Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Matt Zacher says 'entrepreneurial economy' is future of city
WISCONSIN RAPIDS − When he was elected as the next mayor of Wisconsin Rapids in April, Matt Zacher knew one of the biggest challenges of his two-year term would be continuing to address the impacts of the 2020 closure of the Verso paper mill that put over 900 local employees out of work.
Just weeks before the election, Billerud − the paper mill's owner at the time − had announced the sale of the idled mill and its related assets to Capital Recovery Group, after it had sat vacant for nearly four years. It was a welcomed move for city leaders and residents who had hoped for years to see some movement on the property.
Zacher, 54, who is CEO of Express Recycling Solutions Inc. and served as 3rd District alderperson for three years, decided to run for mayor when Shane Blaser announced in October he would not seek reelection after his second term in office.
Zacher brings both business experience and compassion to his new role; informed by his master’s degree in social work and juvenile corrections from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence his business is in facilitating the reuse of valuable materials, which will be a major factor in his first term in office.
A Daily Tribune reporter sat down with Zacher at City Hall earlier this month to talk about his passion for service, business experience and serving as a champion for Wisconsin Rapids.
A lifelong passion for the service industry
Zacher said his passion for the service industry comes from the examples set by his parents, Lee and Barb Zacher. His mother was elected for four years as an alderperson in Zacher’s hometown, New Berlin, and she campaigned for mayor but was not elected. His father was active with the Lions Club.
Zacher graduated from Waukesha Catholic Memorial High School in 1988. He went into the Army and was in the 101st Airborne Division during Desert Storm.
After three and a half years in the military, he began college at UW-Milwaukee. Zacher said he was drawn to study social work because growing up he felt like he was someone people would come to for help. He said, despite being one of the smaller kids, he would be the one to stand up and intervene in a conflict.
He met his wife, Jenny, in college but they went different ways for several years while she was in the Peace Corp. Zacher went backpacking overseas and worked for a year at a troubled youth reform program in Utah. The two met back in Milwaukee, agreed to get married, and had their first child, Martin, before looking to relocate. They chose Wisconsin Rapids and have since had three more children.
“You need a general guide to where you’re going and that general guide for me has been the service industry," Zacher said. "Even as an entrepreneur, I’ve always wanted to help with recycling efforts.”
'The residents and businesses are our customers'
While transitioning between Milwaukee and Wisconsin Rapids, Zacher took a position with Lowe’s as they were opening a new store in Plover. Not long after, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Joe and Pat Kozicki, took on the debt from the bank for a recycling shop on Strodman Avenue, and Zacher began working there.
Over time, he took on more duties and roles, brought his brother and other family members on board and bought the company from his in-laws. They now have three locations including ones in Stevens Point and Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids location gave them the ability to take on larger clients and keep even more recyclable materials out of landfills.
Zacher said his success with the company over 19 years was due to a two-fold strategy. The first aspect was in dealing with a variety of materials that enabled them flexibility to navigate through changes in economic conditions. The second aspect is customer service.
“That’s what I’m going to do in the city. Everybody that’s in the government has to understand that the residents and businesses are our customers," Zacher said. “We need to make sure that they feel part of the team and respected and connected to us.”
After injuring his shoulder two years ago, Zacher stepped away from an operations role and into an executive role with Express Recycling Solutions.
'It’s not ever going to be one mill, one business again'
Zacher says he intends to be as involved in conversations about the redevelopment of the mill property as he can be, although much of what happens there will be between private interests.
Survey results gathered in 2022 to create a recovery plan for the city asked interested individuals for priorities and desires for the property. The results generally supported reusing the site for manufacturing and technology companies that can best utilize the existing assets of the massive facility.
The Wisconsin Rapids Recovery and Reuse Plan can be used by Capital Recovery Group as a marketing tool to attract potential developers and could assist developers who are interested in the land. However, the city has limited control over what ultimately happens with the property.
“It’s not ever going to be one mill, one business again,” Zacher told a Daily Tribune reporter. “It’s going to be between three and 20 businesses that are going to be working together inside there.”
When it comes to the mill, Zacher said it is important to respect what it was, learn from it, keep the history, but to also look to the future and say, “Hey, good things are coming.” He compared it to dealing in several materials with his recycling business; if one material or business is lagging, another one might be growing, and others perform near their average so large changes are better absorbed by the group.
“The amount of infrastructure, the amount of power, wastewater treatment, electricity, clean water, all those things that are here are phenomenal for industry to be able to move in,” Zacher said.
The people of Wisconsin Rapids are its biggest asset
Zacher took five years to earn his master’s degree in social work. He worked in a social work role for Messmer Catholic Schools in Milwaukee prior to his move to Wisconsin Rapids and entrepreneurship.
While in Wisconsin Rapids, Zacher also took some roles in the nonprofit sector. He was a board member for the Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce for four years and president for one year. He also started Sustainable Operations and Recycling Inc., a nonprofit that sought grants for recycling and other sustainable activities, which operated for 10 years.
“I have understanding and respect for the people that are struggling and working two, maybe three jobs. I wish I had more control over things like the economy, but what I can help people with is ideas as to how to help them,” Zacher said. “Whether it’s more education or more risk-taking ideas and developing business ideas.”
Zacher said the people of Wisconsin Rapids are its biggest asset, but learning how to communicate and work together is more important than anything else.
“You gotta stay positive and excited about the future of the community. It’s catchy. It catches on to other people and you get people wanting to move, think and create and spend money and develop new ideas,” Zacher said. “That’s the future of this community, an entrepreneurial economy. It’s gotta be fast-moving, excited, people talking to each other, kids going through school thinking about projects and what they can do together rather than just working a job.
“If my job is just be a cheerleader and try to help connect people and bridge gaps and speak a language that helps people, then that’s my job for now. I’m just a guy. I don’t have all the answers, but I can certainly find stuff out and be a part of the community that way, too.”
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Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Matt Zacher talks paper mill, future of city
