BizTimes Milwaukee | March 6, 2017 by BizTimes Media

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MARQUETTE LOVELL LEADS TRANSFORMATION OF CAMPUS

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LOCAL UNIVERSITIES ARE HELPING STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS SOLSTICE HEALTH ELIMINATES INSURANCE FROM ROUTINE CARE REGENCY MALLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FINAL CHANCE Pictured: Michael Lovell and Lora Strigens

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2017 EDITION

inside

March 6 - 19, 2017 HIGHLIGHT S

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

HIGHE R E D U CATION & R E SE A RCH In addition to the cover story, coverage includes a look at the assistance universities are providing to student entrepreneurs.

Now 6 Milwaukee Tool planning more HQ campus expansion, renovation.

Political Beat

GOP field to take on Baldwin could be crowded.

Book Review

‘Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less – and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined.’

Made in Milwaukee

Zero Zone keeps cool under regulatory, competitive pressures.

Getting There

Stephanie Ohlfs of Waukesha State Bank.

S TR ATE GIE S Entrepreneurship 29 John Howman

Management Susan Wehrley 30 Leadership Karen Vernal 31

COV E R S T ORY

Make way for Marquette

BIZ CONNECTIONS Calendar 32 Personnel File 33 SBA Loans 34 BizTimes Around Town 37 The Last Word 38

Lovell leads transformation of campus ON THE COVER: Michael Lovell, president, and Lora Strigens, vice president for planning and strategy at Marquette University. — photo by Erich Schroeder Photography

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). Subscription Customer Service: BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA, Phone (414) 277-8181, Fax (414) 277-8191, circulation@biztimes.com, www.biztimes.com

BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 22, Number 25, March 6 - 19, 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

Milwaukee Tool planning more HQ campus expansion, renovation

rookfield-based Milwaukee Tool plans to completely update the architecture of the existing buildings at its headquarters campus and expand two buildings by a combined 30,000 square feet, in addition to the ongoing construction of a four-story, 200,000-square-foot office building. The company is seeking approvals from the City of Brookfield for the latest portions of the headquarters improvement project. The plan is to begin work in the spring with the goal of completing construction by the fall of 2017. That timeline would closely tie the completion of the expansions with the opening of the new office building, according to a letter from Stephen Perry Smith Architects to the city. Milwaukee Tool is in the process of building a $35 million office building on its campus. The project is supported by $18 million in state tax credits and $6 million in tax incremental financing

through the city. It is projected to add up to 592 jobs to a company that has already tripled its workforce since 2009, to roughly 800. The new project would include three components, starting with the façade renovation of Milwaukee Tool’s existing 183,000-square-foot, single story brick office building. The proposed renovation “responds to the architecture of the new expansion building with the use of precast panel cladding,” according to the Stephen Perry Smith letter. The project also involves remaking entrances to the building, demolishing existing masonry wings and replacing them with steel framed canopies with glass roofs. The second component would expand the company’s 16,500-squarefoot Rapid Innovation Center by up to 20,000 square feet. The building would also get a façade upgrade to match the new office building. The third component would be a

A rendering of the project.

10,000-square-foot addition to the campus’ annex building. The building is currently 5,600 square feet. In addition to Stephen Perry Smith,

Milwaukee Tool is working with Wangard Partners Inc. and The Sigma Group Inc. on the project.

——Arthur Thomas

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

How to quantify a social media strategy While many businesses invest in social media to tap into coveted target markets, very few can quantify its return on investment. With this ever-evolving tool becoming an essential part of marketing strategy, it’s imperative to show its value – not only to increase effectiveness, but to ensure dollars are spent efficiently. Here’s how to get started: First, identify your company’s key performance indicators. To start, look at the KPIs your company tracks for other strategies (i.e., finances or growth). Then, align these KPIs with your social strategy so you can understand what metrics are important to impact the bottom line. With social media’s evolution, metrics have gone farther than how many likes you receive, and into engagement or conversions. At the end of the day, it’s not about impressions or reach, but about what converted these customers and delivered a sale. Next, track your conversions to follow 6

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customers along the consumer decision journey. You can implement this through tracking scripts or Google Analytics. By setting up tracking scripts (through Facebook and Twitter, for example) you can easily monitor successes taking place during and post-campaign. One way we track scripts at Cousins Subs is through online ordering conversions. While we have a myriad of partnerships and campaigns, we attempt to tie in an online ordering element. Through tracking scripts, we can determine how many people converted to purchases/sales. To retain and convert your intended audience, you must be informed about their behavior. With Google Analytics, you can set tracking tags on the URLs you use in campaigns, while also monitoring completed actions and website behaviors. Through these tactics, you’ll be better informed of your target audience. Lastly,

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upon completion of these campaigns it’s equally as valuable to follow up and report on the KPIs you set. This allows you to make improvements for future campaign success. The spheres of social media and its users change daily. What may have worked for one campaign may not be effective for the next. To better understand what’s working now and what might work in the future, it’s necessary to benchmark and understand the successes/ failures from each campaign.

——Phil Batzner is digital and social media lead at Cousins Subs.

leading edge COFF E E B R E A K

POLITIC AL BEAT

GOP field to take on Baldwin could be crowded BY WISPOLITICS.COM

What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year? “We have continued to invest in our work spaces at our Milwaukee and Madison locations to improve the employee experience and help with attracting the top talent in and outside of Wisconsin. These changes have helped us with our growth efforts, and hiring staff from over 10 states outside of Wisconsin this past year.”

What’s new at your company? “Our Madison office moved into a new space in the Ovation building, with additional amenities for employees, while our historic Milwaukee office went through a full interior renovation and the addition of an employee-centered rooftop terrace. We now have more small meeting and touchdown zones throughout the building and all our employees have sit/stand workstations to give them choice during the day.”

challenges in the next year? “Continuing to stay ahead of the design and construction market in terms of demand. Finding new and innovative ways to deliver service to meet the needs of our clients.”

What’s the hottest trend in your industry? “Leveraging emerging technologies to help clients. The software we use continues to evolve. We are continuing exploration and use of virtual reality to help our clients experience design in a different way.”

Do you have a business mantra? “It’s always the right time to do the right thing.”

What was the best advice you ever received?

Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year? “Our philosophy is, the time is always right to hire great people. We plan on some strategic hires in the coming year, while also continuing to invest in training and development for our current staff.”

What will be your company’s main

Rich Tennessen

“Earlier in my career, I was listening to some business strategy cassettes – remember those? The mantra of ‘Help others get what they want, and success for you will follow,’ always stuck with me. I have loosely translated it to not thinking about yourself, but focusing on helping everyone else, and things will naturally work out.”

President Eppstein Uhen Architects 333 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee Website: www.eua.com Industry: Architecture Employees: 175 Family: Wife, Jean and three children, ages 15, 18 and 21 w w w.biztimes.com

What do you like to do in your free time? “Spending time with family and friends, and when the weather permits, I enjoy biking and hiking.” n

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As potential GOP candidates weigh their options, Democrats are predicting a “circus” will emerge on the Republican side against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, now that U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy won’t run against her next year. Duffy (R-Wausau) announced recently that he’s passing on a challenge Baldwin of the first-term Madison Democrat. Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) has said he would wait for Duffy to make a decision before seriously looking at the race. He did not return messages left on his cell phone. Fitzgerald warned at a WisPolitics. com luncheon that Republicans must avoid a crowded primary like 2012, when Tommy Thompson emerged with little money. Fellow GOP Sen. Leah Vukmir said she was seriously considering the race even before Duffy dropped out. She said Fitzgerald’s decision wouldn’t impact whether she gets into the race. She also said having to give up her seat wouldn’t be a factor. Vukmir (R-Brookfield) said all the candidates will have to determine if they can put together a team and have the ability to raise money for a top-tier race. Others who have been mentioned as possible candidates include 2012 Senate candidate Eric Hovde, state Rep. and Joint Finance Committee member Dale Kooyenga and former Marine Kevin Nicholson, who’s now a management consultant. Nicholson tweeted that he and his family are “strongly considering” a U.S. Senate bid. Kooyenga, a member of the Joint Finance Committee, said he would not make a decision until after the state budget is finished. There also has been an effort to persuade Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to get into the race. Conservative activist Eric O’Keefe, an informal adviser to Clarke, said the sheriff hasn’t given the possibility much thought. Wispolitics.com is a media partner of BizTimes Milwaukee.

BY TH E NU MBERS

500

Sendik’s Food Market plans to hire 500 people to staff the three new full-size grocery stores and two Fresh2Go stores it will open this year in the Milwaukee area.

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leading edge ON TH E C ALEN D AR

MA DE I N M I LWA U K E E

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Wellness Summit Zero Zone Inc.

Zero Zone recently completed a new technology center that helps show off its line of door and open cases.

110 N. Oakridge Drive, North Prairie Industry: Commercial refrigeration Employees: 430 (250 in Wisconsin) www.zero-zone.com

Zero Zone keeps cool under regulatory, competitive pressures You probably walk by products made by Zero Zone Inc. every time you go to the grocery store and don’t even realize it. If that’s the case, it’s exactly what the North Prairie-based maker of commercial refrigeration systems is going for. “We make sure it’s well-lit and we, in particular as a company, look at trying to make the case as invisible as possible so that the products inside are what you see and not the case,” said Carl Petersen, Zero Zone marketing and advertising manager.

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

Zero Zone, started in a barn in 1961, helped to pioneer the market for door cases and now counts retailers throughout the Americas as its customers. Locally, that includes Sendik’s, Whole Foods, Pick ’n Save and Metro Market stores. The company also is expanding its offerings this year to include open cases. “That’s a departure for us, but it’s also an answer to our customers,” said Glenn Kormanik, vice president and general manager of Zero Zone’s display case division. For a firm that markets itself as “the responsive company,” answering to customers is an important part of doing business. That means expanding product lines, offering more choices as standard options, intimately understanding customer needs and fostering a company culture that keeps the client front of mind. “People who work at Zero Zone understand the customer is the most important thing to us, and we execute on that on a daily basis,” Kormanik said. Petersen said Zero Zone has more than doubled sales in the 11 years he’s been with the company and employment has increased significantly, too. The North Prairie facility encompasses 160,000 square feet for production,

offices and research and development, including a recently completed technology center. Roughly 300 cases are assembled at the North Prairie site each week, while a Waukesha facility holds finished products and produces foam insulated panels. A Minnesota location focuses on the systems used to keep cases cool and other applications, like cold storage or even ice rinks. Many of the components for Zero Zone’s cases come from a network of suppliers around the country, although it is concentrated in the Midwest, Kormanik said. But design and engineering is still an in-house task, and it’s one that requires balancing evolving regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy with customer desires for aesthetics, functionality and cost savings. “There’s always that back-and-forth between what something looks like, its appeal and how much energy it uses, but it’s all going in the direction of how do we limit the amount of energy being used,” Petersen said. Different situations call for different coolants, but Zero Zone’s top-end door case can offer an 84 percent energy savings over a typical open case, according to Petersen. Even though a door case is better positioned to keep cooling costs down compared to an open case, the demand for open cases still exists, as shown by Zero Zone’s decision to enter the market. “There still are merchandisers who feel that if you put a door in between the shopper and the product, that that limits sales,” Petersen said. “We see that as kind of a myth, but it’s being dissipated over time.” The industry is also seeing other changes. More retailers have added food offerings, meaning Zero Zone now sells to the likes of Dollar Tree and even Linens ’n Things. At the same time, online offerings have increased, with companies like Amazon and Walmart offering grocery delivery and subscription services rising in popularity. “There are things that look positive and then there are things that look negative and we’re just trying to make sure we’re on top of all of them and see which way the industry is going,” Kormanik said.

