promotion • education • tourism

What’s Inside:

Chamber Network News

Calendar of EventsUpcoming Events Member UpdatesEvent Photos Good Morning Plattevilleand much more!

March 2020

The Platteville Regional Chamber celebrated its 2020 Annual Celebration and Arthur Virtue Awards at the Belmont Convention Center on Feb. 11.

Dear Chamber Members:This month you are hearing from a new voice! It is my

pleasure to begin the March newsletter with a brief intro-duction and share some news from your Regional Cham-ber. I want to thank the Chamber Board, Kathy Kopp, the Chamber membership, and the entire community for the warm welcome you have all given me. It is with enthusiasm and a great spirit that I begin my role to promote our business community and region! I am hoping to rekindle many of the great friendships and partnerships I forged years ago, and hope to be stopping in to meet as many of you as I can as the warmer weather approaches. And I want to thank my staff in advance for the patience and guidance they will be providing me as I go through my trial run!

Our 57th Annual Celebration & Arthur Virtue Awards night was a great success! Congratulations to our Arthur Virtue Award recipients for 2020! Thank you to our wonderful sponsors, hosts and all of our members who celebrated with us. It was especially nice to pay tribute to our very own Kathy Kopp, who has done so much for the Platteville Regional Chamber and Southwest Wisconsin. She is not going far, and will continue to be ac-tive and involved in our community on a lesser scale.

The Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism will be held March 15-17 at the Monona Terrace in Madison. The agenda for this conference is packed with great presentations and networking opportunities. I am very excited to get my feet wet at my very first tourism event and have been assured that my time at this conference will be well-spent. It is the largest tourism conference in the country and the Department of Tourism puts a lot of time and energy into making it a success.

Our 2020 Platteville Community Guide has been delivered and is on our shelves! It looks fantastic and has been very well-received. This is an all-inclusive publication that we use for visitor requests, companies look-ing to hire or possibly moving to Platteville. We offer these and all of our brochures at no charge. Please stop in to plan your summer vacations!

Our Chamber committees are busy working and planning the many summer activities you have come to know and love. It is exciting to see so many committee members and volunteers get involved to make these things take place. Of course, none of these activities can happen without those dedicated to the planning and doing! We are always looking for people to assist us in the many activities we promote, so if you are inter-ested in finding ways to help out, please give us a call.

Hopefully, we are nearing the end of our winter – it’s been SOOOO

long and it will be great to see more sunshine and green grass. Don’t for-get that Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 8, at 2 a.m.!

Wayne Wodarz

Executive Director

Platteville RegionalChamber

275 W Bus Hwy 151PO Box 724

Platteville WI, 53818 (608) 348-8888

Chamber@platteville.com

2019 Executive BoardTim Boldt, President

Pioneer Ford Sales, LLC President Elect

D.J. Loeffelholz, Vice President

Mound City BankMeghavi Patel, Vice President

Mound View Inn Deb Jenny, Past President

Platteville RealtyMike Moran, Treasurer

Fidelity Bank & TrustWayne Wodarz, Secretary and

Executive Director

Board of Directors Herb Cody, QueenB Radio

Bob Digman, Digman Construction

Moria Holl, Super 8 Hotel & Luxury Suites

Bob Hundhausen - Edward Jones Investments

Britney Kowalski, Clare Bank Tiffany Gardner, The Shopping

NewsMichael Olds, Kopp McKichan LLP

Bryant Schobert, Southwest Health Rose Smyrski, UW-Platteville

Jason Thompson, MidWestOne Bank

Hello Members!

Like Us At:www.facebook.com/plattevilleregionalchamber

March Calendar

March 2020Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

01 02 03 04 05 06 07

08 09 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 01 02 03 04sNoon Kiwanis Meeting at A&W

s8 a.m. Greet-er Service Committee at Country KitchensNoon Kiwanis Meeting at A&Ws7 p.m. City Council Meeting at City Halls3 p.m. Ag Tourism Commit-tee Meeting at Chamber Office

s8 a.m. CLA Class Session 3 at Dar-lingtons10 a.m. HLAA Meeting at Platte-ville Senior Centers5:30 p.m. Grant County Economic Development at Cuba City

s7:45 a.m. Good Morning Plat-teville at Mound City Bank Motor BranchsNoon Quota Club Meeting at Pioneer Laness5:30-7:30 p.m. Caricatures at Country Kitchen

