BizTimes Milwaukee | June 26, 2017 by BizTimes Media

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Wednesday, July 12, 2017 7:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Potawatomi Hotel & Casino

Transitioning Your Wisdom and Your Wealth Join BizTimes and a distinguished group of family business owners and leaders for a morning of inspiration and hands-on learning to help you embrace the next generation of change in your business. Our speakers and roundtable sessions will spur new thinking and expand on existing ideas around culture, growth, transition, sustainability and legacy. Author and family business expert Tom Deans will again kick-off the program with a keynote address. He will share insights from his best-selling book, “Willing Wisdom: 7 Questions Successful Families Ask.” All attendees will receive a copy of “Willing Wisdom.”

DEANS

Featured Family Business presentation - R&R Insurance - Founded - 1975 Ken Riesch - Co-founder, Owner & President, Jack Riesch - Owner & Executive Vice President (and one of family business successors) Ken and Jack will share many insights and strategies the Riesch family is implementing which has helped R&R Insurance, with 200 employees, to remain locally-owneed and grow to be the largest independent and family-owned agency in the Midwest.

KEN RIESCH

Following the family business presentation, the program continues with four- twenty-five minute roundtable discussions, which include the following topics: • Rewarding Your Key Management: Bonus Plans • Value Determination and Improvement Strategies • Life after Sale: what can you realistically expect after you exchange your business for cash? • Borrowing to Build: Grow Your Business, Build Your Legacy • Family Business Can Be Complicated – Retiring from it Doesn’t Have to Be • Are You Prepared to Live the Retirement and Leave the Legacy You’ve Always Wanted? • Planning for Transition in Your Family Business • Managing Your Workforce – Legally • Secure Your Secrets, Button Up Your Brands, and Patent to Protect Your Profits • The Family Retreat- The Shully Family discusses how getting

away helps them plan better • ESOP, A great succession plan but not for JACK RIESCH every business • Is a family meeting right for me? • Re-Defining Roles and Creating Guiding Principles • The Greatest Untapped Potential of the Family Business - Healthy organizational and family dynamics • Strategic Acquisitions–The Playbook of Successful Acquirers, including the Seller’s Prospective • If you’re failing to plan, then plan to fail • Family Philanthropy – How Families Carry on Their Values through Charitable Giving

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» JUN 26 - JUL 9, 2017

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BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 23, Number 07, June 26 – July 9, 2017. BizTimes Milwaukee is published bi-weekly, except two consecutive weeks in December (the second and third weeks of December) by BizTimes Media LLC at 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA. Basic annual subscription rate is $42. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5 each. Periodicals postage paid at Milwaukee, WI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120. Entire contents copyright 2017 by BizTimes Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Contents

4 Leading Edge 4 NOW BY THE NUMBERS 5 FRESH DIGS 6 QUOTE/UNQUOTE 7 IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD 8 FROM CONCEPT TO COMPLETION 9 BIZTRACKER 10 STYLE 11 BIZ POLL ON MY NIGHTSTAND 12 THE FRANCHISEE 13 BEHIND THE SCENES

14 News 14 THE INTERVIEW 16 BUILDING STRONG BLOCKS 18 REAL ESTATE

31 Strategies

COVER STORY

31 JOHN HOWMAN 32 SUSAN MARSHALL 33 ROB GREDE

No limits hiring

35 Biz Connections

Capitalize on everyone’s abilities

35 AROUND TOWN

Special Report

36 PERSONNEL FILE 36 NONPROFIT

26 Technology

38 GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR

Learn about the microbial technology that spurred Agro BioSciences’ big exit and peek inside GMR Marketing’s virtual experiences.

38 COMMENTARY 39 THE LAST WORD

ESPERANZA PEREZ ‘16 BUSINESS ASSOCIATE, PwC SAN FRANCISCO, CA

At Mount Mary University, we are creating the next generation of strong and curious women. Bold women like Esperanza, a ﬁrst-generation graduate and associate at Price Waterhouse Coopers in San Francisco who is an inspiration to her four siblings as the ﬁrst in her family to graduate college. At Mount Mary, we don’t just create. We create bold women.

HERESTOTHEBOLD.COM

biztimes.com / 3

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us

Wisconsin startup investments have nearly doubled in five years By Molly Dill, staff writer The number of investments in Wisconsin startups has nearly doubled over the past five years, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Technology Council. The Wisconsin Portfolio report shows at least 137 Wisconsin earlystage companies raised investment capital last year, up 7 percent year-over-year and nearly twice the number of deals as in 2011, when 76 companies received earlystage funding. The state’s startups raised $276.2 million in 2016, up 31 percent from $209.5 million in 2015, but down from $346.2 million in 2014.

WTC tracked public reports, filings, surveys and its Tech Council Investor Networks to formulate the totals. The largest deals in 2016 were $21.5 million raised by Madison-based Propeller Health, $21.3 million garnered by Madison-based Midwestern BioAg, $15.2 million that went to New Richmond-based Engineered Propulsion Systems, $11.5 million raised by Janesville-based SHINE Medical Technologies and $11 million pulled in by Madison-based Eatstreet. The average 2016 deal size was more than $2 million, up 25

BY THE NUMBERS

Wisconsin has nine companies on the Fortune 500 list for 2017. 4 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

percent from 2015. Tom Still, president of WTC, revealed the new report as he kicked off the organization’s Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison with a panel discussion about the state’s venture capital funds. “There was a time in Wisconsin where this panel discussion wouldn’t have taken place, simply because there wouldn’t have been this many new funds in the state,” Still said. “So this is a healthy sign, right off the bat, about what’s going on in Wisconsin.” Panelists were George Arida of Madison-based 30Ventures, Greg Baker of Madison-based Bascom Ventures, Jonathon Horne of Idea Fund of La Crosse, Brian Kaas of Madison-based CMFG Ventures, Craig Schedler of Milwaukee-based NM Future Ventures, David Trotter of Neenah-based Winnebago Seed Fund and Andy Walker of Madison-based Rock River Capital Partners. Horne said the Idea Fund, which has raised $12 million, has a number of companies under due diligence and will be announcing its first investments soon. “My phone has not stopped ringing from entrepreneurs across the state,” said Trotter, who just closed an $11 million raise. Walker said Rock River’s fund is $25 million from 12 to 15 investors, and will focus its early-stage investments in a company’s second or third rounds. Idea Fund, Rock River and Win-

nebago all are part of the Badger Fund of Funds project and must make their investments in Wisconsin companies. CMFG Ventures, on the other hand, was launched 18 months ago by CUNA Mutual Group and has already invested $45 million in eight early stage companies nationwide, none of which are in Wisconsin, Kaas said. CMFG and NM Future Ventures, which also has not made any Wisconsin investments yet, are part of a trend toward corporations jumping into the venture capital game. “Our fund is geography agnostic and right now, our portfolio is primarily on the coasts,” Schedler said. “I spend way too much time on airplanes so I’m very much, like Brian, looking forward to investing in companies closer to home.” The WTC early-stage funding report did differ considerably from a report released in January by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CB Insights, which showed venture capital deals decreased by 8 percent in Wisconsin in 2016. That report found Wisconsin companies completed 21 deals for $112.8 million, down from 33 deals at $122.8 million in 2015. The PwC Money Tree report included only verifiable funding from venture capital-backed firms into private companies. It did not include business development or research and development arrangements, loans or government funding. n

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

FRESH DIGS

BADER RUTTER OW N E R / D E V E L O P E R : Wangard Partners Inc. A RC H I T E C T S : Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP C O N T R AC T O R : J. H. Findorff & Son Inc. C O S T S : More than $5 million Y E A R C O M P L E T E D : 2017

MARKETING FIRM BADER RUTTER moved 240 employees from Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee this spring, anchoring the new mixed-use development at the former Laacke & Joys site, 1433 N. Water St., by Wauwatosabased Wangard Partners. The firm is leasing 60,000 square feet on the first, second and part of the third floors, with about 30 percent of its space in the original 1925 building. Bader Rutter’s chief executive officer, Greg Nickerson, wanted to create a boutique hotel feel when guests walk into the new office. Architect Plunkett Raysich and contractor J. H. Findorff & Son created that feeling with an open concept, loft-style lobby. There is a fireplace tucked be-

neath the stairs. Stone Creek Coffee is served in the lobby for both guests and staff members. Various break-out rooms are located throughout the building and a patio facing the Milwaukee River Walk, called “The Yard,” gives staff an opportunity to work outdoors. Nickerson said he chose the space after looking downtown for five years because he liked the idea of building something new in an old building. “We wanted something different and unique,” Nickerson said. “The idea of connecting a 90-year-old building with something new was something I loved. It is nod to the past with a huge nod to the future.” n – Corrinne Hess biztimes.com / 5

Leading Edge

@BIZTIMESMEDIA – Real-time news

“ QUOTE

unQUOTE

PAT R I C K L E N C I O N I

”

FO U N D ER , T H E TA B L E G RO U P TEC Midwest recently hosted its Inspirational Leadership 2017 conference at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee. The keynote speaker was Patrick Lencioni, founder of The Table Group and author of 10 books on leadership and organizational health that have sold nearly 5 million copies. n

“You have to build a cohesive leadership team. You have to make sure there’s a team at the top.”

“The very best organizations in the world are the ones that embrace the simplest things and stick with them.”

“There’s three biases that really prevent people from embracing organizational health. The first one is what we call a sophistication bias. It’s not complicated, it’s just hard. You’ve got to embrace the really simple thing. The second bias is what we call the adrenaline bias, where people are just so frantic and working so hard and I say, ‘You need to step back a little bit and take a look at this.’ The last bias is what we call the measuring bias or quantification bias. Some people say, ‘I like this, but I need to know exactly what my ROI is.’” 6 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

“Most leaders are under-communicators. Why? Because they hate redundancy. Great leaders, great parents, great spouses are constantly reinforcing what matters. Great organizations do that.”

“You have to create clarity. You have to make sure that you’re not only behaviorally aligned, but you’re also intellectually aligned.”

“I have yet to go into an organization, sit down with the executive team, and leave and say, ‘They’re just too dumb. They just don’t know enough about their business. They don’t have the intellectual capacity or domain expertise to make this work.’ Every organization I go to, people know more than enough about their business. … But what I find is that they’re not tapping into it because of dysfunction. Your health is the multiplier of dysfunction.”

