Social media has business leaders slightly ‘atwitter’ in the NEW North

An Internet survey of Northeast Wisconsin media and business/community leaders completed by Green Bay based Leonard & Finco Public Relations Inc. in April had some surprising results.

The brief survey focused on each group’s use of social or new media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. “While social media is constantly in the news these days, we wanted to get a sense as to how much it is actually being used for business in Northeast Wisconsin,” says Leonard & Finco President Susan Finco.

While some businesses and community leaders do use social media for work, 44 percent responded they do not use social media at all. Of those who do use social media, they tend to use it to connect with/communicate with others in the community or their industry (39 percent), to connect with/ communicate with clients (31 percent) and to gather information or research specific topics (27 percent). Just 22 percent indicated they use social media to find or connect with potential new clients.

In contrast, media in the NEW North have embraced social media more quickly. Sixty-eight percent of surveyed journalists say they find contacts and interviews through social media outlets and more than half generate story ideas and do background information gathering through social media.

So what does this mean?

“With media immersed in communications every day, and tending to have a younger workforce, they are definitely embracing social media,” says Leonard & Finco Senior Account Executive Scott Stein. “However, we believe business and community leaders are taking a more cautious approach and want to see what the return on investment will be before they spend a lot of time or money on social media.”

The surveys targeted more than 150 journalists and more than 750 business/community leaders. The response rate was 23 percent.

McNeilus Steel Inc. breaks ground on Fond du Lac facility

McNeilus Steel Inc. broke ground in April on a new 112,000 square foot distribution center in Fond du Lac’s Southwest Industrial Park.

The Minnesota-based company is constructing the facility to expand into the eastern Wisconsin market. The project is expected to create 25-30 jobs at the Fond du Lac facility, and as many as 50 jobs over the next three years. Construction is expected to be completed in October 2009.

Founded in 1948, McNeilus Steel Inc. is one of the largest steel suppliers in the Midwest, and its fleet of more than 50 trucks delivers more than one million pounds of steel daily.

Left to right: Tom Herre, Fond du Lac city manager, Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation president, Tim Lakin, Fond du Lac City Council president, Mike Winchell, inside sales and Greg Head, territory manager, for McNeilus Steel Inc., Tim Sackett, McNeilus Steel Inc. employee from Dodge Center, Minn., Joe Reitemeier, president & CEO, Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce Bob Poch, design/project manager, and Wayne Stellmacher, co-owner, president & CEO, Keller Inc.

MOVERS

>> Thomas Burzinski is the new director, IT business consulting for Skyline Technologies Inc. of Green Bay.

>> Laminations, part of Great Northern Corporation’s Specialty Group, has hired Kris Achterberg as manager of purchasing and supply chain.

>> Wayne Meyer is the new director of sales for Jifram Extrusions Inc. of Sheboygan Falls.

>> Thomas G. Cromwell has been appointed as president-Kohler Engine business for Kohler Co.

>> Cypress Benefit Administrators in Appleton has promoted Lisa Welch to supervisor of marketing and stop loss.

>> AbbyBank has welcomed Craig Stuedemann as senior vice president of lending and Eric Parlier as assistant vice president of lending.

>> Terry Geurink recently joined United FCS as vice president AgriBusiness in the Wausau office.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

GREEN BAY: After 20 years in business, Pulse Communications has closed and a core production group, roughly half of its employees at the time of closure, including the entire animation and interactive department, has formed Kmotion Media, a digital agency integrating film production, animation techniques, interactive experiences and web strategies.

NEW NORTH: “NEW North Connection,” the LinkedIn networking group created by the NEW North, Inc. last year, has reached 1,000 members and continues to grow. “Fostering collaboration within Northeast Wisconsin has always been one of the main goals of the NEW North, and in that vein, we’re very pleased with the growth and activity we’ve seen in NEW North Connection,” says Jerry Murphy, executive director of the NEW North Inc. Since it was created last summer, the group has grown rapidly, and now boasts upwards of 50 new members per week.

>> Four companies headquartered in the NEW North were recently named to the Fortune 1000 list of America’s largest corporations – Oshkosh Corp., Manitowoc Company and Neenah-based Bemis Company and Plexus Corp.

>> Five companies and one educational institution from the NEW North participated in a Mexico Trade Mission in February. The visit is expected to produce $1.95 million in sales over the next 12 months.

APPLETON: Tim Bolwerk, P.E., of OMNNI Associates received the “2008 Outstanding Airport Construction Award” for his role as resident engineer on the construction of the new Air Traffic Control Tower at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh. The award is presented by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Bureau of Aeronautics in recognition of the significant efforts that the resident engineer and his field staff provided during construction. The new $5.6 million tower replaces the outdated 45-year-old facility that was beginning to fail structurally.

DEPERE: IEI General Contractors Inc. has been recognized for more than 100,000 hours without an OSHA lost time recordable injury.

>> GRAEF has announced that the Claude Allouez Bridge project was recently presented with two awards at the annual meeting of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin.