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STATE OF THE STREET
R-E-P-O-R-T
Petunias and ArtScape on Main
If you don’t have spring fever by now you must truly be a winter person. Me?
I am ready for the transition to warm weather, green grass,
ArtScape on Main and
PETUNIAS!
Winter on Main Street is not a time to sit back and relax but rather a time
for planning and organizing a multitude of programs to serve our community. The
State of the Street Report has many new and improved ideas to share. Read on.
This will mark the year for the retirement of dozens that have served
Downtown since 1994. Dozens of aging wire petunia basket frames and chains that
is. They will be recycled and replaced with brand new Bloom Master baskets. This
product has been used successfully in other Main Street communities to provide
outstanding hanging baskets. The Streetscape Committee is excited about the
investment in new planter baskets and the selection of a different greenhouse
for assembly and growth. Hanging of the baskets will take place after Memorial
Day.
Speaking of petunias…could the annual Petunias Unlimited Banquet be far
behind? This annual event will be held on Monday, May 19, 2008, at Turtleback
Golf, Dining and Conference Center. Petunias Unlimited is a fund-raiser with a
twist! The twenty-member planning committee works long and hard to put together
an evening filled with good food, live and silent auctions, raffles, oodles of
door prizes and plenty of laughs! If you have attended in the past, you know all
about it. If you haven’t, this is the year to DO IT! You won’t be sorry!
Click here for ticket information.
April will mark the third installation of ArtScape on Main banners
Downtown.
CTC Telcom sponsors the project and the ArtScape committee of the Main Street
Association coordinates the details. Twenty-nine artworks, created by area
residents, are reproduced to transform Main Street into an outdoor art gallery
in Downtown Rice Lake. Original artwork and the vinyl banners will be available
for purchase via online bidding at www.ricelakemainstreet.com. Proceeds from the
artwork sale have allowed the Committee to establish an ArtScape scholarship at
UW-BC. The sale also involves and benefits organizations cooperating to make the
project successful. Northern Star Theater hosts the Grand Unveiling event. Mike
Miller of WITC photographed the art for the website, posters and brochure. WITC
student, Adelle Fredrickson, designed the walking tour brochure for a class
project.
Please pick up a brochure and take a walk Downtown to learn more about the
artists and their work. Artists this year range from third grade through
retirement age and many of them work Downtown. Participants include; Gabriella
Ashlin, Linda Aspenson-Bergstrom, Allie Bernier, Madeline Cuskey, Peter
Davidson, Angela Delf, Jonathan Delf, Nancy Erickson-Dutmer, Andy Forcey, Macey
Fredrickson, Cindy Frisinger, Heather H. Haller, Benjamin E. Howen III, Mera
Howen, Liz Johnson, Bob Moullette, Jordyn Moullette, Judy Markgren, Janice
Morris, LuAnne Mosansky, Rachel Murphy, Charlotte Freeman-Olson, Jessica Pautsch,
Megan Reichert, Lori Richter, Terrel Sutliff, Kimberlie Wee, Joey Wirsbinski and
David Wellsandt.
Last year, ArtScape on Main was cited as Best Downtown Beautification Project
by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and also received honorable mention for
Image Campaign.
ArtScape is Going International!
This year marks the 15-year anniversary celebration of the Sister City
partnership between Rice Lake and Zamberk, Czech Republic. A member of the Rice
Lake International Friendship Association (RLIFA) contacted Kathy Wellsandt
regarding authentic Rice Lake gifts to commemorate the occasion. Zamberk will be
presented with paintings by Rice Lake artists. The 2006 ArtScape on Main banner
by Sammie Crotteau and the 2007 banner by Jenna Schultz will be given to Zamberk
and the Sister City School.
The 2007 original ArtScape painting, “Fours Seasons,” by Corey Dorrance will
be presented to Sister City, Miharu, Japan.
Business Assistance
Monies have been made available by the West Central Wisconsin Regional
Planning Commission (WCWRPC) to provide incentives and financial assistance for
Downtown property and business owners to revitalize their commercial buildings.
The Downtown Façade Loan Program loans range from $5000 to $30,000 at 0.00%
fixed interest. Improvements may include façade renovation, signs, exterior
doors, windows, awnings, exterior graphics, exterior lighting or landscaping.
Startup businesses are eligible but must provide an acceptable business plan and
show sufficient management background and an equity position in the business.
Contact the Rice Lake Main Street Association office for additional information.
WCWRPC has also created a MicroLoan Fund Program to provide small loans to
start-up, newly established or growing small business concerns. This loan is at
4.00% fixed rate of interest and amounts range from $5000 to $25,000. Loans may
be used in several ways: working capital, inventory, fixtures, real estate
acquisition, equipment, lease-hold improvements, building improve-ments, or
natural disaster recovery. MicroLoan Fund Program information and local review
is handled by Red Cedar Development Corporation. Contact them at 715-234-7008 or
PO Box 526, Rice Lake.
The WCWRPC loans described here are available to businesses in Barron,
Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Polk and St. Croix counties. Each community
will have separate entities handling the initial application and review process.
WCWRPC will administer the loan, disperse funds and service the loans.
What Does Your Billboard Tell Us?
Think you don’t have a billboard? Oh, but you do! Take full advantage of the
24-hour, 7-days-a-week advertising billboard called your storefront! Read the
signals: signage, cleanliness, clutter, debris, hours of operation, condition of
paint, brick, siding, current displays and lighting. Are window displays lit at
night? Are the windows clean and free of insects? Is the sidewalk swept? Who
likes cobwebs around doors or windows? How about the sneaky little weeds that
take root in the sidewalk seams? What message does your billboard send?
As warmer temps arrive please make a weekly check-up of your storefront
billboard. Pick up that candy wrapper or plastic bag and place it in the trash.
Stop to pluck a weed as you walk to the bank or post office. Downtown is a
daytime neighborhood for everyone to enjoy. If it isn’t a clean and pleasant
place, customers just may go elsewhere. Studies show that people make the
decision to enter or not enter a business in just six seconds. First glance of
storefronts or window displays can make the difference of feet inside your
business or walking on down the street. Think about it.
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Rice Lake Main Street Association has a reinvestment
loan program in cooperation with many of our local banks? Loans of up to $25,000
at prime rate are available to business property owners located in the Business
Improvement District. Façade renovation applications must be pre-approved by the
Design Committee. Dairy State Bank, Sterling Bank, US Bank, Bank Mutual, Johnson
Bank and Royal Credit Union have pledged a total of $1,250,000 for this program.
Did you know that the Design Committee also offers a matching-sign-grant
program? Downtown businesses may apply for assistance for new or upgraded signs
in the Business Improvement District. The Committee offers a dollar-for-dollar
match with a maximum payout of $500 for pre-approved signs. Appropriate signs
are a great investment for any business. Free design consultation is also
available.
Did you know that Wisconsin Main Street is celebrating 20 years of Downtown
revitalization? On May 22 the Wisconsin Main Street Program will host the 20th
Anniversary Gala and 18th Annual Awards Reception at Monona Terrace in Madison.
The event will be an opportunity for volunteers to share the accomplishments
achieved across the state since the first Main Street communities were selected
in 1988. The annual award announcements are a highlight for each community and a
wonderful opportunity to share ideas and celebrate the projects, people and
businesses involved. Would you like to attend? Contact Kathy Wellsandt at
234-5117 for additional information.
Rice Lake celebrates 17 years as a
Wisconsin Main Street community.
The Customer-Service Bar Continues to Rise!
How Does Your Customer Perceive Your Commitment and Caring?
Some successful service strategies:
1. Knowing that customers buy basically two things: good feelings and
solutions to problems.
2. The rewarded customer buys, recommends to others, and returns. Reward the
customer by being prompt, polite, prepared and professional.
3. When appropriate or possible, call your customer by name. Give them your
undivided attention and treat each customer as if he/she is the most important
person you have served that day.
4. Remember that everything your customer sees, feels, hears, or smells will
shape his/her opinion of you and your business. Boost return sales by careful
attention to these details.
5. Having the answer or knowing where to get answers is critically important
to a customer. Offer intelligent recommendations, alternatives, and assurances.
6. Give your customer a little something extra just for being your customer.
Sometimes loyalty can be gained with a small “bonus.”
7. The customer wants results-reasons are less acceptable than solutions.
8. Learn to build value so that dollars are not always the issue.
9. A customer has many choices as to where their dollars can be spent.
Provide the justification and solid perception that your business offers the
best choice.
Knowing how to win and keep customers is the single most important sales
skill we can learn. Courtesy of Shop Talk
Why Support Local Merchants?
By Roger Frank Bass, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3-8-08
First, about the toaster. About 25 years ago, my wife and I lived in Spring
Green, a town of about 1,000 located 45 miles west of Madison. Our toaster
broke, and I priced them locally at a hardware store and in Madison.
Predictably, the chains beat the locals and I saved $1.35 at J.C. Penney.
Because we were living on teachers’ salaries, economizing was a virtue and
afforded me a chance to feel smug and responsible at the same time.
Now, about my brain. Like many, I have vasovagal syncope, which involves an
overly active cranial nerve that results in lightheadedness and fainting. It’s
not dangerous and often goes away when the triggers, such as stress, have been
removed.
Following a fainting bout, my wife called Spring Green EMTs, who promptly
rendered assistance, loaded me onto a gurney and rode with me to University
Hospitals in Madison. All I remember is that the person who arrived first and
shouldered the bulk of the load carrying me out was the owner of the hardware
store and whose toaster would have cost me $1.35 more.
A guilt-induced investigation found that the hardware store owner also
coached Little League and a girls softball team and was a member of the Lions
Club that sponsored our summer children’s festival. His wife ran the Cub Scout
troop, and he let students paint his store’s windows for homecoming. Later, when
I was teaching high school special education, he agreed to sponsor work-study
students. The list goes on.
To conclude that we sometimes should pay more to buy from local, small-scale
merchants because they provide additional services to the community would miss
the point. We should support them because a flourishing community isn’t a
financial entity. A community runs on loyalty; it’s about two-way relationships,
not whether a toaster costs $1.35 more. Anyone skeptical of that argument should
call Mr. J.C. Penney or the Wal-Mart world headquarters and see how fast they
show up when you need a ride to the hospital.
When small businesses close because big-box wholesalers have made the
interstate Main Street, we are looking at more than a business trend; we are
looking at a societal event that says something troubling about what we mean to
each other.
A community is more than a group of people looking for a deal; it’s a group
of people looking out for each other.
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