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

CHEMISTRY IN PLACE 1712 E. Capitol Drive

How do you fit the mood or personality of a business with design? Algiers: “We observe as much about the company as possible. We ask a whole series of questions trying to get at what they do, why they’re different than anyone else, who they are in terms of their personality, who their clients are, how employees interact, how they dress—are they casual, are they formal?”

NEIGHBORHOOD: Shorewood FOUNDED: 2004 OWNER: Patricia Algiers EMPLOYEES: 10 INDUSTRY: Commercial interior design

Why is location important, and why did you choose Shorewood for your business?

Algiers: “Very much a part of a company’s brand is where the company is located. I’ve got a real estate background as well as a design background, and I use that background to help clients choose a location that really resonates to who and what that client does. “I chose (Shorewood) because I live in this area and because it was easy for everyone who works here to get here, parking was free. We could walk to coffee shops, walk to places for lunch, walk to places after work.”

Did Chemistry in Place grow in 2016? Algiers: “We had a 15 percent increase in revenue from 2015 to 2016. “2016 was a year of a great deal of change and what that change has done, it keeps us feeling like we have our finger on the pulse and it keeps us current and relevant and ready to tackle the next problem.” What are your words to live by? Algiers: “Make every day count.” n

Have you given thought to your professional development for 2017? Or to how an investment in yourself can prove to be an investment in your business—with significant returns? A TEC peer advisory board is a place where CEOs come together to process issues and grow as leaders. TEC uses a structured, thorough, and efficient approach to help members think through the dynamics of a challenge.

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Inquire today! Contact Steve Palmer at +1.858.480.2350 or email Steve.Palmer@vistage.com.

biztimes.com / 7

Leading Edge

from

CONCEPT

Alto-Shaam Vector Multi-Cook Oven to

COMPLETION SEPTEMBER 2016: Alto-Shaam begins discussions with Dallas-based Appliance Innovation Inc., a design engineering firm that had developed prototypes of what would become the Vector ovens. The product uses structured air technology to direct heat and airflow for a faster cooking process and a more even bake. “This was true innovation,” Stenglis said.

There are times when having more than one oven sounds like a good idea, but whether in a personal kitchen or a restaurant, space is a precious commodity. A new product from Menomonee Falls-based Alto-Shaam Inc., the Vector Multi-Cook Oven, offers professionals the flexibility of up to four ovens in a 21-inch footprint. Getting the product to market in just nine months required a heavy lift from engineering and manufacturing teams operating on a compressed timeline to take full advantage of industry tradeshows. Steve Maahs, president and chief operating officer, turned to Bill Stenglis, an Alto-Shaam board member and retired president of Unified Brands, to lead the effort. – Arthur Thomas

MARCH THROUGH MAY: The Vector ovens are recognized with a Kitchen Innovations Award from the National Restaurant Association. Work continues on preparing for production. Novak pointed out having motors and heating elements isn’t something new, but combining four units in one presents additional challenges. “When you start putting it together in new ways, the interactions are where things fail,” he said. Alto-Shaam unveils half-size production units at the National Restaurant Association show in May and begins taking orders, less than nine months after first being introduced to the technology.

NOVEMBER 2016: The two companies put together a non-binding agreement that gave Alto-Shaam until Jan. 20, 2017 to pull the trigger. Looming on the horizon was The North American Foodservice Equipment Manufacturers Show in February. The show is held every two years.

FEBRUARY: Alto-Shaam unveils prototypes of the Vector ovens at The NAFEM Show, taking advantage of one of the industry’s biggest platforms. “It gives us the ability to have a big megaphone,” Stenglis said. Testing and production planning continue in Menomonee Falls. The manufacturing team brings in materials to produce 40 prototypes, while establishing work instructions, best practices and quality checks. Feedback from the shop floor contributes to design improvements. 8 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

JANUARY 2017: Alto-Shaam acquires the technology from Appliance Innovation. Stenglis’ role shifts from board member leading an acquisition to acting product manager. Alto-Shaam engineer Brad Lynn and a team travel to Dallas to build units and develop knowledge for production. Project engineers begin commercialization work, conducting reliability testing and refining the product.

The latest area economic data.

WISCONSIN LEADS CHICAGO REGION IN ECONOMIC GROW TH Wisconsin had the strongest growth for three straight months among the five states making up the Chicago Federal Reserve region. The state posted the highest reading on both the Midwest Economy Index and a relative MEI measure intended to compare growth to the country as a whole.

Advertise in these upcoming special reports and get your message in front of area business executives.

Mid-Year Economic Forecast

July 24, 2017 Space Reservation: July 5, 2017

STATE JOB RANKING

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Wisconsin ranked 33rd in the country last year for private sector job growth even though the 0.47 percent increase was the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worst for a 12-month period since mid-2010.

August 7, 2017 Space Reservation: July 19, 2017 Contact Linda Crawford today! Phone: 414.336.7112 Email: advertise@biztimes.com

MANUFACTURING INDEX STEADY The Milwaukee-ISM Report on Manufacturing PMI decreased from 57.87 in April to 57.22 in May. Any reading greater than 50 indicates growth.

Milwaukee Center for Independence

U.S. OPEN IMPACT

$120 million

(414) 937-2020 mcfi.net

PHONE:

Expected economic impact on southeastern Wisconsin from the U.S. Open, held recently at Erin Hills.

WEB:

Our mission is to assist individuals and families with special needs to better live and work in the community.

To learn more, visit biztimes.com/giving

2017 GIVING GUIDE

USGA

FEATURED NONPROFIT

PRODUCED BY

Milwaukee Public Library Foundation (414) 286-3784 mpl.org/donate

PHONE:

AIRPORT TRAFFIC CLIMBS

2.7%

Increase in total passenger traffic at Mitchell International Airport, to 2.26 million, for the first four months of the year over the first four months of 2016. n

WEB:

Milwaukee Public Library Foundation provides essential support through private contributions for books, materials, programs, and library facilities to ensure continued standing as a great library, responsive to community needs.

2017 GIVING GUIDE FEATURED NONPROFIT

To learn more, visit biztimes.com/giving PRODUCED BY

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Leading Edge

blazers & spor t coats JACK VICTOR GRAY AND BLACK WINDOWPANE SPORT COAT SARTORE GRAY PLAID DOUBLE-BREASTED SUIT $474.99 at Frieschskys LLC, Milwaukee If you’re looking for something different than the traditional suit, a double-breasted option can certainly do the trick. You’ll turn heads, but that’s what you were going for, right?

$495 at Squire Fine Men’s Apparel, Brookfield Sport coats in particular have always offered versatility, but Tim Smasal, Squire president and general manager, said stores have increasingly been showing the variety of different options, including wearing them with jeans, khakis or dress pants.

SAMUELSOHN A.B.S. TRAVEL BLAZER $1,095 at Harleys: The Store for Men, Shorewood A blue blazer may not exactly stand out from the crowd, but this high-end item comes with 10 pockets for added convenience while traveling and a rain system to repel unexpected precipitation.

10 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

SAMUELSOHN CARLO BARBERA BOLD BLUE SPORT COAT $1,295 at Harleys: The Store for Men, Shorewood Your inclination might be to avoid wearing a fresh pattern like this to the office, but Harleys buyer Jeff Brand said there’s no reason you can’t wear this in a business setting on a summer day— although he cautioned you may want to choose something else for your first day at a new job.

on my nightstand...

BIZ POLL Should Wisconsin collect tolls on some highways to raise funds for transportation? YES:

BLAIR WILLIAMS President | WiRED Properties

52% “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community”

NO: 48%

By Robert Putnam ROBERT PUTNAM’S 2000 book, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,” which looks at the rise and fall of civic and social engagement across America, was released at the same time developer Blair Williams moved back to Milwaukee and began working for Mandel Group Inc. Putnam drew from more than 500,000 interviews over 25 years to learn why people take less time to know their neighbors, meet with friends and family, and join organizations. What he found was we’re

“bowling alone,” and in doing so, our physical and civic health has weakened. The book had a profound effect on Williams, who started his own firm, WiRED Properties, in 2005, where he has focused on Main Street-style developments. “I thought from a personal perspective and a professional perspective that the more we are engaged in our community, the stronger our community will become was something I could build a philosophy on,” he said. n

biztimes.com / 11

Leading Edge

the

FRAN C H I S E E

JOHN STEWART, Jr. and JOHN STEWART, Sr. COUSINS SUBS Based in Menomonee Falls, Cousins Submarines Inc. and its franchisees operate more than 100 sub sandwich shops throughout Wisconsin and Arizona. FEBRUARY 2016 John Stewart, Jr. and his dad, John Stewart, Sr., decide to sell their family business, Milwaukeebased Food Services Inc. They ran that business, which provides food service programs, event catering and vending to colleges and businesses, for nearly 25 years.

“He is still guiding me on everything I need to know,” Stewart, Jr. says about his dad. “He has always mentored me. On paper I’m the boss, but in reality, I am still learning something new every day.”

NEW VENTURE SOUGHT John Stewart, Jr., began looking for a new opportunity. JUNE 2016 Stewart, Jr. starts his own company, JJLK Corp., which are the initials of his four children. He is a 90 percent owner in the company. His father is JJLK Corp.’s secretary. DECEMBER 2016 The Stewarts purchase three Cousins Subs restaurants in 15 days, two in Sheboygan and one in Mequon. At the time, their goal was to eventually become the largest Cousins franchise owner. JUNE 2017 Stewart, Jr. says he is now just beginning to catch his breath. While he still wants to expand, his plans are a little less grandiose. “It was a bit of a challenge upfront, but I feel like I’ve got the hang of it,” Stewart said. “I’m holding off a little bit on the next expansion. My long-term plan is still more Cousins, but it is just getting a little bit further away. Maybe I’ll be the largest (Cousins franchisee) in Wisconsin.”

12 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

“I liked Cousins because it is also a family-run business, which was very appealing to both of us,” Stewart, Jr. said.

“Being in the food service business, I knew how to hire labor and order food,” Stewart, Jr. said. “The hardest part was getting to know the Cousins process. I wanted to make sure I was doing it right because they have a successful business.”

BEHIND THE SCENES Aerial refueling

he 128th Air Refueling Wing and Milwaukee Armed Services Committee recently allowed media to accompany the crew on a training flight high above southeastern Wisconsin to kick off Milwaukee Armed Forces Week. The ARW is a unit of the Wisconsin Air National Guard based at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Its KC-135R Stratotanker completed an aerial refueling of F-16 Fighting Falcons and B-1B Lancers that were completing an exercise out of Volk Field. n

2 3

4 1

The F-16 Fighting Falcons flew in a wingtip position after they were refueled.

