Health Care Reform Act: What Lies Ahead” at the Rock Garden in Green Bay. The seminar will be repeated on Thursday, June 6 at the Pine Hills Country Club in Sheboygan; on Thursday, June 13 at La Sure’s Hall in Oshkosh; on Tuesday, June 18 at the Butte des Morts Country Club in Appleton; on Thursday, June 20 at the Holiday Inn in Fond du Lac; and on Thursday, June 27 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. All seminars are from 8 to 9:30 a.m. with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. There is no cost. To register, visit www.schencksc.com/2013hcr or call Karie at (920) 996-1261.

Wednesday, June 5: Door County Buy Local will hold a business networking mixer from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at The Nautical Inn Pub and Grill, 234 Kentucky Street, Sturgeon Bay. The event features a presentation from the Wisconsin Main Street Program on the importance of curb appeal. The event is open to the public for a $5 donation. RSVP by Friday, May 31 bill@doorcountybusiness.com or call (920) 743-3113 ext. 200.

Friday, June 14: Applications are due for the 2014 class of Brown County Teen Leadership (BCTL), a program of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. The application form is available at www.titletown.org. For more information, call (920) 593-3406 or email dterrio@titletown.org.

COVER STORY – In good company – Secura builds success through personality-plus

Sean Johnson — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 01:32:28 +0000

John Bykowski’s emphasis on relationship-building has been one of the key factors in bringing Secura back from a negative outlook rating in the mid-1990s. In 2012, Secura saw its total assets grow to $850 million and had a return on equity of 12.2 percent.

The list of CEOs who would dress up as the cop from the Village People to inspire employees is most likely a short one. But at the top you will find John Bykowski, chief executive officer of Secura Insurance, who seems to relish his role in the over-the-top performances he has participated in as part of his company’s annual United Way giving campaign kick-off. “The year we did the Village People, we had the Appleton Police Department bring me onto the property with all the lights and sirens going,” Bykowski recalls, while showing off photos from other kickoff campaigns where he has played roles in spoofs as diverse as the Blues Brothers and Jersey Boys.

“We like to make sure we are serving our community,” he says. “And we like to have fun doing it.”

Indeed, the performances, as well as the annual campaigns, have become well-known hallmarks of the company culture at Secura Insurance, which regularly wins accolades for its contributions to the United Way both in dollars and employee involvement.

There is, of course, more to it than unique United Way campaigns.

Bykowski’s style and inspiration extend well beyond those special events, and his emphasis on commitment, service and relationship building can be found in every facet of the company’s operation. Indeed, it is the leadership culture he created that is often given credit for saving the company in the late 1990s and leading it through an extended period of stability and growth.

You sense that culture as soon as you walk into the main lobby.

It starts at the reception desk. Customer satisfaction specialists Mary Ver Voort and Brenda Rozmiarek don’t just greet you and ask you to sign in. Instead, they engage you in a conversation – perhaps interrupted by phone calls, but quickly resumed – about what’s going on in your day and the business that brings you to Secura’s office complex on Memorial Drive.

No doubt they will ask you to try one of the cookies, too. It’s less greeting and more engagement, all part of Bykowski’s emphasis on relationship building.

It’s one of the first things the independent agents representing the company mention when they talk about working with Secura.

“Insurance is a relationship business and you have to be able to trust the folks you work with,” says Mark Behrens, an agent with Johnson Insurance Services LLC of Racine. “John has created a great culture there. He has put together a great team that believes in the culture of relationships.”

Behrens, who says he sees Bykowski four to five times a year, says the responsiveness of the company’s employees is second to none, even when it’s an answer you don’t want to hear. If they can’t write a policy, they report that immediately and don’t string you along with “maybes,” he says.

“The two best answers you can get in this business are yes and no,” Behrens says. “You want to know right away and they do that.”

Bykowski is quick to credit the dedication of employees for those accolades.

“We want to be seen as the company that is easy to do business with for all of our services,” Bykowski says. “All of our employees get that. They all know they are important to building the relationship.”

Rebound from the recession

It’s an approach that works. In 2012, the company grew its written premiums to $417 million, an increase of 7.9 percent. The company saw its total assets grow to $850 million and saw a return on equity of 12.2 percent for the year.

Secura also added $32 million to its policyholder surplus, growing that to a total of $273 million, which represents a 160 percent increase during the last 10-year market cycle.

“This was one of those special years where we exceeded all of our goals with the exception of new business sales,” Bykowski says. “Our top line growth was excellent. We kept our current customers happy and we make more money on renewals than new policies.”

