BizTimes Milwaukee | January 9, 2017

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HOTEL SHOWDOWN UPSTART RIVAL CHALLENGES MARCUS CORP.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

| LOCAL RESTAURATEURS GRAPPLE WITH LABOR GAP AMID CULINARY BOOM | UPLIFT MKE TARGETS COUNTY’S UNEMPLOYMENT CHALLENGES | AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, PDS WORKS TO LURE TOP TALENT

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You put your heart, soul and vision into building your company.

Which means every business decision you make is always a personal one.

At Northern Trust, we put our expertise toward aligning your personal and business goals like never before.

So you can build the business – and life – you’ve always envisioned.

ACHIEVE GREATER James Kuehn, President 414-905-7780 jk47@ntrs.com

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inside

January 9 - 22, 2017 HIGHLIGHT S Now 4 Glenn Rieder to move from Milwaukee to West Allis.

The Good Life

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A year-round Halloween obsession.

Getting There

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Benjamin Juarez of the Public Policy Forum.

News 10 As technology advances, PDS works to lure top talent.

Real Estate Spotlight

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Multifamily lending tightens as multiple projects get underway.

S TR ATE GIE S

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Mindset Susan Marshall 25 Publishing Cary Silverstein 26 Innovation Dan Steininger 27

COV E R S T ORY

Downtown Hotel Showdown Upstart rival challenges Marcus Corp.

BIZ CONNECTIONS S P E C I A L R E P O R T:

WOR K FORCE DE V E LOPME NT

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Coverage includes insight on Milwaukee’s restaurant labor gap and a report on a program aimed at helping employ residents living in high unemployment areas.

Calendar 28 Personnel File 29 Commentary 32 BizTimes Around Town 33 The Last Word 34

V I S I T B I Z T I M E S . C O M F O R A D D I T I O N A L S T O R I E S , D A I LY U P D AT E S & E - N E W S L E T T E R S Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . 414-336-7120 Advertising . . . . . . . . . 414-336-7112 Subscriptions . . . . . . . 414-277-8181 Reprints . . . . . . . . . . . . 414-277-8181

Founded in 1995, BizTimes Milwaukee provides news and operational insights for CEOs, presidents, owners and other top level executives at companies in southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Kenosha, Walworth and Sheboygan counties).

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BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 22, Number 21, January 9 - 22, 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 $42.00. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5.00 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.

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leading edge NOW

Glenn Rieder to move from Milwaukee to West Allis

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lenn Rieder Inc. plans to relocate from Milwaukee’s 30th Street Industrial Corridor to a new $8 million facility the company plans to build in West Allis with the help of an incentive package from that city.

The provider of architectural millwork and custom interior finishes says it has outgrown its facility at 3420 W. Capitol Drive and will build a 120,000-squarefoot manufacturing and office facility on a 12-acre remediated brownfield site at 1960 S. 67th Place in West Allis.

Construction on the project will begin in April and the company hopes to be finished with the project by December.

“We are very excited to partner with the City of West Allis to design and build a new 90,000-square-foot, state-of-theart manufacturing facility with 30,000 square feet of office space to house our main headquarters,” said Mike Floyd, chief executive officer of Glenn Rieder.

The company has more than 240 employees, with 84 currently based in the Milwaukee area. The expansion is expected to result in additional hiring, but Floyd said it is too soon to have precise figures.

“Cutting-edge, creative and growing companies like Glenn Rieder are a prime example of the type of companies that are drawn to the momentum we are seeing in West Allis,” said Mayor Dan Devine.

The West Allis Common Council and Community Development Authority still needs to approve a $1.4 million incentive package that includes $833,000 in TIF money, along with $200,000 for architectural work and $70,000 for a new road and covering other real estate costs.

“The city was very aggressive in offering an incentive package to help us with the project,” Floyd said, describing it as “progressive” and “creative.”

First-Ring Industrial Redevelopment Enterprise Inc. also will contribute $1.2 million in capital to the project.

Floyd said the company looked at other municipalities and the possibility of an addition at its current facility.

Glenn Rieder has been in business since 1946 and located on Capitol Drive since 1988. The current facility is 92,000 square feet, but is located on an almost 3-acre lot, limiting expansion possibilities.

The company plans to sell its cur-

rent facility once the move is complete.

Glenn Rieder’s move is a blow for efforts to revitalize Milwaukee’s 30th Street Industrial Corridor. The City of Milwaukee has spent millions of dollars redeveloping the former A.O. Smith/Tower Au- A rendering of Glenn Rieder’s future headquarters in West Allis. tomotive property into the Century City business park near velop for a number of years. The site is a 31st Street and Capitol Drive. The area former rock quarry that became the site has had some momentum recently with of a carbide gas manufacturing plant. the completion of the first spec building, The West Allis CDA purchased the propthe return of Talgo, and Rev Group’s de- erty when a previous owner proposed cision to do final assembly of postal de- turning it into a rubble dump, which livery vehicle prototypes. would have made it unbuildable.

“We remain big supporters of the Floyd noted the new facility will allow corridor,” Floyd said. “We’ve been a big Glenn Rieder to create a modern manupart of the community in this area for a facturing facility and bring its office delong time so it was a long and difficult partments closer together. decision to make.”

“At the end of the day, it was a deciThe company will be moving to an sion based on growth,” Floyd said. area West Allis has been trying to rede——Arthur Thomas

SOCI AL M E D I A S T R AT E GI ES

Do Donald Trump and Bill Penzey have something in common?

"Never discuss religion or politics."

Great advice for keeping the peace at family gatherings and a generally accepted principle for most corporate social media marketing plans.

Is it ever safe to break that rule?

An important component to your brand is its differentiator – that thing that makes you different from your competition. That differentiator could very well be your stand on a controversial political issue.

Consider this year’s presidential race, in which each candidate took a political stance and drove it hard on social media, with no concern about offending those who disagreed.

The goal was not to appeal to everyone. It was to build passion and create loyalty among an audience just large enough for the candidate to win.

Campaigns and cause-based organizations 4

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succeed only by effectively using social media to communicate a political agenda or ideology.

But what about a commercial business?

Business owners like Penzeys Spices chief executive officer Bill Penzey, Jr., and Hobby Lobby CEO David Green have taken controversial positions on hot-button political issues and have leveraged social media to establish those positions as their differentiator. The social echo chamber brings out and amplifies the voices of legions of people who disagree with their positions and threaten to boycott, as well as others who praise them and promise to support them. In both cases, measurement is demonstrating the success of each strategy.

If your potential market is large enough that you can do well with portions of that market being offended or inspired by your discussion of religion or politics, do the research before you begin, and constantly

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measure while you’re doing it. Strategically breaking that long-held rule can be a key to your success.

——Tom Snyder is founder and CEO of Trivera Interactive in Menomonee Falls.

leading edge COFF E E B R E A K

POLITIC AL BEAT

Wisconsin electors cast votes for Trump

BY WISPOLITICS.COM

“Took time to slow down and evaluate the market. We are working very hard at staying true to our investment discipline and not chasing every deal that comes to the marketplace.”

What’s new at your company?

“We are continuing to expand our presence throughout the Midwest. We opened our St. Louis office just over a year ago and are evaluating other opportunities for additional offices this year and beyond.”

Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?

“Yes. As we continue to expand our presence, we will be looking to add additional highly-motivated team members.”

What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?

“Managing our investors’ expectations given the current real estate marketplace.”

What’s the hottest trend in your industry?

“I would say it is still multi-family.”

Milwaukee; and finally, Traci Dalsin showed me that there is more to managing a business than just deals.”

What was the best advice you ever received?

“There are lots of ways to earn a living; don’t settle for a career that does not make you happy.”

What do you like to do in your free time?

“Spending time with the family is always on the top of the list. If I am not with them, I am probably playing golf during the warmer months and either playing or coaching hockey the rest of the time.”

What is a common misconception about Sara Investment?

“That ‘Sara’ is an active employee at SARA Investment Real Estate. We are fortunate to have several key employees within our management structure that are women, including our president, Traci Dalsin. On more than one occasion, outsiders will mistakenly assume that one of them is the Sara behind our company name. The truth is that our founder, Eric Schwartz, named the company after his wife, Sara Schwartz, who is a huge believer in and supporter of Eric’s vision for the company.”

Do you have a business mantra?

If you weren’t doing this job, what would you be doing?

“You can’t go broke making a profit.”

From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?

“Three key individuals for me: James Kaplan, I interned for him in Hong Kong and he showed me how the business world truly operated; Scott Revolinski brought me into the commercial real estate world here in

“If this means not working professionally, I would spend more time with the hockey community, where I have volunteered and coached at Milwaukee Winter Club and the Junior Admirals, or planning trips back home to Alaska for the 2017 fishing and hunting season. If I had to choose another career, I would probably be a teacher.”

Ben Adank Vice president of business development SARA Investment Real Estate 600 W. Virginia St., Suite 205, Milwaukee Website: www.sarainvest.com Industry: Commercial investment real estate Employees: 35 Family: Wife, Kristin, and four kids, ages 14, 10, 10 and 14 months. w w w.biztimes.com

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JOSEPH SOHM SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?

Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes formally went to Donald Trump as protesters pleaded with electors to ignore the results of the November election and pick someone else.

The electors – all Republican Party activists – ignored the protesters as they voted at the Capitol first for Trump to become president and then for Mike Pence as vice president.

“We’re doing good things here at the state level and hopefully we’re going to export that to the federal level,” state GOP chair Brad Courtney said after the vote.

Nationally, Trump secured 304 electoral votes – two fewer than he earned in November, according to the Associated Press. More electors (eight) tried to defect from Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote over Trump but lost in the Electoral College.

Numerous Trump opponents across the country urged Republican electors not to vote for Trump, to no avail.

The formality of casting Wisconsin’s electoral votes is normally a quiet affair. But the vote garnered extra attention with Wisconsin one of three states that put Trump over the top in the Electoral College. Protesters frequently warned of Trump’s ties to Russia and predicted dire consequences if he becomes president.

One man stood up before the vote, holding a sign as he said, “No Putin president.”

As he was led out, he shouted over his shoulder to the electors, “You’re electing someone who’s going to destroy the world.”

Courtney, who was selected to chair the meeting, shrugged off the protests after formally signing the documents certifying Wisconsin’s electoral votes.

“It’s democracy at work,” he told a throng of reporters.

“We’re just very excited. Again, 1.4 million people voted for Donald J. Trump, and we’re just excited to be part of this.”

Wispolitics.com is a media partner of BizTimes Milwaukee.

BY TH E NU MBERS

$255 million

Port Washington-based Allen Edmonds Corp. was acquired by Missouri-based Famous Footwear parent company Caleres Inc. for $255 million in cash and revolving credit.

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Economic Trends 2017

Nova Technology International LLC N90 W14507 Commerce Drive, Menomonee Falls Industry: Loading dock equipment Employees: 60 (including parent company Multi-Fab) www.novalocks.com

Bob Hensel in the showroom at Nova Technology.

All loading docks are not created equal From a distance, the loading docks on the thousands of industrial buildings throughout southeastern Wisconsin all look the same: an overhead door, some padding around the edges, maybe something to level off the step between the warehouse and the truck.

The reality is each dock comes with its own unique characteristics created by the size and height of the door, the type of trucks that will use it and even the angle of the driveway.

“There’s no such thing as a one-size-fitsall; just doesn’t happen,” said Bob Hensel, president of Menomonee Falls-based Nova Technology International LLC. Nova is a manufacturer of loading

ARTHUR THOMAS (414) 336-7123 | Twitter: @arthur8823 arthur.thomas@biztimes.com

dock equipment, including vehicle restraints, dock seals and shelters. It also supplies dock levelers. The company was acquired in 2002 by Multi-Fab Products LLC, which supplies a wide range of aftermarket parts for the industry.

Hensel oversees both businesses, which are run from Menomonee Falls.

Seals and shelters are mounted around the loading dock door to help maintain the temperature inside the building and save energy. They also provide safety and security functions. A seal is made of foam covered with fabric, while a shelter has a rigid frame and curtains to make a seal.

Vehicle restraints, meanwhile, are either mounted to the wall below the dock or in the driveway in front of the dock.

They traditionally use a hook to hold a truck in place and prevent a driver from leaving before a load is ready. Nova

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recently introduced a restraint with a vertical barrier instead of a hook and a patented mechanism for keeping the barrier in place.

The loading dock equipment industry has a strong concentration in the Milwaukee area. In addition to Nova and Multi-Fab, the region is home to Rite-Hite and Systems Inc. Kelley, one of the original companies and a national player, has its roots here, although it is now based in Texas.

The industry is driven by new commercial building construction, Hensel said, and it has been growing since the depths of the Great Recession. Nova focuses its work less on the large new buildings and more on helping small- and medium-sized companies through a network of dealers.

“Our business focuses on the smaller warehouses and a lot on replacement business,” Hensel said.

With seals and shelters constructed from foam, fabric and wood and vehicle restrains from metal and mechanical pieces, Nova has to divide some of its resources among two very different processes.

As a smaller company, being responsive to customer needs and providing customization is an important differentiator, but it also presents challenges for keeping lead times short.

“Even the standard parts are not as standard as you would think,” Hensel said.

Nova has taken steps to improve ergonomics throughout its facility to help ease production. These include individually customized workstations, an air table for sewing and purchasing balanced tools.

Still, like many manufacturers, finding the right workforce can remain a challenge, especially when the headcount has increased by 50 percent over the past three years.

Hensel said finding welders presents some difficulty, but finding industrial sewers also is a challenge.

“The businesses that have been in this state that traditionally did sewing, a lot of that has moved out of the state, out of the country, so finding people that have sewing skills … it’s getting tougher and tougher,” he said.

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BizTimes Media will host the Northern Trust Economic Trends Breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Italian Conference Center, 631 E. Chicago St. in Milwaukee.

A panel of industry experts will discuss how the Donald Trump presidency could shape the economy and what kind of policy changes lie ahead for southeastern Wisconsin businesses. The panel will include: Michael Knetter, economist and president and CEO of the University of Wisconsin Foundation; Cynthia LaConte, CEO and president of The Dohmen Co.; Ajita Rajendra, chairman and CEO of A.O. Smith Corp. and Debbie Seeger, senior vice president and co-founder of Patina Solutions. Cost is $60 or $600 for a table of 10. For more information or to register, visit www.biztimes.com/trends.

BOOK REVIEW

‘Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less’ Is rest the key to getting more done at work? Silicon Valley consultant Alex Soojung Kim Pang argues workers can be more successful in all areas of their lives by recognizing the importance of rest. Working better does not mean working more, it means working less and resting better, Pang says.

For most of us, overwork is the new normal and rest is an afterthought, with busy lives leading to late-night TV binges and hours spent trawling the Internet. Treating rest as a passive activity secondary to work undermines our chances for a rewarding and meaningful life.

Whether that means making space for daily naps, as Winston Churchill did during World War II; going on hours-long strolls like Charles Darwin; or spending a week alone in a cabin like Bill Gates, pursuing what Pang calls deliberate rest is the true key to fulfillment and creative success.

“Rest” is available at www.800CEOread.com for $22.

w w w.biztimes.com

leading edge NON P RO F IT N E W S

DuBord to lead Women & Girls Fund of Waukesha County The Women & Girls Fund of Waukesha County has named Michelle DuBord executive director.

DuBord has directed multiple organizations and charitable programs in the greater Milwaukee area. From 2006 to 2015, she held multiple leadDuBord ership positions at the United Way of Waukesha County. She also has worked as executive director of Safe & Sound of Waukesha and, most recently, as a major gifts director at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The Women & Girls Fund was established in 2004.

The group awards grants to local nonprofit agencies to support projects and programs designed to promote the welfare, independence and self-sufficiency of women and girls of all ages.

DuBord is a graduate of Cardinal Stritch University and earned a certificate in nonprofit management from Carroll University.

——Ben Stanley

THE GOOD LIFE

A year-round Halloween obsession For Angela Fioretti, an art director at Core Creative, her job and her main hobby sort of blend together.

At work, she’s constantly scanning Pinterest and collecting ideas that could inform the artistic direction of marketing and advertising campaigns for clients. Outside of work, she does the same thing, but instead of collecting ideas for campaigns, she’s collecting ideas for Halloween costumes.

Because for Fioretti, Halloween is a year-round hobby. And she’s very, very good at applying makeup.

“I’ve always been a creative person,” she said. “I’ve always painted and drawn. When I was 7, I got a face-painting kit. I locked myself in a room and came out as a cheetah, and that started my interest in it. As an adult, I love Halloween. It feels different every year. I love Christmas and all the other holidays, but Halloween is an opportunity to be creative and fun and it’s socially acceptable.”

Each year, she and her boyfriend participate in a bicycle bar crawl through Kenosha during which each participant dresses – in some way, shape or form – like a zombie. It’s called “Ride of the Living Dead,” and Fioretti, because of her over-the-top and expertly-applied makeup, has become a recognizable figure among the participants.

“I’ve had people say to me: ‘I recognize you every year, but I don’t know exactly what you look like because your face is usually split open,’” she said, and laughed.

Although Halloween 2017 is 10 months away, she’s been

Fioretti and her boyfriend as “astronaut zombies” at the Ride of the Living Dead. thinking about her next costume for weeks.

When it comes to having a hobby so similar to her job, Fioretti said she loves it.

“It blends together, so I don’t really feel like I’m stuck creatively, and I never feel desperate for a project,” she said. “I’m never bored, which is great. Because I think that’s a creative person’s biggest weakness is when they need something to do.”

——Ben Stanley

Bold Leaders.

Bright Ideas.

Apply Today.

It is time to nominate for the

13th annual Bravo!/I.Q. awards!

Ideal Bravo! Entrepreneur nominees are individuals who demonstrate the best traits of entrepreneurship, including willingness to take risk, drive, perseverance, and more! Ideal I.Q. (innovation quotient) nominees are companies who develop innovative products or services, or those with notably unique and innovative processes, operational structures and/or market strategies.

To submit your nomination visit www.biztimes.com/bravo Past Bravo! lifetime achievement award winners have included: George and Julie Mosher, Gary Grunau, Michael Cudahy, Sheldon Lubar, Fritz and Debra Usinger, Stephen Marcus, George Dalton, Robert Kern, Joseph Zibler & Harry Quadracci Past IQ award winners have included: Agro-Biosciences Inc., Astronautics Corp. of America, Brew City Promotions Inc., Briggs & Stratton Corp., Connected Technology Solutions, Fiserv Inc., Millennium Forms LLC, PKWARE, Seiva Technologies, Wellntel Inc. Presented By:

leading edge G ET T I NG TH E R E

BR EA K ING G ROUN D

Benjamin Juarez Public Policy Forum 633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 406, Milwaukee Age: 33 Education: Master’s in policy analysis from Oregon State University; bachelor’s in political science, theology and French from Marquette University.

Current position: Fiscal researcher Previous position: Southeast Wisconsin regional representative, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin

»» What did you learn in your previous role that can be applied to your new job?

“A lot of it has to do actually with putting myself out there. For me, it’s a maxim. The saying, ‘It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you,’ is really important to me because if you’re out there and you’re working very hard and you make your sacrifices, people take note and they give you good references without you asking for them. That’s what I found out after doing a lot of work both on the Obama campaign and for the senator’s office. People notice in this city.” »» What do you hope to gain from your current role?

“A better understanding of public documents. How to read them and how to really understand where we’re going with them. There are a lot of things that, coming into this position, I didn’t even know existed. For example, final official statements on general obligation promissory notes. The city, the county and MMSD, which I’m looking at now, it’s available online.”

Thank You! To our sponsor, attendees and winners of the 2016 Health Care Heroes Awards This year’s Health Care Heroes awards program was a great success, honoring an array of very deserving winners who are making a positive difference in the health care industry! Their accomplishments were celebrated at an awards breakfast emceed by Melinda Davenport, Co-Anchor, WISN 12 News This Morning, a media partner of BizTimes.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Read their stories online www.biztimes.com

Sponsored By:

Presented By:

Martin Luther King Library branch Milwaukee-based Young Development Group LLC was recently selected by the Milwaukee Public Library board of trustees to lead a new mixed-use development project to replace the current Martin Luther King Library branch. The project includes 44 market-rate apartments, 1,400 square feet of retail space and a 17,000-squarefoot library at the current site of the library, 310 W. Locust St. in Milwaukee.

——Corrinne Hess

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ON LIN E POLL

Re: Social media “For all its issues, social media isn’t something that communications and marketing professionals can afford to ignore. Quitting it is simply not an option.”

- Andy Larsen, Boelter + Lincoln Marking Communications

Re: Donald Trump “If Mr. Trump really cares about more good-pay jobs (not the kind of wages paid in his hospitality industry), he would move in a major way to stimulate high-growth startup companies. That’s where the new high-pay jobs are.”

How much did you spend on Christmas gifts?

- John Torinus, Serigraph Inc.

Re: Wisconsin politicians “In an era when sharp personal attacks and partisanship drive more good people away from politics than it attracts, it’s reassuring to know that some quality officeholders continue to be attracted to public service.”

Godfrey & Kahn S.C. recently hosted a symposium addressing current issues and challenges facing in-house legal departments.

- Tom Still, Wisconsin Technology Council

About the same as a typical Christmas:

53%

Bah humbug… less than usual:

27%

Ho, ho, ho… more than usual!:

20%

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biz news

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sif Naseem said one of his early realizations after moving to the Milwaukee area was that attracting employees here would come with challenges.

“It’s very hard to attract technical talent. I don’t want to get myself into trouble, but it’s just next to impossible to attract talent into the Milwaukee area, especially technology talent,” said Naseem, president and chief executive officer of Paragon Development Systems.

As the head of an information technoloNaseem gy company headquartered in Brookfield, being able to attract top talent is an important part of the business, especially when the company has ambitions of becoming a national or even international competitor.

PDS has about 300 employees, with the ability to flex up and down as customer demands change. In addition to Brookfield, the company recently expanded its configuration center in Oconomowoc and opened a small research and development facility in Silicon Valley.

At a recent Waukesha County Business Alliance event, Naseem said creating the infrastructure and an ecosystem for technology talent is important in addressing workforce challenges, but he also said capturing the imagination of those with the right skills will help attract people from outside the region.

“We actually have developed a story that helps us attract talent from the East Coast, as well as the West Coast,” he told the audience. “And because we have a story, they want to come work for us.”

The story is one grounded in technology and what it can do for customers, but technology also is an option when the story isn’t enough. Naseem said the capabilities of today’s Internet connections mean PDS can take jobs to wherever potential employees are located.

Naseem says the region has the universities to create top talent in technology.

But, “unless you catch them between the day they graduate and the airport, they’re 10

gone,” he said during an interview. “And I think the fundamental reason for that is we just don't have enough of an ecosystem for graduates and technologists to stick around. We haven't given them enough reasons.”

The technology story Naseem tells is one that looks to the future and what might be possible. He’s quick to point out that technology is inherently exponential.

“We are wired to think linearly; we can’t think about exponential growth, we have to force ourselves,” he said, adding we have a tendency to overestimate the short-term implications of new technology and underestimate the longer-term effects.

The challenge for businesses is finding ways to marry the potential and promise of technology with human capital, Naseem told the Waukesha audience.

“When you cut costs, when you optimize processes, there’s a limit to it,” he said, adding that combining technology and human capability can “actually get one plus one to equal three.”

Naseem noted PDS has had to reinvent itself several times over its 30 year history because of the pace of technological change. For businesses, he said it is important to find partners to deal with things like shifting to the cloud, security or taking advantage of mobile options.

At his company’s own conference in October, Naseem said he sees the use of technology by companies on a spectrum, from technology extenders who don’t develop new technologies and focus on cost control, to technology leaders, who relentlessly innovate. In between are technology exploiters, who use combinations of the best off-the-shelf technology, and technology followers, who implement the latest technology with a little of their own intellectual property. The followers invest money back into innovation, but also need the entire ecosystem to continue developing new technology.

When it comes to solving problems, Naseem said technology leaders will opt to invest in the range of possible solutions to innovate instead of just betting B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

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BY ARTHUR THOMAS, staff writer MOLLY DILL

As technology advances, PDS works to lure top talent

Asif Naseem, third from left, speaks about the outlook for technology at the Waukesha County Business Alliance’s “Key Industries for Wisconsin in 2017 and Beyond” event in December.

on one option.

“Contrary to the thinking ‘do more with less,’ technology leaders do more with more,” he said.

For companies on the leadership end of the spectrum, Naseem said they must be honest about where they are currently, develop a vision and strategy to advance, align it with an appropriate business model and have a leadership team that understands transformation is not an endpoint of its own.

“Most companies get the vision and the strategy right, but the execution is the hard part,” he said, suggesting poor leadership can mess up great strategy and great leadership can take a mediocre vision to another level.