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BizTimes Media will host the 2017 Wellness Summit on Friday, March 17, from 7 to 10:30 a.m. at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, 1721 W. Canal St. in Milwaukee. The theme is “The happiness factor: Why employee wellbeing boosts the bottom line.” The event will include presentations from Eliz Greene, job stress researcher/motivational wellness speaker; Dr. Jerry Halverson, medical director at Rogers Memorial Hospital-Oconomowoc and Dr. John Brill, director of medical operations for The Aurora Network. Following the presentations, there will be roundtable discussions of wellness topics and a wellness fair. For more information or to register, visit www.biztimes.com/wellness.

For a complete listing of all area events, visit the event section of our website.

www.biztimes.com/events

BOOK REVIEW

‘Stretch’ Make more money, acquire more possessions, obtain a higher job title. We often think the key to success and satisfaction is to get more. In Scott Sonenshein’s new book, “Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less - and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined,” he shows us we have been wrong. People and organizations approach resources in two different ways: “chasing” and “stretching.” When chasing, we exhaust ourselves in the pursuit of more. When stretching, we embrace the resources we already have. This frees us to find creative and productive ways to solve problems, innovate, and engage our work and lives more fully. Drawing from examples in business, education, sports, medicine and history, Sonenshein advocates a framework of resourcefulness that allows anybody to work and live better. Stretch is available at 800ceoread.com for $23.19.

leading edge NON P RO F IT N E W S

THE GOOD LIFE

Basilica Foundation gets $50,000

Running with the Wolfes

The St. Josaphat Basilica Foundation has received $50,000 from Polanki, the Polish Women’s Cultural Club of Milwaukee, to restore the stained glass windows lining the basilica staircase. The donation will cover about 25 percent of the total cost of the restoration project and the Basilica Foundation is seeking an additional $150,000 in contributions to complete the work. The stained glass window restoration project is part of the first phase of a capital campaign launched 18 months ago to raise money for critical repairs to the 115-year-old Basilica. The Basilica Foundation aims to raise $2.5 million for repairs during Phase I and $7.5 million total. The Polish Women’s Cultural Club’s contribution brings the total amount raised for Phase I thus far to $1,313,746, according to Basilica Foundation president and chief executive officer Susan Rabe. The Basilica is considered one of Milwaukee’s most significant cultural assets. The Basilica Foundation said structural deterioration at the church has reached “epic proportions” and needs to be addressed immediately to preserve its legacy and protect its historic designation. The basilica is listed as both a local and national historic landmark. According to the Basilica Foundation, around 50,000 visitors come to St. Josaphat each year, some from places around the world.

Over the past 18 years, Cara Olson, director of human resources for Sendik’s Food Market, has clocked a lot of time on golf courses and longdistance running courses in her free time. But not in exactly the way you might expect. Rather than signing up for golf tournaments and 5-K or 8-K races, she’s been organizing them – in honor of her late brother. “My brother had passed away from a brain tumor and our friends and family said: ‘Let’s think about things he loved to do and find a good way to remember him,’” Olson said. “It started as a golf outing, and it just kind of took off.” For nearly two decades, Olson and her family have run an organization called “Run With Wolfes” that raises money for brain cancer through an annual golf tournament and 5K/8K run and walk. Though the nonprofit’s name may seem to include a typo, it doesn’t – Olson’s maiden name is Wolfe. “My brother and I used to do a lot of run/ walks when he was fighting his battle,” Olson said. “Every single year, it’s completely unfortunate that somebody in some family has to deal with this. For us, it’s a way to join forces. It’s all about how can we provide help to people and band together to

——Ben Stanley

Expand your perspectives. Optimize your decisions.

Cara Olson (middle) who organizes the annual Run With Wolfes golf outing and run, flashes two thumbs up with the Milwaukee Brewers racing sausages. say: ‘We’re going to fight this and find a cure.’” Since Olson and the rest of the Wolfe family began running the events 18 years ago, they’ve raised around $960,000 for brain cancer research, which they’ve donated to the UW Carbone Cancer Center in Madison. This year, she said they hope to get enough donations to surpass the $1 million benchmark.

——Ben Stanley

Friday, April 28, 2017 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Exchange ideas with other CEOs and business leaders. See renowned speaker and author Patrick Lencioni address the untapped advantage of organizational health. He’ll dive into the 4 steps to achieving long-term success with a special focus on executive team cohesion and alignment. Limited Seating! Register now at tecmidwest.com/leadership

Hyatt Regency Milwaukee 333 W. Kilbourn Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53203

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leading edge G ET T I NG TH E R E

BR EA K ING G ROUN D

Stephanie Ohlfs Waukesha State Bank 151 E. St. Paul Ave., Waukesha Age: 36 Education: Bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Current position: Vice president, marketing manager Previous position: Marketing manager

»» Why were you promoted? “I’ve been an employee here for two-and-a-half years and during that time I’ve worked really hard to put new marketing ideas and processes in place. A new website, we launched social media, we implemented a CRM system, I was part of a MasterCard conversion team, we’ve done a bunch of grand openings. I think management sees me as a hardworking individual who is willing to go above and beyond.” »» What do you wish people knew about your position? “I think a lot of people think I’m a banker. They ask me a lot of questions about opening a checking account. Whether you’re a marketing person for a bank or a school or whatever, it’s all very similar.”

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BelAir Cantina BelAir Cantina will open its first restaurant in Madison this summer, marking the sixth location for the Milwaukee-based Cali-Mex restaurant chain. The Madison location will be located just east of the Capitol Square, at 111 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in the space formerly occupied by Francesca’s al Lago.

——Corrinne Hess

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ON LIN E POLL

Re: Autonomous vehicle innovation in Wisconsin “The selection of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory as a testing site is significant, but Wisconsin could still fall out of the fast lane unless it quickly joins other states in clearing the way for the advent of autonomous vehicles through legislation or executive orders.” - Tom Still, Wisconsin Technology Council

Re: Milwaukee and Madison’s startup scenes “Here’s a prediction: Milwaukee’s startup investments will pass Madison’s by 2020.” - John Torinus, Serigraph Inc.

Re: Student debt refinancing

Construction on the main line of the downtown Milwaukee streetcar will begin in April, moving the long-awaited project from the design phase to the actual building of the mass transit project, which is expected to be operational in late 2018.

2017 GIVING GUIDE

FEATURED NONPROFIT

“Instead of creating a new and expensive layer of state government, Wisconsin would be better served by leaving this matter in the hands of existing programs and our private sector institutions, both of which have the resources and well-established expertise to address it.” - Lon Roberts, secretary, state Department of Financial Institutions

Which local firm named to Fortune magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list do you admire most? Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. Kohl’s Corp. Fiserv Inc. Johnson Controls Inc. ManpowerGroup

55% 14% 12% 12% 7%

It’s Not Just a Job.

IT’S A LEGACY. NextGen gives young leaders the tools, knowledge and connections needed to succeed as the next senior executive of your family business. From exploring new leadership approaches to navigating transgenerational business strategies, this program is designed to make transitions

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smoother and legacies stronger.

When they hand over the keys, will you be ready?

Exploit No More is dedicated to ending child sex trafficking in the Greater Milwaukee region. ENM works with private, public, and other non-profit community organizations dedicated to serving youth and eradicating child sex trafficking.

To learn more, visit biztimes.com/giving Contact the TEC office to learn more. PRODUCED BY

jen@tecmidwest.com

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SPONSORED CONTENT

COLON CANCER:

REDUCING YOUR RISK The American Cancer Society fights every cancer, in every community, every day. We’re doing everything we can to prevent the disease before there’s a diagnosis. That includes promoting healthy lifestyles and encouraging cancer screenings for early detection. Approximately 1 out of 5 cancers diagnosed in the U.S. could be prevented if people put into action what we know works such as: »» Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet »» Avoiding tobacco »» Maintaining a healthy weight »» Limiting alcohol use »» Being physically active

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Getting a colon cancer screening isn’t a big deal. Not getting one is. If you’re 50 or older, a simple screening can help prevent colon cancer. What are you waiting for? Talk to your doctor right now. A colonoscopy is the first step in preventing colorectal cancer. Screening detects polyps, which can be removed on the spot – before they turn into cancer. In case something more serious is found, where you go for treatment matters. Our teams of highly trained colorectal cancer specialists help you determine which options are right for you, like minimally invasive treatments and combination therapies that preserve your quality of life. That’s the difference academic medicine can make.

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innovations Solstice Health’s subscription health plan eliminates insurance from routine care

bout two years ago, Bradley Rieck, along with his wife and three children, was receiving primary care through the health insurance plan provided by his employer. For the five of them, annual health care costs added up. And he found the lack of pricing transparency at local hospitals frustrating, he said. “You have no idea how much it’s going to cost and no one can even tell you,” Rieck said. BEN STANLEY (414) 336-7121 ben.stanley@biztimes.com Twitter: @BizTimesBen

He was tired of co-pays and getting new, unexpected bills from a doctor’s office or hospital months after he thought he was already done paying for a particular visit. Then he heard about a new type of health care service and decided to give it a shot: direct primary care. Direct primary care is an alternative health care model that aims to do away

with the fee-for-service model championed by large hospitals and major insurance companies. Through direct primary care, patients are charged a monthly or annual fee that covers the entire cost of basic primary care services – things such as checkups, clinical visits, urgent care, consultations and tests. The first company to offer the direct primary care model in Wisconsin is based out of Oconomowoc. It’s called Solstice Health and it was founded in 2013 by Dr. Tim Murray. Solstice Health works like a gym membership. Patients pay a monthly fee at different rates depending on their age – $39 per month for those younger than 20, $59 per month for those between 21 and 59 years old and $79 per month for those 60 or older – and have unlimited access to a primary care physician and certain basic services. Patients can make appointments to see their doctors in person, or call or text them on their personal phones during the day, at night and over weekends.

Perks include no fees per visit, unlimited wholesale lab tests, unlimited wholesale imaging services and unlimited wholesale medications. While Solstice Health is not a complete replacement for traditional health insurance – patients are still required to have traditional health insurance coverage for catastrophic care like complex treatments, surgeries and emergency services – it can be a cost-effective way to receive routine care without dealing with an insurance company or worrying about meeting a deductible. “There’s a risk involved, just because some of those months you might not have anybody need anything,” Rieck said. “But I found when I have a family of five, those months are rare. Whatever we pay, we would’ve paid more. I’ve had it for a couple of years and it just seems very predictable that I’m going to spend less to get better health care (with Solstice Health). With the high deductibles, insurance, copays, you never know what it’s going to cost you because you have to run through insurance.”

