University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
University Relations and Communications
Stevens Point, WI 54481-3897
715-346-3046

According to Dr. Frederick Eichmiller, Vice President and Science Officer at Delta Dental of Wisconsin in Stevens Point, “In 2006, we became aware of a promising biotechnology opportunity that came from UCLA and Dr. Shi — a technology that could prevent cavities by basically killing the primary bacteria that causes cavities.” He continues, “Scientists have tried for years to develop such a technology but they weren’t effective. Dr. Shi’s idea had promise but his NIH funding only covered his lab research and demos. He didn’t have funding to carry him through the product development stages, so we provided the initial funding to set up C3 Jian (C3).”

The product development investment structure is itself unique. Rather than relying on a venture capitalist, Delta Dental of Wisconsin combined their resources and expertise with Delta Dental companies in Virginia and Michigan as well. This combination not only alleviates the pressure of venture capitalist investment structures, it allows the three companies to share the risk and the investment — and paves the way for greater flexibility and opportunity.

“Beyond the initial investment, we helped by bringing in experts who understand biotechnology product development, how to hire the right people and how to get FDA approval,” he explains. “We’ve taken the idea through the drug development stage and have completed all of the pre-studies. We are now in Phase One of the human trials that can lead to FDA approval.” If all goes well, the end product will be a mouth rinse that kills the one type of bacteria that is primary cause of tooth decay.

Delta Dental of Wisconsin is funding other clinical trials and research projects around the country — “Wherever there’s an area that needs help and is related to oral health,” adds Eichmiller. “The federal government is doing what it can to help with these projects, but they don’t necessarily have enough money to fund all of these projects. There are several clinical trials that we feel show promise and we’re helping them complete their work.” He notes, “There was one research project in South Dakota that was near the end of its clinical trial period and it was running out of funding for its last six to twelve months. It would have been a shame to not complete the project and we really wanted to see the results, so we got several companies together and provided the funding they needed to complete the project.”

“We’re known as a dental benefits company — and that is a critical part of who we are. But to really make an impact on oral health, we need to do what we can to shape what oral health looks like — and that’s through technology and product development, not just benefits,” concludes Eichmiller.

About C3 Jian

Founded in 2005, C3 Jian, Inc (“C3″) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Los Angeles, California. The Company’s technologies were pioneered in the laboratories of Dr. Wenyuan Shi, Chairman of Oral Biology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry, as well as Professor of Microbiology at the UCLA School of Medicine. We are currently developing therapeutic and diagnostic products to improve oral health.

About Delta Dental
Since 1954, Delta Dental has been working to improve oral health and hygiene by emphasizing preventative care, because we believe that everyone deserves to enjoy a healthy smile.

Delta Dental Plans Association is a not-for-profit organization with some for-profit affiliates as member companies. Through our 39 independent member companies, we offer national dental coverage – administering programs and reporting systems that provide employees and individuals with quality, cost-effective dental benefits and superior customer service.

As America’s largest and most trusted dental benefits carrier, we cover more Americans than any other dental benefits provider – and strive daily to make dental coverage more accessible and affordable to a wide variety of employers, groups and individuals.

Easy in. Easy out.

Just a few years ago, sales in the Business Park had slowed. The Village of Plover and Portage County partnered with TOLD Development Inc. to spur sales. TOLD advised them to build a retail shopping center in the vacant land across from the Business Park and attract three “anchor” stores that would draw the interest of other retailers. TOLD helped them secure Kohl’s, Wal-Mart and Lowe’s at Crossroads Commons. “TOLD’s assistance has been critical,” states Mahoney. “They helped develop a strategy that not only gave the Commons a strong start, but attracted a nice mix of national and local retailers that bring people in off the highway.”

The fountains alongside the highway — which dress up the storm water detention facility — and the big-name retailer signs draw the eyeballs of 60,000 people routinely driving by the shopping center and business park every weekend. Explains Mahoney, “You cannot underestimate the importance of the Interstate — it’s a major route for families and businesses. And that works to our advantage. The Interchange provides drivers with easy access to both the Business Park and the shopping center across the street. At the time we initiated this, we figured we’d draw people from Portage, Marathon, Wood and Waushara counties — but, in fact, the draw has been stronger than expected. We’re drawing people from more distant counties and larger cities like Appleton and the Madison area. We’ve had residents of Columbia County, which is just north of Dane County, tell us they prefer to shop here because there’s less traffic, great retailers and its easy to get to.”

North woods tourism has also increased — bringing more traffic from Illinois as well. And the path of the majority of these visitors is right along I-39. “Thanks to our local visitors bureau, local tourism has also increased — we have more people playing here and staying here,” he adds.

Business and retail synergy.

The location of the Crossroads Commons across from the Portage County Business Park is another critical factor in its success. “It’s truly a link,” he notes. “The synergy between the businesses in the Park and the restaurants and shopping centers in the Commons works very well. It has prompted the growth of the Commons and the Business Park.”

Crossroads Commons is home to SweetFrog Yogurt, owned by former Green Bay Packer William Henderson. Henderson, who attended the Grand Opening of his enterprise at the Commons, is looking to open other SweetFrog locations in central Wisconsin communities.

WalMart, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Best Buy, Christopher Banks, Furniture and Appliance Mart, TJ Maxx and Joanne Fabrics are examples of other retailers located in the Commons. Other residents include Aspen Dental and the DeVita Dialysis Center. “We attended the International Council for Shopping Centers event in Chicago and learned that having medical centers in commercial areas is a growing trend. This mixed-use strategy has really worked for Crossroads as well.”

In fact, the Best Buy and Kohl’s stores located at Crossroads Commons typically finish in the top for earnings across the chain — and they’re smaller locations than others within the chains. “Stats like that demonstrate that this retail center is a destination and a draw. They’re competing against other stores in their chain and outperforming them.” Stats like that will also help attract other chain stores interested in the region.

Secrets to success.

Besides location and the retail synergy with the Portage County Business Park, Mahoney credits the success to the long-term planning by all the parties involved. “Through this process we’ve learned how important it is to work with a development company like TOLD. They gave us great strategic advice and because of their relationships with national retailers, they were able to secure national chains that we were interested in. They have unique ties with these chains and they work hard to see that the chains’ interests are served while also serving the needs of the community.”

“We’ve also paid close attention to the future while developing this in the present,” he notes. “We looked at potential issues and solved them before they became an issue. We chose an area that provides us with plenty of room for expansion. And we examined the long-term impact of this retail development in terms of transportation.” He concludes, “I really think this combination of Business Park and mixed-use commercial shopping center puts us on the map for future economic development.”

But there’s much more to Delta Dental. According to Dr. Frederick Eichmiller, Vice President and Science Officer at Delta Dental of Wisconsin in Stevens Point, they’re leading the way in developing tools that leverage the power of regional health information exchanges — exchanges that have the potential to improve health and wellness programs and patient care.

Currently, when patients visit their physician, the physician only has access to the patient’s medical records. They can see what prescriptions you take, when you last visited a health care professional, and review your medical history. Across the state, regional health information exchanges are being established that allow hospitals and private medical offices to share a patient’s medical history. These exchanges are a lot like the cloud computing and data sharing done on the Google platform — allowing physicians to review the records of patients from a collection of regional hospitals. Eventually, according to Eichmiller, regional exchanges will become part of a larger national exchange — providing medical practitioners with the exact patient information they need when they need it, no matter where in the nation the patient was treated.

While these initiatives are a step in the right direction, they only provide medical — not dental information. Eichmiller has teamed up with Delta Dental companies located in other states across the nation to complete a more comprehensive informatics initiative — one that integrates dental data with medical and pharmaceutical data in order to provide a more comprehensive wellness platform for employers. “By teaming with these other Delta offices we are able to share the investment and risk, and we’re able to pool our expertise. We pulled in experts from hospital informatics and built a team that was able to develop a base informatics platform that will help us build tools that can be integrated with an employer’s existing health and wellness program,” explains Eichmiller.

Together, they have established a measurement and tracking company in Seattle, Healthentic, that pulls data in from various sources – health risk assessments from employer health fairs, vision, medical, oral and pharmaceutical data – and then analyzes that data in order to support and track employers’ wellness programs.

