2013 was interesting year for city

“Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work.” — Vince Lombardi I chose Vince Lombardi’s quote for today’s article because, looking back over 2013, I realize what a team effort it takes for accomplishments to occur in a community. I thought you might enjoy looking back at some of the significant changes that occurred over the year. A major concern of any community is employment. Business growth and job retention continues to be a primary focus of the city. During 2013, the city of Shawano combined resources with Shawano County in an effort to hire a leader and advocate of business growth within our area. Dennis Heling was named SCEPI’s chief economic development officer. He has a strong background, ranging from the service and retail sector to industrial and manufacturing businesses. He will focus on assisting existing businesses with job retention and growth, as well as encouraging new businesses to locate here. The city put in place an incentive program that includes credits for job creation and retention, as well as credits for investment in new building or other assessable improvements. In addition, the city of Shawano offers financial assistance through a Revolving Loan Fund Program, TIF funds and Industrial Development Revenue Bonds. Fortunately, most of our industries and businesses survived the economic downturn. In fact, several have expanded. In addition, during 2013 the city welcomed several new businesses, including Anew Tea Emporium and Antiques, Old Glory Candy Store, El Tequila’s, Mountain Bay Outfitters and the Vapor Shoppe, to name a few. Numerous building permits were taken out for remodeling and/or expansion, including the Shawano County Job Center, Buss Automotive, Wal-Mart, Twig’s Beverage Inc. and Papa Murphy’s. Cooperative Resources International (CRI) opened a new distribution center in the former Schmidt Lumber location. The ThedaCare board of directors gave its approval to construct a new ThedaCare Medical Center. Community members were invited to participate in “The Big Dig” groundbreaking event on July 11. Construction has begun, and the completion date for the medical campus will be in 2015. ThedaCare hired a firm to develop re-use recommendations for the Shawano Medical Center property. A task force was appointed to work with the firm. The task force will present the Planning Commission with their recommendations sometime in the next few months. The former Mountain Bay Lanes was razed to make room for a new CoVantage Credit Union facility. The Family Dollar Store is under construction. Work will begin soon on the Historic Lincoln School LLC. Cellcom will begin the construction on its new coffee house/retail store, with an anticipated opening date in June. The Four Seasons, formerly Best Western, is under new ownership and opened for business late in 2013. During 2013, the Shawano County Historical Society moved a church from River Street to Heritage Park. It is a wonderful addition to the park! Work will continue during 2014. The city determined a rewrite of the zoning code and update of the zoning map are needed to support the recommendations of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. Vandewalle and Associates Inc. are assisting with the rewrite, which will be completed in 2014. Public hearings will be held prior to adoption. During 2013, two city employees, Public Works Director Rick Stautz and Public Works truck driver Bill Beyer, retired. The city welcomed Eddie Sheppard to our staff. Marisa Rycroft was hired to be the BID coordinator. The city began 2013 with fewer employees due to necessary budget cuts. Existing employees did a commendable job working harder while completing work that others had previously been responsible for. In August, a severe wind/electrical storm claimed one life in Menominee County. Shawano Municipal Utilities crews worked tirelessly to restore power to more than 1,000 residents. City crews worked for weeks and weeks to clean up storm damage. The Woodlawn Cemetery was one of the areas hardest hit, with 58 trees down or damaged. In October, city officials sealed the deal for the sale of Shawano Municipal Utilities’ cable TV and high-speed Internet services to local wireless server Cellcom. I look forward to our city’s continued growth and success throughout 2014. It’s exciting living here because Shawano is “happening”! The answer to the last trivia question — Whose ad in 1986 said “Strong, helpful, friendly”? — is Valley Bank of Shawano. This week’s question is: Who was the general manager of the Shawano Evening Leader in 1982?