BizTimes Milwaukee | June 11, 2018

THIRD-GENERATION LEADER HEADS SARGENTO

plus CAN I AFFORD TO SELL THE FAMILY BUSINESS? 33 FAMILY OFFICES TAKE ON ALTERNATIVE INVESTING 36 FIVE TIPS FOR BUILDING TRUST IN A FAMILY ENTERPRISE 40

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JUN 11 - 24, 2018 » $3.25

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BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 24, Number 6, June 11, 2018 – June 24, 2018. BizTimes Milwaukee is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January, July and December by BizTimes Media LLC at 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA. Basic annual subscription rate is $42. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5 each. Periodicals postage paid at Milwaukee, WI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120. Entire contents copyright 2018 by BizTimes Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Contents

4 Leading Edge 4 NOW

BY THE NUMBERS 5 ON THE JOB WITH...

6 GETTING THERE PUBLIC RECORD 7 REV UP 8 THE GOOD LIFE 10 IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD 11 IN FOCUS 12 BIZ POLL BIZ TRACKER

14 News 14 HOW TO DO BUSINESS IN TAIWAN. 17 THE INTERVIEW

19 Real Estate 41 Strategies COVER STORY

22

The Big Cheese Third-generation leader heads Sargento

Special Report 21 Family Business

In addition to the cover story, coverage includes operational insights for family business owners about considerations when evaluating a sale, whether to form a family office for investing, and how to build trust and transparency in a family enterprise.

41 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Kathleen Gallagher 42 COACHING Susan Marshall 43 A BRIEF CASE

45 Biz Connections 45 NONPROFIT 46 PERSONNEL FILE 47 SBA LOANS 48 GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR COMMENTARY 49 AROUND TOWN 50 THE LAST WORD

HELPING BUILD WISCONSIN

414-273-3507 | townbank.us JAY MACK President & CEO

JOHN JOHANNES Executive Vice President, Commercial Real Estate

GEORGE JUSTICE Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking

biztimes.com / 3

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES DAILY – The day’s most significant news → biztimes.com/subscribe

NOW

Advocate Aurora plans $250 million health care development in Mount Pleasant

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer Advocate Aurora Health is planning a $250 million development that will include a new hospital, two clinics and a medical office building northeast of I-94 and Highway 20 in Mount Pleasant.

The Milwaukee- and Downers Grove, Illinois-based health system

said it has obtained a 96-acre site for the project, which will allow the system to increase its presence in Racine County. The site is about four miles north of where Foxconn will build a $10 billion LCD manufacturing campus that could eventually have 13,000 employees.

BY THE NUMBERS Wisconsin has

9 4 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

companies on the 2018 Fortune 500 list, the same as in 2017.

“We look forward to serving this rapidly growing community by ensuring consumers have access to the right care at the right time in the right setting,” said Nick Turkal, co-president and co-chief executive officer of Advocate Aurora Health. “Thanks to the vision of our board of directors, executive leadership team and clinical leaders, we are building for the future of how consumers want to experience health, whether it be in an ambulatory setting, hospital or from the palm of your hand.”

Plans call for a hospital that would offer a “full spectrum of emergency and inpatient services,” two additional primary care clinics, and a new medical office building that together would offer a variety of primary and specialty physician services and “online access to serve area residents’ and employers’ growing need for high-quality, affordable care,” the health care system said.

Construction is expected to begin later this year, with an expected opening in 2021.

“Growth in the Racine County corridor provides an immediate opportunity for Advocate Aurora Health to accelerate our population health efforts to deliver greater value for the communities and employers we are privileged to serve,” said Jim Skogsbergh, co-president and co-CEO of Advo-

cate Aurora Health.

The development continues the health system’s growth in the Racine and Kenosha area. Aurora announced in February that it plans to build a $130 million ambulatory surgery center and physician office building in Pleasant Prairie.

That project will be constructed on a 64-acre parcel at the northwest corner of 104th Street and 120th Avenue, just south of the site where German gummy bear-maker Haribo’s production facility will be built.

Other health care providers are also planning to add new facilities in the region. The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network announced recently it is planning a new small-scale “neighborhood hospital” across the street from its recently-opened health center on North Port Washington Road in Mequon. The 17,000-square-foot hospital will include a seven-bed emergency department and eight inpatient beds. It’s planned for a parcel of vacant land directly across the street from the Froedtert & MCW Mequon Health Center at 11430 N. Port Washington Road. The hospital will be a joint venture between Froedtert and Tandem Hospital Partners, a Houston, Texas-based firm that operates several other neighborhood hospitals across the country. n

1

Brinn Labs

By Lauren Anderson , staff writer Betty Brinn Children’s Museum recently opened a new lab in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood to house its hands-on learning makerspace initiatives, teacher training and fabrication lab.

The museum recently moved its exhibit development operations from a temporary workshop to the new 19,000-square-foot Brinn Labs at 433 E. Stewart St., which has provided more space for its growing business of producing kid-friendly and interactive exhibits. With the look of a warehouse and the feel of an art studio, the lab is where the museum staff

develops permanent and traveling exhibits for its own facility, as well as libraries, science centers and other museums across the country.

Revenue from the exhibit-building business supports much of the museum’s community outreach efforts.

Brinn Labs also houses a makerspace that hosts classes for teens and adults, professional development training for teachers, and serves as the headquarters for Maker Faire Milwaukee, an annual event co-hosted by the museum and arts organization Milwaukee Makerspace. n

3

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

ON THE JOB WITH…

4

2

5

1 John McGeen uses a CNC router to make components of a new periodic table exhibit.

2 Tom Matthews cuts steel rod stock for exhibit components.

3 Kyle Hoard paints an exhibit in the fabrication lab.

6

4 Joe Pariso adjusts a hand crank dynamo generator for an upcoming exhibit.

5

6

Austin Boechler puts the finishing touches on a plasma ball mounted into an exhibit cabinet.

Sean Mizer sands wood for a new exhibit.

biztimes.com / 5

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us

GETTING

THE

THERE

RECORD

Tell us about your new position.

“As public relations team leader, I am responsible for connecting content and strategy to tell stories on behalf of my clients in the agriculture industry. Each day brings a different challenge — annual communications planning, trade show and event execution, customer testimonial gathering, launching new products with trade media, and managing social media communities.”

What keeps you in Milwaukee?

“I came to Milwaukee to pursue a degree at Marquette University.

I’ve stuck around because I fell in love with the city. It has all the flavor our neighbors Chicago and Minneapolis have to offer — food, music, festivals, history and Fortune 500 companies — but is small enough to build a really strong, supportive network.”

How can we keep recent graduates here?

“Keep them involved and/or show them around the city. This is twofold.

One is finding organizations, either professional or passion-related, the other is exploring all that the city and surrounding area has to offer. Go to the NEWaukee Night Market or Doors Open Milwaukee to explore.

Join a group that believes in what you do, such as Adworkers or the Boys & Girls Club, to further your profession or cause. When graduates have ties to the city, they will be less likely to leave — or more likely to come back if they do leave.”

Advice for millennials on climbing the ladder?

“Ditch the ladder. Your career is going to be more like a jungle gym.

Use each step as an opportunity to build a strong foundation of time management, project management and contextual business skills you can apply to earn trust in any role you might serve. Along the way, look for companies and industries you truly believe in. Feeling like your work has meaning, no matter what level you are, is really important.”

PUBLIC

The high cost of going broke

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer WHEN A DELAWARE bankruptcy judge denied The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.’s request to pay a $500,000 work fee to a group interested in buying the department store chain as a going concern, it meant roughly 250 department stores under names like Boston Store, Carson’s, Herberger’s and Younkers would soon be going out of business. The company’s assets were ultimately sold to liquidation firms in late April and the final sales were underway within days.

The decision and sale ended a turbulent few months as Bon-Ton management unsuccessfully sought to find a buyer to continue the business and retain its more than 20,000 employees. Those efforts required hours of work and an army of advisors to navigate complex challenges. Two law firms, an investment banker and a financial advisor retained by Bon-Ton had 73 people working on the project in April alone, according to court records.

Those firms, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP; AlixPartners LLP; and PJT Partners LP, racked up more than $6.1 million in fees and expenses in February, March and April, plus another $6.5 million in capital raising and restructuring fees for PJT Partners.

In April alone, the New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss had 11 partners, seven counsel, 14 associates and 16 paralegals working on the Bon-Ton project. New York-based financial advisors AlixPartners is seeking payment for nearly $15,500 in April airfare costs, according to court records.

Here’s a monthly breakdown for each of the four firms: $2,500,000

MARISA RILEY Public relations team leader BADER RUTTER

Monthly expenses

$2,000,000

$1,500,000

$1,000,000

AGE: 30 HOMETOWN: Stillwater, Minnesota EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in corporate communications from Marquette University PREVIOUS POSITION: Senior public relations counselor, Bader Rutter

6 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

$500,000

$0

February

March

April

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

AlixPartners LLP

Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP

PJT Partners LP

SOMNA THERAPEUTICS LLC

LEADERSHIP: Nick Maris, president and chief executive officer H E A D Q U A R T E R S: W175 N11081 Stonewood Drive, Germantown

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

REV UP

WEBSITE: rezaband.com W H AT I T M A K E S: Medical device to prevent acid reflux F O U N D E D: February 2012 E M P L OY E E S: Four N E X T G O A L S: Rebrand device; Complete $1.3 million funding round; Ramp up marketing.

FUNDING: Has raised more than $7 million in three funding rounds.

Nick Maris, president and CEO of Somna Therapeutics.

Somna Therapeutics gets OTC approval for acid reflux device

By Molly Dill, staff writer

SIX YEARS, 10 clinical studies and mounds of paperwork later, Germantown medical device startup Somna Therapeutics has hit a key milestone: The U.S. Food and Drug administration has given approval for its Reza Band device to be sold over the counter.

Consumers can now buy the Reza Band, which is worn around the neck to reduce acid reflux symptoms, directly off the company’s website for $169.

Acid reflux results in the regurgitation of stomach contents from the esophagus into the larynx, pharynx and lungs and can cause chronic sore throat, cough, hoarse voice, sleep disruption and other symptoms.

Launched in 2012, Somna received FDA approval to offer the Reza Band by prescription in 2015.

The device, which is contract manufactured in Minnesota and Texas, was named after its inventor, Dr. Reza Shaker, chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Somna now plans to rename the Reza Band to “Reflux Band” to better inform consumers of what it does, and add a smartphone connectivity feature and symptom-tracking app for version two of the device, said Nick Maris president and chief executive officer.

There are no competitors to the Reza Band, Maris said, since it is a brand new medical device. Somna has two issued and three pending patents.

Somna serves a large addressable market, and now can do so without Somna or the patient having to convince the doctor to write a prescription for the Reza Band, Maris said.

“Acid reflux is a huge market,” he said.

“Many millions of people in the U.S. and around the world have terrible acid reflux every day.

“In the one month since it’s gone over-thecounter, our sales have more than doubled from any month we’ve ever had. And we haven’t done any marketing yet.”

But Maris plans to ramp up marketing, and double Somna’s employee count to eight this year to aid in that effort. The company is bringing in between $500,000 and $1 million in annual revenue, but he expects its first 12 months with OTC sales to top $2 million.

Somna has raised a total of $7 million in funding to date, and Maris is working to raise another $1.3 million round this summer.

The Reza Band works by applying pressure to the cricoid cartilage area at between 20 and 30 milliliters of mercury.

“It’s about half the pressure of a tie,” Maris said. n biztimes.com / 7

Leading Edge

@BIZTIMESMEDIA – Real-time news

From structural designs to wooden cabinets

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

A

s a structural engineer, Jim Jendusa appreciates precision.

When designing a building he uses lots of details, taking time to plan the most stable structure possible.

the

Good LIFE

Jendusa is the owner of Hartland-based Jendusa Design & Engineering Inc., and recently launched Hartland startup Lightweight Structures LLC, which has developed a new energy-efficient floor and wall framing system.