s7 a.m. Optimist Club Meeting at Country Kitchen

sWisconsin Gov-ernor's Confer-ence on Tourism in Madisons5 p.m. Winter Lyceum Lecture Series at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Muse-ums

sWisconsin Gov-ernor’s Confer-ence on Tourism in Madison

sSt. Patrick's DaysWIGCOT in MadisonsNoon Kiwanis Meeting at A&WsNoon Rotary Club Meeting at Pioneer Lanes

s7 a.m. Optimist Club Meeting at Country Kitchens8 a.m.-4 p.m. SWWI Com-munity Resource Forum at SWTCs11 a.m. Culinary Luncheon at Southwest Tech

s7:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Ready, Set, Grow! Conference at Vesperman Farms

s2 a.m. Day-light Savings Time Beginss5 p.m. Winter Lyceum Lecture Series at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Muse-ums

s8:15 a.m. Chamber Tour-ism Council Meet-ing at Chamber officesNoon Kiwanis Meeting at A&Ws3 p.m. Southwest Music Festival Committee Meet-ing at Red N Deb’ss7 p.m. City Council Meeting at City Hall

sNoon Holiday Committee Meet-ing at Pioneer Lanes

s8:15 a.m. Education & Advocacy Com-mittee Meeting at Chamber officesNoon Quota Club Meeting at Platteville Busi-ness Incubator

s7 a.m. Optimist Club Meeting at Country Kitchen

s11:30 a.m. Eu-chre Fundraiser at Platteville Senior Center

s2-4 p.m. Peeps Diorama Contest at Platteville Pub-lic Librarys5 p.m. Winter Lyceum Lecture Series at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Muse-ums

sNoon Ambas-sador Committee Meeting at Los Amigos

s7:45 a.m. Chamber Executive Board Meeting at Chamber officesNoon Kiwanis Meeting at A&WsNoon Rotary Club Meeting at Pioneer Laness6 p.m. Dairy Days Committee Meeting at PBII

s7 a.m. PAIDC Meeting at PBIIs8:15 a.m. Mar-keting Committee Meeting at Holiday Inn ExpresssNoon Golf Out-ing Committee Meeting at Pioneer Laness7:30 p.m. Plat-teville Lions Club Meeting at Pioneer Lanes

s8:30 a.m. CLA Board Meet-ing at Platteville Chamber

s7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Business Day in Madisons7 a.m. Optimist Club Meeting at Country KitchensNoon Building Platteville Meet-ing at A&W

sFirst Day of Springs7:30 a.m. Cham-ber Board Meet-ing at Pioneer Ford Sales

s6:30 p.m. Southwest Christian Music Festival Commit-tee Meeting at Platteville Busi-ness Incubator

Express Employment Professionals Opens Another Location

On March 2, Express Employment Profes-sionals is opening another location in West Des Moines, Iowa, bringing 45+ years of staffing experience to the Des Moines area. The new location will be 1905 EP True Pkwy, Suite 205, West Des Moines, IA.

UW-Platteville Executive EducationExecutive Education is professional de-

velopment for C-Suite leaders and decision makers. Register for classes in employee engagement, organizational communication or organized change leadership at https://go.uwplatt.edu/executive-education. Ques-tions? Contact Mike Gau at executiveeduca-tion@uwplatt.edu or 608-342-1411.

Southwest Christian Music Festival Holds Organizational Meeting

The Southwest Christian Music Festival committee is planning its July 26 event in City Park and is holding an organizational meeting at the Platteville Business Incubator confer-

ence room on Monday March 9, 6:30 p.m. Platteville and SW churches are encouraged to send a representative to offer input and plan this family event. Call (608) 778-6723 or (608) 330-3001, or e-mail: mike@myhearing-loop.com or Tim.Zauche@Thrivent.com for an information packet.

4th of July Committee FormingA committee is forming to organize the

2020 4th of July Celebration. If you have an interest in seeing this annual event grow and succeed, please share your name and contact information with the Chamber staff. The group is looking for passionate, energetic individuals with fresh ideas for this patriotic, day-long event. Call 608-348-8888 or e-mail chamber@platteville.com for more informa-tion.