The interior of a Solstice Health clinic.

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Solstice Health Oconomowoc Innovation: Subscription-based health plan www.solsticewi.com

Solstice Health spokesperson Megan Zimmerman said the service is meant to shift the focus of health care toward preventative care – catching conditions early, when they’re inexpensive to treat, as opposed to later, when they become more dangerous and more expensive to treat. “We want everyone to know that health care truly is affordable and can be accessible to all people,” Zimmerman said. “Someone who is on a highdeductible, high-premium plan, if they feel they don’t have the preventative care they need, our aim is to make people in charge of your health care. Your health is a personal thing, so you need personal relationships with your primary care provider to understand your history.” Zimmerman said Solstice Health also works with employers to develop employee wellness plans focused on preventative care, in addition to offering traditional health insurance. She said adding a Solstice Health direct primary care package can encourage employees to seek out preventative care, which reduces the number of insurance claims filed by employees and can lead to reduced overall health care costs for employees. “Direct primary care, really it’s going back to the old health care models in the past, when doctors would visit patients inhome and you’d have your lifelong family care provider,” Zimmerman said. “It’s really going back to the basics of what has worked in the past… direct primary care was born out of doctors feeling like they wanted to provide better care for patients without having to be part of the corporate health care structure.” Solstice Health has locations in Oconomowoc, New Berlin and Mequon, and contracts local, independent physicians based in the area. n

real estate

LEFT: Hull Property Group purchased Racine’s Regency Mall for $9.6 million in December, promising to turn it around. ABOVE: The Limited, one of the mall’s original stores, closed in December.

Regency Mall’s final chance

ast summer, nine store spaces in Racine’s Regency Mall were converted into an 18,000-square-foot Planet Fitness. The health club was a welcome addition; seven of the spaces it occupies had been vacant and Regency’s owners were hopeful the foot traffic into the gym would help revitalize the long-struggling mall. Things are going well for Planet Fitness, according to company spokesman Brice Scholz. While he wouldn’t say how many members the RegenCORRINNE HESS P: (414) 336-7116 E: corri.hess@biztimes.com Twitter: @CorriHess

cy Mall location has, Scholz said there are new members joining every day and it was a good decision to locate inside the mall. “This is the largest mall we are in, but we also recently opened in East Towne Mall in Madison,” Scholz said. “We look for new retail opportunities all the time.” As retailers continue to struggle, some mall landlords are looking for non-traditional tenants like Planet Fitness to fill space. John Kuhn, principal with Milwaukee-based The Boerke Co., said in the past, malls owners would never have considered service or activity users. Now, they are aggressively looking for them.

One of Kuhn’s clients, Adventure Rock, has two locations, in Milwaukee and Brookfield, and is being asked constantly by mall owners from across the country to open rock climbing locations in their malls. “Ten or 15 years ago, (the mall owners) wouldn’t have returned a phone call,” Kuhn said. In December, longtime owner Chattanooga, Tennessee-based CBL & Associates Properties Inc. sold Regency Mall to Augusta, Georgia-based Hull Property Group for $9.6 million as part of a threeproperty acquisition. At the time of the purchase, James Hull, managing principal of Hull Property Group, said in a written statement that the three malls purchased were not reaching their full potential and the first step would be working with community leaders and surrounding property owners to determine how the overall retail corridor can be improved. A strip mall across the street from Regency Mall is currently vacant. “There is a lot of work ahead, but we are long-term owners and want to invest the time to get to know these communities and understand the best path forward,” Hull said in a written statement. Representatives from Hull did not respond to numerous interview requests for w w w.biztimes.com

this story. They did meet with Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave and his team recently and shared some details about how they plan on turning the mall around. Racine County receives sales and property taxes from the mall. The county was unable to provide information about how much tax money it receives annually from Regency. Delagrave is optimistic the mall can be revitalized. “I really like what we’ve heard from the new owners,” he said. “They are hoping to turn this into a destination mall with high-end, quality stores and services for customers and we are pretty excited.” Hull did not give the county a timeline for the transformation, but Delagrave said the company is in tune with retail trends. Regency Mall will remain a mall, but the definition of what that looks like, which stores will be included and how people access those stores could change. “I think their model is stabilize, reform and transform,” Delagrave said. “I hope to see the fruits of their labor within the next calendar year.” Built in 1981, the 810,337-squarefoot mall has struggled for several years to retain quality tenants. Sears closed its 89,119-square-foot store in 2014, and JCPenney did the same the following year,

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closing its 149,196-square-foot store. Regency has been able to hold on to its other two anchor stores, the 80,000-square-foot Burlington Coat Factory store and a 105,869-square-foot Boston Store. Ross Dress for Less and Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft stores also have opened at the mall. Shortly after the sale to Hull was announced, The Limited, one of the mall’s original stores, closed as part of the chain’s decision to shutter nationwide. In January, Regency lost three more stores, Payless Shoe Source, Payless Kids and Claire’s. The jewelry store was another one of Regency Mall’s original stores. One bright spot was Bob’s Discount Furniture, which entered the Wisconsin market with three stores in February and opened one at Regency Mall in the 25,000-square-foot space left vacant by H.H. Gregg Appliances in October. Many of the problems at Regency Mall are symptomatic of what is happening across the country in the retail industry as shoppers’ buying habits have shifted online. According to the Wall Street Journal, mall landlords are walking away from struggling properties, leaving creditors behind. From January to November 2016, 314 loans secured by retail property were sold off, up 11 percent from the same period in 2015, according to the Journal. CBL, the former owner of Regency Mall, unloaded 14 properties by selling eight and handing six over to lenders. One of those malls returned to lenders was the Wausau Center mall in Wausau, which lost two of its three anchor tenants. Wausau Mayor Robert Mielke told the Wall Street Journal CBL didn’t do enough marketing or maintenance to keep the mall viable. Often, companies like Hull Property Group come in and buy the malls in foreclosure sales. Hull bought five malls in foreclosure sales in 2016. And while Regency Mall was not in foreclosure, it is no secret the mall has struggled. In 2014, BizTimes published an article titled “Racine’s mall is in trouble.” At that time, Kevin Riordan, principal at The Boerke Co., said: “It was in trouble 20 years ago. I don’t get too many tenants saying that’s where they want to be.” Whether Hull can turn Regency Mall around now that CBL is out of the picture with its “stabilize, reform and transform” model remains to be seen. n 17

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Rev Group competitor drops from postal vehicle project Milwaukee-based Rev Group Inc. and its Turkish partner Karsan have one less competitor in their effort to land a contract to build the next generation postal vehicle for the United States Postal Service.

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Michigan-based Spartan Motors Inc. announced its Utilimaster brand had stopped work as a prime contractor on the development of a functional prototype and would instead provide interior cargo solutions for another award participant, which it did not name. In September, USPS announced six suppliers tasked with building a total of 50 prototype vehicles. In addition to Utilimaster and Karsan, those suppliers included AM General, Mahindra, Oshkosh and VT Hackney. The firms all are vying for the contract to produce 180,000 vehicles for USPS. Rev Group, a specialty vehicle maker led by former Bucyrus chief executive officer Tim Sullivan, partnered with Karsan to bid on the project. Sullivan has said if his company lands the contract he plans to produce the vehicles at Milwaukee’s Century City site. Bringing production to Milwaukee could potentially create hundreds or thousands of jobs in an area with high levels of unemployment. Sullivan said it was hard to say if Spartan dropping out and helping another firm in the competition would help or hurt Rev Group’s efforts. He previously said naming six companies to produce prototypes suggested USPS was looking to split up the contract. Utilimaster has provided USPS with route delivery and other vehicles since 1999.

BMO Harris Bank to build new Sherman Park branch

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BMO Harris Bank plans to build a new branch in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood, across the street from a branch that burned during the unrest in the neighborhood in August.

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The new branch, to be developed by Madisonbased Compass Properties, will be located at 3637 W. Fond Du Lac Avenue and is expected to open in the fall; the exact date has not been set. It will have a smaller footprint than the 20,000-square-foot branch it will replace, but bank leaders do not yet know the size. The site is currently a parking lot. It will be constructed in the bank’s “Smart Branch” model. It will have Smart ATMs that will allow customers to withdraw cash without

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a debit card using Mobile Cash, as well as video conferencing for on-demand banking, professional assistance and free wifi. Four to five employees will work at the new branch. Several buildings housing eight businesses were damaged in fires set during the Aug. 13 violent unrest in Sherman Park, after 23-yearold Sylville K. Smith, an armed AfricanAmerican suspect stopped by the Milwaukee Police Department for a suspicious vehicle check, was shot and killed by a 24-year-old African-American police officer following a foot chase in the 3200 block of North 44th Street. The bank opened a temporary Sherman Park branch in September, when it became clear the damage to its original branch was extensive. BMO also will be working with Compass Properties and local community groups to redevelop the damaged branch into a philanthropic project, the details of which it is still hashing out. BMO has not disclosed the cost of the damage to its old branch.

Saputo Cheese to open office in Milwaukee County Research Park Saputo Cheese USA Inc. will relocate its Richfield office to the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa this summer. Saputo, one of the largest dairy processors in the world and one of the top three cheese makers in the country, will occupy 24,260 square feet on the fourth floor of the Mayfair Woods Business & Technology Center, according to a building permit pulled in the city. The company currently leases 12,200 square feet in the Helsan Business Park in Richfield, at 3018 Helsan Drive. The new location in Wauwatosa will offer more space with room for growth in a metropolitan area that is easily accessible, said Jennifer Colbert, Saputo spokesperson. Colbert did not say how many employees would be relocating. Representatives from Irgens, the developer that built and owns the 163,350-square-foot Mayfair Woods Office Building at 10700 Research Drive, could not immediately be reached for comment. Saputo produces, markets and distributes products including Frigo and Stella Italian-style cheeses and Nikos feta cheese. Saputo Cheese USA Inc. has 14 plants, including nine in Wisconsin. The company also has a distribution center in Appleton. Its corporate office is located in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The company is owned by Saputo Inc., a Montreal-based dairy company founded in 1954 by Italian immigrants.

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ERICH SCHROEDER PHOTOGRAPHY

special report

Michael Lovell and Lora Strigens

MAKE WAY FOR

MARQUETTE D LOVELL LEADS TRANSFORMATION OF CAMPUS

BY CORRINNE HESS, staff writer

uring his first address as Marquette University’s president, Michael Lovell announced plans to partner with the Milwaukee Bucks to build an athletic and research facility on 10 acres of recently acquired land just east of campus. Standing in the Monaghan Ballroom at Marquette’s Alumni Memorial Union in January 2015, Lovell also talked about

expanding the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship to foster more startup activity, opening a Marquette office in the Global

Water Center in Walker’s Point, and forming a new neighborhood improvement initiative called Near West Side Partners Inc.

