PROGRAM & EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
GOLF OUTING
The annual Golf Outing was held on June 23 at the Wausau Country Club in Wausau; more than 140 golfers participated in the sold out event which was followed by an awards dinner. Several new features were added to the event in 2025, including the addition of a Heckle Hole.
FUN@5 EVENTS
Three networking events provided an opportunity for members to showcase their business and offer after-work fun to attendees.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
65 graduates in the Chamber’s Transformational Leadership program were recognized on May 20 at a ceremony held at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Rothschild.
RIBBON CUTTINGS
44 members took advantage of a ribbon cutting or ground breaking opportunity this year. These members celebrated one of the following successes at their business: broke ground or opened a new facility, moved to a new location, remodeled an existing facility, welcomed new ownership or underwent a significant re-branding or name change.
Thousands of attendees visited Business EXPO 2025 on April 17. Visitors learned about the products and services provided by our members. Four members were recognized with Best In Show awards at the event which also included a livestreamed Small Business of the Year Awards program.
NEXT WAVE
Bi-monthly meetings brought together young professionals in the formative stages of their careers to create essential connections, networks and offer a supportive community.
HOLIDAY PARADE VIEWING PARTY
More than 60 attended the first family-friendly gathering at the Chamber’s historic depot headquarters along the parade route. The event included music, activities, refreshments and more.
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Almost 500 women attended the ninth annual conference to discover their highest level of personal and professional development. This conference was held on January 15 at the Central Wisconsin Convention + Expo Center in Rothschild.
GREATER WAUSAU MARKETING HUB
Quarterly meetings brought together members to connect with other marketers and learn new skills and strategies.
BUSINESS EXPO
AWARDS
ATHENA LEADERSHIP AWARD® PROGRAM
The ATHENA Leadership Award® Program recognizes members of the community who have played an important role in business, our community and the advancement of women. The ATHENA Award is presented to a person who has demonstrated professional excellence, taken part in community service, and actively assisted women in attaining leadership skills that have helped them advance professionally.
The 2024 ATHENA Award was presented virtually to, right above, Jennifer Johnson.
The ATHENA Young Professional Award is presented to a woman who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in her business or profession, provides valuable service to improve the quality of life for others in her community and clearly serves as a role model for young women both personally and professionally.
The 2024 ATHENA Young Professional Award was presented to, left above, Lindsey Lewitzke.
BUSINESS EXPO BEST IN SHOW AWARDS
Exhibitors at the EXPO were judged by a panel of volunteers on how visually exciting their booth looked, the originality and uniqueness of their display and how well it creates traffic.
Overall: Northwest Tool & Manufacturing Company Inc
Best Theme: The Children’s Imaginarium
Attention Strategy: Patriot K9s of Wisconsin Inc
Eats & Treats: CHAR Grillhouse
SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARDS
The Small Business of the Year Award recognizes business growth, community involvement, and innovative efforts in the Wausau Region. This award is also an opportunity to review the best business practices of successful entrepreneurs and set a benchmark of excellence for the years to come.
In The Lite Electric above, (Business-to-Consumer) and the Habitat for Humanity - Wausau, right, (Charitable Non-Profit) were named as the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Small Businesses of the Year recipients. The awards were presented at Business EXPO 2025 in a livestreamed program hosted by WAOW.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS
Three graduates of the program were honored with Transformational Leader of the Year awards in May: Lizzette Lopez, Jamie Giese and Ashley Pesl.
NEW MEMBERS
These members joined the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce between Sept. 1, 2024 and Aug. 31, 2025:
14-West
8PINE INC.
A&W Restaurant
AbleLight Thrift Shop
Adobe Acrobat
Alex B. Grant- Videographer
Art on Grand
Ascend Funeral Home & Cremation Care
Be Amazing
Becca’s Cafe Bistro & Catering
BRANDED STYLING
Budget Blinds of Wausau and Stevens Point
Burn Boot Camp
Butter Buds Inc
C & C Service Group
Central Wisconsin Payment Services
Charlie Health
Complete Filtration Resources Inc
CWAV LLC
CWCustom Exteriors.com LLC
Designs by J LLC
Elder-Well Adult Day Program of Weston, WI
Ellis Services LLC DBA
Mr Rooter Plumbing of Wausau
EUA
Event Production Systems
EVERDRY Waterproofing
Exclamation Services LLC
Eyemart Express
Family Insurance Center
Find Staff
Floral Magic Designs and Gifts LLC
Fox Valley & Lake Superior Rail System, LLC
Fromm Bros. Historical Preservation Society Inc.
GFL Environmental
Good Faith Payment Systems LLC
Hampton Inn - Wausau
Harder Travel LLC
Hearts of Wellness LLC
Hoehn’s Huddle Sports Bar & Grill
HOPE Life Center
Jade Panda
Jan-Pro of Northeast Wisconsin
Kristo Orthodontics - Wausau
Latz Web Design
Legacy Martial Arts
Let’s go Fishing- Hodag Chapter
Lulu Wisconsin Ginseng
Mathnasium of Wausau
McClone Insurance
McDonald’s - 409 Forest St, Wausau
MinOTmen
Mr. Sweets
Northern Lights Sauna
Not Brad’s Creative Farm
Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope
Pat’s Body Shop and Auto Sales Inc
Platinum Property Management
Prevail Bank - Wausau
ProjectWise Consulting
Quality Resource Group IncSchofield
Redcrest Media
River City Church
Roadready Transfer Service Inc
Robert Becker
Rocky Rococo Pizza & Pasta
Rondele Ranch
RVA
Self Fund Health
Sitecast.com
Sky Rise Ceilings LLC
State College of Beauty Culture Inc
T Wall Enterprises
The Benefit Doctor
The Chocolate Shop
The Norwegian Wood
The Wellness Way- Wausau
Top Dogs Mobile Catering
Toppers Pizza Inc - Wausau
Tower Cafe
Trusted Consulting
United Solutions of Automation and Robotics
URBN Supply
Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art/ Wausau Club
Weston Memory Care
Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity Inc
WPS Health Solutions
Zaika Gourmet India
ZenBusiness
Affiliate Contracts: Contracts with other organizations for the Chamber to provide administrative services.
Salaries, benefits, operating expenses, technology and marketing Occupancy: Rent, property taxes, utilities and depreciation
STAFF
OFFICERS
2024-2025
Laura Huggins Connexus Credit Union Chairperson
Jeffrey Wicklander Aspirus Chairperson Elect
SPECIAL THANKS
Chris Pfender Intercity State Bank Treasurer/Secretary
Owen Jones Tommy Dock Products LLC
Immediate Past Chairperson
Dave Eckmann, Ed.D. Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce President/CEO
THANK YOU to all of our member businesses and organizations.
We want to acknowledge the volunteers who assist with the Chamber’s various committees, programs and events.
Skinner Granite Peak Ski Area Director at Large
Sean Wright Performing Arts Foundation Inc Director at Large
We also want to thank all of the members who sponsored the Chamber’s programs and events over the last year. These members provided critical support for ongoing services and for the expansion of Chamber programs.
Charlotte
Sharon Baumann Special Projects Manager
Dave Eckmann, Ed.D. President/CEO
Brian Otten Marketing Director
Lukas Lindner Business Development Director
Kaycee Packard Programs & Events Specialist
Kathy Peterson Member Director
Sue Wokatsch Finance Director
