Hello world, welcome to WFHR's rapid support for this Tuesday, November 11th, 2025, send
a big thank you to crack accepting spots during the time.
Got your host James here.
We're joined right now by a heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce, Abby Underwood, Marketing
and Communications Director, Abby Good to see you.
Good to see you too.
Thanks for being here.
We appreciate the time.
Now, busy you guys are over there at the Chamber.
Don't waste any of your time when a dive right in because we got a lot of events to talk
about.
Where do you want to start?
Sure.
We'll start with our networking at night.
This is our first event that's coming up that's going to be most recent.
This is happening on November 17th from 5pm to 7pm.
It's just our monthly mixer where members and future members can connect, build relationships
and just promote their businesses in a more relaxed setting.
This time it will be hosted at Evolution Throwing Coal.
So it's going to be a great time.
Have you ever done the throwing, the Tom Hawks or anything like that?
I have done the axe throwing before, but not at this one.
So I'm excited to see the business itself and what they have to offer there.
I know how hard they in particular have been working to get their business out there.
They've been over here at our open house and some things and got some good people over
there.
This certainly helps them bring some more people in new faces and that, but that's not
just for them.
You are a business out there and you're looking for a place to hand out those business cards.
This is a great opportunity to do that.
As Abby mentioned, this is a networking 101.
This is a great opportunity for that.
What I don't want to get lost in the shuffle though too is that this is a really fun event.
So maybe you're a business and you're doing well and you're a good business and things
are going well for you.
Well, it's still a good idea to go down to this and network and hang out a little bit.
You're not only going to have a good time, but you just never know who you might run into
and who you are able to get that business card in the hand of.
It's always a fun event and a great location.
Yes.
I feel like building connections with other businesses too is just super important.
So this is just a great opportunity for you to get out there and it's not like in a
big scary structured office building, you're in a relaxed setting where you don't feel
like you're being forced to talk to anybody.
Yeah.
I don't know about you, but I get really awkward in those situations.
This is much freer, much just walking around and kind of at your own pace sort of thing.
Yes.
They're going to be raffles there.
They're going to be raffle press.
We're going to have a raffles, a food and much more sometimes businesses do music and
such like that.
I'm not sure about this one, but it's an extra on company, so I'm assuming that we'll
be part taking place.
Sure.
Yeah.
A lot of funds.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That part of load is probably going to bring a lot of people in.
As far as people who can attend, is this open to members, potential members, that kind
of thing?
Yep.
So it is open to members and potential members.
It is completely free to attend.
If you want more information, you can visit our website at Wisconsin RapidsChamber.com
or you can call 715-423-1830.
Abby, I know another signature event that you guys do that I love a lot is coffee with
the chamber.
It's a great event.
I'm a big coffee person.
You should know this right away going into this.
So anything involved in coffee, I'm going to be with, especially one that brings our
community together like these always do.
Yes.
I'm excited for this as well.
I love my coffee.
So when I saw this, I was definitely intrigued.
So this is happening on November 19th at our City Hall Council Chambers.
This is at 8.30 a.m. till 9.30.
It's free for chamber members and for non-members, it is $10.
We are going to be talking about the economic development update on just the general community,
the paper mill, the foundry site, the downtown master plan and just much more.
Our speakers are going to be Kyle Kerns and Mayor Matt Zacker.
So a huge shout-out to Paper City Savings Bank and our coffee sponsor, Caribou Coffee.
Oh, God, I love Caribou.
Yes.
I love Caribou.
That right there, you had me.
You didn't even have to say anything else.
Let's be honest, you said coffee that already had me in about half of our audience.
This is a really, these coffee with the chambers are really great.
There's been a lot of great subjects over the years, a number of different ones on safety
or HR, some things like that.
That can be pretty universal, but sometimes it involves more of a business angle.
This one is really everybody.
Like everybody in the community has interest or curiosity may be your questions.
And we are fortunate in this area whether it is Kyle and what a great speaker he is and
how transparent he is or our mayor and Matt.
Matt joins us once a month and I know this firsthand, on air, off air, he's the same guy.
If you have questions, he wants to know that.
He wants to hear them.
I always encourage people to act like adults when it comes to these situations and treat
each other with respect, but that doesn't mean that you have a question and ask it.
I mean, they want that.
I know, again, speaking to them, face to face how much it means to represent their constituents,
represent this city, both of those individuals.
So I have no doubt that not only are they going to do a great job speaking and covering
these subjects, but if you have questions answering those, for sure, it's a great way to start
the day.
Yes.
