Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, proudly brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this July 30th, 2025.
Have your host James J. Mail off here and we're joined by Promise Bach and she is our
good friend from the heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.
Always good to see you promise how you been.
Good, good to see you too.
Appreciate the time and appreciate everything you and the chamber does.
It's been a really, from my perspective and the people that I get to talk to in town
here, really successful summer for you guys at the chamber.
Guys, it's done some awesome work.
Everything seems to have been going very well over there and there's just been nothing
but positive community response from me and what the people that I have come in and
I've always been told by a couple of people including my mother to make sure I tell you
guys this.
Because it's doing good work over there.
We appreciate it.
Let's talk about some of that work that you have coming up promise.
I see that lunch by the river right around the corner, of course.
We're going to be celebrating that tomorrow and we got some great ones.
We're going to tell everybody about the details of it.
Yeah, so lunch by the river tomorrow from 11.30 to 1 o'clock at the veteran's memorial
park.
This week sponsors are billy rude and prevail banks, so we're super excited to have them
down there with their booths.
They'll probably be given away a little swag to stop in there and check out what they
have to offer and learn a little bit more about their company too while you're there.
Definitely.
Yeah, that's really cool.
I've heard from the groups how much they are able to get questions that they don't
hear usually because people are right there face to face and even thinking of an
moment.
Yeah, and then tomorrow, oh, we're excited for this one, Jackson Taylor will be our entertainment
tomorrow.
So, if you haven't heard him yet or the group yet, just come on down and listen to them
the great music.
I love their music.
Yeah, I've heard good things.
Gotta get them on the air with us.
They're really good.
Yeah.
And then we'll have food trucks down there per usual.
There's a variety every other week.
It kind of depends on who's available, so we'll have multiple food trucks down there
as well.
I just want to shout out to our presenting sponsor, Embridge and our Royal Flash Sponsor
Crockic Sceptic.
Thank you so much for your sponsorships this summer.
We wouldn't have been able to have such a successful lunch by the river this summer without
all of our sponsors.
Yeah.
You talk about businesses that go above and beyond every one of them you've mentioned
already today.
Yeah.
Are whether it's our bill of root or per-a-vail bank, Eddridge, we talk about all the time.
And certainly, we're pretty friendly with Crockic Sceptic around here.
And we really appreciate our friends over there.
It's all when we hear us say the mantra by local support, local, these are the kind of
things we're talking about.
These are people that are putting in their community, helping us do good work around
here and whether it's the chamber or us here at the studios.
We appreciate them.
And keep up the great work.
We'll keep promoting you guys because we love talking about them.
And when it comes to the food trucks promise, I've been asked this in the past.
If I'm a person out there listening and I run a food truck or I know somebody that does
and I would love to be a part of things.
Even this summer, can you still join the things if there's room and how would they do
that?
So if you own or operate a food truck and you're interested in getting a little bit
more exposure, lunch, bread, river, the really great way to dip your toes into the community,
we always welcome more vendors.
If we get too full, then we'll just have to slim it down a little bit.
But if you're interested, I would definitely reach out to Lacey Olling over there at the
chamber.
And she can be directly contacted at 715-422-4859.
This year we had a couple of new food trucks that came down to lunch by the river and those
went really well.
So if you have a different kind of like food offering, people really love the big variety.
So we're really excited to learn more about different food trucks that are kind of like
entering the scene lately.
Yeah, we're really fortunate in this area.
We've got so many great ones.
We want to have them all down there as many as we can.
That variety, you guys do a great job of giving something for everybody down there.
Check out Lunch by the River every Thursday while we got them here this summer.
They're going from 1131 over a beautiful Veterans Memorial Park.
We'll meet you down there, everyone.
Gathered by the Banshell, another great event coming up August 12th promise.
Yeah, so this one's very similar to Lunch by the River except it only happens once
a month.
So the last one will be happening on August 12th from 5.30pm to 7pm at the Rome Town Center.
This one has grown exponentially since last year.
Lacey has done a really great job at getting food trucks and entertainment and then even
games down there.
So you can bring the kiddos down there and play some yard games and pretty excited about
that one.
It's grown.
It's been really greatly attended.
This one is presented by Visit Rome and the sponsors for August 12th is US Bank.
So they'll have a little booth out there and they'll probably have like cool little swag
things too.
I love visiting those booths.
You never really know what you're going to get.
Absolutely.
Always visit booths people.
Yes.
Yes.
The food for Gathered by the Banshell on August 12th will be chatterbox catering.
If you haven't tried Kathy's food yet.
Oh, it's good stuff.
Head on down there and check it out.
I really love the food that she has on her truck and she's just been really, really great
with us this year too.
Yeah.
The payment is Bob Allen.
Nice.
He's.
Bob's a local favorite.
He's great.
Bob's awesome.
Yes.
And then thank you to our season sponsors San Valley and Cold Well Bankered Vantage.
Once again, a big shout out to all of those sponsors and people help make this happen.