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For those not familiar with Lovell, Marquette’s

first

layman

president,

the bold declarations from his first address as university president might have seemed far-reaching for a guy who had been on the job for just six months. But anyone who had watched his career over the past five years knew it was possible. “When Mike was chosen, we had just formalized our Beyond Boundaries strategic plan and we wanted someone who could fill in the gaps and execute it,” said John Ferraro, chair of the Marquette board of trustees, who also served on the hiring committee. “What we are seeing now are the things laid out a few years ago. Mike is clearly hitting his stride. He has filled in the executive team, filled in the strategic plan, and now we are seeing a real tangible output.” During Lovell’s six months as interim chancellor at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, he was able to move four major building projects forward: the School of Freshwater Sciences, the Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health, the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex and the transformation of the former Columbia Hospital. As a result, Lovell was named chancellor of the school in April 2011, a post he held until being tapped in spring 2014 to lead Marquette. And since Lovell has arrived at the Jesuit university, his momentum has not stopped. The campus is undergoing a major transformation and expansion, with several new buildings projects that have been completed in recent years, are under construction or are planned. “The

building

projects

col-

lege campuses are necessary to make faculty they are trying to attract,” said Lovell, a mechanical engineer by trade. By Lovell’s side has been Lora Strigens, Marquette’s vice president for planning and strategy. The two first met when Strigens was with the Milwaukee office of HGA Architects and Engineers, working on a master plan for UWM.

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â?ą

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The Marquette University campus. w w w.biztimes.com

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higher education Lovell hired her as associate director of planning for UWM. That was in February 2014. Lovell announced he was leaving the school for Marquette in March. When he asked her to join him at Marquette – a job she accepted in November 2014 – she knew what she was getting into. “I said, ‘You’ll never be bored and we’ll have fun,’” Lovell said. Said Strigens: “There is a similar pace in the way we work and the energy of what we want to do. When I came to Marquette, I knew there would not be a lot of time for rest.”

Planning for the future In October, a master plan for Marquette was unveiled calling for $600 million worth of building projects over the next eight to 10 years across campus. Those projects include the $120 million Athletic Performance Research Center announced in 2015 on the east side of Marquette and several new projects on the campus’ west side, such as Innovation Alley, which includes a new business school building, a BioDiscovery District, a new wellness center and a $108 million residence hall, which is the first project to get underway. In early November, the university broke ground on the 890-bed co-ed residence hall. The dorm, which will be named after longtime president the Rev. Robert Wild, is located on the northwest end of campus, south of West Wells Street between North 17th and North 18th streets. It will feature two resident towers connected underground. In January, Marquette received a $10 million challenge gift from alumni Ray and Kay Eckstein toward the construction of the hall. Once $10 million is raised in matching funds, the Ecksteins will make the donation. When the dorm is completed in August 2018, the university will raze McCormick Hall, 1530 W. Wisconsin Ave. A new recreation and wellness center will be built on that site. O’Donnell Hall, 725 N. 18th St., one of the campus’ oldest residence halls, which opened in 1950, also will close. The master plan the university has created is dependent on sequencing. When the new recreation center is open, the Helfaer Tennis Stadium & Recreation Center, 525 N. 16th St., can be demolished for the creation of what the school is calling “Innovation Alley” along North 16th Street, 22

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BIG PLANS Marquette University unveiled its Campus Master Plan in October with five key building projects worth $600 million that will be completed over the next eight to 10 years. »» A new residence hall, south of West Wells Street between North 17th and North 18th streets, $108 million. »» A new recreation and wellness center, site of the current McCormick Hall, 1530 W. Wisconsin Ave., cost undetermined. »» Innovation Alley, including new business school building, site of current Helfaer Tennis Stadium & Recreation Center, 525 N. 16th St., cost undetermined.

Rendering of the residence hall currently under construction south of West Wells Street, between North 17th and North 18th streets.

»» BioDiscovery district, along West Clybourn Street adjacent to the existing science buildings, cost undetermined. »» Athletic Performance Research Center, 10-acre site along West Michigan Street east of I-43, $120 million.

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between West Clybourn Street and West Wisconsin Avenue. In October 2011, Marquette opened a new 115,000-square-foot, $50 million Engineering Hall at 1637 W. Wisconsin Ave. A new business school will be constructed south of the building, where the Helfaer rec center now stands, which will be physically connected to the Engineering Hall. The university plans to combine programming for business and engineering students, which is not being done anywhere else in the country. It is already generating significant interest from the local business community, which wants to partner on this concept, Lovell said. “There is tremendous opportunity for

cover story

us to bridge the gap between engineering and business and draw on corporate partners,” Lovell said. “We’ve had tremendous interest from corporate partners to colocate in the facility.” For the past three years, Milwaukeebased Direct Supply Inc. has hosted hackathons at Marquette’s Opus College of Engineering, taking a theme relevant to the senior living industry and challenging students to create a technology solution. The first year, there were 77 participants. This year, there were 160 and the hackathon was expanded to include the nursing and business schools, said Tom Paprocki, director of development and innovation at Direct Supply. “We’re very supportive of innovation in this city and we want to keep as many smart kids here as we can,” Paprocki said. “We think Marquette has awesome engineering talent and what Mike is trying to accomplish with Innovation Alley fits with our belief that the purposeful collision of disparate skills and disciplines yields creativity and innovation.” Marquette also is considering using the upper floors of the new business building for student housing, although plans have not yet been solidified. “There are several dominos,” Lovell said. “A lot depends on getting that first residence hall done, then taking McCormick down. We’ve identified five projects that we want to get done as quickly and efficiently as possible, but if we find the funding before the space, we might have to move some things around.” One of those dominos is to free up space by moving people and services to different areas of campus. In January, the university purchased a two-story office building at the southwest corner of North 13th Street and West St. Paul Avenue in the Menomonee Valley from the Forest County Potawatomi Community. The $4.4 million purchase was made to continue the long-term transformation of the campus over the next decade, Strigens said. Marquette’s building and grounds, mail services and trucking operations will immediately move to the building and its adjoining warehouse. “We will then continue taking time to plan and look at what support functions are best suited for the remainder of that building,” Strigens said. “When the Potawatomi developed that building, they did so with high-quality, sustainable materials, so we are very fortunate that it w w w.biztimes.com

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A recreation and wellness center will be built at the site of the current McCormick Hall, 1530 W. Wisconsin Ave.

even became available. It’s a great building to be able to stretch into.” As far as expanding the campus farther into the Menomonee Valley, Lovell said it is a question he and his team are asked often. The valley is south of I-94, while most of the Marquette campus is north of the freeway. “It’s not so much needing to acquire a certain amount of anything, it’s whether it is the right fit for us and how we are trying to grow,” Strigens said. “I don’t see the campus defined by boundaries, I see ourselves as part of the city and we want to act in partnership with the city.” Moving east, Marquette’s new BioDiscovery district will be located along West Clybourn Street, adjacent to the existing science buildings on the south central portion of campus. This area will be for the biological and biomedical sciences students, where the school’s current service building is located. The Athletic Performance Research Center will be located east of I-43, on a 10-acre site made up of several parcels the university has acquired: the former Butch’s

The $120 million Athletic Performance Research Center will be located on West Michigan Street east of I-43.

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and a parcel of that size requires a master plan all of its own,” Strigens said. “We want to make sure to plan it right, taking time to look at the market and economic development potential. Over time we want to execute as much activity and vibrancy as possible.”

Putting the pieces together

Innovation Alley will be built along North 16th Street, between West Clybourn Street and West Wisconsin Avenue, and will include a new business school building.

Old Casino Steak House property, an underused office building at 803 W. Michigan St., the Herzing University building at 525 N. Sixth St. and the Ramada Milwaukee Downtown at 633 W. Michigan St. those buildings will be demolished. Originally, the project was going to begin this year and be completed at the same time the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena is completed in August of 2018. That timeline has been pushed back, Lovell said. Aurora Health Care committed $40 million to the project in January 2016. Over the past year, planning efforts have

focused on how Aurora and Marquette will work together on the project. That piece is complete. Lovell said additional money has been raised for the project, but would not disclose how much. It also is unclear how the Milwaukee Bucks will be involved in the project or if the Bucks will contribute to the project financially. “What (the Bucks) have said is they are interested in the research component and some of the new techniques and technology that we will be developing,” Lovell said. “We are negotiating with them on (lease

Build your brand as new customers discover you Conduct real business on the show floor

payments for Marquette’s men’s basketball team to play in) the new arena. Those two things are happening simultaneously and I can talk more when it is finalized. It is not dependent on each other but related.” On the site will be a 250,000- to 300,000-square-foot building with a field house and laboratories. How the remaining acres surrounding the Athletic Performance Research Center will be used also has not yet been determined. Marquette wants to make sure the land is put to meaningful use. “This is a very large parcel of land

Like every nonprofit, Marquette University has long relied on fundraising and donations to move its mission forward. Donors like the Ecksteins, with their latest $10 million gift and their $51 million gift in 2007 for the university’s new law school, make building projects possible. But Lovell realizes implementing a $600 million building plan over the next decade will not be done with donations alone. He said each project will depend on a variety of funding sources, which could include university capital, philanthropy, corporate or private partnerships, or bonds. The university would not comment on whether tuition will increase to pay for projects. Undergraduate tuition this year is $38,000. “We understand that a college education is a significant investment for our students and their families, and we will continue to work to ensure that tuition will remain as low as possible,” a university spokesman said when asked if tuition would be increased to pay for building projects. “It’s important to note that we are also significantly boosting our financial aid budget – next year.” Despite the diverse funding mix planned to pay for the building projects, Lovell still spends more than 50 percent

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higher education of his time meeting with donors and the business community to bring in additional revenue to the university. “Throughout my career, I’ve always believed the sum is so much greater than its parts, so this comes naturally,” Lovell said. “But I am an introvert, so personal fundraising is a skill I have had to develop over time.” Ellen Gilligan, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, first met Lovell when he was selected as chancellor of UWM and she was organizing Milwaukee Succeeds, a partnership of community and business leaders working together to improve education for children. Lovell now co-chairs the Milwaukee Succeeds committee for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. “He is a big thinker who takes on big projects that relate to his vision,” Gilligan said. “He is really committed to the values of providing educational opportunities and success for all children, kindergarten through college, and the strategic part-

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The BioDiscovery district will be located along West Clybourn Street.

nerships he has made at Marquette is a further testament to that.” Lovell believes being Marquette’s first layman president gives him a bit of an advantage because he can talk to donors

about their own business. His first job was with a startup software company that went public after four years. He said having an entrepreneurial mindset puts him on common ground with a

lot of the people with whom he meets. “In some respects, I bring a different skillset than my predecessors,” Lovell said. “But because I don’t wear a collar, it might be easier to say no to me.” n

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higher education

Renderings of The CoLab under construction at Marquette's Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship, which is expected to open March 27.

