Chippewa Valley Technical CollegeCVTC to Host Family Literacy Event Families are invited to help their children from infants to age 8 develop a love for reading and learning as CVTC hosts a free family event on Saturday, Nov. 9 to promote literacy and learning-based family activities. The second annual Family Literacy Event will feature the books of Eric Carle, best known for the children’s classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and as the illustrator of the classis “Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You See” and related titles. The event from 9-11:30 a.m. at CVTC’s Business Education Center, 620 W. Clairemont Ave., is scheduled in conjunction with Family Literacy Month. CVTC’s Early Childhood Education program and Student Life Department will be providing literacy-based activities with a focus on infant-8 years of age. There will be a story room, book giveaways, snacks, and activities for the children. The L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire will also be involved in the event, so remember to bring your library cards. The event will end with a group read-a-loud from 11-11:30. With over 155 programs offered both online and on-campus, Chippewa Valley Technical College delivers superior, progressive technical education which improves the lives of students, meets the workforce needs of the region, and strengthens the community. CVTC programs are designed with input of business and industry to prepare graduates for today’s jobs, with 95 percent employed within six months of graduation and associate degree graduates earning an average annual salary of $46,816. Families, Students Explore Energy Careers at CVTC Careers in Energy Week Marked at Energy Education Center Crouching together inside a simulated trench with a sand-covered floor, Ellie Rumphol placed a section of plastic pipe in a fusing machine as her 9-year-old son, Darius, looked on. Yes, this is what mom does at school during the day, and in a few months when she completes the Gas Utility Construction & Service program at Chippewa Valley Technical College, she may be inside a real trench outside working with real natural gas lines. Rumphol, a 2010 Eau Claire Memorial High School graduate, had the opportunity to show her son some of what she’s learned as the Gas Utility program celebrated Friends and Family Day on Friday, Oct. 18, at the conclusion of Careers in Energy Week at CVTC’s Energy Education Center. The Wisconsin Energy Workforce Consortium sponsors Careers in Energy Week in the state to encourage careers in energy fields and combat a growing shortage of trained workers. “As we transition to a landscape that's increasingly powered by a cleaner energy, we need to work with schools like CVTC to educate the workforce of tomorrow,” BJ Rauckman, senior director of distribution operations for Xcel Energy, said in remarks starting off the day. “We've got line tech, gas utility tech, plant maintenance, mechanic, designer and engineer jobs, and these are just some of the career opportunities. Recent findings suggest, looking out 10 years, 34 percent of those key workers are going to be eligible for retirement.” Rumphol is happy she chose an energy career. “I wanted to work outside, and the need for gas workers in our area is pretty high,” she said. “If you work in an energy field like electricity or gas, people will always need those things,” said Nate Nodolf, a Cornell native now working for Eau Claire Electric Co-op. He completed CVTC’s Electric Power Distribution program in 2003. “The jobs are never going to go away. And when you look at the workforce age now, we have a lot of guys there that are getting up to the retirement age.” The Friends and Families Day was a chance for parents to get a look at what their children were learning to do at CVTC. Aaron Maves thinks his son, Rylan, a 2017 Elk Mound High School graduate, had chosen well. “It's a pretty stable career,” Aaron Maves said. “It's something that a guy could do for 30 years and retire and have a good life. Rylan’s a hardworking kid, very meticulous and a little bit of a perfectionist, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do. I saw advertisements for the open house here and encouraged him to come down and just take a look. He got signed up.” While many parents of the 15 program students were at the event, the situation was reversed for Rumphol and her son. “I talked to him quite a bit about it and he's seen that I'm interested in it,” Rumphol said. I've brought him examples from school, like a pipe I fused together. I figured today would be a good opportunity to show him what it's all about.” It was also a good opportunity for Alex Korenuk, an Altoona High School senior who has been admitted to the program starting in June 2020. Instructor RC Jensen gave Korenuk a preview by allowing him to try his hand at fusing two sections of two-inch pipe using a butt fusion machine. “I think it went pretty smooth,” Korenuk said. “I had good people telling me what to do. I just got instruction, then did it. I can't wait till I start the program.” At the start of the day, Scott Hodak, chief of the office of economic advisors with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, presented a signed proclamation on Careers in Energy Week from Gov. Tony Evers. “I just want to say what you do is important,” Hodak told the students and energy workers present. “We don't think about it ourselves until the power actually goes out and it takes somebody to fix it. It takes actual boots on the ground.” With over 155 programs offered both online and on-campus, Chippewa Valley Technical College delivers superior, progressive technical education which improves the lives of students, meets the workforce needs of the region, and strengthens the community. CVTC programs are designed with input of business and industry to prepare graduates for today’s jobs, with 95 percent employed within six months of graduation and associate degree graduates earning an average annual salary of $46,816.
