What Happened in Door County?

• Wood Orchard Market was named the Door County Industry of the Year by the Door County Economic Development Corporation at its annual meeting April 25.

The family owned fruit farm established by Jim and Barbara Wood in 1955 is now run by Jim’s son Steve and grandson Jeff, who now grow 200 acres of strawberries, raspberries, cherries and apples.

Innovative in their industry, Wood Orchard is part of a nationwide consortium of apple growers who have brought two new and highly successful apple varieties to market in recent years: the Honeycrisp and SweeTango.

When their source for providing dried apple products went out of business, the Woods developed a process for peeling, coring, drying and packaging Honeycrisp apples locally that is superior in flavor, texture, color and taste to what was previously available. The investment in equipment to manage this process was significant, however it now adds to their off season production and enables them to provide year-round employment.

• Dan Schwarz was named the Entrepreneur of the Year. The founder of Dan’s Fish Inc. in Sturgeon Bay formed Fine Foods to internationally market caviar from the state of Wisconsin in 1992.

The company processes, distributes, exports and imports seafood from all over the world. Schwarz’s activities in exporting caviar, a product that formerly had been discarded, have proven a significant source of income to Great Lakes fishermen and their families. For several years, Dan’s Fish has conducted caviar business with companies from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Japan, Russia and other countries.

• The Door County Board of Supervisors unanimously elected Dan Austad as the new Door County Board Chairman April 17. The position was previously held by Leo Zipperer, who declined to seek the position again and encouraged the board to select Austad.

The board also elected to continue operating with a County Administrator, rather than revert back to an Administrative Coordinator position, a position that would have less power and independence.

The Administrative Services Committee will take up the issue in May, when they will draft a revised position description and launch its search for a new administrator.