Wisconsin

The Way Out

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Website: https://twout.org/
7 employees

“Liberty and justice for all” means more to Eli Rivera. He knows from personal prison experience that with the right opportunities and support, formerly incarcerated people can transform their lives. With backing from the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund, he started The Way Out in 2020, an online platform that connects formerly incarcerated Wisconsinites to good jobs and support programs, while also educating corporate partners about the financial, ethical, and tax benefits of hiring these individuals. “We want to empower people so that when they get to work, they are their best self,” he says.

Google Workspace tools like Meet and Sheets are easy to use, which makes them perfect for helping newcomers with no technical background get onboarded with The Way Out. “We encourage folks to join us in building out a Sheets spreadsheet, or to hop on a Meet to help get themselves in line with what they need to join our platform,” Eli says. “It’s so seamless and easy, even for folks who have just come back to the real world. We hold more than 80 percent of our meetings on Meet.” And the connections Eli’s team made through Google for Startups continue to pay dividends today. “It’s not just the Google name behind us. It’s not just the venture capital money. It’s the weekly huddles with other Black and Brown founders. It’s the networking opportunities. We met our dev team through Google,“ Eli says. Now The Way Out is moving boldly forward to transform more lives in more places. They helped 387 percent more job-seekers in 2022 than the year before, and by 2025 they hope to expand operations to all 50 states. “We are 100 percent committed to supporting our justice-involved brothers and sisters across the country, and to helping employers find valuable employees for their organization,” Eli says.

101Rabbits

Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Website: https://www.101rabbits.com/
+221,000 YouTube subscribers

Rabbits have always been a joy for Haley Elmhorst. As an anxious 12-year-old with Tourette Syndrome, she recalls, “Rabbits were my escape. I could be myself around them.” Finding too little advice for rabbit owners online, she began to share videos on YouTube with her own tips for bunny care and feeding. “People who own dogs and cats know the basics, but rabbits are so misunderstood,” Haley says. Soon her YouTube channel, 101Rabbits™, had hundreds and then thousands of followers. With help from Google AdSense, she began earning a little money from those thousands of video views. Years later, when an adult diagnosis of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) limited her mobility and job options, Haley decided to open an online store. “I ordered 20 products–purchased with AdSense money–and put them on sale, and then used that money to buy even more.”

Today, 101Rabbits.com sells bunny chew rings, timothy hay, and Snug-a-Bun™ beds to thousands of customers in 14 countries. Early in 2021, Haley opened a 3,500-square-foot retail location in her small town, which also serves as the operations hub for her global online store. At just 24 years old, she employs 5 part-time workers and will soon hire her first full-time employee. Her YouTube channel has 221,000 subscribers, and a third of her online store traffic comes directly from YouTube. Monthly revenue for all of 101Rabbits is up 225 percent in just one year. 101Rabbits even partners with local rabbit rescues to provide safe homes for bunnies. “I had a dream and a passion for providing other rabbit owners with safe, natural rabbit care products,” Haley says. “YouTube has helped me to grow an audience and a customer base from all around the world. If my 12-year-old self could see me now, she would be filled with so much hope instead of so much doubt.”

Bronzeville Collective MKE

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Website: https://www.bronzevillecollective.com/
25 vendors

Lilo Allen and Tiffany Miller know a thing or two about transformation. Started by these two women business owners, Bronzeville Collective MKE is a shop that sells the handcrafted goods and art of over 25 Black, Brown, queer, and ally creators. “We are one of the few retail spaces in the city that celebrates not only Black culture, but the culture and history of the historic neighborhood that we share our name with,” says Lilo. During segregation, Bronzeville was the only place in Milwaukee where people of color could have their own businesses. “At one point it had the most Black-owned businesses per capita in the country and was a financial foothold in Milwaukee. So that's the legacy that we're building on,” she adds. Through their mission to honor and revitalize the area, they’ve brought a creative new concept to town, while also helping small businesses and artists gain visibility and sell their work. With so many vendors and moving parts, Lilo credits Google Sheets with helping her keep track of inventory, sales, and payout amounts. “I use Google Sheets constantly,” she says, “I can’t think of another program I’d use to monitor all the money that’s going in and out.”

In 2020, growth was both a blessing and a challenge for the Bronzeville Collective MKE with fluctuating business regulations due to COVID-19. As luck would have it, their e-commerce website launched on the day Milwaukee’s mandated shutdown began. And while they experienced an uptick in online sales, now that the space has reopened they’ve had to make changes in response to the pandemic. “Our Business Profile on Google has been so beneficial in helping customers know our exact location , safety precautions, and new hours. Being able to get that information out immediately has been great,” she adds. Lilo believes there’s a Bronzeville in every community across the country and hopes to be able to expand the concept to new spaces, helping more businesses and artisans prosper along the way.

Skinny Sticks' Maple Syrup

Location: Marathon, Wisconsin
Website: www.skinnysticksmaplesyrup.com
Skinny Sticks’ Maple Syrup are selling in 7 countries

Mitch Hoyt, a U.S. Army veteran, was working as a corporate sales specialist when he stumbled across a unique opportunity. In 2011, Mitch attended a trade show where he sampled wine made from maple syrup. “That’s when my marketing wheels started spinning,” he said. Mitch thought of the more than 40 young maple trees he had on his property back home, and in that moment, he decided he was going to use them to start a business. After learning more about the syrup-making process, Mitch tapped his trees and soon produced his first 25 gallons of syrup. A business was born. Mitch and his wife Chris launched Skinny Sticks’ Maple Syrup and was soon making and selling syrup locally and beyond. To keep the company growing at a rapid rate, Mitch looked to digital marketing, but he needed help.