Pioneer TalksUW-Platteville is hosting a series of talks

intended to build community and collegiality among the campus community by setting the venue to build social and intellectual relation-ships and generate new ideas and collabora-tions. These are held 5-7 p.m. in the Nohr Gal-

lery, Ullsvik Hall, on Wednesdays through May 13. All talks are open to the public and hors de’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Upcoming events include: s March 4 - “Driftless Drug Crisis” s March 18 - “Rural Groundwater Patho-

gens in Fractured-Rock Terrain of Southwest-ern Wisconsin”s April 1 - “Bioinspired Design for Football

Helmets”s April 8 - “Rejuvenating Communities

with Outdoor Recreation”s April 15 - “Trees, Greenspace and Public

Health in Wisconsin”s April 22 - “The Changing Face of Mental

Health and Its Impact on a College Campus”s May 6 - “Student Debt: Insights and

Impacts”s May 13 - “Diverse Brains”

Senior Resources PresentationLearn about the differences in facilities,

questions to ask when looking for car or placement of a loved one, the difference between hospice and palliative care and between Medicare and Medicaid, as well as local resources that are available. This will take place at 11 a.m. on March 13 at the Platteville Senior Center, facilitated by Angie Donovan, Care Transition Coordinator at St. Croix Hospice.

New Members & Member Updates

Welcome NeW membersTo The PlaTTeville regioNal chamber

Larry & Deb JennyLarry & Deb Jenny have joined the Platteville Regional

Chamber. Larry is a plumbing and heating specialist at L.A. Jenny Plumbing & Heating, Co., Inc.; Deb is a realtor at Plat-teville Realty, LLC.

Contact: Larry & Deb JennyPhone: Larry - 608-778-2939, Deb - 608-778-4567E-mail: Larry - lajennyplumbingheating@gmail.com, Deb - debjennyrealestate@gmail.com

Micah & Lori BahrMicah & Lori Bahr have joined the Platteville Regional

Chamber. Micah operates T.J. Enterprises Sales & Services, LLC and Lori is the Vice President - Trust Officer at Mound City Bank.

Contact: Lori BahrPhone: 608-732-0129E-mail: mblb@lagrant.net

Good Morning Platteville

March 26, 2020Topic To Be Determined

7:45 a.m. at Mound City Bank

Update On the Progress for A New Fire StationFebruary 27, 2020

Bill Kloster and Platte-ville Fire Chief Ryan Sim-mons discussed the pro-posal of researching the development of a plan for a new fire station in Plat-teville. They reviewed the history of the fire depart-ment and the growing list of needs the fire depart-ment faces, especially space constraints for the larger equipment and ad-ditional safety gear. The Platteville City Council will review the info and tentatively vote on the topic later this month.

Annual Celebration & Arthur Virtue Awards

The 2020 award winners from the Platteville Regional Chamber’s 57th Annual Celebration and Arthur Virtue Awards night, held Feb. 11, include Donna Hoppenjan for Business Person of the Year, Building Platteville for Community Service Award, BEN’S Hope – Terry and Patti Cullen for Community Spirit Award, Blockhouse Builders 4-H for Junior Community Spirit Award, Ryan Weigel for Outstanding Award in the Field of Agriculture, Lori Bahr for President’s Award for Outstanding Chamber Service and Kathy Kopp for Lifetime Service Award. Pictured from front left: John Dutcher (Building Platteville), Donna Hoppenjan (Mound City Bank), Kathy Kopp (Platteville Regional Chamber), Ryan Weigel (Southwest Wisconsin Technical College), Patti Cullen (BEN’S Hope), Lori Bahr (Mound City Bank); back row: Bob Hundhausen (Building Platteville), Mike Moran (Building Platteville), Dean Feldman (Building Plat-teville), Porter Mandurano (Blockhouse Builders 4-H), Chesney Miesen (Blockhouse Builders 4-H) and Terry Cullen (BEN’S Hope).

Platteville Regional Chamber’s Charter Members attending the 57th Annual Celebration and Arthur Virtue Awards on Feb. 11 include, from front left: Britney Kowalski (Clare Bank), Sheri Engelke (Wisconsin Bank & Trust), Ann Rupp (Platteville Journal), Donna Hoppenjan (Mound City Bank, Denise Deaton-Tolzman (QueenB Radio), Gary Tuescher (Tuescher Photography), Kathy Neumeister (The Shopping News and Woodward Printing Services); back row: Tim Boldt (Pioneer Ford Sales), Bill Snook (Dubuque Fighting Saints), Herb Cody (QueenB Radio), Matt Jacopelli (Karrmann Law Office), and Mike Olds (Kopp McKichan LLP).