The KC-135R Stratotanker is prepared for its refueling flight.

The receiver aircraft flew within about 35 feet of the Stratotanker and a boom was extended to pump the fuel in.

In-flight refueling allows the aircraft to extend their mission and their global reach.

5 5

Staff Sgt. Elvis Alvarado was the boom operator on the flight.

biztimes.com / 13

BizNews

the

Interview

CAROL ANN SCHNEIDER founded Grafton-based SEEK Careers/Staffing Inc.

46 years ago and remains the leader of the business. She was recently honored with the BizTimes Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual BizExpo conference. Schneider participated in a Q&A with BizTimes Media publisher Dan Meyer, and shared her wisdom with an audience of entrepreneurs and innovators at the Bravo! Entrepreneur and I.Q. (Innovation Quotient) Awards luncheon. Following are portions of that interview. How important is goal-setting to you and your business? “I’ve always been a goal-setter. In addition to setting your goals, you need to write them down, because if you don’t you’ll forget them. We set goals on a regular basis at every meeting that we have, every daily huddle. And I get very annoyed when people come to the next meeting and they can’t remember what their goal was. Why did you bother setting it if you can’t remember it?”

What are your company values and how have they evolved over the years? “I would ask (employees), ‘What are our values?’ And they would give me a blank stare. I’d say, here are our values: passion, integrity and extraordinary customer service. And they would still look at me like, ‘I don’t remember this.’ Until one day I said, ‘They spell PIE.’ Now everybody remembers. Passion. Gosh, if you don’t have passion for what you are doing, why are you doing it? Integrity, absolutely a must. I would rather err on the side of losing money than compromise my ethics. Extraordinary customer service sort of evolved because customers started saying things like that to us. One day I said, ‘Well, if the customers think we are giving them extraordinary customer service, maybe we should tell them that we are.’ And so we do.”

What does extraordinary customer service mean in your business? “It means we have a person, a real-live person, answering the phone 24/7. You can always get to us. A lot of the sales reps and team leaders will provide their home phone numbers. So, if you want to get ahold of us, you can get ahold of us any old time. Two o’clock in the morning, you have a problem? Call, and we’ll answer. Another thing we teach (the staff is), when a client calls or a candidate calls, tell them when you are going to call back.”

Do you feel entrepreneurs worry too much? Don’t they have things to worry about? “I’ve bet the family farm I can’t tell you how many times. I’m a farmer’s daughter, so I can say that. But why are you worrying? What can you do about it? You can’t do anything until you can do something about it. So if you wake up in the middle of the night—believe me I did wake up last night, started to worry, and said, ‘Well, this is crazy. I can’t do anything about this in the middle of the night.’ So I have a pad of paper and a pen next to my bed. So I start writing the things I’m thinking about and throw these papers on the floor. When I wake up in the morning I might have a floor littered with papers. You can’t fix something in the middle of the night. You can only fix it in the morning.”

Carol Ann Schneider Owner and founder SEEK Careers/Staffing Inc.

Do you aim for perfection? “Always. I think everybody should aim for perfection. I always do. Am I perfect every time, heck no. But if you don’t try, you don’t get there.”

1160 Opportunity Drive, Grafton

What is your philosophy of having family members work in your business?

Employees: 110

“My feeling about family is they are no better or no worse than anybody else in the company. When they walk through the doors, they better have a smile on their face and love in their hearts and they better sing from the company hymnbook.”

seekcareers.com

14 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

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BizNews

Building strong blocks Socially responsible investors fund rent-to-own program By Molly Dill, staff writer MICHAEL WILLIAMS has been a CNC machinist for several years, but it wasn’t until he started the CNC machining program at Milwaukee Area Technical College about two years ago that his salary increased significantly. “I was doing machining before but the places, they really didn’t want to pay me the money I should get even though I knew what I was doing,” Williams said. “They were trying to pay me $9 and $10 an hour for my skills.” Halfway through the program, Williams was recruited by Snap-on Inc., and he’s now making about $24 per hour for the Kenosha-based toolmaker. Because his pay increased, Williams, 33, was able to save up enough money to buy his first home in Milwaukee’s Martin Drive neighborhood. He received assistance in his homebuying journey from a company called Strong Blocks. Strong Blocks, started by former ACTS Housing executive director Carl Quindel in 2015, buys homes in disadQuindel vantaged neighborhoods, then rehabs them and recruits would-be homeowners for its 21-month rent-to-own program. Some of the tenants’ monthly rent goes toward their down payment. Strong Blocks coaches the renters on how to improve their credit so they will be eligible for a mortgage, and introduces them to banks that can help them get a loan. Williams entered the Strong Blocks program in May 2016 and was able to purchase his stone duplex in January—the first Strong Blocks participant to do so. He lives in the upper unit and rents out the bottom one, which pays his mortgage. Strong Blocks helped him get the right documentation in place to become a 16 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

landlord. He saves the money he’s making at Snap-on, and has used some of it to make improvements to the home. “The program is designed for the family to have a fixed rent and a fixed purchase price for 21 months. It can’t move on them,” Quindel said. “We stick with our families to make sure that they’re successful.” Strong Blocks this month will close on its second equity fund, which is expected to total $1 million. It raises funds from local investors as socially responsible investing, which both provides a financial return and advances a social good. Investors are repaid from the rental income, and when a home is sold, they receive additional returns. “We typically work with accredited investors and they’re investing as a part-owner of the portfolio that ends up being developed,” Quindel said. The investors can tour the properties and meet the residents, so it’s a more hands-on investment process, he said. “The markets more and more feel like it’s further away from people’s day-to-day reality,” Quindel said. “This is something people can feel and touch.” Local real estate developers Stu Wangard and Juli Kaufmann both have invested in Strong Blocks funds. Both Wangard like the mission of creating more locally-held wealth and strengthening neighborhoods that are disinvested. Kaufmann invested $5,000 in Strong Blocks’ second fund. “I wouldn’t invest in it if it wasn’t local,” she said. “Why would Kaufmann I want to invest in a national company that doesn’t align with my values, isn’t helping my community, is paying corporate salaries that are excessive?

Michael Williams (inset) bought this stone duplex in Milwaukee’s Martin Drive neighborhood with the help of Strong Blocks.

“His returns are competitive. I would have taken a lower return, frankly, for the kind of impact this project has.” “From a financial perspective, there’s other areas where I can get a higher return,” Wangard said. “From a positive impact on the community, this is one of the best places where I can put my money. “You’re bringing a home back to a fair market value. You’re taking it from a blighted state…and eventually you’re going to see a home that has an assessment and is generating taxes. If you’ve got healthy neighborhoods, there’s less of a need for these community services.” In March, Strong Blocks was selected for a City of Milwaukee RFP to buy and fix up houses in the Sherman Park neighborhood. It’s using the funds from the second equity fund to begin buying homes there, and the city will reimburse some of the renovation costs. Quindel buys many of Strong Blocks’ homes from the city.

“The hardest part is selection of the houses because (the city has) a lot of houses and even for $1, some of them are very difficult,” he said. “They’ve been abandoned for three or five years, electrical is ripped out, vandalism, squatters, animals, you name it.” Strong Blocks spends an average of $60,000 rehabbing its homes. It owns 87 units, and there are 21 families in the Strong Blocks program. The first few participants will reach the 21-month mark in August. Before he started Strong Blocks, Quindel spent nine years as executive director of ACTS Housing, a nonprofit that makes homeownership accessible for low-income families. With his for-profit social enterprise, Quindel plans to build up neighborhoods where it’s needed most— creating strong blocks. “We saw just how many families were left out, but also had a pretty clear path and realistic path toward ownership,” he said. n

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Real Estate

@BIZTIMESMEDIA – Real-time news

The 90-unit 8th Street Apartments, expected to begin construction this month.

Sheboygan wants hundreds of spec homes and condos built for growing workforce

IF THERE IS ONE THING SHEBOYGAN COUNTY does not lack, it is employment opportunities. In fact, with Kohler Co., Sargento Foods Inc., Acuity Inc. and Johnsonville LLC, the county’s employment roster totals more than 60,000 workers a day. The problem is, at the end of the work day, many of them go home to nearby Ozaukee, Washington and Manitowoc counties. There are 47,347 households in Sheboygan County and despite the job growth, residential building in Sheboygan County began to slide in 2006 and has never returned, according to a study by Schaumburg, Illinois-based Tracy Cross & Associates Inc. The Sheboygan County Economic Development Corp., which commissioned the $14,000 study, is attempting to turn this around. “People would be moving to Sheboygan for work, but our population growth is stunted by our lack of housing,” said Dane Checolinski, director of the SCEDC. Most of Sheboygan County’s population lives in the City of Sheboygan, which is located along Lake Michigan. For the past several years, work has been done to revitalize the city’s downtown and its lakefront. The city and county have worked with developers to begin to solve a portion of the housing crisis – multifamily. Since 2016, 240 apartment

FEATURED DEAL: W I R T H S T R E E T I N D U S T R I A L B U I L D I N G S ADDRESS: 12000 W. Wirth St., Wauwatosa BUYER: Patsy & Paul Inc. SELLER: Outlook Wirth LLC CLOSING DATE: Early June

18 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

THE GROUP THAT SOLD a surface parking lot in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward to the owners of the Shops of Grand Avenue earlier this year has reinvested the money in a pair of Wauwatosa industrial buildings. Patsy & Paul Inc., which is operated by members of the Ianelli family, purchased two Wauwatosa industrial buildings with a combined 74,000 square feet at 12000 W. Wirth St. from Outlook Wirth LLC, of Muskego, for $7 million. The purchase was made to avoid capital gains penalties and will be used as an investment, said family attorney Henry Piano. “They have worked very hard from the time they were young and decided to make sure they would continue to reinvest in the Milwaukee area,” Piano said, adding that the existing tenants are going to remain in the building. In February, an affiliate of the owners of the Shops of Grand Avenue purchased the 0.79-acre surface parking lot at 333 N. Water St., on the southwest corner of East St. Paul Avenue and North Water Street, from longtime owner Paul Ianelli for $5.6 million.

