Business owner experienced in nonprofit, for-profit sectors
By Scott Bellile
Photo courtesy of Scott Sawinski
The new head of the Fox West Chamber of Commerce hopes to increase the organization’s membership as the area’s business community continues to grow.
The Fox West Chamber, which serves Hortonville, Greenville and Grand Chute, announced Scott Sawinski’s hiring as executive director on Monday, July 8.
“[T]he things that set him apart are his experience with small business ownership and non-profits,” Chamber Board President Kiersten Gustafson told the Press Star in an email. “Our immediate primary goal is to grow membership and increase involvement in the community.”
“I really want to try to grow this chamber again and get it up to some significant levels,” Scott Sawinski said.
“There s a ton of business growth that’s been happening in the Fox West area, so that’s why there’s so much potential,” he said, pointing to new restaurants in Grand Chute and additions to Hortonville’s and Greenville’s business parks.
The Fox West Chamber lost some paying members during the approximately three-month transition between directors, Sawinski said.
Besides boosting the membership numbers, Sawinski said he wants to expand the services offered and foster more business-to-business collaboration among the chamber’s 200-some members.
He said he plans to be a “hands-on executive director,” building relationships through conversations with business and nonprofit leaders.
Sawinski has experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. He spent nine years working in public relations and fundraising management for Rawhide Inc. in the town of Caledonia before leaving to run Surge Nutrition in Hortonville and Flash Nutrition in Greenville full-time with his wife, Angela.
He plans to tap into his fundraising experience to help the chamber raise more money and enlarge its budget so it can offer more business services to members.
The Fox West Chamber’s services include business referrals, advertising avenues, educational events and networking. The chamber also advocates for economic development on behalf of its members.
Sawinski recently joined the chamber as a business owner. His pleasant experiences with the chamber motivated him to apply for the executive director vacancy.
“Right now the chamber’s operated by a really wonderful group of volunteers, but there’s always some volunteer fatigue that takes place,” Sawinski said.
He said he wants to help those hard workers by bringing fresh ideas to the table.
The chamber director position is part-time, and with that has come turnover.
The chamber’s previous director, Dawn Paradiso-Hansen, left in March after about a year.
Paradiso-Hansen’s predecessor, Elizabeth Alness, served for two months in fall 2017.
Susan Vanden Heuvel was executive director for just under two years prior to Alness.
Aware of the frequent turnover, Sawinski said what drew him to the job was a desire to bring long-term stability to the chamber’s leadership so the organization can see its ideas through.
“We all want the same goals for the chamber, and that’s to serve our membership base effectively, and that everybody is reaching their success within their own businesses,” Sawinski said.
Sawinski holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations and marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
He and Angela reside in Greenville with their three children, Daysia, Dayvian and Daylin, who all attend the Hortonville Area School District.