The Platteville Regional Chamber celebrated the anniversaries of its member businesses at the 57th Annual Celebration and Arthur Virtue Awards held Feb. 11 at the Belmont Convention Center. Pictured from front left are Renee Sigwarth (Dairy Queen Grill & Chill), Bob Hundhausen (Rotary Club of SW WI), Dianne Jentz (Platteville Com-munity Arboretum), Angie Donovan (St. Croix Hospice), Lori Bahr (TJ Enterprises Sales & Ser-vice), Cindy Martens (Quota International), Fern Nall (Platteville Optimist Club); back row: Tom Sigwarth (Dairy Queen Grill & Chill), Bill Snook (Dubuque Fighting Saints), Micah Bahr (TJ Enter-prises Sales & Service), Jo Roling (Quota Interna-tional) and Tom Nall (Platteville Optimist Club).

2020VISION Pa

st w

Pre

sent

w F

utur

e

Annual Celebration & Arthur Virtue AwardsBusiness Person of the Year

Donna Hoppenjan

Donna graduated Valedictorian of her 1977 class, from Cuba City High School. In June 1977, Donna began her employ-ment with Mound City Bank. She has held many positions including Teller from 1977 to 1988, Trust Department Assistant from 1979 to 1986, Auditor & Compliance Offi-cer 1988 to 1991, AVP-Retail Operations & Internal Auditor 1992 to 1993, VP of Retail Services 1994 to 2003, VP-Trust Officer in 2004, and SR-VP of Retail Services 2004 to 2012 before being named President and CEO in 2013. Donna’s leadership skills and work ethic have played an instrumental part in the growth and success of Mound City Bank as a local Community Bank. Donna’s commitment to the bank has enabled growth from $30 million in assets and 20 employees to over $375 million in assets and over 70 employees.

During her 42 years with the bank, Don-na has spent 24 years on the Senior Man-agement Team. She was the lead project manager for the addition of three branch locations in Cuba City, Mineral Point and Mount Horeb. Passionate about banker education, she has served as a board or committee member of the following pro-fessional organizations: Graduate School of Banking, Leadership Development Peer Group, Tri-County Human Resources As-sociation, American Institute of Banking, Grant County Bankers Association and is currently serving on the Wisconsin Bank-ers Association Board.

Donna is also passionate about being in-volved in her community with many years of service. She has served as President and Board Member of United Way of Plat-teville; Member of the Chamber’s Ambas-sador and 50th Anniversary Committees; Finance Committee Chair, Auditor and past Treasurer for Cuba City United Meth-odist Church; President & Board Member of Southwest Health Center Foundation; Board Member of Community Leadership Alliance graduate in 2001 and is currently serving on the Southwest Health Center

Hospital Board. Dedicated to her professional life,

Donna still finds time to spend with her family. She and her husband Rick have two children, Chad and Sara, daughter-in-law Ashley, son-in-law Sean, and four grand-children: Jonah, Amelia, Colin and Keira. Together they enjoy family time together at sporting events and at their cabin in Bagley.

Donna is a coach and mentor to her staff

that highly respect and admire her for her dedication and accomplishments. Donna leads by example and promotes to her staff the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community. Donna’s determination to remain a locally owned independent community bank and lead a team of banking professionals who daily provide the financial ability for dreams to come true and make her this year’s choice for Business Person of the Year. Congratu-lations Donna!

Annual Celebration & Arthur Virtue Awards

Community Spirit AwardBEN’S Hope - Terry & Patti Cullen

On November 11, 2014, Terry and Patti lost their son Benjamin to suicide. After this devastating loss, the Cullens started a Sui-cide Awareness, Prevention and Support group so they could help others who have been in the same position. They share their per-sonal stories in a supportive and non-judgmental environment. Over the past five years, Terry and Patti have built BEN’s Hope into an organization that provides help to community members when they are struggling, to reassure others they are not alone, and show that other people genuinely care and are here to help.