Notes Eichmiller, “It’s very hard to communicate or determine which health and wellness programs are most needed and most effective when medical, dental, pharmaceutical and health data are separated. By combining this data and then analyzing it as a whole, we give employers the opportunity to really grasp the health challenges of their workforce and realize medical savings.”

He continues, “We’ve known for a long time that oral health affects overall health, but the data helps us better understand the connection in specific populations. For example,” he notes, “we know there is a connection between diabetes and gum disease. To reduce medical costs you have to control the oral health side of the disease. The only way you can do that well is to determine how many employees have gum disease, how many haven’t received oral maintenance and then hone in on those that need additional intervention from a disease management standpoint. Employers couldn’t do that before – because they only had data showing how many diabetics existed. With this dental data employers can focus those dollars more effectively and efficiently – and create a treatment plan that is more effective for the employee.”

By combining the data Eichmiller notes that they can also better define best practices. “The data shows us which things work and which don’t. By measuring outcomes over time employers can figure out which activities are most cost-effective and effective.”

Delta Dental of Wisconsin is also working with Marshfield Clinic to build an informatics model that can be used by hospitals and private practices. “Marshfield Clinic has a very robust healthcare records system — they were one of the earliest adopters. They have built an informatic team that also has dental knowledge and they have begun to use combined medical and dental records so physicians and dentists can look at the same records. They’ve had this in place for about two years and we’re working to enhance the system, make it more user-friendly and build it so that it can eventually be integrated with private practices and other health care providers,” states Eichmiller. Specifically, Delta Dental is helping Marshfield Clinic with modeling the data and determining what dental data should be in there. The team is also working on incorporating diagnostic fields. “Dentists typically record by procedures, but not why they do the procedure, so we’re working on incorporating these diagnostic fields into the dental record. We’re also working on decision support tools for the physicians and dentists that will help them interpret the data. Dentists don’t always know how to interpret medical data and physicians don’t know how to interpret dental data, so this tool will help them connect the dots and make informed decisions.”

The system is being built on an open source platform so other can access it. Concludes Eichmiller, “Providing physicians and dentists with full access to both medical and dental records is going to be critical for our healthcare system. This is the future and we’re investing in developing it.”

About Delta Dental
Since 1954, Delta Dental has been working to improve oral health and hygiene by emphasizing preventative care, because we believe that everyone deserves to enjoy a healthy smile.

Delta Dental Plans Association is a not-for-profit organization with some for-profit affiliates as member companies. Through our 39 independent member companies, we offer national dental coverage – administering programs and reporting systems that provide employees and individuals with quality, cost-effective dental benefits and superior customer service.

As America’s largest and most trusted dental benefits carrier, we cover more Americans than any other dental benefits provider – and strive daily to make dental coverage more accessible and affordable to a wide variety of employers, groups and individuals.

The Suites@201 residence hall at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point was awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold Certification. Verified by the Green Building Certification Institute, the LEED certification is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The four levels of certification—platinum, gold, silver or certified—are based on energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as other sustainable strategies.

“As the birthplace of conservation education, UW-Stevens Point is proud to uphold its tradition of sustainability through our building and landscaping practices, classroom instruction and student leadership,” said Chancellor Bernie Patterson. “Ecological stewardship is among the set of values that guide the university as we move forward.”

From its beginning stages, the suites were planned to be built to the highest green building and performance measures, from a sustainable site development to materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Before construction on the suites began, care was taken to reuse and recycle more than 96 percent of the materials from Hyer Hall, which was demolished to make room for the new building.

