Kaukauna’s location on a two-mile stretch of the Fox River with a fifty-foot drop and significant rapids means that the city can produce its own hydroelectric power and offer its residents as much as thirty-five percent savings on their monthly utility bill. To learn more, Business in Focus spoke with Mayor Tony Penterman, Director of Planning and Community Development Bob Jakel, and Kaukauna Utilities General Manager Jeff Feldt.

In 2017, Business in Focus spoke with Economic Development Director Tim Burg about Shawnee, the eastern gateway to Oklahoma City. A lot has happened since then, and amongst other things, the development organization name has changed from the Shawnee Economic Development Foundation to the Shawnee Forward Business Alliance. I had the privilege of speaking with one of the new people brought on board: President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Qualls.

St. Tammany is a bustling parish in southern Louisiana. Set on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, an estuary separating the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico, this industrious place is known as one of the state’s finest – in part thanks to the hard work of the St. Tammany Corporation, its brand new economic development organization.

Madison County, Illinois is rooted in history, having been named in 1812 for James Madison, fourth president of the United States and one of America’s founding fathers.

Named after southern Spain’s province of Granada, Mississippi’s historic Grenada County is earning a reputation for its many business success stories, entrepreneurial growth, workforce training and development, available land and resources for development, and a great deal more.

When you are named “One of America’s Prettiest Towns” by Forbes magazine, you know you have something special.

In northern New York State, the County of Franklin Industrial Development Agency is small but mighty. Growing to a team of four, doubling in size, strength, resources and capacity, this organization knows the way to maximum impact is fostering entrepreneurship in its communities.

The need for efficient land usage and affordable housing weighs heavy on urban development everywhere. From its incorporation in 1961, Tigard, Oregon has grown from a Portland suburb to a thriving urban center with a population of over 50,000. With strong development assistance programs already in progress and others in the works, the town is just getting started.

Along the pristine shores of Lakes Muskegon and Michigan lives a community with a fundamental understanding of economics and transformation. Here, the only lazybones around are the lakes, but, with their twinkling shimmer, even these freshwater havens contribute their fair share of economic drivers to the City of Muskegon, Michigan.

Change can be difficult, but for the City of Green Bay, Wisconsin – the economic hub of Northeastern Wisconsin – despite changing market conditions and a new leadership team, it continues to evolve to remain an economic and social center.

Rather than the ‘winner takes it all’ approach, sixteen counties in three states – Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama – are cooperating to attract economic development to the entire region. The good news is that it is working for all of them, including Catoosa County in northwest Georgia, which shares a border with Tennessee and is just twenty minutes from Chattanooga, the main economic driver in the region.

United Apple of western New York State handles, markets and distributes apples and other fresh fruits worldwide, and with its sources does so for 12 months a year. Why does this company succeed where others fail? Because it’s so strongly focused on its growers.

Entrepreneurs are a breed a people who are innovative, hardworking, and never seem to settle for a business venture that is just ‘good enough.’ They always want more. This is true of Jerry and Naomi Hancock, a couple from Orem, Utah who had been making their living in food service making customizable food.

Imagine for a moment being stuck in gridlock. ‘There has to be a better way,’ you may ponder. However, teleportation remains firmly within the realm of science fiction, and our current transportation infrastructure systems are all we have, yet there is always room for improvement.

Dawson Doors specializes in prestige entranceway doors for the high-end building market, in stainless steel, brass, or aluminum, and is established as a world leader in precision balanced doors.

Back in 2016, I spoke with Dustin Omeniuk, the son of Dan Omeniuk, founder of Trappers Transport Ltd., the leading provider of temperature-sensitive transportation services in the West. At the time, a switch to electronic logbook devices was underway, and expansion into Alberta was in full swing. We recently caught up with Dustin.

Beth Thibodeaux, CEO, and Ben Fagnant, Operations Manager of drilling contractor Payzone Directional Services, Inc., discuss starting small, creating success, and riding the ups and downs of the drilling industry.

From a nineteenth-century rubber factory in France where the Michelin brothers patented an improved pneumatic bicycle tire to a comprehensive, international tire manufacturing company that focuses on sustainability through innovation and corporate social responsibility, Michelin North America, headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, continues to lead the way through innovation.

For all its inevitability, how we deal with change can make or break us. This becomes especially evident when large companies start shifting. With sixteen years’ experience in change management fueled by technology, CVP (Customer Value Partners) is a powerful ally in navigating organizational transitions.

Over the last twenty-five years, more than 40,000 Canadian companies have come to rely on international distribution company Fastenal to supply all the fasteners, tools, and supplies they need to manufacture products, build structures, protect personnel, and maintain their facilities and equipment.