Building BEN’s Hope would take some major fundraising efforts for the needed resources to help community members. The Cul-lens wanted to establish an annual event for suicide awareness and prevention so BEN’S Hope annual 5K run/2 Mile walk was born. It takes place every September to raise awareness of the causes of suicide and how tragedies like the Cullen’s can be prevented and help reduce the stigma sur-

rounding suicide. Terry and Patti did not stop there. In

addition to the annual run/walk, they host monthly Survivors of Suicide Support Group meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at the Mound City Bank Mo-tor Branch from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The focus of this group is to help people cope with the challenges of healing from the death

of a loved one by suicide, to help people who have contemplated or attempted suicide, or to help anyone feeling alone and wants to share their story with others who will not judge the hardships of depression and loneliness.

Terry and Patti have taken on a personal mission to help as many community members as possible. They have devoted numerous hours to offer presentations to students, teachers and faculty staff; church groups; funeral director associa-tions; police and EMS personnel; clubs; organizations; businesses and many other public events. These presentations have greatly influ-enced communities and people all over Southwest Wisconsin. They have received several testimonials

from individuals attending their presenta-tions thanking them for their inspirational and supportive messages, Because Every-one Needs Some HOPE. Congratulations to Terry and Patti Cullen on receiving the Community Spirit Award!

Community Service AwardBuilding Platteville, Inc.

Building Platteville, Inc. began in 1993, when a group of individuals organized to raise funds for the renovations of the Avalon Theater, which had been vacant for a number of years. They successfully raised $100,000 and the new owners, Jim and Patti Blabaum, were the recipient of their first revolving loan fund. The result was the community’s first tri-plex theater, which opened in 1994. The revolving fund continues to support gap financing for businesses.

Next up was raising funds for the water-slide and extra lane needed for the City’s new pool. Building Platteville successfully raised $151,000 for this project. Once this project was completed, Building Platteville took on a fundraising project to assist the renovations to Main Street when it was completely reconstructed in 2008. They raised $97,000 to purchase the street lights on Main Street – many of which had com-memorative plaques displayed on then. Right on the heels of that fundraiser was the mission to fundraise dollars for new holiday lights to be displayed on the new light poles. They were able to purchase $16,000 of new lights in time for the first

holiday after the street renovations.Other projects the members of the

Building Platteville took on involved fun-draising for City Park. They successfully added a number of benches, picnic tables, waste cans and the light poles in the center of the park. They contributed money to assist with the building of the gazebo as well as painting of the gazebo years later. A majority of these funds came from a very successful brick campaign spearheaded by Gary Tuescher and John Dutcher.

Building Platteville was the fundrais-ing agent for the Vietnam Moving Wall in 2009 and led the fundraising for the con-struction and dedication of the Veterans Honor Roll memorial in City Park in 2012. They collected funds and worked with Grant County Emergency Management to disburse them after the tornado hit Plat-teville in 2014. They have purchased flags for Main Street when they needed replace-ment. One year, they took on purchasing the hanging flowers on Main Street as well as doing the daily watering. They continue to sponsor the Main Street flowers.

Building Platteville went on to assist

with the fundraising of the Rountree Branch Trail and worked with local busi-nesses and successfully raised $150,000 for that project.

For the past several years, Building Plat-teville, Inc. has partnered with the Plat-teville Regional Chamber to host Katie’s Garden Winter Wonderland event. This event was conceived as a ‘thank you’ for the tremendous support the community has shown for their projects.

Congratulations, Building Platteville, Inc. and thank you for your continued support of the community of Platteville.

Annual Celebration & Arthur Virtue Awards

Outstanding Award in the Field of AgricultureRyan Weigel

Ryan is an animal and dairy science instructor at Southwest Wisconsin Techni-cal College, having received a Bachelor of Animal Science with an emphasis in Dairy Science from UW-Platteville. Prior to employment with SWTC, Weigel worked in the A.I. Industry with East Center Select Sires and Accelerated Genetics. Ryan lives in Platteville with his wife, Traci, and their three children.

Ryan is co-owner of KHW Genetics. KHW has produced all-American show winners; has had active bulls in many different A.I. organizations and exported embryos around the world. Most notable of the animals KHW has bred include a 7-time Premiere Sire of the World Dairy Expo’s Red & White Show, and a Grand Champion at the World Dairy Expo in 2011. Their foundation cow of KHW Genetics received many honors including the Red Impact Cow of the Year awarded by Holstein International in 2009 and was proclaimed the Wisconsin Cow of the Year by Governor Jim Doyle that same year. Together with his KHW business partner, Ryan Kamps, Weigel was awarded Wiscon-

sin’s Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder in 2014. Weigel is also a managing partner on his family’s dairy farm: Weigland Regis-tered Holsteins.

