10 files on the desk from Rhinelander, Wisconsin. 10 carry a net-worth figure.
Owner and publisher, Northwoods community newspapers · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Gregg Walker, publisher/owner of The Lakeland Times (Minocqua) and The Northwoods River News (Rhinelander); took over Times publishing from father Donald Walker (bought paper 1958) and added River News in 2010. Not other Walker media executives. Primary personal community footprint is Lakeland/Minocqua; Rhinelander tie is ownership of the River News.
$2 million+
Gregg Walker owns and publishes The Lakeland Times in Minocqua and The Northwoods River News in Rhinelander—the two papers that dominate much of the Northwoods print news cycle. Wisconsin Newspaper Association coverage of his 2020 election as WNA board president notes he has published The Times since 2006, succeeding father Donald Walker, who bought the Minocqua twice-weekly in 1958, and that he added The River News in 2010.
Howard Young Foundation board materials identify him simply as owner of both titles. The River News maintains a Rhinelander newsroom while corporate billing runs through Lakeland Printing and The Lakeland Times in Minocqua—underscoring a dual-market publishing company rather than a Rhinelander-only residence claim.
Walker’s selection for this Rhinelander slate rests on owning the city’s primary local newspaper and maintaining a Rhinelander newsroom presence. His lifelong community leadership profile is centered in the Lakeland/Minocqua area, even as the River News keeps his publishing footprint in Rhinelander.
Founder and owner, independent real estate brokerage · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Joe Flanders, founder/owner of Flanders Realty Group (opened Jan. 2, 2013) in downtown Rhinelander. Not Tom/Nancy Kuczmarski (prior mentors) or Kathy Dolch (Century 21 Pine Point broker/owner).
$750,000
Joe Flanders founded Flanders Realty Group, an independent Rhinelander brokerage, in late 2012 and opened for business on January 2, 2013. Company agent pages place the firm first in a downtown storefront before Flanders purchased and remodeled a downtown Rhinelander building, where the brokerage still anchors its Northwoods residential practice.
Flanders’ published bio notes more than twenty years in real estate, a lifetime mostly spent in the Rhinelander area, and a family life with wife Kasha and children Frankie and Vivie—plus office dog Betsy, the firm’s unofficial mascot. The brokerage markets a relationship-first alternative to larger franchise offices while remaining a named local owner-operator rather than a corporate branch manager.
His downtown Rhinelander brokerage and published founder bio make him the slate’s clearest independent realtor principal, a local owner whose practice stays tied to the city’s residential market.
Attorney; principal, multi-generation family law firm · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
John M. Cirilli, Rhinelander native attorney with Cirilli Law Offices since 1979; son of founder Albert J. Cirilli (firm founded 1951). Brothers Scott A. and Gary S. Cirilli and nephew Nick G. Cirilli also practice at the firm. Not Nick (grandson generation) or Scott/Gary.
$1.5 million+
John M. Cirilli is a Rhinelander native attorney who has practiced with Cirilli Law Offices, S.C. since 1979—one of three sons of founder Albert J. Cirilli who rebuilt the firm’s reputation after Albert founded it in 1951. The firm’s about page still frames Albert’s promise of ethical, aggressive representation as the standard the sons carry, and John remains listed among the principals at the downtown Rhinelander office.
His published bio emphasizes corporate, partnership, and LLC work; real estate and commercial transactions; wills and trusts; and personal injury, with bar admissions in Wisconsin and the Eastern and Western federal districts since 1979. Education credits list a UW–Stevens Point bachelor’s (1975) and a J.D. from Northern Illinois College of Law (1979). Civic history on the firm site includes United Way board service (president 1991), Rhinelander Area Chamber roles, and other local boards.
Cirilli Law remains a multi-generation Rhinelander institution—Albert’s memorial scholarship still goes to Rhinelander High seniors—and John continues as a long-tenured principal keeping that family practice rooted downtown.
Founder, president and CEO, craft brewery and taproom · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Jyoti Auluck, Canadian-born founder/owner who revived Rhinelander Brewing Company (packaged beer from ~2008; downtown Brown Street taproom/brewery from 2018). Not general manager George-Anna Karl or brewmaster collaborators Al Ewan/Brian Carpenter.
$800,000
Jyoti Auluck is founder, president, and CEO of Rhinelander Brewing Company, the craft brand that brought Rhinelander beer back after the historic brewery’s 1967 closing. Northwoods Star Journal coverage of the 2017 downtown expansion named her founder, president, and CEO when the company bought a former appliance building for an 8,000-square-foot headquarters, taproom, and small-batch brewery for Hodag Ales.
The Business News’ May 2025 taproom profile still identifies Auluck as the current owner and recounts how she rediscovered Rhinelander’s Hodag legend and shorty-bottle heritage through Minhas Craft Brewery archives before reviving the label around 2008—first as packaged and distributed beer, then with the 2018 downtown taproom that brews rotating small-batch Hodag ales on site while packaging other Rhinelander-label beers at Minhas in Monroe.
Today the venue markets tours, tastings, a gift shop, and brewery memorabilia alongside flagship O’Dag Irish Red Ale—tying a hospitality operator story to one of Rhinelander’s most recognizable consumer brands on the downtown strip.
President, employee-owned industrial fan and blower manufacturer · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Keith White Jr., president of Rhinelander-based AirPro Fan & Blower since July 1, 2023. Son of founder Keith White Sr. (CEO focused on board oversight after succession). Not Keith White Sr., co-founder Marty Mathews, or sales/marketing leader Chet White.
$1.5 million+
Keith White Jr. is president of AirPro Fan & Blower Company, the Rhinelander industrial fan manufacturer that designs and builds heavy-duty centrifugal fans and blowers for customers worldwide. He stepped into the president role on July 1, 2023, as part of a multi-year succession plan that moved founder Keith White Sr. toward retirement as CEO focused on board oversight while co-founder Marty Mathews retained engineering and technology leadership.
AirPro was founded in Rhinelander in 2002 by White Sr., Mathews, and Jim Pierce to create durable local jobs. The company became 100% employee-owned through an ESOP in 2016 rather than sell to outside buyers who might have moved work out of town. Under the family’s leadership the firm has grown to roughly 130 employees across three Rhinelander-area plants after sharp revenue gains in 2021–2023, keeping ISO 9001:2015 certification.
White Jr. has been the primary voice in recent Business News coverage describing double-digit growth, custom engineering for industrial clients, and a commitment to keep the business rooted in the Northwoods. The administrative campus and manufacturing share that Rhinelander story.
Orthopedic surgeon; medical staff president, regional hospital · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Kent Jason Lowry, MD, board-certified orthopedic surgeon practicing at Aspirus Northland Orthopedics in Rhinelander; LinkedIn lists Medical Staff President, Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital (from Jan 2022). University of Missouri–Columbia trained. Employed Aspirus physician—not a private clinic equity owner. Not other Lowry physicians outside this Rhinelander Aspirus practice.
$2 million+
Dr. Kent Lowry is an orthopedic surgeon with Aspirus Medical Group in Rhinelander, caring for patients through Aspirus Northland Orthopedics and affiliated Northwoods hospitals. His Aspirus provider profile lists board certification by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and training at the University of Missouri–Columbia School of Medicine, with internship and residency at the same institution.
His LinkedIn profile describes musculoskeletal care interests spanning sports medicine, trauma and fracture care, total joint replacement, and hand surgery, and lists service as medical staff president at Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital beginning in 2022—adding a clinical leadership layer beyond the operating room.
Lowry’s Rhinelander tie is the long-running employed orthopedic practice and hospital leadership footprint rather than private clinic ownership. He remains the batch’s flagship physician principal with clear public hospital and clinic affiliation—an Aspirus Medical Group surgeon, not an equity clinic owner.
Dentist; founder and principal of family dental practice · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Dr. Kricket Koehn, DDS (“Dr. K”), founder of Northwoods Family Dental in Rhinelander. Marquette University School of Dentistry DDS 2019. Not other Northwoods-area dentists or prior practice owners at that address.
$650,000
Dr. Kricket Koehn founded Northwoods Family Dental in Rhinelander after earning her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the Marquette University School of Dentistry in 2019. The practice’s about page presents her as the principal dentist bringing patient-centered care—and technologies such as Solea laser dentistry and CEREC same-day crowns—to a family practice open to patients of all ages.
The clinic operates with a modern digital check-in model, med-spa adjuncts such as therapeutic Botox and microneedling, and therapy dogs Charlie and Meg as a distinctive patient-comfort feature. Professional memberships listed on the site include the American Dental Association and the Academy of General Dentistry.
Koehn is a younger practice founder than many batch physicians, but she is a clear Rhinelander clinic owner with a primary-source bio—the batch’s dentist principal for occupation mix, kept within published site facts.
President and owner, steel fabrication manufacturer · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Mark Denis, FMCSA/USDOT-listed officer and widely cited president/owner of Northstar Steel Fabricating, Inc., Rhinelander. Co-founded with Peter Denis (sales manager in directories) in 1981; family members including Robert and David Denis appear in company/LinkedIn contexts. Prefer Mark over Peter (sales).
$5 million+
Mark Denis leads Northstar Steel Fabricating, the Rhinelander manufacturer that builds operator cabs, control rooms, machinery enclosures, and related fabricated assemblies for OEM customers in forestry, agriculture, mining, construction, and other heavy industries. Company history pages state the business began as a partnership in 1981, incorporated in Wisconsin two years later, and now occupies roughly 200,000 square feet on about 23 acres in Rhinelander.
Federal motor-carrier identity filings list Mark Denis as the company’s officer at the Rhinelander campus also used in chamber and company contact materials. Industry directories and company LinkedIn descriptions consistently frame the firm as family-owned and identify Mark among the founding Denis leadership alongside Peter.
Northstar is one of Rhinelander’s quieter large fabricators—less consumer-facing than AirPro—but the combination of a primary-source plant footprint and Mark Denis’s officer attribution makes him the slate’s second manufacturing principal. Personal bio depth beyond that officer and directory trail is thin.
President and CEO, North American forest-machine subsidiary · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Pekka Ruuskanen, president/CEO of Ponsse North America (Finnish cut-to-length forestry equipment maker’s U.S./Canada HQ in Rhinelander). Appointed managing director effective June 1, 2011. Not prior NA presidents Marko Mattila or Mikko Laurila.
$2 million+
Pekka Ruuskanen leads Ponsse North America from Rhinelander, where the Finnish forest-machine maker’s North American headquarters handles administration, sales, parts, and service for cut-to-length harvesting equipment. A forestry engineer, he was appointed managing director of Ponsse North America effective June 1, 2011, and has continued publicly as president and CEO of the Rhinelander-based subsidiary.
Ponsse’s North American story in Rhinelander dates to the mid-1990s U.S. presence and the later consolidation as Ponsse North America. Timberline Magazine’s 2017 customer-demo profile quoted Ruuskanen on relationship-driven sales while noting roughly 70 North American employees, including about 40 in Rhinelander, plus additional U.S. and Canadian dealer and service points.
Ruuskanen’s public footprint is the long-tenure subsidiary chief for a global OEM—less a local founder story than a clear Rhinelander executive principalship tied to one of Oneida County’s signature industrial employers and its Northwoods headquarters campus.
Owner, multi-generation general construction company · Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Richard Paul (“Rich”) Dietz, Rhinelander owner of Dietz Construction, Inc., the family general contractor started by father Conrad “Connie” Dietz in 1948. Brothers Mick and Steve also worked in the firm (Mick died Dec. 2023; Steve predeceased). Not unrelated Dietz Construction entities outside Rhinelander.
$900,000
Rich Dietz owns Dietz Construction, Inc., the Rhinelander general contracting company his father Conrad “Connie” Dietz started in 1948. A December 2023 Northwoods River News obituary for brother Michael “Mick” Dietz recounts how Mick perfected carpentry working with his father and brothers Steve and Rich in the family business, and it places Rich (Deb) Dietz as a Rhinelander survivor of that construction lineage.
Contractor directories including BuildZoom list Richard Paul Dietz as owner of Dietz Construction Inc. in Rhinelander, with an active Wisconsin dwelling-contractor identity. Public materials commonly use a Rhinelander P.O. Box mailing address rather than a consumer storefront, consistent with a long-running local GC without a marketing website.
Dietz supplies the batch’s contractor ownership story—multi-generation Rhinelander construction continuity even when digital press is thinner than for manufacturers with marketing blogs. The sourced trail stops at ownership and lineage; no deeper interview color is available.