NEWS BREAK March 2017
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Portage Chamber Annual
Awards Celebration
The Chamber Awards celebration was held
on Feb. 8 and featured guest speaker
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca
Kleefisch and recognized businesses and
individuals for outstanding work and
contributions to the community.
Thank you to all our sponsors, those who
attended the dinner and to those who donated
items for our silent auction.
Marianne Hanson, Executive Director is
shown below presenting the awards to the
winners:
Business Excellence Award
(20 or more employees)
Rayovac - Pam Eastman
Susan Weyh Business Excellence Award
(less than 20 employees)
New Life Physical Therapy &
Sports Medicine
Mary Rose Strickland & Matt Vanderkooi
Rising Business Star Award
Jack's Tap
Tara Glendenning & Jackie McGowan
Community Service Award
Anastasia Kinney
Educator Commitment Award
St. John's Child Development Center
Debbie Drew & Elizabeth Gray
First Impression Award
Culver's Restaurant - Laura & Jeff Liegel
Tourism Award
Cascade Mountain - Rob Walz
Ambassador of the Year
Rosie Endres
Costco Mom Shop
Chamber Member Costco invites you to both the Middleton
Costco and Sun Prairie Costco on Friday, March 3 at 9am for a
mom shopping hour event. All moms are welcome to shop like
a member for FREE!
Enjoy a full hour of shopping before they open at 10am, as well as breakfast, giveaways, a photo
booth, and more. The first 100 attendees will receive a swag bag.
Costco is located at 2850 Hoepker Rd. in Sun Priarie and 2150 Deming Way in Middleton. For more
information, call 608-825-4020.
City Map advertising available
The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is producing a new city map of
Portage. Last printed in February of 2014, the supply of current maps is
dwindling. We are planning to print 10,000 maps which are projected to last for
three years.
The maps are made readily available to public, free of charge, at the Chamber
office, local hotels and gas stations. When requested, the maps are also sent out
to people seeking information about Portage.
Advertising spaces are now available at reasonable prices!
Contact the Portage Chamber if you are interested at 608-742-6242.
March Chamber Business Luncheon
The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is offering another
way to network with your fellow Chamber members and make
those important connections that can help you in your business
or career. Bring your business cards, brochures, or anything
you wish to share with other members.
Luncheon Information
Steve Sobiek, Director of Business Development and Planning
for the City of Portage will be our speaker. He will be giving us
an update on projects, programs and his work toward
development in the City of Portage.
Time: Lunch at 11:30AM, Presentation at Noon
Cost: Pay for your lunch at the restaurant
Date: Tuesday, March 7
Where: Dino's Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Road
PLEASE RSVP. CALL THE CHAMBER AT 608-742-6242!
Welcome New Members
Portage Service Club Association (PSCA)
Portage, WI
George Beasley at 608-742-5757
Lions, Elks, Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimists, American Legion, Women's Civic League,
Portage Chamber of Commerce combine as the PSCA, merging ideas, talent and
resources to complete community projects and enhance
the Portage community.
Human Resources Group, Inc.
2300 Yellowstone Avenue Portage, WI
Dan Stahl at 608-233-5491
We help organizations with the human side of their business, providing customized
HR consulting services and advice to management of companies, organizations
and associations.
Loggerhead Deco, Inc.
1640 LaDawn Drive Portage, WI
Steve Gilbertson at 630-206-3747
Provides small batch organic decorated glass products to the beverage industry.
We specialize in decorating bottles and glassware.
VFW Post #1707
215 W. Collins St. Portage, WI
Fred Baewer at 608-742-5350
Service organization helping Veterans. Sponsor of Concerts at the Portage at the
VFW Hall, scholarships, fundraising. Hall is open to the public and available for
event rental.
Any Street Grill
P.O. Box 35 Portage, WI
Mike Wood at 608-358-8651
Mobile food trailer.
Portage Area Community Charitable Trust - Positively Portage
121 West Cook Street Portage, WI
Rich Jacobson at 608-566-4336
Community trust created for donors to give funds to strengthen
Portage now and into the future.
BonBon and Bordeaux
Along with a restock of some favorites, BonBon
and Bordeaux is also now selling Carr Valley
Cheese and a Black Truffle Butter. New Lang
merchandise is also now in!
BonBon and Bordeaux is a boutique shop located
at 201 DeWitt St. specializing in fine wine, unique
gifts, custom gift baskets, and gourmet chocolate
and food. For more information, call 608-6170936.
Cascade Spring Carnival
Saturday, March 4
Lots to do on this special day! Cascade Mountain will be holding
their Midwest Open Rail Jam along with kids events, bouncy
house, games and contests, lots of vendors in Tent City, and
more!
Cascade Mountain is located at WI0441 Cascade Mountain Rd. Click here for more info!
Mercantile Vintage Shop Hop Stop
The Mercantile, 117 W. Cook St., is among the retailers participating in the 4th Annual Vintage Shop
Hop scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 3 & 4. It's the
mother load of road trips...a self-guided day to any number of
the 388 participating vintage shops & boutiques throughout
northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
Grab your friends and hit the road to shop! This year the list
tallies 388 locally owned vintage business owners who are
taking part.They each roll out the red carpet for you by hosting
a fun promotion inside their store.
Check out the event's official facebook page here. For more information about the Mercantile, call
608-745-5768.
Spring into Edgewater Home & Garden
Spring is on the way! Edgewater Home and Garden, 2957
County CX, just received some new plants. Check out
their facebook page. For more information, call 608-742-6658.
Portage Lumber to host 4th Annual Ladies Night
Portage Lumber will be hosting its 4th Annual Ladies Night on Thursday,
March 16 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
- FREE gift to the first 80 ladies through the door.
- FREE appetizers & drinks.
- Grand Prize baskets filled with goodies.
- Meet with local vendors to check out/purchase some of their latest &
greatest products.
- 20% off most items storewide.
- Learn some useful and easy DIY skills and tricks for remodeling/renovating
your home.
- Test out Milwaukee power tools and Dremel oscillating tools.
- Painting tips, flooring
Grab your girlfriends and join in for the evening - you won't want to miss this!
This event is FREE! Must RSVP by March 8, 2017. Please RSVP at Portage Lumber, by phone:
(608) 742-7186, or by email: [email protected].
Lions Annual Radio Auction
The Portage Lions Club will be hosting their 41st annual radio auction
on Saturday, April 1 beginning at 12:30pm. Proceeds from this annual
fundraiser are used to support many Lions service projects on the
local, state and international levels. Some of the local activities include
pre-school vision testing, eye exams, glasses for those in need, and
transportation of eye tissue to and from the Eye Bank in Madison.
Other projects include scholarships, annual Easter Egg hunt, the High
School athletic fund, The Caring Tree, and many others.
Click here for the list of this year's auction items!
To participate in the Lions Radio Auction: Listen to 1350 AM WPDR starting 12:30pm on April
1. Call 745-5864 to find out the latest bids on any item. Make your bid by giving name and phone
number along with your desired bid.
Bidding may also be done from St. Mary's Cafeteria (St. Mary's School - corner of West Conant St. &
MacFarlane Rd.) and where all items will be on display. Bids from the auction location will stop at
3:30pm thus allowing the radio listeners the final half hour of phone bids.
Winners will be announced from 4pm to 4:30pm. Please pick up winning items between 5pm and
6pm from St. Mary's Cafeteria. Cash or check only.
Historical Society seeking manager
Portage Historical Society is seeking a Museum Manager for
the Museum at the Portage. The Manager will be a self-starter
who can work well with others and is familiar with the role of the
Internet and social media in marketing. This is a part-time
position (750 hours/year) and the wage is $14/hr.
For a complete job description send email to
[email protected].
Click here for Volunteer form!
Sponsor this event! Click here for a form!
Alliant offering electric vehicle incentive
Any Alliant Energy customer (electric or gas) is eligible for
a $10,000* discount on a Nissan Leaf if purchased by
March 31, 2017. Offer is only valid on 'Retail purchase' for
2016 & 2017 LEAFs.
*The $10,000 incentive cannot be combined with any other Nissan special incentives
(lease, APR or rebates). A $7,500 tax credit may also apply to qualified buyers. See the
attached flyer for more details.