As for which specific technologies might transform business moving forward, Naseem said he sees great potential in augmented intelligence and suggested the term Internet of Things has come to be overused.

At the Waukesha event, he said until about a decade ago, the theory and goal was to develop computer science that mimics the human brain.

“The problem with that theory was we know so little about our brains, to try to mimic it with the same brain is really kind of aspirational and not realistic,” he said.

The goal increasingly is focused on in-

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telligence that augments what humans do to aid decision- making, he said. Instead of trying to replace a doctor, the intelligence should focus on providing accurate, timely, comprehensive and specific information that a physician can use in making a diagnosis.

Doing this requires deep machine learning applied to the vast amount of data produced or collected by enterprises.

Connected devices on the Internet of Things are helpful for this because they can provide information as close to the source as possible. But Naseem said the term is often misused, and connecting devices just for the sake of doing it doesn’t serve a purpose.

“It’s all about gaining new insights to change my business model, to implement new business models and create new applications,” Naseem said. During his company’s conference, Naseem noted that the country had moved from an economy focused on agriculture, to manufacturing and now increasingly, to services.

“I think augmented intelligence will actually replace a lot of things that we do,” he said during an interview. “But we’ll find other ways, so we ought not be afraid. A lot of people are (afraid) that it’s going to take our jobs away and so that gives them the hesitation to actually learn about it and apply it.” n

innovations TIP Technologies Inc. Pewaukee Innovation: Mobile quality assurance www.tiptech.com

A screenshot of the TIPSFS experience.

TIP Technologies brings flexibility to manufacturing quality

T

he devices and products built by manufacturers are in many cases becoming more and more complex. The average consumer sees this in the capabilities of smartphones and other connected devices, but it is also true in aerospace, defense and medical device manufacturing, all industries served by Pewaukee-based TIP Technologies Inc. Ensuring the quality of an iPhone is certainly important for Apple, but when a manufacturer is ARTHUR THOMAS (414) 336-7123 arthur.thomas@biztimes.com Twitter: @arthur8823

building an airplane or a project for the U.S. Department of Defense, quality assurance takes on a new level of importance.

TIP Technologies has about 40 em-

ployees, with 30 working in Wisconsin.

The company also has partners around the world and counts some of the top defense manufacturers, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and others, as customers.

TIP has a long history of helping companies track their manufacturing process with software. Its flagship product, TIPQA, does just that as software that runs on the client’s server. It can integrate with the leading enterprise resource planning systems and create records for tracing parts, handling nonconforming pieces, managing corrective action and more.

But any system for tracking a process is only as good as the data being put into it. The company’s shop floor execution offering, TIPSFE, allows users to manage activity on the shop floor, but TIP’s newest product aims to go one step further by allowing mobile tablet access throughout the shop floor. w w w.biztimes.com

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“Our customers have been asking for a web-based solution that delivers quality data with ease,” said Badri Balachandar, director of engineering at TIP Technologies, in announcing the new offering.

Balachandar said the TIPSFS product would give inspectors, manufacturing personnel and supervisors the ability to move throughout the shop floor while maintaining wireless access to data on product quality.

Ron Dolan, TIP Technologies president, said TIPSFS would give users the ability to better anticipate problems and take a more proactive approach.

Dolan said developing an application that could run on Apple or Android operating systems was one of the projects he was given when he joined the company in 2014.

The idea is that it will be easier for anyone on the shop floor to input data in

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real-time and supervisors and managers will be able to make real-time decisions.

Dolan said many organizations will have one terminal for as many as 10 work stations or operations, requiring users to stop their work and walk over to the terminal to input data. Using tablets at each work station will allow for more accurate data at the time the work is being completed.

Dolan acknowledged building a webbased application comes with challenges.

The tablets used by consumers don’t come with the level of security needed for manufacturing in the aerospace and defense industries.

“We have to write layers of security over the top of that,” he said.

TIP also has to build in security to make sure users see only the information they are authorized to view, Dolan said.

But one of the other challenges TIP Technologies faced is common to anyone designing something for use on mobile devices: user experience.

Dolan said one of the biggest challenges was to manage the real estate of the screen and design the platform so it could transition to different devices.

“The ability to make sure that we can accommodate whatever the technology is, is always a challenge,” he said.

While TIP Technologies’ offerings are built with an eye toward helping large manufacturers handle complex projects, Dolan said the products can also benefit smaller shops and can scale to fit the situation, whether someone is manufacturing fasteners or jet engines.

TIP Technologies also has increased its activity in Washington, D.C., Dolan said, working with U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner to include language in the Defense Authorization bill that encourages contractors to utilize electronic-based quality management systems on government projects.

Dolan said TIP knows there are manufacturers who could report on their improvements if they had better insight into their quality. That could, in turn, help drive the cost of projects down and improve their management, he said. n 11

CORRI HESS

real estate

Mandel Group’s DoMUS project in the Third Ward is one of many multifamily housing projects currently underway in Milwaukee.

Multifamily lending tightens as multiple projects get underway

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or the past year, developer Stewart Wangard has been meeting with commercial lenders and taking steps both individually and as a company to become more desirable as a customer.

His company, Wauwatosa-based Wangard Partners, has deleveraged many of its properties and is now focused more on cash flow and the quality of its portfolio, Wangard said.

Commercial banks are becoming more selective and enforcing stricter guidelines for multifamily real estate loans following concerns about overbuilding. How this will affect the apartment building boom in the Milwaukee area will depend on developers’ ability to secure financing through other channels.

Wangard and many other multifamily developers are preparing for the change to keep their momentum going.

“The banking environment is going to 12

return to normalcy,” Wangard said. “We’ve benefitted from extremely low interest rates and while as a borrower we appreciate that, we also realize it was temporary.”

Wangard, whose projects include Freshwater Plaza, a mixed-use development with 76 apartments under construction in Walker’s Point and the Avenir Apartments, with 104 units in 2015’s phase one and 82 units in phase two underway in the Park East corridor, has been to Chicago four times in the past 60 days to meet with lenders.

“Our company has a longstanding relationship with local banks but as we have become more active, we’ve been traveling more,” Wangard said. “As a company, we’ve put standards in place and been working for a year for efficiency in capital markets.

Rather than saying this is something we’re concerned about, we’re looking at this being a return back to normal times.”

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John Stibal, director of development for the City of West Allis, doesn’t believe the market has hit the multifamily bubble, but said banks will begin requiring developers to have a 75 or 70 percent loan-tovalue ratio instead of 80 percent, which had been the case.

“It’s going to make deals harder to do, because in order to bring equity into the project, the investors are going to expect a certain return,” Stibal said.

This could potentially lead to a request for more municipal assistance in the form of tax increment financing, but just as the banks are getting tougher, so will the public sector, Stibal said.

“Apartments had been a safe harbor and multifamily is still a solid bet, but banks are just getting more cautious,” Stibal said. “Some are getting too many in their portfolio. Markets fluctuate all the time. Multi-family is the hot commodity.

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CORRINNE HESS P: (414) 336-7116 E: corri.hess@biztimes.com Twitter: @CorriHess

In a year, industrial buildings will be the next hot market for people to invest in.”

Other options for financing multifamily developments could include private equity, life insurance company funding, mezzanine financing, New Markets Tax Credits and TIF. Mark Henschel, vice president of commercial banking at Milwaukee-based Park Bank, recently met with a client who wants to build a new apartment building in the City of Milwaukee, but doesn’t know what the internal response will be.

“In the last year-and-a-half, I would send out a proposal and it would be a blood bath of six banks trying to win it; I can see that has changed a bit,” Henschel said. “It’s not dog-eat-dog amongst the banks and the banks ultimately drive the project. No one is going to pay cash to build a $20 million building.”

Tim Gokhman is one of several developers who were building multifamily developments during 2016 in or near downtown Milwaukee. Trio MKE is a three-building, 120-unit apartment complex in Walker’s Point.

Milwaukee-based multifamily housing developer Mandel Group Inc. currently is building the 132-unit DoMUS apartment development in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. In January, Mandel began work on the fourth phase of its

The North End project, which will add 155 apartments to the 650-unit mixeduse development along the Milwaukee River Downtown.

Tim Gokhman and Jim Wiechmann built Rhythm, a seven-story 140-unit

apartment building at 1632-40 N. Water St. and farther north, Atlantic Realty Partners, an Atlanta-based developer, is constructing a four-building, 443-unit luxury apartment development at the Gallun tannery site at 1781 N. Water St. on Milwaukee’s East Side.

A lot of apartment projects have been announced, but Henschel doesn’t believe they all will be built unless they are in select areas, such as the Third Ward, where there is always demand.

“On North Water you have Wangard and Mandel; they are established and I’m sure will do well, but some of the others will be tougher,” he said. “(Walker’s Point) is interesting. There are a lot of people acquiring buildings with intentions of development and I’m not quite sure what will happen there.”

Developers interested in building in smaller markets, such as Plymouth, Lomira or Hartland, could have more success in securing a loan, Henschel said.

“It’s not a broad brush stroke of ruling out the City of Milwaukee, but it’s a little

tougher because the mass of units coming online (there),” he said.

Another issue developers are facing is the increase in long-term interest rates, which have increased 100 basis points since August, said Patrick Lawton, senior vice president, director of investment real estate at Brown Deer-based Bank Mutual Corp.

Lawton said looking at the 10-year treasury rate chart, the low point was 1.5 percent on July 1, 2016. On Dec. 23, the rate was 2.55 percent. However, looking at the broader period of the past 30 to 40 years, the average is between 5 and 6 percent.

“People have gotten used to low rates and a lot of times, this is now what they are willing to pay,” Lawton said.

Despite the increase in long-term interest rates and the pullback in commercial lending, Lawton believes the environment is still relatively favorable for developers.

“As favorable as 12 months ago? Perhaps not,” he said. “It’s one of those items to watch. If we get another 100 basis points, it could cause developers to rethink a project.” n

SAVE THE DATE! SHAPING THE FUTURE

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Manufacturing Matters! 2017 will take place at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee on February 23rd, 2017. The theme of this year’s conference is Shaping the Future, and the conference features 18 breakout session in six tracks including: Growth • Operational Excellence • Human Capital Management C-Suite Essentials • Technology & innovation Wisconsin Manufacturing As workforce challenges and trends are on the minds of most manufacturers, we are pleased to announce this year’s keynote presenter is Kip Wright, Senior Vice President of Manpower, North America. Kip will discuss key workforce trends and what manufacturers can do to secure and develop their current and future workforces.

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DOWN

HOTEL SH

UPSTART RIVAL CHALL

S

INCE 1962, THE MARCUS CORP. HAS BEEN THE DOMINANT PLAYER in the downtown Milwaukee hotel marketplace.

With the iconic Pfister Hotel, the Hilton Milwaukee City Center and the Intercontinental Hotel

in its portfolio, Marcus has owned downtown Milwaukee’s largest and most luxurious hotels.

Marcus’ market dominance has garnered the company respect and a great deal of influence.

The Pfister Hotel

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But in 2009, rival hotel development firm Jackson Street Holdings LLC, entered the downtown Milwaukee

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Milwaukee Marriott Downtown hotel

NTOWN

OWDOWN ENGES MARCUS CORP.

BY CORRINNE HESS, staff writer

hotel scene, first with a boutique hotel in the Park East Corridor, followed by

“At one time, Marcus had the upscale hotel market in Milwaukee,” said

three more hotels in downtown Milwaukee, with three more hotels proposed

Greg Hanis, hotel industry analyst and president of New Berlin-based

at one of the most important downtown sites.

Hospitality Marketers International Inc. “Now, there is the Marriott, Kimpton,

Jackson Street Holdings' swift emergence downtown is offering a new

Westin (under construction) – at least four to five major competitors, and they

challenge for longtime market leader Marcus. Other competitors also have arrived

all carry brand names. The impact on Marcus has to be very strong. I’m sure

in recent years, including the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel in the Third Ward.

they are scrambling to preserve market share in downtown Milwaukee.”

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cover story HISTORIC VERSUS MODERN Jackson Street Holdings entered the downtown hotel market in 2009 when it and Milwaukee-based development partner HKS Holdings LLC opened the Aloft Milwaukee hotel in the Park East Corridor.

Then Jackson Street made a bold move by encroaching on the Marcus family’s crown jewel, The Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., by opening the city’s first full-service Marriott Hotel one block away, at 625 N. Milwaukee St. Jackson Street is owned by Ed Carow, Mark Flaherty and Randy Erkert. The three rarely grant media interviews and declined to be interviewed for this story.

Following the Marriott project, Jackson Street moved just west of the Milwaukee River and opened a SpringHill Suites

by Marriott hotel at 744 N. Fourth St., across the street from the Wisconsin Center, competing directly with Marcus again, this time with the Hilton, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., for convention business.

Once SpringHill Suites was underway, the group was back on the east side of downtown, getting ready to bookend The Pfister by building the city’s first Westin Hotel. The 220-room luxury hotel is currently being built between the U.S. Bank Center’s Galleria and the tower’s parking structure north of East Clybourn Street.

When the high end Westin hotel opens this summer, it will include an Italian steakhouse on the ground floor and also provide competition for the Pfister, as the Marriott has since it opened in 2013, by attracting business clients from nearby companies, including Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., Johnson Controls Inc. and ManpowerGroup. The Westin site is about two blocks east of the historic Pfister, which was built in 1893.

“There is a difference between a luxury hotel and a historic hotel,” said Doug Nysse, principal at Milwaukee-based Arrival Partners LLC, which developed the Marriott, SpringHill Suites and Westin with Jackson Street. “Once people get to know luxury, they want luxury.”

Greg Marcus, chief executive officer of The Marcus Corp., has questioned Jackson Street Holdings’ hotel development financing methods, from the use of federal Midwestern disaster area bonds to EB-5 financing, a federal visa program through which international investors who create jobs and development can earn U.S. green cards.

“Every single project they partici16

pate in has a subsidy,” Marcus said. “I can’t think of a time where, ultimately, that didn’t end up as a problem. I’m not going to comment on (Jackson Street MARCUS Holdings) or what they are doing, I’m just going to say typically, subsidies don’t end well.”

The only time Marcus has received a subsidy from the City of Milwaukee in recent years was in 2000, when the city asked the company to build an 850-space parking structure for the Hilton which also could be used by Fortis Health, which later became Assurant.

The company has, however, taken advantage of various funding mechanisms to develop properties in other states.

On Marcus’ website, it states: “Marcus has led or been involved in several successful deals with complex financing arrangements. For example, $32 million in EB-5 financing was raised for our Capitol District Marriott project in Omaha, and Marcus negotiated a favorable ground lease and second mortgage with Oklahoma City and identified and received significant income tax credits for the Skirvin Hilton redevelopment.”

The company also requested $105 million in public assistance for a 600room Marriott in Oklahoma City, according to a report by The Oklahoman.

In 1999, Marcus received $10.9 million in tax increment financing to build the parking structure for the Hilton Madison Monona Terrace.

Marcus said he is pro subsidy if it is used to create a catalytic project.

“When you are sick, a dose of Nyquil is a good thing; you don’t drink the whole bottle. We’re not against a subsidy. Look at the (former Pabst Brewery that has been redeveloped); that was an area that needed a kick start. Next to the U.S. Bank building, with a lake view?” he said, referring to the Westin.

FOURTH AND WISCONSIN Now, after this cat-and-mouse game that began with the Marriott opening in 2013, Marcus and Jackson Street are both vying for one of the most important development sites in the city, a 2-acre parcel at North Fourth Street and West Wisconsin Avenue, across the street from the Hilton and from the downtown convention B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

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The vacant site at North Fourth Street and Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee.

center (the Wisconsin Center).

In response to an RFP from the city, which owns the Fourth and Wisconsin site, Jackson Street and Arrival Partners submitted a $279.6 million proposal they are calling Nexus. It includes three hotels totaling 506 rooms, 103,000 square feet of convention space and 22,000 square feet of street-level restaurants, bars and cafés.

The project, which would be developed with Arrival Partners, would fully integrate Milwaukee’s planned downtown streetcar, a requirement when the city announced last summer it wanted to sell the parcel.

Marcus also submitted a proposal for the site, which it unveiled recently. The Marcus proposal, a $125 million plan called eMbarKE, calls for a 276-room expansion of the existing Hilton Milwaukee City Center hotel and a tower with up to 200 apartments.

The hotel expansion would bring the total number of rooms at the Hilton to 1,005, creating a convention headquarters hotel for Milwaukee, which would solve one of the two issues currently keeping the city from attracting major conventions, according to Marcus.

The other issue is the convention center is a mere 266,000 square feet, with about 189,000 square feet of exhibit space.

By comparison, Cincinnati has 196,800

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square feet; Columbus has 373,000 square feet; Minneapolis has 475,000 square feet; and Indianapolis has two venues totaling 749,000 square feet of exhibit space.

Both the Marcus and Jackson Street Holdings proposals for Fourth and Wisconsin are requesting the convention center be expanded.

City officials have been meeting with both groups and are expected to select a proposal early this year.

COMMUNITY PILLAR The Marcus Corp., which includes both Marcus Theaters and Marcus Hotels & Resorts, was founded in 1935 with the purchase of a Ripon movie theater. Today, the Milwaukee organization includes more than 50 theaters in the Midwest, eight owned hotels and 11 managed properties.

At the helm is Greg, the third generation chief executive officer who took the reins from his father, Steve, and before that, grandfather Ben, the corporation’s founder.

Marcus Corp. got into the hotel business subtly in 1960, with the building of the Guest House Inn in Appleton. A second Guest House Inn was built in Manitowoc in 1963.

The next step was a major one. Ben Marcus was the only person to bid on The Pfister Hotel at a bankruptcy auction in

THE FOURTH AND WISCONSIN PROPOSALS EMBARKE (LEFT) DEVELOPER: Marcus Hotels & Resorts ARCHITECT: Eppstein Uhen Architects CONVENTION SPACE: 61,500 square feet HOTEL ROOMS: 276-room addition to Hilton Milwaukee City

Center, for a total of 1,005 rooms

RESIDENTIAL: 200-unit high-rise apartment tower PRICE: $125 million

NEXUS (BELOW) DEVELOPER: Jackson Street Holdings LLC ARCHITECT:

Arrival Partners

CONVENTION SPACE: 103,000 square feet HOTEL ROOMS: 506 rooms in three hotels

Marcus Corp. wants to build an expansion for the Hilton Milwaukee City Center hotel at the Fourth and Wisconsin site.

RETAIL: 22,000 square feet of street-level restaurants,

bars and cafés

PRICE: $279.6 million

Jackson Street Holdings submitted plans to build three hotels at the Fourth and Wisconsin site.

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1962. Marcus originally considered replacing the 1893 hotel with a parking lot, but instead put Steve in charge.

Steve Marcus spent four years and $7 million renovating the hotel and constructing an adjoining tower with 185 rooms, meeting facilities, a parking structure, a night club and commercial space.

In 1972, Marcus purchased the Sheraton Schroeder Hotel, later to be named the Marc Plaza and again later rebranded the Hilton Milwaukee in 1995.

In 2005, Marcus bought the Wyndham Milwaukee Center hotel and rebranded it as the InterContinental. The purchase gave Marcus ownership of three of the four major hotels in the heart of the city at that time.

Greg Marcus said he felt compelled to participate in the Fourth and Wisconsin proposal because he looked at the broader area of the downtown, from Michigan Street to McKinley Avenue, and the impact this project could have on the city as a whole.

He believes Marcus’ history makes the company the right choice for the project.

“We’ve invested in (the Hilton) for 40 years, we’ve participated in the convention center market, we are the ones sitting there all this time, and we’ve built up all this experience,” Marcus said. “Others want to say they’ve developed new hotels – OK, but show up over a long period of time, stay committed, give back to the city, give back to the community and oh yeah, reinvest in your assets. I would be willing to bet we put more money into our properties than they’ve put into theirs.”

SEEING THINGS DIFFERENTLY Before arriving on the downtown Milwaukee scene, Jackson Street Partners was Wave Development. The group, which included Carow and Flaherty at the time, partnered with Denver-based Sage Hospitality and others at the height of the real estate boom in 2006 to develop 11 CoCo Key water parks.

Five years later, the parks were in trouble, selling for well below their estimated $350 million to $450 million construction cost at an auction. One $67 million Massachusetts CoCo Key property sold for $10 million at a 2011 auction, according to a report by Arizona-based JLC Hospitality Consulting.

Wave did find success in the water park arena when the group successfully revitalized the Country Inn Hotel in Waukesha, 18

1

2

3

4

5

6

rebranding it as the Country Springs Hotel and opening a 45,000-square-foot waterpark in 2003.

Then in 2008, the group teamed up with HKS Holdings, which would go on to develop the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel in the Historic Third Ward, and developed the Aloft in downtown Milwaukee.

The hotel was designed by Milwaukeebased Kahler Slater.

Carow and Flaherty have been working together since about 2004, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Jackson Street’s website lists them as having 30 and 37 years, respectively, of real estate industry experience.

Randy Erkert, the company’s third owner, also has more than 25 years of real estate experience, according to the site, and also is a partner at the Mallery & Zimmerman law firm.

Nysse, who launched Arrival Partners in 2013 after spending 16 years at Kahler Slater, where he led the hospitality design team for the firm, got to know the principals of Wave (now Jackson Street Holdings) while working on the Aloft project.

“They are awesome,” Nysse said.

“They are very creative, but not in a planning way – in terms of seeing a gap in the marketplace and seeing how to fill it.”

In his role at Kahler Slater, Nysse was the architectural consultant to Marcus on the company’s hotels from 1996 to 2010, B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

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including a major renovation project at the Hilton in 2000 that added 250 rooms, a new ballroom, and Paradise Landing, the first downtown indoor waterpark in America. The waterpark closed in 2013.

“I’ve had the opportunity in my roles to work on most of the hotels in Milwaukee that have been built in the last 20 years,” Nysse said. “And the ones I didn’t work on, I know about from friends and colleagues.”

Chris Anderson, senior vice president and chief revenue officer for Merrillville, Indiana-based White Lodging Services Corp., the company that manages the Marriott and SpringHill Suites hotels in downtown Milwaukee, said White Lodging chose to work with Jackson Street because its principals are entrepreneurs who want to continue to grow.

“White Lodging is a fast-growing service operator,” Anderson said. “We like the guys at Jackson Street and working with Arrival, because they are looking to do things a little different.”

Anderson knows the Milwaukee market and the competition. Like Nysse, he has a long history with Marcus.

He came to White Lodging after seven years with Marcus Hotels & Resorts. His most recent role with Marcus was senior vice president of sales, marketing and brand development, where he was responsible for the creation and implementation of the company’s revenue growth strategy.

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“We’re in markets across the U.S. and our philosophy is when we go into a market at zero, we stay as a long-term player,” Anderson said. “In Austin, we now have 26 hotels. In Indy, we have all of downtown with multiple brands. We learn the customer, how they buy and when they buy. We’ve thought Milwaukee was an attractive market for many, many years.”

Alderman Robert Bauman, who represents downtown Milwaukee, said Jackson Street's Marriott hotel project was the most confrontational project he has ever reviewed from a developer. The issue was several pre-Civil War buildings were demolished to make way for the hotel. The city’s Historic Preservation Commission approved the demolition with the condition that the building’s facades were incorporated into the new structure.

Kyle Strigenz, co-owner of HKS Holdings, who worked with Jackson Street on the Aloft project, said before the new hotels were built downtown (by Jackson Street and others), the city had a tired supply.

“One of the best things to happen was the Iron Horse,” Strigenz said. “What it did was create an option for people coming to visit the city. We don’t want to be the only option; we want all kinds of options. And people who are used to traveling to Seattle or other big cities don’t mind paying more for quality.”

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1 The Pfister Hotel (Marcus) 424 E. Wisconsin Ave.

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2 Milwaukee Marriott Downtown (Jackson Street Holdings) 323 E. Wisconsin Ave./625 N. Milwaukee St.

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1

3 8

3 Hilton Milwaukee City Center (Marcus) 509 W. Wisconsin Ave.

2 5

4 InterContinental Milwaukee (Marcus) 139 E. Kilbourn Ave. 5 Westin (Jackson Street Holdings) East side of North Van Buren Street between East Michigan Street and East Clybourn Street. Just south of the U.S. Bank Center and just west of the new 833 East Michigan office building.

6 SpringHill Suites Milwaukee Downtown (Jackson Street Holdings) 744 N. Fourth St. 7 Aloft Milwaukee Downtown (Jackson Street Holdings) 1230 N. Old World Third St. 8 North Fourth Street and West Wisconsin Avenue site.

OCCUPANCY REMAINS STRONG From October 2012 to October 2016, there have been three hotels added in downtown Milwaukee that are classified as “luxury or upscale.”

In that same timeframe, the average daily rate has gone from $126.46 to $140.88 for the 11 hotels that are considered luxury or upscale in downtown Milwaukee, according to Hendersonville, Tenn.-based hotel market research firm STR Inc. The rate increase benefits all the hotel operators, Hanis said.

“Coming out of the recession, hoteliers saw demand was up, but they were reluctant to push rates for fear of how fragile the market was and how devastating the Great Recession was,” Hanis said.

“Now, we are seeing that growth in the rates with the addition of brands like the Marriott. It’s good, because it sets a new benchmark for the older hotels that have been reluctant to raise rates.”

Occupancy also has increased, despite the addition of 313 hotel rooms since October of 2012 in the downtown area. The occupancy rate was 73.3 percent at the upscale hotels in downtown Milwaukee through October 2012, compared to 76.7 through October 2016, according to the most recent STR data available.

But Joseph Khairallah, president and chief operating officer of Marcus Hotels & Resorts, doesn’t believe the occupancy rates will continue to increase in the downtown Milwaukee hotel market.

“The picture is not very rosy in Milw w w.biztimes.com

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waukee as long as the convention center is hobbled by its size,” he said, adding that while Marcus has felt some impact of the Marriott opening, Jackson Street will feel the impact of the Westin because they are now competing for the same business.

“We run a tight business,” Khairallah said. “We wake up and look at supply and demand and what’s on the books. We don’t worry about what the Marriott is selling that day; we don’t play that game.”

Despite the loss of market share Marcus has experienced, and the hit the company could take depending on the future of the Fourth and Wisconsin site, the deep-seeded legacy the Marcus family has in the city will not waiver.

The company continues to be recognized by many for its 80 years in the com-

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Marcus hotel sites

Jackson Street Holdings hotel sites

munity and its commitment to the city.

It has donated more than $7.5 million to nonprofit organizations through its foundation over the past 10 years and has given countless volunteer hours to local groups.

It also still has a historic, iconic downtown Milwaukee hotel built in 1893 in its portfolio.

“I hate to say it, but the story is not over yet,” Marcus said. “(Jackson Street Holdings has) planted the flag and declared victory that Marcus is wrong (about the demand for downtown Milwaukee hotel rooms). I hope I am wrong, because that means there won’t be any problems (with oversupply) in the future.” n 19

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ABOVE: Carnevor, a high-end restaurant located downtown at 718 N. Milwaukee St., is operated by SURG Restaurant Group.

UPPER RIGHT: The Rumpus Room, located at 1030 N. Water St., is operated by Bartolotta Restaurants.

LOWER RIGHT: The Mason Street Grill, located on the ground level of The Pfister Hotel, is operated by Marcus Restaurant Group.

Local restaurateurs grapple with labor gap amid culinary boom

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here are two major conversations emerging around Milwaukee’s culinary scene. One, held by restaurant patrons, is about the city’s expanding dining options and award-winning culinary innovations.

The other, held among the chefs and leaders of restaurant groups themselves, revolves around a different issue: finding enough quality employees to keep those expanding options and innovations coming.

“It’s the conversation,” said Susan Terry, vice president of culinary and food and beverage operations at Marcus Restaurant Group, the restaurant division for Milwaukee-based The Marcus Corp. “It’s

BY BEN STANLEY, staff writer

dominating everybody’s focus and efforts and time. It’s labor, labor, labor.”

As Milwaukee’s culinary scene has blossomed since emerging from the Great Recession, so has its skills gap. Spending statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate consumers – especially those among the millennial generation – are spending less on groceries and more on dining out. And while that is good for restaurants, the demand has put pressure on owners to expand or open new locations, which has, in turn, put stress on the available restaurant workforce.

“This has been brewing for a good five years, and it’s just been getting progressively harder,” Terry said. “Where we typiw w w.biztimes.com

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cally would post a job for chefs six months or eight months out, we’re now posting up to a year ahead of time. It just takes that much more time to find the types of candidates you’re looking for.”

Several Milwaukee-area restaurants and restaurant groups have announced or launched major expansions or openings in 2016. Colectivo plans to open a restaurant in a former gas station in Wauwatosa; five new restaurants recently opened at the former Pabst Bottling House; Buckley’s restaurant in downtown Milwaukee is planning an expansion; James Beard award finalist Justin Carlisle announced plans to open a taco restaurant in Walker’s Point; and two chefs, one from Hin-

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terland Erie Street Gastropub and one a former chef at Odd Duck and Wolf Peach, recently opened Chinese restaurant Dandan in the Historic Third Ward.

That’s not to mention the three restaurants – ABV Social, Café Grace and Taqueria El Jefe – that The Bartolotta Restaurants opened recently in The Mayfair Collection in Wauwatosa.

And that list is by no means comprehensive.

“When I first got into the business 11 years ago, (the labor situation) wasn’t as bad, but there have just been so many restaurants that have opened,” said Omar Shaikh, co-owner and president of SURG Restaurant Group. “It has been a problem.

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We run ads in the paper often. We’re always looking for talented people. It’s been a challenge, and I think it’s going to continue to be a challenge.

“I’ve talked to restaurateurs in other cities and they all seem to be suffering from the same issues that we do. It’s a matter of finding good people. You can hire bodies to put in there, but are they going to be dependable, willing to learn, etc.?”

Restaurateurs have been adopting different strategies to address their industry’s skills gap while simultaneously trying to prevent burnout among their existing employees. Shaikh said that, at one point, he was forced to rotate chefs among SURG’s downtown locations and a new location in Brookfield, where he was struggling to hire employees.

“It’s not every day that a qualified, re-

ally good chef with a great attitude walks through your doors,” Shaikh said. “So if you want quality, you’re going to have to pay for it these days.”

In an effort to get a strong restaurant industry talent pipeline pumping in Milwaukee, SURG and Bartolotta Restaurants announced in February they were partnering with Milwaukee Public Schools and other local restaurateurs to expand a pilot food preparation and service management program at four high schools.

Similarly, Marcus Restaurant Group hired a corporate executive earlier this year who is in charge of building a training program for new hires.

“This is going to be something that’s going to be growing over time,” Terry said.

“It’s still in its infancy stages, but we do have solid on-property training programs.”

Marcus also has been trying to become as competitive as possible regarding employee benefits to attract the best people it can.

“The cooks and the chefs, they want to put out a good, quality product,” Terry said. “They’re interested in how you’re running your business. If they feel like they’re part of a higher purpose, they’re willing to stay committed to you and your business as well. I think a lot of businesses need to share their stories and be more transparent throughout the organization.

“I think we’ve been less conservative (lately). We’re willing to go outside of traditional boundaries. We’re willing to think outside the box, break down traditional compensation practices and be flexible. If we find the right people, we’re going to find a way to get them into the organization.” n

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Area manufacturing growth slows Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee

Manufacturing activity in southeastern Wisconsin slowed in December, but the Milwaukee-area PMI remained in positive territory for a second straight month.

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The Marquette-ISM Report on Manufacturing put the region’s PMI at 51.23 for December, down from 54.11 in November. Any reading greater than 50 indicates growth in the sector.

The index’s components showed declines in new orders, employment, inventories, backlog, exports and imports. Production, customer deliveries and prices all showed

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increases.

The six-month business condition outlook improved slightly to a diffusion index of 71.1 percent. The index attempts to address biases toward positive and negative outlooks.

The underlying data showed an increase in those expecting positive conditions moving forward, from 48.3 percent in November to 52.6 percent in December.

The percentage expecting worse conditions increased also, moving from 6.9 percent to 10.5 percent.

workforce development

Uplift Mke targets county’s unemployment challenges

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n the first nine months of 2016, nearly 100 people from Milwaukee County’s zip codes with the highest unemployment rates found work with the help of Uplift Mke, a new program that’s a partnership between the county and Employ Milwaukee.

Another 30 people from around the county also found work. While the initial

success of the program was enough for the county to more than double the program’s funding, it is just a small start for the 24,150 people the U.S. Census Bureau estimates are unemployed in the 10 zip codes targeted by the program.

“There’s still a ton more jobs to fill,” said Earl Buford, president and chief executive officer of Employ Milwaukee.

SOURCE: MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Milwaukee County’s Uplift Mke program incentivizes Employ Milwaukee’s work in the 10 zip codes with the highest unemployment rates (represented in orange) with a $2,000 payment for each person hired. Employ Milwaukee receives $1,000 for those hired from zip codes with unemployment rates higher than the county average (represented in yellow).

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BY ARTHUR THOMAS, staff writer

The Uplift Mke program was launched at the beginning of 2016 with $400,000 Milwaukee County allocated to the effort from land sale revenue.

The model for Uplift is fairly straightforward. Employ Milwaukee receives $2,000 for every person employed from the 10 zip codes in the county with the highest unemployment rates. The organization receives $1,000 for every perBuford son hired from a zip code with an unemployment rate higher than the county average.

While much has been made of the need for large projects like the Milwaukee Bucks arena and Northwestern Mutual tower to employ and train county residents for construction careers, Uplift seeks to address needs in other areas. Jim Tarantino, Milwaukee County’s director of economic development, said the county saw plenty of money and energy going toward construction jobs.

“Where we saw a big blind spot was there was no real intentional efforts at connecting people with end-use jobs,” he said.

The Uplift Mke program includes the manufacturing, health care, retail, hospitality and financial services sectors in this category.

Employ Milwaukee is tasked with coordinating training efforts among organizations like Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and other training groups. At the same time, Buford and his team also coordinate among employers, gathering data on job projections and openings across all the industries.

For Buford, the beauty of Uplift Mke is in the flexibility it affords to Employ Milwaukee. Most funding sources the organization goes after, especially those from the federal government, come with specific restrictions on where and how the money can be used.

Uplift, meanwhile, has a pay-for-per-

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formance model that rewards Employ Milwaukee for connecting potential employees with available jobs across industries.

Through the first three quarters, Employ Milwaukee had earned $220,000. Performance is tracked at the participant level and average wages for each quarter have ranged from $14.26 to $15.03 an hour.

“We are way ahead of the contractually expected pace,” Buford said.

Tarantino said the program has been “a huge success” so far and noted the county’s investment has been leveraged into millions of dollars in wages.

Uplift has been enough of a success that the county’s 2017 budget includes an additional $500,000 in funding for the program. Combined with the remaining initial funding, the program could result in another 340 to 680 jobs, depending on where the residents come from.

“The greatest way to get someone out of poverty is access to a career,” Tarantino said.

Uplift also is connected with some of the largest employers in the county, including Harley-Davidson Inc., MillerCoors LLC, the Milwaukee Bucks, WEC Energy Group, The Marcus Corp., Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, and the area’s major health systems through the Center for Healthcare Careers of Southeastern Wisconsin.

Participating companies agree to share their job projections, post open positions with Employ Milwaukee and interview qualified candidates who were trained through Employ Milwaukee-supported programs.

Buford, who previously ran WRTP/ Big Step, said the biggest difference between the construction industry and those covered by Uplift Mke is the focus on career pathways. He noted construction has a lot of apprenticeships and both labor and management work on training.

“These other industries don’t have that,” Buford said.

But he also noted any industry can draw on the apprenticeship model to improve training. He said Principal Financial Group has developed a three-week 23

SOURCE: 3RD QUARTER UPLIFT MKE NARRATIVE REPORT

MATC TRANSFORMS INDUSTRY n Tier 1 (10 zip codes with highest unemployment) n Tier 2 (yellow zip zip codes on page 23 map)

MATC’s Workforce Solutions strengthens businesses. There are hundreds of options, including technical assistance services, customized training, workshops and seminars. Learn how MATC can benefit your company through flexible and cost-effective solutions at matc.edu/OWED/ 414-302-2600 | WorkforceSolutions@matc.edu

apprenticeship class for new financial planners and the hospitality industry has increasingly focused on developing career pathways. The Center for Healthcare Careers was started with the idea of helping to develop the region’s workforce.

Buford’s focus is on finding ways to scale ideas for developing the region’s

workforce. Corporate, public and nonprofit funding alone can’t raise individual programs to the level of impact the region needs. With its built-in flexibility, Buford believes Uplift Mke can be part of a blended funding model moving forward.

“This is a way to make an investment in the citizenry,” he said. n

BIZ NEW S For more information: 414-297-MATC | Wisconsin Relay System 711 DOWNTOWN MILWAUKEE

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Access HealthNet to hire 50 Milwaukee-based startup Access HealthNet will move into a much larger office space and hire another 50 employees in 2017.

In the beginning of January, the company plans to move from its 3,000-square-foot office space at the Shops of Grand Avenue into a 14,000-square-foot space on the 10th floor of the building at 105 W. Michigan St. in downtown Milwaukee.

