Marian Business And Industry Awards Dinner

Marian University will hold its 36^th annual Business & Industry awards dinner at Marian’s Stayer Center for Technology & Executive Learning on Wednesday, October 25. A reception will be held at 5:45 p.m., with dinner and awards ceremony to follow.

The Business of the Year award will be presented to Grande Cheese Company.

Recently celebrating 75 years of business, Grande is a company that strives to be the benchmark in bridging innovation and tradition; an enterprise with a tradition of quality, and a quality of tradition. Grande strongly believes in social responsibility, ensuring their farm-to-fork products are responsibly harvested and lead to the production of high-quality, world-renowned products. Their commitment to charitable organizations is unequalled. Grande Cheese Company and their associates can be seen at a variety of not-for-profit events such as Solutions Center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few.

The Economic Development Award will be presented to ACH Foam Technologies. For over four decades, ACH Foam Technologies has been an industry leader in Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) manufacturing, providing architectural insulation, geofoam, protective packaging, cold chain packaging, and industrial applications. ACH Foam Technologies has ISO 9001-registered facilities in Wisconsin and Iowa. Being environmentally conscience, ACH Foam has been manufacturing environmentally-friendly EPS for over 30 years, thus using less energy and not containing halogenated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS) which can lead to ozone depletion. Additionally, EPS manufacturing creates benign products that can be used to provide stable fill material, similar to earth, rock, or concrete.  Since 2015, ACH Foam Technologies has added close to 100,000 sq. ft. of facilities in Fond du Lac and increased their workforce by more than 40 employees.

The Entrepreneur of the Year award will be presented to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the owners of the Northwoods League’s Fond du Lac Dock Spiders who play at Marian University. They were responsible for the major renovation to the university’s Herr-Baker Field baseball stadium. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are part of a long tradition of Appleton Professional Baseball, which started in 1891. They are the continuation of a franchise that began as the Fox Cities Foxes in 1958 at Goodland Field. They became the Timber Rattlers in 1995 when they moved into Fox Cities Stadium and have been the Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers since 2009.Their mission is simple: to create the best entertainment experience in Wisconsin, so every guest walks away with a smile and a desire to return.

Mercury Marine will be presented with the International Business Achievement Award. Mercury Marine, a long-standing pillar of the Fond du Lac community, was founded in 1939 as Kiekhaefer Mercury and is a division of the Brunswick Corporation. The company manufactures marine engines and snowmobiles. At present, Mercury product brands include Mercury, Mercury Racing, MerCruiser, and Mariner outboards. Mercury Marine is one of the world’s leading providers of marine propulsion. As a $2.3 billion division of Brunswick Corporation, Mercury and its 6,200 employees worldwide provide engines, boats, services, and parts for recreational, commercial and government marine applications.

Special Achievement awards are given to an individual or individuals and this year’s recipients will be James Eden and Thomas Schneider. In 2017, these two men worked closely together to merge two entities into what we now know as Envision Greater Fond du Lac. Eden served as the chair of the board of directors for the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation and Schneider served as the chair of the board of directors for the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce. Eden and Schneider, along with their respective boards, worked tirelessly to successfully combine two independent organizations into one fully-functional establishment.

The George Becker Business Spirit Award will be presented to Sr. Mary Mollison, C.S.A. (posthumously). At her funeral, one of Sr. Mary’s brothers described her as a successful executive who happened to be a Sister. Sr. Mary Mollison entered the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, Fond du Lac, in September 1966, while she was a student at what was then Marian College. Entering the world of ministry as a nurse at St. Agnes Hospital in 1969, Sister Mary managed nursing staffs, helped form and guide Trinity Health of Livonia, Michigan, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic healthcare system in the United States, served on the board of Hospital Sisters Health System of Springfield, Illinois, was elected by the Sisters of St. Agnes to leadership for the congregation first as general vicar, then as general superior of CSA, and was president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Silver Springs, Maryland.  Sr. Mary also served as Acting President of Marian University from March 2009-June 2009, then Interim President July 2009-June 2010. She officially retired from Agnesian Healthcare as Vice President of Mission Integration on June 30, the date of her passing.

The Business & Industry awards dinner helps raise money for scholarships for students in the Marian University business programs.

For more information about the 2017 Business and Industry Awards or to make reservations, contact Carey Gardin, executive assistant to the President, at 920.923.7617 or at cgardin@marianuniversity.edu .