Creative Inspiration

Could you imagine what your town would look like if it was full of creative people? What if you had someone who could turn a toilet seat into an art form? Or, someone who could turn sausages into an internationally known, branded product? Or, someone who could take a centuries old commodity product, shred it and brand it? Or, someone who decided to turn his town into a world renowned golf destination?

What if you had all of those people in the same town? And, it was on the shores of Lake Michigan? And, that the sampling above was just the tip of the iceberg of the creative people?

I was in Sheboygan, WI (population 50,792), which is just such a town. It was incredible!

Herb Kohler turned Kohler from a producer of bathroom fixtures into an art form. He also created four world-class golf courses in the town, turning the community into a destination resort. More on Kohler tomorrow.

Ralph and Alice Stayer started a meat market in 1945 in Johnsonville, WI (population not listed, but well below 100), near Sheboygan. Today their children, Ralph and Launa run the company, having turned Johnsonville Brats into an internationally known company.

Leonard Gentine had a passion for cheese when he started Sargento Cheese in 1949 in Plymouth, WI (population 7,781), 15 miles west of Sheboygan. He invented the process to vacuum pack cheese in 1955 and began shredding cheese in 1958. Today his son Lou is still running the privately owned company.

All three of those companies started in Sheboygan County and are still headquartered there, privately owned by the original families. Collectively they hire over 10,000 people and have reinvested greatly into the town and region.

There are many other wonderful companies headquartered there. One invented the insipid white plastic chairs that I’ve seen all over the world even in the most remote areas of Africa and South America. Sheboygan impressed me as incredibly creative, vibrant place to live and work.