I love that Lacey has taken the ball and run with it with this one.
That particular area, and you know this better than I do, probably promise.
When I get to have the Visit Rome board on and talking about the Rome area or people from
San Valley on and talking about how that area has blown up so much in the last 10, 15
years.
It's only going up.
Yeah.
It's not going down anytime soon and even if it does, it's going to center on where it
is.
It's not going to get any smaller.
That's something very new to people in this area, that area, which has always been considered
a kind of hidden gem in a lot of ways.
It's not so hidden anymore.
And with whether it's we're talking the airport, the golf course or any of these things
are just the location itself.
So to do these events and to put a little more time into them sees that you guys are
in tune with the community that you understand this and to see these sponsors getting behind
it sees that they see you guys are doing something cool over there.
That's great.
I know that we're wrapping up this season, but I look forward to seeing what comes about
next year with this one and we'll talk about rendezvous in the park a little bit later,
but very similar with that too, where these are both communities that are thriving doing
well and having these events there are kind of a little bit of a calling card about
that, a little bit of showing of that, that hey, look how good this things are going
here and stuff.
And the community is enjoying the events and looking at it as a very similar thing.
It's cool.
It's great combination.
If people want to be a part of gathered by the band show, we'll give them information
on that one.
Or do you want to go ahead and take it now?
Oh, yeah, Lacey's numbers are a little different, yeah.
So we are getting ready to start filling those spots for next year.
So if you want to jump the gun and get on the list right away, reach out to Lacey Alling
at 715-422-4859 or you can also shoot her an email as well and her email is communications
at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com.
And network exchange for HR professionals, a really good topic I would like, one that
I don't see covered very often, that's going to be coming up, that sounds like a really
important event.
Yeah, so we have a couple of different network exchanges over at the chamber and we run them
quarterly.
So we have one for HR, one for safety, and one for women professionals.
So the one happening on August 13th is our network exchange for HR professionals.
And basically it's for smaller businesses or businesses that don't necessarily have an
HR department so you can come and get some feedback, shoot around ideas, get some insight
into some of those common HR issues that you're having within your company and so that way
you don't have to go through like, and hire an HR professional, especially if you're
somebody that wears multiple hats in your company, this is a really great one to go to.
So again, it's on August 13th from 11.30 AM to 1pm and it's going to be at the bank
account in Rudolph.
So the speaker Becky Gorsh, she'll be talking about the spectrum benefits solutions of central
Wisconsin and covering all those things that entail those benefits and how to integrate
those into your company so that you can have better benefits for your employees.
Yeah, smaller businesses out there, I think this is really perfect for them too.
And again, another way of showing how you're looking out for them and trying to help those
small businesses out there, whether it is an issue that you have had or one you just want
to avoid, it's a great idea to be doing this.
That sounds like a really good one to have.
In the near also surrounded by other HR professionals in the area that are kind of like familiar
with some of the common issues that this area has.
So really great advice and you can make great connections there.
So I highly recommend attending one if you have like an HR role in your company and then
make contacts.
So that way when something does happen in the future, you can call that buddy back up again
and be like, I met you at Network Exchange.
I have an issue.
Can you help?
Those are connections that you love to have.
Hopefully you don't have to use them, but they're rude to have.
That's a great opportunity to do that doing other networking or you never know what other
things will come up in conversation.
That's a great one.
When is that again?
August 13th.
Do you have to register for that event?
Yes.
Registration closes August 6th.
So it's free for members and then I think there's like a $10 fee for non-members and
we will also be providing lunch that day.
Very cool.
If people want to register, how can they do that?
They can visit our website at WisconsinRabbageChamber.com or give us a call and we'll
add you to the registration list at 715-423-1830.
Be sure to spread the word about that one too, everybody.
That's what I would want every small business owner to know about.
rendezvous in the park coming up August 20th at beautiful Riverside Park in Nicosia.
Touched on this before, another event that has really gotten stronger over the last couple
of years and more attended in a beautiful location.
I love that spot.
So rendezvous in the park happens August 20th from 5.30pm to 7pm at the Riverside Park
in Nicosia.
And I really love this one because it's just right there by the river.
And I see so many people coming out to it and enjoying the music and the food that we
have out there.
And it's really great.
So this week we have our sponsors, Hochunk Gaming Nicosia, Midstate Technical College
and the Nicosia Lions Club.
And I don't know if you know, but whenever Hochunk Gaming Nicosia sponsors one of ours
and they set up a little booth, they usually have rewards places.
There's probably going to be a high attendance out there this week for that one.
Everybody's probably going to stop by and try to get some rewards players spend their
wheel or whatever game they have down there.
That's going to be a busy booth.
That's going to be a busy one right there.
It's going to be a good time too.
Along with Midstate Technical College, I don't know if you've seen some of the stuff
that they've had on their table lately.
Always stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Nicosia Lions Club is going to be down there.
Cool.
Yeah.
And they're also going to be providing the food too.
