Small Street Journal: November 29, 2019

University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

​Blugold entrepreneurs create Eau Claire-Opoly board game
UW-Eau Claire's Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization has created and is selling Eau Claire-Opoly, a board game that features Eau Claire businesses, organizations, bridges, parks, streets and other landmarks that people in the Chippewa Valley know well. Full story.

UW-Eau Claire students, faculty to present ‘Dmitri’s Dream’
The story behind the Periodic Table of the Elements will be the focal point of “Dmitri’s Dream: Discovering the Alphabet of the Universe” on Dec. 3, a presentation of the UW-Eau Claire Art AND Science program. Full story.

Getting paid to share knowledge and experiences: OMA internship
Gary Garvin, an intern in UW-Eau Claire's Office of Multicultural Affairs, is finding unique and engaging ways to use his strong connections to the Ho-Chunk community to bring Native American groups and individuals to campus for major events and ongoing EDI efforts. Full story.

Forum speaker takes on climate change: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
At age 19 Xiuhtezcatl Martinez has more experience educating and building a movement to battle climate change than many scientists or elected officials. His Forum presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in UW-Eau Claire's Schofield Auditorium. Full story.
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Faculty authors to discuss Hollywood’s portrayal of the Constitution
Dr. Eric Kasper and Dr. Quentin Vieregge will present "The Constitution in Film: Part of our National Culture" from noon-1 p.m. Dec. 5 during "Thursdays at the U" at UW-Eau Claire – Barron County in Rice Lake. Full story.

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Per Mar & Midwest Alarm Services Expand in Lincoln, NE

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Per Mar Security Services, a leading provider of total security solutions for residential and commercial clients and the parent company to Midwest Alarm Services, is pleased to announce it has acquired NECO Security based in Lincoln, Nebraska. NECO Security was founded by Don Nielsen in 1957, and specializes in residential and commercial burglar and fire alarm systems in the Lincoln area. 

“After 63 years in the Fire Alarm/Security industry, the Nielsen family is moving into a new season. In so doing, after careful thought and consideration, as our customers are of utmost importance, we have selected Per Mar as our successor,” said Don Nielsen owner of NECO Security. “Per Mar has a UL Listed, FM Approved, TMA 5 Diamond Certified Central Monitoring Center, and offers an expanded range of services to our customers. In addition, Per Mar’s company, Midwest Alarm Services, is a Premier Notifier Distributor….thus completing the perfect fit.”

Brian Duffy, COO of Per Mar Security Services, said, “The Nielsen family has built a great company in Lincoln through years of hard work and excellent service. We are honored that they are placing their trust in us to be stewards of the business.”
NECO Security’s Project Manager, Bill Thomas, and their technicians will be joining Midwest Alarm Services. They will be serving customers out of Per Mar and Midwest Alarm Services local Lincoln, NE office.
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“We are excited to have NECO Security join our organization,” said Doug Richard, President of Midwest Alarm Services. “NECO and Midwest Alarm Services were two of the original Notifier dealers in the U.S. The NECO team will be a great cultural fit as they have been working together for decades and have a customer first mentality. We are looking forward to working with them to continue to deliver the best service in the industry.”

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WESTconsin Credit Union

WESTconsin Credit Union's mortgage department partners with mortgage insurance company to give back to local schools
WESTERN WI— WESTconsin Credit Union gives back to their communities and from June to September WESTconsin Credit Union’s mortgage department did just that to many local schools. WESTconsin Credit Union worked together with a mortgage insurance company that they use to give back to local schools. For each mortgage insurance certificate that was activated with ARCH MI during this time, ARCH MI gave $100. At the end of this time frame ARCH MI donated $3,900 on behalf of WESTconsin Credit Union.

ARCH MI hosted a Classroom Donation program and invited WESTconsin Credit Union to participate. The ARCH MI Classroom Donation program was set up to donate to a program called DonorsChoose. This is on online platform where teachers around the country can submit projects to be funded by donations from anyone. These projects can be anything a teacher may need or want to improve their classrooms and their students educational experience.  DonorsChoose has helped over 550,000 teachers receive funding for projects which benefitted over 37 million students!

The projects that were donated to by ARCH MI on behalf of WESTconsin Credit Union were randomly selected from a list of projects that came from schools within the credit union’s membership area. Some of the projects that were fully funded by these donations allowed students to have flexible seating and study areas within their classroom, a “Calm Corner” for sensory needs, helped to organize non-fiction books for easy understanding and check out, and helped students engage and interact with statistics in the real world.  Together, ARCH MI and WESTconsin Credit Union made a difference in many students’ lives!
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WESTconsin Credit Union has been serving members since 1939, and membership is open to anyone who lives or works in the Wisconsin counties of Barron, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer, Taylor, Trempealeau, and Washburn, or the Minnesota counties of Anoka, Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Isanti, Pine, Ramsey, Wabasha, and Washington, with a $5 minimum deposit in a Membership Savings Account. Credit unions are financial institutions owned by their accountholders, and member funds are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) up to at least $250,000.

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Wisconsin Public Radio

​Native American Heritage on “The West Side” December 2
 
Native American heritage, and local efforts to preserve and expand understanding of First Nations people will the topic of conversation on “The West Side” at 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 2 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 will welcome Paul Demain of Hayward, editor of the publication “News From Indian Country” that ceased operation in August after 33 years, Ojibwe by descent, and a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin; Ariana Bourdon, president of the Native American Student Organization at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie; and Wendy Makoons Geniusz, Associate Professor of Languages at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who teaches Ojibwe and is herself an indigenous woman of Cree and Métis decent.
 
“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.

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Royal Credit Union

​ROYAL CREDIT UNION ANNOUNCES NEW BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT MANAGER
 
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Royal Credit Union (Royal) has named Emily Walton business process improvement manager. In this role, she is responsible for leading the analysis of operational processes to drive enhancements and efficiencies into Royal’s operations. This includes oversight for process improvement and project management programs and the strategic implementation of automated workflow. In addition, Walton leads a team of business process analysts and project managers.
 
Walton joined Royal in March of 2009 and has served a variety of roles.  She started as a technical writer and has continued her career progression holding the following positions: consumer business analyst, deposit operations coordinator, business process analyst, and business process analyst II. She is also active in Royal’s Young Professionals group, Royal Toastmasters, and Community Give Back Day committee. Walton graduated from UW-Eau Claire with a B.S. in Scientific and Technical Writing with a minor in Web Design.
 
Walton lived in Eau Claire for 10 years before moving to Chippewa Falls in June of 2019 with her husband and daughter.