I Moved to Sheboygan for My Career; Here’s Why You Should, Too
Sheboygan County is a beautiful area ripe with job opportunities, outdoor recreation, dining and entertainment offerings.
Nestled in east central Wisconsin, Sheboygan County is a beautiful area ripe with opportunity. Its lush entertainment scene, from arts and dining to outdoor recreation, helps residents quickly find their niche, while its variety of job opportunities allows them to build a successful career.
To learn more about this area and all it has to offer, we sat down with Arizona native Landon Turner, who moved with his wife to her hometown of Sheboygan County in 2018. While they considered multiple locations, like Phoenix and Denver, they ultimately decided on Sheboygan County because of its job opportunities and low cost of living. Today, Turner is a business banking officer at Oostburg State Bank.
Why did you find the career opportunities in Sheboygan County appealing?
What I noticed about Sheboygan was that their wages here were above what we were being offered in Phoenix and Denver, and I would say a big part of it was just the community feel. It’s a little bit smaller than Denver and Phoenix. Everyone seemed to work together and cared for others. We also realized that there were a ton of other opportunities outside of just our careers (and) that we should get involved in our community.
In what ways were you able to get involved in your community?
I attended a leadership class through the Sheboygan County Chamber right when I moved here. It’s been incredible for professional development in my career. The leadership program was a year and what it consisted of is you went to different businesses, and you would go on tours just to see what Sheboygan County had to offer. We also did different events just to build relationships with the people who were on our team. Today, I’m the chair of their young professionals committee, and the opportunities that I’ve had to speak publicly and grow my leadership skills, attend various local events — it’s been amazing.
How has your involvement with the chamber helped you professionally?
It has definitely increased my network. I’m in a sales role here. I’m supposed to go out and build relationships and produce loans, and it has really helped me get my name out there. Because I am from outside the community, I’ve had to make a name for myself. It has turned into customers at the bank. It’s also helped increase brand awareness for Oostburg State Bank. Whenever they see me, they know Oostburg State Bank, and it just helps build the reputation that we already have.
Now that you have lived here a few years, why do you feel like Sheboygan County is a place where you can continue to grow your career?
If you look at Sheboygan County, we have some of the best and largest employers for how large our county is. We have companies like Johnsonville, Sargento, Kohler, Rockline — we have all of these large businesses that produce lots of jobs. Any time you have great jobs like that, that’s going to create an environment where you can grow professionally.
What was it like looking for housing in Sheboygan County?
When we were shopping, we were looking at all apartments and just kind of looked all over Sheboygan, but then we had an opportunity to look at a house and we ended up deciding on the house. It was a new build, and they were looking to rent it, and it was in Oostburg, which is in Sheboygan County. What we were paying in rent in that single-family house was about what you would pay for a two-bed, two-bath apartment, so it was kind of a no-brainer having the space and flexibility in a house rather than in an apartment. It was also much cheaper than what we could have gotten in Denver and Phoenix. It was about the same cost as a studio apartment in downtown Denver in not such a good neighborhood. It was an amazing blessing. We just purchased (the house) back in May of 2022. We’re extremely happy where we are.
What else did you find appealing about Sheboygan?
One is Lake Michigan. The lake looks like an ocean to me. I’ve never seen a body of water that large, being from Arizona. The golf courses in Sheboygan are some of the best that I’ve seen. I love golfing in California, Arizona, Colorado, but there’s something about the golf courses here. We have the Kohler courses. They are some of the best in the U.S., and they are just pristine.
Something else I really like is the amount of stuff that you can do in Sheboygan County. You can go down by the lake on the beach and have a bonfire with friends. You can go walk trails through Kohler-Andrae, the state park. There are tons of bike trails that you can ride through to be outdoors.
When fall hits, you can go on some drives through Sheboygan County that are just unbelievably beautiful. We have Road America (a road-racing track). My wife and I are big racing fans, so we try to get out to Road America twice a year. That campus is just unbelievable. It’s not just a racetrack. It’s a beautiful landscape.
I would say that the restaurants are top-notch, as well. With how small Sheboygan is, it’s pretty incredible the amount of good dining that we have here.
What is your plan for the future?
I plan to stay in Sheboygan County for life. My in-laws are very vested in Sheboygan County and the Oostburg community. It has a great school system, and my wife and I actually have our first kid on the way. We plan to stay in the Oostburg community. Professionally, I plan to stay in banking. I have really enjoyed it over the last four to five years. My ultimate goal is to really move into some type of management position where I am leading others.
This article was sponsored by the Sheboygan County EDC.