And I don't know if you've, I've been down there before when they've had the food out there.
I haven't got the trip yet, but I've heard great things.
And I know they're great people over there.
They're really cool people at the Lions Club.
And that's great that they're doing that.
Yeah.
That they're going to be not only a booth with the food down there, that's cool.
Yeah, I'm excited.
A great entertainment.
One of my favorite entertainers this area has, Mr. Ben Shatek.
Going to be down there.
That's cool.
And a real big thank you to the season sponsors.
Yep.
Our season sponsors this year is the spot by Jacobi and the city of Nicosia.
I tip my hat to the city of Nicosia because they have been very actively, you know,
helpful to us this year and really growing our relationship with them.
And then the spot by Jacobi, they're doing great things over there as well.
Yeah.
I couldn't agree more.
It's something that is, I think so just invigorating and so cool to see communities doing these
things and taking it on themselves, they're like, we're going to make our community better.
We're going to make it stronger.
And a lot of this is being done because we're working together, town and town working together,
city and city working together.
We're seeing a lot of that.
And that's really cool.
That's fantastic.
Also, before we let you go, promise, I did want to talk a little bit about the Ace Leadership
Program.
Okay.
You guys are, I believe you're accepting applications.
Those are open though.
Yep.
So we're accepting applications for the 2025-2026 program year.
So this program kicks off in October and runs for eight months through April.
And so the group meets once a month and normally it's people that are, you know, looking to
develop their leadership skills or grow their leadership skills or people that are looking
to network with other leaders in the area.
Anybody that is like freshly entering our leadership role, if they just moved into a supervisory
position and anybody that's, you know, new to the area.
So if they moved into town here and got a job like, say, at one of the companies in the
area, it's really great for them to consider going through this program because you'll make
connections and then learn about the community and all the different sectors that make Wisconsin
rapids, Wisconsin rapids.
So we meet like every once a month and we cover different areas like economic development,
government services, nonprofit, manufacturing, et cetera, et cetera.
And you know, through these different days, you'll, you know, gain impactful leadership
skills, broaden your business and community network and engage in hands-on community experiences
while, you know, exploring a variety of community roles to, you know, further develop and enhance
your leadership skills.
Plus, once you complete the program, you get, you earn one credit for the leadership
course over at Midstate Technical College.
That's so cool.
Yeah.
It's such a cool, real tip of the hat to Midstate and adding that onto this and everything.
The idea of that was also a tip of the hat.
That's fantastic.
Yeah.
And spacing is limited.
I think we have, we can go up to like 25 participants and we've already received a couple
of applications.
Imagine, yeah.
You're a business out there and you have somebody that you want to move into a leadership
role or a new hire this year, or if you just want to like learn more, you know, leadership
skills yourself, this is definitely something you should register for sooner than later.
And then for registration, you can check out our website at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com
or give us a call at 715-423-1830.
This program, and forgive me if I don't put this the right way, promise, it's been a
long day.
With this program, I don't know how popular it is as far as how well known as common knowledge
it is or anything.
But in getting to do this job for, you know, nine years now and going on 10, I've gotten
to talk about this program a lot.
I've gotten to see a lot of the members of it and a couple of different incarnations of
it and everything.
And the people that take the program, it's very popular with them.
And not only do they continue to come back and talk about it and promote it, but encourage
their business to have other employees be a part of it and everything.
Cannot encourage you enough to find out more about this program and see how it can benefit
your business.
I can't think of one business out there that couldn't be benefited by this program.
And the employees that couldn't be benefited by it.
It is, you get your, I think that another thing important in business is certainly if I'm
going to spend X, am I going to get X back?
You will.
You will definitely will.
I put my name on that, you will get your money back on this program and see the benefits
of it right away.
In fact, I think.
And then there is the just personal human aspect of this and putting people that aren't normally
hanging out together maybe, you know, and this business and this business that never
would coordinate and now they're working together.
And we've got many examples actually of this in the community that maybe aren't necessarily
noted because they've been happening for years now because this program has been around
for a while.
There's so much about this program that I think is exciting and fun and really beneficial
for people out there.
I agree.
Make sure to find out more.
Again, that number, the promise I mentioned, 715, 423, 1830, 423, 1830.
And of course, all of this you can find at WisconsinRabitsChamber.com because while we have kept
promise busy these last 15, 20 minutes, we've only scratched the surface.
Like this is pretty much what we've covered for the next couple of weeks.
There is so much coming up with the chamber, be a part of it and find out more.
And if people want to reach out to you, promise and hear more information or just be a part
of things, how can they get a hold of you?
They can definitely shoot me an email at marketing at WisconsinRabitsChamber.com or give me a call
at 715-422-4856.
Thanks so much for joining us, Prams.
Always good to hang out.
We'll talk to you again soon.
Yeah.
Thanks.
And thank you everybody for joining us.
A big thank you to our friends at Crocatsceptic as well for sponsoring this edition of WFHR's
Rapids Report.