With a career that heavily revolves around building and construction, Jendusa said his hobby of woodworking and furniture building came naturally to him.

“It’s kind of like putting a building together, but on smaller scale,” he said.

It all started in 1992 when he built his current house on an empty, wooded lot.

Jendusa chopped down the property’s large cherry, walnut and ash trees to create space for the project, and decided to keep

the wood to have it converted into lumber.

To his surprise, he ended up with 3,000 board feet, or 12 inch by 12 inch by one inch pieces, of cherry, walnut and ash wood.

He used the wood to create his first of many woodworking projects – built-in, cherry wood cabinets with raised panel doors – for a room in his newly constructed home. The wood was also used throughout the house for hardwood floors and trim molding.

When time allows, Jendusa continues to build furniture pieces to keep for himself or to give as gifts. He is currently working on ash and walnut wood cabinets for his daughter, who shares his love for woodworking and often helps him with his projects.

“It takes my mind off the day-to-day grind, and gets me out of the office and using my hands,” Jendusa said. “I really enjoy working with the wood. Each (type of) wood has its own character.” n

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Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Connect

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

RAINBOW BOOKSELLERS 5704 W. Vliet St., Milwaukee NEIGHBORHOOD: Washington Heights FOUNDED: In 1981 as The End of the Rainbow on West North Avenue in Wauwatosa OWNERS: Joe Croze and his wife, Marye Beth EMPLOYEES: Two PRODUCT: Children’s books

How did you and your wife decide to open a children’s bookstore?

Croze: “This used to be a different store, on North Avenue.

We would bring our very young daughters here all of the time and when the owner, Jim Twelmeyer, decided to sell in 1991, he said we should buy it. We moved the store to Washington Heights in 1994. This has been much better for foot traffic; this is a wonderfully anchored neighborhood place.”

Has it been hard to keep the business

going with Amazon’s presence?

“Amazon is a true competitor. Even though we have extremely limited hours (Wednesday evening and Saturdays) we have been selling at book fairs since we have opened, public and private schools, Irish Fest and other events, so that has helped.”

What sets your store apart?

“There are no other children’s book stores in the city.

Young people are all about experiences for their kids, so parents of very

young children use this as an experience. It is a nice value for them and for us. There is a difference between going in to a bookstore and clicking on Amazon.”

How do you choose the books you carry?

“My wife does all of that. We like ‘Clifford,’ ‘Good Night Moon’ and things you would see elsewhere. But she looks specifically for unique books that you would not find at Target. That would include multi-cultural books, beautifully illustrated books.” n

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inf cus

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Cleaning the Pabst Theater chandelier A GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS recently gathered to dust and polish each of the 33,000 crystals on the Pabst Theater’s chandelier, in what has become an annual tradition.

The 1.24-ton chandelier is lowered about 60 feet, to seat level, in the historic downtown Milwaukee theater, allowing volunteers to clean off the dust and smoke particles that settle on the crystals and obscure their sparkle. The chandelier – which is 12 feet wide and 16 feet high – is lowered using a hand crank.

Volunteers gather roughly once a year to clean the theater’s centerpiece, which takes about two days to complete.

The chandelier was installed after the theater underwent renovations in 1976 to restore it to its original Baroque style. n -Lauren Anderson biztimes.com / 11

Leading Edge BIZ POLL

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us

A recent survey of BizTimes.com readers.

The latest area economic data.

What is Milwaukee’s best museum?

Milwaukee Art Museum: 42%

The City of Milwaukee’s population fell

0.4%

Milwaukee Public Museum: 32% Discovery World: 12%

from 2016 to 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Harley-Davidson Museum: 11% Betty Brinn Children’s Museum:

2%

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dipped to

2.8% in April.

Share your opinion! Visit biztimes.com/bizpoll to cast your vote in the next Biz Poll.

Tourists spent

$2 BILLION

in the greater Milwaukee area in 2017, a 3% increase from 2016, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

Success story #2. HeatTek. The Milwaukee-area PMI for May was

“We signed with Ixonia Bank, and never looked back.”

67.9

Any number greater than 50 on the manu-

Over the past fifteen years, Ixonia Bank has helped HeatTek, an industrial oven and furnace manufacturer, navigate international business dealings and double the size of their facilities.

Read the whole success story at: ixoniabank100.com

Celebrating 100 years of helping 262.567.7509 12 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

ixoniabank.com

succeed

facturing index indicates growth.

Passenger traffic at General Mitchell International Airport was up

6.9%

during the first quarter, to nearly 1.76 million, according to the airport.

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BizNews

WISCONSIN MANUFACTURERS & COMMERCE

FEATURE STORY

John Ohnesorge discusses doing business in Taiwan during a panel with Mia Chih-Chu Liang, left, and Katy Sinnott.

Want to do business in Taiwan?

Prepare to build relationships and act quickly

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer FOXCONN Technology Group’s decision to locate in Wisconsin created a new link between the state and the company’s home country of Taiwan. It’s a connection many businesses are eager to take advantage of, whether as a Foxconn supplier or in another industry.

But experts are already warning businesses to be mindful of cultural differences that may make doing business in Taiwan more challenging than expected.

“I had no idea how different the cultures are,” Chris Murdoch, a Foxconn special advisor and the company’s first Wisconsin hire, said during a panel discussion at the Manufacturing Matters conference in Milwaukee in March. “The

cultural issues are real.”

He highlighted age, communication style and hierarchy as just a few areas of difference.

Murdoch said the pace of change in the technology industry means Foxconn has to also adapt quickly.

“It may be something that you’re not used to – this company embraces change; it has to to survive,” he said.

As plans for Foxconn’s $10 billion LCD manufacturing campus developed over the past year, it hasn’t been uncommon for company executives to remark that their state or local counterparts have learned to operate at the “speed of Foxconn.”

At a recent Wisconsin Manu-

facturers & Commerce event, John Ohnesorge, director for East Asian legal studies at the University of Wisconsin Law School, remarked that, along with South Korea, Taiwan is one of the “great development success stories” of the late 20th century.

“It grew up in this environment of constant high-pressure competitiveness,” Ohnesorge said, noting that history rubs off on the pace of business. “Things will move very quickly.”

Joe Jurken, founder and senior partner at Brookfield-based The ABC Group, said a lack of government regulation in Taiwan over the years has developed an entrepreneurial culture where businesses are willing to identify and pursue opportunities.

“When they do that, they go full speed ahead,” Jurken said.

With opportunities to do business with Foxconn or other firms looming on the horizon, Jurken, whose firm helps businesses export to Asia, said companies should understand they may get opportunities that are larger than anything they’ve seen before.

“It’s important to be true to what you are as a company and not let potentially large numbers have you make business decisions that you might not make under normal business conditions,” he said.

Jurken recommended Wisconsin companies have their senior-level employees take a close look at their own financials, capabilities and potential capital

expenditures and to be realistic with those discussions.

He said businesses can present their plans a little more directly in Taiwan than in other Asian countries, but it is important to have done homework in advance and know your own capabilities.

“I think it is important to be true to what you are as a company,” he said.

Jurken feels the Taiwanese are “closer to American business people than most understand” and relationships should be based on “the same mutual respect you’d have for another American company.”

But the presenters at the WMC event said there are some key differences. And at a Waukesha County Business Alliance event, Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said he’s already seen people making mistakes in interacting with Foxconn.

Chin-Sung Cheng, director of the economic division in the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office and the keynote speaker at the WMC event, said Taiwan has shifted from a labor-intensive economy 30 or 40 years ago to a more knowledge-intensive economy today.

Still, many of the businesses in the country are small- or medium-sized firms, including many with family ownership.

That history has led to the development of a more hierarchical ............................TAIWAN continued on page 16

What if I told you...

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14 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

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The Typical Business Loses 5% of Annual Revenues to Fraud

by Amber Frantz and Kaarin Long Experts on fraud estimate the typical organization loses 5% of its yearly revenues to various types of fraud. If 5% sounds high to you, then consider yourself fortunate—but never make the mistake of presuming your business is immune.

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Ask an experienced banker about his or her exposure to fraud cases over the year. What you hear may scare you! — And that’s a good thing. By understanding the all too real risks to your business, you can help prevent the “typical” average losses of 5% of annual revenues to fraud.

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biztimes.com / 15

BizNews

The skyline of Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.

TAIWAN continued from page 14.........................

system, Cheng said.

Katy Sinnott, vice present of international business development for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., said just as many Wisconsin businesspeople value getting to know their counterparts at other organizations, so, too, do the Taiwanese. While many Taiwanese companies may have a strong hierarchy, she said it is important to build relationships throughout the organization.

“Without having that strong connection to members of the company it will be almost impossible for you to do business,” she said.

State officials have highlighted the relationship between Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn chairman Terry Gou as a key reason the company picked the state.

That relationship almost didn’t get started as Walker was scheduled to participate in an initial White House meeting by phone until his staff learned Gou was only participating in meetings at which a state’s governor attended in person.

Cheng said relationships can develop in formal channels, but it’s important to also pay attention to more informal channels. He said gift giving and attending business meals are important avenues to create connections, cautioning that Taiwanese hosts may continue to offer more food, but it is okay to say you’ve had enough.

Mia Chih-Chu Liang, director of the Taiwan Trade Center in Chicago, acknowledged that for older generations, business meals often led to the consumption of large amounts of alcohol, but said younger businesspeople increasingly don’t appreciate that approach.

“If you don’t feel comfortable with that, just say ‘no.’ They will understand,” Liang said.

When it comes to actual negotiations, Sinnott said just because Taiwanese businesspeople are agreeable doesn’t mean they’re always in agreement on a deal.

“There might be something holding them back and nobody is going to tell you until you ask a lot of questions,” she said.

She added the negotiation process in Taiwan can tend to be more drawn out and there’s often a push to get a little more out of a deal.

“I think there’s more of an effort to get a win-win,” Sinnott said, adding businesses will need to work with a company leader to get decisions made.

Ohnesorge said Taiwan intellectual property protections have improved a lot from the 1960s and ’70s, when the country was going through rapid economic development and trying to catch up to the rest of the world.

“Taiwan has a proper legal system, which makes it different from mainland China,” he said, noting it is more similar to European-based legal systems and operates with less litigation and some differences in drafting contracts.

Liang said Foxconn’s decision to build in Mount Pleasant has raised Wisconsin’s profile in Taiwan and made it one of the best-known states.

The two areas do already have some relationship established.

According to U.S. Census data,

MEET

Wisconsin exported $166.5 million in goods and services to Taiwan last year, the 23rd highest of any country. The state also imported $575.2 million in goods and services from Taiwan, making the island country the 10th largest importer to the state.

Ohnesorge noted the state’s universities have been training Taiwanese nationals for decades, especially in engineering, potentially providing a resource for businesses to connect with, although he added there’s no substitute for on-the-ground experience.

“If you’re going to do business in Taiwan, somebody should go,” he said.

“There’s nothing like getting your feet wet and visiting the country and building relationships,” Sinnott said.

Liang said while it may take time to build relationships, businesses shouldn’t be discouraged if they believe their product or service has a market in Taiwan.

“Once they decide on you, you better be ready to move quickly,” Sinnott added. n

BETTER. EVENTS THAT WORK

©2018 FOREST COUNTY POTAWATOMI COMMUNITY, WISCONSIN

the

Interview

GEORGE OLIVER became chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Controls

International plc in September 2017. He came to the company, and the Milwaukee community, as part of a merger with Tyco International plc. Oliver spoke with BizTimes reporter Arthur Thomas about the Milwaukee area after touring the construction of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County’s Johnson Controls Volunteer Engagement Center, which is supported by a $1 million, three-year commitment from the company. The center is scheduled to open later this year.

Since you’ve been here, what has stood out as strengths or weaknesses of Milwaukee as a community?

