PRESENTATION OF 2009 BUSINESS AWARDS

TRIG’S
HONOREE
Award for Philanthropy

Trig's Supermarkets are considered more of a collection then a chain. Each store designed to uniquely serve its community in a very personal and committed way. Each store taking on a personality of the region it serves.

The collection started in 1971 when Trygve (Trig) and Tula Solberg started the company with a single small store in Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin. Today, T.A. Solberg Company, Inc. operates five Trig's stores in the Northern Wisconsin communities of Rhinelander, Minocqua, Eagle River, Wausau and Stevens Point. Each store is a complete one stop experience with an expansive deli, service meat counter, Cellar 70 Wine and Spirits and a full service Healthmart pharmacy.

Trig's believes in being good corporate citizens.  Trig’s sponsors community events and supports the arts, our schools, and local non-profit groups.  One very popular community program you can participate in is the Trig's Supports Local Churches & Schools (TsLCs) program.

TsLCs lets you drop your receipts, marked with the I.D. number of the church or school you want to support, into the TsLCs barometer at the store. Three times a year, Trig’s tallies up the receipts collected for each organization and write each a check for 1% of their total. Through TsLCs, Trig’s has donated over $400,000 to participating organizations.

*Footnote
Trig's is one part of the larger T.A. Solberg Company, Inc., a diverse and healthy organization of over 1000 associates that also operate Tula's Café in Minocqua, several fuel and convenience stores throughout northern and central Wisconsin, Trig's Central Bakery and Trucking Facility, Trig's Recycle Center, and the Tasmania Northwoods Resort.

FOSTER & SMITH
HONOREE

ADVANCED BARRIER EXTRUSIONS LLC
HONOREE
Award for Model Start-Up Business

Advanced Barrier Extrusions, LLC, is a multi-layer cast film company located in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.  The company began operations in January 2006 with three principal officers.  Tony Haug handles sales and marketing.  Kevin Kopplin is the chief financial officer and Steve Pawelko heads up operations. 

Advanced Barrier Extrusions, LLC’s mission statement is to be a world class multi-layer film cast producer for the packaging market.  Most of the films produced by Advanced Barrier Extrusions, LLC are utilized in packaging that protects food from oxygen creating a longer shelf life.  Meat and cheese items are commonly packaged this way.

A typical hot dog package uses a “forming web” to give the hot dogs a longer shelf life.  The “forming web” is a strong tough plastic that is vacuumed packed around the hotdogs and has a “skin like” appearance.  In most cases this is a multi-layer plastic film that provides toughness, clarity and barriers for shelf life.

Advanced Barrier Extrusions, LLC currently employs 27 people.

WAUSAU PAPER - RHINELANDER PAPER MILL
HONOREE
Award for Longevity

The Rhinelander Paper Company (1903) is established and becomes the leading industry in City of Rhinelander and Oneida County.  The Rhinelander Paper Company was the brain child of Webster, Anderson and Edward Brown.  The original officers of the Rhinelander Paper Company were Mr. A. W. Brown, President; Mr. A. D. Daniels, Vice President; and Paul Browne, Secretary.  William Eibel moved to Rhinelander in 1894 and was employed at Brown Lumber Company after having worked at the paper mill in Tomahawk and would soon become manager and superintendent of the mill.

In 1907, Rhinelander Paper Company was the most modern paper mill in the state.  In 1907, a report indicated that the mill was producing 21,000 tons per year.  The workforce at that time was estimated at 250 individuals.

The Rhinelander Paper Company has a lasting role in the sustainability in the environment along with sustainability of the forest crop industry.  In 1944, Rhinelander Paper Company was instrumental in the formation of Trees for Tomorrow charged with the reforestation of the lands of Northern Wisconsin and educating the public on the value of the forest industry and its management.  In 1948, the Rhinelander Paper Company was noticed for its work in pollution abatement by the Izaak Walton League.

In 1980, the Rhinelander Paper Company was purchased by Wausau Paper Mill Company.  Wausau Paper Company and Mosinee Paper Company unite in 1997 forming a new company known as Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation.  In 2004, Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation was given a new identity known as Wausau Paper.  Since ownership by Wausau Paper, Wausau has invested more than $100,000,000 in energy, production and environment showing there commitment to Rhinelander/Oneida County and sustainability to the Northwoods.  Most recently, Wausau Paper partnered with Focus on Energy to make the Rhinelander more completive during difficult economic times.  

Wausau Paper is broken into two segments being the Printing/Writing Division and the Rhinelander Division, which manufactures technical specialty papers. The Rhinelander Division controls 40% of the market share and 40% of the revenues of the company.

Specialty papers produced at the Rhinelander mill include coated paper used for food applications and laminated paper backings used for industrial applications. Pan liner, one of the food-grade products, is a paper used in bakeries.

Coated release liners produced at the Rhinelander mill for are used for industrial applications including the production of high-end fiber composites that are used in aircraft and in electricity-generating windmills.

Today Wausau Paper, Rhinelander Mill employs more than 400 individuals at living wage jobs and can produce an estimated 170,000 tons of paper per year more that 8 times the mill produces in 1907.

THREE LAKES WINERY
HONOREE
Award for Family Business

The Three Lakes Winery is a second-generation family business built on the development and production of a unique combination of fruit wines--none of which contain grapes.

Founded by John and Maureen McCain in 1972, the winery is now run by sons Mark and Scott McCain, and Mark's wife, Shane, and is still operated from the old railroad depot the business began in 37 years ago.  The railroad tracks are gone now and the little corner building has been remodeled with a large addition to keep up with the growing demand for this fine product featuring the fruits of the woods.

During cranberry season, The Winery is bustling with business as tourists and locals visit for tours of the winery and local bogs. These same bogs produce the fruit used in the winery's unusual and best-selling cranberry wine.

Made from the finest locally-grown cranberries, the cranberry wine is what The Winery is most famous for but, cranberry blends such as cranberry-raspberry, cranberry-apple, and cranberry-rhubarb--are also good sellers.

The Three Lakes Winery has been a positive addition to the small community providing jobs as well as a business which uses locally grown fruit in its production of wine.  The tours provide a tourism attraction which attracts numerous travelers and locals to the small community. 

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Last Update on February 1, 2010