Indeed, 2012 reflects a nice rebound from 2011 for Secura, when claims from multiple weather events took a toll on the company’s financial statements. It also caps a period of recovery and growth from the Great Recession of 2008. Since 2009, the company has reported steady growth in written premiums, policyholder surplus and total assets.

While the weather can always wreak havoc on the best of plans, there is little reason to doubt those trends will not continue into 2013.

“We always have to qualify the outlook because we can’t control the weather,” Bykowski says. “But, we expect the next couple of years to be good.”

That could not always be said about Secura.

In the mid-1990s, the company’s surplus was less than $96 million and Secura was struggling financially. AM Best, which rates insurance company performance, had given the company an A- rating with a negative outlook.

At that time, Secura had six offices scattered across the Midwest and was working with more than 900 independent agencies, yet did not seem to be the company many of them favored. In addition, Secura was paying out more in claims and expenses than it was collecting in premiums. Certainly, that can happen on occasion when there are catastrophic events, or a series of catastrophic events resulting in higher-than-normal claims.

Secura was experiencing a negative loss ratio even in years without catastrophic events and claims. In short, the company was losing money and needed a new direction.

Reshaping the business model

In 1996, the board of directors decided to make a change to reinvigorate the company. At the time, Bykowski was working for West Bend Mutual of West Bend as its senior vice president for marketing. In his position there, he was working with independent agents around the country – and it was one of those agents who recommended Bykowski to Secura as a candidate for the CEO position.

So why leave a successful company for one that was struggling? For Bykowski, the answer was simple.

“The opportunity to be a CEO in your home state does not come around too often,” he says. “Secura was a similar company. It needed some serious changes in its business operation and a change in culture.”

Joined by current Senior Vice President David Gross the next year, the two set about reshaping the business model and company culture into the company Secura is today.

On the business side, Secura jettisoned its life insurance company, sold its broker dealership and got out from under its real estate investments. The regional offices were closed and operations were consolidated in Appleton to improve efficiency.

“One of the most difficult decisions you can make is to put someone out of work,” Bykowski says.

Secura also reduced the number of independent agents it worked with, cutting the number nearly in half.

The second part of the turnaround strategy focused on Secura’s own employees and improving the work culture within the company. At the time restructuring began, the annual turnover rate for employees was more than 35 percent. Now, departures are measured in single digits and the hiring process is very deliberate as the company wants to make sure new additions will fit in.

Indeed, the average employee at Secura has been with the company for 12 years or more, and many have advanced degrees. That stability and expertise has become a cornerstone of building relationships with independent agents.

The changes worked. As Secura entered the new millennium, its loss ratio improved and it began to see annual improvements in written premiums and a buildup of its reserves. A.M. Best consistently rates the company A with an excellent outlook for its financial strength and ability to meet its financial obligations to policyholders.

“The culture was here, it just needed to be allowed to surface,” Bykowski says. “The people here, their work is important to them.”

Customer service: Not a cliché

Joe Dever can attest to just how committed Secura’s employees are.

Dever works with Insuramax, Inc., the first independent agency to sign with Secura when the company expanded into Kentucky in 1997. Dever has seen first-hand how the company has changed and has nothing but praise for its commitment to building relationships with agents.

“They are the easiest company to work with by far,” says Dever. “At every level, from risk management to marketing to underwriting, they take their role seriously and they take care of our clients.”

Dever is quick to credit Bykowski for that approach. He says the company reflects Bykowski’s values and commitment to customer service. To Bykowski, customer service is more than cliché promises.

“He makes it very easy to call him,” Dever says. “We’ve had issues over the years, and when he says it will be taken care of, it gets taken care of. The company permeates with his personality. They make you believe in them.”

That’s not just Dever’s personal opinion. Whenever his agency does customer satisfaction surveys, Secura is consistently ranked at the top, regardless of the product line. Other companies may score high in one product, but low with others, he says.

Achieving those high marks from agents and customers is critical. In an age of online and direct sales, Secura still relies on a network of independent agents to sell its policies to customers in their geographic areas. Those independent agencies are always free to recommend another company.

In fact, Bykowski believes the independent agent is a critical component in the sales process. While many companies have come to rely on Internet and direct sales, the agent acts as a counselor to the client, recommending the best policy, not just the cheapest, Bykowski says.

In nearly 30 years of working as an independent agent, Tom Terry has written policies on behalf of many companies for his customers and represents more than 10 in his work with Keller-Lowry Insurance Inc., in Denver. His agency began working with Secura six years ago as the company expanded west.