“I think a big strength is the way that all of the corporate partners engage within the community, the leadership that they provide, working with the leadership of the United Way, truly makes a big impact. I think it’s a shared responsibility. It builds off the values we have as a company, not only being a great company with what we do but being a really good company in how we enable the community to continue to develop.”

Are there any specific things you think the region or city needs to work on?

“I think the city has actually got a lot of momentum. I’m fairly new but I’ve been fairly active with the community leadership and I think there’s a lot of momentum with that leadership and getting more and more people engaged, focusing on what matters and what some of the opportunities (are) that we see as a community, and making sure from a resources standpoint we’re providing the amount of resources that we can continue to make progress that’s needed to continue to develop the community.”

What’s the importance of investing in communities for Johnson Controls?

“For us we want to enable, we want to build a community that not only, whether it be education, family support, (has) all of the services that are really required to drive economic growth, and as a community be able to attract and retain talent within the community. I think the work that we’re doing with the United Way is enabling us to develop that type of environment.”

LIL A AR YA N PH

OTOGRA PH Y

When you think about where to make those investments as a company, what are the important factors in choosing what to support?

George Oliver Chairman and CEO Johnson Controls International plc Employees: 121,000; 44,000 in the U.S. johnsoncontrols.com

“We support a broad number of efforts around the community. Obviously, education is a big focus for us. But making sure we’re providing the support and services, whether it be focusing on the development of the children in the community, making sure that they’re getting the proper education, getting the proper experiences, and then all of the family support that’s required when families that are in need are getting the appropriate services to be successful not only in their own lives, but also the impact they can have in the community.”

What does the future of JCI in Milwaukee look like to you?

“We’ve got an incredible base here. This is our North America headquarters. We’re continuing to build on that base. This is where we have a lot of our centers of excellence, whether it be technology development or software development. We have our Power Solutions business which is headquartered here, we have our buildings business which is headquartered here, and so that is fundamental to the structure that we have within Johnson Controls and certainly … is instrumental to how we continue to invest and making sure that we’re positioned to continue to accelerate our growth within the key industries that we support.” n biztimes.com / 17

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Dozens of vacant lots at North 15th Street and West Meinecke Avenue give the neighborhood a “jack-o’-lantern” effect.

T:10.875”

B:10.875”

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Program could replace cityowned vacant lots with affordable modular homes

THERE IS A PILOT PROJECT in the works in the City of Milwaukee to develop modular, affordable housing on city-owned vacant lots.

If successful, the project could begin to address the “jack-o’lantern” effect created in some neighborhoods while also producing reasonably-priced homes.

The project is in its infancy. It is also one of many being discussed at the city level since Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett called for the construction of 10,000 affordable housing units, especially in and around downtown, over the next 10 years, during his annual State of the City address in February.

Former Alderman Jim Bohl began leading the modular homes project in early May. He resigned from his aldermanic seat on May 24 to take a position in Barrett’s administration as the city’s legislative fiscal manager in the Intergovernmental Relations Division.

Bohl knows he is up against a lot of obstacles with the modular home idea: Who will develop the homes? Where will they be located? Will the city run a rent-to-own program? Who will own them?

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An international co-working company targeting startups and entrepreneurs will open its first Wisconsin location at 1433 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee.

Spaces will lease 43,000 square feet at 1433 N. Water St., occupying the fourth and fifth floors, with rooftop access.

The company is a subsidiary of International Workplace Group plc, formerly known as Regus. Spaces will join Bader Rutter & Associates Inc. and Riverwater Partners LLC in the downtown Milwaukee office building, which opened last year.

Spaces Milwaukee includes private offices, dedicated desks, meeting rooms and access to the rooftop patio for members.

“North Water Street was the ideal location for our first entry into Wisconsin,” said Michael Berretta, vice president of network development for IWG. Developed by Wauwatosa-based Wangard Partners Inc., 1433 N. Water St. is a combined new construction and redevelopment project of the former Laacke & Joys building.

“This iconic Milwaukee project is a perfect fit for an innovative co-working company like Spaces,” said Burton Metz, vice president of Wangard Partners. biztimes.com / 19

Built in 1900 in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, the historic Pederson & Grobben warehouse is home to one of the country’s leading suppliers of salad kits and dips.

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WHO REALLY OWNS IT?

PEDERSON & GROBBEN WAREHOUSE

But as of April 2018, the city owned 2,956 vacant residential lots.

And many city residents are looking for affordable housing options.

Bohl wanted to get something down on paper and modular homes (pre-fabricated houses without basements or a foundation), cost less than building from the ground up.

“This is something I wish I was going to be around longer to help shape, but I wanted to get the ball rolling,” Bohl said. “What we do know is there are too many significant gaps. We are not in a situation like Detroit or Gary, Indiana, but we know we need quality affordable housing in the city.”

Aldermen Russell Stamper, who represents the Sherman Park neighborhood and a portion of the city’s north side, and Jose Perez, who represents the Walker’s Point neighborhood and a portion of the city’s south side, are on an ad hoc committee evaluating the program.

Neither returned phone calls or emails seeking comment for this report.

The group has met with Oregon, Wisconsin-based developer Gorman & Co. LLC, Habitat for Humanity and Travaux Inc., the real estate development arm of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

“Our desire is to build off our community assets,” Bohl said.

“Where we have a number of properties, fairly close by that would make these developments conducive to the builder, but at this point, we also don’t want to set expectations too high.”

The program is not a direct result of Barrett’s February call for 10,000 more affordable housing units, but would run parallel to it, Bohl said.

“It fits the commitment the mayor expressed and a commitment that is shared by the (Common) Council to provide more affordable housing,” Bohl said. “If we are able to do something like this and it proves to be productive, it is worth coming together to discuss.”

In February, Barrett said he wants to work with private develop-

“We are not in a situation like Detroit or Gary, Indiana, but we know we need quality affordable housing in the city.”

—Jim Bohl

ers to ensure downtown Milwaukee is not exclusively a place for people with higher incomes to live.

The mayor is ready to commit tax increment financing to incentivize the creation of thousands of affordable housing units over the next decade, something the city does not typically do for residential housing developments.

Besides using TIF money, Barrett said he also wants to expand the STRONG Home Loans Program, a city program that issues partially forgivable loans for home repair. n

CORRINNE HESS Reporter

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

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How an Entrepreneur and His “Employee Family” Built Sargento, a Billion-Dollar Cheese Company Louie Gentine and Tom Faley will share insights, philosophies and stories about four generations of Sargento Foods, its management, and the trials leading to its influential place in the cheese industry.

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SATURN LOUNGE - ZAK GRUBER

STORY COVER

22 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

BIG CHEESE ––––– THE –––––

THIRD-GENERATION LEADER HEADS SARGENTO

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer

L

ouie Gentine walks the halls of Sargento Foods Inc.’s expansive headquarters building in Plymouth. He smiles and greets his colleagues along the way, stopping to share a laugh or a conversation.

Some of them have been with Sargento for 30, 40 or 50 years, which means they knew or even worked alongside company founder Leonard Gentine, whose dream, when he started Sargento Cheese Co. in 1953, was to own a family business and pass it down through the generations.

Leonard Gentine

Sixty-five years later, Sargento rests in the hands of Leonard’s grandson Louie as he follows in his grandfather’s footsteps.

In the mid-1950s, it was Leonard who walked the shop floor of Sargento’s first, much smaller, production facility in Elkhart Lake – a cigarette lodged at the corner of his lips, bouncing up and down as he greeted and conversed with his nine employees.

Gentine would spend much of his time on the shop floor with a tool belt strapped around his waist, often sliding himself underneath a production machine to help his maintenance technicians fix and fine-tune the equipment.

With his technical skills and inventive mind, Gentine led Sargento not only to be the first company to produce pre-cut and -sliced natural cheese, but also to develop the first vacuum-sealed packaging for cheese. Those early innovations laid the groundwork for later breakthroughs, including the first packaged shredded cheese and the first re-sealable cheese packaging, which Sargento rolled out in 1986.

“He was a skilled machinist,” Louie said, remembering his grandfather. “And that creativity and desire to build things really never stopped.”

Leonard ran the company until his third eldest son and Louie’s father, Lou Gentine, took over in 1981. He remained involved at Sargento until Parkinson’s disease weakened his body.

Leonard passed away in 1996 at the age of 81, leaving a lasting legacy behind him.

Now in its third generation of leadership, the family-owned company employs 2,100 people, operates four Wisconsin plants, and boasts $1.4 billion in net sales. Succeeding his father in 2013, Louie leads a company that has clearly evolved from the small mom-and-pop cheese shop his grandfather once built.

biztimes.com / 23

STORY COVER

Located in an old carriage house behind Gentine Funeral Service, the business sold pre-cut, wax-coated cheese – and with the help of Leonard’s mother, Anna, and other women from the neighborhood – it produced gift boxes of cheese for companies to give their employees for the holidays. Five thousand boxes were shipped in its first year.

1949

1955

1958

1973

Leonard Gentine breaks into the cheese industry by opening the Plymouth Cheese Counter.

Sargento rolls out the first pre-cut and sliced natural cheese and the first vacuumsealed packaging for cheese products.

Sargento produces the first packaged shredded cheese.

The first Sargento commercial airs on television.

1953

1956

1965

Leonard Gentine and Joe Sartori co-found Sargento Cheese Co. Inc. It becomes the first company to provide grocery stores with pre-cut natural cheese.

Sargento purchases the former Elkhart Lake Canning Co. building to use as its first permanent production facility.

Joe Sartori sells his share of the company, leaving Leonard and the Gentine family as Sargento’s sole owners.

Certainly, Leonard’s entrepreneurial drive and handy engineering skills drove Sargento’s early success, but it was also thanks to his leadership philosophy: “Hire good people and treat them like family.”

Leonard’s philosophy, despite decades of company growth and multi-generational leadership, has inspired a corporate culture that continues to provide a strong foundation for Sargento, proving to be one of its greatest assets, Lou said.

“The personal relationships that my grandfather was able to have with his 10 or 15 employees is obviously a little bit different than what it is today,” Louie said. “We want to have it like that, but it’s just not as realistic as we grow. We rely very heavily on every member of the Sargento family to have the philosophy of treating people with trust, respect and dignity. Because that is how you would treat your family.”

24 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

Leonard’s philosophy and entrepreneurial spirit lives on through a collection of historical accounts and memories, which were recently published as a book, “Treated Like Family.”

Author Tom Faley is Tom Faley a 30-year employee of Sargento and was a close colleague of Leonard’s.

Faley and Louie Gentine will be the keynote speakers at BizTimes Media’s annual Family & Closely Held Business Summit on June 14 at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.

UNEXPECTED BEGINNINGS Leonard Gentine, a native of Milwaukee and the son of a French immigrant, was an entrepreneur at heart. But his entrepreneurial path took twists and turns before arriving at its final destination.

In his mid-20s, Leonard moved to Plymouth and opened his first business, Gentine Funeral Service. According to “Treated Like Family,” he and his wife, Dolores Gentine, ran the business, while residing at the funeral home, from 1939 until he

SARGENTO TIMELINE

1986

2006

2013

Sargento introduces Zip-Pak, the first re-sealable packaging for its products.

One hundred Sargento employees won $208 million in the Wisconsin Lottery and most of them still showed up to work the next day.

Louie Gentine takes over as CEO.

1981

1991

2012

2015

Lou Gentine takes over as CEO and Leonard transitions to chairman.

Butch, Larry, Ann, Lou, Lee, Delores and Leonard Gentine after Leonard is honored with the National Cheese Institute Laureate Award.

Louie with his parents Michele and Lou Gentine after Lou is honored with the National Cheese Institute Laureate Award.

Sargento launches its Balanced Breaks snack packs, featuring cheese cubes, nuts and dried fruit.

sold it in 1956.

Within that span, Leonard pioneered several other ventures, including an ambulance service, mink farm, custard stand and gift box business – later leading him to start Sargento.

During the first two years he operated the funeral service, Leonard commuted to Milwaukee to work the third shift at Falk Corp. It was there that he learned how to operate and tinker with production machinery, a skill he used years later to find new ways of producing and packaging cheese.

His gift box business was his first step into the cheese industry. Leonard would wax coat small blocks of mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, cheddar and swiss and arrange the cheese into a box for companies to give to their employees during the holiday season. The operation

expanded, and in 1949 he opened the Plymouth Cheese Counter in a small carriage house behind the funeral home.

Leonard sourced the cheese from Milwaukee Cheese Co. and from Plymouth-based S&R Cheese Corp., which was owned by Paolo Sartori.

Paolo’s son Joe Sartori lived across the street from Gentine, and the two had developed a friendship and business partnership as S&R supplied Gentine’s shop with Italian cheeses, including mozzarella, provolone and parmesan. These kinds of cheeses were new to the Plymouth market and began generating increased demand from customers.

Gentine saw this as an opportunity to start another venture that would become more successful than any of his previous businesses. And he asked Sartori to join him.

BUILDING A FOUNDATION ON INNOVATION On Oct. 23, 1953, Gentine and Sartori founded Sargento Cheese Co. They used the “Sar” in Sartori and “Gen” in Gentine to create the name, adding an Italian-sounding “o” to the end of the word.

Gentine invested $5,000 into the new business, and Sartori invested $5,000 of his personal funds and $5,000 of S&R’s funds in exchange for 50 shares of the new company. He also agreed to use S&R as Sargento’s primary cheese supplier.

At first, Sargento’s products were limited to wax-coated blocks of parmesan, romano, mozzarella and provolone, which were supplied to both local and national grocers. Soon after launching its groundbreaking innovations of sliced cheese and vacuum-sealed packaging, Sargento opened its first biztimes.com / 25

MAREDITHE MEYER

STORY COVER

Sargento’s headquarters in Plymouth.

permanent production facility in Elkhart Lake.

The space helped the company grow its employee base and production quantity and stay ahead of competitors, many of which had caught on to its vacuum packaging invention. But in 1958, Gentine innovated again. Using a pasta cutter, he cut a block of mozzarella into four-inch strips, and Sargento became the first company to sell family-sized, vacuum-sealed packages of shredded cheese.

“What I learned from my grandfather was, in the area of innovation, you have to be willing to put forth the investment, knowing that sometimes you’re going to make a mistake,” Louie said.

“If you’re not pushing yourself to try new things in the marketplace, with customers or the consumer, you’re probably not trying hard enough.”

In 1965, Sartori sold his shares of the company in an effort to focus on operating S&R Cheese, his own family business that later became Sartori Co. Sartori remained a close advisor to Gentine throughout the following years but since that time, Sargento has been owned solely by the Gentine family.

“The Sartori family is still very present here in Plymouth,” Louie said. “Their cheese company creates great cheese products that you can find in your local grocery stores. Our families, the Gentines and the Sartoris, have remained good family friends throughout our history and throughout the generations.”

MAREDITHE MEYER

TO THE RESCUE: THE SECOND GENERATION STEPS IN

MAREDITHE MEYER

Leonard Gentine’s philosophy, “Hire good people and treat them like family,” is the first thing visitors see when they walk in to Sargento’s Plymouth headquarters building.

A statue of Leonard Gentine stands in the entrance way of Sargento’s Plymouth headquarters building.

26 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

Throughout the next 10 years, Sargento struggled financially as production and packaging expenses increased. In 1978, its 25th anniversary, the company hit a roadblock. Food Fair, a large local grocery chain and one of Sargento’s major customers, filed for bankruptcy and Sargento lost more than $500,000 that the grocer couldn’t pay, according to “Treated Like Family.”

In an effort to save Sargento, four of Leonard’s five children – Larry, Lou, Ann and Lee – used personal loans to purchase shares of the company from their father. By investing in the company, the second generation contributed enough money to keep Sargento afloat.

Leonard’s firstborn, Leonard “Butch” Gentine Jr., didn’t contribute because in 1974, he left Sargento to start World Wide Sales Inc., a Plymouth-based cheese brokerage firm. The company in 1988 changed its name to Masters Gallery Foods Inc., which continues to operate out of its Plymouth production facility.

In 1981, an outside board of directors appointed Lou to the role of CEO. Leonard transitioned to chairman, but stayed involved in company operations, remaining physically present on a regular basis.

“I give my father a great deal of credit for being willing to turn over the reins when he did at the age of 67,” Lou said. “My dad was really, truly the entrepreneur that got Sargento going. I definitely understood why he was giving this up, but sometimes it would come back to him that he wanted to be more involved – and we tried to get him more involved.”

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MAREDITHE MEYER

STORY COVER

A look through the window of Sargento’s production plant in Plymouth. Due to food safety regulations, only Sargento employees are allowed inside.

With a business degree from the University of Notre Dame followed by three years as a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Connecticut, Lou joined Sargento as an accountant in 1973, and eventually moved up the ranks. When the board of directors appointed him to his leadership role, he was ready to grow the company and guide it to financial security.

From a young age, Lou said, he had always been interested in being a part of Sargento. He had started working on the production lines in high school, but remembers working with his dad at an even earlier age.

“Back in the early ’50s, my brothers and sister and I probably worked for the company when we were 9 or 10,” Lou recalls. “My dad would get us involved doing the most trivial of jobs just to get us to develop a work ethic.”

During Lou’s tenure, Sargento’s sales increased from $91 million in 1981 to more than $1 billion by

2018 GIVING GUIDE

late 2012.

“Leonard’s children, I don’t think, were as creative or as innovative as Leonard was and Leonard wasn’t as financially astute as his children were so it took the two to make the full company,” Faley said. “The torch had to be passed at the right time and they had to have the right talent to do it.

And fortunately, Leonard’s family had that talent to carry that torch.”

ANOTHER TRANSITION In 2013, 32 years to the day of Sargento’s first major leadership transition, Louie stepped into his new role as CEO of the company. Lou remains involved as chairman, a role he took on when Leonard died in 1996.

Like his father, Louie started working for Sargento in high school. He started out washing trucks and working on the production line, which later led to accounting, sales and retail roles during

college. He graduated with a finance degree from Notre Dame, and after working for three years at American National Bank in Chicago and earning his MBA at Loyola University Chicago, Louie returned to Sargento in 2000.

Before any of the third-generation Gentines could return to Sargento to become salaried employees, they were required to work outside the company for a minimum of three years. This requirement was one of several “rules” the company established in the 1990s to ensure equal expectations and fair opportunities among employees who are family members and non-family members, Lou said.

Family members are also required to earn various degrees to assume higher roles – any salaried position requires a bachelor’s degree, a technical degree is needed for a production role, and an officer position requires a master’s degree. In addition, Gentines who are sons or daughters of current employees are required to work in separate departments from their parents.

Adhering to these rules along the way, Louie worked his way up through the company. He served in managerial and executive roles across various departments, including production, procurement and marketing. For three years prior to his current role, he served as president and chief customer officer.

“The move around the company, even going back to when I was washing trucks, really helped me gain an appreciation for what we do at Sargento, but most importantly, it gave me exposure and allowed me to build relationships with many members of the Sargento family,” Louie said. “In a family-owned business, I think it’s very important for the owners to have a great appreciation for all the employees do.”

When Louie joined Sargento in 2000, he immediately knew he wanted to one day lead the company, he said. With guidance from Sargento’s outside board of directors and a family business consultant, a succession plan was put in place, and in 2005, the board confirmed Louie’s potential to work his way up to CEO. Sargento’s leadership spent the next eight years transitioning from its second to its third generation.

Louie gradually became more involved with executive-level negotiations and business decisions as Lou started to pass down various new responsibilities.

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and Louie touted the role the outside board can play in a family business.

“When you bring in people from the outside that have a breadth of knowledge beyond what we have here at the organization, it leads to better decision-making and better overall corporate governance,” Lou said. “If it was just family shareholders or employees working in the business, making those decisions a board makes, we didn’t feel we would have as objective of conversations on different issues.”

STORY COVER

MAREDITHE MEYER

‘REAL CHEESE PEOPLE’

MAREDITHE MEYER

For a discounted price, employees can purchase a wide variety of Sargento products from the store located at the company’s Plymouth headquarters building.

“The eight years of transition helped me a lot and it helped the broader Sargento family see me take on additional roles,” Louie said. “I think it also helped my father transition into his current role as chairman because he understood how I operated, how my team was operating and it gave him the comfort that the Sargento family was going to be in good hands.”

Sargento established its outside board of directors a couple years before Lou took over. It is comprised of four Gentine family members who don’t work at Sargento and four non-family member

corporate executives, Louie said. He said as an unbiased and neutral entity, the board was charged, among other tasks, with determining both Leonard’s and Lou’s successors.

“It takes a bit of the emotion out of ‘my son or daughter should get it’ or ‘somebody else’s son or daughter should get it,’” Louie said. “You rely on the people who you are trusting to represent the company and make sure it stays on the right track.”

The board weighs in on other company matters, such as strategic planning, annual budgets and executive compensation, Lou said. Both Lou

Today, Sargento sells its natural cheese products through its two main business arms: Consumer Products – packaged cheese sold in the dairy section of grocery stores – and Food Service & Ingredients – wholesale or bulk quantities used in restaurants.

Sourcing cheese from dairy producers located around the state and across the U.S., Sargento procures and packages the cheese before shipping its products off to grocery stores and restaurant chains throughout all 50 states.

“From a national branded standpoint, Sargento has the most variety of natural cheese products in the dairy case for consumers to buy,” Louie said.

According to Sargento’s website, natural cheese contains four ingredients – pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt and enzymes – and is trimmed, finely ground and melted in kettles. Process cheese, on the other hand, only needs to be 51 percent cheese, and is made by pasteurizing and blending natural cheeses with other ingredients such as cream, artificial color, acids, water and emulsifying agents.

The company in 2015 diversified its consumer product line with the popular Balanced Breaks, and again last year with Sweet Balanced Breaks, which are snack containers featuring cheese cubes, roasted nuts, dried fruits and chocolate. Ted Balistreri, owner of Milwaukee-area grocery chain Sendik’s Food Market, said the product is a favorite among Sendik’s shoppers.

“As Sargento innovates and comes up with new products, customer adoption is usually very strong, meaning the customers trust the brand to deliver excellent food for their families,” Balistreri said.

Balanced Breaks are among the 123 Sargento products available at Sendik’s 17 locations. The

// SHULLY’S CUISINE & EVENTS It's a great way for the 2nd generation (And the first!) to get a better handle on what it means to be a family business. It helped our family bring up conversations that we would have never thought about before such as writing our wills together, starting family retreats, monthly family meetings, etc. We find value in every event that we attend! Thank you FBLI.

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STORY COVER partnership between the two family-owned, Wisconsin-based companies dates back to the 1970s, when Sendik’s first started carrying Sargento’s products, Balistreri said.

“They have set a great example for other family businesses to follow in terms of growing the busi-

new commercials. But Sargento operations were never discussed at the dinner table, making the company seem distant to Louie as he grew up.

“My dad and his brothers, brother-in-law and sister really did a good job of separating the company and family business from family life,” he said.

“Neither my cousins nor I really knew a lot about what went on at Sargento.”

“From a national branded standpoint, Sargento has the most variety of natural cheese products in the dairy case for consumers to buy.”

— Louie Gentine ness to benefit not only the family, but the larger community,” Balistreri said.

NO PRESSURE Louie’s lifelong involvement with the company, and current position as CEO, was never driven by familial pressure, he said. When Louie was young, his dad would often bring home samples of Sargento’s new products or show Louie and his siblings its

Lou’s experience was different. Growing up, he and his four siblings were well aware of their father’s desire for their involvement in the company. As a result, Lou took a different approach when raising children of his own.

“My perspective as a parent was that I wanted my kids to pursue their dreams and if that included being a part of Sargento that’s great, but it might include other (careers),” Lou said.

PRESENTS:

2018

Louie is one of just two third-generation Gentines who decided to join the family business. Executive vice president of operations Mike McEvoy married into the Gentine family when he married Louie’s cousin.

His father’s approach, along with the separation of family time and business operations, took the pressure off the third generation, Louie said.

They could explore and discover their passions without a sense of guilt or obligation to the company, and when the time came, they could map out their own career paths.

As a father of four, Louie says he will use the same approach because someday, the company will transition yet again to the next generation.

Beginning in eighth grade, fourth generation family members take part in a Sargento education and career-planning program the company rolled out three years ago. It’s an effort to gradually expose the younger generations to various parts of the company, from Sargento’s history, to its production plant operations, to its marketing strategies, Louie said.

“I didn’t have anything like that, but we felt this was important, since none of them really had an opportunity to get to know my grandfather or my grandmother, for them to understand what we are all about, and what we do and how we operate,” Louie said.

Leonard is survived by 25 great-grandchildren, currently ranging in age from 22 years to 6 months old. n

Nominate Today!

2018 Awards Categories

Call for Nominations BizTimes Media presents the fourth annual awards program to salute southeastern Wisconsin’s best corporate citizens and most effective nonprofit organizations.

The awards will shine a light on excellence in philanthropy and nonprofit leadership. The recipients of the awards will be saluted at a breakfast program on November 2nd, 2018.

Nominate the people and for-profit organizations who are making a positive difference in the community by donating their time, talent and treasure. Nominate the nonprofit organizations that are making the region a better place to live, work and play. Self-nominations also are encouraged!

Corporate Citizenship Awards • Corporate Citizen of the Year • Next Generation Leadership • In-Kind Supporter • Corporate Volunteer of the Year • Lifetime Achievement Nonprofit Organizations, Leadership & Support Team Awards • Nonprofit organization of the year (Small & Large Categories) • Nonprofit Collaboration of the year award • Nonprofit Executive of the Year • Social Enterprise

Submit your nomination at biztimes.com/npawards Nomination deadline: September 6, 2018 Event date: November 2, 2018

Special Report FAMILY BUSINESS

Can I afford to sell the family business?

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer

Families should consider issues such as who would get the Packers tickets in a business sale.

OF THE ENTIRE HOST OF ISSUES a family business owner must consider when preparing to sell, the question of “What about the Packers tickets?” may seem trivial.

But for some families, the uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of the sale on the quality of life they have grown to enjoy – from season tickets to vacation homes and other perks – can create big waves.

“I’ve had a business owner say the No. 1 fight (in their family business) was not about titles or compensation, but about Packers tickets,” said Alex Kramer, market

I

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leader for U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management in Milwaukee. “It had to do with sibling rivalry and who was getting preference, and who could actually afford those tickets if they were left to buy their own.

That was a big thing.”

Those strong reactions underscore the emotional family dynamics that can complicate the process of selling a family business either within the family or to a third party.

Alex Kramer

First, a seller must consider their own post-sale financial needs, including how much income will be required to support their current lifestyle or whether they are willing to make sacrifices. The costs often soar beyond just their salary when expenses like car leases, phone plans and club memberships – those that often run through a business – are factored in.

“The company might be generating $1 million a year for an owner,” Kramer said. “And the owner

may have a house in Oconomowoc and Florida, and they may take a vacation every year. When you add it up, they have to generate $1 million a year to support that lifestyle.

Something to consider is, in a post-sale world, can you generate

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enough income to support that level of spending?”

Meanwhile, successful family businesses often provide a standard of living not only for the owners, but also for various family members. An owner looking to sell also has to consider how the sale could affect everyone benefitting from the business, including children, nieces, nephews and in-laws.

“It’s not unusual that family members run expenses like car leases or cell phones through the company,” Kramer said. “Companies often own season tickets for the Badgers, Brewers, Packers.

When you add those things up, and ask if you can afford to sell the business that’s supporting all of those activities, those are really hard and emotional decisions, as it turns out. And family members have very strong opinions about that.”

Family members employed by the business, meanwhile, may enjoy higher salaries in those positions than they would elsewhere in the open market. And when the business sells, particularly to a third party, it could have implications for their compensation or even their employment with the company.

Those who aren’t owners in the company won’t see the same windfall post-sale as those with primary ownership.

“You (the owner) might walk out of the business, but how do you feel about your nephew Johnny currently making $110,000, but his market rate is only $80,000 working for a different company?”

Kramer said.

Selling the business within the family brings its own challenges.

Often when a next-generation leader is looking to purchase the

it’s going to be pretty difficult to come up with a cash contribution.”

If unaddressed, those conflicts can lead to significant family rifts

David Borst

business, they don’t have the financial means to pay top market price.

“Next-generation family members aren’t typically cash flush,” said David Borst, executive director and chief operating officer of the Milwaukee-based

Family Business Legacy Institute.

“Much of their own capital might be involved in the business already and capital isn’t readily accessible. Even if the next-generation 30-something is ready to take over the business for Mom or Dad,

From Milwaukee.

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and even fallouts after the sale.

“Families who run a company have something that keeps them together – that’s the business,” Kramer said. “They make decisions with the benefit of the family in mind. Once you sell the enterprise, there’s not that binding tie and, if there are fissures in the family, they tend to grow wider post-sale because there’s nothing to bind them together.”

Mitigating those issues involves communicating often and diagnosing potential pitfalls, long before the owner starts the sale process, Kramer said.

“We inventory these kinds of issues,” he said. “Just like we’d inventory the value of a company and marketability and might find ways to improve market value, we

also will focus on where the family landmines and the emotional hotspots for this particular family enterprise are.”

He chalks up the oft-cited statistic that 70 percent of family businesses never make it to the next generation to a lack of education among the family members about the business.

Borst said it’s important for family businesses to be transparent in discussing company finances.

“Yes, communication is important, but it has to be meaningful. It has to be open,” Borst said. “It’s important to share with kids early on what the financial picture is.”

Regarding the ancillary benefits a family business provides beyond salaries, it’s also important to take inventory of all of those expenses and communicate about the expectations of maintaining that lifestyle after the sale, Kramer said.

“Those shouldn’t be surprise conversations,” he said.

When it comes to deciding who gets what, Borst said, those are never easy calls to make.

“You’re never going to get to a point, when it comes to divvying up assets, where it’s equal,” he said. “Fair isn’t always equal. Not everyone is going to get exactly the same. But what people should hopefully be receiving is what is fair and just. So you do have to take into consideration the work product someone is bringing to the organization.” n

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Special Report FAMILY BUSINESS

Family offices take on alternative investing

By Molly Dill, staff writer MILWAUKEE-BASED MARCUS INVESTMENTS LLC is a family office that was formed by the Marcus family, controlling shareholders in The Marcus Corp., in 2006 to

invest its liquid assets.

All of the members of the family are involved in the family office, which focuses almost exclusively on private direct investments in

We understand the complexities faced by family-owned businesses.

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middle market Milwaukee-area companies, because those have produced the best returns, said Christopher Nolte, president of Marcus Investments.

“There’s a benefit to being closer to the assets, to being the general partner and investor in an opportunity,” Nolte said. “That’s why Marcus Investments was created.”

Marcus Investments is one of several family offices in southeastern Wisconsin, which are generally established by high net worth families to manage their wealth.

And the setup is becoming more popular, which has contributed to a surge in the private equity investments many of them target, according to a recent report by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Pitchbook.

In 2017, total U.S. venture capital investment was almost $83 billion spread across 8,650 transactions, up from $69 billion invested in 7,751 deals in 2016, according to Pitchbook. Already in the first quarter of 2018, total venture capital investment was at $28 billion nationally.

Family offices invested about $3 billion per year in more than

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Dennis J. Skrypchak 100 minority-stake venture capital deals annually from 2013 to 2017, according to the report. That’s a sharp uptick from 2012 and 2013, when family offices invested in about 70 deals per year totaling about $1.2 billion. At the same time, hedge funds and mutual funds have been investing in venture capital deals less frequently, and instead focusing on public equity and fixed income markets in order to generate returns more consistently. Family offices may be better able to handle long-term illiquid investments in startups, the report points out.

“Since the financial crisis in 2008, people have been more disciplined in how they invest,” said Doyle Butkiewicz, managing director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Milwaukee, who works with some family offices in the market. “I think that, too, may have an impact on people being more organized around their investments.”

The rise of family offices may be driven by families seeking to diversify their risk, he said.

“Private investments lend

Doyle Butkiewicz

themselves to family offices because in many cases, that would be more generational wealth or longterm wealth they can afford to invest in long-term asset classes,” Butkiewicz said.

PNC Bank’s multi-family office, Hawthorn Family Wealth, mainly works with families that have $20 million or more in liquid assets.

Karen Collingsworth-Crusse, vice president and senior relationship strategist at Hawthorn, has seen the trend toward private in-

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vesting increasing among wealthy families.

“There are more angel investor groups and family offices investing in venture capital startups,” she said. “It’s happening more in Wisconsin than it used to and I think that’s an evolution that as those companies grow after their venture capital investment, there’s more opportunities to invest in businesses.”

“There is an arbitrage between the public markets and the private markets,” Nolte said. “That is that publicly traded investments are typically more expensive than privately traded assets because of the liquidity, because of the size and sometimes because of the management teams that are operating those private companies.”

Nolte declined to disclose Marcus Investments’ assets under management, and said the number of investments the firm makes each year depends on the opportunities. It generally targets firms with between $2 million and $10 million in EBITDA, and it aims to take a controlling interest in the company.

Usually, families with more than $30 million in assets join a multi-family office or consider creating a single family office, said Rhona Vogel, founder and chief executive officer of Brookfield-based multi-family office Vogel Consulting Group. ”It’s a family that needs more than simply some decisions on what’s best to invest in,” Vogel said. “It’s a family that needs broader asset allocation, a broader range of financial choices, and they have to be integrated with a bigger picture plan.”

The Skrypchak Group at Morgan Stanley Dennis J. Skrypchak, CIMA® Senior Portfolio Manager Senior Vice President | Wealth Advisor 20975 Swenson Drive, Suite 300 Waukesha, WI 53186 414-256-2556 dennis.skrypchak@morganstanley.com fa.morganstanley.com/skrypchakgroup Investment Management Consultants Association, Inc. owns the marks CIMA ®, Certified Investment Management AnalystSM (with graph element),® and Certified Investment Management Analyst.SM Source: Forbes.com (Feb. 2018). America’s Top Wealth Advisors: State-By-State ranking was developed by SHOOK Research and is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings and a ranking algorithm that includes: client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research, LLC and are not indicative of future performance or representative of any one client’s experience. Neither Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC nor its Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors pay a fee to Forbes or SHOOK Research in exchange for the ranking. For more information: www.SHOOKresearch.com. © 2018 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

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Special Report

Rhona Vogel

Often, a family office provides private equity investing, hedge fund investing and direct investments in private operating companies. For single-family offices, Vogel said it makes most sense for families with more than $500 million in assets, since there is overhead to consider.

As a multi-family office, Vogel has about 20 employees who serve about 30 families – each of which includes all living generations

and could stretch to 300 family members.

Vogel said she has seen the national trend toward more private equity investment by high net worth families over the past five years, which is driven in part by the search for higher returns. General-

ly, the private equity investments her clients seek are in private companies that are profitable, and a small portion of the pie goes to higher risk startups.

“You have a shrinking number of shares available in the public equity market,” she said. “Over

time, certainly, generally those shares, unless you buy a company in its very young infancy stages, don’t produce major return flow.

By investing in private equity, families are looking for stronger returns over the long term and better cash flow.” n

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Faces of Family Business

SPONSORED CONTENT

David J. Frank, Chairman/CEO and David R. Frank, President/CFO

DAVID J. FRANK LANDSCAPE CONTRACTING, INC. N120 W21350 Freistadt Rd. | Germantown, WI 53022 (262) 255-4888 | davidjfrank.com WHEN AND HOW DID THE BUSINESS GET STARTED?

I started David J. Frank Landscape on Milwaukee’s East Side in 1959 at 11 years old, offering gardening services to neighbors. By the age of 12, my brother worked for me in addition to a group of school and neighborhood friends and I was caring for 30 homes. I believe I was probably the only one at school who could boast a Federal ID number and business insurance. The business grew to a client base of several hundred and nearly six decades later, the David J. Frank Landscape Contracting, Inc. legacy is well established throughout green industry circles both state and nationwide.

WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY PRODUCT OR SERVICE?

Our landscape services include residential, commercial, institutional and public clients. Services include, but are not limited to, design/build, maintenance, lawn care, Interiorscape, snow & ice, irrigation, tree care, specialty, holiday décor, lighting and more.

WHAT FAMILY MEMBERS ARE CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS?

My son David is President/CFO, my wife Jane is VP

of Marketing, my nephew Paul is VP of Construction, my nephew Brad is Snow and Ice Manager, daughter-inlaw Yuliya is Interiorscape and Holiday décor manager and sister-in-law Robin handles payroll.

WHAT VALUES OR PRINCIPLES GUIDE YOUR BUSINESS?

From its inception my business was based on hard work and good service. As a new company there was an ongoing emphasis on learning and developing good horticultural practices. Those principles still hold true today.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE BUSINESS HAS FACED OVER THE YEARS AND HOW DID YOU MEET IT?

With nearly 60 years, we have been through a few challenges! I think getting through the six year recession was most challenging…we punctuated taking good care of our clients and staff and lived with lower margins for quite a few years.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED WORKING IN A FAMILY BUSINESS?

It is important that all family members commit to having one set of standards. Family members need

to set a good example, as they are held to a higher standard in the eyes of employees.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITION THE LEADERSHIP OF YOUR COMPANY FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT?

This year, my oldest son, David Robert Frank (DRF) stepped into the role of President/CFO. DRF, from early on, had an interest in finance. Upon graduation, DRF called, telling me of his decision to join the company and continue the Frank family business. Of course, I was thrilled! DRF has been in a comprehensive training program over the last five years to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to provide leadership for the future. One key element of the program has been to assemble a strong Management Team.

Several of our managers are company veterans; therefore, many of our supervisors and crew leaders are preparing through our Next Generation program, to step in when they approach retirement. Just like our management staff, DRF is preparing to fulfill not only his responsibilities as President, but selectively add many of mine as I near retirement. Our Next Generation program was initiated in 2016 with a new HR module. My visions for the future are bright because we are prepared! biztimes.com / 39

Special Report FAMILY BUSINESS

Top five tips for building trust and transparency in a family enterprise

By Deb Houden, for BizTimes TRUST IS IMPERATIVE FOR THE SUCCESS OF ANY SYSTEM. A marriage deteriorates rapidly when trust breaks down. It is difficult to manage employees who do not trust each other. Conversely, companies thrive when consumers trust their brands. Trust allows a freedom to think, act and be without fear of judgment.

The healthiest family enterprises are those that individually and cooperatively work at building that trust. In a family enterprise, trust between family members is a huge competitive advantage.

Transparency is a builder of trust. Transparency, by definition, means nothing to hide, even when mistakes have been made. Trust and transparency go hand-in-hand.

Here are five tips for building trust and transparency in your

40 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

family enterprise. »» Involvement. Families who meet regularly, with the inclusion of spouses, to share, learn and discuss information relevant to the company and to the family have healthier families and businesses. »» Disagreement without defensiveness. Learning to respectfully disagree without becoming defensive is difficult for many people.

In families, it is extremely hard: the tension between individuality and inclusiveness; the history of sibling rivalry for love and attention; the lingering feelings of not being valued – all of these attack our sense of self. Allowing disagreement without attacking increases

the ability to be vulnerable, and hence builds trust. »» Sharing of tasks. Inevitably, people think back to group projects in school.

Few enjoyed the process because either someone felt he or she had to do all the work, or someone wanted to control the whole project.

There are two components to sharing of tasks: 1) letting someone else do things in the way they believe the task should be completed, and 2) completing the task in a reasonable and agreed upon timeframe to the agreed upon standards »» Explicit expectations.

Unmet expectations leave a wake of disappointment.

Unfortunately, often what one

person thinks should happen is different than what another thinks should happen.

Quietly, resentment builds.

Make expectations of shared tasks (and what the outcome should be) explicit. This requires involvement, disagreement without defensiveness, and communication. »» Management of expectations. Sometimes, expectations need to be adjusted because of unforeseen circumstances. And sometimes, expectations have to be adjusted because of the realization of what an individual can honestly achieve.

People can contribute in different ways. Honestly assessing capability, honoring individuality and recognizing contributions helps to manage expectations.

Trust and transparency are vital for a healthy family and a healthy business. Focusing efforts on the above will help to build strong foundations that future generations can build upon to ensure success in the business and in their families. n Deb Houden is a senior consultant at The Family Business Consulting Group. She will present “Trust and Transparency in a Family Enterprise” at BizTimes Media’s Family & Closely Held Business Summit on Thursday, June 14, at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee. For more information, visit biztimes.com/family.

Strategies WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Building a hightech talent pipeline Microsoft computer science program gains traction in state A little more than a year ago, many Wisconsinites had never heard of TEALS, a program supported by Microsoft Philanthropies that helps high school teachers learn to teach computer science. That’s beginning to change in a big way.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele recently made a personal donation of $250,000 to the program. Abele also got the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce involved.

Milwaukee Institute has for the past year been helping TEALS recruit schools to participate, as well as local information technology professionals to volunteer in their classrooms. The MMAC has agreed to help with those efforts.

When we started, there were no Wisconsin schools participating in TEALS; this year, there are 13. If we get enough IT professionals to be classroom volunteers in northeasteastern Wisconsin, Milwaukee and Madison, that number could well double for the 2018-’19 school year.

The fact that TEALS has gained traction so rapidly is a testament to the quality of the program and the number of people in our state who were willing to roll up their sleeves and make it happen.

TEALS came to Wisconsin last spring after gener8tor co-founder Joe Kirgues organized several meetings with Microsoft President Brad Smith. During those meetings – which also led to introductions that resulted in the Titletown Tech partnership between Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers – Smith mentioned that he’d like to see the

TEALS program happen in our state. And that he’d like it to start in northeastern Wisconsin, where he’d attended Appleton West High School.

With an extended deadline for applications, we recruited 13 schools – nine in northeastern Wisconsin – to participate in TEALS this school year. Thomas Nelson, Outagamie County executive, and Troy Streckenbach, Brown County executive, were critical to TEALS’ success. Both of them helped organize meetings with schools and companies that had potential volunteers.

Another invaluable resource was Dennis Brylow, a Marquette University associate professor and co-chair of the state’s computer science teaching standards committee who has trained more than 1,200 teachers, mostly in Wisconsin, to teach computer science.

The state Department of Public Instruction suggested calling Brylow for the lowdown on the program. “TEALS is the gold standard,” Brylow told me during our initial call. “We’ve been trying to get them in Wisconsin for years.”

Well TEALS is here – and those first 13 schools made it happen. They signed up on a compressed timeline, creating a lot more work for themselves because they believed their students deserved more opportunities.

“We never could have gotten off the ground without those key school districts in Outagamie and Brown counties,” said Nelson, who attended the initial meetings with Smith.

Computer science is a vital driver in today’s global innovation economy, but most U.S. high schools are unable to offer rigorous CS courses.

TEALS has been key to a dramatic increase in the number of students engaged in computer science in Washington state. In 2009, when TEALS started there, 255 high school students took the AP Computer Science Exam, about the same number as in Wisconsin.

Fast forward to 2017. About 1,000 Wisconsin students took the AP Computer Science Exam.

Washington, however, in part because of TEALS, had more than 2,600 students taking the exams.

The more robust pipeline of students created more demand for CS classes, encouraging colleges and universities across Washington to

beef up their offerings. This is a virtuous cycle we can repeat in Wisconsin, especially now that TEALS is here to help.

Because TEALS is funded by Microsoft Philanthropies, participating schools pay nothing but stipends to their volunteers. Those schools get TEALS-trained industry professionals to help teachers with introductory and AP computer sciences classes.

But that’s not all that excited us about the program. TEALS builds communities of practice for computer science education and bridges between schools and businesses. It now also sponsors a spring CS fair here, which includes cool technology displays, and meetings for students with local businesses that might be hiring interns and representatives from higher education.

This is important. The greatest number of high-paying STEM jobs are in computer science, recent studies have shown. The stronger our state’s expertise in this foundational, 21st century area, the better equipped we’ll be to develop and compete for those high-paying jobs.

It’s difficult to think of a better cure for brain drain. n

KATHLEEN GALLAGHER Kathleen Gallagher is a Pulitzer Prizewinning writer and executive director of the Milwaukee Institute, a nonprofit that supports advanced technologies and highgrowth businesses to help the region thrive.

She can be reached at kathleen@mkei.org. biztimes.com / 41

Strategies COACHING

Don’t get spoiled by success You have more to learn Throughout your career, you work hard to learn, grow and establish a track record of success. If you are fortunate, you encounter hardship and setbacks along the way. These keep you real.

If you are observant and smart, you realize that today’s accolade loses some of its sparkle overnight. Success doesn’t camp out. It keeps moving, seeking new members for its roster.

If you are not particularly observant, you may fall prey to the seductive side of success that can spoil you rotten. It happens when you start believing every word in congratulatory letters and positive stories written about you while ignoring viewpoints that do not align with your own. When you spend more time gazing at evidence of your brilliance than sharpening and applying your expertise, you may be in trouble.

If you also begin to associate exclusively with people who think like you do, applaud your talent and hand you awards, beware. Your world can become dangerously small and your once bright eyes and open mind can grow dull. One day, you may find you have crossed an invisible line that separates growth and building from protecting what you have already achieved.

Hardships and setbacks are unavoidable when you actively seek to learn and grow. Inevitably, you will encounter others who started in different places, have experienced a different journey from yours and, consequently, hold a different point of view. Great minds are sharpened when they grate against others. That’s how our thinking gets polished. It is not always a 42 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

pleasant process, but it is always a refining and broadening one. Learn to endure it. Better yet, learn to leverage it.

Success that spoils you, by contrast, is an insidious process that starts with nothing but upside. You work hard to build credibility, associate with people who are as hardworking as you are, and create a community of success. The slide toward the dark side begins when you establish boundaries to protect this community. At first, these boundaries are mental. You begin to reject external ideas, along with the people who offer them. You privately judge others as uneducated or uninformed. You take comfort and pride in your accomplishments as proof that your way of thinking is superior.

The current political environment is a case study in this regard, though admittedly extreme.

When Donald Trump cannonballed into the political establishment’s hot tub, all hell broke loose. The high-minded thinkers, writers and operatives squealed in outrage and continue to sniff in disgust at this unprincipled and undisciplined outsider; this intruder who clearly has no respect for their hard-earned prowess and achievements. He knows who they are, he just doesn’t care.

Their prose, once so carefully measured, blew up. Harsh judgment, crass vocabulary and even profanity stripped bare the veneer of social piety, revealing a host of people spoiled by the closed circles they built over a period of years.

Their steadfast refusal to see and accept a world different from the one they know and live so comfortably within creates profound intellectual and emotional dislocation. It threatens their comfort, creates danger for their routines, and challenges the foundation upon which their self-identity stands. No wonder they strike back.

The point here is that success can weave a cocoon of self-celebration and smugness that blinds a person. The instinctive desire to pro-

tect the cocoon supplants the spirit of discovery and risk-taking that generated success in the first place.

Perhaps this is a natural progression from precocious protégé to seasoned expert, but I hope not. The most compelling people are those who remain humble in success, hungry for learning, and intrigued – even entertained – when the world shifts abruptly. When yesterday’s success dims with the light of a new dawn, they welcome a chance to learn anew, even from people who don’t live in their world and can’t possibly know what they know. They realize the reverse is true, as well.