I see a lot when scrolling on social media or just in general people asking questions about
the community.
So I just feel like this is a great opportunity to come out and be able to talk to these people
and get the answers that maybe you can't find easily online.
And chances are some of the questions you might have, they may even answer in their discussion
and what they're saying or other people asking.
I really do appreciate that those two do everything they can to put themselves out there and
be a part of events like this.
Coffee with the chamber.
When's that coming up again?
That is November 19th, 830 AM to 930, and that is at the City Hall Council Chambers.
For more information, you can visit our website at Wisconsin RapidsChamber.com or you can
call 715-423-1830.
Abby, I know you got some more stuff over there.
What do you want to talk about next?
Sure.
Let's hop onto our small business showcase that's coming up.
So this is a big one and I actually had the chance to make all the marketing materials
for this.
So it was super fun.
What it basically is, is it is happening through a Saturday, November 29th all the way
through December 12th.
We extended the time period this year as we know that groups of people like to get together
and go shopping.
So it's just a great time to get together with family and friends and shop local around
our community.
What happens is we hand out passports that we created, which with each business that
is participating.
And when you take those passports into a store that's participating and you buy something
or just visit, you're able to get it stamped and entered into win raffle prizes that all
the businesses are giving to us to a raffle at the end of this.
So it's going to be super duper exciting one and great for Black Friday shopping, Christmas
gifts.
Just going to be a lot of fun.
One of the mantras that we have here that you at the Chamber do and you hear throughout
our community buying local supporting local.
This event is the definition of that.
There's a lot of great things the Chamber does that is based in that essence and that mission.
But this one is such the definition of that.
It's a great opportunity to not only buy local and support local businesses, but maybe
find out about businesses you didn't even know about.
And man, that passport thing just seems to get more and more popular every year.
People really do love doing that.
I did it one year and I had it blast too.
But I don't think I got into it nearly as much as my mom does or some other people I know
that do it.
It's a really fun part of this.
Really shows how much you guys listen to the community pay attention and stuff by moving
that date around.
I think that's a really fun way to do this too.
It certainly helps our local businesses, but it's also just a really fun event to be
a part of as well.
Yes.
So there's going to be so many different types of businesses too.
Right now we have clothing businesses like retail.
We have anywhere from like auto and just your basic pop and little tiny stores.
It's just going to be a great time.
I'm super excited for it and to check out all the businesses.
Even if you want to stop and just get a bite to eat, Frank, you can get a stamp for
that.
So, and the raffles are looking amazing right now, so we're going to be some great put
together.
Super excited for that as well.
Very cool.
You mentioned that you got to put together the pamphlet, the passports and everything.
How did that go?
Did you have, it sounds like you had a lot of fun doing that.
Yes.
It was super fun.
I mean, you look at a passport and you don't really think much of it, but putting it together
and putting all the business logos in it and everything has been so much fun and just
it coming together.
I'm super excited for the community to see it and just have a fun time.
I've been doing this for a while and somebody a long time ago used to be in your position
Steph.
Steph's men, when she and the team were kind of coming up with this idea, I remember how
excited she was to talk about it and everything.
For her, she found that even for her, there were some businesses that she wasn't familiar
with and everything.
Have you found that be a fun part of it getting them to know some even more businesses and
stuff?
Definitely.
And there's some new businesses partaking in this as well that just came to the community.
So it's a great way for them to promote and get out there and for the community, just
to check out these new businesses if you haven't gotten the chance to.
So, when it comes to getting one of those passports, will there be places with people that
can get them once we get a little closer and stuff?
Yep.
So, coming up the week of November 19th, we're going to be handing them out to businesses.
They'll be able to pick them up from any of the local businesses that you want to stop
out or you can pick them up at the chamber and get them up from us.
This event is going on Saturday, November 29th through Friday, December 12th.
Be a part of small business Saturday, everybody.
It's a fun one.
Get one of those passports.
Get in on this.
Again, a great raffle prizes as well.
We're speaking with Abby Underwood, marketing and communication director with the Heart
of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.
Abby, what you got next for us?
So, next thing I'm going to talk about is we have two parades coming up for the holidays,
which are a lot, but they're a lot of fun.
So the first one that we have coming up is the Rekindle the Spirit Holiday Parade.
This is happening on November 26th, so it's just a great way to kick off the holiday season
before Thanksgiving.
You can still register to enter a float in this.
So if you're looking to do that, make sure you do that.
The third deadline for that is coming up on November 19th.
So basically, if you're a member, it's $35.10 to a float.
Non-member is $45, and then if you want an additional vehicle, that is $10.