LUBAR ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER

The Encore, an 80-unit mixed-use apartment complex being developed by Oakbrook Corp., is expected to open this month in downtown Sheboygan.

units have been completed, 208 are under construction, 245 are slated for construction and another 165 units are proposed, for a total of 858 units. Of those, 424 are in downtown Sheboygan. Checolinski is happy with the number of apartment developments that have been built or are proposed and estimates the county will be at a 5 percent vacancy rate once all of the units are completed, as long as the population doesn’t grow. “I think we could use another 200 new units every year moving forward, if we maintain our current job growth,” Checolinski said. Now, the major focus is on single family and condominiums. Sheboygan County needs hundreds, if not thousands, of homes to catch up so it stops losing potential residents who have chosen to live in new apartment and residential developments in Grafton and Manitowoc, Checolinski said. But David Belman, president of Belman Homes and the Metropolitan Builders Association, said Sheboygan County is in a tough spot because it is located between two larger cities (Milwaukee and Green Bay). “They have the employment and

are a very business-friendly community, but until the growth and all of the infrastructure that goes along with it starts to come inward, it is hard to build,” Belman said. That is evident in the lack of housing starts over the past three years. According to the Wisconsin Builders Association, Sheboygan County had one single-family housing permit pulled during the first three months of 2017. By comparison, Ozaukee County has had 42 permits pulled, Washington County has had 70, and Manitowoc County has had seven. Sheboygan County had nine permits pulled in 2016 and five in 2015. Belman said despite the jobs in Sheboygan County, it still might be cost prohibitive for developers to build there. A 2016 National Association of Home Builders report found that on average, local and state regulatory costs total $84,671 per home built, which has slowed the pace of new homebuilding across the state overall. That, coupled with the cost of land, makes it difficult to build a house for less than $350,000, Belman said. “Sheboygan County has many

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is hoping to break ground on the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center later this year, with a completion date set in late 2018. The 23,525-square-foot, two-story building will cost $500,000 more than anticipated due to issues with soft soil that will require additional excavating, bringing the project total to $8.3 million. The building, located at East Kenwood Boulevard and North Maryland Avenue, will be home to entrepreneurial programs and initiatives, along with a welcome center for the entire campus. OWNER: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee SIZE: 23,525 square feet GROUNDBREAKING: By end of 2017

employers, but many of the jobs are still manufacturing-type jobs and unless you are working in upper management, you are going to be priced out of building a new home, unless you are thinking outside the box,” Belman said. Checolinski said several of the municipalities have been working on various outside-the-box proposals to make it easier for builders. Sheboygan Falls is currently creating a residential nostalgic district that calls for smaller lot sizes and homes. Other municipalities are discussing creating mixed-use tax incremental financing districts that would include commercial development to help offset the cost of infrastructure for builders and special assessment districts, Checolinski said. “For some reason, we had this notion of the middle class wanting to spend two hours a day to keep their properties nice,” Checolinski said. “Millennials and empty nesters don’t want to cut large lawns. We think if we can build smaller homes, in bulk, we can get the price points down.”

Checolinski said he knows developers are still wary of the condo market and possibly even Sheboygan, but with the number of employers and the amenities downtown has to offer, the market is there for success. “Spec housing and condos in downtown Sheboygan is a solid bet,” Checolinski said “I think that if we started building 1,400-square-foot homes with twocar garages, developers would be pleasantly surprised how quickly that product would move.” n

CORRINNE HESS Reporter

P / 414-336-7116 E / corri.hess@biztimes.com T / @CorriHess

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STORY COVER

NO LIMITS

20 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

NO LIMITS

HIRING

Capitalize on everyone’s abilities

BY LAUREN ANDERSON, staff writer

The Froedtert Hospital pharmacy handles thousands upon thousands of pounds of inventory each year – all of it needing to be stocked, sorted, labeled and distributed. H

When it comes to prescription medication, there’s no EA TS EC OJ PR

Noah Franz manages the operation, and when he first

room for error. learned a new program was coming to the hospital – one that gives people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to intern in various departments – he happily got on board. It would be a good opportunity for his technicians to help the interns develop their job skills, he thought. Once the interns joined his team, those initial expectations proved too low. “That idea radically changed,” Franz recalled. While the program did provide opportunities for mentorship and training, the interns soon became highly valuable assets to the team, offering the manual labor needed to make the operation run smoothly. In fact, Franz hired on one of the interns and, within a year, he outgrew the position he was hired to do.

Viktor Kreider went through the Project SEARCH internship program at Froedtert Hospital last year before being hired on part-time to work in the hospital’s pharmacy.

“They are some of the most independent and accurate people that work for me today,” he said. biztimes.com / 21

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Not just charity

Patrick Young, who has Down syndrome, has assembled products for Tailored Label Products Inc. in Menomonee Falls for nearly 12 years.

The pharmacy industry – like many health care sectors – faces an impending demand for workers in future years, as the population ages and the need for care rises. The increased demand placed on pharmacies has caused the role of the technician to expand. And with pharmacies now needing workers to complete the tasks technicians once performed – stocking, labeling and sorting – it’s left an opening for new workers. Enter the Project SEARCH interns. “They have filled a gap in our organization of entry-level positions that we can’t find today,” Franz said. The internship program at Froedtert, called Project SEARCH – a nationwide model coordinated in Wisconsin by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in partnership with businesses, schools, and vocational and disability services agencies – is offered at more than 25 sites across the state, including Kalahari Resorts in Wisconsin Dells, the Milwaukee County Zoo, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa and Waukesha-based ProHealth Care. About 85 percent of program interns in the state find employment after graduation. “It’s about putting people to work; it’s not just a feel-good program,” said Gary Colpaert, vice president of clinical and support services at Froedtert, regarding Project SEARCH. “This is obviously a really great feel-good program, because you’re doing the right things and it matches our values. But it really is about putting people to work. And when you find somebody who is a great employee, who’s going to talk to your patients and colleagues with respect and learn something new, that’s just a win-win.”

As many industries face looming worker shortages, employers are beginning to view the employment of people with disabilities not as an act of charity, but rather as an important workforce development strategy. And as Wisconsin’s unemployment rate drops to its lowest point in 17 years, the presenting challenge for employers is finding workers to fill openings. Conditions could be right for employers to begin adjusting their practices. “In the short term, we have a perfect storm between a shortage of employees and the need, especially for part-time or semi-skilled employees,” said Bob Glowacki, chief executive officer of Easterseals Southeast Wisconsin. “... (Easterseals) is actually trying to feed the economy. We’re trying to make sure places like Amazon and Uline have employees they need for their factories.” While Wisconsin has seen notable improvement in the unemployment rate among people with disabilities, the gap between that demo22 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

graphic and able-bodied adults persists. In 2015, the national unemployment rate for people with a disability was 10.7 percent, more than double that of those without a disability (5.1 percent), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet Wisconsin’s employment rate among people with disabilities of 41.2 percent outpaces the national average of 34 percent. Gov. Scott Walker has made the issue a priority. In 2014, his “Better Bottom Line” initiative was launched in an effort to encourage employers to hire workers with disabilities. As part of the effort, the state expanded Project SEARCH, backed by $850,000 in funding to grow the program from seven sites to a total of 27 as of this fall. That effort has seen promising results, with nearly 9,500 individuals with disabilities having found employment because of it. In fact, Wisconsin recently broke into the top 10 states for its employment of people with disabilities. The state moved up from No. 16 in 2010 to No. 10 in 2015, according to the University of New Hampshire’s Annual Disability Statistics Compendium.

Evolving opportunities Momentum may be increasing when it comes to the employment of people with disabilities, but such opportunities have not always been available to them. Only in recent decades have people with disabilities found work in competitive integrated settings, thanks to the nation’s evolving disability rights laws and shifting employer attitudes. For decades, sheltered workshops provided an outlet for people with disabilities to experience socialization, to have a safe place to go during the day, and to receive some – albeit sub-minimum wage – compensation. In the 1960s, disability rights were folded into the civil rights movement and the establishment of laws to ensure protections for individuals with disabilities followed. For one, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provided equal opportunity for employment in the federal government and federally-funded programs, prohibiting discrimination based on physical or mental disability. Shortly after, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act ensured equal access to public education for students with disabilities. Perhaps equally important has been the evolution of societal attitudes and beliefs related to the abilities of people with disabilities. The mainstreaming of children with disabilities in particular has helped destigmatize disabilities and foster more familiarity with them. “People with disabilities have been mainstreamed and people are very comfortable with a person in the desk next to them having a disability,” Glowacki said. “We have the recognition that more people have challenges – and not just that they have a disability that people can see, but also invisible disabilities. Now, people are more comfortable having a person with a disability work with them because they’ve seen it their whole lives.”

Now, Glowacki sees the tide shifting, with employers seeking out help from organizations like Easterseals. The organization recently hosted a “reverse job fair” at the Milwaukee County Zoo, during which employers were invited to rub shoulders with interns and see their job skills on display. Elizabeth Strike was among the employers in attendance. A diversity and inclusion talent consultant at Associated Bank, Strike went in ready to hire. Strike has had recent discussions regarding the employment of people with disabilities and veterans to reduce the turnover rate the company often sees in its teller positions. “Hiring some of them that we met at the reverse job fair will help with that,” Strike said. “They have the skills we’re looking for and on top of that they’re stable, they will increase morale, they will reduce turnover.” She left the fair having identified seven candidates for teller and IT positions. As Associated Bank takes steps toward its goal of becoming the “employer of choice for individuals with disabilities,” it has established a new colleague resource network for individuals with disabilities, along with creating a more tailored onboarding process for those employees and raising awareness about disabilities in the company. But the company has run into some challenges while launching the initiative, particularly the under-reporting of disabilities among employees. “We sent out a survey to see who would disclose and only maybe five or six people disclosed that they have a disability,” Strike said. “So (maybe) they were afraid because we just established this network … . We’re hoping that our survey results will improve … because we want people to feel safe, we want people to feel that they can disclose a disability and we want to provide resources for them, as well.” Glowacki said it’s common for disabilities to go unreported in the workplace, whether because an employee fears discrimination or because the employee simply doesn’t want to identify with a disability. “I think there is a certain stigma in that ‘disability’ means I’m not successful,” Glowacki said.

A model employee

Every morning, Patrick Young is ready for work with impeccable punctuality. A Tailored Label Products Inc. employee of nearly 12 years, Young works three shifts per week at the Menomonee Falls-based manufacturing company, where he primarily assembles products.

AL S

Ready to hire

Young, who has Down syndrome, gets picked up in the morning by his coworker, Larry Harvey, who manages marketing and communications for the company. “He’s always so excited to get in to work,” Harvey said. “He’s waiting there for me. I’ve never

EA ST ER SE

As attitudes have changed, so have the expectations among those with disabilities for competitive integrated employment – aided by a host of services aimed at providing the training and coordination needed for them to be placed in the right job.

been there earlier than when he’s ready to go to work. He’s incredibly punctual.” He’s also unparalleled in his efficiency. One of Young’s main responsibilities is assembling pizza boxes – a task he executes with incredible speed. From his station on Tailored Label Products’ manufacturing floor, Young demonstrated on a recent afternoon a routine he’s repeated more than a million times. Taking a piece of flat, perforated cardboard, he makes a few quick folds and in the blink of an eye, he’s holding up the finished product, smiling. He has even put his skills to the test, welcoming challenges from coworkers who want to race him. They haven’t come close to his speed. Young’s colleagues are effusive about his performance and attitude. He’s a “model employee,” they said. “Nobody can say a negative thing about Patrick,” said Nicole Richard, human resources director. “He’s reliable. He’s a hard worker. I think it has changed some mindsets about working with individuals with disabilities.” “We’re as dependent on him as he would be dependent on us as an employer,” added Lindsey Muchka, a regional application engineer who’s supervised Young. “It’s not just a feel-good thing. He serves an important purpose here. He’s an employee through and through.” In fact, the only challenge in supervising

A dozen interns recently graduated from the Project SEARCH program hosted at Froedtert Hospital. Each completed a rotation of internships in three hospital departments over the course of nine months.

biztimes.com / 23

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Young, Muchka said, is keeping his schedule full. “What you think will take two hours might take 30 minutes,” Muchka said. “He’s very focused. If you give him a task, he’s going to do it and he’s going to do it quickly. The hardest thing some days is filling his day, keeping him busy.” Meanwhile, for Young, his employment at Tailored Label has the meant the shift from dependence to independence. When he started with the company, he was living at home with his parents. These days, he has his own apartment and enjoys living his life in Menomonee Falls. “I’m totally in the community,” Young said. And that, Muchka said, illustrates the positive “ripple effects” of hiring individuals with disabilities – a significant return on investment for the community. “He went from dependent to independent,” Muchka said. “And he now has the funds and ability to give back to the community where he rents and lives. He lives here, he goes to the gym here, he buys his groceries here, he benefits the companies that are also in Menomonee Falls. That’s a complete circle here.”

Accommodations

There’s evidence to suggest more employers are moving in the direction of Tailored Label Products and Associated Bank – making concerted efforts to recruit and retain employees with disabilities. Beth Lohmann, employment and community services director for Easterseals Southeast Wisconsin, noted a recent call she received from a bigbox store, seeking her help to train the store’s staff members who have disabilities. She considers that a shift in attitude from what she’s previously seen from employers.

“Once you dip your foot in the pond, you’ll find it’s not as scary as you think it’s going to be. There’s a lot of opportunity for us and for them to make a good fit.” —Nicole Richard

“In the past, the employer would probably have let that person go because they couldn’t do their job,” Lohmann said. “But now they’re on the other side saying, ‘I’ve invested in this person.’” At Tailored Label, Richard said, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and Easterseals have been a valuable resource in helping the company navigate the HR side of employing someone with disabilities. “Once you dip your foot in the pond, you’ll find it’s not as scary as you think it’s going to be,” she said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for us and for 24 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

them to make a good fit.” For Young, it’s proven helpful to establish a designated group of mentors to whom he can go when he has questions or needs directions for his next task. If one person is unavailable, Young knows the next supervisor in line to help him. While Tailored Label is a mid-sized company, Richard said these types of accommodations are scalable to larger and smaller operations. “If there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said. Lohmann encourages companies to think creatively about their job responsibilities. For example, could a full-time job be divided into two part-time jobs that play to different employees’ strengths? “Sometimes when an employer is trying to hire someone, they want someone who can do everything,” she said. “So sometimes the first thought in their mind is, ‘That person can’t cashier, so they’re out,’ as opposed to splitting job functions.” She also recommends rethinking the onboarding process for employees with disabilities. Rather than handing them a 10-page manual, why not offer a video tutorial instead?

Special abilities

Viktor Kreider was among the first round of Project SEARCH interns to go through Froedtert’s pharmacy rotation last year. Kreider excelled at the tasks assigned to him and the hospital hired him on as a part-time employee following his internship. Initially, he was completing the distribution work technicians have become too busy to do, but he’s since outgrown the role and Franz is looking to fill that position with a new Project SEARCH intern. “Viktor is now functioning at the level of an inventory technician for us,” Franz said. So the department created a new position for Kreider, through which he has the opportunity to mentor the interns whose shoes he was in just last year. In each of its hires, Colpaert said, Froedtert is looking for someone who will fit the hospital’s culture. “We need people with special abilities, people who can take complex tasks and create standard work out of them, so it’s repeatable, it’s reliable,” Colpaert said. “We didn’t have context where we were hiring somebody with disabilities – we had a context here where we hired people with unique special abilities. And these folks have talent for being very accurate, following through and showing up on time, respect and courtesy, and a unique skill for wanting to learn. That’s right in our wheelhouse.” Franz said finding the right employee for an opening simply requires an open mind. “In the Milwaukee area, there is definitely a worker shortage,” Franz said. “And it’s easy to look at the surface and say, ‘Their communication skills aren’t great,’ … but if I were to speak to another employer, I would say look beyond the surface and see them in action and you will be blown away by their abilities.” Meanwhile, Kreider, now in his tailor-made position, says he’s working at his “dream job.” n

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Special Report TECHNOLOGY

Agro BioSciences’ microbial tech drew big buyer Third Wave Bioactives spins off By Molly Dill, staff writer WHEN WAUWATOSA-BASED Agro BioSciences Inc. was acquired for $75 million May 1, it had only been in business four years. The company was purchased by Ewing, N.J.-based Church & Dwight Co. Inc., which owns major household brands like Arm & Hammer, OxiClean and Trojan. Agro will be integrated with the company’s Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition division, and its former owners stand to gain another $25 million based on its future performance. It is one of the largest exits in Wisconsin history. What attracted the Fortune 1000 manufacturer to the quiet biotechnology startup? Microbial terroirs. A chance meeting last year at the International Production & Processing Expo, a trade show for the livestock industry, led to the acquisition. “I happen to just be walking the trade hall as I usually do and I came across this sign that said ‘microbial terroir’ and I said, ‘What the heck is that?’” said Scott Druker, general manager of Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition. Microbial terroirs are microscopic elements that influence the characteristics of a food, such as its health benefits, taste, aroma and consistency. Agro BioSciences has developed proprietary terroir strains that can be added to livestock feed to help boost production or prevent illness. And it offers customized analysis of customers’ flocks or herds to determine which strains would benefit their animals. “What brought our interest to the technology was just the whole approach to the probiotic space,” Druker said. “Their approach is one of first providing an insight on a customer level— these are the specific microbial challenges that you’re facing in your situation, whether it’s the quality of a food product or the health of an animal or the food safety challenges that you’re facing. They’re providing an insight that really customers didn’t have before.” “Say you’re a poultry producer and you have a set of broilers. These are the chickens that you’re going to grow up and in six weeks, they’re going to be chicken nuggets,” he said. “There’s a bunch of different things that can 26 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

impact how well a bird is converting its feed to body weight,” from health to feed quality to weather. “What we’re able to do is come in and sample the environment, from the food to the litter to the feed ingredients going in, and basically do microbial work and get a complete picture of the microbial challenges that are in that environment.” It’s not just the approach, but also the talented employees and their technology that attracted Arm & Hammer, Druker said. “What the folks at Agro had done over the years is build an exceptional database of probiotic strains and then understand the genomic functionality of each of these strains,” he said. “That group has had a successful track record for over two decades in this kind of business. Although Agro BioSciences was a new entity, the people involved have a lot of experience in this field.” The leader of that group is president Tom Rehberger, who previously co-founded, built and sold Pewaukee-based Agtech Products Inc., which also made microbiological animal products, for $42 million in 2008. Rehberger went on to found Agro BioSciences in 2013, and by the time of the acquisition had already grown it to $11 million in revenue and about 36 employees. Agro’s operations will remain in southeastern Wisconsin, the global company’s only Wisconsin location, Druker said. On May 16, Agro completed a planned move to a 20,000-squarefoot facility at W227 N752 Westmound Drive in Pewaukee, which is double the size of its previous space at the Technology Innovation Center startup incubator in Wauwatosa. The Pewaukee building is owned by Agtech Building LLC, a company registered to Agro’s chief financial officer. Agro remodeled the offices and labs and built a blending and packaging facility at the site. Since Arm & Hammer didn’t have any animal probiotic products, the acquisition of Agro was a complementary fit to its portfolio, Druker said.

Spinoff startup gets rolling One division of Agro BioSciences that was not acquired was Third Wave Bioactives, which was spun off into its own company May 1. Third Wave is led by Matt Hundt, director of business and product development. The

Research intern Jack Mouradian adds different concentrations of Third Wave antimicrobial product to bacteria in a well diffusion assay.

company works out of about 2,000 square feet of the space vacated by Agro, studying common bacterial strains to identify antimicrobial compounds that can act as natural food preservatives and flavors. “The synthetics (preservatives) aren’t bad, necessarily, in our minds, but we know this is a push forward for a lot of food companies,” Hundt said. “Whether we look at bacteria that might produce flavors or produce other interesting compounds as they ferment and they grow, we look at those as potential opportunities as food ingredients.” “Traditionally, a lot of the manufacturing companies, they’re not in the business of developing food ingredients. They look to companies like us to provide them the tools they need.” The new company has four employees and a research intern, and expects to grow quickly as it serves the growing natural and clean label food industry. “The acquiring company wasn’t interested in the part of the business that we were working on and we created enough value and opportunity in the first two years we were working in the area that we thought there was value to turn it out,” Hundt said. Third Wave’s products, which are sold as a powder, are mainly added to perishable foods such as soups, deli salads, sauces, dressings and breads. Its clients range from grocery store commissaries to universities to food manufacturers. “(Demand for natural foods is) growing to be in foodservice, quick-service restaurants,” Hundt said. “It’s really a much broader market than it was, say, 10 years ago, which is great for us because there’s a lot of food people consume every day that doesn’t necessarily go through a grocery store.” Third Wave has assembled a supply chain of partners that help it with various steps in the process of creating the products. “Our products are gluten-free, so people who are looking to formulate without gluten, we can fit in those formulations. The products

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3 Myths that May be Keeping You From the Cloud In the Midwest, only 18-20% of companies are using the cloud, according to a recent study by Microsoft. Compared to the rest of the United States, this number is very low. For those that have not moved to the cloud yet, what is stopping them? Myth: “We need to use our hardware until it’s end of life.”

Myth: “We have more control over physical equipment versus the cloud.”

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Fact: You have no say over when the equipment in front of you breaks, when the power goes out, when switches fail or when server room floods. It’s only the perception of control that you have.

You don’t need to ditch all your hardware to start using the cloud. Cloud solutions are all scalable, and there are several benefits you can take advantage of with project-based initiatives such as: Backup and disaster recovery. Cloud backup sidesteps the expense of on-premise or offsite data centers Data storage. Offload high-performance data storage needs to the cloud. Cloud conferencing. Get your conferencing done in the cloud and move away from costly on-premise conferencing solutions Advanced analytics. Power Business Intelligence in the cloud gives you more ability to leverage your data and make better business decisions.

Because of the level of investment put into the cloud and the affordability of the scale model, enterprise cloud solutions offer better control over: Security. Enterprise-class cloud providers spend billions per year on the security of their datacenter. How much are you spending on securing your organization? Redundancy. Major cloud providers replicate the hardware in their servers to multiple datacenters. If there is an outage, you stay running. Scalability. On-premise solutions are typically not scalable. Cloud allows you to opt for whatever server space, licensing or technology you need without having to pay for things you won’t use.

Myth: “Our ERP (or other legacy systems) doesn’t use the cloud and it’s too costly to change software.” Facts: Your software should not be restricting the evolution of your business. If you haven’t started digital transformation, it’s time to create a plan to do so. For each of your core business applications, you have the option to upgrade the solution, recode it to accommodate the cloud or move to a new solution. You may even have to restructure the way you do business. But it’s worth the effort. The digital revolution is underway – your company needs to take part in it or you’ll be left behind. Having a legacy system prevents your evolution and directly impacts your position in the market. There are many myths that keep businesses from leveraging cloud solutions. Remember that the cloud model is far from all-or-nothing. With scalable and secure technology, it offers your business real advantages as a low risk and scalable cost.

Ready to harness the power of the cloud? Contact Applied Tech: (608) 729-1300 Or visit: www.appliedtech.us

Special Report

MIKEDOTTA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

TECHNOLOGY

GMR Marketing produces VR experiences for health care industry New Berlin firm showcases products at MedTech Expo in Cannes By Lauren Anderson, staff writer FOR AN ACROPHOBIC PERSON, the thought of standing on top of a skyscraper—exposed to the elements, looking over the ledge to see a concrete abyss below—would be terrifying, not to mention seriously risky. But what if, in an effort to overcome the fear of heights, you could ensure that rising to the top of the building was gradual, completely controlled and entirely risk-free? Virtual and augmented reality technology now presents such a solution when it comes to exposure therapy. It’s just one example of a growing list of applications for the technology, which is expected to transform the health care industry in the coming years. A recent report from Grand View Research Inc. projects that the global augmented reality and virtual reality in health care market will reach $5.1 billion by 2025—second only to the AR and VR gaming market. That’s compared to $144 million in 2018. With projections like that, Peter Smith, senior vice president of digital solutions at GMR Marketing LLC, is a believer in its transformative impact on the industry. “We really feel virtual reality and augmented reality have the power to revolutionize the health care industry,” Smith said. “It provides personalized experiences that can’t be done in 30 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

the real world.” From its New Berlin headquarters, the experiential marketing firm is creating the kind of VR and AR experiences that representatives say will soon become commonplace in health-related industries. GMR’s digital and production teams film and produce all of the firm’s VR experiences in-house at the New Berlin facility. They are delivered using Samsung’s mobile virtual reality headset, Gear VR; the Microsoft HoloLens, a holographic computer built into a headset; and the HTC VIVE, a virtual reality headset. GMR recently joined others leading the charge on innovation in health care—including Google, IBM Watson and Twitter—at the MedTech Expo as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, to showcase its products. While it may take a few years before the technology noticeably alters the health care experience for patients and practitioners, VR and AR are already popping up in pockets of the industry. Take a recent GMR-produced campaign for Humana Inc. as an example. Called “Bring the Parks to You,” it offered senior citizens an experience – using a Samsung smartphone and headgear – through

which they were immersed in two iconic national parks with 360-degree views of waterfalls, forests and wildlife. Paired with messaging about the benefits of visiting parks, the campaign was designed to encourage healthy habits among seniors. It’s an example of the ways in which VR can be used to educate patients. Other products can take patients through more immersive and interactive experiences via augmented reality. GMR has produced a “heart experience” that transports the user to a museum-like space with an anatomically accurate, beating heart on display in the center of the room. Wearing a headset, the user can step inside the 5-by-7-foot heart and walk through its chambers, taking in a different view from every angle. The interactive exhibit includes educational facts about the organ, demonstrations of irregular heartbeats and the option of applying virtual treatment to the heart. More than just visually interesting, Smith said, this kind of program gives patients important insight into how their bodies function, demystifying medical processes that tend to be abstract for the average patient. “It’s for educational purposes,” Smith said, “to understand what’s happening to my body when I’m under this condition. Why am I feeling the way I’m feeling? And, when I take medication, what’s that doing to my body and how is it making the symptoms go away or potentially curing what I’m experiencing?” The technology is also expected to serve new purposes for health care practitioners. Thanks to VR imaging and haptic feedback, surgeons can try their hand at a procedure in the virtual world before performing an operation in the real world, where the stakes are much higher. Virtual robotic surgery, meanwhile, will allow surgeons to operate on a patient in a different location. Other uses for VR and AR include enabling doctors to experience their patients’ symptoms more viscerally—glasses simulating the condition of visual field loss, for example. Or augmented reality glasses, paired with a wearable glove, that simulate the inflammation—and frustration—that comes with carpal tunnel syndrome. “It’s about education, but it’s also about empathy as well,” Smith said. “So when a health care professional is treating someone, they can really understand what’s happening in their body and how it’s affecting their body in a way they would only know through reading journals.” As for deployment of the technology, Smith predicts it will be commonplace in health care within two to three years. In the meantime, VR and AR continue to evolve at a rapid pace. “Six to 12 months down the road, what we see today is going to be a lot faster, a lot lighter, a lot easier to use,” Smith said. n

Strategies LEADERSHIP

Get your stuff together Like at the airport’s ‘recombobulation area’ For most who travel through Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport, we see a sign as we exit airport security identifying the “Recombobulation Area.” We probably take that sign for granted. Perhaps we shouldn’t. First, a little history. Recombobulation is somewhat of a made-up word, wryly invented by Barry Bateman, Mitchell International’s now-retired director. Cool. But what does that have to do with business, or anything else for that matter? Well, whenever I see this quirky, homespun sign, it reminds me it’s time to get my s*%t together. You, too. And this is the perfect time to do it! The economy is better now than it has been in the past 10 years. Wisconsin unemployment has dropped to less than 3.5 percent. Interest rates are still low. C’mon now! Let’s ALL recombobulate!

HERE’S A HANDY CHECKLIST: 1. Take care of your team. First, make sure you have a team. Patrick Lencioni, a marquee business book author and consultant, was in town recently for TEC’s (now known as Vistage) 60th anniversary celebration, Inspirational Leadership 2017. He packed his presentation with substance and inspiration for the more than 600 attendees. He concluded with a quick review of his lat-

est book, “The Ideal Team Player.” Most CEOs will recite: “Our most important assets are our people.” But unfortunately, that CEO promise is too often not the reality. Given the low unemployment rate, plus the growing economy, we’d better take care of our “A” and “B+” players with challenging work, excellent professional development and appropriate compensation. Move those “B-” and below players on to another career—someplace else, that is. 2. Know your strategy. I have a practice called “corporate anthropology.” I administer and then interpret organizational analysis and design personality assessments. I also conduct one-to-one interviews with an organization’s entire executive team. The first question I always ask is: “What’s the strategy of your organization?” Amazingly, less than 35 percent of leadership team members I’ve interviewed over the past decade give the same answer as their CEO. That’s correct: 35 percent of the leaders. And it’s not uncommon for the CEO to say, “We don’t have a strategy.” Let’s go folks. It’s strategy recombobulation time! 3. Get an advisory board and a peer group. Things are moving faster than ever before. None of us can stay on top of everything. The best we can do is get an outside perspective from a variety of people. Obviously, as a Vistage chair, I believe every business owner/operator ought to be in a Vistage group. But most CEOs should also have a true outsider advisory board. Boards and Vistage groups have two very different purposes (a topic for another column), but both can provide critical insight into employees, markets, the economy and the future. 4. Take care of yourself. Given the improvements in the business climate, yet a lingering fear of a 2008 rerun, I see too many CEOs today doing double or triple duty. As a result, their waistlines are expanding, lack

of sleep is common, and their overall health is at significant risk. In any airport recombobulation area, whether so named or not, you’ll usually see a table or two and someplace to sit. Sometimes you’re forced to take a little extra time to look around you and ensure you have everything you need for your trip, particularly when your carry-ons have had the dubious honor of being selected for search. How many people rush through their recombobulation even if they aren’t running late for their flights? How many people leave important stuff—cell phones, wallets, laptops, even briefcases—behind in their haste to move on? Then they look back and wonder, “How could I have done that?” So take some time to recombobulate your business, your relationships, your life... then, enjoy the journey! n

JOHN HOWMAN John Howman has led a variety of businesses, from technology to consumer products companies, and leads two groups for TEC/Vistage, a professional development group for CEOs, presidents and business owners. He can be reached at JHowman@ AlliedCG.com. biztimes.com / 31

Strategies COACHING

You’re more resilient than you realize How to stay hinged

“The times they are a-changin.” —Bob Dylan

I’ll say. More like exploding. Watch any news outlet and you’ll likely see someone exclaim almost daily, “He’s unhinged! She is coming unhinged!” The meaning, of course, is that people are losing control of their emotions and behaving erratically. Visual evidence is everywhere and it seems to grow more disturbing week to week. How can you keep yourself hinged in the face of near-constant chaos? First off, find some perspective. The world has always been full of crazy acts and mean people; we’re able to see 32 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

more of it today than ever before. It’s not your job to fix it. That said, you can have tremendous personal impact. At work, at home, at school and in the community, how you engage others matters. The things you do and how you do them, the words you choose and the tone of voice in which you deliver them create feelings in others. Are you aware of your power? Do you tend to stir dissent or encourage understanding? The truth is, you can be a remarkable individual agent of goodness every moment of your life. Practicing behaviors that make you proud to live in your skin and the community you help create is a powerful way to keep yourself hinged. Here are some others. Be sure to offset the daily deluge of bad news with uplifting information. Seek people who focus on what works and how to fix what doesn’t. Find entertainment programming that emphasizes growth, development and performance. Limit the dark and violence-prone shows; you’ll be less paranoid as you move about the world. Resist the inclination to take bad behavior personally. Where possible, let it go. If you need to engage or correct bad behavior, do so as objectively and matter-of-factly as you can. You may not rehabilitate anyone, but you can offer respect, along with alternative behaviors. When someone challenges something you said or did, listen to the objection. Think about what you hear, then decide whether change in your behavior is warranted. Learn to sort fact from fiction. We see a lot of conjecture presented as news, which raises everyone’s blood pressure. Yes, North Korea could nuke the U.S. And floods could overwhelm cities across the land. You could wake up with Lyme disease. I could have a heart attack going for my mail. Many things could happen; we can only deal with what does. Remember that you will have good days and bad days. On the bad ones, practice patience. Not everything needs to be solved right this minute. Notice when you’re feeling testy and give yourself permission to idle down. Frayed nerves can create volatile situations that might not other-

wise develop. Don’t catastrophize. Little things go wrong all the time and sometimes it’s the drip, drip, drip of little things that can cause you to snap. Take care of things as they come up, then put them behind you. Nobody said life would limit its challenges to three per week or a hundred in a lifetime. Confront difficulty, resolve it as best you can, then carry on. If you make a mess of something, try to get some perspective. If you hurt someone, apologize. If you break something, restore or replace it. If you make a mistake, vow to learn. Dawn will come again and with it, a chance to start fresh. Understanding you have a choice in how to behave in the aftermath of error helps calm overwrought situations. Learning to forgive yourself brings profound peace. Here’s the truth: You are stronger than you realize, more resilient than you appreciate and you have a tremendous capacity to grow. When you can stay hinged while others are coming unglued, you create a little haven of sanity. The rest of us thank you for your dedication and example. n

SUSAN MARSHALL Susan A. Marshall is an author, speaker and the founder of Backbone Institute. She can be reached at (262) 567-5983 or susan@ backboneinstitute.com.

VISION

Every company needs a mission statement Set the tone for your business

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road’ll take you there.” —George Harrison

Every company needs a mission statement, including yours. It defines who you are as a company, sets the mood, articulates the corporate culture, and helps perpetuate your preferred work methods. In short, it serves as a guide on the long road to success. For your organization to have a mission statement, it must have a mission. One that the boss probably has buried in the back of his or her mind; one the employees may or may not share. It should be written down. Writing a formal statement doesn’t just voice this unspoken mission, it endorses it as company policy.

The mission statement demonstrates leadership and helps to inspire employees. If the employees live by their boss’ guiding principles, they don’t have to run to the rulebook every time they make a decision. They simply look at the placard on the wall to remind them what their boss would have them do. (This can also avoid a lot of annoying meetings). Mission statements are popular among large companies. Most Fortune 500 firms use them, and according to Bain & Co., they’re more widely used than most other management tools. Why? Because the cost is small and they work. But a mission statement is especially necessary for a smaller company. It forces management to think strategically, which is too often overlooked amid the day-to-day crises facing most small business owners. A mission statement inspires employees to follow the guiding principles endorsed by their leader. It can even serve as a sales tool when used to reinforce a key product benefit. Some are as folksy as the founder. In 1926, I.J. Cooper expressed his Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. creed as “Good merchandise, fair play and a square deal.” Banc One Corp. used the words of its chairman, John B. McCoy: “We’ll deal with you straight; No fluff and no excuses.” At the Leo Burnett Co. Inc. advertising agency, we had to know both Leo’s mission statement (“The best advertising in the world, bar none.”) and motto (“Reach for the stars. You may not always get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud, either.”).

HOW TO WRITE YOUR MISSION STATEMENT Eloquence is not essential. Any divorced person will tell you there is no mission statement more movingly phrased—or more difficult to live up to—than traditional wedding vows. But avoid corporate speak, too. Keep it simple and direct. Phrase it just as if you were talking to a friend. The most effective

mission statements inspire. Here’s a good way to start. Answer in 50 words or less: Why are you in business? Why this product? Why these customers? What do you do better than your competitors and why? Pick the principles you live by. Write them down. Then build your credo from the principles you want your employees to emulate. The big company examples above make good thought-starters. Once written, use your mission statement. Share it with employees. Post it around the office. Display it at meetings. Distribute it to customers and suppliers. Print it on your letterhead, purchase orders and invoices. Use it as a direct mailing to all your customers and potential customers. Enclose a copy and a cover letter explaining how it was written and how you intend to live up to it today and in the future. If the function of a leader is to advance a clear and shared vision of the organization, what better way than through the stated mission of the business? n

ROBERT GREDE Robert Grede is the author of “Naked Marketing – The Bare Essentials.” He operates The Grede Co., a Milwaukee-area consulting firm specializing in marketing and strategic planning. He can be reached at rg@thegredecompany.com. biztimes.com / 33

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BizConnections AROUND TOWN Top 10 Cocktail Reception The Waukesha County Business Alliance and BizTimes Media celebrated the winners of the 2017 Top 10 Businesses of the Year awards at a cocktail reception at Seven Seas in Delafield.

CHRIS GENELLIE of Ruekert & Mielke and DEAN ZWICK of Spring Bank.

HEATHER NELSON of Spring Bank and JASON EGGERT of Associated Bank.

GREG MIESKE of Spring Bank and MERVYN BYRD of Waukesha County Business Alliance.

ALLISON RADLOFF and MIKE BURZYNSKI of CliftonLarsonAllen.

SCOTT SYRJALA and CHRIS BALCERZAK of Vrakas CPAs + Advisors.

DIANE BAUER and PAUL SEHMER of Winter, Kloman, Moter & Repp S.C.

CHRIS ROWOLDT and MIKE RADTKE of Chortek LLC.

SUZANNE KELLY of WCBA and BRIAN CAYON of Prairie Financial Group. Photos by Lauren Anderson

Impact100 Annual Awards Celebration Impact100 Greater Milwaukee recently announced the winners of three competitive $100,000 grants at its annual awards celebration, held at Marquette University. Nonprofits Benedict Center, GPS Education Partners and Running Rebels were chosen from five finalists. 9.

ANN HOMSTAD of the Charles E. Kubly Foundation and PEGGY NIEMER of Kenwood & Wells LLC.

10. NICOLE ANDERSON of CliftonLarsonAllen, YELENA KRAYZMAN of EWH Small Business Accounting, and ROBIN MARTIN of CliftonLarsonAllen. 11. TONYA ADAIR and ANDY HEPBURN of GPS Education Partners. 12. KATHLEEN RITTER of Majic Productions and REANNA OTTOSON of Artists Working in Education.

13. ANNE TRUNZO and CYNTHIA HARRIS , co-presidents of Impact100 Greater Milwaukeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board of directors. 14. Impact100 members SUSAN HAY, MARY STROHMAIER, KERRY DOYLE, RACHAEL FARDY and GORDANA ROBEY. Photos by Lauren Anderson

14 biztimes.com / 35

BizConnections PERSONNEL FILE BANKING & FINANCE

BANKING & FINANCE

LEGAL

First Federal Bank of Wisconsin, Brookfield

Advantage+, Brookfield

Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols S.C., Milwaukee

Andes

Bogenberger

Jim Oberholtzer has been promoted from credit manager to vice president of credit administration at Advantage+, a 25-year-old, nationwide direct lender.

Law firm Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols S.C. has added Susanne Troop as a paralegal.

DESIGN

MANUFACTURING

Creative Business Interiors, Milwaukee

W.M. Sprinkman, Waukesha

and Jim Pittelkow, president of Pittelkow Financial Services LLC and director of administration at St. Joan Antida High School, to its board of directors.

NONPROFIT & VOLUNTEER

Lutheran Social Services, Milwaukee Héctor Colón will join the Lutheran Social Services leadership team as president and CEO in July 2017.

MARKETING Berry

EPIC Creative, West Bend

Wiesneski

First Federal Bank of Wisconsin has hired William Wiesneski and Victoria Andes as senior residential and consumer lending officers and Joseph Bogenberger as vice president, senior commercial loan officer, and has promoted Michael Berry to associate vice president, commercial loan officer.

BANKING & FINANCE

SVA Plumb Trust Co. LLC, Brookfield Tammy Koester Parks, JD, has been named president of SVA Plumb Trust Co. LLC, an affiliate of SVA Plumb Financial. She has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of estate planning and trust, either as a trust officer or as an attorney in private practice.

BANKING & FINANCE

North Shore Bank, Milwaukee North Shore Bank has hired a new mortgage loan originator for the Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin communities, Jessica Sanchez. She has more than eight years of experience in banking, previously serving as a teller, personal banker and mortgage loan originator with Equitable Bank.

36 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

Cousland

Schliesman

Creative Business Interiors has hired Rebecca Schliesman as a furniture project manager coordinator and Kelsey Cousland as an interior designer.

HEALTH CARE

Fuller Dentistry, Paddock Lake

Vander Pas

Dieck

W.M. Sprinkman has hired Nathan Vander Pas as a process engineer and James Dieck as a design engineer.

MANUFACTURING

HellermannTyton, Milwaukee

Tomashek

West Bend Mutual Insurance Co., West Bend Murali Natarajan has joined West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. as senior vice president and chief information officer. He will help guide the company as it strives to offer technology capabilities and solutions to meet business demands.

Submit new hire and promotion announcements to: biztimes.com/personnel

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Components Co. Inc., Brookfield

Fuller Dentistry has named Dr. Kaleigh Fulmer as its new associate dentist.

INSURANCE

Sarah Idso has been hired by EPIC Creative to be a social media coordinator. A SMC is responsible for creating social content that engages audiences and promotes interaction with the brands of EPIC Creative’s clients.

Kovac

HellermannTyton has promoted Dave Tomashek and Ron Kovac to vice president. Tomashek joined HellermannTyton as director of quality assurance in 1998, and Kovac started his career as a district sales manager in 1991.

NONPROFIT & VOLUNTEER

Luther Manor Foundation, Wauwatosa

Takalkhede

Pittelkow

Luther Manor Foundation has added Niraj Takalkhede, finance manager and senior financial analyst at Rockwell International,

Components Co. Inc. recently promoted Susanne Schnappup to vice president of finance. Schnappup has been with Components Co. for three years. She is a member of the executive team at the company.

TECHNOLOGY

Sight & Sound Solutions, Waukesha Tim Townsend was recently appointed sales manager of Sight & Sound Solutions. Sight & Sound Solutions is an ATT DirecTV independent authorized dealer and one of the area’s largest providers of ATT DirecTV.

NONPROFIT

news MEDICAL COLLEGE GETS $37.8 MILLION GIFT The Medical College of Wisconsin recently announced the launch of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education, thanks to its largest-ever philanthropic gift of $37.8 million from the Kern Family and Kern Family Foundation. Robert and Patricia Kern founded Waukesha-based Generac Power Systems Inc. The Kern Institute, which will be housed on MCW’s Wauwatosa campus, will focus on developing new methods for training medical

students. The initiative also includes the establishment of the National Transformation Network, a collaborative effort among seven medical schools. They include MCW Medical School, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. -Lauren Anderson

c alendar The Hope Center will host its annual golf outing on July 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Broadlands Golf Club, 18 Augusta Way in North Prairie. Tickets cost $125 and include lunch, 18 holes with cart, a drink ticket and appetizers. Proceeds will benefit the Hope Center, which provides homelessness prevention programs in Waukesha County. For more information, visit hopecenterwi.org. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Racine and Kenosha Counties will host An Evening with Big Brothers Big Sisters on July 13 at 5:30 p.m. at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, 33 E. Four Mile Road, Racine. The event will include wine tasting, food, a silent auction, awards and information about the program. For more information, visitbeabignow.org. The Park People of Milwaukee County and Bay View Neighborhood Association will host the eighth annual Run for the Parks 5K fun run and 2K family walk on July 25th at 6:30 p.m. at the Humboldt Park band shell. Registration is $25. Children ages 9 and younger can participate for free. Proceeds will benefit county parks and fund improvements in Humboldt Park. For more information, visit parkpeoplemke.org.

D O N AT I O N R O U N D U P The 20th anniversary WKLH Miracle Marathon for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin raised more than $1.1 million | Kohl’s is giving $160,000 to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin Inc. for programs and to fund a hospitality cart at Children’s Hospital | The Women and Girls Fund of Waukesha County awarded nearly $85,000 to 10 local nonprofit organizations to support programs that promote the welfare, independence and self-sufficiency of women and girls | The ProHealth Care Foundation received $64,814 from Susan G. Komen Wisconsin to provide breast health education and outreach to uninsured or underinsured people in Waukesha County | BelAir Cantina’s philanthropic campaign, Powered by Tacos, generated a $45,000 donation to Playworks

nonprofit

SPOTLIGHT

M I LWA U K E E C H R I S T I A N C E N T E R 807 S. 14th St., Milwaukee (414) 645-5350 | www.mccwi.org Facebook: facebook.com/MilwaukeeChristianCenter | Twitter: @MCCWI

Year founded: 1921 Mission statement: The Milwaukee Christian Center believes all people deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity. We exist to move people beyond the challenges of poverty by offering programs and services that are lifeaffirming and supportive. Primary focus: Strengthening neighborhoods and families through youth development, neighborhood improvement, senior support and food security efforts. Employees at this location: 60 Key donors: AmeriCorps, Charles R. O’Malley Charitable Lead Trust, City of Milwaukee, Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc., Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee Inc., Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, Milwaukee County Department on Aging, Milwaukee Public Schools, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, The Woodson Center, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, Zilber Family Foundation Executive leadership: Karen Higgins, executive director Board of directors: • Mary Binder, AT&T, president • Brian Mechenich, Reilly, Penner & Benton LLP, vice president • Salvador Vazquez, community

volunteer, treasurer • Dennis Stappas, Northwestern Mutual, secretary • Rev. José Encarnación, Iglesia Envangelista Bautista Milwaukee • Paul Grippe, community volunteer • Rachael Van Liere-Jackson, Amgen • Rev. Jon Jacobs, Ascension Lutheran Church • Claude Krawczyk, O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C. • Nicole Schmidt, A.O. Smith Corp. • Jim Stark, community volunteer Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: Corporate partnership – provide financial commitments to our mission and programming; join our board; financial donations; in-kind donations; volunteer; mentor participants; sponsor our annual Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser; YouthBuild construction career partner; young professionals employment coach; host a food drive. Key fundraising events: 20th annual Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser – March 3, 2018. biztimes.com / 37

Biz Connections VOLUME 23, NUMBER 6 | JUNE 26, 2017

GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR

126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120 PHONE: 414-277-8181 FAX: 414-277-8191 WEBSITE: www.biztimes.com CIRCULATION: 414-336-7100 | circulation@biztimes.com ADVERTISING: 414-336-7112 | ads@biztimes.com EDITORIAL: 414-336-7120 | andrew.weiland@biztimes.com REPRINTS: 414-336-7128 | reprints@biztimes.com PUBLISHER / OWNER Dan Meyer dan.meyer@biztimes.com DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Mary Ernst mary.ernst@biztimes.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR Andrew Weiland andrew.weiland@biztimes.com MANAGING EDITOR Molly Dill molly.dill@biztimes.com REPORTER Lauren Anderson lauren.anderson@biztimes.com REPORTER Corrinne Hess corri.hess@biztimes.com REPORTER Arthur Thomas arthur.thomas@biztimes.com INTERN REPORTER Maredithe Meyer maredithe.meyer@biztimes.com

School of Engineering

Photo courtesy Milwaukee Public Museum’s Photo Archives collection

WISCONSIN’S ECONOMY is providing an interesting combination of positive and negative news. The good news is the state’s unemployment rate has dipped to 3.2 percent, the lowest level since early 2000. And, the state posted the strongest economic growth over the past three months of the five states in the Chicago Federal Reserve region. But the bad news is the state only ranked 33rd for private sector job growth last year, which was the lowest 12-month period for private sector job growth in Wisconsin since mid-2010. The state also continues to rank last among larger states for startup activity, a key source of economic growth. Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature have pushed an aggressive pro-business agenda in an attempt to spur economic growth in the state. The results have been mixed. The state’s low unemployment rate, while obviously a good thing, in and of itself poses a challenge. Businesses in the state are having a hard time finding the people they need to hire so they can grow. It is an issue we hear about 38 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUNE 26, 2017

DIRECTOR OF SALES Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Molly Lawrence molly.lawrence@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE David Pinkus david.pinkus@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com SALES INTERN Amanda Bruening amanda.bruening@biztimes.com

ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Sue Herzog sue.herzog@biztimes.com MARKETING & EVENTS INTERN Eileen Demet eileen.demet@biztimes.com

PRODUCTION & DESIGN

This photo, taken circa 1936 by James Conklin, shows the School of Engineering at Marquette University in Milwaukee. The building now houses the Gesu Parish Center. In 2011, Marquette opened its Engineering Hall, 1637 W. Wisconsin Ave., with new classrooms, labs and faculty offices for its College of Engineering. It also holds classes in Olin Engineering at 1515 W. Wisconsin Ave.

UWM upgrade would boost state’s economy

SALES & MARKETING

from business owners again and again. Walker has clearly recognized this and has made the state’s workforce one of his latest major points of emphasis. A lot of the focus so far has been on worker training in an attempt to address the skills gap. No doubt those efforts are very important, but the workforce problem is bigger than that. It’s not just a skills gap. It’s a people gap. Wisconsin needs more people to fuel its economy, and especially talented people. Leaders need to find ways to attract people to move to Wisconsin. The weather is an obstacle, of course, and nothing can be done about that. The state has a healthy economy and a good quality of life, but that has not been enough to attract talent. One of the state’s most important economic assets is its university system. I’ve met several great people, including BizTimes employees, who came here from out of state to go to college, discovered this is a good place to live, and then stayed here after graduation and are now contributing to our economy and our communities. Unfortunately the UW System has faced criticism for its spending and some Republicans seem to have an axe to grind with the liberals in academia. They need to look past that and focus

Independent & Locally Owned

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com ART DIRECTOR Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com

— Founded 1995 —

on how crucial the universities are for the state. They are vital economic engines that attract and develop talent and generate business ideas. The ideal scenario would be if Walker and members of the Legislature realized the tremendous opportunity they have in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Instead of treating UWM like a local commuter college, they should commit to transforming it into an elite university that attracts and grows top-level talent. Recently a group of Milwaukee community and business leaders, calling themselves Panther Promoters, announced they are forming a new organization focused on advocating for UWM receiving “the resources necessary” to be a “world-class urban university.” “Milwaukee goes as our flagship campus goes, and Wisconsin goes as Milwaukee goes,” said Lori Craig, senior vice president at PNC Bank and a founding member of Panther Promoters.

ANDREW WEILAND EDITOR

P / 414-336-7120 E / andrew.weiland@biztimes.com T / @AndrewWeiland

KAT SCHLEICHER PHOTOGRAPHY

the LASTWORD

L ARRY WITZLING

P R I N C I PA L - G R A E F

What turns a vision into reality?

Larry Witzling, principal at GRAEF, recently received the American Planning Association’s 2017 National Excellence Award for Planning Pioneers for his work in guiding planning education and theory throughout his career. With some key steps, Witzling says anyone can go from big idea to execution.

GRAEF | Milwaukee www.graef-usa.com Industry: Engineering Employees: 230

“As an urban planner, I have spent 45 years considering ‘what could be.’ Many of these visions have become realities, and surround you as you travel through the region. I’ve learned what makes visions into realities for communities and businesses throughout the state. SEE THE BIG PICTURE AND THE MIGHT Y DETAILS “While your vision might largely paint the ‘bigger picture,’ it will

not be successful unless you incorporate mighty details. Simple solutions to complex problems rarely exist. As planners, we have to consider the individual, sequential steps it will take to get to the desired end state, and we must consider the multiple stakeholders who need engagement with the overall plan, processes and procedures. FIND THE QUICK WIN “You won’t achieve your vision overnight. Prioritize the elements of your vision that will be easiest to implement while having the greatest impact, and get them done. Sometimes, a quick win is

all you need to gain the momentum and support you need to create real change. KNOW THAT YOU DON’T KNOW EVERY THING “Know what you know and what you don’t know, and bring people to the table to fill the gaps. Understand that having the vision doesn’t mean you will be the one to execute its every element. Trust the people around you and stitch together their knowledge. “Creating a vision and making it a reality is no small task, and every situation is different. Be nimble and consider these tips. You’ll be well on your way. “ n biztimes.com / 39

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