Keep learning. Welcome challenge. Don’t be afraid to change your point of view. Do refuse to shrink, and protect what has brought you success so far. And as author Richard Bach wrote: “Remember where you came from.” n

SUSAN MARSHALL Susan Marshall is an author, speaker and the founder of Backbone Institute LLC. For more information, visit backboneinstitute.com.

A BRIEF CASE

How do I get my employees to embrace change?

Cecelia Gore Executive director Brewers Community Foundation “As we all know, change is inevitable. We experience change in our personal and professional lives. People come and go, often those that we care deeply about. We are bound to have a number of employment opportunities and personal experiences throughout our career.

“Some change is easy and sometimes it is tough. In my experience, change generally leads to something good. In the midst of change, I remind myself that as I am helping others to change, I am also experiencing some level of change myself – treat others the way I would like to be treated. It is important to be patient with ourselves and kind, recognizing that it doesn’t take much to get set in our ways.

“I also attempt and encourage as much transparency as possible, along with clear communication about the change at hand. I would offer two proverbs that might help as we tackle the notion of change in our lives: ‘If you want to get somewhere fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’

Lean on each other when faced with change – makes the journey a bit more interesting.

“Finally, we should remember, ‘Tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.’ All of us need to stay a step or two ahead of the game.

Embrace lifelong learning and enjoy the ride.”

Joaquin Altoro Vice president-business banking Town Bank “I have learned over the years, personally and anecdotally, that employee engagement is the way to go. It’s natural human behavior to want to be included. If a particular initiative allows for employee engagement in advance of implementation, allow for your employees to have some input.

“However, there are times when employees will not have this opportunity. In that case, it is important to be very clear in explaining the change. There is nothing worse than getting mixed messages about management-led changes – it can breed a sense of frustration with leadership.

“I have also noticed that continual communication prior to, throughout, and after the change helps the medicine go down. It feels so much better to know that leadership respects employees enough to keep them in the loop.”

Ann Hanna Managing director & owner Taureau Group LLC “A resistance to change is generally the fear of the unknown. Acceptance of change depends on what the perceived outcome will be. At Taureau Group, we strive to initiate change only where it allows us to be more efficient, higher quality or smarter. Consequently, a culture develops such that change equals improvement. We also include affected team members in the decision process, which gives them influence and ownership in the new endeavor. Inclusion and then proper communication can make change fun and exciting.

“Living and embracing the reality that you will have failure with change is also essential.

Not if, but when … failure is unavoidable. It is difficult to live in the moment of failure, but it’s easier knowing there is support without blame.

The important key is to fail as quickly and inexpensively as possible, and then embrace the lessons learned.

“In our interview process, we screen for people who are open to new ideas and have the flexibility to adapt. We also look for people who have a strong control over ego. Confidence is vitally important, but ego-driven individuals can never quickly embrace and adapt.

“Workplace attitudes toward change have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. The advent of Amazon, Google and Apple has disrupted our traditional ways of shopping, research, data access and management. Both in our personal and work life, we have become conditioned to expect change and that change has generally made our lives easier, faster and more efficient.” n biztimes.com / 43

Marketplace

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Tell us what makes you interesting!

Visit: biztimes.com/featureme BizTimes Milwaukee is seeking subjects and ideas for numerous features in our magazine. If you are interested in being featured, please fill out a questionnaire about your company. All submissions are reviewed by our editorial team and selected at their discretion.

44 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

BizConnections NONPROFIT ZO O L O G I C A L S O C I E T Y O F M I LWA U K E E L A U N C H E S $ 2 5 M I L L I O N C A P I TA L C A M PA I G N The Zoological Society of Milwaukee recently announced a $25 million capital campaign to fund the new Adventure Africa complex at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The campaign has raised more than $16.7 million to date toward that goal, thanks to lead gifts from the Dohmen Family Foundation, Holz Family Foundation, Ladish Family Foundation and MillerCoors during the quiet phase of the campaign, said Jodi Gibson, Zoological Society president and chief executive officer.

The project will provide new homes for the zoo’s elephants, hippos and rhinos. Leaders said

the development, which will occupy about 25 percent of the zoo’s existing footprint, will be the largest physical change to the zoo at its current location.

Construction is already underway on the new elephant exhibit, which is expected to open to the public in spring 2019.

The second and third phases of the Adventure Africa project include a new hippo exhibit with underwater viewing and a new rhino exhibit, which will be located where the elephants currently live. The zoo does not currently have timelines for those projects.

— Lauren Anderson

c alendar The Real Estate Alliance for Charity will host the Battle of the Bags from 4 to 7 p.m. on June 21 at Twisted Fisherman Crab Shack, 1200 W. Canal St. in Milwaukee. The event, which will include food, beer, networking and bags, will support Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement, College Possible and Playworks Wisconsin. More information is available at reach-wi.org.

Redeem and Restore Center will host its Wisconsin Lantern Walk from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on June 22 at Fox River Park, picnic area 3, W264 S4500 River Road in Waukesha. The event will include a cookout, live music, raffles, self-defense clinic and one-mile walk with lanterns at dusk. All proceeds will benefit Redeem and Restore Center.

More information is available at redeemandrestore.org.

D O N AT I O N R O U N D U P The Medical Society of Milwaukee Foundation recently gave $21,480 to the Hunger Task Force and Fondy Food Center from funds raised during the Medical Society’s 2018 Awards Dinner | The Women and Girls Fund of Waukesha County recently awarded $91,100 to 11 local nonprofit organizations, including Addiction Resource Council Inc., Best Buddies Wisconsin, Carroll University, Easterseals, ERAs Senior Network, Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, LindenGrove Foundation, Lotus Legal Clinic, NAMI Waukesha County, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin and Waukesha County Community Dental Clinic | Landmark Credit Union raised more than $47,000 for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin through the Children’s Miracle Network Links campaign.

nonprofit

SPOTLIGHT

DA N CE WO R K S IN C .

1661 N. Water St., Milwaukee (414) 277-8480 | danceworksmke.org Facebook: facebook.com/danceworksmke | Twitter: @Danceworksmke

Year founded: 1992

individuals and public grants.

Mission statement: To enhance the joy, health and creativity of the community through performances, classes and outreach activities that integrate dance and other art forms.

Executive leadership: Deborah Farris, president and CEO; Kim Johnson-Rockafellow, managing director; Dani Kuepper, artistic director; Candice Wegner, senior director of development; Amy Brinkman-Sustache, director of education.

Primary focus: Danceworks is committed to taking the arts beyond the studio and theater and into the community by creating work that connects diverse groups of people. Our signature community program, Danceworks Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap, serves 50 schools annually, engaging more than 25,000 Milwaukee-area students in the classroom since 2007. Danceworks Generations uses creative arts instruction to encourage school-aged children to build relationships with older adults in their communities. Danceworks Performance Co. produces a three-concert season annually and mentors more than 65 community artists through performance grants and rehearsal space.

Employees at this location: 65 Key donors: United Performing Arts Fund, Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, BMO Harris Bradley Center, The Brico Fund, Milwaukee Public School Partnership for the Arts and Humanities and various foundations, corporations,

Board of directors: Rick Krueger, Clare Reardon, Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, Kilby Williamson, Lindsay Olson, Candace Berg, Kristin Bergstrom, Roxana Cook, Mario Costantini, Karyn Elliott, Deborah Gonzalez, Olivia Hare, Betsy Hoylman, Anthony Jones, Frank Krejci, Jeff McClellan, Megan Suardini and Jason Wendt.

What board roles are you looking to fill? Members who can provide focus on community connections and opportunities that support our goals and resource development.

Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: Danceworks relies on financial and in-kind donations to support our programs and services. The community can also volunteer at our programs, including our two annual citywide Mad Hot competitions, as an usher at one of our many performances, or lending a hand with various administrative projects. biztimes.com / 45

BizConnections PERSONNEL FILE ARCHITECTURE

BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION

MANUFACTURING

FGM Architects, Milwaukee

La Macchia Group, Milwaukee

Badger Meter Inc., Racine

SaintA, Milwaukee

La Macchia Group has hired Matt Bratzke as director of construction.

Bratzke has more than 25 years of experience in construction management, architecture and engineering for commercial building projects.

Badger Meter Inc. has promoted Keith Laughlin to operations manager for the company’s flow instrumentation operations in Racine. Laughlin formerly served as operations manager for the company’s Scottsdale, Arizona facility. All of the Scottsdale operations were transferred to the Racine location in early 2018.

SaintA has hired Polina Makievsky as vice president of strategy and innovation.

Makievsky serves as senior vice president of knowledge, leadership and innovation for the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, a national strategic action network.

Wright

Fairfield

FGM Architects has promoted Brian Wright to director of municipal and recreation practice, Scot Fairfield to vice president and Gilmartin director of marketing, and Diane Gilmartin to chief financial officer. Joining the firm in 2007, Wright has focused primarily on designing fire, police, civic and recreation facilities. Initially hired in 1999, Fairfield rejoined FGM in 2017 after 10 years of design-build and business development in the construction industry. Gilmartin worked for FGM from 2002 to 2004 and returned to the firm in 2016 as the director of finance.

BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION

Balestrieri Environmental & Development Inc., Elkhorn Balestrieri Environmental & Development Inc. has hired Katrena Virgin as project administrator. She specializes in marketing, telecommunications and project team organization.

BUSINESS CONSULTING

SCAS Management Group LLC, Milwaukee SCAS Management Group LLC has hired Bridget Seals as a senior claims examiner.

EDUCATION & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee MSOE has hired Kristin Dunn as its new creative director. Dunn will lead the strategy, development and delivery of all aspects of creative and branding communications to enhance and grow the university’s reputation.

Dunn comes to MSOE from Drake University in Iowa, where she served as the creative director.

BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION

Bartelt Inc., Delafield Bartelt Inc. has promoted Matt Swanger to vice president of operations. In this role, Swanger will work closely with both the design and production teams, leading on-site meetings during the project and postconstruction meetings after completion.

46 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

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

LEGAL SERVICES

NONPROFITS & PHILANTHROPY

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee Michael Best & Friedrich LLP has hired Lisa Gingerich as a partner in the Transactional Practice Group.

Gingerich will be based out of the firm’s Milwaukee office, focusing her practice on health care law.

MANUFACTURING

R&B Wagner Inc., Milwaukee R&B Wagner Inc. has hired Megan Jarosinski as senior director of marketing. She will oversee all strategic marketing initiatives, collaborative product development and launch activities, and product line management. She has more than 10 years of marketing and product portfolio management experience.

Cordova

Gilman

Ransom

Dickinson

Grimsic

Sagen

The Milwaukee Bucks have hired Robert Cordova as senior vice president - chief technology officer, Mathieu Gilman as vice president of global business development, Charles Ransom as director of guest experience, Hilary Dickinson as manager of communications, Nina Grimsic as talent acquisition manager, and T.J. Sagen as manager of live event programming for the team’s new downtown arena scheduled to open in the fall.

