Welcome to the Eau Claire Chamber Blog

Numbers may tell a story but the real success of L.E. Phillips Career Development Center is the impact we make on individuals with disabilities and disadvantages. 

​The Career Development Center works in partnership with Literacy Volunteers of the Chippewa Valley to provide Work Place Education. The Career Development Center also works in partnership with area high schools to offer Project SEARCH. Project SEARCH is a nine month program that serves as a fifth year for high school students. Students are provided with real-life work experience, as well as training in employment and life skills. This program is for individuals with disabilities to help transition from school to a productive adult life. After the program, the Career Development Center staff, school districts, and the program staff help each individual find a career in our local communities.

The Guardianship Program provides conservatorships and financial management assistance.  The Career Development Center is approved to work with more than 125 wards in the Corporate Guardianship Program through the State of Wisconsin.

The Career Development Center’s services include: Woodworking, Printing and Screen Printing, Upholstery, Sewing, Packaging and Assembly, Cafeteria and Catering Services, Custodial Service, and Pizza (Moke’s and Big Donkey). The center provides direct bulk mailing and offers quality services to many companies, not only in the Chippewa Valley, but throughout the Midwest.

​The Career Development Center’s Chippewa Falls Outreach Office specializes in homelessness prevention and helping those who may be in crisis. The Outreach Office works closely with area agencies such as the Family Support Center, Chippewa County Housing Authority, Hope Village, Workforce Resources, Catholic Charities, Chippewa Economic Support, local food pantries, and several other community partners. The Outreach Office also offers space in Chippewa Falls where community members can donate basic household items, such as dishes, furniture, and small kitchen appliances.  These items are provided free of charge to those in need.

​As the center celebrates its 60 years of service in the Chippewa Valley, we are reflecting upon the firm foundation with which it was established. The Career Development Center is also looking forward to a prosperous 2020, as we serve new customers and individuals. Please remember you are always welcome to tour and visit the Career Development Center.

As the center celebrates its 60 years of service in the Chippewa Valley, we are reflecting upon the firm foundation with which it was established. The Career Development Center is also looking forward to a prosperous 2020, as we serve new customers and individuals. Please remember you are always welcome to tour and visit the Career Development Center.

To learn more, connect with us in person, call, email, and follow us on social media.

L.E. Phillips Career Development Center
Address: 1515 Ball Street, Eau Claire, WI 54703
Phone: 715-834-2771
Email: sales@lecdc.org

​While Xcel Energy didn’t get its current name until 2000, customers in the Eau Claire area have been relying on the company for more than a century to provide safe, reliable electricity and natural gas to fuel growth in the Chippewa Valley.

​Xcel Energy’s Wisconsin and Michigan operating company, Northern States Power-Wisconsin, can trace its predecessor companies back to the Chippewa River Improvement and Log Driving Company, incorporated in 1872. However, the history truly begins when Northern States Power Co. of Minnesota purchased the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company in 1923 to capitalize on hydroelectric power available in Wisconsin and renamed the newly-acquired company NSP-Wisconsin in 1924. In Eau Claire, NSPW and its forbearers established electricity generating facilities in 1877 and 1902 and did business on Barstow Street from 1923-1958. Employees also worked at the Farmers Store Building until 1993.

Xcel Energy operates 19 hydro facilities on eight Wisconsin rivers. Hydro is a clean, renewable energy source, and collectively these plants avoid carbon dioxide emissions equal to the output of more than 83,000 cars.
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​Today, Xcel Energy powers millions of homes and businesses across eight Western and Midwestern States – including 251,000 electricity and 110,000 natural gas customers in Wisconsin.
 
Cleaner energy matters to you. It matters to us, too. That’s why we were the first energy company in the nation to announce a goal to serve customers with 100% carbon-free electricity.  
 
How we’ll get there while keeping bills low and ensuring reliable energy
We will continue leading the clean energy transition by:

• Closing all of our coal plants in the Upper Midwest by 2030, a decade ahead of schedule.
• Increasing wind and solar energy
• Extending the use of carbon-free nuclear energy at our Monticello plant
• Using cleaner natural gas

Together these elements will enable Xcel Energy to continue to provide reliable electric service while keeping bills low. In fact, our Wisconsin customers’ average combined electric and natural gas bill is lower than five years ago and will be below 2018 levels through 2021.
 

The electricity our Wisconsin customers receive today is generated from 26% renewable energy resources. But, we know some customers want to go further faster and want 100 percent renewable energy. For these customers, we offer an industry-leading portfolio of renewable and energy efficiency programs, empowering them to achieve their goals, while serving all customers with increasingly clean energy at an affordable cost. ​

Solar*Connect Community, Wisconsin’s largest community solar program, includes three 1-megawatt community solar gardens. This sign at the Eau Claire garden recognizes the program’s Founding Members. While Solar*Connect Community is fully subscribed, Xcel Energy now offers Renewable*Connect, which features a blend of wind and solar energy and flexible, low-cost subscriptions terms.  
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Building the future is also about building stronger communities. Giving our time, talent and financial resources is fundamental to how we do business. Watch a short video highlighting Xcel Energy’s annual Day of Service. 

On Sept. 7 more than 5,400 volunteers across Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin united to support Xcel Energy's Day of Service. Employees, family, friends, contractors, retirees and customers contributed more than 21,000 volunteer hours, resulting in an economic impact of over $500,000. Pictured here is a group that volunteered at a Hope Gospel Mission facility in Eau Claire. 
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For more information, visit our website at xcelenergy.com or check out our Connect blog.

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​With seven offices throughout the Midwest, thousands of valued customers, and more than 62 years of delivering world-class service, we can help you work smarter, not harder. Learn more about how our experts can help you achieve your business goals, manage your networks, grow your business and serve your customers: www.eojohnson.com. 

​Throughout it all, we’ve remained committed to four cornerstone core values, tenets that have served as the bedrock of our operations, guiding our daily interactions with one another and enabling us to deliver on our promise of providing world class customer service. Read more about the Legacy of EO Johnson here.
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​Since 2015, Prevea has expanded throughout Western Wisconsin with health centers located in Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Arcadia, Augusta, Cornell, Ladysmith, Menomonie, Mondovi and Rice Lake.

​Growing in Altoona
Our latest development is the new Prevea Altoona Medical Office Building at 3119 Woodman Drive in the River Prairie development area. The site will be home to a variety of Prevea specialty health care services, including:

• Audiology
• Behavioral Care
• Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)
• Family medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Urgent care
• Lab
• X-ray

About Prevea
At Prevea, we have a passion for excellence, take pride in all we do and respect the people who trust us with their care. Our providers continually strive to improve the way our services are delivered to every patient, every day. We're as dedicated to preventing illness as we are to treating it, providing people with the resources they need to become strong advocates for their health and to assist in making decisions about their care.
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Founded in Green Bay in 1996, Prevea Health is a health care organization that provides high-quality, primary and specialty health care in 80+ locations across Northern, Eastern and Western Wisconsin in clinic and hospital settings. Prevea is partnered with six Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin to provide patients a system of highly-coordinated care, close to home, including HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa. Our partnerships enable us to provide more effective, affordable care and to better focus on keeping our communities healthy. Together, we offer expertise in nearly every specialty.

​For more information, visit prevea.com.

This month Lee Alberson, a line worker at Eau Claire Energy Cooperative, has joined 11 other line workers from Wisconsin to build electric lines in an underserved area of Guatemala. They are bringing power for the very first time to a community of 42 homes, 1 medical outpost and 1 school for a total of 44 connections. They are spending over two weeks there to help improve lives in north central Guatemala. That’s the Co-op Difference!
 
With the Co-op headquarters located on Highway 12 between Eau Claire and Fall Creek, Eau Claire Energy Cooperative provides reliable and affordable electricity and related energy services to over 11,000 residential, business and farm members in Eau Claire County plus portions of Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin, Buffalo, Trempealeau and Jackson Counties. As a Focus on Energy and Touchstone Energy Partner, Eau Claire Energy Cooperative prides itself in the high member satisfaction ratings they continue to receive.