Ribbon Cuttings
A ribbon cutting was held at Portage Culver's to celebrate the completion of an extensive reimage
project, giving guests a warmer, more inviting atmosphere and an improved dining experience. The
Portage restaurant reimaging is part of a broader modernization plan for dozens of older Culver's
restaurants, replacing standard, cafeteria-style seating with configurations that enhance privacy,
while adding a fresh update of the exterior.
The Culver's of Portage first opened March 4, 1994. Culver's invites everyone to visit and enjoy the
new reimage for their next dining experience.
Building Facade Improvements
A matching loans funds program exists for the purpose of upgrading and improving the exterior front,
side and rear facades of existing privately owned businesses. The loan program will facilitate
completions of many smaller scale exterior improvement projects.
Funding for this program was made possible through the City of Portage and Portage Area Chamber
of Commerce's participation in the America's Best Communities competition, sponsored by Frontier
Communications.
Read the guidelines of the facade grant program. View the grant application.
Chamber March meetings & events
7 Business Luncheon at Dino's Restaurant 11:30 lunch; noon
speaker
22 Ribbon Cutting at 51 Auto Sales 10am
28 Tickets on sale for Portage Wine Walk
Looking for a Hot Deal? See our list!
Check out our Hot Deals webpage for deals our Chamber members are
offering. Have a Hot Deal of your own you want others to know about? Post
your deals on our webpage and join the Hot Deal brigade! There is no
charge for posting a Hot Deal, so post away! If you have questions, call the
Chamber office at 608-742-6242 to get started.
Click here to see the specials that are currently running!
Give Portage Green Gift Certificates
Portage Green Gift Certificates make an excellent gift. Used just like cash, the certificates can be
purchased from the Portage Chamber in $5, $10 and $25 increments. Recipients of the Portage Green
may redeem them at these participating Chamber member businesses. By buying Portage Green Gift
Certificates, you are helping to boost local business by keeping thousands of dollars right here in
Portage. For more information, call the Chamber at 608-742-6242.
Got News?
What is your business up to? Pass along information and corresponding photos to
[email protected] and let us help spread the word about the great things your business or
organization is doing. The deadline is the 20th of each month.
March Community Events
Spread the word about your events by posting them on our website!
2-31 Words/Images at Portage Center for the Arts
3 Hope House Support Group at Portage Public Library
3 Mom Shop at Costco
3 Elementary & Middle School Art Show at Portage Center for the Arts Drury Gallery
4 Cascade Mountain Spring Carnival
5 Bingo at the VFW
7 Chamber Business March Luncheon at Dino's Restaurant
9 Smart Cookie Sale at Divine Savior Healthcare
10-12 Live Radio Show by Portage Area Community Theatre
16 Ladies Night at Portage Lumber
16 Social Night at VFW
17 Hope House Support Group at Portage Public Library
17-19 Live Radio Show by Portage Area Community Theatre
17 The Best of St. Patrick's Day at Our House Senior Living
17 Bingo at Our House Senior Living
18 Girls Scouts Birthday Event at Historic Indian Agency House
19 Bingo at VFW
22 Paint Your Pet event for Columbia County Humane Society at The Ball Room
23-25 Threaded Streams - Fiber Arts Trail event
23 The Harmonica Hour at Portage Center for the Arts
23 Handbuilt Pottery Class at The Mercantile
25 Pet Photos at Tractor Supply
25 VFW Fundraiser - Cabin Fever Frenzy
25 Free Saturday Theatre Workshops at Portage Center for the Arts
25 Performing Arts Concert Series - Graminy at Portage Center for the Arts
26 Spring Bridal Show at The Ball Room
27 Portage Sharing Supper at Wayne Bartels Middle School
For more information about these and other events, go to www.portagewi.com.
Organizing an event or having a sale?
Submit your event or sale to us and have it appear on the Chamber website calendar of events.You
may enter your event by clicking here. Please note: Your submission will take a while to appear as the
Chamber office first reviews the submissions before approving them to appear on the web calendar. For
more information, please call our office 608-742-6242.
The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is providing leadership for
building a healthy economy and a high quality of life in the Portage Area.
NEWS BREAK is a monthly publication of the Portage Area Chamber of Commerce. Please contact the
Chamber if you have news about your business that you would like to include in the next issue.
Our deadline is the 20th of the month. Email your news to [email protected].
www.portagewi.com