Working with his wife, Chris, Mitch launched a Google Ads campaign to reach people who were searching for pure maple syrup or similar products. According to Chris, the ads have boosted traffic to the company’s website and have had a big impact on digital sales. “Since using Google Ads, we’ve seen more sales in the first month of this year than all of last year,” said Mitch. Skinny Sticks’ Maple Syrup also uses Gmail to communicate more effectively and YouTube to host videos showcasing its sugaring operation. “And I’m always using Google Maps to find businesses to sell syrup to,” Mitch added.

Bolstered by its digital sales, Skinny Sticks’ Maple Syrup moves 2,925 gallons of maple syrup each month. In 2018, the company purchased, bottled, and sold about 25% of Wisconsin’s total syrup crop. Skinny Sticks’ Maple Syrup ships internationally and has sold syrup to customers in Brazil, England, Italy, France, China, and Japan who found the business through Google. Last year, Mitch and Chris were able to hire their son-in-law as their first full-time employee to help them meet demand. The Hoyts hope to add seven to 10 additional full-time employees over the next five years. “We’d love to grow the business so we can offer educational scholarships to local students who wish to pursue degrees in entrepreneurship or agriculture,” said Chris. “We really want to help the local schools and programs that inspired us by donating equipment and educational materials to them.”

O&H Danish Bakery

Location: Racine, Wisconsin
Website: www.ohdanishbakery.com
200 employees

If you’ve ever been to Racine, chances are good you’ve had a kringle from O&H Danish Bakery. Founded in 1949 by a Danish immigrant, Christian Olesen, O&H has been in the same family for four generations. Father-son team Eric and Peter Olesen, along with Eric’s son-in-law Matt Horton, currently run the business. They serve up hundreds of scratch-made indulgences every day, and their specialty is the traditional Danish kringle, “a pastry unlike any other,” Eric describes. They make eighteen varieties of the sweet delicacy and ship their products to thousands of customers in and outside of Wisconsin. “Whether you’re right here in Racine, or you moved away and are missing a taste of home, we’re here to help you celebrate the most important moments of your life with a delicious slice of kringle,” says Eric.

O&H Danish Bakery has always used technology to reach more customers, pioneering mail-order delivery for their kringles back in the early 1960s. “That culture of using new technology to grow and meet the demands of our customers has always been embraced by O&H, and continues to this day,” Eric says. They use G Suite tools, including Docs and Drive, to share inventory and order information instantly between their five Wisconsin locations. Their Google My Business listings attract local customers with appetizing photos and glowing customer reviews. And AdWords, Google’s advertising program, helps bring in new customers beyond state borders. “Not that many people outside of Wisconsin know about kringle, so AdWords is a critical tool for getting our name out there. Now people can find us from anywhere when they search for unique gifts or specialty baked goods,” Matt says.

Even after six decades in business, O&H Danish Bakery continues to enjoy double-digit annual growth. They operate stores in Racine, Sturtevant, and Oak Creek, and deliver their pastries to dozens of countries around the world. “Our kringle has reached all seven continents, even Antarctica,” Peter muses. Amidst their growth, O&H remains committed to the same family traditions on which they were founded. They source their cherries, cream cheese, and cranberries from local dairies and farms, their apples from Michigan, and their blueberries from Maine, all in pursuit of the finest fruits and nuts they can find. They also make everything, including the icing and filling, completely from scratch. “This is the way we’ve done it ever since we were founded,” says Eric. “It’s how we make food in our own kitchen. It’s how we do things in our bakeries. It’s a way of life for us, and we’ve never considered doing it another way.”

Wisconsin Cheese Mart

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Website: www.wisconsincheesemart.com
25 employees

Wisconsin Cheese Mart has been on Old World Third Street in Milwaukee since 1938. The old German enclave is still home to a few other food shops, and President Ken McNulty values their neighbors. Their storefront is the heart of the business, helping build their mailing list and attracting tourists from all over the world—during the summer, it can draw up to 2,000 visitors per day. But what’s really grown the company is their online presence. When the McNultys bought the business in 2003, they used the power of the web to transform Wisconsin Cheese Mart from a small, local shop to a national cheese retailer. “Today, we have single-digit growth in the store, but we’re averaging 35 percent annual growth for online sales,” Ken remarks.

Ken’s business philosophy epitomizes the digital age. “We constantly change, depending on what our customers are demanding,” he says. Google tools have been essential to taking the pulse of those demands. They use Google Analytics to better understand what their customers want and identify where they’re losing people in the purchase flow. “That’s huge for us,” Ken shares. “We’re always looking to improve the customer’s experience, so it’s very beneficial to be able to see where the pain points are.” And AdWords, Google’s advertising program, helps them get in front of consumers searching for their products. “AdWords makes up over 40 percent of our web traffic,” he says. In their day-to-day operations, Ken calls their Google usage “pretty much all-encompassing.” They communicate with teammates and customers over Gmail, create menus on Google Docs, and manage their files in Google Drive. “Our team operates out of three different locations. These tools help us collaborate easily from everywhere,” he explains.

Thanks to their online success, Wisconsin Cheese Mart continues to have a positive impact on the local community. Ken credits their online growth for their ability to create more jobs and pay higher wages, noting that “small businesses like ours employ a lot of people.” The company also hosts tasting events and, in general, maintains a space for people to learn about and enjoy the state’s flagship product. They hope to expand their website to include more food products—“We’re pretty good at the perishable part,” Ken notes—and are proud to promote Wisconsin cheese to people all over the world.