July 21–July 27

• The Door County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC) and the UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center will be offering free, one-on-one business counseling sessions on Thursday, September 3, 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, 185 East Walnut Street, Sturgeon Bay. An appointment is required and can be made by contacting Janet Frick-Warecki at 920.743.3113 x 200 or via email at [email protected].

• Door Peninsula Winery recently competed and brought home the gold for their Sweet Cherry Wine in the International Eastern Wine Competition, one of the oldest professional wine competitions, now in its 33rd year. The 2009 event topped over 2,200 entries from 16 countries and 34 states.

Door Peninsula Winery is proud to take home the gold for their Sweet Cherry Wine, one of the first and original wines produced by the winery. The winery also earned a silver medal for both their popular Blackberry wine and Sunset Splash, a fruit wine blend. Even a bronze medal in the competition requires a unanimous panel vote from judges. For more information visit http://www.dcwine.com.

• Door and Kewaunee counties are following the national and state trends of dropping in both home sales and median home price sold in the second quarter of 2009 as compared to the second quarter of 2008. National home sales experienced a dip of 2.9 percent, with Wisconsin coming in at 10.5 percent under last year’s second quarter.

Door and Kewaunee counties were hit with drops of 22.2 percent and 45 percent respectively. Door County recorded 70 home sales in the second quarter of 2009 with Kewaunee coming in at 22 homes sold. The large dip in Kewaunee home sales can be attributed to the fact that in the second quarter of 2008, Kewaunee had a state record high sales increase. Thus, when comparing 2008 to 2009, the fluctuation looks more dramatic than it actually is.

The national median home price fell 15.6 percent in the second quarter of 2009, when compared to that same quarter in 2008, whereas Wisconsin experienced a slightly smaller dip at 9.9 percent. Door County’s median home price now sits at $209,400, down 11.4 percent when compared to the second quarter in 2008 and Kewaunee’s median home price at $100,000, down 21.9 percent.

For more information visit http://www.dcbr.org or call 920.743.9651.

• Elizabeth Ramirez has joined the Wellness Center team as clinical support to the existing clinical staff. Ramirez is bilingual and provides in person translation services on an as needed basis to the Hispanic population served by the clinic.

In addition, Fridays have been established as a designated day in which Hispanic patients can always be seen without making translation arrangements ahead of time. Typical patient forms/paperwork used by patients have all been translated into Spanish to enhance communication and the provision of care. The addition of a translator increases the time and expense involved with providing care to non-English speaking patients; however, this service is essential for the non-English speaking segment of the community.

Patients with and without insurance are always welcome at the Wellness Center regardless of their ability to pay for services. As an independent non-profit community based health clinic, donations are always appreciated. The Wellness Center is located at 312 N. 5th Avenue in Sturgeon Bay.

For more information visit http://www.wellnesscenterofdoorcounty.com or call 920.746.9444.