As the President, and ex-President, of two neighboring community business associations, Josh Cory-Yaeggi is diligently working to stay neutral, as the formation of the Sevastopol Business Association (SBA) progresses.
A few months ago, the Town of Sevastopol hosted a couple community open houses, inviting community members to the Town Hall in Institute. Collective idea generation led to seven business and community members getting together, and starting the ball rolling on the Town’s own marketing and promotion entity.
Cory-Yaeggi stepped up to serve as president of SBA, on the platform of collaboration. As the manager of the Bay Shore Inn on the bayside, Cory-Yaeggi reaps the benefits of membership in Destination Sturgeon Bay (DSB), which include a robust website, representation in printed publications, tourism generating events, and networking opportunities. He said he can also see the benefits of a Town-focused marketing entity.
Since Door County adopted a countywide room tax in 2008, the collections from the Town of Sevastopol have been designated to Sturgeon Bay, because the City had an established destination marketing organization, whereas Sevastopol did not. As time has passed, and with the increase in room tax from 5.5 to 8 percent in 2022, that amount of room tax revenue has increased, significantly.
The Town of Sevastopol is Door County’s second-largest municipality by population and land area, and second or third by equalized value (depending upon the year), stretching from the roundabout at Egg Harbor Road (south of Culver’s) to Town Line Road (including Cave Point Park and half of Clark Lake).
As of December 2025, the Town had collected $744,456 in room tax for 2025. That amount was $698,158 in December 2024. As of August 2026, room tax collections are on par with 2025.
The portion designated to DSB in 2026 amounted to about $88,000, and could reach $95,000 in 2027, according to Linda Wait. Wait owns a consulting and bookkeeping business in Sevastopol, and is helping to spearhead the formation of the SBA.
DSB currently has about 20 members that are Town of Sevastopol businesses, such as Glidden Lodge, Bay Shore Inn, Grandma Tommy’s, Westwood Shores, Door 44 winery.
After SBA is officially designated as a 501c(60), non-profit business organization, which could take well into summer of 2027, according to Cory-Yaeggi, the next steps are still to be determined, according to both Wait and Cory-Yaeggi.
With the Town’s designation of Destination Sturgeon Bay as the town’s marketing entity, DSB’s bylaws had been written to devote a seat for a town-appointed liaison. Information from those liaisons has led to collaborative projects - such as DSB supporting a recent Town park bathroom renovation with $10,000 from the organization’s general fund. There will still be Sevastopol business owner/operators who serve on the DSB board, but that government liaison seat would disappear. So, while the SBA founders brainstorms ideas, and gather the necessary information for legally establishing the organization, DSB is planning to operate without the funds from the Town of Sevastopol in 2027.
