100-Year Milestone for Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce > Altoona celebrated
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Josh Spreiter, WEAU.COM
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) -- The Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce celebrated 32 businesses that have been working in Eau Claire for more than one hundred years at a luncheon Wednesday afternoon.
Bob McCoy is President of the Eau Claire Chamber. McCoy says the average company in America lasts for about thirty years.
"There are over thirty companies that have survived for a hundred years or more in Eau Claire, many of them still owned by family members. That's pure endurance. I think that recognizing companies that have been running for more than 100 years is pretty amazing," says McCoy.
McCoy also emphasizes how businesses, both new and old, are crucial to creating a growing, vibrant community.
"We know as a local community bank how hard it is to thrive in a competitive marketplace, so these organizations that we're honoring today, I think it says a lot of about their dedication and commitment to the Chippewa Valley," says Paul Kohler with Charter Bank.
"When you've been in business for one hundred years, you pretty much know who you are, and you are here to celebrate your authenticity and success. We encourage people to encourage change. I'm thinking you all had to change a little over the one hundred years," says Holly Hakes with REALiving.
Those honored at the luncheon also received a wooden plaque made right here in the Chippewa Valley.
According to McCoy, Eau Claire continues to move in the right direction. In 1950 the Eau Claire Chamber had 250 members. Currently, more than 1,200 are members with the Chamber.
Below are the businesses that were recognized at the luncheon:
1856 - Eau Claire County
1857 - First Presbyterian Church
1867 - Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co.
1867 - Fall Creek School District
1870 - Chippewa Valley Newspapers
1872 - City of Eau Claire
1872 - U.S. Bank
1873 - BMO Harris Bank
1875 - L.E. Phillips Public Library
1881 - Eau Claire Press Company
1881 - YMCA
1882 - Cascades Tissue Group
1882 - Regis Catholic Schools
1884 - Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral & Cremation Services
1884 - Eau Claire Business Interiors
1885 - St. Joseph's Hospital
1887 - City of Altoona
1888 - McDonough Manufacturing Company
1889 - Eau Claire Area School District
1889 - Sacred Heart Hospital
1891 - Huebsch Services
1892 - Bank Mutual - Grand Avenue
1901 - Xcel Energy
1901 - Eau Claire Golf & Country Club
1904 - Stokes, Prock & Mundt Funeral Chapels & Crematory, Cremation Society of WI
1904 - Northwestern Bank
1905 - Mayo Clinic Health System
1905 - National Presto Industries, Inc.
1910 - Bartingale Mechanical, Inc.
1912 - Chippewa Valley Technical College
1915 - Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce
1915 - Johnson Litho Graphics
1915 - American Red Cross Western Wisconsin Chapter Read more about this article »
|
