A strategic agreement

The Business News Staff

Staff

December 28, 2022

WAUPUN – Craig Much, president of the Waupun Chamber of Commerce, said nearly everyone in the Waupun business community would agree – there is a “lot of positive momentum” happening in the city as of late.

“Waupun has had quite a few new businesses open in the last couple of years, which have made Waupun even more of a destination,” he said.

However, in order to keep that momentum going, Much said, it is necessary to provide more services and benefits to the business community.

“The existing chamber model cannot provide those resources,” he said.

For these and a handful of other reasons, Much said the Waupun Chamber of Commerce made the decision to enter into a strategic partnership with Envision Greater Fond du Lac – the economic development and chamber organization of Fond du Lac County – under a new name, the Waupun Business Alliance.

Joe Venhuizen, senior director of membership and programs for Envision, said the last several months have been somewhat of a “trial run” – following an agreement made between the two entities in May 2022.

“Envision has actually been staffing the Waupun chamber office since May because we entered into a strategic agreement at that time,” he said. “So, even though we were still two independent organizations, Envision did sign an agreement that said in order to support the Waupun chamber without an executive director, Envision would staff their office two days a week and would maintain their database and their website.”

Venhuizen said this helped build trust on both sides.

“Some trust was built for the board to say, ‘Okay, this can work, this organization can carry out these duties,’ which led to them foundationally shifting to affiliate under Envision,” he said.

Venhuizen said he regularly met with the director of the Waupun chamber for several years.

“I consider that an important part of my job with Envision to support the chamber,” he said. “After the last interim director decided to resign, that’s when there was a significant shift.”

In early 2022, Venhuizen said discussion around a potential partnership started in early 2021 when he was asked to be on the board.

“I started the discussion of ‘how can we do this differently, so we don’t just continue to repeat the cycle of hiring a part-time person, burning them out because the expectations are higher than the capacity? And how do we look at regionalizing the chamber and (utilize an) organization that’s already doing work throughout the county?’”

Craig Much said Waupun has had a lot of positive momentum lately, and the partnership with Envision Greater Fond du Lac will help build upon that. Submitted Photo

Venhuizen said though the process itself took several months, it felt like things were moving at a lightning-fast pace – “because a lot of things had to happen.”

“You had to have the conversations among the chamber board members and broaden that to other businesspeople in the community to listen to their feedback and (help them) understand the direction we want to move in,” he said. “At the same time, you had to have a conversation with the Envision board of directors and the Envision leadership… because it’s an extension of liability and responsibility, and also including having a second office in Waupun.”

Throughout the process, Venhuizen said he was kind of in “the middle of two camps of conversations.”

“Bringing the two together, bridging the relationship and writing the plan for what this would look like structurally,” he said. “To get all of that accomplished with just one meeting a month and get it to this point within the same year where we’ve got (is pretty remarkable).”

In October 2022, the Waupun chamber board voted to restructure itself as the Waupun Business Alliance, and function as an extension of Envision.

“It has become clear to us that Envision Greater Fond du Lac has the capacity and expertise to serve our member businesses better than the current structure of our organization has allowed,” Much said. “We are confident our chamber’s restructure under Envision will provide more vision, consistency and value to the Waupun area business community.”

Venhuizen said the plan has structure, but they don’t have all the answers – yet.

“That’s all stuff we work on and work out over time,” he said. “But we have a structure we believe is going to better suit the best interest of the Waupun business community.”

In a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin Extension in fall 2021 on how to generate business development in downtown Waupun, Much said the results noted a potential benefit of a partnership with Envision.

He said Envision has been engaged in economic development work in the Waupun area since its inception, but the partnership will extend that engagement even further.

Much said when the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation and the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce merged, many synergies were realized that now serve Envision’s membership more effectively.

He said these same synergies can be realized in the Waupun area through this process.

What’s next?
Much said current Waupun chamber members will have the option to become a member of Envision during the membership renewal process and automatically be affiliated with the Waupun Business Alliance.

The Waupun Business Alliance will be directed by an advisory council of members, which will have autonomy in decision-making regarding programming and events relative to the Waupun business community.

Venhuizen said the office in Waupun will be open two days a week and be staffed by a rotation of Envision staff.
“There’s about 15 of us employed by Envision, so even the CEO spends time in the Waupun office from time to time,” he said. “I think it’s important for all of our staff to integrate around the county – so, it’s not just one point-person that is the only body that works the Waupun office.”
Venhuizen said that’s the plan, right now.
“As I said, this is the starting point,” he said. “So, we’re looking at different options going forward based on what’s most valuable to the Waupun community and based on the resources that are available.”

Venhuizen said right now, he is the point person for Waupun businesses, “which is fine.”

“But I think the goal in the near future is to have someone else that becomes the first point of contact, responsible for the Waupun Business Alliance,” he said. “What exactly do the duties of that person look like? I’m not sure, but that’s all stuff we get to work out.”

Venhuizen said overall, the feedback has been positive.

“What we’ve heard very strongly, from a positive and supportive perspective, are those businesses who are already regionally located,” he said. “They’re extremely supportive of this because they know we function in a regional economy… So, those organizations are full steam ahead on this idea and they see the importance of better integrating communities within the regional economy.”

Venhuizen said where some of the pushback has come from and will come from is the smaller, locally owned businesses.
“They tend to think more territorially because their unit is downtown,” he said. “And so that’s always going to be an important micro-community to focus on to get on board.”

Venhuizen said there are multiple organizations serving economic development efforts in Waupun – including the city, the downtown promotions group, a business improvement district, community development authority, a developing industrial park, a development near the Highway 151 bypass and agribusinesses.

“All of those organizations play a part, and so the Waupun Business Alliance is not going to be this end all be all for cultivating the prosperity of Waupun,” he said. “As we look at the economy of Waupun, it’s not just any one group.”