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Bill Chaudoir to Retire from Door County Economic Development Corporation

Bill Chaudoir, executive director of the Door County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC), announced this week that he will retire effective at the end of 2016. The announcement came at a special meeting of the DCEDC Board of Directors where the board voted to accept Chaudoir’s letter of retirement.

Mike Baudhuin, chair of the DCEDC Board stated: “Bill’s time with DCEDC has been exemplary. Starting as a one-man operation in a borrowed office, DCEDC is now one of the model economic development organizations for the rest of the state. The DCEDC Board recognizes the significant contributions Bill has made to our community and we wish him a long and very happy retirement.”

The organization retained human resources consultant Diane Biersteker to aid in the search for Chaudoir’s replacement.

“I’m confident that we’ve laid out a very appropriate plan, especially for a job that has not been vacant in many, many years,” said Biersteker. Chaudoir is the founding employee of DCEDC, having served as its only Executive Director since the organization was created in 1989. Biersteker hopes to have a candidate hired by mid-December to allow for some transition time before Chaudoir officially retires on Dec. 31.

Biersteker said the search will extend beyond northeast Wisconsin while still taking into account local applicants, including those already employed at the DCEDC.

Chaudoir gave a short overview of the economic development in Door County over the past 30 years, when the corporation began after a major downsizing of the shipbuilding industry in the late 1980s.

He served as a staff adviser to the Economic Development Taskforce of the Door County Board of Supervisors while a county employee with the Planning and Zoning Department. That taskforce recommended the establishment of a countywide economic development organization to help the area deal with the economic downturn in Door County in the late 1980s.

“Up until then we really didn’t need an EDC. It was some trying times, unemployment rates in the high teens. We qualified for some special help from the state to get through those tough times,” said Chaudoir, contrasting it with the economic development struggles of today. “Who would have guessed that the biggest challenge we face [today] is finding workers? This organization is preparing for that and in the midst of coming up with additional programming to help our business community to help that problem.”

Looking back on his career, Chaudoir stated that his proudest moment was the completion of the four-lane highway between Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay.

“I think we’ve allowed this place to continue to serve as a destination for tourism and manufacturing,” said Chaudoir. “There’s no question in my mind that we made a difference. We were scheduled to have it done by the year 2020. If it was not for our efforts, we could still be under construction.”

Other efforts, such as Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront redevelopment, he will pass on to the next director.

“We have a wonderful west side waterfront plan for Sturgeon Bay and unfortunately it’s been delayed by a small group of people tied up in court. We’re still convinced it’s a great plan and we’re hoping the developer hangs in there with us. There’s a lot riding on it. We have an unattractive piece of property that’s a deterrent to the community and we need that to be improved.

“I think this county probably stands out amongst a lot of others our size,” said Chaudoir. “I’m going to live here the rest of my life and I want this organization to be alive and thriving and doing the next best thing to continue this process.”

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