Weigel has judged multiple county and state fairs and served as an official for many judging contests and clinics throughout the states of Minnesota, Il-linois, Iowa and Wisconsin. He has judged at the International Dairy Event in Austra-lia, the 2016 National Hungarian Holstein Show and multiple shows throughout Japan. He has also served as an official for the Hoard’s Dairyman judging contest.

Among his top judging experiences are International Dairy Week in Australia; 5 regional Holstein shows in Japan; 3 Wis-consin District Shows; the Minnesota State Fair Jr. Show; and the Wisconsin State Fair Associate Judge.

Among his Professional Organizations and Associations are the Lafayette County Holstein Association; the Wisconsin Holstein Association-Board of Directors; the National Holstein Association; the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin

and the National Association of Agricul-ture Educators. He is also involved in the student F.A.R.M. Club.

His community involvement also consists being a Grant County 4-H Dairy Judging Coach and the Platteville FFA Alumni.

Congratulations, Ryan, on your stellar accomplishments on behalf of the agricul-ture industry!

Junior Community Spirit AwardBlockhouse Builders 4-H

Since 4-H began more than 100 years ago, it has become the nation’s largest youth develop-ment organization. The 4-H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the skills needed to be proactive forces in their communities and develop ideas for a more innovative economy. 4-H welcomes young people of all beliefs and back-grounds, empowering them to create positive change in their communities. 4-H empowers youth with the skills to lead for a lifetime.

The Platteville Regional Chamber is proud to award the 2020 Junior Spirit Award to the Blockhouse Builders 4-H Club. Blockhouse Builders 4-H Club was started in 1945 and has a rich tradition of involvement in many community and State activities.

Current Leader, Jenny Harms, has been with the Club for the

past 9 years. The Club has 33 members and 5 adult leaders.

For the past several years, these members have been a great volunteer partner with the Chamber’s Day on the Farm event. They have hosted a food stand to help support the event which, in the process, has enabled them to raise monies for their Club. This group of young people is great examples of volunteerism and have certainly added to the overall success of our Day on the Farm event. They are very courteous and go out of their way to help with anything that needs to be done.

The Club is very active in sup-porting Dairy Days by having a float in the parade and helping at the 4-H food stand at Legion Field.

Congratulations, members of the Blockhouse Builders 4-H Club! We love your spirit!

Annual Celebration & Arthur Virtue Awards

Lifetime Service AwardKathy Kopp

This year’s recipient of the Lifetime Ser-vice Award is our own Kathy Kopp. Kathy has served as Executive Director of the Platteville Chamber for almost 27 years. When she started, there was no budget, no money and no staff. She’s been the driv-ing force in developing the programming and the growth that we see today. She was instrumental in establishing the Commu-nity Leadership Alliance (CLA) as well as the creation of the Grant county Tourism Council in 1997, developing the Platteville Community Guide and creating Katie’s Garden. Perhaps most impressive was get-ting the ordinance passed in 1995 for the room tax with the full support of the lodg-ing properties that allows the Chamber to do more for

the community and also generates money for the City.

Kathy has been the force behind the Workforce Task Force initiative. She co-chairs the Southwest Wisconsin Chamber Alliance. She has been a member of the Platteville Area Industrial Development Corporation Board since 1999, and a board member and graduate of the 2000 inaugural program of the Community Leadership Alliance of Southwest Wis-consin. In addition, she has co-chaired the Southwest Wisconsin Chamber Alliance since its inception in 2011, served on the board of the Wisconsin Chamber of Com-merce Executives as well as the Wisconsin Downtown Action Council Board for 3 years.

The Chamber became a Travel Wiscon-sin Welcome Center in 2009, welcoming

over

10,000 visitors a year. Kathy’s leadership has helped lead to a $27 million economic impact from tourism in 2018 for the City of Platteville. She organized the Disney Parade in 6 weeks and worked closely with the University during the years the Chicago Bears held their training camp in Platteville. Kathy serves and will continue to serve after retirement on the Governor’s Tourism Council representing Southwest Wisconsin and is especially proud of win-ning the Legacy Award from the Governor in 2018. She enjoyed the opportunity to work with the professional marketing team in the making of the Discover Wisconsin Episodes that focused on Southwest Wis-consin. She served on the Grant County Tourism Council and Tri-State Tourism Council, serving as President of both numerous times, and the City of Platteville Tourism Committee.

In her continued efforts as an individual to help make Platteville and Southwest

Wisconsin an even better place to live, work and play, Kathy is a member of Building Platteville, Inc. She served as the Fundraising Co-Chair for the Veterans Memorial in City Park and spearheaded bringing the Vietnam Moving Wall to Plat-teville. She’s been an individual Chamber member since 1994, served on the Plat-teville United Way Board for 3 years, Plat-teville Community Fund for 6 years, was a Platteville Community Arboretum Charter Board member and is a Charter Lifetime Member. She has served on the Friends of the Mining and Rollo Jamison Museum Board and the Miners Ball Committee, the Platteville 4th of July Committee since 1993, Quota Club since 1992, Kiwanis since 1994, Optimists since 1994, Platte-ville Dairy Days Parade Chair since 1995, is Secretary of the Veterans Honor roll As-sociation, VFW Post 5274 Ladies Auxiliary Lifetime Member, past member of Rotary Club, Grant County Crime Stoppers Board and Friends of the Gallery.

Kathy grew up on the family farm, graduated from Platteville High School and attended UW-Platteville. Kathy and her husband, Joe, have 4 children and 9 grandchildren. It’s been said that Kathy is the best thing to ever happen to Platteville and the Chamber. Her passion for the area is beyond compare. She never stops work-ing and striving to make Platteville and Southwest Wisconsin the best it can be. She truly sets the standard for living local and loving it.

We are proud of this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Service award, Kathy Kopp.

President’s Award for Outstanding Chamber ServiceLori Bahr

Lori married Micah Bahr in 1984 and moved to the Bel-mont/Darlington area, near Truman, in November 1989.

Lori has worked in the Plat-teville community since 1990. Throughout her life, Lori has served in a number of volunteer organizations in various posi-tions. Lori received the Cham-ber’s Community Service award in 2012.

Lori served on the Cham-ber’s Board of Directors from 2006-2011 and then again from 2013-2018, serving as President in 2010. She continues to serve on the Chamber’s Golf Out-ing Committee, the Southwest Music Festival, where she coordinates the volunteers, and the Chamber’s Ambassador Committee, which she chaired for a number of years. Our Am-bassador Committee organizes

the Annual Celebration and Arthur Virtue Awards, Business After Hours, ribbon cuttings and membership surveys.

Thank you Lori, for all you have done, and continue to do, especially for the Platteville Chamber. You are an inspira-tion and role model to everyone on how to give back to your community. Congratulations!

Living Local & Loving It Postcard Contest

Living Local & Loving It Postcard Contest

Ribbon Cuttings

The Platteville Regional Chamber celebrated the opening of a new business, Eppler CPA, LLC, with a ribbon cutting at the Platteville Business Incubator on Feb. 19. Attending the event were representatives from QueenB Radio, Mound City Bank, Mound View Inn, Thrivent Financial, Platteville Thrift Shop, Community First Bank, Platteville Regional Chamber, Pioneer Ford Sales, Platteville Business Incubator, City of Platteville, MidWestOne Bank, Edward Jones-Bob Hundhausen, SOS Road Rescue, My Hearing Loop/MCM Rental and L&M Corrugated Container Corp. Eppler CPA, LLC provides consulting, tax, accounting & bookkeeping services to corporations, farmers, small businesses & individuals. See EpplerCPA.com or call 608-331-0486 for more information.

Eppler CPA - Feb. 19, 2020

The Platteville Regional Chamber celebrated The Hive CBD’s first anniversary with a ribbon cutting at 145 W. Main Street on Feb. 26. The event was part of the Main Street Program’s Monthly Mingle. Attending the event were representatives from Mound City Bank, Platteville Public Library, Thrivent Financial, City of Platteville, Platteville Regional Chamber, Main Street Program, St. Croix Hospice, MidwestOne Bank and Marine Credit Union. The Hive CBD is a locally owned hemp-derived CBD store that carries high quality CBD.

The Hive CBD - Feb. 26, 2020

Platteville Community GuideThe 2020 Platteville Community Guides are now available at the Platteville Regional Chamber. Stop by to pick up a few copies for your office or grab one for yourself. The Chamber is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and cop-ies are available in the brochure holders outside the front entrance, available 24 hours.