For more information on Eau Claire Energy Cooperative, go to ​https://www.ecec.com/

9th Floor Gives Patients New View on Life

What do patients on the top floor of HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital see? Along with a remarkable view of Eau Claire and the beautiful Chippewa River valley, a renewed quality of life comes into focus.

The 9th floor of the hospital is home to inpatient physical rehabilitation services. Here, individuals faced with a life-changing injury or illness work with therapists and nurses to rebuild function and regain independence.

After initial treatment for a major injury or illness, such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury, heart attack, or other major medical event, hospitalized individuals take a crucial step on the road to recovery when they begin rehabilitation. At HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center, the only one of its kind in western Wisconsin, the team that includes rehabilitation therapists, nurses, a physiatrist and a social worker creates an individually tailored therapy regimen to prepare each patient to return to life at home.

“By offering our patients an intense rehabilitation program of three hours of therapy, five days per week, we increase their chances of making meaningful recoveries and enjoying good quality of life,” says Jamie Wright, RN, CNRN, BSN, nursing manager of rehabilitation services at HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals. “They receive physical, occupational and speech therapy, as well as other services such as wound care, respiratory therapy and spiritual care as needed.”

THERAPY IN MOTION

At the Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center, rehabilitation therapy takes place in several morning and afternoon sessions in patients’ rooms or the center’s gym, which houses a variety of physical therapy equipment to help individuals rebuild their strength. One of the gym’s newest additions is the Bioness Vector System – a harness hung from the ceiling that supports patients as they practice walking. Watch the video below to learn how patients can recover more quickly and safely with the Bioness equipment.

The gym also features a dedicated occupational therapy space complete with a kitchen for practicing ways to navigate indoor environments.
 
EVERYDAY TRANSFORMATIONS 

Two of the most challenging conditions to overcome – stroke and traumatic brain injury – can leave patients with significant functional deficits. For rehabilitation therapists and nurses, those cases often become the most rewarding.
 
“People come to us at their lowest levels, and we teach them how to live again by helping them relearn the basic skills we take for granted,” Wright says. “Life might not be the same as it was before, but we can help them enjoy it. That’s why we do what we do.”
 
Click here to learn more about the Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, or call 715-717-4361.

​How does the change in season impact your organization?  Depending on the nature of your business, you might depend on seasonal employees to get you through the summer.  Or, you might struggle through the warm months to fill the gaps left by those who use much of their vacation time to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Regardless the type of employee you’re looking for, Manpower has the experience to find you the people you need to fill the gaps.
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STILL IN NEED OF SEASONAL EMPLOYEES?

WISH YOU HAD AN EASY BUTTON FOR STAFFING COVERAGE?
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Let Manpower find candidates with the skill sets and work style your organization requires!  Contact one of our Chippewa Valley offices today! 

Eau Claire Manpower
715-835-2299
www.applymanpower.com
1119 Regis Court, Suite 100
Eau Claire, WI 54701
 
Chippewa Falls Manpower:
715-861-5303
www.applymanpower.com
475 Chippewa Mall Drive
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Five Star Telecom has been a trusted local provider for over 40 years. "We’re Your Connection" is more than a slogan, it’s a promise – our promise that we will connect you to the best services in the industry.
 
We develop strong relationships and provided solutions to our clients and friends with unique services.

Join us on Wednesday, March 20th from 3pm-5pm at the Florian Gardens Conference Center for our Cloud Migration event.
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​Networking Social Hour will follow with food and beverages.
Register for this event at www.5startel.com 
We will see you there!

The best in community banking from a local institution.  Making More Possible.  

At CCFBank, we strive to:

• Make more possible for our customers by developing personal relationships and meeting your financial objectives;
• be your trustworthy partner to provide financial products and solutions;
• provide financial education for the communities we serve.

United Bank is merging with CCFBank.  The combined organization will make your banking experience even better.