Local universities are helping student entrepreneurs

ichael Van Kleunen is a student entrepreneur living in Milwaukee. Now enrolled in his first year of law school at Marquette University, he studied political science and economics as an undergrad at Hanover College, a liberal arts school in Hanover, Indiana. Despite his educational background, his goal isn’t to practice law or go into politics, he said. He wants to go into business for himself. And he thinks a law degree could be useful as an entrepreneur. In his spare time, Van Kleunen has been testing his entrepreneurial mettle. When he’s not in class, he’s sending out student surveys, gathering inventory and making deliveries. He started a company called ProductsU to fix a problem he noticed classmates complaining about on campus – there isn’t a major grocery store within walking distance, and prices for things such as

BY BEN STANLEY, staff writer

toiletry items are too high at local convenience stores. He figured he could purchase the items for a much lower price than could be found near campus and deliver them to students in a shorter period of time than it would take to ride the bus to a store or convince a friend to let them borrow their car. So he got to work. He identified more than 100 different products students indicated they would buy through his surveys, then purchased an inventory of about 10 to 15 of each item. He rented space at the nearby Redeemer Lutheran Church at 631 N. 19th St. to stockpile his goods. And now he’s making deliveries. In December, Van Kleunen got a check for $10,000 from Marquette’s Enterprise Seed Fund, a pool of seed money administered by Marquette and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. w w w.biztimes.com

And now he’s trying every strategy he can to overcome a common problem for young companies – marketing. “Since I don’t really know truly what the market’s going to respond to, I’m just trying everything,” Van Kleunen said. “Whatever comes to my mind, I’m just going to go with and see what happens. That’s the mountain I’m climbing – marketing.” Van Kleunen is one example of the budding entrepreneurism on college campuses around Milwaukee, where there has been an increased effort in recent years to encourage entrepreneurial thinking and activity across disciplines. The $10,000 in seed funding, and the resources now available to him both at Marquette and around the city, might not have been available to a student with a similar idea five or 10 years earlier. The Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship, located inside Marquette’s five-story

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707 Building at 707 N. 11th St., is buzzing with student entrepreneurs. The center has mentored more than 50 student startups over the past two years, and now has about three times as many students passing through each day as it did in 2015. The center is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion to add a co-working space called The Co-Lab that is expected to open March 27. “It’s important to have an incubator space on campus because the right spaces can help make ideas happen,” said Megan Carver, associate director of the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship. “There is a growing understanding that real breakthrough comes from people working together and mixing their ideas and insights. “The student experience at Marquette increasingly revolves around the value of innovation,” she continued. “That’s why (Marquette president) Dr. (Michael) Lovell has made it a presidential priority to elevate and expand established campus resources, including the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship and the Social Innovation Initiative – and students are truly getting on board with pursuing idea generation, entrepreneurial ventures and even commercialization as part of their academic experience.” Marquette University is one of five schools in the Milwaukee area included in the National Science Foundation’s southeastern Wisconsin I-CORPS site. The others: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The Milwaukee School of Engineering, Concordia University and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Institutions included in I-CORPS sites around the country use federal funding to accelerate the commercialization of research ideas developed on campus. In Milwaukee, the initiative has strengthened research ties among the institutions, pushed college leaders to build entrepreneurial talent pipelines into their curriculum and provided students and staff a clearer pathway to bring their innovations to market. “About 30 percent of our classes on campus have either entrepreneurship or innovation as part of the curriculum or learning objective,” said Gene Wright, graduate management programs director at MSOE’s Rader School of Business. “The activity around entrepreneurship, especially around our engineering school, is vibrant.” Wright said MSOE has been increas27

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

BUSINESS LEADERS FORUM “The Power of Culture and Ethics” Daniel S. Jaffee President and CEO Oil-Dri Corporation of America

Tuesday, March 21 11:45 a.m. Registration 12:15 p.m. Lunch 12:45 p.m. Program Marquette University Alumni Memorial Union, Monaghan Ballroom 1442 West Wisconsin Avenue Register online at muconnect.marquette.edu/businessforum17

UWM student entrepreneurs participate in the school’s Startup Challenge program.

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ing its emphasis on entrepreneurialism since the school received a $1 million endowment from the Uihlein family in 1999 to establish an entrepreneurship chair. He said the move pulled MSOE’s business and engineering schools much closer together, which helped the school keep pace with a growing trend in academia. “We’re starting to see this curricula that has proven to be very practical,” Wright said. “When you see great engineering coupled with great business, naturally there’s this outflow of entrepreneurial activity.” Wright said he personally feels that the general public is becoming less patient with academic research, especially federally-funded research, that doesn’t eventually produce an innovation that reaches the marketplace. “I think there’s less people that want to see career researchers and more that want to see some solutions coming out of the universities,” Wright said. “I think you’re starting to see more and more entrepreneurial activity out of the universities. People want to see solutions and they don’t want to wait decades for them; they want to see them soon. “And companies also want to see graduates who are entrepreneurial thinkers, who are problem solvers.” Similarly, UWM has taken dramatic steps in recent years to incorporate entrepreneurial lessons across disciplines. In addition to the university’s plans to break ground on its Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship before the end of 2017, the school has put in place several layers of programs and curriculum changes to encourage entrepreneurialism among students.

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“There’s a dozen faculty that are really working with us to get our programs launched,” said Brian Thompson, president of the UWM Research Foundation. “Our goal is two-fold. One: we want to help create new companies that are going to support the economy. But no less important: we want to arm our students with skills that are going to make them successful. Our goal is to have these programs integrated across disciplines and at many levels.” During the fall 2016 semester, UWM offered 40 “pop-up” classes, in which teachers from unrelated disciplines come in to teach a class. Under the pop-up class model, an art teacher could come in to do a lecture for business students on design, or a business professor could teach a group of art students how to develop a business plan to sell their work. The idea is to expose students to skills and ideas that would allow them to go into business for themselves, regardless of their major. “Whether or not you’re in business, engineering, arts, humanities, we think the entrepreneurial skillsets, entrepreneurial thinking, creativity, these sorts of skills are going to be critical to the future careers of the students that are going to be graduating from here today,” Thompson said. UWM’s spectrum of entrepreneurialfocused programs includes Fresh Ideas, which organizes the previously mentioned pop-up classes; the Student Startup Challenge, which takes student startup ideas through enterprise development; the UWM App Brewery; and I-CORPS. And many more are being planned for the future. n

strategies The ‘F words’ of business Fair, fear and failure

was inspired to write this article by watching “A Christmas Story” (for the 50th time at least!). When poor Ralphie accidentally uttered the “F” word, he brought down the wrath of Mr. and Mrs. Parker, ultimately getting a bar of soap in his mouth for his indiscretion. But it got me to thinking, “What are my ‘F’ words in business?” I can think of three.

The first is ‘fair’ Without a doubt, it’s the worst of the “F” words. I would recommend washing out any leader’s mouth with a bar of soap when they use this word. Why is it so bad? For one, nothing in life, business or the real world is fair. We should debunk that notion right away. We’ve always used soap with our children – why not with grown-ups? “Fair” is also one of the most abused

words in our business vocabulary. As in, “I want to be fair to everybody in the company.” Or, “Joe hit it out of the park this year, and Sue’s been a disappointment. But it wouldn’t be fair if I gave Joe a 5 percent increase and didn’t give Sue the same raise since she’s been here much longer than Joe.” Or, “Even though Jim isn’t cutting it, it wouldn’t be fair for me to terminate him now, since I relocated him here from North Dakota.” (Hell, you did him a favor by getting him out of North Dakota!) By always being fair, business leaders somehow think they will create a protective “bubble” around themselves which will shield them from explaining or defending a business or personnel decision. The effect is often just the opposite, since there’s always someone who will still

think a decision is unfair. From where does the fair “F” word come? It comes from the second “F” word.

The second is ‘fear’ I believe this “F” word drives the use of the first “F” word. It’s amazing how many leaders default to fair and fear. What are we afraid of? We’re afraid somebody might quit. That somebody might not like us. That a customer might leave. Fear creates a lot of cascading problems. I’m working with a company that has a turnover rate of more than half of new hires. While there are many reasons, low starting wages are the root cause in this case. I asked the owner why she doesn’t raise prices to meet the increasing competition for talent. Her response? “I am afraid if I try to raise my prices, my customers might leave.”

JO H N H OW M A N ENTREPRENEURSHIP

My response? “So you’re afraid to have a crucial conversation with your customers, but you’re not afraid your high turnover rate is damaging your company?” “Of course I am afraid!” she said. “Why do you think I can’t sleep?” I asked her, “What would you do if you were not afraid?” Which brings us to...

The third is ‘failure’ A wise guy once said to me, “Everybody tells us to celebrate failure, but nobody ever wants to come to the party.” Yet talk to anybody about the most important, impactful, life-changing experience in his or her life, and the majority of the time, it emanates from a past failure. Wauwatosa native John Morgridge grew Cisco Systems from a four-year-old, 30-person organization, to a $49 billion global company with more than 72,000 employees. He has spoken often about the business failures that led to his success. Very few of us are willing to be so open. My own business failures, which likely cost me millions of dollars, have provided the best (and most expensive) education possible. So, to be fair, we need to embrace our fear and our failure in order to grow as leaders. Because like Ralphie, even though we might think we are safe inside that protective “bubble of fairness,” we may find instead that bubble only leaves a bad taste in our mouths, just like poor Ralphie’s mouthful of soap. n

As a serial entrepreneur and business and community leader since 1983, John Howman has led a variety of businesses, from technology to consumer products companies. He leads two groups for TEC, a professional development group for CEOs, presidents and business owners. He can be reached at JHowman@AlliedCG.com. w w w.biztimes.com

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strategies

Unleash your employees’ potential Non-cash motivators to get them engaged

ecently, I worked with a client who was frustrated with his employees because the company was not reaching its goals. He said he felt stuck, because when he tried to let go of micro-managing, he was often disappointed by substandard performance and missed deadlines. Before I could even ask him a question, he further told me, “It’s not like I’m not paying them fairly; I am. But still, they come in to work every day to just do their minimum job requirements. I don’t believe anyone is really thinking about innovative solutions to meet and exceed the goals.” This is a common frustration of many business owners and leaders who end up calling me saying, “Come fix my people!” My response to them is always, “If you are part of the equation to growth, would you be willing to look at some things you could do differently as a leader, too?” There has been a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to motivating employees and helping them reach their potential. Many business owners and leaders believe throwing money at employees is the answer. In most cases, that solution couldn’t be farther from the truth. A McKinsey study, as well as other popular performance management au30

thorities, reveal five non-cash motivators to get employees engaged and enthusiastic to meet company, department and individual performance goals. The five best practices to bring out your employees’ potential and create a high-performing team include: 1. Clear job descriptions. 2. Employee initiatives that align to the company goals. 3. One-on-one collaborative coaching conversations to help them overcome perceived and real obstacles. 4. Specific and immediate feedback and praise for performance achieved. 5. Quarterly performance reviews to benchmark performance and create new key objectives for the upcoming quarter. When leaders align an employee’s job description to the goals and collaborate with them to create clear action plans, it becomes easier for the employee to reach the goals. This is because employees no longer have self-doubt about expectations. In addition, collaborative coaching conversations allow employees to have input and buy-in regarding “how” they B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

