December 22

Community Outreach Temporary Services in Appleton purchased the former Riverview Country Club site perched above the Fox River for $2.6 million to develop a community-based market garden and public green space. Expected to open later in 2012 as Riverview Gardens the plan calls for open green space to include nature trails as well as the initial construction of ten 2,000-sq. ft. greenhouses to allow for the cultivation of vegetables throughout the year.

December 22

Whitefield Industrial Coatings announced plans to close its Oshkosh manufacturing facility in February, effectively laying off its 30 employees. Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development were notified of the impending layoffs and are preparing to provide various re-employment services.

December 22

The Kaukauna Utilities Commission approved a $37.9 million hydroelectric facility replacement plan to replace four generators – two of which are 104 years old each and two at 84 years old – with two modern generators that will increase output by 25 percent. The plan also calls for building a new power canal and various recreational amenities. The utility commission will borrow on 20-year bonds to finance the project.

December 27

The Green Bay Packers announced they would be offering an additional 30,000 shares of stock following the initial offering of 250,000 shares which nearly sold out after being made available to buyers just three weeks earlier. If the remaining 30,000 shares are sold at the $250-price-per-share, the organization will generate $70 million from the stock sale to help finance the planned $143 million expansion of Lambeau Field, which will add 6,700 seats, new scoreboards, new entrances and a new sound system.

December 28

The History Museum at the Castle in Appleton was awarded a $75,000 Wow Exhibits! Grant from the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau for its upcoming Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion exhibit set for 14 weeks from September through the first week of 2013. The exhibit originated in Florence, Italy and brings together the largest collection of full-size machine replicas of da Vinci’s famous codices, including a helicopter, glider, armored tank, the drive transmission, the printing press, the robot and the bicycle.

January 4

Ashwaubenon-based Shopko Stores announced plans to merge with Pamida and invest $80 million over the next year to convert its 193 stores in 17 states to the Shopko Hometown concept geared toward smaller communities. Both retail chains are owned by private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners of Florida. Through the merger, the combined company – operating as Shopko and based in Ashwaubenon – expects to create more than 120 new jobs in Wisconsin, and qualified to receive up to $2 million in Economic Development Tax Credits from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. The combined retail entity will have 350 stores in 22 states.

January 6

The U.S. Department of Labor reported 200,000 jobs were created in December, lowering the national unemployment rate to 8.5 percent. Job gains occurred in transportation and warehousing, retail trade, manufacturing, health care and mining.

January 7

Oshkosh Area School District Superintendent Don Viegut announced plans to leave his position at the end of June to take a position as the administrator for the Cooperative Educational Service Agency No. 8 serving 27 school districts in northeast Wisconsin. Viegut began his job in Oshkosh in July 2010, and recently renewed his contract with the district for two more years.

January 9

Officials from United Way Fox Cities announced the 2011 community campaign met its $7 million goal for funding more than 100 programs offered by 41 partner agencies, including access to shelter, affordable housing, mental health services, clothing and transportation.

January 9

Wipfli LLP with offices in Appleton and Howard announced plans to merge with North Dakota-based Eide Bailly LLP on June 1. The new firm will be named EB Wipfli LLP and will rank among the country’s 15 largest accounting firms with annual revenue of $314 million.

January 9

Agnesian HealthCare purchased 20 acres of land adjacent to its clinic in Ripon to construct a replacement facility for Ripon Medical Center. While final details are not yet developed, initial plans call for an 80,000-sq. ft., 25-bed hospital and a separate 25,000-sq. ft. medical office building. Construction is expected to begin in late summer or early fall and be complete in early 2014.

January 10

Alta Resources in Neenah held a job fair to help fill 300 new positions it plans to create in customer care, IT, sales and various team leader roles.

January 10

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and Brown County Supervisor Pat Evans rolled out a plan for a $19 million expansion of KI Convention Center in downtown Green Bay which would add 78,000-sq. ft. and make it the fifth largest convention facility in the state. The plan to finance the expansion includes using half of the additional increment from a proposed 2 percent hike in the county’s hotel room tax – estimated to generate an additional $1 million a year – a kettle of new revenue which was initially proposed by local tourism officials to support destination marketing efforts in Green Bay. The financial plan to expand the convention center also includes nearly $8 million from the City of Green Bay through tax incremental financing, management fees and proceeds from naming rights.

January 10

The Green Bay-De Pere YWCA announced a $3.3 million campaign to provide a new roof and other facility improvements, as well as to launch new services through a Women’s Empowerment Center, a new anti-bullying program, and expanded after-school programs for kids. The new center will offer employment training, job search counseling, time management assistance and other services in addition to Women’s Closet, which provides donated clothing to low-income women for work and school. YWCA officials already raised $2.7 million and are conducting a community campaign for the remaining $600,000.

January 10

The Governor’s ad-hoc Commission on Waste, Fraud and Abuse released its final report after nearly a year of scrutinizing state government expenses and identifying a total of $445 million in potential government savings, including $82.6 million from local units of government and $373 million from state government. The largest portion of savings identified – estimated at more than $177 million – would come from rooting out abuse of state public assistance programs such as fraud in its FoodShare program or in unemployment insurance. The recommendations also include reducing the amount of unnecessary overtime among state employees.

January 10

Officials from the Neenah Joint School District reported $600,000 in cost savings for the 2011-12 school year from the 46 employees and retirees who opted for a voluntary health insurance buyout. Those employees accepted a $2,000 payment if they opted out of the district’s health and dental insurance package, which costs nearly $19,000 for a family plan.

January 11

Valley Plating & Fabricating moved into the former K&K Warehouse building in downtown Green Bay and expects to add 15 to 18 steel fabricators. The expanded space will allow for increased productivity, more equipment and increased lifting capacity, which will accommodate the fabrication of larger products for the mining, marine, heavy machinery, trucking, paper and construction industries.

January 12

The Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh fired or laid off nearly 30 people as part of an organizational restructuring plan aimed at increasing participation in aviation, building membership and making operations more effective. EAA officials said they provided transition support and outplacement resources to affected employees, and offered severance packages to certain employees.

January 12

School Specialty Inc. of Greenville named Michael Lavelle, president of the education group for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as its new president and chief executive officer to replace David Vander Zanden, who plans to retire in late April. Lavelle served in a variety of leadership roles with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a Massachusetts company that also markets educational products.

January 16

Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp. named Steve R. Jenkins, senior vice president of economic development at Go Topeka (Kan.) Economic Partnership, as its new president, filling a role vacant nearly eight months since Brenda Hicks-Sorensen left to work for Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. In his previous position, Jenkins helped with development projects for Mars Chocolate North American, Bimbo Bakeries USA and The Home Depot’s Rapid Deployment Center.

January 17

Organizers of an effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker delivered more than 1 million signatures to the state Government Accountability Board requesting a special election. The GAB has 30 days to certify the signatures, though it’s expected both sides of the recall effort will present numerous challenges during the process, potentially delaying certification and pushing back a recall election by several months.

January 17

The Fox Valley Technical College Board of Trustees approved a $66.5 million building referendum for April 3 asking property owners in the district to fund seven separate capital facilities projects aimed at increasing capacity to expand educational and job training programs. The largest project is a $32.5 million public safety training center proposed out at the Outagamie County Regional Airport. Other projects include a health simulation and technology center, an expansion of the general education area at the Appleton campus, an expansion of the existing transportation center, and an expansion of the current agriculture center. The projects would expand capacity for 700 degree-seeking students and 3,500 continuing education students.

January 18

Officials for the Port of Green Bay reported the 2011 shipping season registered more than 2.16 metric tons passed through the port during the year, a 25 percent increase above 2010 data for the port. During the year the port registered a 130 percent increase in foreign imports of salt, a 69 percent increase in domestic imports of gypsum, and a 36 percent increase in imports of petroleum coke. The addition of the U.S. Venture terminal contributed to the export of more than 210,000 metric tons of petroleum products during the year.

January 18

The Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau awarded a $250,000 grant toward the design of the proposed Fox Cities Exhibition Center in downtown Appleton. The total cost of design and engineering – including architecture, telecommunications, lighting, acoustics and graphics – is expected to cost $1.28 million. City of Appleton and Outagamie County officials are in the process of negotiating the purchase of land for the convention center, which is owned by the county and adjacent to the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel.

January 19

The state Department of Workforce Development reported 3,900 private-sector jobs were lost in Wisconsin during December, marking the sixth straight month of losses and a total gain of 13,500 jobs for all of 2011. The state’s unemployment rate fell from 7.3 to 7.1 percent for the month, and was down from 7.5 percent in December 2010.