USGBC based UW-Stevens Point’s gold certification on a number of features at the suites, including:
• Sustainable site selection and development, including use of nearby public transportation, maximized open space and use of daylight
• Water-efficient landscaping and reduction of water use
• Optimized energy performance through reduced interior lighting power density, on-site renewable energy solar panels for water heating and use of the NatureWise renewable energy program
• Recycling collection and storage areas
• Recycling of construction waste and use of recycled building materials
• Use of regional building materials and those that preserve indoor air quality
• Innovation in use of green housekeeping and use of the space for environmental education

Opportunities for students
Richard O’Sullivan, Vice President of Human Resources at MSTC, explains that increasing enrollments over the past five years is one of the key reasons behind the relocation of the MSTC Stevens Point Campus. Enrollment has increased by 23% since 2008, putting the Michigan Avenue campus at maximum capacity. “We’ve simply outgrown our 36,000 square foot campus on Michigan Avenue. We were landlocked, leaving no room for us to grow learning space and parking,” he notes. In comparison, the new downtown campus at 1001 Centerpoint Drive, will provide enough space for current enrollments and is well positioned for future growth.

“This new campus gives us an opportunity to provide students with more space, additional parking, enhanced technology and proximity to green spaces like Pfiffner Park. It’s providing these students with more opportunities,” O’Sullivan adds. The campus will offer the same diverse programs as the existing campus, while relocating the early childhood education program from its existing confines on the Wisconsin Rapids Campus.

Opportunities for businesses
“The new campus is going to be of great benefit to Stevens Point and surrounding communities,” notes O’Sullivan. “MSTC serves over 2,800 students in Stevens Point in any given year. Those students will bring life to the downtown area. The increased foot and vehicle traffic should boost downtown businesses and the renditions we are making to the current facility will enhance the aesthetics of the area as well.” O’Sullivan continues, “The Michigan Avenue campus is more isolated. In comparison, this new campus will give students a chance to explore the downtown area, including shops, restaurants and parks.”

Next steps
Over the next two to three months, MSTC will review construction bids for the campus. MSTC is also currently reviewing its technology plans with a focus on improving its telepresence. “Distance learning is a great way to provide more people with the opportunity to learn and advance their skills,” explains O’Sullivan. “We get to start from scratch with this new campus, meaning students should enjoy a seamless distance learning experience.”

The campus is targeted to open in January 2014. “The idea originated about two-and-a-half years ago and it’s coming together quickly. It’s been a great experience working with the city of Stevens Point,” he adds.

“It’s our goal to meet the needs of the community by offering programming that businesses need. This new campus will help us better accomplish that,” O’Sullivan explains. “Our degree programs translate to jobs for our graduates, and that benefits all of us.”

To keep informed on the project, visit their website: www.mstc.edu/relocation.

About MSTC.
One of the Wisconsin Technical College System’s 16 colleges, MSTC is a leading provider of higher education offering more than 100 career opportunities through associate degrees, technical diplomas and certificates. Student-focused and community-based, MSTC serves a resident population of approximately 165,000 in central Wisconsin. The college has campuses in Marshfield, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids, and a learning center in Adams.

Joseph’s grandson, Dick Okray, embraces his agrarian lifestyle — and he believes it’s the most attractive feature of Portage County. “I think Portage County is a fantastic place to live and work and raise a family because it’s an agricultural area. Far too often there’s a stigma attached to growing up on a farm, but I respectfully ask people to recognize that Portage County is an agricultural community and embrace that.” He continues, “We have a tie to the land, the seasons and production agriculture. Nothing is more exciting than to see the change of seasons and to see the productiveness of this area. We are feeding the Midwest and we should all be proud of that.”

Diversity is our strength.
One of the strengths of the Portage County agricultural community is its diversity. “We produce such a wide array of agricultural products — from buffalo and dairy products to cranberries and sod. We have organic growers in the area and we have conventional growers,” explains Okray.

Okray notes that it’s important to recognize the interconnectedness of area businesses to agriculture. Agriculture has been a driving force behind job creation and economic opportunity in this region. “We have major food processors like Del Monte, Intevation Foods, Golden County Foods, and McCain — the largest frozen potato manufacturer in Wisconsin. We have fertilizer companies like Jay-Mar Inc., and packaging companies like Warner & Warner Inc. There are businesses like Mid-State Truck Service, Inc. that keep our equipment up and running. Area paper mills are related to agriculture — they’re producing byproducts from trees. Implement dealers, grocery stores, Roundy’s Corporation — the list goes on and on. They all add value to the agricultural enterprise.”

But you can connect the agricultural dots even further within the community. Okray notes that one of the most recent developments has been the push for sustainability. “The Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology (WIST) and the College of Natural Resources are right here in Stevens Point. That provides our community with so many opportunities. Together, farmers are working with researchers on sustainable technologies that can help us generate electricity and heat.”

Okray is energized by agricultural-inspired grassroots projects such as the Central Rivers Farmshed Greenhouse Project in Stevens Point. Thanks to volunteers, the former Sorenson’s Garden Center is being transformed into a 35,000 square foot community food center that is intended to house an 11,000 square foot production greenhouse, community kitchen, gathering space, and learning center. “This is an incredible project and I really believe we can grow fresh veggies year-round in this greenhouse. They do it in Canada – miles and miles of vegetables ground under roofs in all seasons. We can do it too,” exclaims Okray.

Agriculture has even played a role in the development of the Green Circle Trail and recreational areas in Portage County because of the largesse of landowners who donate lands for recreational use.

Agrarian-inspired philanthropy.
Does this level of cooperation surprise Okray? Not at all. Okray notes that the region has — to its benefit — a diverse group of people living here. And, as he notes, they’ve adopted “old time farming community values” — kindness, forgiveness, and the willingness to help one another. He cites the region’s donations to United Way. “We’re a smaller community than others in Wisconsin and yet we raise more money than so many of them.” He credits that generosity to values established centuries ago in farming communities wherein people had to help one another in order to survive. “When you’re raised in an agrarian lifestyle you take care of each other. We see that in business and in philanthropy.”

Sharing information with a global audience.
Okray also appreciates the sharing of knowledge. He recently attended the World Potato Congress in Scotland. “Any time you can bring a large group of people together who have the same agricultural background it is a huge win for everyone involved.” This sharing of knowledge not only helps his own farming enterprise, but brings recognition of Okray Farms to a global audience.

That transfer of information will also be key at the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days to be held on area farms August 5-7, 2014. Wisconsin Farm Technology Days is a three-day event that showcases the latest developments in production agriculture, including research and technological innovations. The event, to be hosted at Portage County Blue Top Farms and Feltz Family Farms, is the largest agricultural show in Wisconsin and will bring in an anticipated 60,000 attendees. “We are very excited about this event,” notes Okray. “It brings revenue to the community, it provides us with the opportunity to promote agriculture in this region and it indulges a farmer’s curiosity about technology. One thing farmers like to do is peek over the fencerows and see what the other guy is using. This show will let us do just that.”

Worth Company, established 70 years ago as a metal fabricator for the fishing industry, has diversified its offerings. Today, Worth remains a major supplier of fishing lure components and consumer marine products, but the business has diversified to include mass production of stamped products, wire forms and split and key rings. Last year they produced approximately a billion parts on their high-speed metal manufacturing equipment.

Worth concedes that the last few years have not been easy for advanced metal manufacturers in the central Wisconsin region. “A lot of businesses like ours dried up and went away,” he notes, either due to the recession or increased competition from China. “But a strength of this region is the fact that we still have some very diverse, quality advanced metal manufacturers who have weathered the last few years and they are very strong, healthy businesses.”

As examples, Worth mentions Pointe Precision and Marten Machining. Pointe Precision, located in Plover, Wisconsin, is a CNC machine shop with high-level turning, milling, grinding, heat-treating, EDM, and other machining capabilities that services aerospace, industrial, medical, recreational and commercial manufacturers. Marten Machining, of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, designs, manufactures and tests precision tooling, fixtures and specialized machine parts for a variety of industries. Marten Machining specializes in high precision five-axis milling, CNC turning, wire EDM and surface grinding production with submicron quality tolerance. Worth explains, “Between the three of us, we cover the whole gamut of most metal fabricating requirements — and we do it right here in Portage County.”

“Advanced metal manufacturers like these, who have survived the last few years, are positioned to fill the vacuum,” explains Worth. The vacuum, Worth notes, has been created by a drop in China’s metal manufacturing. “In the last 18 months, we have been very busy. We now manufacture parts for automobiles, aircraft, and windows. We’ve diversified and that business has really picked up as metal manufacturing has come back to the U.S.”

According to Worth, the demand for component parts and automated machinery to make fishing lures has “skyrocketed” in the last six to eight months. “Rising fuel and transportation costs have made it less appealing to manufacture in China. While labor is more expensive in the U.S., component parts are less expensive here. And the logistics of manufacturing in China are complicated and expensive.” He continues, “When you manufacture overseas, you really need to get your demand predictions right. If they’re not, you’ll have a whole freight container shipped back to the U.S. that may or may not have the products you need to meet demand. If you’re short on something, you have to air freight it and that’s expensive. You can’t react to supply and demand as quickly when you’re shipping from China — you can if you’re manufacturing in the U.S. because you have greater flexibility.”

Worth is encouraged by the strong up tick in his business because it’s indicative of an up tick in other American businesses — Worth is a business-to-business manufacturer. “More companies are setting up operations in America again and that is driving demand for our products,” he notes.

Worth also sees indications that advanced manufacturing is an increasingly ripe career opportunity. “A few decades ago, advanced manufacturing had the reputation of being an uncomfortable, unpleasant and dirty occupation. It’s completely different today. It’s friendly, high-tech and provides a decent wage. That’s an eye-opener for people.”

The magazine’s 2013 rankings place UW-Stevens Point tenth in the top tier of Midwestern comprehensive public universities. The university was recognized for having high retention rates, one of the highest percentages of full-time faculty in the region and a solid reputation among peer institutions.

“We are pleased UW-Stevens Point continues to be among the best universities in the Midwest,” said Chancellor Bernie Patterson. “While we are proud of our accomplishments, we continually look for ways to increase student success. Looking ahead, we are improving our enrollment management system to give students better access to courses and upgrading the facilities in which those courses are taught.”
These rankings are a good tool for students who are beginning to look at colleges and universities but may not be that familiar with our campus, added Patterson. “If students are looking at the top ranking universities in the Midwest, they should be looking at UW-Stevens Point.”

In addition to providing a high quality academic experience, UW-Stevens Point distinguishes itself in the areas of internationalism and diversity. The university has the highest percentage of graduates who have studied overseas (21 percent) in the University of Wisconsin System. Preliminary figures for this academic year indicate significant gains and record highs for UW-Stevens Point in the number of domestic students of color enrolled at the university.

“Each day we strive to give our students the best possible education at an affordable cost, and that includes an environment rich in diverse cultures and ideas,” said Patterson.

Established in 1894, UW-Stevens Point is located on a 400-acre campus in Central Wisconsin. More than 200 student organizations, a 275-acre nature reserve and world-class arts opportunities attract approximately 9500 students to enroll at the university each year.

Annual Organizational Budgets: $2,332,639
Annual Attendance: 95,004
Arts & Culture Organizational Economic Impact: $6,869,134 *

Arts Alliance of Portage County
Central WI Area Community Theater
Central WI Symphony Orchestra
Portage County Cultural Festival
Festival of the Arts – UWSP
Hidden Studios Tour
Tomorrow River Concert Series
Monteverdi Master Chorale
Point Dance Ensemble
Art in the Park
Stevens Point Barbershoppers
Stevens Point City Band
Central WI Children’s Theater
UWSP – ArtsBash
UWSP – Music Department
UWSP – Performing Arts Series
UWSP – Sentry Invitation to the Arts
UWSP – Soiree Musicale
UWSP – Theatre & Dance
Riverfront Jazz Festival
Women’s Fund Art Night
Art Happening – Rising Star Mill
American & Aber Suzuki Center
Rising Star Mill Concert Series
Stevens Point Sculpture Park
Festival of Chocolate (Jensen Center)
Smokey Express Productions
Tomorrow River Chautauqua
Very Young Composers
Polish Heritage (Dozynki Festival)
Central WI Children’s Museum
Riverfront Arts Center
Edna Carlsten Gallery-UWSP
Portage County Historical Society
Includes Rising Star Mill, Heritage Park, Beth Israel, Fire Station
Scarabocchio Art Museum
Museum of Natural History-UWSP

*The calculation is based on research findings from the 156 communities and regions across the United States with populations less than 50,000 people that participated in Arts & Economic Prosperity III, Americans for the Arts’ national economic impact study of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences.

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