SUSAN W EHRLEY MANAGEMENT will achieve the goals. This is in contrast to cultures where employees have not been encouraged to develop their voices. In cultures where leaders either tell employees what to do to reach the goals, or do not have upfront collaborative conversations, employees tend not to speak up. This leads to an environment in which employees either hesitantly say “yes” to direction given by their boss; or tend to quietly feel stuck when they can’t figure out how to overcome an obstacle. Creating a collaborative culture with immediate feedback and praise gives the employee direction and lets the employee know where he or she stands. A performance-based culture such as this encourages two-way communication, eliminates

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the anxiety from the unknown, builds self-esteem and creates high-performing teams. Employees begin to feel they can achieve goals because expectations are clear, plans of action are outlined, and regular collaborative coaching huddles and meetings keep them on track by helping them overcome obstacles. Interestingly, when this five-step Performance Management Process is done correctly, employees become more motivated than they would if managed with the three highest financial incentives: cash bonuses, increased base pay, stock or stock options. There is a caveat, however, to the performance management research above. According to a Princeton study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, non-cash methods of performance management work only when employees are paid fair market value and make a total household income of more than $75,000 per year. This number varies slightly by state and does not take into consideration debt or number of children. If an employee’s cost of living is covered, the person then begins what the authors call “life evaluation,” which is a quest to feel better about one’s life and accomplishments. This brings into focus the need to have clear company and individual goals, so the employee can feel a sense of personal accomplishment. Conversely, when leaders take the time to effectively align employees to the goals upfront, they can let go of micro-managing and trust their unified mindset and map for success will yield expected results. This also increases job satisfaction for leaders who otherwise resent employees for having to “babysit” their performance. Leaders are always amazed at how clarity upfront, along with regular collaborative huddles and meetings, breeds employee confidence and commitment to meet the goals. My dad, who loved carpentry, often told me, “Measure twice and cut once.” This principle applies to business, too: When we work by ready-aim-fire, we effectively align employees to the goals so they can reach their full potential...and so can we! n Susan K. Wehrley is a business development coach and consultant with a three-step ALIGN program to develop leaders, teams and sales forces. Her BIZremedies ALIGNMENT Hub captures goals, initiatives and action plans on a private digital dashboard that keeps a company’s commitments and progress front and center. She can be reached at info@BIZremedies.com or (414) 581-0449. Her website is www.BIZremedies.com.

strategies

Finding common ground Feed your good wolf

uring and since the brutal presidential campaign and election, it has been very clear that America is a divided country. With that fact in mind, I am reminded of profound words from Buddhist monk, friend and spiritual teacher Prah David. “We are all brothers and sisters… (here is the punch line) … like it or not!” The nation’s political divide has strained many relationships in America. How do we begin to restore those fractured relationships within our families, our circle of friends, our communities, our workplace, and yes, even our world? The election and its aftermath have brought out a level of toxicity that is difficult to reel in. Judgment of the other took over, and self-righteousness has been elevated to new levels. In the end, half of us celebrate the results while the other half mourns.

Common ground Before we can begin to “reach across the aisle” we must take an honest look at our own spirit and intention. There is a wonderful Cherokee legend, “The Wolves Within,” that may help us to assess where

we are with ourselves: An old grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, “Let me tell you a story.” “I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. “But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.” He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. “But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. “Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.” The boy looked intently into his w w w.biztimes.com

KAREN VERNAL LEADERSHIP grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?” The grandfather smiled and quietly said, “The one I feed.” Before we consider where we might begin to find common ground, we need to know which wolf we will feed. It is only the good wolf, the one who chooses to “do no harm” who can participate in creating common ground. In the book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect,” John Maxwell writes, “It is difficult to find common ground with others when the only person you are focused on is yourself!” In order to find common ground, we’ve got to see things from the other’s point of view. If you are standing a foot away from an elephant and are asked to describe what you see, you may provide a vivid description of the elephant’s trunk. Another may describe the strength of its back, while an-

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other will offer great detail about the size of its leg. The point is that unless we take a step back (and perhaps around) we only see what is right in front of us, believing that what we see is the truth. A starting point in creating common ground is to see what the other sees, and to seek to understand what that may mean to him/her. It will require that you are feeding your good wolf! Maxwell suggests there are reasons we fail to find common ground. He offers the following: Assumption: “I already know what others know, feel and want.” When we make this assumption, we don’t create the space for the other to change his/her viewpoint. Even with people we love, we keep them trapped inside our assumptions. Judgment undermines possibility. Arrogance: “I don’t need to know what others know, feel or want.” I am reminded of a favorite quote of my father’s: “Don’t confuse me with the facts; I have already made up my mind.” Indifference: “I don’t care to know what others know, feel or want.” I feed the wolf of anger, mistrust and self-righteousness. Control: “I don’t want others to know what I know, feel or want.” In order to find common ground, I need to reveal who I am. I need to risk being vulnerable with the other. I need to share what I know in order to find common ground. These barriers keep us stuck. If we want to find common ground, we must be willing to seek new viewpoints; to see the elephant from the other side of the room. We’ve got to be willing to ask more and tell less; to listen with open hearts and minds; and to recognize and suspend judgment in order to really know the other. We must ask ourselves, do we believe that we are “all brothers and sisters…like it or not?” We must ask ourselves: “Which wolf am I feeding today?” Will I let go of assumptions, arrogance, indifference and control in order to create common ground that will take us into our future? I remain hopeful. I’m in. n

Karen Vernal is the president of Vernal Management Consultants LLC, a Milwaukee-based leadership and organizational firm dedicated to “igniting the spirits and skills of leaders.” The company is one of two firms in the nation to be certified in Emotional Intelligence through the Institute for Health and Human Potential. For more information, visit www.vernalmgmt.com.

biz connections CA L E NDAR

NONPROFIT DIRECTORY

CEOs of Growing Businesses will host Forecasting Economic Trends on Wednesday, March 8, from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at Harley-Davidson Museum + Motor Bar & Restaurant, 500 W. Canal St. in Milwaukee. Economist Brian Beaulieu will dissect major economic trends and indicators to help professionals capitalize on opportunities and avoid pitfalls. The audience will have a chance to ask about industry specific challenges and the impact of government policies. Cost is $97 for MMAC members or $127 for non-members, and includes parking and breakfast. Deadline to register is March 6. For more information or to register, visit mmac.org/events. BizTimes Media is a sponsor of this event.

SPOTLIGHT

The Women Business Owners Network and Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs will host Breakfast Networking on Friday, March 10, from 7 to 9 a.m. at Radisson Hotel Milwaukee West, 2303 N. Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa. Breakfast networking meetings are an opportunity to connect with other women business owners and entrepreneurs, and advance your knowledge and skills. The format rotates among roundtable discussions, panel speakers and keynote speakers. Cost is $25 for guests or $20 for members. For more information or to register, visit wbonwwe.org. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s World Trade Association will host Best Practices in Export Documentation on Tuesday, March 14, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at its offices, 756 N. Milwaukee St., Suite 400 in Milwaukee. Whether you are new to the export process or you want a good review with peers in the trade community, the event will provide insight on export document preparation and recordkeeping. Chrissy Blanchard, international customer support manager at RBP Chemical Technology and Bengt Reed Anderson, business development at BDG International, will offer their perspectives. Cost is $25 for WTA members or $40 for non-members. For more information or to register, visit mmac.org/events. Startup Milwaukee will host Emerge on Wednesday, March 15, from 8 to 10 a.m. at Granular, 316 N. Milwaukee St., #100 in Milwaukee. Emerge is a platform for emerging companies in southeast Wisconsin to practice their pitches and receive feedback and support from local entrepreneurs, investors and startup enthusiasts. The founders of Midwest Driver's Club and Milwaukee Pretzel Co. will present at the March meeting. The event is free and also includes coffee and networking. For See the complete calendar of more information or to register, visit http://bit.ly/2lAXJOz. upcoming events & meetings.

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BIZ NO T ES Fiserv, Johnson Controls, Kohl’s, ManpowerGroup and Northwestern Mutual Five Milwaukee-area companies are included in the latest list of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune magazine. The area companies that made the list are: Fiserv Inc.; Johnson Controls Inc.; Kohl’s Corp.; ManpowerGroup; and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. None of those five made the top 50 on the list. The top five are: Apple, Amazon.com, Starbucks, Berkshire Hathaway and Disney. To determine the bestregarded companies in 51 industries, Korn Ferry Hay Group asked 3,800 executives, directors and analysts to rate enterprises in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent. A company’s score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed.

Aurora Health Care and Rockwell Automation The Greater Milwaukee Committee and Milwaukee Women Inc. awarded the Mary Ellen Stanek Award for Diversity in Corporate Governance to Susan Schmitt of Rockwell Automation Inc. and to Aurora

Health Care. The award, named for Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. chief investment officer Mary Ellen Stanek, was created in 2013 to recognize individuals or organizations demonstrating a commitment to promoting diversity in their corporate structure, resulting in increased gender diversity in leadership and on corporate boards in the Milwaukee region. Schmitt, Rockwell senior vice president of human resources, was recognized for efforts that increased gender diversity among executives and directors at the company by 65 percent. Aurora was recognized for efforts to address health care disparities in diverse communities and investing in the creation of a diverse talent pipeline. The organization also is increasing its cultural competency training, diversity in leadership and governance and collection and use of race, ethnicity and language preference data.

The Bartolotta Restaurants, Bavette La Boucherie, c.1880 and Ardent Paul and Joe Bartolotta of Milwaukee-based The Bartolotta Restaurants have been named semifinalists in the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurateur category of the 2017 Restaurant and Chef Awards. The Bartolottas have established

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

B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

City on a Hill 2224 W. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee 414-931-6670 | www.cityonahillmilwaukee.org Facebook: CityonaHillMKE | Twitter: @CityonaHillMKE | Instagram: CityonaHillMKE Year founded: 2000 Mission statement: City on a Hill’s mission is to bring transformation to our city by restoring hope, reducing poverty, strengthening families and fostering racial reconciliation. Primary focus: To help young people in Milwaukee’s central city find their purpose and break the cycle of generational poverty. Other focuses: To alleviate the symptoms of chronic poverty in our neighborhood; To engage people in the wider community in solutions to poverty and racial injustice. Employees at this location: 16 Key donors: The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation (Aurora Better Together Fund), Bader Philanthropies, City of Milwaukee CDBG, Kaztex Foundation Executive leadership: Diane De La Santos, executive director Board of directors: »» John Davis, president

»» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

Teirney Christenson, secretary Richard Lemberg, treasurer (ex-officio) Tonya Adair Diane De La Santos (ex-officio) Alexander Lau James Robinson Meg Scottberg Darryl Seay Keith Stanley

Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes, for terms beginning in 2018. What roles are you looking to fill? Directors with expertise in finance, business startups, workforce development, entrepreneurship or fundraising. Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: By providing in-kind support for facility renovation, opportunities for greater visibility, workplace giving, corporate sponsorships or grants, or volunteers. Key fundraising events: Annual Banquet on May 18, 2017. Network events in fall of 2017.