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
Merchants Financial Group, Inc. Merchants Financial Group, Inc. Announces Earnings of $14,460,000 through Third Quarter of 2019, Pays 75 Cents Per Share Dividend WINONA, Minn. – Merchants Financial Group, Inc. (MFGI), the parent Company for Merchants Bank, N.A., and the First National Bank of Northfield, announced net income through the third quarter of $14,460,000 according to MFGI President & CEO Gregory M. Evans. “The community banking profession is one of the most rewarding, especially when we’re able to support our communities and serve local businesses and individuals by being a strong, stable financial institution,” said Evans. “Our strong earnings performance so far in 2019 enables us to do just that.” As a result of continued profitable performance, the MFGI Board of Directors authorized a semiannual dividend of 75 cents per share to shareholders during its October meeting, a 7.1% increase from the June dividend payment. Dividends will be paid in December to shareholders of record as of November 22. Net income is ahead of MFGI’s plan for 2019 by $2.64 million and $673,000 above 2018 earnings. Contributing to the overall positive third quarter performance, each of Merchants Bank’s four regions and its Secondary Market Mortgage division exceeded their 2019 third quarter plans. MFGI also made significant strategic progress in the third quarter, including closing on the purchase of the First National Bank of Northfield on August 30. “A definite highlight of our third quarter was the addition of First National Bank. Our team at Merchants has now been bolstered by an incredible team in Northfield and we’re proud to have them officially under the Merchants umbrella,” said Evans. Merchants is proud to continue its tradition of community leadership through charitable contributions and employee volunteerism. Through September, MFGI donated to 413 local organizations and its employees have volunteered more than 12,000 hours to local communities. The ownership of Merchants Financial Group is made up of its nearly 500 employees and its shareholders, mostly individuals and families from southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. Wisconsin Public RadioAccess to Health Care in Western Wisconsin on “The West Side” November 4 Access to health care by rural residents of western Wisconsin will be discussed on “The West Side” at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 4 on the Ideas Network Stations of Wisconsin Public Radio 88.3 WHWC-FM/ Menomonie-Eau Claire and 88.7 WRFW-FM/ River Falls. Host Dean Kallenbach and his guests will explore trends in rural health care, including financial strains on independent small-town hospitals, a shortage of specialists in rural communities, and the challenges of home health care in a rural setting. Guests include Alison Page, chief executive officer of Western Wisconsin Health in Baldwin; Kelsey Delander-Derrick, chief executive officer of Adoray Home Health and Hospice of Baldwin, which serves a six-county area; and Parker Schoor, a reporter for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism who has been reporting on rural health care. “The West Side” is a call-in program focused on issues specific to western Wisconsin. The show is broadcast at 10 a.m. Mondays on The Ideas Network stations 88.3 WHWC-FM Menomonie/Eau Claire and 88.7 WRFW-FM River Falls and via an online live stream on 88.7 WRFW-FM University of Wisconsin River Falls via wrfw887.com/listen-live.html. Listeners may call in with questions and comments during the program at (800) 228-5615. Archives of “The West Side” are available at wpr.org/programs/west-side.
