Cadence, Quantum PC Honored with Entrepreneur, Industry of the Year Awards

Congressman Mike Gallagher addresses the crowd at the 30th annual Door County Economic Development Corporation luncheon. Photo by Myles Dannhausen Jr.

Ellsworth Peterson receives posthumous Lifetime Achievement honor

Cadence Corp. and Nathan Drager, founder of Quantum PC in Sturgeon Bay, were honored at the Door County Economic Development Corporation’s annual meeting on April 24.

The DCEDC also presented its second Lifetime Achievement Award to the late Ellsworth Peterson, who steered Peterson Builders Inc. to prosperity for 50 years and gave generously to dozens of local organizations. Peterson died in May of 2018 at age 94.

Founded in 2012, Quantum PC has enjoyed rapid growth, and is now growing quickly in Green Bay and the Fox Cities due to current broadband limitations in the county.

Cadence has operated in Sturgeon Bay since 1974. The company has made considerable investment into a state-of-the-art 63,000 square foot facility in the Sturgeon Bay industrial park. Governor Evers sent a Commendation to VP for Manufacturing Sandy Sekadlo acknowledging the achievement, including continued employment growth, and good corporate citizenship.

Peterson’s widow Carla Peterson accepted the lifetime achievement award on his behalf. Peterson took the helm of the family business, Peterson Builders, and grew it into a premier shipbuilder and developed an international reputation as a versatile shipyard producing Navy vessels for 13 countries worldwide. At its peak, the company and its affiliates employed nearly 1,000 workers.

Wisconsin’s 8^th District Congressman Mike Gallagher delivered the keynote to a crowd of nearly 375 people at the 30th DCEDC luncheon at Stone Harbor Resort & Conference Center.

DCEDC Executive Director Jim Schuessler lauded the growth of the industrial park, teeming with family-sustaining wages and diverse businesses, as well as the long-successful entrepreneurial development program that included the Business Development Center at the gateway to the industrial park.

He noted the initiatives that Team DCEDC, which includes Workforce Development Project Manager Christina Studebaker, Operations Coordinator Tom Strong, and Administrative Assistant Janet Proctor, were executing in order to help achieve success with priorities such as workforce housing, broadband deficiencies, and increased workforce in order to fill open jobs and keep Door County growing. He said the team was developing a workforce attraction initiative, LiveDoorCounty.org, which will be unveiled later this year.