Ready, set, ReStore
New store will sell donated construction goods to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity
By Lee Marie Reinsch
It could be Ty Pennington's clandestine hangout. Or maybe it's the newest deconstruction store in town.
Opening in the Green Bay area June 2 at 2965 Ramada Way, Ashwaubenon, (inside part of Woodworkers Depot), ReStore is the fund-raising arm of the Habitat for Humanity mission. Other ReStore outlets in Northeastern Wisconsin are in Appleton, Fond du Lac and Plymouth. "We have the typical things you find at a Home Depot or a Fleet Farm," Green Bay Store Director Bill Seleen said. By the looks of it, he's not exaggerating. The 15,000-square-foot, no-nonsense shop is stuffed with a hodge-podge of lumber, tile, windows, paint, hardware, Pergo flooring, appliances - and best of all, all of it is priced significantly lower than retail, Seleen said. Sound like a good place to find guys on a Saturday morning? Maybe, but not exclusively. "Plenty of women shop here, too," Seleen is quick to point out.
ReStore sells donated construction materials from contractors, companies, businesses, demolitions and disaster scenes, as well as construction supplies and items from homeowners just cleaning out their garages. Materials can come from house fires, home deconstructions, and store closings. "If a business has inventory that's out of date or the wrong style or the wrong color, they can donate it and they don't have to pay for disposal costs," Seleen said. "It gets repurposed and put to good use." More

The Pulse of Area Business
Region's business leaders show optimism in poll
By David Wegge, PhD
From its lowest point ever recorded, The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse improved to 80.5 at the end of the First Quarter. Today, the confidence of CEOs and Business Owners is up from its all-time low of 63.8 at the end of Quarter 4, 2008.
The 63.8 is the lowest point recorded since the inception of The Business Pulse in Quarter 4, 2001. The Pulse reached its high in Quarter 4, 2003 when it hit 137.4; it's been downhill ever since. The end of the First Quarter marks the seventh consecutive quarter in which The Pulse has been below 100, indicating more negative views of the economic conditions than positive ones. The Business Pulse measures Current Economic Conditions compared to three months ago - as well as Future Economic Expectations of business leaders over the next three months. The Current Economic Index and The Future Expectations Index are then combined into the overall Business Pulse Index. At the end of Quarter 1, the Current Conditions Index improved from 53.6 in Quarter 4, 2008, to it current level of 66.8; the Future Expectations Index increased dramatically from 73.9 to 94.2.   More

People Who Make A Difference
Barlament volunteers for March of Dimes to help premature babies
By Betty Wall
Deb Barlament has seen the impact of the March of Dimes in her own family. The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Barlament, vice president of operations at Bayland Buildings, has been active with the nonprofit organization for several years. "My interest in the March of Dimes came when I was the general manager of the Green Bay Blizzard arena football team when the team was first started," Barlament said. "While I was there, I was approached by the March of Dimes for support. I didn't know very much about the organization at that time, but about seven months after that, one of my grandchildren was born three months premature and he weighed just two pounds. I could hold him in my hand when he was born. That's when the March of Dimes became very important to me. I became passionate about it because I really understood what they do, why they do it and the impact that it has on everybody. "I tell people that if you have been touched by a child who was born prematurely, you've been touched by the March of Dimes. If you have a healthy child, you have also been touched by the March of Dimes. Because of all their research, my grandson Austin is now a happy, healthy 5-year-old and he has no residual effects of being premature. But about 50-percent of babies born prematurely don't have that. They either don't make it or they have lifelong handicaps, so I'm very passionate about the March of Dimes."  More

Growth Strategies
Pro-Con eyes continued expansion
By Amanda Lauer
Progressive Converting Inc., known as Pro-Con, is appropriately named. By being progressive the company is not only weathering the current uncertain economy but has also positioned themselves to grow when the market recovers.
The company was started in 1991 by four partners who have all since retired. The current owners are Mike Kersten, Laird Strand, Dan Curtin and Jeff Carew. "The company was founded in Appleton to serve the merchant and mill industries with sheeting, slitting and rewinding capabilities," said Kersten, who began his career with Pro-Con in 1998. "We were not in the market to buy or sell paper, strictly to convert paper for paper merchants." In 1996, a second facility was opened in Hazelton, Penn. A West Coast facility in Sparks, Nev. opened in 1998 that has since been relocated to Los Angeles. When Strand and Curtin came on board in 2006, the company expanded to another division called PaperQuest, which sells exclusively to the Web print market. The company has evolved somewhat through the years. "Today, probably 90 percent of what we convert is for paper mills," Kersten said. "We convert paper, anything from cut size and digital sizes all the way to standard folio sizes to large format." The company does cartoning now as well. In 2008, it acquired another property in Park Falls to accommodate the cut size operations.  More

Hal Becker column
Actions speak louder than your perceptions
By Hal Becker
This past week has been an interesting look into the world of perception and expectations.
This article is a two-part story. As you read this, you will find how the two stories intersect and work together even though the two companies could not be more different.
I'm glad that these experiences both happened in the same week so it makes the information fresh and easy to write about.

Story No. 1: I have been thinking about getting a flat-screen TV for my bedroom. I already have a pretty good TV there now and it wasn't a high priority, but when you get your mind on something or you go to your rich friends house and see theirs, well - now I have to have one. I was looking for a smaller version of the JVC model I have in our family room, and since I like the TV so much, I just want its "baby sister."  The only retailer that carried it is my least favorite place to shop because it (in my opinion) has a poorly-run sales department.

The List
Highest-paid public company executives  More