A place to come together
40 small businesses part of Jake’s creative community

According to the law of attraction, like attracts like. Jake’s Café Creative Community in Sheboygan has embraced this principle, attracting entrepreneurial  business owners to its lakefront location and strategically capitalizing on their complementary offerings to help take each business to the next level.
The community, located at 529 Ontario Ave., Sheboygan, spans four buildings that formerly housed Tryg Jacobson’s ad agency of nearly 30 years. Jacobson, now president of Jake’s Café, had promised himself, and his family, that when his daughter graduated from high school, he would sell the business and do something new. When the agency left the premises, it left a 20,000 square-foot void that had formerly housed a diverse, eclectic group of creative people.
So, Jacobson decided to continue in that vein, but with a nod to the new era in which we’re living that Richard Florida talks about in his book, “The Rise of the Creative Class and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life.”
“I couldn’t help but think that the second wind of this campus could be a creative community [comprised of] creative people from all walks of life, from food to fashion to finance to finance, with the idea that right-brained thinkers, when pulled together in a collaborative environment, would provide a venue for extraordinary problem-solving,” he said. “We’re entering a period in which we’re called to create and to invent. More

Tapping into the Springs
Naturally flowing water fuels Luxemburg bottling business

By Aaron Abler
aabler@thebusinessnewsonline.com

In a time where society is focused on sustainability and being “green,” bottled water — to some — has a negative and sometimes inaccurate reputation. The spring water bottled by Markey Springs Bottled Water, N5085 Townline Road, Luxemburg, is not only Earth friendly, according to company’s owners, but also better for you than average tap water.
In 2006, Tom Hayden and his wife purchased Markey Springs from previous management. The couple, who was originally from Northeastern Wisconsin, worked with a business consultant to find an opportunity that would allow them to spend more time together than they were able to when Tom held a sales position in Indiana.
“I worked for a company where I traveled a lot. I was a sales rep and covered seven states and Ontario, Canada, so I was on the road Monday through Friday ever week,” said Hayden.
Since taking over Markey Springs, business has quadrupled original sales. Hayden said their customer service and local presence has been a factor in success.
“Most of our competitors are not Wisconsin based,” he said. “We’re a family-oriented business and that’s where our customer service comes in.

People who make a difference
At 24, Scheuer is involved in the Manitowoc-area community

By Sean Schultz
sschultz@thebusinessnewsonline.com

At just 24, Max Scheuer is a Manitowoc banker on the rise. A recent recipient of the 2012 Young Professional of Year Award at a Manitowoc County Chamber of Commerce banquet, he was tops among the Future 15 candidates in the running for that award.
That bodes well for the 2010 business administration graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay who was hired two weeks prior to graduation by Bank First National to work as a credit analyst at its Bellevue branch.
Since then, Scheuer has made two moves up the corporate ladder, transferring to the bank’s Eighth Street office in Manitowoc for the position of business lender and, most recently, accepting the position of business banking representative there.
“I really like it here, the teamwork and team atmosphere,” Scheuer said from his Manitowoc office. “The group at Eighth Street is phenomenal. They’ve really helped me.” More

Growth Strategies
Lo Yumhmie is on a roll

By Kathi Bloy
kbloy@thebusinessnewsonline.com

 Growth has been their goal since the day Shon Lo and Zoa Thao bought Shoua Products and renamed the eggroll manufacturing plant Lo Yumhmie Foods. Starting in Nov. 2009, they doubled the customer base within a year. A little more than three years later, they are poised to double again.
The family business that makes everything from scratch, has a manufacturing plant and a small restaurant outlet on W. Wisconsin Avenue in Appleton.
“The former owners sold eggrolls through a distributor working exclusively with the fourteen Woodman’s stores in Wisconsin,” Thao said. “There was an open account with Festival Foods that they hadn’t had opportunity to pursue.”
Taking the initiative, the Lo family reached out to Festival. Thao’s husband, Shon Lo, says, “We started delivering just to the six stores from Green Bay to Fond du Lac. We packed frozen eggrolls in our own vehicle and drove to those stores.” More

The List
Area hospitals with the most beds More