DCEDC Offers Business Counseling

• The Door County Economic Development Corporation and the UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center will be offering free, one-on-one business counseling sessions on Thursday, September 2 from 9 am – 5 pm, for any new or existing business owners in Door County.

Chuck Brys, Business Counselor for the Small Business Development Center, will be providing advice on business planning, financing, and other issues. Brys is a CPA and former Chief Financial Officer for several Wisconsin companies, with over 30 years of business experience and knowledge to share with local entrepreneurs.

Individual, confidential sessions will be held at the Door County Business Development Center located at 185 East Walnut Street in Sturgeon Bay. An appointment is required and can be made by contacting Cindy Wick at 920.743.3113 ext. 200 or via email at [email protected].

For more information visit http://www.doorcountybusiness.com.

• “Discovery Map™ – Door County,” co-owned by Paul and Judy Schumacher, recently reached a landmark within the Starr Map Company franchise. According to Victoria Starr, President of Starr Map Company, the Door County version of the map is the most popular, with more requests than even the Grand Canyon.

Artistically drawn in 2005 by Wisconsin artist, Deb Marrett, the map has reached over a half million users in paper form and countless others via the web. The 2010 issue of the map is the Schumachers’ fourth, and the cover features the Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal Lighthouse sculpted by Kathy Mand Beck of Dovetail Gallery in Egg Harbor.

“Illustrated maps, like ‘Discovery Map™ – Door County’ are a souvenir collector’s dream,” says Paul Schumacher.

The fifth edition is under development currently, and one of the new features will be a widget. The Discovery Map™ widget allows anyone to create “code” for their website to place an electronic version of Discovery Map™ including all its sponsors on their website. In addition, the widget is fully customizable.

To learn more about the widget or to create a widget visit http://widget.discoverymap.com/adwiz/public_login.

For additional information or to be a part of the 2011 edition, contact Paul or Judy Schumacher, Ad Quest Promotions, at 920.746.9171 or via email at [email protected]. To view the map online visit http://www.doorcountymap.com or http://www.discoverymap.com.

• Door and Kewaunee Counties joined the rest of Wisconsin in experiencing a positive increase in the number of existing homes sold in the second quarter of 2010. When comparing the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010, Door County showed an increase in home sales of 23.1 percent while Kewaunee took one of the largest leaps in the state at 74.2 percent. Overall, the state reported an increase of 19.4 percent during that same quarter.

There is mixed news when discussing median home prices in the area. Door County’s median home price fell 9.1 percent from $180,000 in the second quarter of 2009 to $163,700 in the second quarter of 2010. However, Kewaunee County’s median home sale price jumped 13.3 percent from $105,000 to $118,950 in that same quarter.

Cautious optimism among real estate professionals continues, and many offices have experienced an uptick in sales.

“Our office has been having a good few months,” commented Gretchen Porten, Branch Manager at Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group in Sturgeon Bay. “We’ve closed some properties that have been on the market for quite some time and have made some sellers very happy! We’ve also been seeing a lot of buyer activity in recent months – and these buyers are finding some great deals!”

For a complete listing of homes for sale in Door and Kewaunee counties visit http://www.dcbr.org or call the Sturgeon Bay office at 920.743.9651.