Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this April 14th, 2025.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here and we're welcoming you into the studio.
Our great friend Kayla Rumbalski,
community development educator with Wood County.
Kayla, good to have you with us.
Hi, James. Good to be here.
Always good to talk to our friends from extension.
We get a double bill of you guys this week.
We'll be talking more a little bit later.
Yeah, add us on deck later in the weekend here I am.
So two extension professionals in one week.
You can't go wrong.
No, we can't and especially with the topics we've got for you this week.
And this one in particular, Kayla, you've been busy lately.
Yeah, you were up to something and talk about that a little bit.
Yeah, so we are planning among other things.
My colleagues and I at extension are planning a statewide conference
that will be hosted right here in Wisconsin Rapids.
It's called the Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference.
It's coming up on June 16th through the 18th this summer,
which is hard to believe is just about two months away.
It's crazy.
It feels wild to me, but here we are.
So this is a conference that really focuses on small town entrepreneurship.
So we're looking at Wisconsin outside of Madison, Milwaukee,
Green Bay, some of those big cities and really focusing in on what more rural
communities or smaller cities can do to highlight entrepreneurship and
just support small businesses in their communities.
So we're really excited about this conference.
It's going to be a great way for us to showcase the Wisconsin Rapids
and really to highlight all of the cool things that we have going on here
and in Central Wisconsin.
And then in addition to that, you know, it's looking at bringing in folks
from a statewide audience, but also bringing local folks out as well.
So we want to see both people from across the state
and people right here locally.
I think you can make the argument, Kayla, that it's never been more important
to have these kind of events for not only entrepreneurs out there,
but local businesses and for a local,
anybody local wanting to start a business or just get going.
No matter regardless of funding or opportunities or even your business idea or model,
in this day and age in 2025, I think you can make an argument.
It has never been more accessible to be able to start up a business.
Absolutely.
But also with that, you're not the only one that thought of starting up a business.
There's a lot of people out there.
There's a lot of businesses.
And with that, you know, knowing as much as you can going into it
and having as much assistance as you can and data as you can only makes where
a much more, the better chances of you being successful in this.
Right. Absolutely.
And to add to that, James, I would say, you know, extension is always
about bringing the research from UW-Madison out to our local communities.
And so that's one of the things that we do in my program area as well.
And we saw a huge number of business startups
following during the pandemic and following the pandemic.
More people than ever before, I think probably because, right,
you're laid off from your job.
Maybe you had a really sustainable income that went away due to COVID.
Okay, now's the time.
I'm going to go into business for myself.
So we saw more startups than ever before.
And we're yet to see how that will play out, right?
We know that businesses often struggle within their first couple of years.
It's difficult to make a profit when you're putting so much of your time
and a lot of times your personal dollars into your business.
And so we really want to be cognizant of that and support those businesses
in any way that we can.
And we're going to go over the agenda highlights.
And as we do, I do want to note one thing really quickly.
Entrepreneurial ecosystem 101.
I just love that phrase.
And I wanted the chance to say it.
Right.
There we go.
To the really fun phrase right there.
But just as fun as it is,
there's very some important information with these.
Absolutely.
Yeah, so entrepreneurial ecosystems is like a,
it's a buzz word, right?
And it's fun.
It rolls off the tug.
Essentially what that means is like for a small community, right?
So we're hosting it in rapids.
And maybe someone from Nukusa,
or maybe someone from Auburndale wants to come out.
They're representing their local municipality.
And they're wondering, how can I support small businesses in my community?
How can I make my community more entrepreneurial friendly?
That's essentially what that ecosystem term is referring to.
So this track, there are four different tracks in the conference,
is really all about the first steps
and starting out what you need to know
to support entrepreneurs in your community.
And going from there to rethinking rural.
Yeah, so as I said, you know,
this is really focusing in on our rural communities in Wisconsin.
So no offense to our big cities,
but we have some unique challenges.
And also opportunities, right?
It's not just, what was me in our rural communities.
There's a lot that we have to offer.
And so this session track is going to be,
so I should back up, there are four tracks
for each track, there are four sessions.
So 16 sessions across the length of the conference.
This track rethinking rural is really designed
to get you to think differently about rural economies.
And one of the ways that we've done that,
that we're really excited about,
one of the highlights is that we're bringing in Corey.
Corey, C-O-R-I, is the center on rural innovation.