2020 Miners Ball

You’re Invited2nd Annual

Miners BALLA fundraiser for The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums

Saturday, April 18, 2020Velzy Commons, Ullsvik Hall

University of Wisconsin-Platteville5 p.m. Social 6 p.m. Dinner 7-10 p.m. Dance

Music by The Ken Kilian OrchestraSilent auction supports

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums

Tickets

Register at 608-348-3301 or online at www.mining.jamison.museum/events

Formal Attire, Black Tie OptionalPresented by University of Wisconsin-Platteville &Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums

Community Leadership Alliance

CLA Meets at UWP’s Williams Fieldhouse for Team Building SW Wisconsin’s Community Leadership Alliance (CLA) convened its February class

this week at UW-Platteville, taking advantage of a very physical Team Building

experience lead by Assoc. Professor Scott Ringberg in the Williams Fieldhouse.

The day-long class, sponsored by the UW-Platteville, started off with a Civility in

Leadership Panel at the Markee Pioneer Center. Participants were welcomed by

Chancellor Dennis Shields, who spoke to the group on the impact of positive leadership.

Jenny Erickson from UW-Extension Sauk County split the class into small groups to

process homework on Emotional Intelligence.

An ongoing facet of the 6-month CLA experience is having several participants each

week give 2-minute “elevator” speeches to introduce themselves and an issue. Sally

Walmer, a L’BRI consultant from Dodgeville, was the first to present.

“I joined the Community Leadership Alliance group to make a positive impact on my

community,” said Walmer in a Facebook post following the meeting. “Do something

that challenges you. After all, growth is just on the other side of your comfort zone. Do

something to make an impact on your community. Join your chamber. Join a service

organization. Volunteer.”

The 26 leaders from across Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Counties will meet for four more

day-long training and networking sessions through 2020. The March class features

training on Inclusivity and Diversity at the Darlington American Legion. Follow the

Community Leadership Alliance of Southwest Wisconsin facebook page for participant

profiles and stories from upcoming classes. Participants are nominated by colleagues

and employers. If you want more information on how to nominate students for the 2021

class, visit claswwi.org.

Sally Walmer of Dodgeville kicks off the CLA 2-Minute

Leadership Talks. Every participant must prepare a 2-minute talk

to introduce themselves and an issue they are passionate about.

Participants reflect on paper, trying to glean good tips and

practices from each other.

Community Leadership Alliance SW Wisconsin’s Leadership Development Program Meets at UW-Platteville for Team Building

Platteville Regional Chamber Gift Certificates

The Chamber issues a great number of “positively Platteville” Gift Certificates in a year.

How to Redeem a Chamber Gift Certificate

Treat the certificate as you would a check. Please accept for purchases or services only.(Example: customer presents a $50 Chamber gift certificate as payment for a $30 purchase, you

would treat the certificate just like a $50 bill and give them $20 back in cash. This rule applies for any amount on the gift certificate or amount spent.)

DO NOT attempt to “rewrite” the Chamber gift certificate in any manner.

When you make a deposit at your financial institution, you will deposit the gift certificate just as you normally deposit checks and cash.

Gift certificates expire five years from date of issue.

Please be sure all of your employees are aware of the Chamber gift certificates and know the procedures for handling them. We’ve had complaints where a Chamber business would not accept a Chamber Gift Certificate. Basically, the employee was not aware of the program.

We encourage you to promote Chamber gift certificates whenever appropriate or possible. They make wonderful gifts for hard-to-shop people, door prizes, employee recognition, etc.

If you ever have any questions, please call the Chamber office at 348-8888!

REMEMBER - Chamber Gift Certificates keep dollars local!!!

Gift Certificate Reminder

140 Alden Ave Platteville, WI 348-5953

mastwater.com WATER SOFTENERS WATER FILTRATION IRON REMOVAL DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS BOTTLED WATER HOME AND OFFICE DELIVERY SALES – SERVICE – RENTALS POOLS AND SPAS

Platteville Regional Chamber & Travel Wisconsin Welcome

Center HoursNov. 1-April 30

Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.Saturday/Sunday Closed

May 1 - Oct. 31Mon - Fri: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.Sat: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sun: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Super 8 Motel & Luxury Suites

Thank you to the March

Beverage Sponsor: