Door County Business Briefs

• Owner and Certified Yoga Instructor Erika Leslie has announced the opening of Sunrise Power Yoga in downtown Sturgeon Bay.

Offering classes six days a week, with the first free of charge, Leslie commented, “The atmosphere in the studio is positive, fun, energetic, and safe.”

The studio provides a wide variety of classes for both new and advanced yoga students, with a range from beginner to yoga for runners, to hip openers and backbends. Private classes and specialized workshops are also available.

“Yoga helps participants increase flexibility, strength, and stamina, while simultaneously enabling them to develop or increase their sense of spiritual and emotional balance. When they leave a class, most people say they feel more relaxed and calm, while at the same time feel re-energized, aware, motivated, and happy,” said Leslie.

Located in the Fairfield Building on the corner of Michigan Street and 3rd Avenue (242 Michigan St.), the studio is on the third floor in suite 302. For more information, visit http://www.sunrisepoweryoga.com or call 920.716.3131.

• The Door County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC) reminds new or existing business owners that the organization continues to offers monthly office hours in Northern Door County, providing business counseling and entrepreneurial services.

The second Wednesday of each month, DCEDC Economic Development Manager Sam Perlman offers free, one-on-one business counseling sessions, providing advice on business planning, financing, business incentives and other issues. As a member of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network, DCEDC also has the ability to tap into the expertise of the statewide support network to help find solutions to business issues and questions.

Individual, confidential sessions will be held Wednesday, March 11, beginning at 1 pm in the Sister Bay Fire Station small meeting room, 2258 Mill Road. An appointment is requested and can be made by contacting Perlman at 920.743.3113 x 204 or via email at [email protected]. Walk-ins are also welcome, based on scheduling.

• As of February, Door-County-Camping.com is part of the DoorCountyNavigator.com family of Web sites.

The camping dotcom joins Web sites owned by Dan Silvestri of Egg Harbor and Chicago. The former Microsoft sales and marketing professional founded the “Navigator” online travel guide to Door County in 2000. In 2005, he acquired DoorCountyDining.com.

“Now, with the acquisition of Door-County-Camping.com, we are extending our reach under the DoorCountyNavigator.com brand,” Silvestri said.

The camping dotcom includes profiles and graphics of area campgrounds/RV parks as well as maps and ideas for things to do. Also online are videos, ratings, a blog, e-newsletter and contests.

For more information visit Door-County-Camping.com or emailing Silvestri at [email protected].

• The annual Career Day for Door & Kewaunee County eighth grade students will be held on Tuesday, March 17 from 9 am – 2:30 pm at NWTC-Sturgeon Bay, sponsored by the Door Kewaunee Business & Education Partnership, NWTC and the Sturgeon Bay Noon Rotary Club. The Career Day program gives area students an understanding of local career clusters and the variety of occupational opportunities available; information about the skills that employers are looking for; and recommendations about what courses and extracurricular activities they might participate in during their high school years to prepare them to enter the local workforce.

Approximately 330 students will attend with the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of career clusters. Career areas include: Arts, Auto/Diesel, Business Administration, Communications, Computers, Construction, Human Services, Tourism, Industrial Technology, Military, Natural Resources, Nursing, Specialized Health Care, and Utilities.

For more information contact Tara LeClair of the Door Kewaunee Business & Education Partnership at 920.743.3113 x205 or [email protected].

• Jody Weyers, Volunteer Director for the American Red Cross Lakeland Chapter, has recently been awarded the designation “Certified in Volunteer Administration” by the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration.

The credential, which entitles Weyers to use the initials “CVA” following her name, is the only one in the field that is recognized internationally. It is awarded after a rigorous process that includes an extensive self-evaluation and preparation of a performance-based portfolio. A panel of professionals who are certified in volunteer administration judges the portfolio. In addition to the portfolio, Weyers sat for a two-hour examination testing knowledge, application and analysis of skills related to volunteer resources management.

Weyers joins a group of over 800 individuals who have attained this sought-after credential as demonstration of their professional excellence in mobilizing and managing volunteers.

• The Door County Board of REALTORS® (DCBR) would like to inform consumers that the regional real estate market has faired better than the troubled national real estate market according to the 2008 year-end housing stats by both the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association and the National REALTORS® Association.

In Door County the average price of a home sold in the fourth quarter of 2008 increased by 3.1 percent, with a 5.5 percent increase for the overall year. In neighboring Kewaunee County, the average home sale price did decrease by 15.2 percent for the year, but on the positive side, the county is one of only three within the state of Wisconsin to report an increase in sales volume in 2008.

The DCBR would also like to remind the public that this is a great time for first time home buyers with the proposed stimulus package of up to $8,000 in tax credit for a home bought before August, 2009.

Information on the Door County Board of REALTORS® can be found online at http://www.dcbr.org or call the Sturgeon Bay office at 920.743.9651.