They're a nationwide organization,
a nationwide nonprofit network,
whose mission is to create opportunities
that empower rural people to thrive in the tech economy.
So really, they're looking at those high tech startups
and tech companies and bringing those to rural communities.
They're beyond, you know, those types of industries
are not just for big cities.
They go beyond big cities.
And so we're excited to bring them in as a best practice
and to offer the opportunity to learn from them
and learn what they're doing across the country.
I don't want to my, one of the things that I really enjoy,
like especially in the artistic world,
is seeing somebody take like an old door
and turn it into a table.
And you know, the repurposing of old items and everything.
And it's become even more and more popular
with younger generations, DIY,
and a lot of those kind of things.
Absolutely.
There's no reason we can't do this with businesses,
we can't do this with infrastructure
or some of our buildings.
We're seeing this happen in real time
right here in rapids right now.
And Cory is really not only with the information,
but one of the centers of this
as far as helping communities
and learning about this from communities.
Absolutely.
Yes, so we're excited to bring them in.
I think they'll have some great perspectives
that they can share with our community.
And communities like ours,
I don't know how necessarily the best way to put this.
And I don't know if I need even need to.
I don't want to man-spline rapids to rapids people.
Sir, because we're living real time
with so much of what we're talking about right now with this.
But it's so important for the future of these communities.
I don't think you need me to reference or name
any communities in the state of Wisconsin
that we've seen go the other way,
where they're losing the school shut down
or some of these things
because they just have not been able to adapt
or whatever reasons might be.
It's all the more reason why,
to me personally, in talking to our mayor
and talking to local leaders
in this community in Wisconsin rapids,
things are going well.
Nobody's taken their foot off the gas.
All the more reason why we've got to really make sure
to encourage entrepreneurship,
bring businesses into this town
and a lot of those things.
And having a conference like this,
having something like this available to people
is only going to enhance that part of it.
Absolutely.
Because it's all well and good to,
you know, you got that creative idea.
You've got something that you want to do.
And you're kind of done with this life
and you want to start a whole new career
or something like that and do this.
That's great.
But it's not good, that's one part of it.
How to succeed is such an integral part
of the other part of that.
Having a great idea is difficult enough
to come up with.
Yes, it is.
Let alone be here.
And then turning that into a business, right?
That's it.
Yeah, well, and then on top of all of that
to say, you know, and I appreciate the shout out
to bigger cities and everything.
You know, coming from or even spending time
in cities like many people,
lieu out there,
we kind of get, okay,
there's marketing teams for that.
They've got the big city thing down.
What about it on a rural level?
How do you do something like that
and that's not scaled down
but scaled to your community?
Because something that we got in radio,
I think earlier than most in the business world.
And because we had to,
how do we survive in radio?
How do you, in a day and age
where if I want to hear a song while I just look it up?
I mean, any song I want to hear,
I can hear it anytime I want.
I don't need your radio.
But we can do what nobody else can do
in reporting local.
Nobody can, like for us here,
nobody can report on central Wisconsin
like we can, we literally live here.
We're experiencing it.
So we can do that better than anybody in Madison
who will across, or Chicago, or New York, or anybody.
Absolutely, and you do at WFHR.
I mean, you're a huge community partner
and we're so grateful to have you right here.
That was very nice.
Thank you for that.
That was a pleasure for that.
I was using it as an example of how radio is survived
because when I first started
in this business, people told me,
well, don't get comfortable.
Radio is going to be gone.
Well, here we are 30 years later.
We're not going anywhere.
And we're doing really good.
We're going really well at everything.
There's no reason why any business out there
couldn't be that way.
You just have to be able to adapt,
be willing to grow and listen to your community,
listen to your audience.
I will say this from the end of time,
the greatest sales marketing thing you can learn,
know your audience, learn, adapt to them,
and do what that works for them.
They won't steer you wrong.
This conference is talking about so many of these things
in a much better way than I ever could.
And also giving, I think too, also with this Kayla,
we'll talk about some more of the other highlights
and details with this.
But I love the idea too of, I'm an entrepreneur,
and I'm going to something where there's other entrepreneurs.
And just being able to be around that vibe and that energy,
let alone the information that could be shared.
Yes, absolutely.
Oftentimes, when I go to professional development events,
whether that's conferences or meetings or what have you,
I feel like sometimes it's more valuable,
the discussion that happens before and after
the actual meeting than in the meeting itself.
And so we have incorporated that into this conference
as well with some really great networking opportunities.
So I think I'm probably safe to say
that this is the only conference in the state of Wisconsin
that kicks off with a baseball game.
So we have a Raptors game.
June 16th will be at the Kraft River there
for conference attendees.
There are 70 spots available for that.
It's filling up pretty quick.
So if you want to register a reminder to get it in early
so that you can be part of that Raptors game.
And then for the second night of the conference,
there's a networking social outlet rooted in red.
So again, highlighting a really great family generation
upon generation-owned business here in the Wisconsin Rapids area.
We're going to have dinner out there as well as live music.
It'll be a great time just to network.
And again, to have those conversations with other entrepreneurs
outside of a meeting space or outside of a boardroom
and to really get to know some folks
and make some important connections.
There are great sales and marketing people
all around the country doing really good work.
But they're not here.
And again, going back to talking about local
and for your business to survive, those details are integral.
And having people that understand the area
and know the area really well
is going to be so beneficial for you.
And I don't just mean the people that are running the conference
are talking, they're going to be up there.
But to Kayla's point, being around locals,
being around other people that are startups
or looking to get going or something like that,
they're going to have information and data
that only they have, that only they know really of the area.
And I think too, the idea that you yourself,
whoever you are out there, are part of this conference.
The information you have that you can share with others
could be vital and information that not everybody has.
Great.
And that doesn't always exist in those
or data or stats or graphs or charts and those things.
Sometimes it's just, hey, people really love
spending a lot of time on this side of town.
And I know that because I live over there
or something along those lines.
Absolutely.
Just all kinds of different information
that really you would be surprised
how could be beneficial to you
and really come up in part of this conference.
Right.
I do want to shut up the rafters as well.
They do a great job being a part of these things.
And all of that stuff I just said,
the rafters could tell you about.
Right.
They're a business too, right?
The tourism business.
They've been here in town for so long.
I think that we've kind of normalized
how unique it is to have a Northwoods league team
in our community in our town.
And talking with the ownership over there
over the years and different ownership now
and some of that, the rafters are the only
Northwoods league team that own their ballpark.
And the way that they have taken advantage of that,
not only for the community and having other acts in there
and not just the baseball team, of course,
but having music acts over there and some of that stuff,
opening it up to the community and being much more,
we don't have to check with so and so or anything.
We can have the United Way down here
and have United Weekend.
We can have this event with Rooted and Red
and some of this that you guys have extension
are hosting there on the 17th.
Some of this stuff that they're able to do
is so unique and there's no playbook for.
They've figured out as they've been going along,
having really smart people over there
and people that are from the area and get the area.
And finding the niche, right?
Here, can we make an impact and let's dive into that?
And I can tell you, I'm a resident of Stevens Point
and when I first moved to Point, oh gosh,
I'm probably decade.
I'm dating myself because it was decades ago
at this point, very early on in conversation,
I remember people thinking like,
why doesn't Point have a Northwoods league team?
Why don't we have that?
It's a special thing about rapids and it's envied
by other communities for sure.
I'm glad you wrote a point because for as long
as I've lived in this area and half my life,
I've lived in rapids here and everything,
I've always loved Point, I love that area,
I love the city and everything that goes on over there
and everything.
Point is a great example of a rural area, a smaller town
that does a really has something there unique,
like we have our rafters or river kings and stuff,
they've got one of the better universities
in the whole state right there.
And that brings in a whole bunch of different stuff,
whether we're talking about kids coming from across
the state to go to school there
or just business opportunities.
So that's another shining example of leaning into rural,
leaning into what you know and what you can do
that nobody else can.
We're surrounded by that too.
And while we're talking about businesses,
helping out other businesses,
arising tide, where is all boats with information,
that's, keep that in mind when it comes to our area,
in general, and all of Central Wisconsin.
The dollars that you spend in NACUSA benefit rapids.
The dollars that you spend in NACUSA benefit port edwards
and vice versa and all around.
Everybody is connected and everybody helps.
Definitely.
When you support local, truly support local,
you're really helping out your whole area.
Yeah, and I should say, you know,
this conference is being hosted in Wisconsin Rapids.
So you and I have had a lot of,
we've been talking just in this interview,
a lot about rapids.
But we recognize that this is a Central Wisconsin initiative.
This is something that's really,
like you said, a rising tide lifts all boats.
So if we can make rapids stronger for entrepreneurs,
we will have ripple effects in the entire Central Wisconsin area.
And this is sort of a pipe dream, perhaps,
but there are a group of folks that are working on this work
that are interested in sort of transforming
the marketing of Central Wisconsin
to be more in line with, say, the Fox cities, right?
Someone says, oh, I'm going to the Fox cities.
They mean Appleton, maybe Fondelac, Oshkosh.
Why can't we have something like that?
Oh, I'm going to Central Wisconsin
and include, you know, Steven's point,
Wasa, Marshfield Rapids in that definition.
Oh, I dig that.
I really like that.
Like why not?
We should.
We should be lifting up all of our rural communities
and showing that there's more to the state of Wisconsin
than this, I will get on my soapbox.
And I will shout this from the rooftops.
Like there is more to the state of Wisconsin
than just Madison, Milwaukee,
and everything that's on that line, right?
Like there's a whole door and a half of the state
that has a lot going on in it
and lots of opportunities.
Kayla, we got a couple minutes left.
I did want to touch on Corey one more time
and just really hit home what that is for people.
Absolutely.
So we've got a few different sessions
that we're bringing in.
Corey is one of them.
So again, they're the center on rural innovation.
So this is really an opportunity for us
to bring a national bass practice right here
to Wisconsin Rapids and for us to learn
from what they've done across the country.
I mean, their work has impacted not only the state
of Wisconsin, but many, many states across the country.
So they're one of the sessions that we're bringing in.
And then we also have some sessions
that are focused on right here locally.
What are we doing in Wisconsin Rapids
to be successful from an economy standpoint
or from an entrepreneurial standpoint?
So we've got a session on repurposing the paper mill, right?
We're pretty familiar with that story here in Rapids,
but folks from maybe outside of the area aren't.
And so we can talk about that as how
our rural economies really bounce back
after economic shock and what that looks like.
And we've got a great story to share right here.
So you can stay tuned for that session
and then other sessions on funding readiness.
We talked about how do you get the money?
How do you get those dollars when you're looking
to start or expand your business?
Empowering food entrepreneurs?
James, you and I, for different events
that we've talked about, we've talked about food trucks
and how much we love food trucks.
So wanting to make sure that we're continuing to support
not only those food trucks, so mobile food operations,
but also our local restaurants.
Anyone who wants to serve that community
need with food.
And then also really leaning into, we've got a session
that will lean into how passionate people
really lead to quality places.
And what we're intending to highlight in this session
is the folks that own their own business,
but then also volunteer in their community
and make such a huge impact in different community programs,
events, arts, activities, all of those different pieces,
like really focusing in on how the people make the place.
Yeah, well said.
And we have shining examples of that locally
all the time.
And I don't think you have to try very hard out there
to think of, well, businesses that are around
and ones that aren't.
And just be blunt about it.
And the ones that are nine times out of 10
are businesses that you've seen supporting high school events
or promoting this or being at this event
or this community thing or something like that,
to Kayla's point of putting into their community
being a part of the community.
And not just kind of like being there to sell goods.
It goes a lot farther for your business.
It goes so much deeper to the community.
And keeps your business in the community's eye.
And they see that.
And it's free advertising in some ways
as it stays in their brain.
There's so many different layers to this
that whether it's Cory or some of the other people
that are part of this event can actually put
in a really good words for you
and not just rambling like I am.
It's a fun event.
Kayla, do people need to register for this one?
They do need to register.
There is a registration fee.
You can find out more by going to our extension
Wood County website or just searching
for connecting entrepreneurial communities conference
on Google.
It is June 16th through the 18th.
Again, space is filling up for that baseball game kickoff
event.
You don't want to miss it.
So join us for the whole thing and register early.
And Kayla, people have follow questions.
They'd like to talk to you directly.
They'd like to find out more from you.
How can they reach you?
Sure.
So when you're looking for this conference
and you come across the extension Wood County page,
you can find my contact information on there.
You can always send me an email or give me a call.
I'd love to talk with you further.
I always appreciate the time, Kayla.
I love hanging out with you.
You say hi to all the extension team for us.
And we'll talk again real soon.
That sounds great.
Thank you, James.
You can talk to the extension team yourself.
Go to extension.wisk.edu.
That is their website.
You should have a book market.
Keep up the date and all the good things
they are doing over there.
We'll be back with more midday magazine right here
at 97.5 FM 13.20 AM, WFHR, locally grown radio.