Mount Mary University names new president Mount Mary University has selected a new president to replace current president Eileen Schwalbach.

Christine Pharr, vice president for alumnae and donor relations at the College of St. Mary, a Catholic women’s college located in Omaha, Nebraska, will take office in July 2017.

Founded in 2014, Access HealthNet already is moving into its fourth office location. The moves have been driven by the company’s rapid national expansion, said Leslie Kolowith, cofounder and chief administrative officer.

Schwalbach, who held various roles at Mount Mary for the past 23 years, announced in April she would step down at the end of the 201617 academic year. Schwalbach has been president of Mount Mary since 2008.

Part of the new space will serve as a call center for Access HealthNet’s clients, which is why the additional employees are being hired.

Access HealthNet currently has 22 employees, as well as five contracted salespeople based around the country.

Over the past year, Pharr helped raise millions of dollars for the College of St. Mary. Prior to her current role, she served as vice president for academic affairs at the college, where she developed undergraduate and graduate programs in business, science, nursing and education, as well as a physician assistant program.

She previously worked as academic dean and professor of chemistry at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho.

Access HealthNet works with both employers and health care providers to create bundled health care procedures that are offered for a flat rate.

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strategies

Pick your frame Your life belongs to you

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e live in a world of tremendous and confusing dichotomy.

Recently, I read brief articles on white privilege work being done at a variety of colleges and universities and on the importance of being present – and appreciative – of life in the moment.

One piece advocates intellectual and practical dissention; pushing back against injustice that exists today, along with its power to limit or destroy those who experience it.

The other suggests that life changes quickly and constantly and contains daily moments of goodness and opportunity to reach out in support and appreciation.

Reading these two articles back-toback made me reflect on how people view life. Do you see the world as an angry and dangerous place or as someplace significantly more welcoming? The frame you

choose dictates your mindset and, I would argue, your level of contentment.

That word choice can agitate people.

Perhaps you didn’t choose to see life as dangerous but have been taught it by those closest to you. Perhaps, alternatively, you were protected from every type of evil and, thus, have no idea it exists nearby.

This is real. And at some point, you can change it. If you want to be maximally effective, at some point you must.

The notion of contentment suggests comfort. However, I have met many people along life’s journey whose circumstances were difficult, even grim. Yet they possessed a serenity that belied their situation. How does that happen?

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SUSAN MARSHALL MINDSET enjoyed moments of pleasure and endured darker times. They know each of these times will end and new mornings will dawn. This acceptance was not installed at birth; their experiences taught them these truths.

I don’t know if it is normal human tendency to think we know more than we do or to draw firm conclusions based on limited information or experience, but it seems we create a lot of heartburn for ourselves by wishing – or demanding – things be different. Mostly we place these demands on people around us, whether or not they have direct impact on our circumstances.

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These demands create tension, anxiety and anger, which sap energy. How often have you railed against people or things you have no power to control or redirect?

I am reminded of an airline flight I was on years ago. The man sitting next to me was holding the finance section of a newspaper and fuming at what was happening in the stock market. Out of curiosity, I turned toward him. He jabbed at the newspaper, shouting, “Look at this! Just look at this! My future is being destroyed!”

His face was red and sweat-drenched, and the veins in his forehead and neck stood out. Fearing for his physical health, I quietly asked what he could do about it.

Looking at me like I was crazy, he said, “Not a damned thing!”

At that point, I went back to my own reading, wondering why a person would want to cause himself to stroke out over something he was utterly powerless to affect.

It’s funny in retrospect, yet don’t we all have moments like this? We get enraged over things that got the way they are with no help from us and will stay the way they are until something causes them to change.

Yes, it is frustrating to feel the negative effects of such things and we can feel justified in our anger. Beyond that, however, it seems pointless to give our time, energy, intellect and emotion to something we cannot change in the moment.

If you feel called to work on changing a particular reality, that’s different. Then you need to consider your resources and how best you can bring them to bear on a solution. If that is not the case, take a look at how you are framing your outrage to see if there is a different, more productive way to accept it.

Your life belongs to you. No matter how it started or has progressed to date, you have the power – and responsibility – to take it into your hands to shape it the way you want it to be. This is not a solo undertaking; there are many resources to assist you. But you have to make a decision to start and reach out for help. Then you must persist in your efforts, for life will bring you sunshine and epic storms.

Embracing both, you begin to develop power, wisdom – and yes, contentment.

That’s a frame worth choosing. n Susan A. Marshall is an author, speaker and the founder of Backbone Institute (www.backboneinstitute.com). She can be reached at (262) 567-5983 or susan@backboneinstitute.com.

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strategies

So, you want to write a book?

Getting published is a challenging venture

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any dream of writing the great American novel. Based on my limited experience, it may be better for some to keep dreaming.

Our journey was a positive learning experience. My writing partner, Dr. Larry Waldman, and I sat down and created an initial outline of a book over coffee almost two years ago and determined who would author each chapter. The decisions were based on our professional and life experiences.

Once the delegation process was complete, our baby was conceived, our literary pregnancy began and we were excited. I did not anticipate the challenge before me to merge two distinct writing styles, without compromising the content or presentation. I was comfortable with my style as a writer who concentrated on producing monthly business-related articles for BizTimes Milwaukee. My co-author, on the other hand, had already produced five selfpublished books and numerous articles about family relationships and running a successful psychology practice, and had a more relaxed writing style.

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Not only were our writing styles and frames of reference different, but so were our personalities. I’m more of the Type A driver, and he is more of a Type B consensus builder. Our wives were worried our personalities would not work well together. But we were driven by a common goal: producing a successful how-to book that would permit others to negotiate their way through life’s challenges.

If you are ready to stay up late and get up early, then you may be one of the few who can successfully write the great American novel. Some things you need to consider: Write in a stream of consciousness; don’t self-edit as you write, just keep writing during the gestation period. You will have plenty of time to edit later when your rough draft is completed. You will need to perform research to ensure your materials are up-to-date and your facts are supported by third-party independent research. Remember that words and phrases that are part of your everyday professional conversations may not be familiar to your readers. Hence, you need to develop a detailed glossary of terms.

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CARY SILVERSTEIN PUBLISHING Permit me to revisit the topic of thirdparty research. I found it extremely helpful to engage experts and have them review specific chapters for content and accuracy.

This proactive critiquing provided many important insights and isolated areas that needed to be revised or amended. It also added to the accuracy and validity of the content of each chapter. It’s far better to receive your critical feedback when you still have the ability to revise your content, rather than after you publish.

Once your rough draft is completed,

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the real fun begins. My partner and I reviewed the rough draft and began to edit and reorganize, which began the labor phase of our literary pregnancy. As we proceeded, the labor pains became more intense and closer in frequency. Headings were added and complete paragraphs were moved between chapters. In fact, the final table of contents did not mirror the initial outline negotiated over coffee and a bagel two years ago.

Once our initial edits were complete, we took the most important step and engaged a publishing consultant who began to professionalize our revised draft.

Artwork was developed for the front and back covers, pictures and fonts were selected, running headings were added and headings reorganized. Once the professional editor finished her review of our work, questions were posed to the writing team and we responded by adding and clarifying content. Definitions were added to the glossary, references were validated and others added to the bibliography and webliography. The web links were verified to ensure readers could access the references. The final brush stroke was to add personal statements from content experts and community leaders who previewed the book. Each of these supporting statements added to the validity.

Now our baby was ready to be delivered to the publisher.

After all the edits and revisions were completed, our baby was delivered from the publisher as a bound proof. We never expected our writing journey to turn into an extended pregnancy complete with an extended labor, but it was worth it.

Again, we carefully reviewed each page to ensure all the desired changes were made.

After that final review, the proud parents announced the birth to our audience via Amazon.com, Facebook and LinkedIn. We are very proud of our baby and named her “Overcoming Your NegotiaPhobia.” n Cary Silverstein, MBA, is a writer, speaker and community volunteer who splits his time between Scottsdale, Arizona and Fox Point. He is the co-author of the book “Overcoming Your NegotiaPhobia,” and can be reached at (414) 403-2942.

strategies

2016 BIZSTARTS INSPIRATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS Dan Steininger and UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone with past Inspirational Entrepreneur honorees. (Left-right) Joe Bartolotta of Bartolotta Restaurants, Ken Szallai and David Lubar of Lake Express, Gary Grunau of Grucon Group, Andy Nunemaker of Dynamis Corp., Cathy and Mario Costantini of LaLune Collection, Roy Reiman of Reiman Publications, Jeff Rusinow of Aurora Spectral Technologies, Jalem Getz of Wantable, Jim Lindenberg of World Class Wire & Cable, Michael Major of Cambridge Major Laboratories, Ted Kellner of Fiduciary Management and Tom Shannon of Prodesse.

Innovate or Die

Learning from the great entrepreneurs of our region

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hat’s the secret formula successful entrepreneurs use to scale their companies to a national or even international level from nothing?

Many of the honored entrepreneurs you see featured in the above picture accomplished this goal even though some had never even run a business before.

Well, stay tuned as an answer to their magic formula is on the way.

On Nov. 8, David Lubar, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee chancellor Mark Mone and I announced to the world that this region’s first Entrepreneur Hall of Fame will be housed at the new UWM Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship that will commence construction in 2017.

Its purpose will be: »» To honor entrepreneurs who have achieved greatness in launching their companies and creating jobs for their fellow citizens. »» To educate, encourage and inspire generations of our citizens to follow in their footsteps. »» To create a destination point for citizens from all segments of our community so they can learn about how the great entrepreneurs of our region were responsible for the very existence of Milwaukee and its growth.

What you will learn is there are multiple ways to scale the business. Some of the strategies they pursued could very well be

relevant to your business.

First, some were able to identify a problem or opportunity in the marketplace in underutilized assets where no one saw opportunity.

For example, Gary Grunau looked at the dilapidated buildings that formed what was formerly the No. 1 brewery in the world, Schlitz Brewery. He took the plunge and bought the whole thing with his partner, Scott Sampson – a decision which would make other men run in terror. Today, Schlitz Park employs more people than the brewery did at its height in the 1950s.

Second, some perceived weakness in the distribution chain of a given industry and therefore, created a new distribution platform.

Bob Hillis, chief executive officer of Direct Supply Inc., went seven years without a paycheck as he developed a catalog to serve senior living facilities across the country. There was no easy way to access products and services, so he disrupted that market. He now is sought after by Wall Street for interviews as his company controls a significant portion of the distribution chain in that industry.

Third, look for an underserved market which could prove to be an opportunity for your business.

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DAN STEINING ER INNOVATION consumers who wanted to avoid the drive around Chicago and northern Indiana to get to Michigan. He teamed up with David Lubar and together, they did something that had never been done before: launched the first high-speed car ferry service between Wisconsin and Michigan.

Fourth, everybody screams about the need for early-stage investment capital.

Roy Reiman, founder of Reiman Publications, found a way to get around that barrier. He started targeted magazines aimed at audiences he felt weren’t being served, and attracted so many subscribers he was able to support the publications solely with subscriptions and zero advertising. This was unheard of in the industry and it led to the creation of 14 national magazines with more than 16 million subscribers. At its height, every eighth home

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in America received one of his magazines.

And he bootstrapped it every inch of the way without significant early-stage angel capital from outsiders.

Fifth, another opportunity is to target an old-line established business market and disrupt it with a new approach to purchasing.

Jalem Getz and Jeff Rusinow exploited a traditional market in retail costumes by creating an online opportunity called BuySeasons Inc. They changed the purchasing process for thousands of consumers who wanted an easy way to buy costumes.

Sixth, take an existing model and improve upon it by getting better results for customers.

Both Ted Kellner, who founded Fiduciary Management Inc., and Bill Nasgovitz, who founded Heartland Advisors, decided they could ascertain value in the marketplace by stock picking what the crowd on Wall Street missed. The growth of both their mutual funds and advisory services has been nothing short of spectacular. Mind you, the financial services industry is completely cutthroat. To gather assets into the billions proved their ability to deliver better returns to customers than the competition.

There is no one secret formula for entrepreneurs to innovate, but many secret formulas, and any one of these approaches might work in your industry. n Dan Steininger is the president of Milwaukee-based BizStarts, a lecturer on innovation and creative problemsolving at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education and president of Steininger & Associates LLC, which helps companies drive new revenues through innovation. He can be reached at Dan@BizStarts.com.