Eau Claire Jazz, Inc.Sixth annual Gatsby’s Gala a festive party focused on local music, mission Eau Claire, WIS—The Chippewa Valley’s can’t-miss event of the season comes roaring back Nov. 8 with a renewed focus on celebrating musicians with local roots and supporting excellence in jazz education. Gatsby’s Gala, the 1920s-themed party that transforms the third floor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Davies Center into a wild musical bash, serves as a fundraiser for the Eau Claire Jazz Festival (ECJF) and UW-Eau Claire’s Jazz Studies program. The annual gala, which features music, dancing, and charity gaming—as well as guests decked out in their finest Roaring 20s costumes—is back for its sixth installment Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:00 p.m. “This year’s gala is a chance for us to focus on musicians with ties to the Chippewa Valley and on the tremendous educational value the gala helps make possible,” said Bob Baca, the Margaret and Jack O’Farrell Director of Jazz at UW-Eau Claire and the artistic director for Eau Claire Jazz, Inc. “Everyone who buys a ticket for Gatsby’s Gala is both investing in an unforgettable evening of entertainment and in the future of music education for this region.” After a massively-popular debut in 2014, Gatsby’s Gala has become a fixture on the Chippewa Valley’s calendar of events and is put on by Eau Claire Jazz, Inc. (ECJI), which formed in 2008 to support the UW-Eau Claire Jazz Studies program. ECJI Executive Director Quentin Volk says the organization’s ability to contribute funds toward a new UWEC Jazz Studies scholarship and to provide annual support for the ECJF is increasingly supported by the Gala. “Gatsby’s Gala isn’t just the best party of the year: proceeds from the event support student scholarships and help operate the annual Eau Claire Jazz Festival, now in its 54th year,” Volk said. “Eau Claire Jazz, Inc. is all about raising funds to support jazz education, expanding opportunities for UWEC Jazz Studies students to get real world performance experience, and fostering jazz appreciation in the community. Gatsby’s Gala epitomizes our commitment to this mission.” This year’s gala will feature UW-Eau Claire’s Jazz I and Jazz II Ensembles, joined by returning guest artists Kathryn Rhutassel, Sue Orfield, Shannon Kaeding, and Joel Pace. Rhutasel, a UW-Eau Claire student in the College of Education and Human Sciences, will be the featured vocalist with Jazz I under the direction of Baca. Orfield, who calls the Chippewa Valley home and is lead saxophonist and composer for The Sue Orfield Band, returns for another turn as a guest artist at Gatsby’s Gala. Kaeding, a Fall Creek native, is known for her stunning jazz vocals also returns and has a new album coming in 2020. Pace, known for being the leader of the soul/funk band Irie Sol and his day job as a UW-Eau Claire professor of English, will also join the Gala as a featured vocalist. New to Gatsby’s Gala this year are The Torch Sisters and Michael Andrew. The Torch Sisters, an Eau Claire-based performing circus troupe, will provide entertainment as the “Absinthe Ladies” and enchant the crowd with lucid movement, burlesque shadow-play, and gravity-defying strength in their aerial hoop. Andrew is a 1987 graduate of UW-Eau Claire and a Sinatra-esque crooner who has headlined Merv Griffin’s Coconut Club at the Beverly Hilton, the world-renowned Rainbow Room at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, and starred as the titular character in the musical “The Nutty Professor” directed by Jerry Lewis. Andrew is a frequent guest artist of major U.S. symphony pops orchestras is making his Gatsby’s Gala debut, but will also return to Eau Claire Dec. 6 before headlining the Desert Symphony’s “Michael Andrew Holiday Spectacular” in Palm Desert, CA. Bre DeNure, student Festival Director for the 2020 Eau Claire Jazz Festival, said community support through Gatsby’s Gala helps UW-Eau Claire jazz students participate in incredible performance opportunities and help engage the next generation of jazz musicians. “Having had the chance to play the gala as a member of a jazz ensemble and to help facilitate the incredible education jazz students get through participating in the Eau Claire Jazz Festival, I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact community support for Gatsby’s Gala has,” said DeNure, a fourth-year student at UW-Eau Claire majoring in Organizational Communication and minoring in Music. “This year’s gala promises to be an incredible evening with an even bigger long-term impact!” Information about tickets for the Sixth Annual Gatsby’s Gala, presented by Eau Claire Jazz, Inc. and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, can be found online at eauclairejazz.com. For additional comments, contact Eau Claire Jazz, Inc. Executive Director Quentin Volk at 970-685-2533 or quentin.volk@eauclairejazz.com.
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101 N. Farwell Street - Suite 101, Eau Claire, WI 54703
Phone: (715) 834-1204 | Fax: (715) 834-1956 | information@eauclairechamber.org
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101 N. Farwell Street - Suite 101, Eau Claire, WI 54703
Phone: (715) 834-1204 | Fax: (715) 834-1956 | information@eauclairechamber.org