Get the latest nonprofit news delivered in your inbox every Friday. Sign up for BizTimes' Nonprofit Weekly at biztimes.com/subscribe. revered upscale Milwaukee restaurants Harbor House and Lake Park Bistro, as well as Wauwatosa’s Ristorante Bartolotta, among several others in the area. There are just 20 Outstanding Restaurateur finalists in the U.S. Karen Bell of Bavette La Boucherie in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, Justin Carlisle of Ardent on Milwaukee’s East Side and Thomas Hauck of c.1880 in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood each got nods in the Best Chef: Midwest category. Wisconsin was well represented in the Best Chef: Midwest semifinalist

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list this year, with three other state chefs included: Jonny Hunter of Forequarter in Madison, Dan Fox of Heritage Tavern in Madison, Luke Zahm of Driftless Café in Viroqua and Lisa Carlson of Chef Shack in Bay City were named. L’Etoile in Madison was ranked among just 20 eateries in the country in the Outstanding Restaurant category. The finalists will be announced March 15 and the winners will be announced at the 2017 James Beard Awards Gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 1.

biz connections PER SO NNE L F I L E

■ Building & Construction

■ Architecture Galbraith Carnahan Architects, Wauwatosa, has promoted Brandon Reinke to the role of project architect. Reinke joined GCA in 2014 as an intern architect and will expand his responsibilities to include lead design, project management and client relations.

■ Banking & Finance

Schissler

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

Wallach

North Shore Bank, Brookfield, has promoted Molly Schissler to senior vice president, human resources and compliance. Schissler has been with the bank for more than six years and has more than 25 years of industry experience. Additionally, Andrew S. Wallach III, a 33-year veteran of the bank, was promoted to the new senior leadership position of executive vice president, chief financial officer. Wallach joined North Shore Bank in 1984 and has served as senior vice president, chief financial officer since 2010. GSF Mortgage Corp., Brookfield, has named Rich Obermeier as vice president of retail branch development. He previously served as the company’s business development manager and will continue to increase GoGSF’s footprint nationwide by recruiting talented branch managers, mortgage loan originators, underwriters and processors. Additionally, he will oversee the professional development of individual loan officers and branch managers. Milwaukee-based Advicent, a leading financial technology firm, has promoted Angela Pecoraro to president and chief operating officer. Pecoraro will spearhead the global client engagement and experience strategy of Advicent and lead all growth, implementation, training and support functions of the business.

Matt Matson has joined Brookfield-based JP Cullen as director of business development for the Milwaukee office, focusing on commercial and industrial markets. His experience includes more than 20 years in engineering, sales management, business development, strategic consulting and marketing in both domestic and global markets. Potawatomi Business Development Corp., Milwaukee, has promoted Scott Stephen to IT manager. Stephen has been with PBDC for more than two years, previously serving as senior systems engineer. Prior to joining PBDC, he was employed by 1Prospect, a subsidiary of PBDC, for more than three years.

■ Health & Fitness Elite Sports Clubs has named Michael Dierberger as the tennis director for the Brookfield location at 13825 W. Burleigh Road. Elite has the largest tennis program in the state, Wisconsin’s largest junior program and 40 courts among the five area clubs.

■ Legal Eric Tschurwald has joined Robertson Ryan and Associates as an agent and vice president. He brings a strong background in safety and regulatory compliance to Robertson Ryan, with five years of experience working for J. J. Keller & Associates Inc., the nation’s leader in DOT, OSHA, EPA and HR safety and compliance issues.

Keith Kopplin has been

■ Engineering GRAEF, Milwaukee, recently hired Evan Nisbet as a project and client manager of the newly formed Water Group. Nisbet moved to Milwaukee from Australia and has significant expertise in green infrastructure.

David Cleary received a promotion from senior project manager to assistant director of land development services at R.A. Smith National, Brookfield.

elected to the position of shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, Milwaukee. Kopplin has more than a decade of experience representing employers in employment law matters, including litigation and counseling. He regularly counsels employers on workplace issues, including Family and Medical Leave Act abuse, incidents of off-the-clock work and reasonable accommodation requests.

■ Manufacturing

■ Health Care John R. Kirby, PhD, has joined the Medical College of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa, as chair and the Walter Schroeder Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. From 2014-’16, Kirby served as professor of microbiology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He also was founding director of the Iowa Microbiology Microbiome Initiative.

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Tellock

■ Marketing & Public Relations South of North Marketing, Wauwatosa, has hired Christine Wied as business developn

■ Nonprofit The First Tee of Southeast Wisconsin, a West Allis-based nonprofit youth development program that focuses on teaching life skills through golf, hired David Cohn as executive director. Cohn previously worked as director of member services and communications for the Wisconsin State Golf Association.

■ Professional Services Neu’s Building Center Inc., Menomonee Falls, has promoted Michael Karch to president and chief operating officer. Karch joined the company in 1979. He has held positions in service, sales and management, and has been vice president since 2007. Mequon-based Smart Choice MRI has named Michael Bartholomew chief revenue officer. Bartholomew most recently served as vice president of global commercialization for Porzio Life Sciences, a management consulting firm for the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech industries specializing in improving productivity of sales and marketing programs and navigating the regulatory environment. He also is the co-founder and chief commercial officer of Promaxo, a portable MRI with real-time biopsy and treatment tools for the urology market.

Adams

Badger Meter Inc. has appointed Glen Tellock, president and chief executive officer of Lakeside Foods and former chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Manitowoc Co. Inc., and Todd Adams, president and chief executive officer of Rexnord Corp., to its board of directors.

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ment consultant. Her experience includes 15 years with Arrow Electronics in a sales and marketing role, where she supported clients through the entire customer journey, including assessing needs and managing all accounts.

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Plautz

Cherchian

New Berlin-based Schroeder Solutions has added Sara Plautz and Peter Cherchian to its account management team. Cherchian is a sales and marketing management strategist with more than 14 years of

biz connections PER SO NNE L F I L E industry experience.

■ Professional Organizations Jennifer Sturchio has joined the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce as a member engagement specialist. In this new role, Sturchio is responsible for on-boarding new member companies and connecting key executives to programs and services within the MMAC. Sturchio also manages the MMAC’s Networking Forums, which are designed to help members build sustainable relationships by developing an in-depth understanding of each other’s businesses. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin has hired Christopher Ott as its new executive director, starting in late March. Ott,

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

a native of Wisconsin, has served as the communications director for the ACLU of Massachusetts in Boston for 10 years, and led the state LGBT rights organization Fair Wisconsin in the early 2000s. Ott will succeed the ACLU of Wisconsin’s longtime executive director Chris Ahmuty, who retired at the end of 2016.

Connie Kopecky has joined the staff of VISIT Milwaukee as sales account executive. In her position, Kopecky will focus on bringing self-contained/single property meetings and conferences to the city. Kopecky comes to VISIT Milwaukee with more than 20 years of experience at GMR Marketing LLC, where her most recent position was director of travel,

corporate events, meetings and hospitality.

■ Real Estate Derek Yentz has joined RFP Commercial Inc., Milwaukee, as a broker, representing real estate needs of tenants, investors and developers with the goal of maximizing value for clients. RFP Commercial also announced Andy Hess and Steve Pape have joined the commercial real estate firm as partners. The two have more than 35 years of experience working in the local commercial real estate market.

based SVA as the firm’s new talent acquisiHarrisData, a Brookfield-based provider of enterprise application software for mid-sized businesses, has named technology industry veteran Tim Dunn president.

field, $125,000;

Waterford, $340,000;

Layer One Media, 1000 N. Water St., Milwaukee, $350,000;

Keep-Them Home Care LLC, 6011 Durand Ave., Ste. 300, Mount Pleasant, $150,000;

Milwaukee County

Pro Service Plumbing, Heating, Cooling LLC, 11830 W. Ripley Ave., Milwaukee, $30,000;

Keep-Them Home Care LLC, 6011 Durand Ave., Ste. 300, Mount Pleasant, $100,000;

Rocky Rococo, West Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee, $313,800;

Seasonal Changes, 2223 Washington Ave., Kansasville, $22,500;

Ron Sonntag Public Relations Inc., 9406 N. 107th St., Milwaukee, $494,000;

Tru-Tool Inc., 14100 Leetsbir Road, Sturtevant, $217,000;

SMAK-National LLC, 10922 W. National Ave., West Allis, $582,000;

Sheboygan County

Branch Managers Tree Care LLC, 5701 W. Warnimont Ave., Milwaukee, $35,000; Branch Managers Tree Care LLC, 5701 W. Warnimont Ave., Milwaukee, $100,000; Branch Managers Tree Care LLC, 5701 W. Warnimont Ave., Milwaukee, $100,000; Branch Managers Tree Care LLC, 5701 W. Warnimont Ave., Milwaukee, $35,000; CC Milwaukee LLC, 3835 N. 100th St., Milwaukee, $30,000; CC Milwaukee LLC, 3835 N. 100th St., Milwaukee, $80,000; DP Dough MKE Holdings LLC, 1515 E. North Ave., Milwaukee, $766,400;

Stuck Wood Works Inc., 7878 N. 86th St., Milwaukee, $439,000; The Village Cheese Shop LLC, Underwood Avenue, Wauwatosa, $100,000; Three Cellars LLC, 7228 S. 27th St., Oak Creek, $300,000; TMK Group LLC, 3500 W. Kiehnau Ave., Milwaukee, $185,000; Valentine Cafe LLC, 7971 S. Sixth St., Oak Creek, $304,600;

Ozaukee County

Full of Beans LLC, 184 S. Second St., Milwaukee, $50,000;

Inventors Brewpub LLC, 702 W. Grand Ave., Port Washington, $302,000;

Jamm Inc., 6737 W. Washington St., Milwaukee, $334,000;

Mequon Metals and Repair LLC, 13117 N. Granville Road, Mequon, $9,000;

Jamm Inc., d.b.a. LauberCFOs Inc., 2125 N. Lake Drive, Milwaukee, $200,000;

Racine County

Kiddyland, 1104 W. Historic Mitchell St., Milwaukee, $126,700;

A.J. Schultz Properties LLC, 322 Main St., Racine, $182,800;

Lake Auto Glass Inc., 4440 S. 108th St., Green-

Enve Salon and Day Spa LLC, 212 W. Main St.,

Paragon Development Systems, Oconomowoc, has appointed Greg Werchowski head of the organization’s health care practice.

Sara Shoys has recently joined Brookfield-

The U.S. Small Business Administration approved the following loan guarantees in January:

BMI Acquisition LLC, 5600 W. Oakland Park Drive, Franklin, $1.7 million;

■ Technology

■ Staffing

SB A L O AN S

BMI Acquisition LLC, 5600 W. Oakwood Park Drive, Franklin, $150,000;

tion & development director. This newly created position within SVA is responsible for leading talent acquisition, talent management, performance management, learning and development, and organization effectiveness programs firm-wide. She will assist team members with recruiting, onboarding into the organization and career development.

