Over 20 Chippewa County business leaders gathered at W.S Darley and Co in Chippewa Falls to attend the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) Brown Bag Leadership Luncheon on September 15, 2009.

The topic for discussion was exporting; CCEDC was pleased to have Stanley Pfrang, Export Development Manager for the Division of Business Development for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce attend and give a presentation regarding Wisconsin based businesses exporting opportunities.  Stanley shared information with the group regarding a variety of programs available to businesses that are interested in exporting or would like to expand their exporting operations. 

Jeff Darley the Executive Vice President of W.S. Darley’s Chippewa Fall’s location also had the opportunity to share information about W.S. Darley’s history and exporting efforts and successes.  W.S. Darley & Co. builds fire truck, manufactures fire pumps, and sells fire fighting and emergency equipment. Darley has been exporting for over 70 years and currently sells to over 95 countries.  In 2008 W.S. Darley & Co. added 20 new jobs in Chippewa Falls in order to handle the growing exports! W.S Darley received the Governor’s Export Achievement and CCEDC Business of the Year Awards in 2009.

“W.S. Darley & Co. is an unyielding business with a continual growing international market share,” stated Charlie Walker, President/CEO for CCEDC, “it was refreshing to listen to Jeff share their exporting successes with the leadership group, especially to hear of successes during this challenging economy.”

CCEDC holds a Brown Bag Leadership Lunch once a month to provide Chippewa County business leaders the opportunity to get together for networking and to share ideas, products and services with other Chippewa County businesses.

If you would like to attend the next CCEDC Brown Bag Leadership lunch on January 19, 2010 or would like more information about CCEDC’s business programs please contact Jerilyn Sahr at 715-723-7150 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .