BizTimes Milwaukee | August 20, 2018

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BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 24, Number 10, August 20, 2018 – September 2, 2018. BizTimes Milwaukee is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January, July and December by BizTimes Media LLC at 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA. Basic annual subscription rate is $42. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5 each. Periodicals postage paid at Milwaukee, WI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120. Entire contents copyright 2018 by BizTimes Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Contents

4 Leading Edge 4 NOW

BY THE NUMBERS 5 BIZTRAVELER 6 THE FRANCHISEE 7 GETTING THERE 8 REV UP 9 MY FAVORITE TECH 10 THE GOOD LIFE ON MY NIGHTSTAND 12 IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD BIZ POLL WHO’S ON THE BOARD

14 News 14 MADE IN MILWAUKEE 16 MY TAKE

18 Real Estate 34 Office Space

COVER STORY

20

40 Strategies 40 MARKETING Robert Grede 41 LEADERSHIP Phil Hauck 42 MANAGEMENT Aleta Norris

Welcome to

Fiserv Forum

45 BizConnections

Special Report 20 Fiserv Forum

In addition to the cover story, coverage includes a review of the arena’s construction, an update on the arena district development currently underway and an analysis of Fiserv Forum’s impact on Milwaukee’s entertainment scene.

15

TH

A NN UA L

45 PAY IT FORWARD 46 PERSONNEL FILE 47 SBA LOANS 48 GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR COMMENTARY 49 AROUND TOWN 50 THE LAST WORD

RESERVE YOUR BOOTH! MAY 30, 2019 CONTACT LINDA CRAWFORD TODAY! (414) 336-7112 | BIZTIMES.COM/BIZEXPO2019 PRESENTED BY:

Leading Edge

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

RINKA CHUNG ARCHITECTURE

NOW

Michels Corp. to anchor $100 million development in Bay View

By Corrinne Hess, staff writer Michels Corp. is planning a $100 million mixed-use development at the former Horny Goat Hideaway property in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood, which will include offices, apartments and a hotel.

The project, called R1ver, would be anchored by a new regional office for Michels. The Brownsville-based construction

company is working on two major projects in southeastern Wisconsin – Foxconn Technology Group’s Mount Pleasant campus and the I-94 expansion.

Michels is developing the project on a 6-acre site northwest of South First Street and West Becher Street, along the Kinnickinnic River, with Milwaukee-based developer

BY THE NUMBERS Johnson Controls International plc cut

1,600 employees from its global workforce in April, May and June of this year, and plans to cut nearly 5,000 more by 2020.

4 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

WiRED Properties LLC and broker The Barry Co. Rinka Chung Architecture, also based in Milwaukee, is the project’s designer.

The phased project is expected to begin this fall with construction of an eight-story office building that will be occupied by Michels Corp. Phase one is expected to be completed by summer 2020.

Tim Michels, vice president at Michels Corp., said initially about 400 employees will be located in about half of the building. He stressed that this will be a significant office in Milwaukee, but Michels’ headquarters will remain in Brownsville, which is in Dodge County.

The majority of the jobs will be newly-created, Michels said.

Jobs will include construction estimators and positions in human resources, marketing and legal.

Michels is also hoping that having a Milwaukee office will allow the company to attract more millennial talent and engineers.

“The Michels family is proud to make this historic investment to continue to grow Wisconsin and Milwaukee,” Tim Michels said.

When completely built out, the entire campus will include 220,000 square feet of office space, 67 units of multi-family housing, 19,000 square feet of retail, a 103-room hotel, and nearly 1,000 underground parking spaces.

As part of the project, the City of Milwaukee is planning to invest in more than 1,000 feet of publicly-accessible riverwalk, improve the streetscaping in the Becher Street corridor and assist in environmental remediation of the publicly accessible portions of the site.

“It’s great that Michels Corp. continues to grow, and it’s great that Milwaukee is a big part of the company’s plans,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “What the Michels family proposes on the banks of the Kinnickinnic River adds economic activity, public access to the water, and a transformative new investment in the Harbor District.”

Michels Corp. purchased the former Horny Goat Hideaway brewpub property in April 2017 for $3.6 million.

Horny Goat, 2011-2029 S. First St., closed in October 2015.

The property Michels purchased included the brewery and an automotive drilling business, plus a smaller single-story office building that had been used for storage by the seller.

The 86-year-old former Milwaukee Fire Department pumping station on the property, which had been occupied by the Horny Goat Hideaway, was demolished the week before the announcement of the development project. n

B I Z T R AV E L E R : I N D I A NA P O L I S GARY R ANDLE Client service manager and office manager, Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc.

Gary Randle, client service manager and a Milwaukee office manager for engineering firm Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., is an avid traveler around the Midwest and West. One of his frequent destinations is Indianapolis. Here are a few of Randle’s travel tips:

T R A N S P O R TAT I O N :

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

“Flying from Milwaukee to Indy is a short jaunt, which takes away the headaches of traveling through Chicago. If traveling by car, allow time to beat morning or evening rush hour, or travel midday.”

ACCO M M O DAT I O N S A N D F O O D : “Accommodations are plentiful in the Indianapolis area. You can take your choice from current upscale hotels, historic hotels still in operation, or chain hotels surrounding the city in the many suburban locations.”

E XC U R S I O N S:

“I personally enjoy the Indianapolis and surrounding area’s dining experience. One of my favorite places to conduct business is St. Elmo Steak House right downtown. Their world famous shrimp cocktail is amazing and the atmosphere is perfect for conducting those after-hours business rendezvous.”

“Indianapolis is a great place to travel. There are so many historic and exciting venues around the area. Let your passions fuel your trip. If it’s sports, you can go visit Lucas Oil Stadium and take in a Colts game.

While you are there, take a walk through the streets and enjoy craft brews and comfort food right down the street from the stadium. You can also take an Uber/Lyft and experience Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“If art/culture are your fancy, check out any of the many museums, art galleries, cultural districts, the Indianapolis Theatre, and the many monuments and memorials.”

T R AV E L T I P : “If you want to stay downtown, then walk and enjoy the beauty of downtown Indianapolis. If you want to stay in the suburbs, I would recommend Carmel or Fishers. Both are right off of I-465 and give you an easy commute to anywhere around the city. If you choose Carmel, you can even get the ‘Man vs. Food’ experience at Bub’s Burgers & Ice Cream.” biztimes.com / 5

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us

the

FRAN C H I S E E

ANDY KURTH WEED MAN USA The Weed Man Brookfield team.

THE FRANCHISE: Ontario, Canada-based lawn care service Weed Man USA was established in 1970 and has been franchising since 1976. Having exhausted its territories in Canada, the company has been growing in the U.S. and now has more than 500 U.S. territories and $150 million in system sales.

2001 Andy Kurth begins working at his father’s new Weed Man Madison franchise as a part-time job during his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He eventually joins full-time and rises to the position of general manager.

“Our best years of growth have come in the last three or four. We also bought out within a two-year period the Fox Valley, the Green Bay/Appleton market, as well.”

2006 Kurth buys out the Weed Man franchisee in Brookfield, covering the whole metropolitan Milwaukee market. He eventually grows it from $400,000 to $2.5 million in annual revenue.

Shane Griffith, director of sales and marketing, Andy Kurth and Brad DeBels, director of operations at the Weed Man annual conference.

“Weed Man actually asked my dad to help bring Weed Man into the United States. He hired me after college to basically cold call and help sell franchises.”

2013 Kurth launches a western Chicago Weed Man franchise in partnership with two of his managers.

Two years later, he partners with two other managers to buy franchises in Austin and Denver.

2018 The Kurth family’s Weed Man franchises, under the umbrella company Future Retirement Inc., have grown to about 200 employees (55 in Milwaukee) and $10.5 million in revenue ($2.5 million in Milwaukee).

Andy Kurth does a Polar Plunge for Special Olympics in a “Weed Man Superhero” costume.

6 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

THE FRANCHISE FEE It’s about $17,000 to open a Weed Man territory that covers 150,000 people, and takes another $50,000 to $100,000 to grow a new market, Kurth said.

“In Milwaukee, we’re basically a March to November deal. We’re not your traditional do everything landscaping company. We don’t do snowplowing.

We don’t do winter work.”

GETTING

THERE

How has your experience prepared you?

“I have marketed for restaurants, hotels, casinos, retailers and more. That experience has challenged me to truly understand so many different individuals’ motivations – why they do something and what compels them. I’ve taken this knowledge to my role at Marcus Hotels.”

Leaders are Made, Not Born.

Who is Your Organization’s Next Leader?

What drew you here?

“My husband is originally from Wisconsin and went to Arrowhead High School in Hartland. I grew up in Illinois, and have always pictured raising our three beautiful children in the Midwest. Living in (Las) Vegas, Austin and Dallas were all great, but nothing can beat the work ethic found in the Midwest.”

Favorite part of your job?

“The people I get to work with are some of the coolest and most diverse people. I get to learn something new every day. I love motivating and cheering on my team as they tackle the next initiative. They are truly the reason for my success.”

How do you use innovation?

“My background allows me to think about hospitality differently than someone who has only worked in one industry. Once you show me the rules, I will find a way to break them. For instance, I’m pushing our team to think outside the box for (redesigning the InterContinental hotel in downtown Milwaukee into an) arts-inspired experiential hotel.”

Advice for entry-level professionals in your field?

“You have to work for what you want. Don’t think about eight-hour days and ‘work-life balance.’ Rather, think about achieving your goals. Second, ‘no’ doesn’t have to mean no. If you aren’t successful at first, don’t get discouraged and give up. Write your goal down and go after it.”

ERIN LEVZOW Vice president of marketing MARCUS HOTELS & RESORTS AGE: 34

BizTimes Leadership Academy: GenNext This is a unique three-session program, designed to support the next generation of leaders with tools that will support them in their current and future roles.

The success of our organizations will rest with the next generation of leaders - those who are 40-something or younger and known as Generation X and Millennials. This group of leaders is purposeful, adaptable, and openminded to new ideas. They have a different set of ideologies influenced by rapid technological change, shifts in societal values, and appear to have different values when it comes to work.

Sessions begin October 11, 2018 Register today at biztimesleadershipacademy.com

HOMETOWN: Byron, Illinois EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in theater from Illinois State University; master’s certificate in marketing/brand strategy from Cornell University PREVIOUS POSITION: Vice president of CRM, loyalty and marketing at Hathway biztimes.com / 7

Leading Edge

LEADERSHIP: Nathan Harris, co-founder and CEO; Saul Sutton, co-founder and COO

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

EASE INC.

REV UP

H E A D Q U A R T E R S: 1245 N. Water St., Milwaukee WEBSITE: itsease.com W H AT I T D O E S: Freelancer management platform F O U N D E D: 2016 E M P L OY E E S: Four NEX T GOAL: Launching version 2.0 of platform REVENUE: $200,000 Nathan Harris established Ease to help companies manage freelancers.

Ease harnesses gig economy to fuel growth

By Molly Dill, staff writer

8 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

IN 2012, Nathan Harris launched a business as a marketing and logistics consultant, and short of capital to hire full-time employees, called upon freelancers to help him with the work.

Noting the difficulty of managing freelancers, in 2016 Harris teamed up with his brother Saul Sutton to develop a freelancer management system.

“I wanted to find a way to scale the model,” said Harris, 28, who also owns downtown Milwaukee bar and grill Ugly’s. “I used a lot of freelancers to build our products. I just developed a really strong understanding of these things over the years.”

The cloud-based system the brothers created, called Ease, helps businesses find and manage remote freelancers. The freelancers sign an independent contractor agreement with Ease.

“We sit with a company and understand exactly what their needs are and then from that consultation we’re able to discover what type of talent they need to meet their market objective,” Harris said. “We give them that flexibility in their staffing while also giving them access to talent outside of their geographic location.”

By using Ease, a company can go from managing 10 freelancers to communicating with just one person at Ease.

Harris cited the fact that by 2027, more than

half of the U.S. workforce is expected to be freelancers and independent contractors, according to a survey from the Freelancers Union.

“The millennial generation doesn’t want to be working in a cubicle and they don’t want to be working at a job even five to 10 years,” Harris said.

Among the freelancer roles most in demand are digital marketers, growth strategists, content marketers and translators, he said.

Ease graduated in May from the gener8tor startup accelerator program. It now has more than 1,000 freelancers and more than 27 companies on board. The company has raised $500,000 to further its growth – $400,000 from Milwaukee private equity firm CSA Partners and $100,000 from gener8tor.

With the funding, Ease is working to launch version 2.0 of its software, automating both the freelancer and customer side of the onboarding process, while helping freelancers access benefits such as insurance and 401(k) accounts.

“We want to work with (organizations) like the Freelancers Union and insurance companies to create a benefits package to give freelancers access to the same lifestyle they would have if they had a full-time job,” Harris said.

Harris is projecting $800,000 in 2018 revenue, and plans to hire at least four more employees within the next year. n

Need a New Recruitment and Retention Strategy?

Why Not Now?

MY FAVORITE TECH JACOB WERRE Account Executive, TRG Marketing

Jacob Werre is an account executive at Brookfield-based full-service marketing firm TRG Marketing. He specializes in web design, and also helps clients with online advertising, social media and SEO. Here are a few of his favorite tech tools:

SNAPCHAT “While I’m not necessarily a fan of Snapchat’s latest update, it’s been interesting to follow the app’s evolution since it first started.

My three sisters and I have an ongoing group snap, which helps us to stay in touch with what is going on in each other’s lives – especially recent photos of my young nephew!”

ADBLOCK PLUS “This is a Google Chrome extension and one that I love. I don’t know too many people who enjoy having ads pop up all the time when browsing the internet. This bad boy helps block many of them.”

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EYE DROPPER “This is another Google Chrome extension. It’s quite useful when I’m involved in web development or other design projects. It allows you to take the eye dropper tool, click on a color that is displayed on a webpage, and capture the Hex, RGB and HSL color codes. This ensures that you are matching the color palette appropriately.”

BRACKETS “This program was created specifically for web developers. It’s a text editor (where one writes the HTML, CSS and other code for websites), but it also allows you to view what was recently coded in a browser. This helps you visualize exactly what the code is doing and identify potential bugs before moving forward into the project.” n biztimes.com / 9

Leading Edge

John Rinaldi takes the plunge

By Corrinne Hess, staff writer

W

hile on vacation in 2012, John Rinaldi was bicycling around the island of Hawaii when he saw a sign that said “Discover Scuba Diving.”

the Rinaldi dives with sharks in Florida.

Good LIFE

He decided to try it out.

“I was scared to death,” said Rinaldi, who is president of Real Time Automation Inc. in Pewaukee. “I was even scared in the pool.”

But Rinaldi decided to embrace the fear and live in the moment. Less than a year before, two of his friends, who were both in their 30s, had died suddenly.

“My friend told his wife he wasn’t feeling well and laid down and died,” Rinaldi said.

“My other friend’s 17-year-old daughter went to wake him up and found him dead in bed. You can’t wait and say ‘someday,’ because someday may not come.”

Moments before jumping into the water for his first scuba dive, Rinaldi looked down and saw a giant sea turtle swimming by; he was amazed at the beauty below him.

Redefining CRM as

“Complete”

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Once under the sea, his scuba instructor put a small octopus on Rinaldi’s arm and took his picture.

“It was so warm and peaceful down there,” he said. “I decided then I would do more of this.”

Rinaldi has gone scuba diving about 60 times since that first time in Hawaii, mostly diving in Florida. He has had some bad experiences and some scary ones. Once, while diving in West Palm Beach, Rinaldi found himself very close to a shark.

“If you act like food, they will treat you like food,” he said.

Rinaldi stayed perfectly still, and the shark turned away when it was about six feet from him. The scare has not kept him from the water.

“You have to live the best life you can,” Rinaldi said. “You could have five minutes left or 50 years. You never know when death will want to find you.” n

on my nightstand...

PRAVEEN RAO Digital solutions and services leader, IBM Global Business Services

‘Thank You for Being Late’

Sales

Customers Prospects

Supply Chain Vendors Trading Partners

Workforce

Applicants Employees Sub Contractors

16595 West Bluemound Road / Brookfield WI 53005 1.800.258.2070 / EXACTACorp.com / EXACTA.jobs 10 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

By Thomas Friedman

PRAVEEN RAO is a technology buff, and likes to think about how technology will change in the future.

Rao, digital solutions and services leader at IBM Global Business Services in Milwaukee, recently finished reading “Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations” by Thomas Friedman.

In the book, Friedman explores how the advancement of technology has far outpaced human adaptability. By delving into technology, globalization and Mother Nature, Friedman examines the rapidly

changing world we live in.

“He has a very nice way of explaining what is really happening in the current time in terms of a lot of forces that are shaping the world and the future, and then how do you cope with that,” Rao said.

Friedman ties in relatable examples, such as applying the evolution of computer chips to a car company like Volkswagen, Rao said.

Regardless of whether someone works in technology, Rao said the book gives a view of market forces and how they are changing our world. n

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Leading Edge IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD What do you do and how did you get into this line of work?

“We’re a musical instrument shop and we do repairs – drums, guitars, amplifiers, accessories. I fell into it; I played guitar as a kid and, because I never had anything that was terribly good, I always ended up having to fix it. So it snowballed from there.”

ROCKHAUS 820 E. Locust St., Milwaukee NEIGHBORHOOD: Riverwest FOUNDED: 1990 OWNER: Rusty Olson SERVICE: Instrument repair

BIZ POLL

A recent survey of BizTimes.com readers.

Who are your customers?

“All sorts of people; we’ve got everyone from kids to older people. Lots of people from the

neighborhood.

It’s a lot of word of mouth; I don’t really advertise anymore.

And people at the different venues in town are aware of what I do, so if someone needs something, they will send them over here.”

As in, musicians who are in town performing?

“Yes. A week ago I fixed a keyboard for Steve Berlin from Los Lobos. Before that, The Pretenders came in and bought a guitar and a drum.

So it’s never dull.”

What’s your favorite part of owning this shop? “Every day is different. There’s always something new to learn.

Working with used instruments and the things we get through here, there are some unusual instruments we see now and again that you won’t see other places. A bouzouki, acoustic basses, electric basses, metal guitars – as in, guitars made of metal. I’ve seen a lot of things throughout the years, but there’s always something new.” n

Who’s on the Board?

Do you like the name ‘Fiserv Forum’ for the new arena in downtown Milwaukee?

No:

52% Yes:

27% Don’t care:

21% Share your opinion! Visit biztimes.com/bizpoll to cast your vote in the next Biz Poll.

12 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

WEST BEND MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. • Jim Bolton, retired senior executive vice president, Metavante Corp.

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Steiner

dent and CEO, American TV • Kenneth Riesch, president, R & R Insurance Services Inc. • Elizabeth Russell Neuhoff, president and CEO, Neuhoff Communications • James Schloemer, chairman and CEO, Continental Properties Co. Inc. • Rick Searer, retired president and CEO, Kraft Foods Inc. • Kevin Steiner, president and CEO, West Bend • Peter Ziegler, retired chairman, president and CEO, Ziegler Cos. Inc.

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BizNews

MANUFACTURING WEEKLY – The week’s most significant manufacturing news → biztimes.com/subscribe

Even with rapid growth, Good City is just getting started WHEN GOOD CITY Brewing LLC co-founder Dan Katt first walked through the Century City I building on Milwaukee’s northwest side, he was impressed. He also knew Good City did not have an immediate need for a 53,000-square-foot industrial building.

But space is an issue for Good City. Walk through the production area at the brewer’s taproom on North Farwell Avenue on the East Side and it is easy to see things are getting a bit cramped. There might be room to add a couple more fermentation tanks, but it would be tight. Adding any more would require removing the cold storage area.

In the adjacent storage space Good City expanded into last year, there are stacks of cans and other materials. The space limitations have reached a point where materials have to be moved outside daily to make room for production.

In short, Good City is out of space. For a growing brewer with another taproom and event space coming online next year and plenty of opportunity to expand distribution in Wisconsin, running out of space is a problem.

“As we got further along and looked at other spaces, there’s just not much out there …for our immediate need, this was the best possible space; not even close,” Katt said of the Century City building at the corner of West Capitol Drive and North 31st Street.

To address its current and future space needs, Good City will acquire the Century City I ownership interests of the City of Milwaukee and developer General Capital Group for $35,000 in cash and nearly $3.3 14 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

million in debt. The city and General Capital will be out about $382,500 of their investment, but the building, which was completed before Good City even began production in 2016, could be a catalyst for other development in the area.

“Just as Palermo’s recognized the potential of the Menomonee Valley, Good City Brewing recognizes the potential of Century City,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said at event announcing the purchase.

Initially, Good City will move office and warehouse work to the building while leasing the remainder of the space to other civic-minded businesses. The brewery’s founders also hope to establish a production brewery at the Century City building in two years.

If the past two years are any indication, those hopes will likely come true. Good City started in the summer of 2016 with a taproom and brewery on North Farwell Avenue.

By the spring of 2017, the company had announced plans to expand into the neighboring space, adding more production capacity, an event space called Good City Hall and a rooftop patio area. A month later, Good City announced the signing of a distribution deal with New Berlin-based Beechwood Sales and Service.

This year, Good City took things to another level by announcing plans to open a taproom in the Entertainment Block across the street from the Fiserv Forum, the new Milwaukee Bucks arena. The facility will support the introduction of sour beers and also be home to Good City Commons, a 350-person event space.

“It’s crazy,” said David Dupee, who co-founded Good City with Katt

Good City’s van outside the Century City building.

GOOD CITY BREWING 2108 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee INDUSTRY: Craft beer EMPLOYEES: 48 goodcitybrewing.com

and Andrew Jones. “All the things that are happening … sometimes people assume that we’ve arrived or we’re really big and we’re not.”

Good City’s production volumes have steadily increased. But even with a nearly 130 percent increase in the first half of this year, the brewery is on pace for around 2,800 barrels this year. Other craft brewers top that amount in a single month, and craft giant New Glarus Brewing reached nearly 220,000 barrels last year, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue data.

“I don’t know that you’ll see another New Glarus or that size of a brewery pop. I think those days are probably gone,” Dupee said. “Is 20,000 barrels feasible? You know, probably.”

Dupee said Good City relies a lot on Beechwood, its distributor, for input.

“Right now we can’t brew beer fast enough and right now we feel like there’s still opportunity in Milwaukee,” Dupee said, adding the company has just barely entered Madison and has not explored the rest of the state. “We’re pretty bullish on being able to add additional capacity.”

Good City’s growth comes at a time when the beer industry overall is seeing volumes decline and craft breweries have gone from double-digit growth to the low single digits.

“For us, a big part of our growth is the taproom experience,” he said.

“When you have over 100,000 people coming through your doors, it’s just a great way to introduce folks to your brand and your beer. Hopefully they have a positive experience and that translates to sales out in the market.” n

ARTHUR THOMAS Reporter

P / 414-336-7123 E / arthur.thomas@biztimes.com T / @arthur8823

PRESENTS:

2018

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

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

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

Nominate Today!

2018 Awards Categories Corporate Citizenship Awards • Corporate Citizen of the Year • Next Generation Leadership • In-Kind Supporter • Corporate Volunteer of the Year • Lifetime Achievement Nonprofit Organizations, Leadership & Support Team Awards • Nonprofit organization of the year (Small & Large Categories) • Nonprofit Collaboration of the year award • Nonprofit Executive of the Year • Social Enterprise

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

MY TA K E

Is Trump taking the right approach with tariffs?

President Donald Trump says the tariffs his administration has placed on steel and aluminum and numerous Chinese goods are an attempt to force other countries to agree to new trade deals that are more favorable to the United States. Wisconsin’s U.S. senators, Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin, recently commented on the tariffs during separate appearances on “UpFront with Mike Gousha” on WISN-TV Channel 12. n

SEN. RON JOHNSON SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN R-Oshkosh

D-Madison

YES NO THE TRUMP APPROACH TEMPO Milwaukee's Emerging Women Leaders Third Annual

“I completely agree with President Trump’s goal about fair trade, reciprocal treatment.

He’s shocking the system. America’s been incredibly generous in terms of opening our markets and our trading partners, both friend and foe, have taken full advantage of that. Previous presidents have tried to get fairer deals. We’ve made some progress, but probably not enough.”

“If (Trump) had gone with a ‘buy America’ strategy first, we would be in much better shape than what’s developing into quite a trade war with very negative impacts for Wisconsinites, whether it is our farmers who are in a crisis right now, or the crisis that consumers are seeing.”

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Advocate Sponsor:

“The real problem…is China. They have been abusing the world trading system.

They’ve been stealing our industrial secrets, as well as our military secrets; that has to end.

“I am not opposed to tariffs if they are used strategically and smartly. And I think China has been cheating in ways that affect our national security. And they are an appropriate target for those types of tariffs.”

END GAME “I think (Trump) realizes certainly before the election he needs to conclude these trade deals. He wrote ‘The Art of the Deal.’ People are looking at him to do a good deal. There is mounting pressure… from my standpoint (Trump has) weeks, no more than a month or two (to get new trade deals done).”

“We have seen very strong evidence that a trade war is…already here. And it will have detrimental effects on our economy and our families.”

THANK YOU TO ALL PARTICIPANTS The First Business Invitational for Charity took place July 30 at Blue Mound Golf & Country Club. The event allowed business leaders to compete for a charity of their choice.

AUTISM SOCIETY OF SOUTHEASTERN WI Jim Natalizio & Walter Cain sponsored by HNI & Chubb Insurance BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF MILWAUKEE Craig Jorgensen & Jason Hyland sponsored by VJS Construction Services

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN & UPPER MICHIGAN Michael MacNeil & Bob Bell sponsored by First Business Bank & Bob Bell META HOUSE Mary Moase & Chris Moase sponsored by Mary Moase

ELMS FUND FOR GASTRIC CANCER RESEARCH Rick Smith & Tom Rude sponsored by Rick Smith & First Business Bank HOPE HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE Chase Kostichka & Mike Klein sponsored by Mallery & Zimmerman LAD LAKE Mark Boldt & Jay Cashmore sponsored by Dr. Mark Boldt, DDS & Jay Cashmore LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY Ross Zahour & Todd Trzcinski sponsored by FIS LUTHERAN HOME Dale Van Dam & Scott McFadden sponsored by Dale Van Dam LURIE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL Mike Flynn & Mike Moran sponsored by First Business Bank & Mike Moran

PREVENT BLINDNESS WISCONSIN Chuck Garcia & Erick Schoenberger sponsored by Chuck Garcia & Erick Schoenberger SCHLITZ AUDUBON NATURE CENTER Matt Haas & Steve Haas sponsored by Pegasus Partners SHALOM CENTER & KENOSHA ACHIEVEMENT CENTER Wesley Ricchio & Jeff Valeri sponsored by Holy Family Catholic Bookstore & Valeri Agency

FIRST PLACE $12,000

ST. MARCUS SCHOOL Played for by: Mark Ciborowski & John Stanislowski ST. ROBERT SCHOOL & CHRIST THE LORD LUTHERAN CHURCH Kelly Foster & Kent Velde sponsored by Kelly Foster & Kent Velde

ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY Jaime Maliszewski & Cory Savage sponsored by Reliable Plating Works

STARS AND STRIPES HONOR FLIGHT Matt Neuman & Mark Neumann sponsored by Neumann Companies

ST. LADISLAUS EVENT IN BEVENT Derrick Bushman & Jerome Bushman sponsored by Northland Drying

THE WOMEN’S CENTER Alison Holub & Mike Lauer sponsored by Mike Lauer

SECOND PLACE ($5,000) SUNBEAM KIDS

Nate Dosch & Matt Burkert, sponsored by First Business Bank & Sorrentino Burkert Risch

THIRD PLACE ($3,000) WAUKESHA COUNTY COMMUNITY DENTAL CLINIC

Mark Meloy & Dave Seiler, sponsored by First Business Bank

FOURTH PLACE ($2,000) CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION - WI CHAPTER

Greg Jones & Ken Kurszewski, sponsored by Dave Jones, Inc. & Hottmann Construction Co.

CONGRATULATIONS

TO OUR WINNING CHARITIES Member FDIC

Real Estate

REAL ESTATE WEEKLY – The week’s most significant real estate news → biztimes.com/subscribe

Hyatt Place Milwaukee Downtown opened at The Brewery this summer.

Additional hotel room supply hasn’t hurt downtown market

NEW HOTELS in downtown Milwaukee have added more than 600 rooms to the market during the past three years, but the additional inventory has not had an effect on the occupancy rate.

Instead, having additional hotel rooms available in downtown

Milwaukee appears to have hurt occupancy in the region’s next largest submarket, Brookfield.

Despite a decline in the number of hotel rooms there since 2015, the occupancy rate for Brookfield’s hotels has also declined.

The occupancy rate of downtown Milwaukee’s hotels during the first half of 2018 was 65 percent, up from 62.6 percent in the first six months of 2017, according to market data from Hendersonville, Tennessee-based STR Inc. The occupancy rate during the first six months of the year was even higher than it was in 2015, despite there being four more hotels open in downtown Milwaukee since then.

Demand for downtown Milwaukee hotel rooms is also up 6.8 percent for the first half of the year, compared to the first six months of 2017, according to STR data. In an attempt to meet the growing demand, there has been a surge in downtown hotel development since 2012, during which time 1,340 hotel rooms have been added to that area.

The boom included the 381room hotel at Potawatomi Hotel

FEATURED DEAL: B AC H M A N F U R N I T U R E

ADDRESS: 1741 W. St. Paul Ave., Milwaukee BUYER: Bachman Furniture Gallery SELLER: LCM Funds Real Estate SIZE: 60,000 square feet 18 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

Bachman Furniture Gallery, a 98-year-old, third-generation family-owned furniture and design showroom, will relocate to Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.

The retailer recently purchased a 60,000-square-foot portion of the former American Radiator Co. building, with plans to renovate the historic structure and move in by the end of the year.

Bachman will become part of the Valley’s St. Paul Avenue Design District, which also includes BBC Lighting, Brass Light Gallery, Guardian Fine Art Services, House of Stone, ProStar Surfaces and Riverview Antique Market.

Joe Bachman, president and owner of Bachman Furniture, said the move will better reflect his vision for the business. Bachman Furniture is currently located at 6800 W. Capitol Drive.

“Our business is design,” Bachman said. “I have never really felt like we are a big-box type of furniture store.”

WHO REALLY OWNS IT?

& Casino that opened in 2014 in the nearby Menomonee Valley.

Potawatomi is now adding a second hotel tower with 119 additional rooms, which is currently under construction.

Since December, both the 94-room Homewood Suites by Hilton at 500 N. Water St. and the 150-room, six-story Hyatt Place Milwaukee Downtown hotel at The Brewery complex have opened.

This month, construction began on the four-story, 132-room Cambria Hotel at 503 N. Plankinton Ave. Four more hotels are under construction or soon to be under construction downtown: a 200room Drury Hotel at the First Financial Centre, 700 N. Water St.; a 220-room hotel at the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center building; a dual brand Home2Suites and Tru by Hilton; and a Holiday Inn Express southeast of East Michigan and North Jefferson Streets.

Despite the demand for downtown Milwaukee rooms, local hoteliers have not taken full advantage of Milwaukee’s hot market, according to Greg Hanis, a hotel industry analyst and president of New Berlin-based Hospitality Marketers International Inc. The average daily room rate in downtown Milwaukee has decreased since last year to $135 a night, down 2.3 percent from the first six months of 2017, when guests were paying an average of $138.14 to stay downtown.

“Everything in downtown Milwaukee looks great, except that average daily room rate,” Hanis said. “Hotel operators are leaving money on the table.”

In Brookfield, where three new hotels totaling 437 rooms are planned or currently being built, there has been an overall decline in demand, occupancy rate and average daily room rate.

The occupancy rate for Brookfield’s hotels during the first six months of the year was 53.7 percent, down 3.8 percent from the first six months of 2017, according to STR data.

Demand during the same time period was also down 1.7 percent.

The average daily room rate in

Brookfield is $101.99, down about $4.50 from an average daily room rate of $106.50 at the same time period last year, according to STR. Coralville, Iowa-based Hawkeye Hotels is building a Holiday Inn Express & Suites and a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott at The Corridor development along I-94 in Brookfield, which will add 132 and 137 rooms, respectively.

A 54,000-square-foot conference center and 168-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel linked by a glass walkway is also in the works at the former Sears Auto Center site, just south of Brookfield Square Mall.

Once the Hilton Garden Inn opens in early 2020, there will be approximately 1,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of the new conference center, according to Visit Brookfield.

“I would not want to be a hotel operator coming in to Brookfield,” Hanis said. “Demand is in negative growth and I can’t determine what the absorption of the rooms is going to be. This is a very, very bad scenario for Brookfield.”

Hanis believes Brookfield’s conference center will do well once it opens, drawing people from the Fox Valley, Madison, and Racine and Kenosha markets.

But the increase in hotel room supply downtown will continue to put pressure on other area submarkets, he said. “(In the past when downtown hotels were full, visitors) would go to Brookfield or the Milwaukee airport hotels,” Hanis said. “Now that you have more rooms downtown, you don’t have (that spillover).” n

VACANT CAR SHOP ON SOUTH FIRST STREET Just south of the busy McDonald’s on South First Street in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, there is a nondescript one-story building that recently became vacant.

A small car repair shop has gradually shut down and now, the 3,500-square-foot concrete block building is for lease.

The building, which was built in 1953, is owned by South First Street LLC, which was registered in 2006 to Mequon attorney Daniel Chudnow. The site includes an adjacent parking lot with eight to 10 spaces.

Sandwiched between D.I.X. and McDonald’s in the growing Walker’s Point neighborhood, Patti Stevens of Founders 3 Real Estate Services LLC, who is marketing the property for Chudnow, says the building is an ideal spot for retail or a small restaurant.

ADDRESS: 725 S. First St. OWNER: South First Street LLC, registered to Daniel Chudnow ASSESSED: $270,000

CORRINNE HESS Reporter

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

biztimes.com / 19

STORY COVER

W

elcome to

Fiserv Forum

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BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer

ilwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin spent the past three years touring the top sports and entertainment venues around the world. From Premier League soccer club stadiums in Europe to the NBA arenas in Orlando, Brooklyn and Sacramento, he visited a total of 20 venues, and along the way made note of their best features – the most efficient club level people-to-square-foot ratios, the highest quality audiovisual systems, and the best food and beverage vendors among them.

Feigin took these best practices and used them in the creation of a sports and entertainment venue in downtown Milwaukee that, in his eyes, will set a new standard for the industry – on both a national and a global scale.

A little more than two years after breaking ground on the project, the Bucks are prepared to open the doors. A 25-year naming rights sponsorship agreement with Brookfield-based financial technology company Fiserv Inc. recently gave the arena an official title: Fiserv Forum.

The Fiserv Forum will open to the public on Aug. 26 and the $524 million, 714,000-square-foot venue will reflect the newest, most innovative trends in stadium design and amenities – all for the purpose, Feigin says – of elevating the sports and entertainment experience for locals and visitors alike.

“The key for us is going beyond surprise and delight,” he said. “It’s so dramatically different from any experience (people) have had, whether it be in entertainment at theaters, whether it be at other ballparks like Miller Park, or Lambeau (Field) or the Bradley Center… we’ve taken the best practices and some innovation over the last 25 years and applied it to make (Fiserv Forum) incredibly experiential.”

The venue, located at West Juneau and Vel R. Phillips avenues in downtown Milwaukee, will be home to the Bucks and Marquette University men’s basketball, and provide a stage for a wide variety of performers and entertainment acts. The Bucks say it will annually host up to 200 sports and entertainment events, including 80 in just its first four months.

The Fiserv Forum takes the place of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the former home of the Bucks, Marquette men’s basketball, the Milwaukee Admirals (until 2016), and the city’s major entertainment and community events. Constructed in 1988 with $90 million in private funds donated by late Milwaukee philanthropist Jane Bradley Pettit, the Bradley Center stood for 30 years. But as it aged, the NBA’s demand for revenue increased and in 2013, the NBA deemed the venue below its standards, citing its size, inadequate locker room spaces, and limited 20 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

Arena facts FISERV FORUM 901 Vel R. Phillips Ave., Milwaukee wisconsinesc.com/fiservforum OWNER: Wisconsin

Center District

MASTER LEASEHOLDER: Milwaukee

Bucks

BMO Harris Bank, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Johnson Controls International plc, Miller Brewing Co.

FOUNDING PARTNERS:

NAMING RIGHTS SPONSOR:

Fiserv Inc.

EVENTS PLANNED PER YEAR:

200

TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:

$524 million

TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE:

714,000

BASKETBALL SEATING CAPACITY: CONCERT SEATING CAPACITY:

17,500

18,000

LOWER BOWL SEATING CAPACITY: LUXURY SUITES:

PREMIUM CLUBS: ESCALATORS: ELEVATORS:

10,000

34 3

10

10

18 men’s; 22 women’s; 14 all-gender

PUBLIC RESTROOMS: WELLNESS ROOMS:

5

NOTEWORTHY:

» 800 HD TVs » 9,000 LED light fixtures » 4,000-square-foot center-hung scoreboard

biztimes.com / 21

puts it, “cozy.”

With a seating capacity of 17,500 for basketball games and 18,000 for concerts, the Fiserv Forum will seat slightly fewer people than the Bradley Center, which had a seating capacity of 18,717 for Bucks games.

The new arena’s 10,000-seat lower bowl is designed to enhance the acoustics throughout the building and creates an up-close environment that is ideal for concerts and basketball games, Feigin said. By comparison, the majority of the Bradley Center’s seats were in the upper level, because its design was intended more for hockey.

The new arena’s basketball-centric seating configuration will bring more fans closer to the court, which could provide a better homecourt advantage for the Bucks and Marquette.

Marquette’s student section will now be split in two, occupying the lower seating tiers behind each basket, unlike at the Bradley Center where it was only on one end and put some students in the upper deck. Now, all of the students will be in the lower bowl. The new setup will bring students closer to the action, and will likely bring more fans to the game, said Bill Scholl, director of intercollegiate athletics for the university.

“I think it will make (students) feel much more involved in the game, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “I think it will only encourage them to come to more games and to be vocal and to cheer in the right way for Marquette. The new arrangement will be a huge advantage for our students.”

From a recruitment standpoint, the arena will be a major selling point for the university’s athletic program as it works to attract student athletes from around the country, Scholl said.

The experiential aspects of attending a basketball game – camaraderie, feeling involved, cheering for the home team – are part of what the Bucks had in mind when designing the building, Scholl said.

But as consumer tastes and expectations have evolved, food and beverage has also become a major part of the sports and entertainment experience.

“When people go out, they go out to have an experience, and food and beverage are some of those memorable pieces in that experience,” said the arena’s senior executive chef Kenneth Hardiman. He works for Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, which is the food and beverage provider for the arena.

With its new MKE Eats program, Fiserv Forum will feature food offerings from 10 local restauMILWA

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THE MAIN CONCOURSE AT FISERV FORUM. amenities and food and beverage services.

The NBA gave the Bucks three years to break ground on a new arena, or the league would have taken action to force the team to relocate.

After purchasing the team in 2014, current majority owners Marc Lasry, Wesley Edens, and Jamie Dinan provided $274 million – including $100 million from former Bucks owner Herb Kohl – for the $524 million arena project.

Feigin, who was hired shortly after, led the effort in 2015 to attain the remaining $250 million in public funds for the project. The state Legislature approved a deal, signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker, to allocate the public funds for the arena from the Wisconsin Center District, the state, Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. That allowed the Bucks to start construction in June the following year.

Driving entertainment innovation

The Bradley Center, which will be razed starting in mid-September, served its purpose and remained physically stable for the past 30 years, Feigin said, but the new arena represents the evolution of the sports and entertainment industry from one generation to the next.

From the 4,000-square-foot custom-designed center-hung scoreboard, to the 17 fully-equipped industrial kitchens, Feigin says the Fiserv Forum is the epitome of entertainment innovation. Even its antenna system, which will provide free highspeed Wi-Fi throughout the building, is second-tonone, he said.

The $10 million scoreboard is twice the size of the scoreboard in the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and is the 10th largest in the NBA. The largest 22 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

scoreboard in the NBA is 6,100 square feet and is hung in the Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center, the next-most recently built NBA arena, which opened in 2016.

From a structural standpoint, the new arena – both its interior and its exterior – couldn’t be more different from its predecessor. But aside from the obvious differences in exterior appearance, the most noticeable contrast between the two buildings may be the interior layout.

Unlike the Bradley Center’s enclosed concourses with tunnel-like hallways leading out to each seating section, the new arena features an open-concourse concept, offering views of the bowl and the court from anywhere in the building, not exclusively from the seats.

Transparency and accessibility are defining characteristic of the Fiserv Forum, which Feigin said are what the Bucks envision for visitors. With the exception of two premium club spaces and 34 luxury suites and theater boxes, all areas of the arena are open to the general public.

“If you can optically see a destination in this arena, you can get to it,” Feigin said. “That sounds crazy, but that’s unlike any other arena in the world. You are usually blocked off and without access to different areas, different sections and different concourses. Here, there is the ability to have an unbelievable seat, but also a really cool adventure walking around.”

That includes the top-floor Panorama Club, a bar and lounge area featuring an outdoor balcony, a bird’s eye view of the floor and, on the opposite side, a panoramic view of Milwaukee’s skyline.

For fans who prefer to watch the game from their seats, they should expect to feel, as Feigin

Arena naming rights will raise Fiserv’s profile

rants, including Sobelman’s Pub & Grill, The Laughing Taco, Iron Grate BBQ, FreshFin Poké and Colectivo Coffee. It will also include national food and beverage brands such as Chick-fil-A,

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer Jack Daniel’s and Casamigos.

“With all the amenities and all the main atThe Milwaukee Bucks’ arena naming tractions that we have going into the facility, rights agreement with Brookfield-based (the food and beverage program) is just an enfinancial services technology developer hancement, and a focal point, of what the areFiserv Inc. is the product of a partnerna offers – quality and detail,” Hardiman said. ship a couple years in the making, Bucks Each concept will occupy one of 17 “mini president Peter Feigin said during the restaurants” throughout the building, each highly-anticipated deal announcement. with a fully equipped kitchen, which will The final agreement came exactly a month ensure made-to-order preparation and before the Fiserv Forum’s grand opening. fresh food, Hardiman said. Say goodbye A Fortune 500 firm, Fiserv provides to foil-wrapped hot dogs with soggy payments, processing services, risk and buns, he said. compliance, customer channel manageHardiman said the Bucks’ effort to ment, and insights and optimization for incorporate locally-sourced food and banks and credit unions. As a busibeverage options is partly driven by ness-to-business company, some have consumer demand for locality, but expressed surprise that Fiserv wants to it also speaks to the organization’s sponsor a venue so heavily focused on larger initiative to support local the consumer experience. businesses throughout the entire When the Bucks agreed to cover the arena project; about 85 percent cost of maintenance and operations for YABUKI AND FEIGIN of the materials used to conthe arena as part of its public financing struct the building are Wisconpackage, it meant the naming rights sponsorship would be sin-made, Feigin said. an important source of revenue for the organization. But sponsorship deals, Fischer said, and it really all the deal is far from one-sided. comes down to differentiating themselves from From Fiserv’s perspective, having its name on the $524 their competitors in hopes of attracting more million downtown arena for the next 25 years is a no-braincustomers, and not necessarily consumers. er. This was evident when Fiserv chief executive officer Jef“(Business-to-business companies) are fery Yabuki, after being asked why he agreed to the deal, facing the same challenges that every business pointed at the 17,500-seat bowl and newly painted court is, which are: ‘how do they make themselves The process of buildbehind him and answered, “Look at this.” more attractive to businesses they want to work ing a $524 million, “(The Milwaukee Bucks) understand that it’s experiwith?’ ‘How do they engage them in ways that are 714,000-square-foot arena ences in life that matter,” Yabuki said. “Our technology meaningful to them?’” Fischer said. from start to finish in a litenables life. Peter and the ownership are enabling incrediAt least among competitors that are also pubtle more than three years ble sports and entertainment experiences. If you put them licly held, it looks like this deal gives Fiserv an edge, was no easy feat, but to together, we have a fantastic opportunity to differentiate he said.

Feigin, it marks the betogether and partner.”

“We’ve seen some work done in the space that ginning of the organiBy associating its brand with a “symbol of technology, inshows public companies that have naming rights zation’s long-term plans novation, entertainment and experience,” Yabuki added, the deals outperform those that don’t in the stock marfor the city. company demonstrates pride in its services, but also shows ket,” Fischer said.

“The arena is the potential to “elevate” its brand and evolve as a company.

During Fiserv’s July 31 earnings call, Yabuki ascenterpiece of a lot Although it’s a publicly-traded Fortune 500 firm, Fiserv is sured shareholders the company would deliver on the more we are doing,” not a household name to most consumers, so the partnership sponsorship agreement in an “extremely cost-effective Feigin said. “Our will introduce the Fiserv brand to people worldwide who may fashion,” although financial terms of the 25-year arena whole vision is realbe unfamiliar with the company. As Yabuki has described it, naming rights deal have not been disclosed and the ly building a neighthe arena naming rights deal is an opportunity for the compacost of the contract was not included in the company’s borhood.

And ny to reach a wider and more diversified audience. second-quarter report. we’ve got this The partnership for Fiserv will not only create more Fiserv has also been in the midst of a search for a new distinct advanbrand awareness and increase sales, but it will also help corporate headquarters location and about a year ago tage of having consumers better relate to its products, said Todd Fischhad narrowed the search to three locations in the metro this awesome er, who is senior vice president of client consulting and Milwaukee market, but had not ruled out other states. The magnet of the services at GMR Marketing, a New Berlin-based global state offered $10 million in tax credits for the company to world’s newest sponsorship and experiential marketing agency. keep its headquarters and at least 93 percent of its approxand greatest “It will take the intangible nature of their financial imately 900 Wisconsin employees in the state, plus another arena to put services technology and create passion and excitement and $2.5 million in capital investment credits for the construcup in the engagement with it through tangible experience, whether tion, as part of the special legislative session at which the middle of that’s hosting customers, showcasing technology or just Foxconn Technology Group incentives were approved. it to really telling their story of innovation and all the things that they Fiserv again did not provide an update on the headbe a catado that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” he said. quarters during its recent earnings call or during the deal lyst and to Fiserv joins a growing cohort of business-to-business announcement, but the company has repeatedly said it is spark it.” companies in recent year that have also agreed to similar “committed to Wisconsin.” n

Rebuilding a neighborhood and a business

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STORY COVER

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SUITE (1), PANORAMA CLUB (2), CLUB LOUNGE (3), EVENT LEVEL (4), ATRIUM (5)

The Fiserv Forum will be the epicenter of a 30acre, mixed-use district the Bucks owners plan to develop over 10 years. The first phase of the project, which includes Fiserv Forum, an arena parking structure, the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Science Center (the Bucks’ practice facility) and a public plaza that will host more than 100 events annually, is now complete.

As an organization with fairly new leadership, the Bucks have had to use each milestone of the development project as proof of product, working to build equity as a business while earning the community’s trust, Feigin said.

And he said once the organization has accomplished that and achieved success, it will look like

Official Sponsors of the Milwaukee Bucks

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one thing: people.

“You (normally could) never acquire 30 acres in a downtown area, ever, but we have the opportunity to do that…” Feigin said. “We’re thrilled if more business is brought to Old World Third Street or the convention center. The more density, the more people, the more successful everything is. We will have as much focus inside as we will outside.”

A citywide impact

A hub for sports and entertainment in Wisconsin, and the anchor of a major downtown Milwaukee redevelopment project, Fiserv Forum is expected to have a major economic impact on the region.

The Bucks’ effort to bring in local products and

partner with local companies, including naming rights sponsor Fiserv, shows the amount of community support that already exists for the arena, said Kristin Settle, director of communications for VISIT Milwaukee. It will also attract more visitors to the city, she said.

“The new arena is going to be a big draw because (the Bucks) are capitalizing on all the uses for the Fiserv Forum: concerts, comedians, sporting events, even the Democratic National Convention, if Milwaukee is fortunate enough to win the bid,” she said. “This is going to have a huge ripple effect throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

This is not just about a basketball team, this is about an entire community coming together around this

S A F E & S O U N D, I N C. PHONE: (414) 220-4798 WEB: safesound.org

262-264-6881 • abaxent-global.com info@abaxent.com

We unite residents, youth, law enforcement and community resources to build safe and empowered neighborhoods.

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SHAPING THE FUTURE Manufacturing Matters! 2017 will take place at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee on February 23rd, 2017. The theme of this year’s conference is Shaping the Future, and the conference features 18 breakout session in six tracks including: Growth • Operational Excellence • Human Capital Management C-Suite Essentials • Technology & innovation Wisconsin Manufacturing P L AT I N U M S P O N S O R

As workforce challenges and trends are on the minds of most manufacturers, we are pleased to announce this year’s keynote presenter is Kip Wright, Senior Vice President of Manpower, North America. Kip will discuss G O key L D workforce SPONSORS trends and what manufacturers can do to secure and develop their current and future workforces.

Thursday, October 4, 2018 • 7:00 - 11:00 AM Generac Power Systems - Corporate Headquarters Kip Wright

Senior Vice President of Manpower, North America

Unlocking Success in Your Company It’s more than Tariffs, Technology and Talent REGISTER TODAY! www.manufacturingmatters.org

Success in manufacturing requires more than dealing with and navigating through the everyday challenges facing manufacturers in southeastern Wisconsin. It also requires good leadership, a clear vision, a commitment to innovation and much more.

Join us for the annual Next Generation Manufacturing Summit on Oct. 4, featuring presentations and a panel discussion from CEOs of southeastern Wisconsin based manufacturing companies. These CEO’s will share their company’s strategies for success, along with the whys behind their best practices for competing in a global marketplace and how they strive to be world-class manufacturers in the 21st century.

Confirmed presenters/panelists: • Aaron Jagdfeld – President & CEO – Generac (1) • Keith Coursin – President – Desert Aire (2) • Paul Woelbing – President – Carma Laboratories, Inc. (3) • Rich Simonson – COO – Carma Laboratories, Inc. (4) Moderator - Arthur Thomas, manufacturing reporter, BizTimes Milwaukee (5)

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The program continues with four concurrent roundtable discussions on a variety of topics including: • Transformational productivity • Company culture • Veterans in the workplace • Five ways manufacturers can stay ahead of technology disruption • Exporting as a strategy

• Entrepreneurial life cycle of a business: how to transition to a non-family owned mid-sized business • Industry 4.0: The future is here, just not evenly distributed • Foxconn supply chain – An insiders perspective • Strategies in talent attraction and retention

• Black Box thinking: A method to develop new products and solutions • Leadership • And more

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STORY COVER entertainment complex that they have created.”

The Bucks’ redevelopment plans will fill a large gap in the city’s economy and infrastructure, as much of the Park East corridor has seen little to no growth over the past 10 to 15 years, while other areas of downtown have boomed, Settle said.

In addition The Fiserv Forum and its surrounding district will create 1,200 part-time service and hospitality jobs. Arena workers will earn an hourly wage of at least $12.50 thanks to an initiative launched in February by the Bucks and Milwaukee’s Alliance for Good Jobs. By 2023, the minimum hourly wage will increase to $15.

“When you talk about what the legacy of the new arena will be, it is that we have redefined compensation in the hospitality business, certainly in the State of Wisconsin,” Feigin said. “And the way we are going about it is recruiting, retaining and training hospitality workers to be the best. One of our operational goals is to reduce turnover, and paying people more is one of the good ways to do it.”

Settle believes the arena’s impact on job creation will reach far beyond its direct employees.

“The restaurants nearby will either be brand new and will have to hire staff, or will be busier and will have to hire additional staff,” she said. “Additional businesses are going to come out of this

“ T his is not just about a basketball team, this is about an entire community coming together around this entertainment complex that they have created.”

— Kristin Settle, VISIT Milwaukee

new development as Westown continues to grow.

It’s not just the people who are going to be working there, it’s the people who are going to benefit because of this new development.”

However, not everyone was pleased when the state and local governments agreed to cover $250 million of the arena project.

The public financing plan, which was signed by Walker in August 2015, was passed by bipartisan votes of 52-34 in the state Assembly and 21-10 in the state Senate. State Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) was one of those who voted against the bill.

“It’s a poor investment when you consider all of the different needs like education and infra-

structure,” he said.

Carpenter said other public entities, such as the city’s public safety buildings, Mitchell Park Domes, Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee Public Schools and the convention center, have a greater need for public funding than the expansive arena project did. The taxpayer dollars used for the arena were a “missed opportunity,” he said.

Common Ground Inc., a Milwaukee-based nonprofit, cited similar concerns with the project.

If taxpayer money was to be used for an arena, a similar investment should be made in playgrounds and outdoor athletic facilities for children in the city, the group said.

The Bucks and Johnson Controls International plc built a $150,000 multi-sport complex at Browning Elementary School in Milwaukee, which was completed in September, and announced plans to give $600,000 in community programming grants over the next 10 years.

Three years later, Common Ground is no longer actively opposed to the arena, and its efforts are instead focused on the revitalization of the athletic field at Washington High School, located in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood, said the group’s lead organizer, Keisha Krumm. Its goal, however, remains a constant.

“It’s part of following through on our fair play campaign,” she said. “If we invest public money in the arena, we want money to also be invested in the outdoor athletic facilities for our kids.” n

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biztimes.com / 27

Special Report

ARTHUR THOMAS

ARENA

Construction on the Fiserv Forum began in June 2016.

Arena project helps set construction workforce standard

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer BURLINGTON NATIVE Mike Sorge has worked on buildings all around the country. Each one is unique, but coming home to work on a new basketball arena in the heart of downtown Milwaukee was a particularly special experience.

Nearly 2 million work hours went into building the Fiserv Forum, the new home of the Milwaukee Bucks. More than 8,000 tons of structural steel, seven trusses spanning 250 to 310 feet, and more than 113 miles of electrical conduit make up the building.

But Sorge, construction executive and project director at arena construction manager M.A. Mortenson Co., hopes fans attending games and concerts at the new arena don’t notice any particular construction and engineering feats that make the building possible.

He wants them to walk away with an incredible experience and a desire to return.

“That’s what matters,” Sorge said. “The building itself supports doing that.”

The Bucks awarded the project to Minneapolis-based Mortenson in April 2016, leaving just a few months to prepare for a groundbreaking in June. Sorge said the quick start presented one of the major challenges for the project as the Mortenson team scrambled to get plans in place.

“We were very successful at the point, 28 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

which set up the overall success of the project,” he said.

In addition to Mortenson, the project also included management by Greenwood Village, Colorado-based Icon Venue Group LLC; architecture by Kansas City-based Populous, Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. and Kansas City-based HNTB; mechanical engineering by Golden, Colorado-based M-E Engineers Inc.; and structural engineering by HNTB and Houston-based Walter P. Moore.

Sorge said the team assembled by the Bucks made a significant contribution to the success of the project.

“They’ve really added a lot of value and helped refine the building as we went along,” he said.

The first structural steel was installed in November 2016 and the building was topped off in August 2017. The project was granted conditional occupancy by May 31 this year, allowing the Bucks to begin moving in to the arena.

Sorge said each arena and stadium construction project is unique in its own way, but the timeline was about normal for the industry.

“We didn’t run into any big challenges,” Sorge said.

He credited the Bucks organization for helping the project succeed, pointing to outreach

events with the business community and town hall meetings that helped recruit workforce for the project in different aldermanic districts.

“When you take it to the community, it’s a lot easier for those community members to come and see what it’s all about,” Sorge said.

At the peak, about 900 workers were on site at one time, and over the course of two years more than 4,000 different workers contributed to the project.

“There were a lot of craft workers that put their heart and soul into this project … They should be very proud of it,” Sorge said.

The project also hit its targets for inclusion, with 33 percent of the work completed by small or disadvantaged businesses – compared to a 25 percent goal – and 43 percent of the work hours performed by Residents Preference Program-certified workers, compared to a 40 percent goal.

Minority participation of 32 percent outpaced a goal of 8 percent and participation by women of 7 percent was slightly ahead of a 6.7 percent goal, Sorge said.

Ken Kraemer, executive director of Building Advantage, the region’s construction labor management council, said the amount of attention given to the arena made it a tool in recruiting new workers to the construction industry.

“The Bucks are such a high-profile project,” he said. “It really complemented and highlighted the opportunity in the skilled trades.”

Kraemer added the arena project also helped solidify the small business and RPP programs as a way of doing business following their use on the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons project.

“That’s the model. That should be the model for Milwaukee,” he said. “If I want the community to be part of my business model, I have to be part of the community.”

Businesses have shifted away from looking at the programs as an added cost and are instead trying to leverage them with the understanding that there is a wider benefit.

“We’re seeing these contractors that are doing their presentations and they’re including it as part of their business model,” Kraemer said.

He said projects like the arena and Northwestern Mutual have helped change the views of schools and guidance counselors when it comes to construction careers.

If the plans for Milwaukee’s NBA team come together as well as the arena, there is a chance the Fiserv Forum could turn into a distinct home court advantage. Sorge said he got a taste of that when the arena’s audio and lighting system were being tested. “(Even) without the fans in there, you could feel it was electric,” he said. n

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Special Report

JON ELLIOTT OF MKE DRONES LLC

ARENA

The Bucks plan to bring more development to the area around Fiserv Forum.

While arena is complete, surrounding development district is just beginning

By Corrinne Hess, staff writer WHEN THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS announced plans to build a new arena in the Park East corridor, the team and the city envisioned it as the anchor of a vibrant neighborhood that would draw people day and night to a long-vacant section of downtown Milwaukee.

To help make that vision a reality, a development entity formed by the Bucks acquired all of the vacant Park East corridor land between the Aloft hotel (1230 N. Old World Third St.) and The Brewery complex from Milwaukee County, with plans to create a mixed-use district around the arena.

With Fiserv Forum now ready to open, construction of the Entertainment Block across the street from the arena progressing and nearby neighborhoods experiencing the beginnings of a renaissance, the pieces have begun to come together to make the broad arena district vision a reality.

“We’ve always had a big, big vision,” said Bucks president Peter Feigin. “Certainly the arena is a great magnet and centerpiece. But we need (the district to be) a place where people can live, work and play.”

When the 714,000-square-foot Fiserv Forum opens Aug. 26, the development in the arena district will just be getting started.

The Entertainment Block, located along the east side of Vel R. Phillips Avenue between West Highland Avenue and West Juneau Avenue, is one of the central elements of the team’s plans for the arena district. Originally 30 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

scheduled for completion in September, the block will now open in early 2019. So far, two tenants – national “eatertainment” chain Punch Bowl Social and craft brewer Good City Brewing – have been announced.

Adjacent to the arena’s parking structure, along the east side of North Sixth Street between West Juneau Avenue and West McKinley Avenue, Milwaukee-based Royal Capital Group LLC is currently building Five Fifty Ultra Lofts, a 90-unit apartment complex. The apartments are part of the Bucks’ overall master plan of creating a neighborhood for the arena district, Feigin said.

“The key is to create the infrastructure that creates great neighborhoods,” he said.

The Bucks own two more vacant city blocks to the north of the arena and a site to the west of the practice facility. The Bucks are exploring many options for the sites, including a hotel, residential mixed use, entertainment or a corporate headquarters building.

Meanwhile, deconstruction of the BMO Harris Bradley Center will begin in early fall and the Bucks will begin redevelopment work for that 6-acre site.

Blair Williams, president of WiRED Properties, who has been serving as the Bucks’ managing director of real estate since January 2017, said the Fiserv Forum’s design allows the arena itself to be part of the neighborhood.

The arena will have 130 to 150 events per year, and its open plaza will host another 80

events per year, making it a catalyst for neighborhood activity, Williams said.

“The Bucks have always talked about diversity and inclusivity, which are easy words to say, but you also have to think about what that means for development,” he said. “We would love to drive more daytime traffic. That happens by layering uses.”

To boost daytime traffic in the area, attracting office tenants will be a focus, as well as a grocery store or drug store, which would be beneficial to give the residents and employees a neighborhood feel, Williams said.

“Too much entertainment is too one-dimensional,” he said.

Williams believes the site closest to The Brewery complex makes the most sense for an anchor office tenant because of the visibility from the freeway.

The Bucks responded to the original RFP Brookfield-based financial technology firm Fiserv Inc. issued for its new headquarters development in early 2017. The company still has not made a decision about the future of its headquarters. Since Fiserv inked a deal with the team as the naming rights sponsor for the arena, some have speculated that the company might end up moving its headquarters near the arena.

“We have had conversations with (specific) potential office users, but have not gone to the broader market (to pitch the arena district as an office site),” Williams said.

Williams is hopeful the development community, both locally and nationally, takes notice of the large development blocks available in the Park East Corridor.

“The Bucks are not a real estate development firm,” Williams said. “They are incredible corporate citizens who happen to have been involved in one of the largest real estate developments in Milwaukee.”

Another project Williams has worked on with development partner Sean Phelan, president of Milwaukee-based Phelan Development LLC, has been the redevelopment of the former Ace Hardware building at 1303 N. Fourth St., just north of the Park East corridor and the arena.

St. Charles, Illinois-based Windy City Motorcycle Group is planning to open a Harley-Davidson dealership in the building.

Williams said the project is an example of what the Bucks are attempting to do with the arena district: blend old Milwaukee with new development.

Beginning last season, Harley put its badge on the Bucks uniform as part of a sponsorship deal.

“We want this neighborhood to express Milwaukee’s identity,” Williams said. n

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Special Report ARENA

Fiserv Forum designed to draw big entertainment acts to Milwaukee

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer

32 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

ited feedback from events promoters regarding what they would want to see in the venue and designed the building accordingly.

“We literally knocked down walls and resized doors to make it easier for production to get their equipment in and out of the building,” he said. “...

We want this to be as plug-and-play as possible.”

Audience members will notice a difference in sound and sightline quality. The arena, which has a capacity of 18,000 for concerts, includes 10,000 seats in the lower bowl. That’s compared to 6,000 lower bowl seats at the Bradley Center.

It is also outfitted with acoustical wall treatments to enhance the sound experience, Saha said.

Officials have set a goal of hosting 150 ticketed events per operating year at the arena. The Bucks and Marquette University men’s basketball teams play a combined 65 games annually.

While the arena’s concert lineup has generated the most excitement, Saha said, the Bucks also plan to pack the arena’s 75,000-squarefoot plaza with programming, with German holiday festival Christkindlmarket and Milwaukee Oktoberfest already scheduled for this year.

“We’re looking at lifestyle programming, so that could be yoga, farmer’s markets, movies in the plaza,” Saha said. “And we’ll have a bunch of family entertainment in fall 2019.”

Saha said he doesn’t expect the arena will poach acts from other Milwaukee venues.

Instead, he envisions capturing artists who are new to the city.

“We wouldn’t build this just to move pieces of the pie around Milwaukee, we built this to attract events that wouldn’t have come to Milwaukee,” he said.

Matt Beringer, chief operating officer of Pabst Theater Group, expects the new arena will draw more attention to Milwaukee’s music scene.

“We view it as a welcome addition to the entertainment community here,” Beringer said.

“In general, the more Milwaukee can be considered an option from the touring perspective, the better off all the entertainment community is in the city.”

Beringer said his team has worked collaboratively with the BMO Harris Bradley Center in the past and expects that relationship to continue with Fiserv Forum.

For example, the organizations worked together to book Jim Gaffigan for a show at the arena in September, which will increase the capacity for his usual sold-out New Year’s Eve gigs at the Pabst. n

Justin Timberlake

P!nk

Elton John

Acts booked at Fiserv Forum The Killers with Violent Femmes, Sept. 4 Kevin Hart, Sept. 13 Maroon 5, Sept. 16 Justin Timberlake, Sept. 21 Jim Gaffigan, Sept. 22 Professional Bull Riders, Oct. 6-7 J Balvin, Oct. 11 Metallica, Oct. 16 Foo Fighters, Oct. 17 The Eagles, Oct. 18 Twenty One Pilots, Oct. 20 Chris Young, Oct. 26 Fleetwood Mac, Oct. 28 Josh Groban, Nov. 3 truTV’s Impractical Jokers, Nov. 18 Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dec. 15 Harlem Globetrotters, Dec. 31 Panic! At The Disco, Jan. 27, 2019 Elton John, Feb. 19, 2019 P!nk, May 2, 2019 Carrie Underwood, June 20, 2019

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

IN THE MONTHS leading up to the Fiserv Forum’s opening, Milwaukee Bucks officials have built up expectations related to the caliber of entertainment acts the new arena will attract.

The list of performers announced so far suggests the arena’s first year will bring a full and diverse lineup.

The Forum has booked pop stars Justin Timberlake and P!nk, iconic artists like Elton John and Fleetwood Mac, heavy metal band Metallica, country star Carrie Underwood and a host of non-musical acts, including comedians Jim Gaffigan and Kevin Hart. Recently, the Bucks announced the Forum’s opening act: Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers with special guests and Milwaukee natives Violent Femmes.

“We wanted to do something that was different for a building opening and we knew there is a massive fan base for both bands here in town,” said Raj Saha, general manager of Fiserv Forum.

Before concrete for the 714,000-square-foot facility had even been poured, Bucks president Peter Feigin and Saha were traveling internationally to woo concert industry representatives to the arena.

Beyond just selling the venue as a major entertainment destination, they had to sell Milwaukee as a city that’s hungry for major arena tours.

Saha, who spent his early career as guest relations manager at Madison Square Garden and went on to oversee the opening of 10 venues on three continents while working for sports and entertainment management company AEG, said he knew coming into his role with the Bucks that Milwaukee has a strong music culture, but historically has missed out on some major shows.

“Everyone knows Summerfest,” Saha said.

“It’s a well-known, recognized brand. Milwaukee is a really good live music market. But the one thing was missing was a number of shows that were not playing Milwaukee, that were touring and hitting Chicago and Columbus and Lincoln and Omaha and Des Moines. But I knew there was an appetite here.”

To host major acts, the arena was outfitted to make it a desirable destination for performers and backstage crews. The arena includes six enclosed loading docks to expedite the loading and unloading of equipment, state-ofthe-art performer dressing rooms and a ceiling capable of holding 200,000 pounds of rigging.

While promoting the arena in the early days of construction, Saha said, Bucks officials solic-

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Special Report OFFICE SPACE

Sweet offices

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

Chris Stolarski Senior communication strategist Marquette University Milwaukee If you don’t know anything about Chris Stolarski, you could learn a couple of things about his interests and career just by stepping into his Zilber Hall office. The 1965 Robert Stanley pop art portrait of John Lennon, which is on loan from Marquette’s Haggerty Museum of Art, represents his love for The Beatles, he said. Hung on the adjacent wall is another decorative piece – an art deco-style poster of Marquette Hall created by one of the university’s graphic designers. On his desk, the “jiggly hula girl” statue, he said, is nod to a line in “The Shawshank Redemption,” Stolarski’s favorite movie. As head of public relations for the university’s building projects, he often dons the navy blue hardhat perched atop the bookshelf.

Bryan Rasch Chief innovation officer GMR Marketing LLC New Berlin Bryan Rasch uses his love of sports cars as a form of stress relief, both outside of work and at his desk. He started restoring cars with his dad when he was 13 years old, and now he works on old sports cars in his free time to decompress, Rasch said. His office is decorated with vintage model cars and memorabilia, which is his way of surrounding himself with things that “create the calm,” he said.

34 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

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Josh Morby Founder JRM Advisers With a passion for spending time in the great outdoors, Josh Morby has transformed his office into a hunter’s happy place. Each mount and pelt decorating his office, he said, has a story and brings back memories of the time he has spent fishing and hunting throughout Wisconsin.

“Displays like these in the office are a great way to find ways to relate with business partners and clients,” he said.

Tim Sheehy President Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Tim Sheehy was given two leather airplane seats from Midwest Airlines after the company merged with Frontier Airlines in 2010. The seats now live on in his office as a reminder of the iconic Milwaukee brand.

Angela Fioretti Senior art director Core Creative Angela Fioretti has created an office atmosphere that helps her get the creative juices flowing. Her unique office decor represents her style and aesthetic, and with the right lighting, Fioretti said, she feels both comfortable and inspired while on the job. “I’ve always enjoyed matching the odd and unusual with modern trends. If I can create and work in an environment that inspires me, I find I do better work for our clients.”

36 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

Special Report OFFICE SPACE

The Hive coworking space opened in downtown Milwaukee last year and has attracted an eclectic mix of companies.

Coworking spaces pop up across southeastern Wisconsin

By Molly Dill, staff writer WHEN GATEWAY TECHNICAL COLLEGE announced this month the closure of its Launch Box coworking space, it was an anomaly.

The funding for the space dried up this year, so its 147 members will have to find a new office option come November. A free coworking space was no longer financially sustainable, said Thalia Mendez, who ran the Launch Box. “The people who were really active and engaged and using the space, I think they’ll figure out, ‘Yeah, it’s been a sweet ride of two-anda-half years of having no fees, but everybody’s charging now,’” Mendez said. “This is becoming a for-profit business.”

Spurred by players large and small, southeastern Wisconsin has experienced a surge of

  

new coworking spaces over the past several years, which cater to the needs of entrepreneurs and sole practitioners with reduced rental rates for shared workspace and amenities.

According to commercial real estate firm JLL, flexible space has been growing at an average annual rate of 23 percent since 2010, making it the primary growth driver in the office market nationwide.

In Kenosha, The O coworking space opened in the renovated Kenosha Orpheum Theater in January. It’s the city’s first coworking space.

In Milwaukee, national coworking players Office Evolution and Spaces are planning significant projects.

Spaces, a coworking subsidiary of Jer-

sey-based International Workplace Group plc (formerly Regus) plans to open its first Wisconsin location in a 43,000-square-foot space at 1433 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee this fall. “(Milwaukee) is an up-and-coming tech hub with a strong private-sector financial community, and an established network of venture capitalists, angel investors and economic development agencies that offer numerous choices for entrepreneurs,” said Michael Berretta, vice president of network development for IWG. Louisville, Colorado-based franchisor Office Evolution has 50 coworking spaces in 17 states, and plans to open seven to 10 locations in the Milwaukee market.

Office Evolution’s coworking spaces are about 7,000 square feet and include 30 private offices, with a lounge and conference room, but less shared space overall than other coworking spots. The company caters to independent white collar professionals like lawyers and accountants, said Mark Hemmeter, chief executive officer.

“We don’t have the keg of beer and the pingpong table,” Hemmeter said. “I think one thing for people to realize is coworking’s not monolithic. It’s not one-size-fits-all.”

On the smaller end, Phelan Development recently opened a micro-coworking space called Work Lofts on Milwaukee’s East Side.

The 3,700-square-foot space at 2140 N. Prospect Ave. has a 16-person communal work table surrounded by a work room with 12 custom work stations and four private offices.

The Hive is another smaller coworking space, located at 720 N. Milwaukee St. in downtown Milwaukee.

The 5,000-square-foot, entrepreneur-focused space opened in September 2017. It has five dedicated members and 15 to 20 daily hot desk members, with room for a few more, said Mo Crosby, general manager. The members are an eclectic mix of beauty studio, contemporary art gallery, media agency and nonprofit.





biztimes.com / 37

Since it opened, The Hive has started hosting events, including a podcast meetup and a “Milwaukee Does” series about successful entrepreneurs, Crosby said.

In Glendale, Ironwood Office Park in December opened a 5,500-square-foot coworking space that offers fully furnished offices, licensed to businesses on a month-to-month basis. Ironwood now has six tenants in the space.

“When we bought the building in April of 2017, that was the business plan going into it,” said Ray Balfanz, president of Muskego-based Outlook Management Group, which owns the office park. “We saw it as a trend in the office building sector and they thought it’d be a great location for it, being on the North Shore.”

Some coworking communities have found success from targeting a particular niche.

MalamaDoe, targeted to female entrepreneurs, opened just more than a year ago in Shorewood and has grown to 34 members and expanded its space, said founder Sheila Long.

“I think that people understand it more, what coworking is, especially with all the new coworking spaces in Milwaukee,” Long said.

National coworking franchisor Office Evolution plans to enter the Wisconsin market with seven to 10 locations.

“Also, the acceptance that women need more support. It just really helps us all…deal with whatever might be holding us back to be able to talk about it in a safe setting.”

Oasis, a 1,000-square-foot coworking space targeted to water-related startups, opened in January at the Global Water Center in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood.

Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council, said the most interest so far

has come from international companies that are collaborating with other firms in the Global Water Center.

“The uniqueness is if you’re interested in water, you know you’re going to have access to everybody else that’s in water, too,” Amhaus said. “It’s more trying to meet demand of companies that are trying to get into the ecosystem. It’s really geared towards companies that are outside of the region.” n

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Special Report

JEFF BUCHANAN/TAMPA BAY LIGHTING

OFFICE SPACE

LEDs made products like SPI’s Zynn Ring possible.

LEDs illuminate new options in office lighting

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer FOR YEARS, the choices in office lighting were pretty limited. Four-foot or 2-foot fluorescent lights in square or rectangular fixtures are a common sight. So, too, are long, suspended, continuous runs of the same lights.

“Those are basically practical lighting solutions that were designed around existing sources,” said Rick Meyer, vice president of sales and marketing at Mequon-based manufacturer SPI Lighting Inc. Meyer pointed out the technology behind lighting had not changed much from the time Thomas Edison invented the light bulb until the introduction of fluorescent lights. Even after that, things did not rapidly evolve.

“It’s an industry that’s not used to a lot of change,” he said.

The introduction of LED lights has changed that. Starting in the late 2000s, Meyer said new construction projects began incorporating LEDs, and nearly a decade later almost any new professional or commercial space will use them.

“LEDs have allowed a lot of design flexibility,” Meyer said.

At the most basic level, the small size of light emitting diodes opens up a whole new world of potential light fixtures. Sure, square and rectangular fixtures are still an option, but so are rings and curved designs.

“Those are all in vogue now,” Meyer said

of rings.

Some of SPI’s rings range in sizes from 2 feet to 20 feet in diameter. In the past, rings were almost impossible to make and the ones that did get made were often limited to highend projects. Today, a wide range of projects can incorporate what Meyer described as a “more architecturally desirable” look.

“Now you can have a sculpture that’s a lighting fixture,” he said.

It’s not just the form of lighting that’s changing; the function has evolved with LEDs, as well.

For starters, Meyer pointed out that LEDs allow users to see a more complete spectrum of light.

That means with the same light output, an LED light will appear to be brighter.

A brighter light may take some time to adjust to, but Meyer said LEDs are also enabling individual addressability, meaning users can change the lighting in their area to meet their own needs and preferences. In a large office with 50 to 100 people in a given space, that can provide a big benefit.

“Traditionally those light levels are all preset,” Meyer said. “If you were out in the main area, you didn’t have any say over the lighting.”

With fluorescent lights, it was difficult to dim the lights in general, let alone a specific area, but Meyer said the ability to dim now is “pretty much a design standard.”

High-end projects are beginning to explore

tunable lighting, Meyer said, allowing for the adjustment of output, color rendering and color temperature. There’s some science to suggest warmer or cooler temperatures affect biological rhythms, potentially making it easier to get work done.

Other lighting options created by LEDs and the emergence of sensors include daylight integration, which can help account for the amount of natural light coming into a space. On a bright summer day, the amount of incoming light might be enough to reduce the energy needed to illuminate a room, but an overcast day in winter might require more power.

LEDs also allow for the incorporation of colors, particularly in entry areas or on the exterior of buildings.

On many projects, the lighting is the responsibility of the architect or a lighting consultant, Meyer said, but there are still many factors for businesses to consider. Those include what tasks need to be performed in a given area, what is needed to complete the work and which settings will make for a comfortable and enjoyable workplace.

“People don’t notice it unless it’s not doing the right thing,” Meyer said of lighting.

He compared poor lighting to arriving for a tropical vacation on a dreary, cloudy day. It has a tendency to put a damper on the entire trip.

When the next day arrives with warm temperatures and a bright blue sky, spirits are lifted and the vacation seems like a worthwhile endeavor.

“I’ve never had anyone regret doing their lighting properly,” Meyer said. n biztimes.com / 39

Strategies MARKETING

War games Prepare your marketing counterattack

Companies have missions and territories; they formulate strategies and tactics. They conduct forays into enemy territories and engage in advertising blitzes to capture market share.

Managers map out campaigns and issue orders; subordinates carry them out. They use guerrilla marketing tactics; they soften up the beaches with ads and promotions before they send in their troops of sales representatives.

Sounds like war.

We do use a surprising number of metaphors for war in marketing. Perhaps that is why the War Game has become such an effective strategic planning tool.

War Gaming is a method of dealing with rapidly changing business conditions. It allows managers to assess consumer and competitor activities and prepare a suitable counter strike.

Here’s how it works: My client heard that a competitor from another state was about to introduce a new product in this market, where he enjoyed a 40 percent share. We decided to simulate a War Game to help us determine the best plan of attack.

We divided his team (including employees, outside advisors, family and friends familiar with his company) into two groups. Group 1 represented the competitor trying to break into his market and overrun his market share. Group 2 was to dream up countermeasures to combat the enemy/competitor’s advances.

Group 1 attacked with a superb ad campaign 40 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

based on the claim that more customers in the competitor’s home state buy their product than any other product of its type. After careful review, we decided this strategy might indeed undermine the market for our product.

As a countermeasure, Group 2 devised a response that deflated the competitor’s claim. They chose the strategy of a “pre-emptive strike.”

Their ad campaign stated: “More customers in Wisconsin buy our product than any other.”

My client immediately began using this campaign in his advertising, and subsequently the competitive product bombed when it reached the market. We heard from a media sales rep that the out-of-state competitor had “delayed his advertising unexpectedly.” We later learned the competitor had originally decided to use exactly the advertising strategy our War Game had predicted.

War Gaming allows us to test alternative scenarios against alternative responses. Like a crystal ball, War Games can give us “hindsight in advance.”

Some consulting firms use computer models to simulate changes in market share based upon advertising spending, or customer responses to changes in pricing, etc. Such computer-generated simulations can be expensive, ranging from $10,000 to upwards of $300,000.

If you are not a multinational behemoth introducing your product in Western Europe with a bilingual ad campaign and a huge product sampling effort, a more moderate non-computerized approach may better fit your budget.

1. Define the problem as narrowly as possible.

“I’m not happy with our level of profit” is vague. “A competitor is invading our market with a new product” is specific.

2. Next, assemble your teams carefully.

Choose right-brain creative types and leftbrain analysts for each team. Provide each team with all the facts, from spending limits to market share, production capacity to distribution techniques.

3. Be prepared to set aside your ego.

War Games work best when the expectation is not simply to parrot your opinions and management style. After all, one of the objects of the

game is to “think outside the box.”

A good consultant experienced in War Gaming can get you where you want to go. He or she can simulate the necessary scenarios and force you and your managers to think in fresh and unexpected ways. Dropped into a strange new world, your teams might just arrive at strange new solutions.

War Games can have remarkable predictive power. They get you to think differently about the future. They help you develop and test alternative strategies to rapidly changing markets.

They can provide other benefits, as well.

By identifying market needs not currently addressed by your competition, War Games may even lead to the development of new products.

War Gaming brings the collective imaginations of your best and brightest thinkers to bear on your most critical problems. They provide an atmosphere of teamwork, helping management teams bond.

Best of all, they give you the courage to face an uncertain future. n

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

LEADERSHIP

THE STORY OF HERBIE

The extra mile Creating memorable moments for your employees will pay off

Meet Bob Travis, the 57-year-old owner of InkWorks Printing, a label printer in Plymouth that employs 15 people.

Printing is a low-margin business, so providing benefits for his workers is hard to come by.

Last year was good, however, and he did some thinking.

Travis can’t afford health insurance for his workers. But he wanted to do something to reduce their need for it. He told every employee he would pay for the CrossFit beginners program known as Foundations. It’s a high-intensity fitness program incorporating elements from several sports and types of exercise.

If they continued their CrossFit membership, Travis would pay 80 percent of it. A physically fit employee has a better chance of warding off illness, and thus less need for the health care system.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, Travis dropped by CrossFit and saw three of his employees working out, including a supervisor who CrossFit had just convinced to stop smoking.

Travis tells of another success, “something I’ve always wanted to do.” He created a book club for his employees. But unlike most traditional book clubs that meet once a month and read books for pleasure, his employees met over four Wednesdays in March. Their first assignment was to read a few chapters each week from the 1986 classic “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox. Six employees participated.

Within two weeks, the book club members were talking informally about Herbie, the book’s protagonist. Chubby Herbie is a member of a scout troop that creates a bottleneck when the troop goes hiking because he’s in the middle of the line and walks too slow. In other words, the group can only move as fast as Herbie.

The leader solves the problem by moving Herbie to the front of the line and lightens the boy’s backpack by redistributing all the items to the other scouts.

During a meeting at InkWorks, an employee mentioned that he had organized the work for his press so that it was more efficient. But a coworker pointed out that it didn’t speed up the entire system because it hadn’t relieved the bottleneck. It needed more Herbie!

Other employees began wondering who Herbie was and why this guy’s name kept popping up in workplace conversations.

The employees have asked Travis for another month of meetings on “The Goal” so they can learn more.

Travis is considering the next book title.

Maybe he’ll assign “The Power of Moments” by Chip and Dan Heath. Or perhaps he’ll teach book club members about cash flow, profit and loss statements, and balance sheets.

The CrossFit offer and the book club are powerful moments – memorable, even. When people ask InkWorks employees what it’s like to work there, guess what they mention?

“When people assess an experience,” say the Heath coauthors, “they tend to forget or ignore its length.”

Instead, they seem to rate the experience based on two key moments: 1. The best or worst moment – the “peak.”

2. The ending.

The most powerful are those that involve a lot of people. A peak moment is more powerful when it’s shared with others, whether it’s honoring someone or creating a group effort.

In “The Power of Moments,” the authors discuss a high school in a disadvantaged neighborhood that replicated the athletic “signing day” for athletes who received college scholarships.

It created “Student College Signing Day.” The entire student body attended to hear the seniors announce which colleges they would attend. It encouraged students to put college within their sights, and the event became so successful that they had to move it to an arena.

What can you learn from this story? Do the wonderfully unexpected.

Remember when Midwest Express served those warm chocolate chip cookies? Remember the flights that included tablecloths and champagne?

Richard Bemis, former CEO of Bemis Manufacturing Co. in Sheboygan Falls, tells the story of the time he visited the widow of a longtime employee. As Bemis walked down a small hallway in the home, he saw four framed notes on the wall. Each note was written by him or his father, thanking the employee for a job well done.

Handwritten thank you notes can provide memorable, peak moments. n

Psychologists call it the “peak-end rule.”

CREATE MEMORABLE MOMENTS

PHIL HAUCK

While a few experiences have serendipitous “memorable moments,” in most cases you need to make them happen yourself.

Phil Hauck chairs three TEC CEO groups in northeastern Wisconsin. He can be reached at PHauck1@gmail.com. biztimes.com / 41

Strategies MANAGEMENT

Always do the right thing Your employees won’t forget how you treat them

He was one of those kinds of employees whom everyone loved. Then he died. Suddenly.

And very sadly.

I learned of Junior’s death during a recent coaching session with a group of front line manufacturing leads and supervisors. These are the kinds of guys who are kindhearted, though mostly rough around the edges. They are prone to sarcasm and can be intolerant with employees. I must say, though, they have a fantastically dry sense of humor and are extremely likable.

They’ve come a long way since I began working with them almost 18 months ago.

I would categorize them as caring human beings, a bit salt of the Earth. It would be fair to say they had never been introduced to concepts like emotional intelligence, intentional leadership, making sure to give people positive feedback, having difficult conversations in a respectful manner, helping employees sort through conflict, etc.

This is an area in our country, just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, where everyone (for some reason) has an endearing nickname. I’m adding this just to give you a sense of what it is like to be in the midst of these guys. Rob is “Utah.” Jimmy is “Bubba.” Jonathon is “Hunter.”

Rob #2 is “Ripp.”

I don’t remember how it came up, the mention of Junior’s accident. Somewhere about mid42 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

way through our coaching session, one of the guys mentioned it. Maybe I do remember: We were talking about the accountability side of leadership, most specifically recovered hours and shipments of customer orders. This particular site was behind on both of these metrics for the month of April. And the month was ticking away…nearing that time where the pressure is put on employees, mandatory overtime kicks in, and everyone knows to say goodbye to their weekend plans.

One of the guys in the room said, “We didn’t hit our goal for the month because Junior died, and this entire place is devastated.” We paused there. Almost as if someone hit a switch, every guy in the room began to fight back tears. We had to just sit in silence for a long time. I didn’t want to speak first. I knew someone would say something once he gathered himself. I had no idea of this tragedy that had happened only three weeks earlier.

I knew of Junior, because his cantankerous leader, Linn, spoke so highly of him so often.

Junior was the employee everyone wanted. He worked hard out in the shipping yard, often in 90- to 100-degree temperatures, always full on.

He was not a time waster, not a wander around kind of guy. He was friendly and helpful; likable and positive. As he walked out the door, moments before his motorcycle hit a pothole in the road, he said, “See you tomorrow, Boss! I’ll bring the donuts!” His last words, most likely, ever spoken.

As we sat in the conference room, we spent the rest of the time talking about Junior. There just is no productivity to be had when this news is on the table. These guys still needed to talk about this and will need to for a long time.

I am working toward a point. The plant manager called the operations executives of this company at the division level and said, “I’m giving everyone Friday and Saturday off. I have

to do this. Every single person will want to pay their respects to Junior at his funeral on Friday.

And they need time to grieve.”

The level of appreciation that these guys shared that day toward their plant manager was off the charts. They were beyond grateful. As a matter of fact, they were all still hanging on to a similar incident that had happened 10 years earlier. They were not extended this same courtesy. The deceased individual was not important enough to leadership to pause production and goal achievement. These guys essentially said (and I paraphrase), “The way Bruce handled this has now erased our bitterness for what was done 10 years ago.”

The final sentiments that I remember from this conversation were, “We have a long way to go to heal from this loss. We will never be the same. AND…we will never forget what Bruce did for all of us.” n

ALETA NORRIS Aleta Norris is a co-founding partner of Brookfield-based Living As A Leader, a leadership training, coaching and consulting firm. You may send questions to her at anorris@livingasaleader.com.

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September 17, 2018 Space Reservation: August 29, 2018 44 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

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BizConnections PAY IT FORWARD

Havlik provides first responders with free estate planning Kristine Havlik Lawyer Foley & Lardner LLP Nonprofit served: Wills for Heroes Service: Volunteer hub coordinator

mind to know that if the worst should happen, their family is provided for and their wishes regarding end-of-life decisions and disposition of their assets will be carried out.”

Clinics are typically held on Saturdays at police and fire stations. Volunteers include practicing and retired attorneys, as well as law school graduates.

Each clinic has an estate planning specialist on hand to answer questions, she said.

“Working with these first responders for so many years and seeing what they do for us, it’s a great way to give back,” Havlik said. “Like I say at every clinic, this is our way of saying thank you for those that put their lives on the line every day and the spouses.”

The program now includes a volunteer hub in Madison and clinics have been held in Green Bay, Wausau and Stevens Point.

With technology advancements, Havlik said the program will likely become more mobile, which will allow it to expand more easily to other parts of the state. n

LAUREN ANDERSON Reporter

P / 414-336-7121 E / lauren.anderson@biztimes.com T / @Biz_Lauren

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST RESPONDERS face inherent dangers when they clock in at their jobs.

In light of those risks, Kristine Havlik leads an effort to ensure they can report to work knowing their affairs are in order.

Havlik, a business lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, helps oversee the Wisconsin operation of Wills for Heroes, a national program that provides emergency personnel and their families with free estate planning documents. Started by an attorney in South Carolina in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the program has since spread to 10 states.

Havlik had been looking to take on pro bono work when her firm approached her in 2007 about establishing the program locally.

“I jumped at the chance to implement Wills for Heroes in Wisconsin because it was a matter that was right in my wheelhouse as an estates and trust attorney,” she said.

Havlik spent two years laying the groundwork for the program, including forging a partnership with the State Bar of Wisconsin and creating state-specific estate planning forms. It officially launched with a clinic for members of the Milwaukee police and fire departments in December 2009. Since then, the program has held 180 clinics and helped thousands of fire, police and EMT professionals and their families.

“First responders put their lives on the lines for us, sometimes on a daily basis,” Havlik said. “It gives them peace of

biztimes.com / 45

BizConnections PERSONNEL FILE ADVERTISING, MARKETING & MEDIA

Trivera Interactive, Menomonee Falls

Steder

Rinehart

Trivera Interactive has promoted Christina Steder to executive vice president, Jamie Rinehart to senior vice president of Anderson business development and Chelsea Anderson to director of client resources. The promotions are the company’s first steps in transitioning its ownership to an employee leadership team.

BANKING & FINANCE

Port Washington State Bank, Port Washington Port Washington State Bank has hired Tarrah Beyer as vice president of marketing. She joins the bank with 20 years of experience and has served a number of Wisconsin-based brands. Beyer previously worked for Bader Rutter. She will be based at the bank’s newest branch in Thiensville.

BANKING & FINANCE

Waukesha State Bank, Waukesha Waukesha State Bank has hired Kim Castillo Huntley as vice presidentmanager of human resources. She comes to Waukesha State Bank from Saint John’s Communities, where she served as human resources director. Castillo Huntley will be responsible for high level, strategic planning and oversight in the areas of recruitment, employee relations and employee benefits.

46 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

BUSINESS SERVICES

LEGAL SERVICES

NONPROFIT & PHILANTHROPY

MRA-The Management Association, Waukesha

Grzeca Law Group S.C., Milwaukee

Express Yourself Milwaukee, Milwaukee

MRA has hired Cynthia “Cedar” Duerkop as director of organization development. Her past experience allows her to use her business development and organizational development skills to help employers solve strategic challenges by providing consulting, coaching and training services.

Grzeca Law Group S.C. has hired Catherine Leonard as an attorney focusing on corporate immigration law.

LEGAL SERVICES

von Briesen & Roper S.C., Milwaukee

NONPROFIT & PHILANTHROPY

Kathy’s House, Wauwatosa

BUSINESS SERVICES

Vrakas Business Valuations Inc., Brookfield Vrakas Business Valuations Inc. has promoted Paul Schoessow to principal.

Schoessow was hired as an intern in spring 2006 and joined the firm’s professional staff in 2007. He is a Certified Valuation Analyst, as well as a member of the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts.

LEGAL SERVICES

Godfrey & Kahn S.C., Milwaukee Godfrey & Kahn S.C. has hired Henry Weiner as an associate in the Milwaukee corporate law practice group.

Weiner’s areas of practice include stock purchases, asset sales, mergers and reorganizations, as well as general governance and corporate matters.

Express Yourself Milwaukee has hired Tuyet Vance as director of operations. This new position was created as part of the long-term succession plan and future vision for the organization.

Frost

Persich

Thomas

White

von Briesen & Roper S.C. has promoted Andrew Frost, Melanie Persich, Danny Thomas and Peter White to shareholders.

Kathy’s House has hired Katie Sparks as director of philanthropy. She worked on the Froedtert Hospital campus from 2012 to 2015 and started her fundraising career with the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2005. She has 13 years of development experience.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Kane Communications Group, Milwaukee

NONPROFIT & PHILANTHROPY

American Lung Association in Wisconsin, Brookfield American Lung Association in Wisconsin has named Lewis Bartfield chief division officer for its Western U.S. division. Previously, Bartfield served as the executive vice president for the upper Midwest region, where he led the fundraising, mission work and strategic planning for Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

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

Knabe

Sandoval

Kane Communications Group has hired Ann Knabe as director of public relations, Eric Sandoval as Hofer marketing advisor and Sydney Hofer as public relations advisor. Knabe has more than 25 years of experience in communications and government relations. Sandoval has more than eight years of experience in marketing and advertising. Hofer has more than 10 years of experience in public relations.

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

MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Peggy Hansen LLC, 120 E. Madison St., Waterloo, $22,000, Summit Credit Union;

2701 South 28th Street LLC, 2701 S. 28th St., Milwaukee, $4.4 million, First Bank Financial Centre;

RidgeLine Carpentry LLC, W1169 Deer Creek Circle, Ixonia, $25,000, First Bank Financial Centre; KENOSHA COUNTY

CKG Operations LLC, 9160A 76th St., Pleasant Prairie, $595,000, Byline Bank; Davis Dunn Transportation Inc., 28501 Wilmot Road, Building 8, Trevor, $100,000, Educators Credit Union; Electric Phoenix LLC, 4730 87th Place, Kenosha, $125,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank; Haircuts for Men LLC, 7114 118th Ave., Kenosha, $1.02 million, Spirit of Texas Bank SSB; Kram LLC, 614 56th St., Kenosha, $603,000, Racine County Business Development Corp.;

Bellview Enterprise LLC, 8024 N. 94th St., Milwaukee, $21,000, Summit Credit Union; Braga Rowles Xcelerated LLC, 665 S. 72nd St., Milwaukee, $225,000, Town Bank; Direct Hit Properties LLC, 5036 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy, $340,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Four Lite Windows and Doors LLC, 5646 S. 114th St., Hales Corners, $287,500, Old National Bank; H&H Cleanout Specialists LLC, 133 W. Oregon St., #201, Milwaukee, $15,000, Associated Bank; JB Bluemound Property LLC, 5230 W. Blue Mound Road, Milwaukee, $471,600, U.S. Bank; Rivion LLC, 234 W. Florida St.,

PRESENTS:

Milwaukee, $125,000, PyraMax Bank FSB; S3 International LLC, 2101 W. Camden Road, Milwaukee, $5 million, BMO Harris Bank; SBS Trucking Inc., 3735 W. Lakefield Drive, Milwaukee, $75,000, Associated Bank; The Enlightened Imbiber LLC, 427 E. Stewart St., Milwaukee, $705,000, Byline Bank; Vietnamese Noodles LLC, 3881 27th St. S, $50,000, U.S. Bank; VLBN Golden Millennium LLC, 5910 S. 118th St., Hales Corners, $225,000, First Business Bank; Wikk Industries Inc., 6169 Industrial Court, Greendale, $2.3 million, Byline Bank; Wisconsin Granite Design LLC, 6720 S. 27th St., Oak Creek, $2.2 million; Byline Bank; OZAUKEE COUNTY

Early Beginnings Chiropractic LLC, N54 W9468 Mill St., Suite 10, Cedarburg, $50,000, Kohler Credit Union;

GHL Properties LLC, N144 W5620-W5710 Pioneer Road, Cedarburg, $994,000, WBD Inc.;

Estkav LLC, 726 Michigan Ave., Sheboygan, $1.7 million, Byline Bank;

Hytech Precision Inc., 106 W. Progress Drive, West Bend, $50,000, Associated Bank;

North Shore Dance Studio LLC, 10433 Baehr Road, Mequon, $1.04 million, Byline Bank;

Kohlhagen Ventures LLC, 638 Monroe St., Sheboygan Falls, $20,000, Oostburg State Bank;

Hytech Precision Inc., 106 W. Progress Drive, West Bend, $129,000, Associated Bank;

RACINE COUNTY

Expert Tax Solutions Inc., 1127 Prairie Drive, Suite 100, Mount Pleasant, $125,000, Waukesha State Bank; H & H Fairway Enterprises Inc., 14101 Washington Ave., Sturtevant, $150,000, Community State Bank; Harjaps Enterprises LLC, 7100 Douglas Ave., Caledonia, $850,000, Byline Bank; Helical Pier Solutions Inc., 10410 304th Ave., Burlington, $25,000, Associated Bank; Pine Brook Pointe LLC, 1001 S. Pine St., $1.9 million, WBD Inc.; SHEBOYGAN COUNTY

Erik N. Mehan, 319 Adams St., Sheboygan Falls, $17,500 U.S. Bank;

Kohlhagen Ventures LLC, 638 Monroe St., Sheboygan Falls, $90,000, Oostburg State Bank;

WAUKESHA COUNTY

WALWORTH COUNTY

Bella Gusto LLC, 29 S. Main St., Oconomowoc, $75,000, First Bank Financial Centre;

Gerich & Rehm LLC, 729 Main St., Lake Geneva, $382,500, PNC Bank;

Brookfield Boots LLC, 17359 W. Bluemound Road #D, Brookfield, $276,600, Starion Bank;

Inns of Geneva National LLC, 1091 Hidden Cottage Circle, Lake Geneva, $3.7 million, WBD Inc.;

Certified Scale Inc., N57 W13640 Carmen Ave., Menomonee Falls, $204,400, BMO Harris Bank;

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Advanced Asphalt Paving Inc., N124 W13900 Lovers Lane, Germantown, $38,000, The Port Washington State Bank; Contact Metals Inc., 995 W. State St., Hartford, $900,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Friedl Ski Ventures LLC, 8355 Prospect Drive, Kewaskum, $2.3 million, Byline Bank;

Cor Wellness LLC, 610 Milwaukee St., Delafield, $50,000, Summit Credit Union; Patriot Construction Services LLC, N74 W36165 Thomas Drive, Oconomowoc, $40,000, Associated Bank; Seneca Hest Gard LLC, N87 W36615 Mapleton Road, Oconomowoc, $1.4 million, U.S. Bank.

SAVE THE DATE! Thursday, October 11, 2018 3:30-5:00 PM | Italian Community Center

Lessons Learned SPONSORED BY:

Six business and community leaders from southeastern Wisconsin will share their best advice, leadership insights, secrets to success, and ways they overcame their toughest challenges in their own professional and personal lives. This will be a fast-paced discussion. Each speaker will share their stories and insights, followed by Q & A from the audience.

In just 90 minutes, attendees at the annual 90 Ideas in 90 minutes event will walk away with insights and information on all 90 ideas to help them to be a better leader and to overcome their own business and personal challenges.

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BizConnections VOLUME 24, NUMBER 10 | AUG 20, 2018

GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR

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

SALES & MARKETING

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

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

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

COMMENTARY

Free the birds THE BIRDS have left Milwaukee, at least for now.

No, I don’t mean our feathered friends. I mean the scooters that were buzzing around the downtown area for much of the summer.

In a gambit it has pulled in many American cities, Santa Monica, California-based dockless scooter-share company Bird Rides Inc., without any advance warning or notice, showed up in Milwaukee one day with dozens of scooters parked on sidewalks around the downtown area. By using the Bird app, anyone could ride the electric scooters to their destination and then just leave them for the next person that wants to take a ride. The company pays people to gather and charge the scooters at night.

The Birds were a hit with many Milwaukeeans, particularly younger adults. But city officials quickly condemned them. The day after the Birds landed here, the city attorney’s office announced they were illegal for use on city streets and sidewalks because they were not considered legal vehicles under state law.

48 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

People who rode them could be fined $98.80, the city attorney’s office said.

The city filed a cease and desist order requesting Bird to remove the scooters, but the company initially refused. Many continued to ride them, despite the possible fine.

“This is a company that thinks it is above the law, literally,” said Alderman Robert Bauman. “They are literally giving the citizens of the City of Milwaukee the middle finger.”

Bird’s argument: their scooters are not actually “defined or prohibited” by state law or city ordinance. Bird’s CEO is a former executive at ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft, which also started doing business in cities that were not ready to regulate them.

The city filed a lawsuit against Bird seeking $200 per ride from the company for violating the law. When the suit was filed, Bird, which is valued at $2 billion, said its rentals in Milwaukee had exceeded 6,900 rides.

The company shouldn’t have started doing business on public streets and sidewalks without city approval. The scooters should be expected to meet basic safety standards and the company shouldn’t be allowed to have them cluttering up the sidewalks or strewn about the city haphazardly.

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

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

Mount Mary This photo, taken by James Conklin and cataloged in 1938, shows Mount Mary College for Girls in Milwaukee. The Catholic women’s college, originally in Prairie du Chien, was established at this site by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1929. It was renamed Mount Mary University in 2013 and continues to operate at 2900 Menomonee River Parkway. In the foreground is Blue Mound Golf and Country Club.

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

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

Independent & Locally Owned

ART DIRECTOR Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com

— Founded 1995 —

But there was no sign that was happening, and every form of transportation has some degree of risk and can be dangerous if not used properly. The city’s harsh reaction to Bird was off-putting to some entrepreneurs and Bird supporters.

After the Milwaukee Common Council passed a measure allowing the city to impound the scooters, the company agreed to remove the scooters voluntarily and said it will cooperate with city officials who say they need the state Legislature to pass a law to legalize the scooters. Gov. Scott Walker said he’s open to the idea, but the state Legislature is not back in session until January.

Hopefully the state takes action and the Birds are back in Milwaukee next summer. n

ANDREW WEILAND EDITOR

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

MMAC/VISIT Milwaukee Joint Mixer

AROUND TOWN

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and VISIT Milwaukee recently hosted a Joint Mixer at the new Hyatt Place Milwaukee in The Brewery complex, overlooking the new Fiserv Forum.

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TERESA ESSER of Silicon Pastures, KRISTOPHER BROWN of Grand View Bison Ranch and SEAN LENIHAN of The Honest Bison.

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SALLY AGGER of Entercom with KELLY MALLEGNI and JULIE RAYE of The Bartolotta Restaurants.

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PHYLLIS KING of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, XAVIER BECKLEY of FUEL Milwaukee and ADAM SCHEMM of UWM Athletics.

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MARK HONADEL of Goodwill TalentBridge and LINDA HAPKA of Beyond Vision.

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TOM DAUGHERTY of Containers Up and CHARLES ROICHEK of eVisitor Guide.

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PAUL DAMORA of Glass + Griddle with SCOTT LURIE and TANIA NIGH of F Street Group.

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GARY RANDLE II of Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. and MEG MCKENNA of VISIT Milwaukee.

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RINDY HART of Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport and JENN HOUDYSHELL of Hilton Garden Inn Milwaukee Downtown.

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BARCIE BENZSCHAWEL and PATRICIA ALGIERS of Chemistry in Place.

Scale Up Milwaukee Celebration of Growth Scale Up Milwaukee recently hosted its Celebration of Growth at the University Club in downtown Milwaukee.

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10. DAVE WERNER of Park Bank and DANIELLE JONES of Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

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11. MARY HOEHNE of Granville Business Improvement District and LATRECE NELSON of Prenasis Hair Gallery.

12. CAROLYN WALKER of Great Impressions, TISH TUZES of Trans International and JILL BOYLE of Sikich.

13. JAMES MUELLER and SUSAN HARTMAN of Mueller QAAS.

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14. JOHN STEINMILLER of Milwaukee Bucks, JULIA TAYLOR of Greater Milwaukee Committee and JASON STANSELL of Fine Point Consulting.

15. CHARLES MOSLEY and MICHAEL MARKIEWICZ of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

16. ADAM BRAUHN of MahlerClean and ROBERT GROSS of Gross Automation.

17. AJAY GOEL of GMass, DANIEL KRAMER of BDO and KELLY ANDREWS of Filament.

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18. MARC PADRON of MRA and KILBY WILLIAMSON of Woodgreen Advisors.

Photos by Molly Dill biztimes.com / 49

BizConnections

MIKE EITEL |

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

The power of passion and creating a culture of inclusion While traveling around the world when he was younger, Caravan Hospitality Group CEO Mike Eitel frequently stayed in youth hostels. He says these experiences taught him the value of diversity and inclusion when building a brand to be passionate about.

“To bring a brand to life and sustain it, you need to believe in it, protect its mission and, quite literally, live the brand. My experience as a young traveler relying on the culture of youth hostels to move around the planet allowed me to meet a wide variety of locals and fellow adventurers.

“These experiences ignited the spark to create an ecosystem of diversity, tolerance, inclusivity, adventure and fun, and were the driving force in the creation of my first brand 50 / BizTimes Milwaukee AUGUST 20, 2018

in 1995, The Nomad World Pub. When people interact with the Nomad brand, they’re able to immerse themselves in a culture of ethnic, socioeconomic and racial diversity. For over 23 years, Nomad World Pub has been a safe haven for diversity, ideas, acceptance and expression, and has provided comfort to all walks of life.

“The original spirit of the Nomad and its core mission still serve as the foundation for all our brands. Staying true to the core mission not

Caravan Hospitality Group LLC Milwaukee caravanhospitality.com Industry: Food and beverage only helps us stay true to ourselves and our relationship with the brand, but also helps us identify opportunities to create positive change and connect with people in a way that is true to the essence of the brand.

“By staying focused on who we are, what we do best and offering an authentic experience for the people who interact with our brand, we have developed lifelong relationships with people from around the world who we have the pleasure of serving.” n

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

the LASTWORD

2019 EDITION

GIVING GUIDE Reserve your space in the 2019 Giving Guide!

MISSION Seton Catholic Schools is a transformational educational system committed to overcoming academic and social challenges, empowering students, families and educators to attain their God-given potential.

PIC OPPORTU NIT

IES

2018 EDITIO N

SPONSORED BY

Space Reservation: September 28, 2018

3501 S. Lake Drive Milwaukee, WI 53207 (414) 831-8400

setoncatholicschools.org facebook.com/SetonSchoolsMilwaukee/ @SetonSchoolsMKE

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S E T O N C AT H O L I C S C H O O L S

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A SUPPLEMENT

390 $27,000,000 2015

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SERVICE AREA Seton Catholic Schools serves more than 3,000 students across 12 schools in Milwaukee County.

GOALS

FUNDRAISING/EVENTS

Our goal is to prepare all our students to be academically and spiritually prepared for high-quality high schools and beyond. By transforming students and their families, we will strengthen communities helping our communities to be safe, stable, great places to live.

Seton Catholic Schools is a collaborative network growing to 26 K-8 Milwaukee Catholic schools. With over $6 million in investments secured in our inaugural year, Seton is looking for additional investors for its five-year, $25 million capacity-building campaign that will directly impact academic achievement of 9,000 students. The capacity campaign funds are needed to build out: the academic model of instruction, teacher recruitment and professional training, school resources and facility upgrades.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

We have many opportunities to share your gifts of time and talent with our schools and students: • Marketing and legal guidance • Reading to our students • Coaching a sports team • Service learning project leader • Arts and crafts helper • Recess supervisor

Support for Seton Catholic Schools affords many giving opportunities through individual giving, corporate contributions, grants and gifts of securities. Making a gift to Seton ensures that current and future schools have the resources to provide accessible, high achieving education and spiritual formation for faculty, staff and students.

FUNDING SOURCES

n Tuition and Voucher ......................................... 67% n Capacity-Building Campaign ......................... 16% n Fees/Meal Programs ....................................... 10% n Parish Support ...................................................... 7%

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP Name (Title) ★ Company

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki ★ Archbishop of Milwaukee

Kristine Rappé (Chair) ★ Retired

Bruce Arnold (Vice Chair) ★ Husch Blackwell

Jay Mack (Treasurer) ★ Donald Drees President

Dr. William Hughes, Ph.D. Chief Academic Officer

Very Reverend Javier Bustos Hispanic Ministry

Kathleen Cepelka

Archdiocese of Milwaukee School Sisters of St. Francis

Joan Shafer (Secretary) ★ WEC Energy Group

Seton Catholic Schools

Rana Altenburg

Rick Schmidt CG Schmidt Inc.

Catholic education changing right before our eyes Catholic education is is changing right before our eyes –– and we’re proud driving this transformation. and we’re proud toto bebe driving this transformation.

Seton Catholic Schools a collaborative network Milwaukee elementary schools built long-standing Seton Catholic Schools is ais collaborative network of of Milwaukee elementary schools built onon thethe long-standing tradition excellence Catholic education.

We’re investing Catholic education ensure students tradition of of excellence in in Catholic education.

We’re investing in in Catholic education to to ensure allall students areare academically and spiritually prepared high-performing high schools. supporting Seton, we’re able make academically and spiritually prepared forfor high-performing high schools.

ByBy supporting Seton, we’re able to to make a significant impact communities, creating safe, stable and connected neighborhoods. a significant impact in in ourour communities, creating safe, stable and connected neighborhoods.

Your involvement in this annual publication includes an in-depth profile, plus several advertising elements in BizTimes Milwaukee magazine, BizTimes Nonprofit Weekly enewsletter and BizTimes.com.

Seton students, every makes a difference because multiplied across a network schools growing ForFor Seton students, every giftgift makes a difference because it’sit’s multiplied across a network of of schools growing toto serve 9,000 kids.

With your help, change quality students and families area. serve 9,000 kids.

With your help, wewe cancan change thethe quality of oflifelife forfor students and families in in ourour area.

John Stollenwerk, Jr.

Stollenwerk Family Foundation

SPONSORED SPONSORED BYBY

Portia Young

Sargento Foods Inc.

Sister Mary Diez

Town Bank

Marquette University

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★ DENOTES EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Gary Bennetts

Archdiocese of Milwaukee

TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING CATHOLIC EDUCATION EDUCATION CATHOLIC

Donald Drees ★

Take advantage of the opportunity for your organization to be seen

Very Reverend Tim Kitzke Urban Ministry

2018 GIVING GUIDE | biztimes.com/giving

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