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biz connections CA L E NDAR

NONPROFIT DIRECTORY

The South Suburban Chamber of Commerce will host a Chamber Networking Breakfast on Wednesday, Jan. 11, from 7 to 9 a.m. at Faith Community Church, 7770 W. Faith Drive in Franklin. Each attendee can give a 30-second professional introduction of himself or herself. Cost is $15. For more information or to register, visit business.southsuburbanchamber.com/events.

SPOTLIGHT

The Brookfield, Wauwatosa and West Allis/West Milwaukee chambers of commerce will host ABLE West Structured Networking Breakfast on Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 7 to 9 a.m. at Dave & Buster’s, 2201 N. Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa. The event includes roundtable networking, 30-second commercials and a featured business presentation. Cost is $15 in advance or $135 for a 10-pack. For more information or to register, visit business.wawmchamber.com/events.

The Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce will host its Annual Dinner & Auction on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Veterans Terrace, 589 Milwaukee Ave. in Burlington. The public event will raise funds for the nonprofit marketing organization and celebrate the chamber’s 73rd year in operation. Cost is $50. For more information or to register, contact the chamber at 262-763-6044.

The Germantown, Hartford and West Bend chambers of commerce will host WIN Washington County Interactive Networking on Friday, Jan. 20, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at The Threshold Inc., 2380 W. Washington St. in West Bend. The joint networking event will allow attendees to give 30-second commercials about themselves and their businesses. Cost is $15 for pre-registered members, $17 for members registered at the door and $25 for non-members. For more information or to register, visit www.germantownchamber.org/events.

See the complete calendar of upcoming events & meetings.

BIZ NO T ES University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Bob Greenstreet, the dean of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning, is one of 30 architects to be named a 2017 fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. It’s an honorary title meant to recognize architects in the United Kingdom and abroad who have made contributions to the field.

Greenstreet, a London native who moved to the United States in 1980, has served as dean of the UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning for the past 27 years. He is one of the longest-serving architecture deans in North America and, in 2013, received the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education from the American Institute of Architects and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. While living in Milwaukee, Greenstreet has served on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Architectural Foundation and the Wisconsin Architectural Archives. He was also the chairperson of the Milwaukee City Plan Commission from 1993 to 2004 and has been a member of multiple city task forces. UWM’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning is the only accredited architecture school in Wisconsin.

City of West Allis The City of West Allis has been awarded a Global Award for Excellence in BPM and Workflow by the Workflow Management Coalition. West Allis was honored for its innovative approach to its business growth and housing affordability and maintenance programs. The city worked to automate and streamline key processes and enhance collabo-

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ration among the city, residents and business owners. This is the 23rd year of the Excellence in BPM and Workflow awards, which recognizes end user organizations that have demonstrably excelled in implementing innovative business process solutions to meet strategic business objectives.

David J. Frank Landscape Contracting Inc. Germantown-based David J. Frank Landscape Contracting Inc. is celebrating 500 days without a lost time accident. The company hung banners celebrating the milestone and gave each of its nearly 250 employees a gift bag to thank them.

The company’s employees use power tools, often in inclement weather and on tight deadlines. Its labor pool is large and often young. President and chief executive officer David Frank has developed safety programs and procedures for the landscapers, and credits his managers and employees for abiding by them. Among the practices is extensive training for new employees, ongoing weekly safety meetings, and recognizing and rewarding employees for being proactive about safety and protection of their coworkers.

800-CEO-READ Milwaukee-based 800-CEO-READ has announced its shortlist for its 10th annual Business Book Awards. The shortlist aims to reflect the general attitude and outlook of the expert staff at the business book curator and distributor and represent the trend in business books toward a more humanistic and inclusive view of the business

To have your business briefs published in a future issue of BizTimes Milwaukee send announcements to briefs@biztimes.com.

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GiGi’s Playhouse Milwaukee 8685 N. Port Washington Road, Fox Point 414-797-0522 | www.gigisplayhouse.org/milwaukee Facebook: www.facebook.com/gigisplayhousemilwaukee/ Year founded: World Down Syndrome Day, March 21, 2015 Mission statement: To change the way the world sees Down syndrome though free educational and therapeutic-based programs, national campaigns, and by empowering individuals with Down syndrome, their families and the community.

Primary focus: GiGi’s Playhouse is the only nationwide network of Down Syndrome Achievement Centers, profoundly changing lives through free, results-driven programs for individuals of all ages, families and communities.

Other focuses: To send a global message of acceptance for all.

»» Chris VandenHouten, treasurer; »» Beth Wisniewski, secretary.

Board of directors: Koehn, VandenHouten, Wisniewski, Terri Peckerman-Stein of Bethesda College and Concordia University, Susan Waldkirch and Andi Zimmerman.

Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes What roles are you looking to fill?

Need more professionals or non-parents who know marketing and fundraising.

Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: Sponsorships and donations, in-kind donations of goods and services, volunteers.

Number of employees at this location: 1 Executive leadership: »» Sarah Koehn, president;

Key fundraising events: Dance-a-thon with Concordia University, March 4.

Get the latest nonprofit news delivered in your inbox every Friday.

Sign up for BizTimes' Nonprofit Wekly at biztimes.com/subscribe world. The shortlist books are: “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” by Cal Newport in the Personal Development and Human Behavior category; “Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation” by Edward Humes in the Narrative & Biography category; “An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization” by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey in the Management & Workplace Culture category; “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” by Matthew Desmond in the Current Events & Public Affairs category; “Simply Brilliant: How Great

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Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways” by William C. Taylor in the Leadership & Strategy category; “Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends” by Martin Lindstrom in the Marketing & Sales category; “What Works: Gender Equality by Design” by Iris Bohnet in the Big Ideas & New Perspectives category; and “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World”

by Steven Johnson in the Innovation & Creativity category. The company will announce the overall 2016 Business Book of the Year at its annual awards ceremony and business book industry celebration in New York City on Jan. 12.

biz connections PER SO NNE L F I L E

■ Architecture AG Architecture, Wauwatosa, has added Lexi Sarter and Dave Manke to its team.

Sarter is a 2016 graduate of the Architectural Studies program at the Sarter University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Manke previously worked for AG Architecture. He has more than 12 years of industry experience.

■ Banking & Finance North Shore Bank promoted Cole Heinrich to associate loan originator.

Heinrich will work out of the bank’s Sussex office.

Submit new hire and promotion announcements to www.biztimes.com/submit/the-bubbler

Tom Smith joined Moore Construction Services LLC, Menomonee Falls, as executive vice president.

Smith has more than 30 years of commercial construction experience and will oversee pre-construction and project management services.

Marketing & ■ Public Relations

■ Design Schroeder Solutions, New Berlin, added Jamie Fink to its team of workplace consultants. Fink has more than 10 years of experience in residential design.

■ Health Care

P. White

McDermott

Frost

has joined the Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center as internal medicine specialist.

Michelle Graham, MD, has joined UnitedHealthcare as the medical director for Wisconsin and Michigan. She is based in the Milwaukee office.

Dr. Graham will be leading the clinical services, quality and affordability initiatives.

Foley

Nelson

Lake Lawn Resort, Delavan, hired Becke Connelly as director of marketing to lead all resort-wide communications and marketing efforts. Connelly joins the resort from Gage Marine in Williams Bay, where she developed and implemented a variety of revenue-building strategies, including print and digital advertising campaigns, media relations, website development, special event coordination, and video and photo shoot direction.

Teuber

B. White

Sikora

Roettgers

■ Legal Joshua M. Engelkemier, Ph.D., has joined

Jeffrey Wilson, Peter White, Dan McDermott, Andrew Frost, Aaron Foley and Adam Finkel have joined w w w.biztimes.com

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Mangold Creative, Pewaukee, has added Kris Timmer as marketing project manager. Timmer comes to Mangold Creative from Guarantee Digital, where she served as director of web services and production.

During her time at Guarantee Digital, Timmer served numerous clients in a variety of capacities, including social media management, web maintenance, media partner site builds and production coordination.

Boelter + Lincoln Marketing Communications, Milwaukee, has promoted Sarah Kehoe to assistant media planner/buyer. Kehoe will assist in the monitoring of all media buying and planning, while also implementing full-scale media search campaigns.

Kristin Bayer has

■ Hospitality & Entertainment

Michael Best & Friedrich’s Milwaukee office as a patent scientist in the firm’s intellectual property practice group and life sciences industry team. Engelkemier assists clients with the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in the chemical, material and life sciences, as well as contributing to freedom to operate and patentability opinions.

Kneser Cutts MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, hired Brian Kneser as an architectural technician

Wilson

Anisha Jambhekar,

■ Building & Construction

Atwell Widenski Milwaukee-based Greenfire Management Services LLC announced the hiring of Stephanie Atwell as administrative assistant and Gene Widenski as superintendent.

Widenski has more than 36 years of experience in the construction industry.

general counsel for the company. Nancy Bonniwell joined as a shareholder in the Delafield and Milwaukee offices.

within the design department. Additionally, the firm promoted Kevin Cutts to project manager. He was previously a project superintendent.

Chandler

Rakita von Briesen & Roper, s.c. as associates in the Milwaukee office.

Randy Nelson, Robert Teuber, Barry White, John Sikora, David Roettgers, and Ann Chandler have joined

Bonniwell as shareholders in the firm’s Milwaukee office and Richard Rakita has been named

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joined Milwaukee-based Zizzo Group as a senior account executive. In her new role at Zizzo Group, Bayer will manage all facets of marketing initiatives, including day-to-day client contact and monitoring client projects and budgets, while maintaining quality and meeting deadlines.

The Falk Group, Milwaukee, announced that Cindy Kazan has joined the agency as executive vice president of client services. Kazan has more than 20 years of experience as a brand strategist and communications executive.

Librizzi Barden STIR Advertising & Integrated Messaging,

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biz connections PER SO NNE L F I L E

Submit new hire and promotion announcements to www.biztimes.com/submit/the-bubbler

Milwaukee, recently hired Sal Librizzi as a junior marketing specialist SEO/PPC and Dave Barden as a front end developer

from vice president of marketing and communications to executive vice president and general manager, a new position for the organization.

Mortenson Safar Kim, Milwaukee, has hired Patrick McSweeney as its vice president of public relations. MSK is a full-service marketing communications agency serving a broad range of clients from its offices in Milwaukee and Indianapolis. McSweeney will work out of the firm’s Milwaukee office.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s board has appointed Tanya Atkinson to president and chief executive officer. Atkinson is currently the chief external affairs officer at PPWI, leading the teams responsible for government relations, community organizing and external communication initiatives, as well as Embody, PPWI’s statewide educa-

■ Nonprofit The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra announced that Susan Loris has been promoted

tional programs. Atkinson began her career with PPWI in 2004, giving her a deep understanding of PPWI’s business, organizational partners and patient needs.

Jefferson County Bowling Pump & Well Service, N7399 N. Shore Road, Lake Mills, $15,000, Summit Credit Union; Bowling Pump & Well Service, N7399 N. Shore Road, Lake Mills, $60,000, Summit Credit Union;

Kenosha County Care Animal Hospital of Pleasant Prairie, Prairie Ridge Blvd., Pleasant Prairie, $4.4 million, United Community Bank;

Milwaukee County 3216 S. Howell LLC, 3216 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, $216,000, Milwaukee Economic Development Corp.; AddeoFit LLC, 5055 Lydell Ave., Glendale, $250,000, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.; Klessig Real Estate LLC, 8254 N. Teutonia Ave., Brown Deer, $194,100, First Bank Financial Centre; Maaco, 7516 & 7528 N. Teutonia Ave.,

Waukesha-based CornerStone Plumbing has added Shawn Hirtz as manager of the commercial plumbing contractor’s special projects division. Hirtz oversees CornerStone’s more unique and technically challenging jobs.