Not convinced the agency needed to represent another company, it only took a few transactions to realize there was something unique about Secura, Terry says.

“In six years, I can only recall one phone call where we could not get something resolved immediately,” Terry says. “Whenever our folks visit Appleton, they come back just raving about how dedicated and personable everyone at Secura is. That’s just a reflection of John.”

New markets, new products

Not just content to fix the business operations and reshape the company culture, Bykowski and his management team have been steadily expanding Secura’s national footprint. The company now serves agencies in 13 states. While largely concentrated in the Midwest, the company has been steadily moving west and southwest.

The company also has launched some new products. Three years ago, Secura launched its Secura Specialty line, a unique product that provides protections to special events such as sports tournament or hole-in-one contests. This new line writes about $15 million to $20 million in premiums each year and has a potential to be very profitable for Secura.

When evaluating potential new markets, it’s quite likely the western and southwestern path of expansion will continue, Bykowski says. Those states tend to grade out best when considering the regulatory environment, competition, agency quality and need for Secura’s insurance products.

“North Dakota, Colorado and Arizona made great sense, and we have our eye on states like Utah, South Dakota and Montana,” he says. “I don’t think we will be looking at the Gulf Coast or East Coast anytime soon.”

Of course, that could change with changes in the regulatory environment or other factors. Since Secura is a mutual company rather than a stock company, Bykowski and his management team can take a much longer view of what they need to do for success.

“In a stock company, the CEO has to worry about the price of the stock and the results at the end of the quarter,” Bykowski says. “I don’t have that kind of pressure. For every decision we make, we have to consider the agents, the policyholders, the employees and association.

“We can think longer term,” he says. “We want to grow, we can grow, but when it’s not prudent, we can sit back and wait until it is.”

About Secura Insurance

Secura Insurance is a mutual insurance company with headquarters in Appleton. Founded in 1900, the company began by insuring area farmers. Now, it operates in 13 states and offers insurance lines for business, home, automobile, non-profits and farm. In 2012, Secura:
» Grew direct written premiums to $417 million, an increase of 7.9 percent
» Built its assets to $850 million
» Generated a combined ratio of 97.9 percent, beating industry estimates by 8 percent
» Produced a return on equity of 12.2 percent
» Increased investment income nearly 4 percent
» Rated A Excellent by A.M. Best for the ninth consecutive year
» Ranked fourth nationally by independent agents for ease of doing business.

FACE TIME – Larry Burkhardt on collaboration in the Fox Cities

Margaret LeBrun — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 01:30:39 +0000

Photo by Bill Karpinski/Image Studios

Larry Burkhardt stepped into a new role one year ago: executive vice president and chief development officer for the Fox Cities Regional Partnership, a Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce affiliate, charged with encouraging collaboration among business and municipal entities in the Fox Valley to attract and strengthen the economy. He sat down with Insight editor Margaret LeBrun to talk about the partnership’s mission.

My role involves trying to formulate an image of the Fox Cities that will be useful in terms of marketing to national and international audiences for job creation. We are putting together a regional economic development organization in an area that has never had one.

The organization is a public-private partnership, and the task that I face is to bring those sectors together, acknowledging the fact that we are dealing with up to 60 units of government within our service area. It includes all of Outagamie County, Calumet County and the northern portion of Winnebago County. The biggest challenge I’ve faced to this point is to imbue an understanding that we all win or lose together.

I’ve seen so many different events, facilities, activities that make this a very interesting and intriguing area, like the Fox Cities Book Festival, the Thursday night concerts, the Mile of Music coming up this summer, Octoberfest, the car show at Pierce Park, the PAC (Fox Cities Performing Arts Center), the downtowns – all of these things make this a place that is quality and has something for everyone. The opportunity exists for us to make some solid strides in establishing an image, so when somebody says, “Fox Cities,” it conjures up quality, innovation and dynamism.

I’ve created a little “users’ guide” to the state of Wisconsin for site selectors. We talk about what’s a bubbler, a stop-and-go light, a Tyme machine, sturgeon spearing, deer hunting, Green Bay Packers, supper clubs and Friday fish fries in a tongue-in-cheek, humorous fashion. But we also have a testimonial about our workforce, the fact we have an extraordinarily high graduation rate, extraordinary low crime rate, and it’s an invitation for a site selector to contact us for some hard data. So this is something to give them a sense that, yeah, we’re a little different here, but you’re going to like the difference.

We have initiated our existing industry program to access the opportunities, the challenges, the issues and the overall health of our existing primary employers, with the eye on trying to provide access to resources so that they can become stronger and more competitive.

We’ve also begun work on the attraction program, which includes constructing a website (www.Foxcitiesregionalpartnership.com). The GIS-enabled property-search site, a state-of-the art economic development site, will become our most important marketing tool. That will enable a user to search for properties by size, by type, by location. The data side will allow them access to labor statistics, transportation, community amenities – all the things that are important to that decision.

We’re also in the process of creating our industry councils, with four targeted industries identified in the Garner Report in 2011: Food Processing, Advanced Manufacturing, Quality Business Services and Transportation/Equipment Manufacturing.

Our goal is to support the creation of 1,200 new primary jobs in this service area over the next five years and when that happens, that will mean $75 million in new annual payroll.

We’ve been collecting five-year pledges of support, targeting an annual budget of $800,000. So far we have commitments of $650,000. We have 18 local government entities that have signed on to support us, as well as businesses and nonprofits.

We’re trying to raise the standard of living for the people who live here, to improve their quality of life and give them the chance to compete for a good job so they can make their mortgage payments, so they can buy a car when they need one, so they can put their kids through school. That’s really what we’re about.

CONNECTIONS – Adventures in team building

Felicia Clark — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 01:28:27 +0000

A group from Schreiber Foods displays track safety flags after participating in the Large Group Karting Adventure Program at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.

Go-karting, geocaching, paintball are among Road America’s team-building ideas for business events

In the northern portion of Kettle Moraine, at the highest point of Sheboygan County, lies Elkhart Lake’s Road America Inc., where New North area businesses can host team-building events for groups as small as four.

With 640 scenic acres, Road America offers many adventures, including paintballing, geocaching, go-kart racing, off-road driving and scenic tours, to name a few. On average, about 700,000 people attend at least one of the 400 Road America activities every year.

Mike Kertscher, Road America programs manager, is the man you will most likely see if you attend an event this summer.

“You don’t have to be interested in cars or fast motorcycles to come here and have a good time,” Kertscher says.

The most popular events are the Large Group Karting, Geocaching and Driving Adventures, Kertscher says. There are also facilities with audiovisual equipment for meetings, and bagged snacks and beverages are provided with every event.

“Some groups are die-hard team building, some groups just want to get their groups out of the office and do something in a non-threatening environment,” Kertscher says.

Carrie Wunsch, confidential secretary of Kohler Co., found the Geocaching Adventure a great team-building experience last summer.

“I liked that it was rather social. There were four of us on this golf cart and we had to figure out how to find things,” she says. “I was with three other people who I had never met before and by the end of the day, I felt like they were really good friends.”

Mick Warning, director of product training for Standard Electric Supply Co. in Appleton, rounded up a group of about 30 ABB, Inc. employees from all over the state last October for a day to promote company products, followed by the Large Group Karting Adventure.

Warning says that his group found the go-karting to be a unique opportunity since it’s the only facility that offers fast speed, racing go-karts on a real racetrack.

“They were drawn there not only by the products that we were showing but also by the event,” Warning says.

According to Kertscher, the cost per person depends on the size of the group, so the larger the group, the smaller the cost per person.

COMING UP

Here are some Road America summer events to watch for:

» Vintage Motorcycle Classic: June 7 to 9

» The Hawk with Brian Redman: July 18 to 21

» Ferrari Club of America 50th Anniversary: Aug. 1 to 4

» Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival: Sept. 6 to 8

» 50th Anniversary of SCCA National Championship Runoffs: Sept. 19 to 22

ON THE WEB

Visit www.roadamerica.com for more event listings and ticket prices.

MONDAY, JUNE 10

The Fox Valley Technical College’s Business and Industry Services will hold the program “Explore Starting a Business” from 6 to 9 p.m. at the D.J. Bordini Center in Appleton. Hear local entrepreneurs and small business owners share their insight. For more information, email venture@fvtc.edu or call (920) 735-5709.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12

The Fox Cities Chamber Business Trifecta will be at the Radisson Paper Valley hotel in Appleton. The Trifecta includes the Business Expo from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Business

Awards Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Business Connection from 5 to 7 p.m. The cost to attend the luncheon is $25 a person, or $275 for a table of 10 (preferred seating). For more information, visit www.foxcitieschamber.com or call (920) 734-7101.

THURSDAY, OCT. 31

The 2013 Manufacturing First Expo & Conference returns to the KI Center in Green Bay from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www.manufacturingfirst.com to register and receive automatic email notifications about the event.