B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

Weiss Brothers Enterprise LLC, W2175 County Road FF, Sheboygan, $50,000;

Walworth County Giltech LLC, 120 N. Fraternity Lane, Whitewater, $1.3 million; JTins LLC, 501 Nathan Lane #4, Elkhorn, $200,000; Justin Ehrhardt, 9 E. Walworth St., 11 E. Walworth St., Elkhorn, $150,000; Plaza Media LLC, 244 Broad St., Lake Geneva, $311,000;

Washington County Accord Manufacturing Inc., N172 W20950 Emery Way, Jackson, $299,900; Just Drive, 1305 E. Decorah Road, West Bend, $10,000; Greenhouse, 3637-3639 State Hwy 175, Slinger, $220,000; PR West Bend LLC, 2001-2005 W. Washington

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St., West Bend, $831,000.00

Waukesha County A.B.R.B. Inc., 3705 N. 124th St., Brookfield, $126,000; A-Chem LLC, N11 W31620 Pine Ridge Circle, Delafield, $150,000; Action Power Sports Inc., W226 S1500 Hwy 164, Waukesha, $1.6 million; Advantage Chiropractic LLC, 17035-17047 W. Greenfield Ave., New Berlin, $25,000; Advantage Chiropractic LLC, 17035 W. Greenfield Ave., New Berlin, $82,400; Anytime Fitness, 901 Meadowbrook Road, Ste. 1, Waukesha, $150,000; General Business Services, 13916 Overview Drive, Menomonee Falls, $703,000; LGP Investments LLC, 16775 W. Dakota St., New Berlin, $1.6 million; Living Assistance Inc. Retirement Plan, 347 Park Ave., Pewaukee, $1.1 million; Moose Property Holdings LLC, W33 N6 S. Slinger Drive, Nashotah, $25,000; Storage Werks Lisbon LLC, 6 acres vacant land, Lisbon, $3.6 million; Sussex Animal Hospital Inc., N64 W24280 Main St., Sussex, $693,600; Wesner Development LLC, 1950 S. Springdale Road, New Berlin, $120,000.

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M a r ch 6 - 19, 2 017

B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

biz connections

n GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR VOLUME 22, NUMBER 25 MARCH 6 - 19, 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

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

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 INTERN REPORTER

Maredithe Meyer maredithe.meyer@biztimes.com

Industrial past

SALES & MARKETING

Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Lena Tomaszek lena.tomaszek@biztimes.com SALES INTERN

Salimah Muhammad salimah.muhammad@biztimes.com

PRODUCTION & DESIGN GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com ART DIRECTOR

Shelly Tabor

This photo, taken by James Conklin circa 1936, shows a view of Milwaukee from the Hiawatha train. In the foreground is Rundle-Spence Mfg. Co., which was founded in 1871 at 445 N. Fourth St. The company patented the bubbler and now is based in New Berlin. John Pritzlaff Hardware Co., which at one time was the largest hardware company in Milwaukee, can also be seen on the left side of the picture. The Pritzlaff building now is occupied by offices, event space and a startup hub. — 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

What’s behind the surge in downtown hotel development?

uring the past five years, several new hotels have opened in or near downtown Milwaukee, adding more than 1,100 rooms to the market. That’s a lot of new hotel room inventory for a city that is not considered a top tourist destination, like Orlando or Las Vegas. And even more new hotels are coming to the downtown area. The 220-room Westin hotel will open this summer near the U.S. Bank Center. The Forest County Potawatomi Community plans to build a second hotel tower at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino that would add another 150 to 200 rooms there. A developer plans to convert the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center building into a 220-room hotel. Marcus Corp. and Jackson Street Holdings have massive competing hotel development proposals for the cityowned Fourth and Wisconsin site. Bear Development is converting the historic Button Block building into a Homewood 36

Suites hotel. It’s surprising to see so much hotel development going on in downtown Milwaukee. Why is this happening? I decided to review the talk Doug Nysse, principal at developer Arrival Partners LLC, gave at the annual BizTimes Milwaukee Commercial Real Estate and Development Conference in November. Nysse knows as much about the Milwaukee hotel market as anybody. The theme of the conference was “myth busters” and Nysse sought to debunk the myth that Milwaukee is a “terrible” hotel market. According to Nysse: »» Milwaukee has strong weekday corporate demand for hotel rooms. »» There is high leisure demand for area hotels from June through September, “which is the same time that most conventioneers want to have conventions in northern cities because of the climate here,” Nysse said. »» Unaccommodated demand for downB i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

town hotel rooms during high travel periods has pushed hotel occupancy to the suburbs. »» Ten years ago, downtown hotels had an occupancy rate of about 66 percent. That dropped to about 57 percent during the recession but has recovered in recent years to about 75 percent in 2016, Nysse said, using data from Hendersonville, Tennesseebased hotel market data firm STR Inc. »» The average age of downtown Milwaukee hotels is 37 years old; in 2008, it was 46 years old. By comparison, downtown hotels in Chicago, Austin, Nashville, Baltimore, Louisville, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Madison have an average age of 21 to 25 years. In downtown Oklahoma City, the hotels have an average age of just 10 years. »» In 2012, metro Milwaukee’s population ranked 39th in the U.S., but its hotel room supply ranked 58th.

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ANDREW WEILAND Editor BizTimes Milwaukee

“We’re just catching up,” Nysse said. Nysse says the downtown hotel market has grown, especially as more companies are moving downtown, and points to a steady rise in hotel tax revenues in Milwaukee. As more new hotels open, the older downtown hotels are vulnerable and may need to make changes to compete with the newcomers, says Greg Hanis, a hotel industry consultant. There is a “changing of the guard” taking place in the downtown hotel market, he said. “Sometimes hotels close,” Nysse said. “They may be operationally or functionally obsolete. The fact of the matter is, like much of the U.S. hotel market, we are not overbuilt, but we are under-demolished.” n

BIZTIMES AROUND TOWN n

biz connections

Startup Milwaukee EMERGE Startup Milwaukee’s EMERGE event, hosted at PKWARE, featured local companies Dream City Music, Permyt and Spaulding Medical. The monthly event gives startups an opportunity to present their ideas and pitches to the Milwaukee community. Event attendees asked questions and gave feedback about the companies’ products. Startup Milwaukee will host the next EMERGE on March 15 at Granular. 1

Greg Barker of J.F. Ahern Co. Fire Protection, Joost Allard of Learn Deep and Scott Bolte of Trailhead Clinical Strategies LLC.

Gary Breden and Lisa Mirabelli, both of Insperity HR Solutions, and Ed Javier of Startup Milwaukee.

Mike Hennick of Hennick Consulting and Elizabeth Thelen of The Water Council.

Jeremy Udovich of HiQo Solutions Inc., Greg Dugan of WESA Inc. and Nick Gartmann of RokkinCat.

Becca French, Jenny Weeden, Katy Rice and Sydney Illman, all of Accelity Marketing.

Jim Taugher and Dylan Taugher, both of CI Design Inc.

Thomas Leisle of Qwerty Product Design Institute, Brad James of Beepods and Nathen Kontny.

Jared Judge of Dream City Music, Alycia Doxon and Chantel Teague of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Ed Javier of Startup Milwaukee.

About 50 people attended this month’s Startup Milwaukee EMERGE, hosted at PKWARE in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. Photos by Maredithe Meyer

9 w w w.biztimes.com

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B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

ERICH SCHROEDER PHOTOGRAPHY

the last word

Love the problems

Frederick Sitzberger Chief executive officer Sitzberger, Hau & Co S.C. 14640 W. Greenfield Ave, Ste. 200, Brookfield Industry: Public accounting Employees: 45 www.sitzhau.com

Frederick Sitzberger recently promoted Carl Marzolf to president at his rapidly growing Brookfield public accounting firm Sitzberger, Hau & Co. S.C. Sitzberger himself took on the newly created role of chief executive officer. Loving problems is the key to great leadership, he says. “In business, many people talk about problems: Competition, employee, pricing, millennial, etc. All of these problems are easy to solve by loving it. Leadership is the act of problem-solving, quickly and efficiently. Love the problems. “Anything you love, you enjoy it, you grow it, you fix it, and it allows you to address problems in a positive climate. “After I started my business, I talked to many practitioners on how to grow, and they all said growing was possible, but managing people was a problem. I decided to love it – love managing people. Upon loving manag38

ing people, I realized how few wanted what I wanted. Few enjoyed what I enjoyed; their expectations are all carved out by their own life experiences. Everyone’s need is to afford the life they want. I realized I could provide that atmosphere. “I began to create an environment for those who are passionate about self-improvement, defer gratification and enjoy being part of a growing environment. I tell everyone, ‘If I do my job right, you’ll be able to start your own firm. You learn the technical, supervisory and marketing skills. However, if I do it right, you’ll choose to stay with us. Always work for yourself, improving you. Never

B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e

M a r ch 6 - 19, 2 017

hold back and you’ll be free of the slavery of work.’ “We do this by ‘failing our way to the top.’ Challenge people beyond their comfort zone with the awareness of a safety net below. This is done by providing support when needed and not over-managing or punishing failure. People want to grow and will take the challenge. Always reward for success; be silent in failure. Never keep a record of wrongs.”

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PRESENTS:

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES Keys to a smart sale, purchase or hold REGISTER TODAY:

biztimes.com/maforum

M&A Forum | April 21, 2017 | Milwaukee Marriott Downtown | 7:00 - 11:00AM The time comes when company owners and executives need to prepare for that next big move. Whether selling, buying or keeping your business, you need the right tools and knowledge to make this critical decision and maximize your outcome. Join BizTimes Media and our experts for this valuable session that addresses the key concerns of deciding your company’s future.

Keynote: Ajita Rajendra Chairman and Chief Executive Officer A. O. Smith Since 1996, A. O. Smith has transformed from a highly cyclical, diversified manufacturer primarily serving the automotive industry to a $2.6 billion global water technology company enjoying seven consecutive years of record financial performance. Ajita G. Rajendra will take you through the transformation of this 143-year-old company and discuss the critical role acquisitions made in creating the A. O. Smith of today.

Panel discussions: •

The uncertainties of selling, and life after a sale Moderator: Greg Larson, senior vice president - director of commercial banking, Bank Mutual

•

The exit universe: know your options Moderator: Ann Hanna, managing director, Schenck M&A Solutions

Concurrent breakout sessions:

1. The nuts and bolts of buying a business Moderator: Nathan Neuberger, shareholder, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.

2. Run it to sell it Moderator: Andrea Wolf, vice president, commercial banking, Bank Mutual

3. Trends for driving value through price and structure Moderators: Ann Hanna & Corey Vanderpoel, managing directors, Schenck M&A Solutions

SPONSORS:

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RECOGNIZING TODAY’S TOP ENTREPRENEURS. We’re looking at you! If your company is growing in revenue and employment, you are a key building block of our economic prosperity. Apply today and be recognized for your achievements!

The process is simple. If your company meets four basic critera, go to www.mmac.org/f50.html to fill out the 12-question application and put your company in the running for the 2017 Future 50. Winners will be announced in June.

APPLICANT CRITERIA Headquartered in the 7-county Milwaukee region

Know someone who should apply? Nominate a company and we’ll do all the follow-up!

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Growth of sales and employment (averaged over the past three years)

In business for at least three years

Application deadline: Friday, March 31, 2017

For more information, contact Alexis Deblitz at 414-287-4130 or adeblitz@mmac.org

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The Future 50 Awards Program is a service of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and its Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE).