BizTimes Milwaukee | June 19, 2023

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Special Report

16 Innovation, Startups, Research & Development

As part of our annual Innovation Issue, this special report features an in-depth look at artificial intelligence, including how Wisconsin businesses are using the technology, AI-related research being done by local universities and the potential drawbacks of AI that experts are warning about.

4 NOW BY THE NUMBERS

5 BEHIND THE SCENES – 101.7 The Truth

6 COFFEE BREAK – DeWitt LLP president Tim Stewart MY FAVORITE TECH – Fathom Digital Manufacturing CEO Ryan Martin

7 FROM CONCEPT TO COMPLETION – The TabEASE Co.

8 MEET THE WISCONSIN 275 – Matthew Friedel

9 PUBLIC RECORD WHO’S ON THE BOARD? BIZ POLL

10 Biz News

10 THE INTERVIEW – Perlick CEO Tracy Pearson

12 ‘QUITE UNQUOTE’ – New Glarus Brewing co-founder Deb Carey

14 Real Estate

28 Strategies

28 TECHNOLOGY – Tom Still

30 EDUCATION – David Borst

32 LEADERSHIP – Scott Seroka

33 TIP SHEET – ChatGPT

36 Biz Connections

36 GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR COMMENTARY

37 PAY IT FORWARD

38

5 MINUTES WITH…Toppers Pizza CEO Adam Oldenburg

East-West Bus Rapid Transit line launches

By Cara Spoto, staff writer

The Milwaukee County Transit System recently launched its new East-West Bus Rapid Transit line. Called Connect 1, the new route replaces the traditional MCTS Gold Line – which previously connected the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center and Wau -

BY THE NUMBERS

watosa to downtown Milwaukee – with a streamlined route that has fewer stops and a dedicated bus lane aimed at moving passengers along the busy corridor faster. Connect 1 will be free to all riders through Sept. 30.

Planning for the route, which

involved capital improvements topping $55 million, began back in 2016, said Dan Basile, chief operations officer for MCTS.

During those early planning stages – as officials envisioned creating a faster and more efficient bus route – it was important to develop a BRT route that would allow for improved connections to major employment, education and recreation destinations along one of the city’s most vital transportation corridors, Basile said.

What they came up with is a 9-mile bus line that takes riders from East Wisconsin Avenue and North Cass Street in downtown Milwaukee (and through The Couture when it’s complete) to the MRMC in Wauwatosa, in about 30 minutes. Along the way, they’ll have an opportunity to connect to neighborhoods like the Near West Side and Story Hill, nine colleges and universities, including Marquette and Wisconsin Lutheran College, eight high schools, 25 hotels and several attractions, including the Milwaukee County Zoo and American Family Field.

The BRT achieves faster travel times by removing things that can slow buses down, said David Locher, manager of enhanced transportation for MCTS. Instead of stopping every quarter mile, the

BRT stops every half mile. Rather than stopping at the farebox to pay a fare or show a bus driver a pass, riders pay for their tickets at a ticketing machine at one of the BRT’s 33 new stations or through the MCTS app, WisGo.

Having a marked, dedicated bus lane across half of the 9-mile route will also help speed things up by taking buses out of mixed traffic. Although MCTS buses have always traveled in the far-right lane, those lanes will now be marked as “bus only” throughout most of the route’s Milwaukee portion.

Made possible by a $40.9 million federal transit grant as well as roughly $11.9 million in Milwaukee County funds and $2.3 million in other federal funding, Connect 1 is predicted to carry an average of 9,500 weekday riders by 2035 and increase overall transit ridership in the corridor by 17%.

Riders will be able to catch the bus at 10-minute intervals during peak times, and between 15 and 20 minutes on the weekends and non-peak hours.

In addition to faster service, riders will enjoy newer, cleaner buses, most of which are brand new and all electric. MCTS currently has seven all-electric buses in operation, with another four expected to arrive in July. n

A new, all-electric Connect 1 bus prepares to pick up eastbound riders at North 27th Street and West Wisconsin Avenue.

The tourism

industry

had a economic impact on the greater Milwaukee area in 2022, a new record, according to data from the state Dept. of Tourism.

$6 BILLION

BEHIND THE SCENES

101.7 The Truth

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

It’s 7 a.m. on a Tuesday, and Denise Thomas, founder of The Effective Communication Coach, and Telly Hughes, a sports broadcaster and former sideline reporter for Bucks and Brewers games, are warming up for another edition of their weekday morning show, “Truth Be Told with DT and Telly,” on 101.7 The Truth. As the intro music fades, the co-hosts open hour one with an upbeat, “Good morning! What’s up, Truth Nation?” – a shout out to the base of thousands of listeners who tune in weekly to Milwaukee’s Black talk radio station. Launched in 2021 by Milwaukee-based Good Karma Brands to spotlight and uplift voices and experiences of the Black community, The Truth features 11 hours of live programming on weekdays.

Since moving into a new high-tech studio space at The Avenue late last year, The Truth has continued to expand its reach beyond the airwaves into the world of streaming via YouTube and other platforms. “The technology we have here allows for us to be more than just a radio station, it allows us to deliver our content to our fans in multiple ways,” said Kyle Wallace, director of content for The Truth. n

1

with the launch of video streaming and additional content opportunities.

2 3 4 5

4 Thomas reads a message from partners Acts Housing and BMO Harris Bank promoting National Home Ownership Month programming.

“Truth Be Told” launched in March, featuring Denise Thomas (left) and Telly Hughes.

2 Producer Ben Jammin, pictured in The Truth’s control room, says his role has taken on new meaning

3 Kyle Wallace (right) steps into the recording studio during a commercial break.

5 Good Karma Brands’ 24,500-square-foot space includes offices on the second floor and studios for four radio stations on the ground floor.

Tim Stewart President and managing partner

DeWitt LLP

13845 Bishops Drive, Suite 300, Brookfield Dewittllp.com

• Tim Stewart took over as president and managing partner of DeWitt LLP in January 2021. He now spends around 75% of his time on firm business and 25% on client work. “It’s never a simple, smooth 75-25 split in a day,” Stewart said. “It’s very much driven by clients and what’s happening on a day-to-day basis at the firm.”

• During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was plenty of billable hour work to do, but Stewart began to realize “my passion for billable hour work had waned.” His role leading the firm now allows him to apply lessons learned from helping clients and to work to bring new business in via coffees, lunches and one-on-one meetings. “That’s the part of the job I really like, as a lawyer, doing the business development.”

• Stewart likes to have breakfast meetings at Sweet Diner in the Third Ward. He also likes going to the Northwestern Mutual Commons, which he described as “a hidden gem” that “is open to the public, has a Starbucks and about a thousand comfortable chairs, and is a great place to get some work done or meet up with someone for coffee.”

• He serves on the board of the United Performing Arts Fund, something that stems back to his kids’ involvement at First Stage theater and seeing “what an amazing place the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center is in terms of acceptance and in terms of kindness and laughter.” Stewart said he often reminds young attorneys their volunteer work “should be something you really do care about, something you would do in your spare time regardless of any ancillary relationship or business

Stewart typically makes his own coffee at home. “I take it with a splash of cream. I have a big red Yeti and put 20 ounces of coffee and a splash of and it’s hot, not iced.” n

MY FAVORITE TECH

RYAN MARTIN

Chief executive officer, Fathom Digital Manufacturing

Martin leads Hartland-based Fathom Digital Manufacturing, one of the largest on-demand digital manufacturing platforms in the country. Fathom offers customers solutions ranging from traditional CNC machining to additive manufacturing. Martin is constantly surrounded by technology, whether visiting one of Fathom’s facilities or at home. Here are some of his favorite tech products.

re MARKABLE

“I’m a big note taker as it helps me stay organized and focused. It was ridiculous all the notepads I was using, and they weren’t organized well. Recently, a colleague introduced me to a digital notebook called reMarkable and it has changed the game for me. I can still write out notes as before, but then I can easily digitize them, organize them and reference them instantly compared to the old-school method of notepads.”

WAZE

“Whether I’m on the road visiting one of our 11 sites in North America, visiting our customers, or going to one of my boys’ sporting events, I’m always trying to find the most efficient way to navigate and avoid traffic and there is no better app in my view than Waze to do that. It has saved me so much time and probably a few speeding tickets as well over the years.”

APPLE AIRPODS PRO (2ND GENERATION)

“I recently upgraded to these, and it was well worth the investment. I was skeptical, but I’m on the phone a lot and was having trouble hearing people with the traditional AirPods, or the battery life would fail me in the middle of conversation. These stay in your ears better, the battery life is significantly longer and, more importantly, the sound quality is terrific.” n

CONCEPT to COMPLETION from

2020: Smith was first exposed to the legal cannabis industry in 2020 when he visited a dispensary in Oregon with his fiancé. Soon after, he began making delta-8 THC in Wisconsin. Having a background in chemistry, he started working on extraction methods and concentrating the oil that comes from cannabis plants. The company began selling hundreds of kilograms of its product.

The TabEASE Co.

Waukesha-based manufacturer The TabEASE Co. has found its own niche within the legal cannabis industry with its pharmaceutical-grade, flavored pressed pills that contain delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a psychoactive substance found in the Cannabis sativa plant. The 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp and CBD products; delta-8 THC is typically sourced from hemp. Last year, TabEASE completed $1.6 million in sales. The process of creating THC pills was several years in the making for Jeremy Smith, president of The tabEASE Co., who says he was among the first people in the Midwest to make delta-8 THC. Smith started manufacturing THC vapes and gummies before finally landing on his flagship product: pressed THC pills in flavors like sour green apple and rainbow sherbet.

August 2021: The TabEASE Co. moved into its 20,000-square-foot headquarters facility in Waukesha. About 5,000 square feet is dedicated lab space.

February 2023: The final step in manufacturing TabEASE pressed THC pills was designing a child-resistant package that is appealing to adults. The company currently sells its products online and at 200 retailers in Wisconsin and Illinois.

2022:

2022: Smith shifted into manufacturing pressed THC pills after finding out other companies were attempting to imitate his original delta-8 THC products, including vapes and gummies. The first step in the manufacturing process is to turn oil distillate into a fine powder. This creates a homogonous powder for pressing tablets. “I made a quarter-million gummies. Manufacturing them is kind of a pain in the butt, so I stopped to think what the cheapest and most convenient edible product could be,” said Smith.

This photo shows a machine pressing the powder into the delta-8 THC tablets. The pills must have the right texture and hardness while bringing out flavor. TabEASE can manufacture about 30,000 tablets per hour.

MEET THE

MATTHEW FRIEDEL

Education:

Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; master’s and MBA, Marquette University

What was your first job, and what did you learn from it?

“Paper route newspaper delivery – Journal Sentinel. My first entrepreneurial venture. At the time carriers bought their newspapers from the Journal and collected from their customers.”

If you could have dinner with any business leader, who would you choose and why?

“Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Fund. I would love to chat with Jim not only about his investing style, but also his global travels and authoring books, including ‘Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers’ and ‘Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip.’ I share Jim’s passion for traveling the globe and all the amazing experiences that come with travel.”

What are some of your favorite destinations or places to visit?

“Egypt: Cairo, Luxor and Abu Simbel. It’s hard to describe the experience of entering the Great Pyramid of Giza (3,000 years old) in Cairo, touring the Abu Simbel temples and taking a hot air balloon over Luxor, ‘The Ancient City.’”

What is one book you think everyone should read and why?

“’The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy.’ The book taught me true millionaires don’t spend on extravagant material possessions, but rather they are relatively frugal and value people (family and friends) and experiences.”

What’s your hobby or passion?

“Run, bike, swim. I am a three-time marathon runner and four-time triathlete. I exercise every day for fitness and mental health. I love the Oak Leaf Trail, and you will see me on it daily.”

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

“My REAL job: Uber driver a.k.a. driving my kids around. I am still waiting for a five-star review from one of them!”

If you could take a one-year sabbatical, what would you do?

“Do another around-the-world trip! Soak up all the good things in life: people, food, culture, architecture, art museums and more! Travel and experience life as a local. This is my personal journey for learning and growth.”

What advice would you give to a young professional?

“Hard work is most important. If you want something, your work ethic, passion and persistence will be invaluable in pursuing that goal, especially in entrepreneurship.”

What has been your most significant success over the past 12 months?

“Creating a collaborative new innovation incubator at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I am fortunate to have this opportunity and use my network to serve and support the emerging tech and entrepreneur community in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.”

What is one thing you would change about Wisconsin to make it even better?

“We have so many amazing people and assets here in Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. I wish we could collaborate more in the city and across the state. This is what I work on every day!”

What’s at the top of your bucket list?

“Did I mention traveling the world? My goal over the next 10 years is to visit at least 100 countries. I have been fortunate to visit 30 amazing countries on my bucket list. Many more incredible places to visit and amazing people to meet!”

What has you most excited about the future?

“I work in entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and blockchain. I’m excited to see new ventures formed in these areas.” n

Matthew Friedel is a senior lecturer in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies, co-founder of its Disruptive Technologies Laboratory and director of a new business innovation incubator at UWM designed to prepare startups for angel and venture capital funding. Separate from UWM, Friedel is a founder of angel investing network Milwaukee Venture Partners and an angel investor with Silicon Pastures Angel Investment Network.

Co-founder, Milwaukee Venture Partners Director, UWM Business Innovation Incubator MILWAUKEE

“If you want something, your work ethic, passion and persistence will be invaluable in pursuing that goal, especially in entrepreneurship.”

This Q&A is an extended profile from Wisconsin 275, a special publication

from BizTimes Media highlighting the most influential business leaders in the state. Visit: biztimes.com/wisconsin275 for more.

Who’s on the Board?

Generac, Zurn, Brady increased R&D spending the most in 2022

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer

Among 20 southeastern Wisconsin publicly traded manufacturing companies, Town of Genesee-based Generac saw the biggest increase in research and development spending in 2022.

The maker of standby generators and clean energy products spent $159.8 million on R&D, according to its most recent annual securities filing, up 53% from 2021 and nearly double the level from 2020.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions and Brady Corp., both based in Milwaukee, both saw roughly 31% increases in their R&D spending. For Brady, the $58.5 million it spent on R&D was 4.5% of its revenue, up 60 basis points from the previous year. At Zurn, the $18.4 million in R&D spending was 1.4% of revenue, down 10 basis points from the prior year as the company’s topline grew with the acquisition of Elkay Manufacturing.

Combined, the 20 companies spent $1.5 billion on R&D, up 6.3% from the prior year but down as a percentage of revenue to slightly less than 2.3%.

Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation continues to lead this group of companies in R&D spending at $440.9 million, up 4.4% from the previous year.

LiveWire Group, the electric motorcycle spinoff from Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson, leads in spending as a percentage of revenue at 130%. The $23 million the company spent on R&D in 2022 was down from $35 million the prior year, which was equal to 218% of its revenue.

MKE TECH HUB COALITION

• Molly Mulroy, chair, chief information officer, We Energies

• Sangeetha Rai, vice chair, VP of customer success, Northwestern Mutual

• Dan Renouard, treasurer, managing director of strategic initiatives, Baird

• Rebecca Janutis, VP and chief information security officer, Kohl’s

• Wendy Schafer, system VP HIT strategy and operation, Advocate Aurora Health

• Eric Senn, VP of global digital business development, Johnson Controls

• Rashi Khosla, founder and chief executive officer, MARS Solutions Group

• Mara Lord, senior VP of university engagement and strategic planning, Medical College of Wisconsin

• Gordon Nameni, managing director, August Brown

• Marlena Eanes, regional manager, Microsoft TEALS Program

• Matt Cordio, founder, Skills Pipeline

• Jason Fields, CEO, Madison Region Economic Partnership

Mulroy

the Interview

AFTER SERVING as acting chief executive officer for Milwaukee-based Perlick Corp. since June 2022, Tracy Pearson was officially named the company’s first female president and CEO in March. Pearson, who first joined Perlick in 2021 as chief financial officer, has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience spanning various manufacturing and private equity companies. BizTimes Milwaukee reporter Ashley Smart recently caught up with Pearson to learn more about her transition and plans for the company moving forward.

How have your past roles prepared you to lead Perlick?

“From a family-owned business perspective, this is the third larger, family-owned business that I’ve been involved in on an executive level. I gravitate toward the family feel. Treating employees and customers like family, it just really resonates with me. I am fortunate to have some past experience, and I think that’s probably why Perlick recruited me to begin with. Overall, while I came in as the chief financial officer, I’ve always worked with companies that were going through transition. I spent a lot of time working with private equity and other companies looking to do big transitions that would lead them where they needed to go. This was a good fit for me in that way.”

What big transition was Perlick going through when you were first brought on?

“I was brought on by the former CEO and the family as the prior CFO was going to retire. It was post-COVID so they were looking for somebody to help with a transformation. Looking at what we were going to do differently and how we were going to approach the market differently to remain relevant. They were looking for a CFO who wasn’t just a bookkeeper but somebody who could help with business restructuring.”

What was the transition process like for you? How did the family make sure you were supported?

“I had been in the role (of interim CEO) for almost a year so when our former CEO retired, the board and family came to us and said, ‘We need to do something differently,’ and I agreed. I had been in the interim role, but we were team-leading ourselves through a mini restructuring. We were struggling with the things that everybody was – supply chain issues, labor issues – just trying to regrow our business. I had my feet on the ground a lot. I think the best part is we have a very engaged board. They, too, jumped in and helped and were my advisors as we were going through this journey. The prep all happened before the official announcement came. It was great. They needed to make sure I was the right person they wanted in the role, and I needed to make sure it was right for me, too.”

As Perlick’s first female CEO, how have you worked to support women in manufacturing?

“Before I even became CEO, that was a passion of the (Perlick) family. Really having a true representation of Milwaukee as far as diversity. We’re very proud of the number of women who work here at Perlick, and we’re not light manufacturing. We’re heavy manufacturing. We’re fabricating from raw steel. I’ve never seen so many women in industrial manufacturing like we have on our floor. It’s

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

What stage is Perlick at in its previously announced expansion project?

“Like every good project of growth and investment, it has expanded in time and dollars. In the past year, we’ve completed two major sections out of five in the building. The entire second floor has been completely renovated with tons of gathering spaces. It’s all set up to bring people back. We have done a lot on the plant automation side as well. We are in phase three of our almost $5 million investment in laser, storage, sorting and bending cells. We have another piece of automation that should be arriving in the next 30 days for our back bar line. With our growth, we’ve added more people and even more automation than we thought we were going to. It’s still going to be another three years until we get to all of our original wish list. I would say we’ve probably added at least another $5 million into this project. By the end of this year, we’re looking to add at least another 20 associates to the shop floor.”

What plans do you have to support the company’s continued growth?

“We are doing a lot of innovation. With COVID, we put that a bit on hold. A year ago, we were focused more on what we would call

residential or home hospitality, including patio bars or in-home bars. That residential side of our business has grown quite a bit, but what we have found over the past year is while we have products that can be specific to residential, those products actually have commercial applications. We’re no longer selling commercial or residential, just Perlick. When we think about what we’re going to be doing differently, it’s about creating more unique and interesting designs and more energy-efficient products. We’ve also been spending a lot of time working on the ergonomics of the bar. We want to keep the bartender right in front of the customer and not having to go far. We’re also being asked to enter markets we never thought about before, such as the pet food market. All the fancy pet foods now require refrigeration or freezing. We’re finding that people are using our drawers and putting their pet food in the pantry or laundry room. People are putting refrigeration in places they’ve never put it before.”

Where’s your favorite place to enjoy Perlick products?

“You can always recognize a Perlick employee because they’re going to stick their head behind the bar to see what equipment you have. I love food, and I love Milwaukee’s very eclectic selection, so I love to go places I’ve never been before. I like to figure out what businesses are using for their bar equipment, and I love to interview the bartenders whether they’re using our equipment or not. I wouldn’t say I have any one particular establishment I love best. For me, it’s getting a chance to go somewhere I’ve never been and see what surprises come out of that visit.” n

HOW SHE LEADS

August 21st Issue

Whether she’s in the corner office or the front lines, your women leaders are making a difference to your customers, your employees and your bottom line. Share her leadership story here.

WEALTH

September 11th issue

Share your expertise and best practices with our high-net worth readers in this impactful question and answer page.

Space reservation: August 23 ESTATE Q&A:

BUILDING PROJECTS

November 13th Issue

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your Thought Leadership pages today! MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUILDING PROJECT Q&A TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TIMES LIKE THESE Joe Maier, SVP Director Wealth Strategy JD, CPA, Johnson Financial Group Nina V.A. Johnson senior vice president consumer and business banking for Affairs and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Officer for mother two sons and daughter Doris Newby Armstrong; BUILDING SYNERGIES THROUGH SERVANT LEADERSHIP

“

QUOTE un QUOTE ” DEB CAREY

CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF NEW GLARUS BREWING CO.

Deb Carey, co-founder and president of New Glarus Brewing Co., recently received the Ken Hendricks Memorial ‘Seize the Day’ award at the annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference, held in Milwaukee. After accepting her award, Carey participated in a Q&A with Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. New Glarus’ beers are distributed exclusively in Wisconsin and the company expects to produce about 240,000 barrels of beer this year. n

“I never thought we would be this big. That wasn’t the goal. Our goal is just to make world class beer and take care of the people around us.”

“Anybody who wants to work for us has to come to work for three days first. Everybody who works with them rates them. This gives everybody a voice in who gets hired. The flip side is they also have ownership in making this person successful.”

“People sometimes don’t understand when they think about business just in regards to money. I see it as, we have a success team. Not a week goes by that somebody doesn’t call and say, ‘Don’t you want to bid out your insurance?’ Or ‘Don’t you need a new banking relationship?’ Why? No, I’m not going to dump the people who have brought me here. We are part of a team.”

“There is always space in the market that is about dollars, for sure. But that isn’t the space where you’re going to create profit. In order for me to be able to make world class beer, I need a team that I can depend on.”

“When we have a new beer that’s coming out, in my mind I’m thinking of different names. It’s hard to come up with a name that fits for our area and fits for the beer. So, I just try them out on unsuspecting customers. I wait to see what their reaction is.”

“We have the ability to change the lives of the people around us in a very positive way. We all want to be treated respectfully. We all need health insurance. We all want a paycheck we can depend on. And those are the things that we are able to give to our people and that will resonate through the community and create change for others. So, I hope (business leaders) will continue to invest in their people, in education and in our great state of Wisconsin.”

KEITH HOMAN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

The Four P’s of Innovation: People, Planet, Place and Product

What does it mean to innovate? How can our innovations make a difference?

As a leader in the architectural products industry, we’ve been cultivating the answers to those questions for decades (before businesses started entering those as prompts in ChatGPT).

To us, innovation isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a framework we use to better the welfare of people, the well-being of the planet, the enrichment of spaces, and the products that we make and use every day.

We call this the four P’s of innovation: people, planet, place and product.

This framework compels us to reevaluate the purpose and impact of our innovations, ensuring they contribute not only to the bottom line, but also create a positive and lasting impact on the world around us. It is an unwavering commitment to ignite change – to make a difference.

Making a difference is not only a reflection of our values; making a difference is the driving force of our innovations.

» For 14 years, we’ve earned designation as a local top workplace, one of nine organizations that has been honored every single year.

» We’ve been recognized as a Top Workplace in the

USA twice in the last three years.

» As a global company, 77 percent of our employment is local – employing Wisconsin residents for nearly 30 years.

» We are on track to become Net Zero Waste by 2025.

» Inpro was the first Fitwel® certified company in the state. (Fitwel is a green-building certification system that focuses on occupant wellness and the health-affecting aspects of the built environment.)

» We’re growing steadily and sustainably. Our recently announced expansion will be creating hundreds of new jobs for Wisconsin residents in the coming years.

» 70 percent of our products contain recycled content.

By abandoning the product-centric definition of innovation, we’re not just continuing to innovate –we’re continuing to make a difference.

Making a difference inside our planet. Making a difference inside our customers’ spaces. Making a difference inside our products. And making a difference inside to our people.

Architects, contractors use AI to enhance design, budgeting and quality control

TO THE AVERAGE computer user, artificial intelligence seems to have emerged from nowhere – an amorphous and otherworldly force filling their social media feeds with dream-like landscapes and photorealistic images of people who don’t actually exist.

For the people who spend their days designing and engineering buildings, however, AI and its close cousin, building information modeling, are technologies that have gradually been informing the entire development process.

ARCHITECTURE TOOLS

At Minneapolis-based architecture firm HGA, which has a Milwaukee office and has designed several Milwaukee buildings, AI tools are utilized to improve, and sometimes speed up, certain parts of the early building and site design process, said Jonathan Bartling, vice president of digital design at HGA.

AI programs or plugins like DALL-E and DALL-E-2, or Veras, can be “plugged into” traditional computer-aided design programs like SketchUp, Autodesk Revit or Rhinoceros 3D, to enhance or modify designs that have been manually rendered on a computer. Veras, for instance, can alter the mood of a building rendering

WHO REALLY OWNS IT: PUDDLER’S HALL

If you’ve ever driven north along I-794 in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood, you’ve likely noticed the pea green building that houses Puddler’s Hall crop up on your passenger side.

Milwaukee’s second oldest tavern is named after the city’s mill town history. The structure was built in 1872 as a union hall for puddlers and boilers at the nearby Milwaukee Iron Company, according to the tavern’s website.

Puddler’s Hall operated as a Pabst Brewing Co. tavern from 1892 until 1921, when it was purchased by the Barbieri family and turned into a Barbieri’s Dance Hall. It had several other owners and names before becoming Puddler’s Hall again in 2002. The tavern was purchased in 2011 by Casey Foltz of Piedmont Property Corp. and Foltz Family Market.

An AI-generated rendering designed by Nicolas Ramirez of HGA.

ADDRESS: 2461 S. St. Clair St., Milwaukee OWNER: Piedmont Property Corp. of Milwaukee ASSESSMENT: $517,400

by showing it in different lights or seasons. Previously, that work would’ve had to have been done by a person using a more traditional design software.

Designers also sometimes use Autodesk Forma (formerly Spacemaker) to come up with options for building sizes and possible site layouts.

“It allows you to program the different building elements. You can tell it, ‘I want three buildings of these sizes for the site scale,’” Bartling said. “You are doing a lot more curating than iterating (with these tools).”

BUILDING TOOLS

At Milwaukee-based construction firm CG Schmidt, staff are mostly using predictive analytic AI tools, like Microsoft Power BI, that help their staff analyze data and make better decisions when it comes to choosing the best subcontractor for a certain job, or the best estimate for a specific project, said Brian Medina, the firm’s director of mechanical, electrical and plumbing and visual design and construction.

“It allows us to take a lot of data and sort through it fast,” Medina said.

The firm is also testing AI programs that other firms are using to help map mechanical layouts in buildings.

“These programs can help find the most efficient above-ceiling layout, like the insulation, plumbing and HVAC, within code required parameters and maintenance parameters,” Medina said.

At Madison-based construction firm Findorff, AI tools are mostly being used for budgeting and quality control purposes, but the firm is also aware of developing potential for design enhancements like those Medina mentioned. One way the firm is using AI is by employing an optical character recognition software, or OCR, to optically scan building plans to help analyze structural elements.

“At the beginning of every project, you are coming up with a budget, so you need to know how

many windows, walls, how many doors are in those plans,” said Donnie Bogle-Boesiger, virtual design and construction lead at Findorff. “The software uses OCR to read those plans for you to help you with budgeting.”

The firm also uses AI in post-construction quality checks, using laser scanning of completed projects to see how accurately things were installed.

EMBRACING CHANGE JUDICIOUSLY

As AI design tools continue to grow in popularity and scope, the key to using them effectively, Bartling said, will be putting operational and philosophical guardrails in place to ensure the next generation of architects knows there’s a place for organic contributions.

“We have to make sure that we are not just replacing interns with AI. If there are tasks that are being replaced, we have to think about other ways of evolving talent,” he said. “There is a creative agency to the process that we don’t want to lose, by doing things, better, faster and smarter.”

AI is coming along at a time when the construction industry is understaffed and in need of ways to streamline the process and recruit young talent, said Medina.

“Construction is going to have to adapt. Younger workers are going to want more immediate results, because that is what they are used to,” Medina said. “We are not giving our younger generations credit. They don’t need to spend the first five years (of their careers) drafting.” n

MICROSOFT COMPLETES PURCHASE OF MOUNT PLEASANT SITE

Microsoft recently closed on a $50 million purchase of the 315-acre site in Mount Pleasant where it plans to build a $1 billion data center.

Previously part of the Foxconn development area, the parcel runs along Braun Road, north of Highway KR, east of the Canadian Pacific Rail right-of-way, and west of 90th Street, and is located within the village’s Tax Increment District No. 5.

Microsoft will be eligible to earn back some of its $50 million investment as it constructs buildings. The company may recoup 42% of the annual incremental property taxes it pays on the improvements it builds, not to exceed $5 million per year for the duration of the agreement and the district.

Pending further project approvals, site readiness work for the data center could begin later this year.

CARA SPOTO Reporter

P / 414-336-7116

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/ cara.spoto@biztimes.com

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AI has arrived is Wisconsin ready?

A closer look at AI How artificial intelligence became this year’s hottest topic

BY ASHLEY SMART, staff writer

THERE IS NO BIGGER topic of conversation this year for technologists than artificial intelligence. The rapid, exponential growth of AI, specifically generative AI, has caused such alarm that the San Francisco-based Center for AI Safety issued a statement last month warning AI poses a “risk of extinction” on scale with nuclear war. The statement was signed by industry leaders including Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, which is the creator of ChatGPT.

Despite this startling statement, there seems to be a disconnect between those employed in the technology industry and those on its outskirts. There’s a fair number of people who don’t have a clear understating of what AI is – and several experts in the field who believe AI technology is nowhere close to causing human extinction. Some business leaders say they have found that the use of artificial intelligence boosts productivity in the workplace.

As part of this year’s Innovation Issue, BizTimes Milwaukee set out to close the information gap, update readers on some of the latest developments in AI and highlight the ways it’s shaping business in southeastern Wisconsin.

“From a very basic level, artificial intelligence is just a simulation of human intelligence by a machine, specifically computers,” said Matthew Friedel, co-founder of Milwaukee Venture Partners and director of the UWM Business Innovation Incubator. “You can call it a program or application

that can sense, reason, act and adapt. Characteristics I would attribute to it are autonomy, the ability to perform tasks without constant guidance from a user, and adaptability, the ability to improve performance from learned experience.”

One AI application the average person might be familiar with is self-driving vehicles. The technology used within these vehicles requires a combination of searching and finding objects, computer vision, decision making and content recommendation systems. Self-driving cars typically rely on deep learning, a type of machine learning that relies on training artificial neural networks on large datasets.

Most of the emerging technologies currently garnering attention, like ChatGPT, use generative AI. ChatGPT (GPT stands for generative pretrained transformer) is a large language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. Its counterparts, including the AI system DALL-E, can be used to create realistic images from a text description.

“I always say this (period of time) is kind of analogous to the early days of the internet because all these companies are going to be created and now, we’re getting really tangible applications, like ChatGPT, that you can use to really enhance your performance,” said Friedel. “That’s what’s making it so real right now, the fact that we have an application we can use that’s been trained.”

Another reason AI use is growing rapidly is the

opportunity for economic development, according to a Brookings report on how artificial intelligence is transforming the world. There are now tangible applications for AI that can save businesses time and money. AI systems are also becoming increasingly intelligent as the number of data sets available to train them grows and computers continue to become more powerful.

“The increasing penetration of AI and autonomous devices into many aspects of life is altering basic operations and decision-making within organizations and improving efficiency and response times,” according to the report.

With AI systems evolving exponentially, and without much legislation thus far regulating its use, fears of the technology taking workers’ jobs – or doing much worse – have become prominent issues. Some experts in the field, however, say the impacts of AI, based on where the technology is at currently, could be overstated.

A report by Goldman Sachs economists on the impacts on AI found that about two-thirds of U.S. occupations are exposed to some degree of automation by AI. Of those occupations, anywhere between a quarter to half could be replaced. However, the report notes that not all automated work necessarily translates to layoffs.

“Although the impact of AI on the labor market is likely to be significant, most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation and are thus more likely to be complemented rather than substituted by AI,” reads the report.

There’s a full spectrum of opinions when it comes to AI and its future impacts. While there’s disagreement on how, when and if AI could surpass and replace human intelligence, one thing is certain: AI has arrived and it’s already disrupting how people do everyday tasks. As a society, Friedel believes we must continue to have conversations surrounding the uses, potential safeguards and ethics of AI technology.

“I would use the term disrupt, not destroy,” said Friedel. “You have to recognize it’s only trained to a certain point and understand the limits. I don’t know if it’s going to eliminate jobs, but it will change how we do them.” n

Matthew Friedel

AI poses threat to jobs, cybersecurity, experts warn

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer

FOR ALL THE HYPE artificial intelligence has generated in recent months, it has also stoked plenty of fear – even among the tech industry’s top minds.

Take Geoffrey Hinton, for instance, also known as the “Godfather of AI.” In May, the 75-year-old computer scientist left his role overseeing a research team at Google to devote his time to speaking out about the risks AI poses to society.

Most urgent among Hinton’s concerns are potential job loss and the prevalence of disinformation. He’s also worried about what might happen if humans – especially so-called bad actors – give robots and other AI machines too much control, whether it’s on the battlefield during war or in a corporate office setting.

“If you give one of these superintelligent agents a goal, it’s going to very quickly realize that a good sub-goal for more or less any goal is to get more power,” Hinton said during an interview for The New York Times’ The Daily podcast. “We love to get control. And that’s a very sensible goal to have, because if you’ve got control you can get more done. But these (AI systems) are going to want to get control, too, for the same reason, just in order to get more done. And so that’s a scary direction.”

The interviewer, Cade Metz, who is a technology correspondent with The New York Times, cited a possible scenario in which a human asks an AI system to make money for them.

“Remember, these are machines. Machines are psychopaths. They don’t have emotions. They don’t have a moral compass. They do what you ask them to do. Make us money? OK, we’ll make you money. Perhaps you break into a computer system in order to steal that money,” said Metz. “If you own oil futures in Central Africa, perhaps you foment a revolution to increase the price of those futures to make money from it.”

Of course, as Cade points out, an AI system like ChatGPT does not have the ability to take over the world or “destroy humanity,” but the rise and mainstream usage of large language models is already having real-world consequences that can’t be ignored.

Since early May, thousands of Hollywood screenwriters represented by the Writers Guild of America have been on strike over concerns of working conditions and compensations. Among its various objectives, the union wants to “regulate the use of artificial intelligence” in projects, thus preventing studios from replacing human writers with AI. “AI can’t write or rewrite literary material; can’t be used as source material; and MBA-covered material can’t be used to train AI,” according to WGA’s campaign.

A March study by researchers at ChatGPT parent company OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania found that around 80% of the U.S. workforce could have at least 10% of their work tasks affected by the introduction of large language models.

The threat of disinformation generated by AI is even more urgent.

New York City-based attorney Steven Schwartz recently made international headlines for using ChatGPT to research legal cases to cite in an affidavit. It turned out that the six cases Schwartz included in the filing were “hallucinations,” or entirely fabricated by the AI chatbot. As a result, the attorney now faces possible sanctions by a federal judge, but claims he was unaware the cases were false and was not acting in bad faith.

While no real harm resulted from the attorney’s use of AI-generated disinformation, that’s not always the case.

In the world of cybersecurity, AI is increasing-

ly being used by bad actors for nefarious purposes. Often in the form of digitally manipulated audio, photos, videos or email messages – also known as deepfakes – disinformation plays a key role in social engineering tactics designed to lure targets into sharing personal information or performing tasks such as installing malware or downloading viruses.

Many workplaces are all too familiar with email phishing scams, in which, for instance, an employee receives what appears to be a legitimate email from their boss or head of the company asking them to transfer funds, make a purchase or update payroll information.

“There’s now voice phishing scams with people’s voices,” said Keegan Bolstad, sales manager at Menomonee Falls-based managed IT company Ontech Systems Inc. “You receive a call from what looks like your boss’ phone and it’s your boss’ voice telling you to go do something. It’s very, very difficult for you as a user to interpret that, and that’s where AI is getting extremely scary.”

What’s more, the rise and public availability of generative AI has “evened the playing field” amongst cybercriminal groups, Bolstad said. With programs like ChatGPT, would-be cybercriminals no longer need high-level skills like code writing to create malware or ransomware.

But as much as AI has heightened cyber threats to the business world, it has also allowed IT companies like Ontech to sharpen its defense tactics. Bolstad likens it to a game of cat and mouse.

“We respond to the bad actor, and we’ll develop tools or technologies or systems that negate that, and then they’ll pivot and do something new,” he said. “They do something, we react. As we do something, they react. And it’s just a never-ending cycle.” n

Bolstad

Technology Innovation Center at Milwaukee County Research Park empowering innovation

In the heart of the Milwaukee County Research Park, a beacon of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit is thriving. The Technology Innovation Center, located at 10437 Innovation Dr., has become a vibrant hub for aspiring entrepreneurs, startups, and technology-driven companies.

As a mixed-use business incubator, it plays a pivotal role in fueling economic growth, fostering collaboration, and empowering innovation within the local community.

NURTURING STARTUPS

The Technology Innovation Center stands as a catalyst for nurturing startups and providing them with the necessary resources and support to succeed. By offering affordable office spaces, laboratories, and access to a vibrant network of like-minded professionals, the center creates an ideal environment for budding entrepreneurs and innovators to turn their ideas into thriving businesses. Startups benefit from mentoring programs, workshops, and networking events that not only equip them with essential skills but also connect them with potential investors and industry experts.

COLLABORATIVE ECOSYSTEM

At the heart of any successful innovation center is a collaborative ecosystem, and the Technology Innovation Center is no exception. The center fosters a culture of collaboration, where individuals and organizations from diverse industries come together to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and forge partnerships.

This interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving and innovation sparks creativity and allows for the cross-pollination of ideas, leading to groundbreaking advancements and solutions.

DRIVING ECONOMIC GROWTH

As a driving force behind technological innovation, the Technology Innovation Center plays a pivotal role in boosting the local economy. By attracting startups, creating jobs, and promoting industry growth, the center contributes to the economic vitality of Milwaukee and the surrounding areas. The success stories of the startups that have emerged from the center serve as a testament to the power of innovation in driving economic prosperity.

The Technology Innovation Center at the Milwaukee County Research Park is a shining example of how a mixed-use business incubator can ignite innovation and propel economic growth. By providing startups and technology-driven businesses with the necessary resources, collaborative environment, and supportive community, the center creates a thriving ecosystem where ideas flourish and dreams become reality.

As we look to the future, the Technology Innovation Center will continue to be a beacon of innovation, empowering entrepreneurs and shaping the technological landscape of Wisconsin and beyond.

Businesses using AI for hiring, content creation must rely on murky guidelines

BY ASHLEY SMART, staff writer

IT’S HUMAN NATURE to want to make everyday tasks easier. At face value, implementing AI into the workplace could seem like a pretty good way to do just that. But, like with any emerging technology, there are several possible unintended consequences to be wary of.

Larger companies that have big budgets are already using AI regularly in the recruitment and hiring process as a tool to boost efficiency and save money, according to Erik Eisenmann, a labor and employment attorney at Husch Blackwell.

He’s seen AI used for everything from a simple chatbot to a full-blown avatar that conducts an entire interview.

“The way we are seeing it most frequently used is businesses using AI algorithms to conduct screenings of applications,” said Eisenmann.

If a company has identified a set of employees who have come into that organization and been successful, that company can then use their resumes as a template to screen for incoming applicants. Companies are teaching these AI algorithms what a successful job candidate would look like, in theory. The pitfall here, Eisenmann said, is

that this data could have preference toward certain groups of people.

“The concern is what rules we’re establishing in this system,” said Eisenmann. “If we’re teaching AI to select candidates who have been historically successful within an organization, and we look at the demographics of those individuals, it happens to be mostly white men. Are we inadvertently programming in bias?”

For example, if a company were to program an AI system to screen for certain keywords or interests based on previously successful candidates, that system might then throw out language used in resumes that is more relevant to women or other minority groups.

“The AI is only as good as the people teaching it and programming it,” said Eisenmann.

So far, there isn’t any official Wisconsin law for companies looking to use AI in the recruitment and hiring process. New York’s Local Law 144,

which took effect on Jan. 1, is one of the first in the country to require companies using AI systems to take additional steps to ensure those systems are not building in bias.

The law states companies must conduct a bias audit essentially to reverse-engineer the AI process. This would mean looking at the final selected candidates and cross-referencing those results with the entire applicant pool to check for any inadvertent bias.

These audits must be conducted by an independent auditor, which New York’s Local Law 144 defines as an auditor outside the company.

“I think that’s where you’re going to see a lot of pushback because the requirement that you actually engage an outside party is going to make that process much more expensive,” said Eisenmann.

Illinois has an Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act that requires disclosure to a job candidate if an interview will be conducted via AI as well as consent from that person. There are also reporting requirements for the company using AI.

It remains to be seen whether regulation like New York’s law will be passed in Wisconsin. There is, however, some general guidance that has been issued by the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 2021, the EEOC launched an initiative to ensure all software and emerging technologies used in hiring decisions comply with federal civil rights laws.

Eisenmann

HAZARDS IN CONTENT CREATION

As innocuous as it may seem, using AI to generate text or images could be a minefield for businesses. With the popularity of AI systems including ChatGPT and DALL-E, anyone can create content immediately on their computer or phone.

Joseph Miotke, intellectual property attorney and co-chair of the Intellectual Property Group at DeWitt, has seen generative AI have the most impact in the media and entertainment, finance, health care, retail and manufacturing industries and said he hasn’t seen very many specific laws on generative AI yet.

“What’s interesting is how powerful the generative AI tools can be as you learn to use them,” said Miotke. “The more I use it, I think how interesting this is – interesting and scary.”

He said businesses looking to mitigate the risk of using AI should always look at copyright protections as a first step. The U.S. Copyright Office declared over a year ago it will not issue copyright registration for content that is AI-generated. What becomes tricky is when AI platforms pull from content that’s human-made.

Miotke pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision that ruled a piece of art created by Andy Warhol, which was based off an original photo-

graph of the musician Prince, did violate copy right laws. The Supreme Court ruled that Warhol’s use of the original photo graph was not transfor mative enough to war rant a fair use.

“When I step back, what that means is if you’re the owner of the original copyrighted work, and then these AI platforms start to make modifications, that can trigger potential copyright infringement liability. The challenge here is the law is still somewhat unsettled in this area,” said Miotke.

He explained it’s difficult to get concrete guid ance as to when content crosses the threshold into transformative use. Copyright law only states transformation is a fair use that builds on a copy righted work in a different way than the original content.

“It really comes down to a matter of degree. If the AI just makes some minor tweaks to that underlying photograph, that’s probably still copyright infringement. If the AI drastically changes an image, then you get into an area called trans-

formative use,” said Miotke.

When using a generative AI tool, a business should try to have that platform identify the source material it’s using, which isn’t always possible. This could help preemptively solve any potential copyright issues.

Another good rule of thumb when considering using an AI-generated image is to just stop and consider if that image resembles anything to you.

One thing to keep in mind regarding the use of AI-generated content is that since it cannot be copyrighted, a business can’t stop someone else from using it. Content that is a mix of AI and human work needs to be separated.

Being forthcoming is the best strategy a company can use when looking to use generative AI. Miotke said businesses should always get consent from clients before using generative AI in any work and make sure those clients are aware of the risks in doing so. On the employee side, it’s also helpful to consider a corporate policy stating employees cannot use AI without prior permission.

“You’ve got to fact check and verify, just to make sure you’re not using AI in a harmful way,” he said. n

Miotke

From treating strokes to creating art, impact of AI knows no bounds

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer

LOOKING BACK AT THE EVOLUTION of web-based technology over the past three decades, it’s impossible to think of one industry or line of work that hasn’t been shaped by the internet in some way. And 30 years from now, the same will likely be said for artificial intelligence. Many industries won’t have to wait nearly that long as AI continues to advance at a staggering pace.

“There’s nothing that won’t be touched by this. I would not have felt that two years ago but it’s undisputable now,” said Kent Tabor, president and chief technology officer of Waukesha-based industrial electronics manufacturer EmbedTek.

The company has used AI for years to develop software and custom design embedded computers, sensors and cameras for original equipment manufacturers serving various industries including health care, sports, logistics and security. Even to Tabor, who has tracked the evolution of AI over the years, AI has arrived faster than expected, and he said it’s difficult to “predict where this will end up.”

DRIVING HEALTH CARE EFFICIENCIES

To help illustrate just one of many ways AI is shaping the world of health care, Tabor pointed to EmbedTek’s high-speed pill counter for pharmacies. The system uses an AI-powered camera to identify, count and sort a variety of pill sizes

and shapes as they drop from the machine. This application replaces the need for manual sorting of highly sensitive prescription medications, allowing the pharmacy to save time and labor costs, improve accuracy and prevent theft, according to EmbedTek’s website. It also eliminates the many variables that inevitably come with human labor.

“Someone who’s good at it can usually count 30 pills in less than 10 seconds, but they’re a skilled worker, so what happens when that person calls in sick? That efficiency goes away,” said Tabor. “Companies like to have that predictability.”

AI’s speed and precision can play a vital role when time is of the essence – as it often is in the delivery of life-saving medical treatment, such as radiology. Advocate Aurora Health in 2019 began leveraging AI to detect and treat strokes more efficiently. The system’s health information technology department implemented an “orchestrating” AI program that analyzes mass amounts of stroke imaging data from multiple sources and communicates results directly to providers.

“What this means is that the care team is now being better informed about what they should be looking at in a much faster time,” said Tim Henidias, director of enterprise imaging for Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care.

Since it was rolled out across the entire AAH system, the platform has reduced the time it takes

to deliver results from 25 to six minutes. That’s the difference between life and death for some patients, not to mention long-term health outcomes, said Henidias.

What’s more, as the health care industry navigates an ongoing worker shortage and increased costs of labor, AI offers a potential solution.

“It drives efficiency of my staff, so I’m not growing and adding the cost, but I’m able to then expand services into other areas that are underserved and start tackling their issues,” said Henidias. “We’re adding a lot more technology and a lot more complexity at a much slower staffing growth rate than traditional technology. What AI is doing is reducing the mundane tasks that overwhelm my team and not only does it read the data, but it also generates graphical data points that make it visual and consumable. … It simplifies what my team has to do in order to the successful.”

PUSHING CREATIVE LIMITS

The arts and creative industries sit on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to how AI is being used and even talked about. Unlike industries like manufacturing, technology and health care, where some are touting AI as a tool to boost efficiency and productivity, there’s ongoing debate over how the emergence of newer generative AI technology can (and should) be used in the art world and whether those uses are ultimately positive or negative.

This debate has played out in real time at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, where students are being encouraged to engage and exper-

EmbedTek's high-speed pill counter.

EMBEDTEK Dembroski

Tabor

iment with AI tools like digital image generator DALL-E – and even going so far as to organize a fund to cover students’ access to those platforms.

“When DALL-E-2 became useful and other image generators like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney came to the fore, it went like a wave through the college,” said Ben Dembroski, managing director of emerging technology and institutional labs at MIAD. “We had some students freaking out about it in terms of, ‘we’re not going to need illustrators anymore,’ ‘this is going to take all our jobs,’ and then you had other students who were generally excited about it.”

As head of MIAD’s Lubar Emerging Technology Center, Dembroski has tracked AI’s early growth and its potential impact on the art world for the past few years. Now that it’s here, he’s helping students adapt to and get comfortable with the technology, so they’re equipped to use it in their careers after graduation.

One fine arts student at the ETC last semester used DALL-E for inspiration on a sculpture she created. Another taught himself how to use AI, rather than expensive equipment, for motion capture on an animation project.

In the face of uncertainty around just how AI will shape the job market for creatives and artists

going forward, MIAD is taking a holistic approach to preparing students for the real world.

“In the very short term, the people that are going to be most valuable to companies are the people who know what questions to ask of AI in which order,” said Dembroski. “… We’re really encouraging our students to understand that just by asking the questions of AI in their personal work, what they’re doing is they’re honing their skills so that when they enter the job marketplace next year or in two years, they’ll be entering a job marketplace where everybody is going to be trying to figure this out.”

Rather than worrying about whether their future job will be displaced by AI, students are encouraged to develop “the skillset to be adaptable and valuable to a company as that displacement occurs,” he added.

UNDERSTANDING THE CONSUMER

Marketers have long been using AI to gather insight on their customers and track consumer behavior.

For New Berlin-based experience marketing firm GMR, AI is useful in keeping clients’ brands top of mind, or as Joseph Cera, head of data science frames it, “isolating the hallmarks of memory

making.” In other words, the firm has used AI to identify key elements, or markers, of large-scale experiences – think conventions, concerts, sporting events – that predict the likelihood of a consumer remembering a certain brand when faced with a purchase decision.

Many of GMR’s clients are fintech companies. In researching the range of event experiences within that industry, the firm identified a subtle nuance in how the scale and format of an event shapes consumers’ impression of a financial services company.

“A lot of the (event) experiences that we saw were designed to draw in big groups of people, with competitive games and knowledge contests to test your knowledge on financial health, said Cera. “What our data suggested is that some of these group experiences could actually create friction between the participants, because if you’re doing a trivia contest and it’s revealed that you don’t have financial knowledge, that can be embarrassing. These AI tools helped us understand that in some settings, large group activities were not creating positive embedded memories for people.”

GMR now uses that insight to guide fintech clients in their event marketing decisions. n

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Artificial intelligence in action

How Wisconsin companies are leveraging AI technology

BY ASHLEY SMART, staff writer

YOU’D BE HARD-PRESSED to find a single industry that hasn’t yet begun implementing AI in some way or another. To help illustrate how prevalent AI has become, here is a snapshot of how several tech companies and startups in Wisconsin are leveraging this technology in their products and services.

CodeBaby: Milwaukee-based tech startup CodeBaby Inc., which creates digital avatars for customers across various industries, began integrating ChatGPT with its conversational AI avatars earlier this year. The company also recently announced it is working with Proto Inc., the original, patented inventor of hologram devices and platforms, to develop hologram avatars with conversational AI capabilities.

Synthetaic: Delafield-based startup Synthetaic was formed in 2019 for the sole purpose of changing how AI is generated. The company’s Rapid Automatic Image Categorization platform fast-tracks the process of creating AI. RAIC combines high-fidelity 3D modeling and novel, generative AI to grow large and high-quality datasets sufficient for machine learning. The platform has been particularly useful in industries that utilize unlabeled data, including in conservation and climate change efforts and in medicine. RAIC was recently used in partnership with The New York Times to help track the Chinese spy balloon that

floated across the U.S. earlier this year.

EnsoData: This Madison-based company uses the first AI technology cleared to aid clinicians in the diagnosis of sleep disorders and sleep apnea. The startup works primarily with clinicians, health systems and academic medical centers to improve health care outcomes by streamlining data analysis with waveform artificial intelligence. Using AI, EnsoData’s technology transforms waveform data points collected from sensors in medical devices and wearables into a report so clinicians can make fast and accurate diagnoses.

Water Intelligence LLC: The Milwaukee startup company is developing a camera-based sensor utilizing computer vision and AI to measure the flow rate of water in sanitary sewer collection pipes.

Forj: Founded by Kurt Heikkinen, former chief executive officer of Modern Hire, this Milwaukee-based tech company provides customer relationship management and content management platforms for associations and professional organizations. Heikkinen’s team has been working to tailor the platform to leverage data science and artificial intelligence so that members can connect based on interests for a more personalized experience.

Sift Healthcare: Founded in 2017, this Milwau-

1. Milwaukee-based startup Bright Cellars uses the data it collects from customers to generate insights, which have allowed the company to develop its own portfolio of wines.

2. Milwaukee-based tech startup CodeBaby Inc. creates digital avatars for use across various industries.

3. Joe Scanlin of Pewaukee-based Scanalytics.

4. Hartland startup Wearable Technologies’ safety device uses AI and machine learning to detect, predict and protect against hazards.

kee-based data science company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate insurance reimbursement, personalize patient collections and strategies and improve revenue cycle efficiency in health care operations.

Rivet: Milwaukee-based Rivet is changing how teams interact by leveraging AI and analytics to foster stronger connections between co-workers, leading to team unity, greater productivity and higher retention. Employees take a short, psychology-based assessment, which Rivet then uses to build a workplace persona that helps match colleagues. The company’s proprietary algorithm matches employees and introduces them with an email that includes tips to start a conversation.

Scanalytics: This Pewaukee-based company has developed intelligent floor sensors and predictive analytics technology used to measure human behavior in commercial, retail and home environments. The company’s technology has been applied to commercial buildings to save energy by turning on lights and HVAC only when an area is occupied. Scanalytics records, stores and analyzes the number of people who enter a space, the routes and patterns they take and how long an individual spends with a particular person, product or display.

VasosGnosis Inc.: Milwaukee-based medical tech startup VasosGnosis Inc. is developing surgical planning and diagnostic software that can be thought of as the Google Maps of vascular surgery. Using the startup’s software, doctors can rely on AI-powered algorithms to help detect, diagnose and select treatment options for patients suffering from cerebrovascular diseases.

Bright Cellars: This Milwaukee-based wine subscription startup is leveraging AI to engage more effectively with customers. Bright Cellars polls customers on which wines they like from its monthly wine subscription service in order to make personalized recommendations. The startup then leverages data it collects to generate insights, which have allowed Bright Cellars to develop its own portfolio of wines. The company also implements a rapid, data-driven research and development cycle to “prove out new wines in an industry that has struggled to attract a modern consumer,” according to the company.

ASHLEY SMART

LILA ARYAN

Pythonic AI: Milwaukee-based Pythonic AI uses machine learning and natural language processing to allow those in the title insurance industry to better understand their documents. Pythonic’s TitleGPT large language model can “see” scanned documents and PDFs, providing machine comprehension of title and escrow documents.

Wearable Technologies: This Hartland-based startup is working on a wearable device that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect, predict and protect against hazards. There are three key components to the device, the first being a detection component that can let you know when a person being monitored has gone outside of their set boundaries. There is also a predictive modeling component. Users can mark possible hazards in a specified area and the device can provide a real-time estimate as to when the person being monitored will reach that hazard. The last component provides an enhanced level of protection by sending out different levels of alerts.

Zywave: Wauwatosa-based software company Zywave announced in June it has begun rolling out several new product upgrades that use AI. Zywave is using generative AI to fuse its data and content offerings, amplifying its efficiency and capabilities, all while maximizing user experience. Specifically, within its Content Cloud solution, the insurtech firm has launched a new capability in which users can set parameters and quickly and easily generate and send a targeted, engaging and valuable email to their clients. Zywave is also working on more than 50 AI-enabled use cases.

Graceful Management Systems: This Madison-based startup has created a cloud-based enterprise resource planning service for the construction industry. Using AI, GMS generates insights using data from contractors’ completed projects and operations, company financials and real-time market feeds. This data is then used to autonomously optimize and adjust project costs, schedules and estimates.

DataChat: Madison-based DataChat’s Guided English Language platform brings conversational intelligence to businesses. Conversational intelligence is a way for people to collaborate with machines. Humans bring their intuition, and the machine uncovers interesting patterns through data. “Thus, humans and machines play to their strengths and collaborate to discover hidden gems in data,” according to DataChat. This offering allows people to carry out an array of data analytics functions, such as exploratory data analysis, predictive analytics, structured querying, free-search querying, visualization and data wrangling, all in a single platform. Earlier this year, DataChat also announced the release of its own generative AI tool, Ask. Its large language model-based technology enables users to ask free-form questions about their data using a ChatGPT-like interface to produce insights. n

From manufacturing to mosquitoes, universities explore AI uses, ethics

BY CARA SPOTO, staff writer

WHILE THE AVERAGE PERSON is only just beginning to realize the potential impacts of artificial intelligence, scientists across the globe have long been researching how the technology can improve –and perhaps even revolutionize – a wide array of processes and fields.

Here in southeastern Wisconsin, university researchers and industry partners have been exploring how AI programs can be used in everything from manufacturing to fighting mosquito-borne illnesses.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE

At the UW-Milwaukee, students and faculty have been applying AI to a variety of studies.

At the Connected Systems Institute – an on-campus mini factory – university researchers and faculty are developing new ways to integrate digital technologies like AI, augmented reality, data analytics, digital twins and robotics into next-generation manufacturing. This includes working with the tools that support domain-specific research and education on the Industrial Internet of Things, factory automation and the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions. Anish Sinha, professor of IT management at the Lubar College of Business, is one of the professors involved in the project.

Biophysics

Abbas Ourmazd is leading a team of data scientists who develop the machine-learning

algorithms needed to reconstruct the tsunami of data generated by X-ray crystallography that capture thousands of images of proteins. The longtime professor’s lab uses complex AI to turn this data into 3D movies of proteins inside our bodies carrying out biological tasks necessary for life and health. The films carry the potential to cure lethal diseases. They already have a film that shows how a protein “tells” a virus to infect a cell.

Consumer psychology/business intelligence

Purush Papatla, a professor of marketing, leads the UWM arm of the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute, a collaboration of the Milwaukee-based life insurance company, UWM and Marquette University to conduct research and train the next generation of data scientists. Papatla’s expertise is in making sense of the millions of pieces of data on social media to gain insight into consumer preferences and behaviors.

Launched in 2019 to prepare students to meet the growing need for data scientists across various industries, the NMDSI is supported through a $40 million investment across all three partnering entities. In its first round of research projects, NMDSI’s faculty and student researchers looked at inequity in a Milwaukee neighborhood, the opioid crisis and 2020 voter sentiment.

“The goal was to create the formation of a technology ecosystem that really advances southeastern Wisconsin as a national hub for technology,”

said Jonathan Stark, executive director of NMDSI.

MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

At the Milwaukee School of Engineering, the emerging power of AI led the college to create an endowed chair for the study of the technology. Jeremy Kedziora, Ph.D., was named in March as the school’s first Pieper Power Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence, a position made possible through a $2.5 million gift from Pieper Electric Inc. and the PPC Foundation Inc.

An award-winning researcher and scientist with 17 years of experience developing new methods in machine learning, Bayesian inference and game theory, Kedziora was previously a director of data science and analytics at Northwestern Mutual.

Kedziora will hold a full-time faculty position in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at MSOE and will pursue research advancing the interaction of artificial intelligence with humans and its potential impacts on society, according to MSOE.

Fighting bloodborne diseases

One area where MSOE is applying AI is in finding better ways to battle diseases such as malaria and Zika virus.

To that end, RJ Nowling, Ph.D., an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, is working with Michelle Riehle, Ph.D., a molecular scientist and researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, to study mosquito DNA to determine which species are better carriers of the bloodborne diseases.

Because there are thousands of genomic regions that could hold the secret as to why one mosquito is a better carrier than another, Nowling is using AI to rank and prioritize the different parts of the DNA.

“We are using AI to start with a very large number of genomic regions that could be involved and filter that down to a smaller group that could be tested with wet lab techniques,” Nowling said. “If we can understand the genetic basis, we can use that in population control efforts.”

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

At Marquette University, the Center for Data, Ethics, and Society within the Klingler College of Arts & Sciences has been working to address the ethical, social and political dimensions of an increasingly data-driven society.

Established in February 2022, the center is directed by privacy and data ethics scholar Michael Zimmer, Ph.D. He recently attended the Global University Summit for the Rome Call for AI Ethics at the University of Notre Dame, which explored how universities can use the complementary roles of research, education and policy in the development of human-centered approaches to AI. n

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Kathryn Pecha (left) and professor of industrial engineering Wilkistar Otieno pictured in the school’s Connected Systems Institute, an AI-optimized mini factory designed to support the development of advanced manufacturing processes.

UWM PHOTO SERVICES/ELORA HENNESSEY

Take the lead with AI and machine learning skills from MSOE

Today’s leading companies need professionals with machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) experience to process data, make predictions, inform critical decisions, and lead adoption of new technologies.

As a distinguished leader in the areas of machine learning and applications of AI, Milwaukee School of Engineering has developed an online Master of Science in Machine Learning and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Machine Learning to meet those needs.

In fact, these programs were created in collaboration with top Wisconsin employers who saw the need to upskill their workforces and support employee career growth.

Aimed at individuals with technical undergraduate degrees, MSOE’s programs do not assume a background in AI or machine learning. Synchronous online courses and meaningful course projects allow students to connect with other driven professionals and faculty who are experts in applying and consulting on machine learning models for a variety of industries, including software, advertising, audiology and more.

The curriculum is focused on applying machine learning and AI technologies to solve real-world problems.

The Graduate Certificate in Applied Machine Learning is designed for recent graduates and professionals interested in developing new skills and boosting their careers. The certificate program prepares students to leverage AI and machine learning domains to create innovative, data-driven solutions to problems. Application-

oriented courses fuse concepts from statistics and computer science to prepare students to design algorithms that process data, make predictions and help make decisions. The duration of the certificate program is one year with students taking one course per term.

The M.S. in Machine Learning empowers working professionals to leverage their existing skills in programming and their application area knowledge, enabling them to dive right into advanced concepts that can be applied immediately. The program includes depth of technical content, industry applications in every course, use of Rosie the supercomputer, small class sizes and faculty who excel in teaching, research and student support. Students gain the skills they need to develop and deploy machine learning solutions in their technical fields. Students can complete the program in under three years by taking one course per semester, including summer courses, or they may choose a faster path.

Graduates of the program will gain the necessary skills to:

» be lead architects on complex projects involving advanced applications of machine learning and data science;

» effectively evaluate and utilize state-of-the-art software and parallel computing hardware in the design and implementation of projects.

For more information, visit online.msoe.edu/engineering or contact the MSOE Admissions team at (414) 277-7431 or kammers@msoe.edu.

The AI genie is out of the bottle

Should it be crammed back inside?

SOCIETY has been here many times before. A little more than 200 years ago, a group of English textile workers called the Luddites took to destroying mill machinery – not because they were inherently anti-technology – but mainly to protest labor conditions at the time. The movement faded in a few years and the textile industry continued down an inevitable road to automation.

The history of technology reveals many such examples of innovation being met with suspicion and worries that mankind would lose its moral compass. From Gutenberg’s printing press to the dawn of the computer age, people have fretted that new ways and machines would erode the ability of people to discern good from bad while dangerously accelerating change.

Today, it’s the explosion of artificial intelligence technologies that frightens some people. This time, however, it is not led by modern-day Luddites but people who understand tech and who actively push the innovation envelope themselves.

Familiar names such as Elon Musk (PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter) and Steve Wozniak (Apple) are among at least 1,000 tech leaders, researchers and others who earlier this year signed an open letter urging a moratorium on the development of the most powerful artificial intelligence systems.

Developers of AI systems are “locked in an outof-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even

their creators – can understand, predict or reliably control,” read the letter, released by the nonprofit Future of Life.

There is no denying the race is on. Companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Amazon and Tencent are all investing heavily in AI, which may be defined as the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems levering large sets of data. Millions of people have toyed with the free version of ChatGPT, introduced by OpenAI and Microsoft, which can do everything from answer questions in poetic verse to engage in human-like banter.

The Chat evolution (GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) is up to version four, which prompted the Future of Life letter urging a moratorium. It cited “profound risks to society and humanity” unless there is a time out to introduce “shared safety protocols” for AI systems.

“If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium,” the letter urged.

From deep fakes to disinformation that could start wars, and from education plagiarism to simple errors based on incorrect data, many AI risks are there. But so are opportunities to improve health care, transportation, financial services, environmental mitigation and what computer scientists call “natural language processing.” The latter describes giving computers the ability to understand text and spoken words in much the same way human beings do.

Balancing risk with opportunity is the obvious challenge. The question is whether any government is equipped to meet it. Technology has always outpaced the ability of government to understand and absorb the changes it brings to the economy and society. For example, consider the inability of Congress to pass a national set of data privacy standards, thus defaulting to states to build a patchwork quilt of rules.

It’s more likely the task will fall initially to in-

dustry in concert with tech experts, researchers and even ethicists. The history of technology includes many cases of “creative destruction” that have moved economies and societies ahead, generally benefiting mankind by displacing old, inefficient systems and ways of doing things. There are also many examples of technology outpacing the ability of people, laws and regulations to keep up.

The Future of Life “AI time out” letter is a reminder that innovations in medical science, information technology, communications and more sometimes strain society’s ability to absorb the change. Artificial intelligence as a technology is here to stay. How it’s used for better or worse is the question. n

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He can be reached at

tstill@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.

TOM STILL

PRESENTED BY:

What Do I Need Right Now?

Practical Strategies to Thrive as a Leader in the Workplace

Join us on August 23rd for this half-day symposium filled with valuable insights to help you take your career and leadership skills to the next level. Hear a panel of women from a range of industries discuss their journeys, attend breakout sessions to go deeper on important topics, network with women from across the southeastern Wisconsin business community and join in celebrating the 2023 Woman Executive of the Year.

Woman Executive of the Year:

Cathy Jacobson, President & CEO, Froedtert Health

Keynote Converstion:

» Julie Brandt, Vice President, President, Building Solutions North America, Johnson Controls (1)

Moderator: Caroline Krider, Senior Vice President & Milwaukee Market Leader, Global Industrials & Services, U.S. Bank (2)

Panelists:

» Dr. Stacia Thompson, Executive Director, Sherman Phoenix Foundation (3)

» LaVay Lauter, Director Talent Development, Senior Vice President, Baird (4)

» Tiffany May, Vice President Preconstruction, Berghammer Construction Corporation (5)

» Melissa Tashjian, President and Founder, Compost Crusader (6)

Moderator: Kathy Thornton-Bias, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (7)

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Breakout Sessions: Following the panel discussion and a presentation from the 2023 Woman Executive of the Year, attendees can attend multiple breakout sessions for deeper discussions on topics like:

» Curating your next career steps

» Adding to your mental health toolbox

» Understanding and supporting your younger workforce

» Lessons learned on the road to leadership

» The power of connection

The higher education crisis Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

THE RECENT closing of Cardinal Stritch University seemed to catch a number of people in this community by surprise. Colleagues in education, alums and business people have all commented on how surprised they were to see the school shutter its doors.

It won’t be the last.

The college enrollment crisis has been going on for more than 10 years and there have been plenty of signs of the apocalypse.

The first to go was adult education, the stalwart of so many colleges, this cash cow was the lifeblood of schools in the area for decades. When businesses were flush with cash and they could dictate what they needed in employees, these programs sprung up like dandelions in spring. Rooted in low-cost adjunct faculty, and tuition-reimbursing students, the adult education centers tailoring to returning adults provided a necessary oasis for schools that struggled with traditional enrollment. The adult ed market dried up during the Great Recession and has never returned.

The second of the four horsemen of the college apocalypse are traditional enrollment numbers in decline. Schools with steady 18- to 21-year-olds began to feel the effects of a declining number of high school students eligible for traditional schools. Schools then began competing by offering deep discounts to the stated tuition rates in an effort to capture a greater share of a declining market. But demographics continued to play a role in the continuing downward spiral for many schools, and especially those schools without a

non-traditional student buffer began to feel the effects early. Schools then did several things to try and stave off the crisis: cut staff, which Stritch and others did several times, or draw upon their endowments. Then the next crisis hit.

The third horseman was the COVID-19 pandemic. A huge blow to most businesses, education was particularly wounded as it had been languishing with enrollment challenges in both traditional and continuing education, the two core enrollment centers. Schools that went online, if they were even capable of making such a transition, missed out on residual cash flow from resident halls and food services. The public relations nightmare did not help as schools were trolled for continuing remotely or choosing to stay open – a damned if you do, damned if you don’t decision. When schools did reopen, the students were not eager to return, and haven’t. This created another crisis: the burst of the international student bubble.

International students have long been sought after for more than their intellectual acumen and the diversity they bring to the classroom. Not eligible to work, except at the school, they bring inexpensive clerical aid and cash, as most are not scholarship students. When the pandemic hit and borders were closed, the international student stayed away and has yet to return. The largest provider of international students, China has been at odds with the U.S. politically and, therefore, its students have been going to more desirable and welcoming nations for their schooling. This fourth apocalypse is the death knell for many schools, some of which errantly think they can cut their staff in order to get back to profitability.

My dire prediction is that we will continue to see colleges and universities continue to flounder for years if not decades to come. While the high school demographics are improving after bottoming out in the past few years, new challenges arise. High employment rates are not good for the continuing education market, with employers being dictated to by the employee what they will accept in compensation and benefits rather than the other way around. It is a seller’s market and the buyers, employers, are not flush with cash in order to pay

for tuition reimbursement and other perks.

Continuing geopolitical unrest also makes the U.S. less appealing to large numbers of students, and our struggle to come to an expeditious decision on the debt crisis did not help warm those prospects internationally.

Closer to home, colleges have not been immune from the social justice issues challenging businesses as professors have spoken out on one side of the political extreme or another, with the college getting the blowback ala Bud Light.

Besides Stritch, Upper Iowa has closed their Wisconsin centers and Lakeland University has joined forces with Waukesha County Technical College in an effort to lower center costs and provide a curricular pass-through for associate degree students looking to get a bachelor’s degree.

And even my own longtime employer Concordia University Wisconsin has lowered their tuition for cash cow programs, like the MBA, in an effort to capture more of the waning international market.

Until a necessary number of schools and universities close, I do not see a return to good times for colleges and universities in the foreseeable future. n

DAVID BORST

David Borst, Ed.D., is a former dean of the Concordia University Wisconsin School of Business. He currently sits on several boards, teaches at the doctoral level and runs the Milwaukee Lutheran High School honors academy. He can be reached at david.borst@cuw.com

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Tell it like it is How to preserve your culture when delivering bad news

NO ONE likes being the messenger of bad news. It starts when you receive the news and must think about what to do with it. Keep it to yourself? Sure. But you know how that story will end.

Bad news (or any news for that matter) is like water – it will find a place to leak and seek the lowest level – often down to those who will be affected by the news the most.

Sugarcoat it or make things seem not as bad as they really are? That’s like putting a fresh coat of paint on rotting wood.

Let’s be honest: telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth is the only way. The consequences of doing anything else will be dire.

So, the next time you find yourself in the position where you need to deliver bad news to your employees, consider the four-step process below. It will help preserve and protect your personal integrity as a leader as well as your culture:

1. If you have the luxury, give yourself time to – mentally and emotionally – digest the news and its potential implications. Being self-aware plays a critical role in this step. If you know you’re naturally pessimistic, you know your mind will race toward a very dark and dismal outcome, where the world as you know it will end and all will be lost. Instead of being an active participant in your mind’s creation, be an observer of your thoughts and reapproach the situation with a clear head. Conversely, if you’re naturally optimistic, the danger is that you may not see or understand the magnitude of the situation.

2. Confide in someone you respect and trust.

Two heads really are better than one. You’ll need someone who is not as emotionally tied to the problem as you are to offer alternative perspectives while helping you think through possible solutions. For all you know, there is a simple solution to the problem.

3. When it’s time to deliver the news, resist prefacing your delivery with the phrase, ‘I have some bad news.’ These are the words of a pessimist and someone who has been knocked off balance – the opposite traits of a strong leader. It is much better to deliver the bad news with one single statement (much like ripping off the proverbial Band-Aid), communicate its potential impact and explain what is being done to remedy the situation. Tell everyone you will keep them posted with developments. You’ll need to come from a position of optimism, confidence and strength, because it really is a fact that success is 90% optimism.

4. Be as patient as a saint with a potentially long Q&A period. Depending on the severity of the news, your people may have many questions about how it impacts them and their future. Be brutally honest about worst-case scenarios and explain in great detail what you’re doing to prevent such a scenario. Remember: in the minds of your people, you’re the one making the “big bucks” and they depend on you to fix problems. It’s true.

Okay, enough talking about bad news. Let’s move on to a positive note.

Your people know that delivering bad news takes a heckuva lot of guts. It exposes your vulnerabilities. It reminds them that you are human and all humans make mistakes. And although they may be angry and disappointed by what they see and hear, they will appreciate and respect your honesty and transparency.

It reminds me of the phrase, ‘The way a person

solves a problem is much more significant than the problem itself.’ Make lemons out of lemonade. Show your people what you’re made of and what kind of leader you are. Make the bonds between you and your people stronger.

Could you really ask for more? n

Scott Seroka, the president of Brookfield-based Seroka Industrial Branding, is an entrepreneur, consultant, trainer, and mentor. He can be reached at (414) 628-4547.

SCOTT SEROKA

Tip Sheet I

n today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the integration of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly prevalent across various industries. As companies embrace AI technologies to streamline operations and boost productivity, it is essential to prepare employees for this transformative shift.

How to nurture an AI-ready workforce, chatGPT explains

Editor’s note: As a twist on our AI coverage throughout this issue, BizTimes Milwaukee asked ChatGPT to suggest key strategies for how companies can help employees prepare for greater use of AI in the workplace. The following content was generated by ChatGPT, a text chatbot developed by OpenAI.

Education and training: Companies should invest in AI-focused training programs to enhance employees’ understanding of AI technologies and their potential applications. Providing workshops, online courses, or even certifications will enable employees to develop necessary AI-related skills.

Upskilling and reskilling initiatives: Identifying the skill gaps within the workforce and implementing upskilling and reskilling initiatives can empower employees to adapt to changing job requirements. By offering resources and support for learning new AI-related skills, companies can nurture a versatile workforce capable of embracing

AI-driven tasks.

Collaboration between humans and AI: Emphasize the importance of collaboration between employees and AI systems. Encourage employees to view AI as a valuable tool rather than a replacement for human intelligence. Highlight how AI can augment their capabilities and productivity, leading to more efficient and impactful outcomes.

Ethical considerations: Ensure that employees understand the ethical implications of AI. Educate them about responsible AI usage, including data privacy, bias mitigation and fairness. This knowledge will enable employees to make informed decisions while leveraging AI technologies.

Continuous learning culture: Foster a culture of continuous learning by encouraging employees to stay updated with AI advancements. Establish platforms for knowledge-sharing, such as internal forums or newsletters, to facilitate the exchange of ideas and best practices. n

2023

Nomination deadline: August 25, 2023

Event date: November 3, 2023

•

•

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!

BIZ

NONPROFIT

MANUFACTURING

BIZ UPDATE

LeighAnn Hanrahan joins CFI as VP, Human Resources

LeighAnn Hanrahan has been named Vice President of Human Resources for the Centers for Independence (CFI). In this role, LeighAnn provides executivelevel leadership and guidance to CFI’s HR operations. She is responsible for overseeing the agency’s policies, procedures, and best practices for the organization and for compliance with employment, safety, and other laws and regulations. LeighAnn has an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University and serves on the board of directors for The Gathering of Southeastern Wisconsin.

Larry Cook Joins Sellars as Vice President of Commercial Sales

Larry Cook has joined Sellars Absorbent Materials as vice president of commercial sales. Milwaukee-based Sellars is a leading manufacturer of wipes, absorbents and towel and tissue products. Cook’s experience and distributor relationships will elevate Sellars’ success as it continues to aggressively grow by expanding into new markets with new products. Cook was previously Director of Sales–Jan San for von Drehle Corporation. He led a re-engineering of the company’s 17-person sales force to accelerate revenue growth, significantly increase the mix of high value products and raise the value of von Drehle’s salespeople.

ADSERTS MARKETING FIRM LAUNCHES NEW WEB EXPERIENCE

bios of the leadership, administrative and creative teams.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Archie Blunt Joins Berrada Properties

as Director of Community Outreach

Berrada Properties announced

Archie Blunt will serve as the organization’s newly appointed Director of Community Outreach. Blunt, who has worked more than 14 years within the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services, will begin June 26, 2023. Blunt will oversee ongoing efforts to develop and execute collaborative partnerships throughout the community in addition to managing tenant education and assistance programs among the organization’s more than 9,000 tenants across Milwaukee County. Blunt’s offices will be based at a new Tenant Learning Center which will open later in 2023.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Vrakas Add Director of Talent

Vrakas CPAs + Advisors is pleased to announce that Tara Tomter has been hired to serve as the firm’s first Director of Talent. With 17 years of public accounting experience, Tara will be an advocate for candidates, a trusted advisor to the business and an ambassador of the firm’s mission and values. Tara will also manage the full lifecycle of the recruiting process, brand Vrakas as an employer of choice at various universities, proactively identify and recruit qualified talent, and partner with practice leaders to forecast future recruiting goals.

Prospective clients can now enjoy the convenience of digital contact and inquiry forms, view case studies, explore AdSerts’ impact on brand visibility and more.

On June 1, 2023 AdSerts Inc. launched a new website where businesses can easily submit digital contact forms, read case studies about marketing techniques, and ask the AdSerts team questions via live chat. Site users will also be able to view descriptions of AdSerts’ range of marketing services and access

BANKING

Waukesha State Bank Promotes

Heather Pfalz to Retail Banking Manager

Waukesha State Bank is pleased to announce the promotion of Pfalz to vice president – retail banking manager. In her new role, Heather will oversee the daily operations of the entire retail banking division.

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PEOPLE Advertising Section: New Hires, Promotions, Accolades and Board Appointments

Master Lock party in the 1950s

This December 1954 photo shows the Master Lock company Christmas party. Attendees posed for the photo and a band is on stage to the left. Master Lock recently announced plans to close its plant at North 32nd and West Center streets in Milwaukee, and will move work to other facilities across North America.

— Photo courtesy Milwaukee Public Library/Historic Photo Collection

COMMENTARY

Time to eliminate downtown’s most embarrassing vacancy

IMAGINE what it’s like to attend a convention in Milwaukee. After a day of meetings at the Baird Center, you step out of the facility’s main entrance at Wisconsin and Vel R. Phillips avenues, ready to explore downtown. And the first thing you see when you look across the street is…a gigantic parking lot.

Located on downtown’s main street and across the street from the convention center, the site at 401 W. Wisconsin Ave. has long been a major embarrassment for the city, which owns the property. The site has been vacant for 38 years, ever since the Randolph Hotel was demolished in 1985. That’s pathetic.

Previous attempts by the city to attract development to the site have gone nowhere. A 2007 plan by a North Carolina-based developer for a mixed-use development with condos, a hotel, restaurants, retail and entertainment

died during the Great Recession. In 2016 the city issued an RFP, and hotel development and meeting space proposals were pitched by Jackson Street Holdings and The Marcus Corp., but neither was selected by the city and they never moved forward.

So now the city is issuing another RFP for the site. Is it finally going to attract the type of significant development that officials have been holding out for?

The timing might finally be right to make it happen. The west side of downtown Milwaukee is hot, and 401 W. Wisconsin Ave. is positioned in the middle of the action. Fiserv will move its headquarters across the street to the east, and Kohl’s will open a store in the same building, which is adjacent to The Avenue, the revitalized former Shops of Grand Avenue that now includes a food hall, office space and apartments.

To the north, a $456 million expansion will double the size of the Baird Center, formerly known as the Wisconsin Center. The expansion will be complete in time for the Republican National Convention and should help attract more conventions to Milwaukee.

The Deer District, Milwaukee Tool’s new

VOLUME 29, NUMBER 5 JUNE 19, 2023

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downtown office and the Bradley Symphony Center have added more activity to the west side of downtown, and plans are in the works for a professional soccer stadium, an indoor concert venue complex and a new museum to replace the Milwaukee Public Museum’s current facility.

With all of that momentum, hopefully developers will respond to the city’s RFP with big and bold development projects for the 401 W. Wisconsin Ave. site.

A large hotel to serve the Baird Center would make a lot of sense. Hopefully a residential component is included as downtown needs even more residents to increase its vibrancy. An entertainment venue, such as a movie theater complex, would bring much-need energy and excitement.

It’s time to transform this site from an embarrassment into a showplace for downtown. n

ANDREW WEILAND

EDITOR

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

Local business leaders, military veterans team up to launch Veteran Alliance Charity Golf Outing

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

ON A WARM, sunny day in May, more than 100 golfers teed off at Blackwolf Run in Kohler for a fundraiser aimed at uniting several nonprofit organizations under one common goal: supporting U.S. military veterans and their families.

Born out of a need for more collaboration among the veteran community, the inaugural Veteran Alliance Charity Golf Outing is the brainchild of Steve Cundy, head of Sussex-based Tuatara Consulting and a veteran of the U.S. Army, and Bill DeBoer, senior director of corporate properties at Kohler Co. and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

The men connected in 2022 over charity golf. DeBoer participated in an outing for Taskforce Uplift, a nonprofit Cundy founded in 2021 to provide resources and mentorship to children of veterans. And later that summer, Cundy participated in a golf event supporting the Caddie School For Soldiers, which aims to help vet-

erans overcome the physical and mental stress of combat through a month-long caddie training program in St. Andrews, Scotland. The nonprofit was launched in 2019 in partnership with the Kohler family and company, and DeBoer serves on its board of directors.

Through conversation at those two golf outings, DeBoer and Cundy developed a rapport and decided, rather than hosting two separate events supporting a similar cause, Taskforce Uplift and Caddie School for Soldiers would join forces to put on the Veteran Alliance Charity Golf Outing in 2023.

“We both know that if you can work together, you can amplify the firepower,” said Cundy. “It’s not about individual missions, it’s about missions coming together to take care of the military community, and from my point of view, we weren’t getting that job done.”

Both Cundy and DeBoer had

Bill DeBoer Senior director of corporate properties and facilities management Kohler Co.

Steve Cundy CEO and founder Tuatara Consulting

Nonprofits served: Taskforce Uplift, Caddie School For Soldiers

observed the siloed, competitive approach of nonprofit organizations serving the veteran community – often fighting over funding or focusing so intently on a singular mission that they’d miss out on opportunities to collaborate for greater impact. One goal of the golf outing was to “set a new trend and show it’s possible to have nonprofits working together,” said Cundy.

To that end, they invited four other Milwaukee-area nonprofits – Center for Veterans Issues, Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative, Camp Hometown Heroes and Wisconsin VetNet – to be part of the event. On that day, the organizations were stationed at various holes throughout the course and shared their missions and stories of impact with a community of potential new donors.

Planning got under way just four-and-a half months ahead of the inaugural Veteran Alliance outing, but Cundy and DeBoer

were still able recruit nearly 50 corporate sponsors, with Kohler Co. stepping up as the premier gold sponsor.

“The major sponsors put a lot of money and faith that this was something they wanted to invest in, both their money and their time to show up. That was a big thing to get them and to sell the reason to support this,” said DeBoer, adding every sponsor he’s spoken to since the event has expressed interest in returning next year – and yes, there will be an event next year.

The 2023 Veteran Alliance Charity Golf Outing raised just shy of its $100,000 goal, equaling out to nearly $50,000 each for Taskforce Uplift and Caddie School For Soldiers. The impact doesn’t stop there.

“What we’ve opened up now are more lanes, more avenues for people to see where they can help, want to help because they see what others are trying to do,” said DeBoer. n

DeBoer

Cundy

Attendees at the 2023 Veteran Alliance Charity Golf Outing.

5 MINUTES WITH… ADAM OLDENBURG

SINCE THE EARLY STAGES of his 17-year career, Adam Oldenburg aspired to one day assume the top leadership position at Whitewater-based Toppers Pizza. That day came in May when the company announced Oldenburg as its next chief executive officer. He succeeds Toppers founder Scott Gittrich, who now serves as board chairman after 30 years as head of the company. Efforts in recent years to invest in technology and rebuild its menu with items such as gluten-free and vegan pizza has helped Toppers hit its stride and track growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now with 72 locations in 14 states – and growing – Toppers is poised for continued expansion under Oldenburg’s leadership. He recently spoke with BizTimes Milwaukee associate editor Maredithe Meyer about his career journey and plans for the company. The following portions of their conversation are edited for length and clarity.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

“I started (working at Toppers in 2006) as a student at UW-Whitewater. I started delivery driving, just for some cash to, you know, be a college student, go to the bars and do fun stuff with my friends. Within six months of delivery driving, I wanted to become a franchisee for Toppers. I fell in love with the brand, I fell in love with the people that I was working with. Within a couple months, I told my parents that I wouldn’t be going back to school that next semester, I’d be joining the management program at Toppers.

“I was an assistant for two years before being asked to open our first

company store in Milwaukee, at 1903 E. Kenilworth Place, which serves UW-Milwaukee, MSOE and Marquette University. It immediately became one of our highest volume stores in the entire company. I won manager of the year at that location and moved on to become a supervisor of a big store market (Madison).”

FORECASTING GROWTH

“We’ve really established ourselves as a crave-worthy brand with very different and irreverent house pizzas and vegan options and different things that we bring to consumers. We plan to double down on growth. We’re exceptional in college campus markets and there are tons of areas (for growth). Ames, Iowa, deserves a Toppers Pizza. Iowa City deserves a Toppers Pizza. Columbus, Ohio, deserves a Toppers Pizza, you name it. If you go to Mizzou in Colombia, Missouri, you should be eating Toppers. And at some point, there’ll be a fit for us and for a franchisee that shares the values that we have, and the magic will start happening.

“I want people eating Toppers Pizza when they go on family vacations and to know that it’s a Wisconsin company and all the fun that comes with that.”

INVESTING IN PEOPLE

“It’s never been more important to have great managers working for you, and great people at the helm. We’ve always said this, but over the past couple years it’s been even more exposed that great people tend to have a great and full staff. We’ve been more methodical about how we are working with general managers, how we’re training them, how we are supporting them through their careers. I strongly believe that what you put into people, they will give back. I want to change team members’ lives that go on to be franchisees that started out doing the same thing I was. I want us to grow people into professionals and great leaders in our company and follow on some of the same path that I had the chance to follow.” n

See the full conversation at biztimes.com/adam-oldenburg.

Chief executive officer Toppers Pizza

COURTESY OF TOPPERS PIZZA