This parade is starting at the City Hall and ends at the intersection past Hotel Mead
and McMillan Library.
Start out at 5.45 pm is the annual holiday lighting ceremony that takes place at the
Veterans Memorial Park, and then after that is the parade to follow.
And then after the parade, we are all meeting up at Hotel Mead to do Cookies and Hot
Coco, which are courtesy of Chatterbox, and then along with pictures with Santa and Mrs.
Claus by Hike Ode Photography.
Great people over there.
They've done our photos before and everything is shut out to them.
Some great businesses to be a part of this one.
I got excited to talk about it because we're going to be a part of this.
We get to do some commentating when the parade is going on and everything, and I love
doing that.
It's got to do it a couple of years ago.
It's so much fun.
We're looking forward to that.
But I got even more excited.
I did not realize Santa and Mrs. Claus were going to be there.
That's such a get.
Every year you guys do this, I've been trying to get them on rapid support for years, Abby,
and I have no luck with this, so I'm nicely done by you guys.
That's a shout out to them, and of course, the Hotel Mead sponsoring that, a big thank you
to them.
You gotta send me that contact information, okay?
It's a fun event.
It's a fun event.
We look forward to it so much, and very cool to hear that businesses can still be a part
of it.
They can still be a part of the parade if they'd like.
Find out more.
Certainly be going to the Chamber's website, and we'll give you that information before
to wrap up.
You said another parade is going on as well.
Yep.
So this one is a little later, but it is our Nukusa holiday parade.
And this is happening on Saturday, December 6th.
This begins at 5.15 and starts at the library, traveling through downtown Nukusa and ending
at Good Fellowes Pizza.
It's just a great fun holiday parade through the heart of Nukusa, followed by a spectacular
firework display at Riverside Park.
It's beautiful over there, and this time of year especially.
And we not only do we love this event, but if you see an event going on in Nukusa, you
can guarantee it's going to be big, they're going to put a lot into it.
That whole city puts into those events.
That's going to be a fun one.
Looking forward to that.
Thank you for the information on that one, I appreciate it.
Abby, there's a registration deadline for the Nukusa parade.
Yep.
So you can still register to put a float in the Nukusa parade, but deadline is December
1st.
So if that's something you're interested in, make sure to visit our website or reach out
to Lacey, who is in charge of all of the parade stuff.
And her number for that was going to be 715-423-1830.
And I know we had one other thing we wanted to talk about before we let you go, Abby.
Yes.
So last but not least, our woman in business luncheon.
This is happening December 5th from 11am to 2pm.
And this is at Midstate Technical College.
It's just going to be a great discussion on seeing more clearly the power of contrast
in modern mammography by Dr. Sarah Nielsen from Marshfield Clinic, followed by Heidi
Slingman from cranberry learning incorporation.
So just a great discussion for women.
I feel like we don't have a lot of that open to the public around here.
So it's something that's informational and new, which I feel like would be great.
It is $25 for a Midstate Technical College student, $35 for a chamber member and $45 for
a non-member.
You can register now for this on our website, or you can pick up or a flyer.
It has the QR code on there too.
You can scan and sign up easily with.
But this does close on November 25th, so.
We just, to your piggyback on your point there, Abby, I agree with you completely.
We don't have enough events like this for women and just opportunities for women to get
together and not only share information, but camaraderie having each other's back and
so many other factors and things.
There's a lot more there than I know as a guy.
I certainly don't, not particularly.
I'm basically repeating what my mother has said to me many times.
And how much she is impressed by the chamber and different businesses in this community
really stepping up and having events like this focused on women in business.
And again, just, you know, the sharing of information goes so much farther than we can
really even figure and put in a word sometimes, but camaraderie, some of that, I mean, that
you really can't put a price on.
It's something that's really noteworthy, a very cool event.
And again, that is going on Friday, December 5th, 11-2.
This seems like a register event.
This is one you want to register for, right?
Yep, this is one you are registering for right now.
You can pick up a flyer or on our website and it does close November 25th.
Get that in now so you don't even have to worry about it, everybody, and make plans
to be that women in business luncheon.
Have a great job, fun working with you as always.
Thank you.
If people have follow up questions, I'd like to know more about some of what we talked
about today.
What's the best way to get in touch with you?
For sure.
You can always just stop in at the chamber.
We're always happy to help you out and chat with you a little bit.
Otherwise, you can head over to our website at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com or you can
give us a call at 715-423-1830.
Appreciate the time, Abby, say hi to everybody over there at the chamber for us.
For sure.
And thank you, everybody, for joining us for another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