2019 EDITION

SBA LOANS: APRIL 2018 The U.S. Small Business Administration approved the following loan guarantees in April: JEFFERSON COUNTY

Macke Ventures LLC, 761 Palmyra St., Sullivan, $90,000, Ixonia Bank; KENOSHA COUNTY

An Innovative Care CBRF Inc., 10628 22nd Ave., Pleasant Prairie, $350,000, Byline Bank; International Mold and Production LLC, 6011 29th Ave., Kenosha, $150,000, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp., Schubat Contracting & Renovation, 7014 284th Ave., Salem, $50,000, First Home Bank; Willow Pond Investments LLC, 6511-6515 52nd St., Kenosha, $117,000, WBD Inc.; WTC Transport LLC, 5518 26th St., Kenosha, $35,000, Summit Credit Union; MILWAUKEE COUNTY

1301 Stark Inc., 1301 W. Atkinson Ave., Milwaukee, $315,000, Newtek Small Business Finance Inc.; 5707 LLC, 5707 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Cudahy, $695,000, WBD Inc.; Amber House Inc., 7414 W. Hampton Ave., Milwaukee, $143,000, Summit CU; Corbitt Trucking LLC, 5421 N. 37th St., Milwaukee, $125,000, Independence Bank; CTH Aquisition LLC, 12231 W. Bluemound Road, Wauwatosa, $3.9 million, Wells Fargo Bank; Eckman’s Automotive Inc., 9246 W. Appleton Ave., Milwaukee, $30,000, Associated Bank;

JD Motor Sports; 8439 W. Lynx Ave., Milwaukee, U.S. Bank;

Rnr Auto Glass Inc., 824 Cleveland Ave., Racine, $25,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank;

Mitchell Oasis LLC, 628 W. Historic Mitchell St., Milwaukee, $100,000, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.;

The Pet Parlor of Racine LLC, 1325 14th St., Racine, $125,000, WWBIC;

Morts Painting LLC, 3915 W. McKinley Ave., Milwaukee, $18,000, U.S. Bank; MW Industries of Wisconsin Inc., 5349 N. Lovers Lane Road, Milwaukee, $150,000, The Huntington National Bank; Options for Community Growth Inc., 11823 W. Janesville Road, Hales Corners, $2.5 million, Byline Bank; Phones Plus Inc., 10125 S. 52nd St., Franklin, $325,000, Summit Credit Union; Rec Room Craft Co. LLC, 219 S. Second St., Milwaukee, $75,000, WWBIC; Shree Khodiar Krupa LLC, 8530 W. Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, $700,000, Byline Bank; Visthar LLC, 8780 Woodbridge Drive, Greendale, $45,000, Associated Bank; Oldenburg Metal Tech Inc., 775 N. Progress Drive, Saukville, $350,000, Commerce State Bank; Oldenburg Properties LLC, 775 N. Progress Drive, Saukville, $902,000, WBD Inc.; Oldenburg Properties LLC, 775 N. Progress Drive, Saukville, $3 million, Commerce State Bank; PCCW LLC, 136 N. Main St., Thiensville, $50,000, Commerce State Bank; PCCW LLC, 136 N Main St., Thiensville, $327,000, Commerce State Bank;

Fancy Pants Salon LLC, 6421 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, $22,500, First Bank Financial Centre;

Splash! Holdings LLC, 10636 N. Commerce St., Mequon, $418,000, WBD Inc.;

Flip LLC, 2322 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee, $268,000, Commerce State Bank;

H & H Fairway Enterprises Inc., 14101 Washington Ave., Sturtevant, $150,000, Community State Bank;

Grassroots MKE LLC, 111 E. Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 130, Milwaukee, $100,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank; J & R Ventures LLC, 12132 W. Capitol Drive, Wauwatosa, $623,700, National Exchange Bank and Trust;

RACINE COUNTY

Littleport Brewing Co. LLC, 214 Third St., Racine, $200,000, WWBIC; Michelau Tree Service LLC, 32737 Seidel Drive, Burlington, $10,000, Community State Bank;

Ultimate Dental Care LLC, 4915 Washington Ave., Ste. B, Racine, $304,500, JPMorgan Chase Bank;

GIVING GUIDE

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY

Plymouth Industries Inc., 1919 County Road, Plymouth, $1.04 million, Commerce State Bank;

A SUPPLEMENT

REGIONAL P HILANTHRO

OF

PIC OPPORTU NIT

IES

2018 EDITION

WALWORTH COUNTY

Elite Tree Care LLC, 303 N. Lincoln St., Elkhorn, $46,000, U.S. Bank; WASHINGTON COUNTY

Ashley J Mitchell, 255 S. Fifth Ave., West Bend, $60,000, State Bank of Newburg; Global Handling Inc., 1422 Scenic Drive, Hubertus, $50,000, Five Star Bank; MJM Property Holdings LLC, 4424 County Road P, Jackson, $292,000, WBD Inc.; Shelter from the Storm Roofing Inc., 5826 Shannon Road, Hartford, $150,000, Waukesha State Bank; Two Brothers Lawn and Snow LLC, W206 N16622 Blackberry Circle, Jackson, $125,000, Independence Bank; JBL Craftsman Construction LLC, N33 W29625 Millridge Road, Pewaukee, $53,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Kloskey LLC, N15 W22120 Jericho Drive, Waukesha, $208,800, Waukesha State Bank, Thomas J. La Brosse, N62 W15725 Cherry Hill Drive, Menomonee Falls, $20,000, U.S. Bank;

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BizConnections VOLUME 24, NUMBER 6 | JUN 11, 2018

GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR

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

SALES & MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Mary Ernst mary.ernst@biztimes.com

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

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

COMMENTARY

Better bar games FOR MANY, a night out with friends at a bar includes shooting pool, throwing darts or a game of bar dice.

But the bar scene is changing and a lot of innovations are coming to Milwaukee pubs that make traditional bar games look dull by comparison.

One of the most interesting newcomers is AXE MKE, which will join the East Side scene with a grand opening on Wednesday, June 16.

This is a bar where people will throw an ax at a target for fun. Yes, people will do this while they are drinking. Hopefully, they’ll be careful.

“Think of a cross between bowling and darts,” said Marla Poytinger, one of the co-owners of AXE MKE. “You can rent a lane or two, grab drinks from the bar, and kick back for some friendly ‘lumberjack-style’ competition.

It’s insanely fun.”

One of the first bars in Milwaukee with a unique game theme was Spin, a pingpong bar that opened in the Historic Third Ward in 2010, 48 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

later changed its name to Evolution Gastro Pong, and moved to North Old World Third Street in 2015. The move put it about a block away from the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.

It’s not the only unique game bar coming to that area. 1983 Arcade Bar, a retro video game bar with classic arcade games, opened in December on North Old World Third Street.

And sources told BizTimes Milwaukee that national chain Punch Bowl Social plans to open a location in the Entertainment Block the Bucks are building across the street from the arena.

Punch Bowl Social features food, drinks and games including bowling, shuffleboard, pinball and Skee-Ball.

Another classic arcade game bar, Up-Down, is planned on East Brady Street.

But the newest bar concept planned in Milwaukee combines some of the Wisconsin’s greatest loves: bars, bowling and football. First and Bowl, planned on South Barclay Street, will feature foot-bowling, a game in which people try to knock down bowling pins by throwing a football at them.

Why? Why not?

“People, generally speaking, are interested in some type of activity other than just sitting at a bar,” said Bryan MacKenzie, who is leading

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Molly Lawrence molly.lawrence@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE David Pinkus david.pinkus@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com INSIDE ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Amanda Bruening amanda.bruening@biztimes.com SALES INTERN Tess Romans tess.romans@biztimes.com

ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Sue Herzog sue.herzog@biztimes.com

Holy Angels This photo, taken by James Conklin circa 1939, shows Holy Angels Academy at North 12th Street and West Kilbourn Avenue in Milwaukee. The site is now home to Aurora Sinai Medical Center. Holy Angels merged with Divine Savior High School to form today’s Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in 1970.

DIRECTOR OF SALES Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com

PRODUCTION & DESIGN GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com

Independent & Locally Owned

ART DIRECTOR Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com

— Founded 1995 —

the group working on First and Bowl.

And why just sit at a bar when you can sit and…pedal, or paddle? The group that operates the popular Milwaukee Pedal Tavern (rolling bars powered by patrons pedaling them down the street) last year launched Milwaukee Paddle Tavern, a boat version of the Pedal Tavern.

With so many bars in Milwaukee, I’m sure I’m missing some that are trying new things.

Some of these concepts have been done in other markets before, but it’s interesting to see so many of them coming here now. There are more ways to enjoy a night out in Milwaukee than ever before. n

ANDREW WEILAND EDITOR

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

AROUND TOWN Breakfast of Champions The African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin held its third annual Breakfast of Champions event on May 7 at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood.

1

4

2

6

7

LAVERNE DAVIS of Associated Bank, MIKE STRATTON of Town Bank, CLARICE SMITH of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and SUZETTE KUENNING of Associated Bank.

2.

HEATHER OLSON of Wisconsin, Iowa and Central Illinois Minority Supplier Development Council and MARK DAVIS of American Transmission Co.

3.

LAURA DUBLER and DARRYL ANDERSON, both of YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.

4.

Milwaukee Admirals owner HARRIS TURER and UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball coach PAT BALDWIN.

5.

KITTY PRINCIPE of Associated Bank and JOHN CALLEN of Catholic Financial Life.

6.

MIKE WARD and JULIAN BERRY, both of U.S. Bank, DESHEA AGEE of the Historic King Drive BID and LENORE SPRAGUE of U.S. Bank.

7.

DR. C. GREER JORDAN and DR. JOHN RAYMOND SR., both of the Medical College of Wisconsin.

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GRADY CROSBY of Johnson Controls, CECELIA GORE of the Brewers Community Foundation and BLAINE GIBSON of Baird.

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McDonald’s Unwrapped

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Sharp Literacy held its third annual McDonald’s Unwrapped fundraiser event on May 17 at South Second in Walker’s Point.

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LYNDA KOHLER of Sharp Literacy and DOUG ERLACHER of Wells Fargo Advisors.

10. PAUL SALB of EmPowerHR and MEGAN SALB .

11. JARVIS WILLIAMS of Carnevor and Marquette University men’s basketball coach STEVE WOJCIECHOWSKI .

12. GEORGE JUSTICE of Town Bank, JEN JUSTICE , and TOM MROCZKOWSKI of Northwestern Mutual.

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13. ROSE COLLA of Park Bank and JEAN BALISTRERI , retired.

14. JOE RIEPENHOFF of Foley & Lardner LLP and MARISA RIEPENHOFF of Sharp Literacy.

15. PAUL UPCHURCH of VISIT Milwaukee and LYNDA KOHLER of Sharp Literacy.

16. SPENCER MATTHEWS and CONOR MOON, both of EmPowerHR.

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17. OPHELIA OLIVEIRA of Yelp, PAMELA MORISSE of Nesh Design + Media and OMAR SHAIKH of SURG Restaurant Group.

Photos by Maredithe Meyer biztimes.com / 49

BizConnections

PAT KO P PA |

PRESIDENT

Don’t wait for the perfect solution During his time on a submarine in the U.S. Navy, Forrer Business Interiors president Pat Koppa was taught to get enough information to make a reasonably intelligent decision or the opportunity will pass you by, he says.

“During my time in the U.S. Navy’s Silent Service (nuclear sub force), I learned a valuable leadership lesson that I will never forget. It’s expressed in an elegantly simple statement that everyone seems to grasp, after a brief moment of contemplation: ‘Don’t polish the cannonball.’

“Granted, in my time of Cold War service our weapons of choice were steerable ‘smart’ torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, but nonetheless, the visual of ‘polishing a cannonball’ that was going to crash through the side of a ship was a jolting example of wasted effort and loss of big picture. In warfighting and busi50 / BizTimes Milwaukee JUN 11, 2018

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

the LASTWORD

ness battles, it serves as an effective way to tell someone, ‘You’ve got enough information; now MAKE a DECISION.’ “Too many of us are searching for that one last piece of data to give us the absolute confidence we desire to make the perfect decision.

There are two major shortcomings with this approach: “First, there’s always a chance you won’t get that last piece of information, and even if you do, it won’t really give you the 100 percent proof you were seeking. Reality is that 80 percent is almost always enough.

Forrer Business Interiors Inc. Milwaukee forrerinteriors.com Industry: Office furniture “Second, and most importantly, waiting for that additional information costs precious TIME, and in many instances in life your opportunity to act has been lost, often beat by your competitors, or the once-favorable conditions have changed and the opportunity has passed you by.

“Remember, the cure for happiness is perfectionism. Don’t seek it. Settle for ‘close enough’ and fire the cannonball.

“You can always adjust.” n

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