Milwaukee, $75,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Milwaukee Pallet, 2733 W. Carmen Ave., Milwaukee, $722,500, First Financial Bank; Neil Becker, 225 E. St. Paul Ave., Suite 300, Milwaukee, $50,000, Associated Bank NA; PJT and Associates LLC, 7429 W. Carter Circle, Franklin, $5,000, Wells Fargo Bank NA; Sebastian Family Psychology Practice LLC, 1720 W. Florist Ave., Glendale, $35,000, Educators Credit Union; Steel Framing Design Solutions LLC, 418 N. Third St., Unit 420, Milwaukee, $20,000, Associated Bank NA; T&M Cleaning Services Inc, 5436 W. Rogers St., Milwaukee, $133,000, Landmark Credit Union; Valentine Cafe LLC, 7971 S. Sixth St., Oak Creek, $150,000, Milwaukee Economic Development Corp.; Watts Communications Inc., 149 N. 120th St., $35,000, Spring Bank;

LDB Land LLC, 3172 N. Riverside Drive, Saukville, $243,600, Commerce State Bank; Schaefer Power Systems Inc., 1302 11th Ave., Grafton, $100,000, Partnership Bank;

Ozaukee County

Dura-Trel Inc., P.O. Box 122, Sheboygan Falls, $300,000, Commerce State Bank; Hartland Investment Properties LLC, W6188 Linda Lane, Plymouth, $400,000, First National Bank; SwitchGear Brewing Company LLC, 44 Gottfried St., Elkhart Lake, $135,000, Commerce State Bank; Yank Aeronautics LLC, 1908 N. 19th St., Sheboygan, $120,000, Hiawatha National Bank;

A1 Cleaners Inc., 10000 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon, $385,000, Pacific City Bank, Mequon;

Milwaukee Rescue Mission (414) 344-2211 milmission.org

PHONE: WEB:

2017 GIVING GUIDE

FEATURED NONPROFIT

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Dynamis, a Milwaukeebased software company, announced the addition of Pete Garofalo as national accounts director.

Dynamis provides software that enables employee benefit insurance brokers to model and compare benefit plans with their clients.

Racine County

Slinger, $220,000, First Bank Financial Centre;

Altus Vinyl LLC, 2234 N. Western Ave., Racine, $211,500, U.S. Bank; Altus Vinyl LLC, 2234 N. Western Ave., Racine, $350,000, U.S. Bank; Eagle Disposal Inc., 7400 Noraire Drive, Franksville, $340,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Geneva Transportation Services LLC, 6120 368th Ave., Burlington, $150,000, Community State Bank; Mobile Reduction Specialists Inc., 2707 87th St., Sturtevant, $100,000, U.S. Bank; Mobile Reduction Specialists Inc., 2707 87th St., Sturtevant, $1.1 million, U.S. Bank;

Waukesha County

Sheboygan County

Walworth County

The Milwaukee Rescue Mission (MRM) has faithfully served the homeless and poor of Milwaukee since 1893. Our mission statement says: “In response to God’s grace through Christ, we compassionately serve men, women, and children who are homeless, hungry, or poor to help them become whole in body, mind, and spirit for the glory of God.” The Milwaukee Rescue Mission offers help in the present in order to give hope for the future.

MTI Connect, Milwaukee, announced the hiring of industry sales veteran Jamie Miller.

Miller comes to MTI Connect from Precision Dialogue Direct in Chicago.

■ Professional Services

SB A L O AN S The U.S. Small Business Administration approved the following loan guarantees in November:

■ Technology

American Fireworks and Novelties, North Williams Road, Genoa City, $150,000, WBD Advantage Fund LLC; OC Jams LLC, W1 166 Hidden Oaks Drive, East Troy, $280,800, U.S. Bank;

Washington County Shooting Star Travel LLC, 112 N. Main St., West Bend, $81,000, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corp.; Sunnypoint Gardens LLC, 3637-39 Hwy 175,

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ABL Automation Inc., 2120 S. Calhoun Road, New Berlin, $520,000, Byline Bank; American Advantage-Petersen, 14775 W. National Ave., New Berlin, $508,000, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corp.; Bret Achtenhagen’s Seasonal Services Ltd., W336 S8510 Hwy E, Mukwonago, $150,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Castle Senior Living Inc., 13050 W. Cleveland Ave., New Berlin, $3.9 million, First Bank Financial Centre; Dross Countryside Insurance, W283 N7229 Main St., Merton, $515,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Dross Countryside Insurance, W283 N7229 Main St., Merton, $50,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Entrusted Retirement Solutions, 500 Elm Grove Road, Elm Grove, $500,000, Live Oak Banking Co.; G&M Perfect Cleaning Inc., 260 Regency Court, Suite 105, Brookfield, $25,000, U.S. Bank; Hartland Village Mart Inc., 301 E. Capitol Drive, Hartland, $1.1 million, U.S. Bank; Lovejoy Controls Corp., N30 W22377 Green Road, Suite E, Waukesha, $260,000, Waukesha State Bank; Marshall Express Inc., 2924 Stillwater Circle, Waukesha, $24,000, U.S. Bank; NIK Dental Lab LLC, P.O. Box 95, Pewaukee, $70,000, Spring Bank; Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Parcel 2009954-001, Mukwonago, $548,000, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corp.; Tom + Chee, 12575 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield, $205,000, First Bank Financial Centre.

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biz connections

n GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR VOLUME 22, NUMBER 21 JANUARY 9 - 22, 2017 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120 PHONE: 414-277-8181 Fax: 414-277-8191 WEBSITE: www.biztimes.com CIRCULATION E-MAIL: circulation@biztimes.com ADVERTISING E-MAIL: ads@biztimes.com EDITORIAL E-MAIL: andrew.weiland@biztimes.com REPRINTS: reprints@biztimes.com PUBLISHER / OWNER

Dan Meyer dan.meyer@biztimes.com DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Mary Ernst mary.ernst@biztimes.com DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Jon Anne Willow jonanne.willow@biztimes.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Andrew Weiland andrew.weiland@biztimes.com MANAGING EDITOR

Molly Dill molly.dill@biztimes.com REPORTER

Corrinne Hess corri.hess@biztimes.com REPORTER

Arthur Thomas arthur.thomas@biztimes.com REPORTER

Ben Stanley ben.stanley@biztimes.com

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR OF SALES

Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Maribeth Lynch mb.lynch@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Molly Lawrence molly.lawrence@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com

PRODUCTION & DESIGN GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com ART DIRECTOR

Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com

Cement quarry This photo shows a break in the dike at the Milwaukee Cement Co. quarry in Shorewood. The quarry operations, built in 1876, were among several in the Milwaukee area at that time but ended production in 1911. The location is now home to Estabrook Park, which was established in 1916.

—This photo is from the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Photo Archives collection.

Additional images can be viewed online at www.mpm.edu.

Independent & Locally Owned — Founded 1995 —

COMME NTA R Y

It’s time to expand the convention center

W

isconsin Avenue is the Main Street of downtown Milwaukee.

But the street has struggled for years with empty storefronts, other vacancies and a lack of foot traffic.

However, with downtown Milwaukee in the middle of a renaissance, there is finally hope that Milwaukee’s once-Grand Avenue (West Wisconsin Avenue’s former name) will be so again.

Recently announced plans to transform the vacant Warner Grand Theatre into a performance hall for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the redevelopment plans for The Shops of Grand Avenue are building excitement on West Wisconsin Avenue. If those projects are successful, they could help jolt the street back to life.

Then there’s the situation at North Fourth Street and West Wisconsin Avenue.

It’s a parking lot, which is a huge embarrassment to the city since it is situated be32

tween the mall and the largest hotel downtown (the Hilton Milwaukee City Center), and across the street from the Wisconsin Center, the downtown convention center.

The fact that such a critical site is only used for parking demonstrates how much downtown has struggled until recently.

The site is owned by the city, which has been unable to attract any development on it. Earlier this year, city officials again decided to issue a request for proposals for Fourth and Wisconsin. The city has received two proposals for the site and they are from the two firms battling for downtown Milwaukee hotel supremacy (see our cover story). The Marcus Corp. proposal includes an 11-story, 276-room expansion of the Hilton, 61,500 square feet of meeting and exhibit space and a 200-unit apartment tower. The Jackson Street Holdings LLC proposal includes three hotels with a total of 506 rooms and B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

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100,000 square feet of meeting space.

Both of these are impressive projects.

But they also both depend on a longplanned expansion of the Wisconsin Center, which will require taxpayer money. The project could cost $225 million to $240 million.

The Wisconsin Center District has hired consultants to do a facilities study. I will spare you the suspense: The Wisconsin Center needs to be expanded.

The facility is smaller than most convention centers in similarly sized cities, which puts Milwaukee at a competitive disadvantage in trying to attract conventions. A larger convention center, and more hotel rooms, would help Milwaukee attract more meetings and events.

Although Milwaukee is not a big tourist destination, its central location in the U.S. and lower costs compared to larger cities like Chicago make it more appealing to

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ANDREW WEILAND Editor BizTimes Milwaukee

meeting planners than one might think, if we had the necessary facilities.

A larger convention center also would help fill hotel rooms and attract more hotel development, most notably at Fourth and Wisconsin, and would be another big boost toward the revitalization of Wisconsin Avenue.

Wisconsin Center District officials need to figure out if they can finance an expansion with their existing taxing authority. If not, state and local leaders need to figure out a way to pay for a convention center expansion, just like they found a way to fund the arena project.

Now is the time to build on the momentum downtown and keep it going bigger and better. n

BIZTIMES AROUND TOWN n

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biz connections

COSBE Holiday Gathering The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s Council of Small Business Executives recently hosted its annual Holiday Gathering at the MMAC offices in downtown Milwaukee. The event thanks COSBE members for their support throughout the year.

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Trent Denlinger, Art Flater and Chris Nowak, all of Central Office Systems.

2

Cathy Harrison of MMAC and Harriet Pedersen of Commerce Industrial Chemicals Inc.

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Chad Schultz of Innovative Signs Inc., George Patterson of Robertson/Ryan and Maurice Pendergast of SITE Staffing.

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Eric Leukert of TDS, Rexx Igunbor of PC Lan Services and Jerry Bartos of TDS Telecommunications Corp.

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Joanne Gimelli of Patrice and Associates, Fred Varin of TopLine Results and Mark Andersen of All Occasions Catering/Bubbs BBQ.

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Dale Tegtmeier of Bungee Promotional Marketing, Joe Galbraith of Galbraith Carnahan Architects and Susa Siy of Ameridge International LLC.

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James E. Lowe, Jr. of Davis & Kuelthau, Katie Ross of Xorbix Technologies and Benjamin Sauer of Davis & Kuelthau.

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Sarit Singhal of Superior Support Resources Inc., Mary Isbister of GenMet and Jeff Tredo of Tredo Group LLC.

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Amanda Baltz of Spaulding Clinical Research, Jeff Cardenas of RC Insurance Services Inc., Lori Poull of Lange Bros. Woodwork Co. Inc., Keith Coursin of Desert Aire and Dale Boehm of Caspian Technologies.

Photos by Paul Gaertner, White Dog Photography

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ERICH SCHROEDER PHOTOGRAPHY

the last word

A recipe for long-term growth Rolando Rodriguez is the president and CEO of Marcus Theatres Corp. We’ve all heard the adage “You have to spend money to make money,” but it’s not that simple, he says.

“In 2013, Marcus Theatres began an incredible transformation. The growth strategy focused on investments in our cinemas, our talent and our guest experience.

“We’ve introduced new amenities, comforts and conveniences across our circuit. Many locations have been enhanced to become full-blown entertainment destinations.

“These new amenities were coupled with the launch of value programs, like $5 Tuesdays, to help increase attendance while continuing to be easy on guests’ wallets.

Nearly three years ago, we began investing in a loyalty program to provide a variety of discounts and perks, and 34

encourage more frequent visits to our theatres from our base of more than 1.7 million members.

“Find the right mix of investments in your own business and you’ve figured out just part of the equation.

“As our founder, Ben Marcus, once said, ‘Our people are our greatest asset.’ One of my priorities has been to ensure we have the right people in the right roles at the right times – from our senior leadership and corporate staff, to our general managers and field associates. Anyone can have a fancy car, but it’s the people behind the wheel who make the difference.

“You can’t simply ‘spend money to make money,’ nor

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Rolando Rodriguez President and chief executive officer Marcus Theatres Corp.

100 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee Industry: Exhibition, entertainment, hospitality Employees: 3,331 www.marcustheatres.com

can you only cut costs and expect a return. If you can find the right mix of the two, you’ve got a great start. Add in the right talent and leadership infrastructure, and you’ve found the recipe for long-term growth.” n

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Thursday, January 26, 2017, 7:30 - 9:30 am Italian Conference Center

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What’s next?

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How will they impact the global, national and state economies?

Economist Michael Knetter Ph.D. and leading industry experts will provide their perspectives and answers to these questions and more at the 16th annual Northern Trust Economic Trends breakfast on January 26th. Seating is limited - register today at biztimes.com/trends.

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Michael Knetter Ph.D., Economist, President & CEO, University of Wisconsin Foundation (1) Cynthia LaConte, CEO and President, The Dohmen Co. (2) Ajita Rajendra, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, A. O. Smith Corporation (3) Debbie Seeger, Senior Vice President, Co-Founder, Patina Solutions (4)

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