BizTimes Milwaukee | September 11, 2023

Special Reports

16

& Finance In addition to the cover story, coverage includes a look at the impact made by BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation during its 10 years of operations. 28 Office space Coverage includes reports on how companies are using and designing their office space in a post-COVID hybrid work environment, and what some local companies say about their recent office space renovation projects.

Second Aug Prep school could open at former Cardinal Stritch campus in 2025

By Cara Spoto, staff writer

Less than a month after purchasing the former Cardinal Stritch University campus and announcing plans to convert it into a K-12 school, Gus Ramirez of The Ramirez Family Foundation said

BY THE NUMBERS

recently that the new school could start classes by the fall of 2025.

Ramirez, executive chairman of Waukesha-based manufacturer Husco, shared the news at a ceremony marking another milestone

About

12.8 MILLION

people watched the Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee on Fox News, Fox Business Network and streaming platforms.

in the Ramirez Family’s educational mission: the opening of a newly constructed, 123,000-square-foot, $49 million elementary school at St. Augustine Preparatory Academy. The family opened the private voucher school on Milwaukee’s south side in 2017; the K-12 Aug Prep campus now serves roughly 1,800 students.

The Ramirez Family Foundation acquired the 43.5-acre former Cardinal Stritch campus in Glendale and Fox Point in a $24 million deal in late July. Citing declining enrollment and significant financial problems, Cardinal Stritch decided to end its operations at the end of the 2022-‘23 school year.

The former Cardinal Stritch campus has 12 buildings with a combined 607,000 square feet of space. The foundation plans to raze some older dormitories on the campus – about 150,000 square feet of space – to make way for future athletic fields, Ramirez said.

The foundation plans to hold recruitment camps next summer for the school it plans to open at the former Cardinal Stritch campus.

Ramirez, who had talked in the past about opening a second school on the north side of Milwaukee, expressed confidence

that the school at the former Cardinal Stritch campus will be able to attract students from Milwaukee’s north side and from the northern suburbs. Abby Andrietsch, president and CEO of Aug Prep, noted that the south side campus draws students from several different zip codes and many of those students rely on city buses and family cars to get to school each day.

One of the key goals of developing a school near the city’s north side – in addition to serving families in some of the city’s poorest zip codes – is finding a way to increase diversity among Aug Prep’s student body, Ramirez said. Currently the school is about 92% Hispanic, 5% Black and roughly 3% white or a combination of other races, Andrietsch said.

“One of the goals we have for the Cardinal Stritch campus is to have it be more diverse,” Ramirez said. “The disappointment that we have here (at Aug Prep) is that although we have some diversity, it is not enough. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to attract (students) from Bay View. This Cardinal Stritch campus gives us the chance to attract from a diverse student body. We can do this by looking at how we recruit and in the percentage of tuition-paying students and choice students.” n

Gus Ramirez at Aug Prep’s annual gala in May.

BEHIND THE SCENES

GOP presidential primary debate

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

The first Republican presidential primary debate held last month at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee was a prelude to next summer’s political spectacle when the Republican National Convention takes place in Milwaukee in July. That’s especially true of the national media exposure that comes with hosting a large-scale political event ahead of a presidential election. The two-hour debate was broadcast exclusively by Fox News and covered by every major news outlet, drawing hundreds of journalists to Milwaukee from across the country – and some from overseas. On debate day, members of the press worked at assigned workstations in the media center while Fox News’ live debate coverage flashed across 30-plus TV screens scattered throughout the room. After the debate, credentialed media packed the adjacent, red-carpeted spin room to corral the candidates for follow-up questions once they exited the debate stage. n

2 3 4 5

1 Former vice president Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, remained inside a barricaded portion of the spin room while taking questions from a scrum of media.

2

The media center transformed a VIP parking garage inside Fiserv Forum, just steps away from the debate hall.

3 Sean Hannity interviewed Vivek Ramaswamy, among other GOP presidential candidates, for his Fox News show, live from the spin room after the debate.

4

Despite being denied access to the spin room, Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, drew a swarm of reporters after the debate.

5 The event drew an estimated 7,000 attendees, including Republican Party members, delegates and high-profile political figures.

REV UP

MINLOPRO PARTNERS

LEADERSHIP:

Mort Sayyed, founder and chief executive officer

HEADQUARTERS: Milwaukee

WHAT IT DOES:

Salesforce consulting FOUNDED: 2022

EMPLOYEES: 40 NEXT GOALS:

Expand client base

FUNDING: Self-funded thus far

Minlopro Partners reaches $5 million in revenue in first year of business

By Ashley Smart, staff writer

MILWAUKEE-BASED startup Minlopro Partners, a Salesforce consulting firm, has ended its first year in business with more than $5 million in revenue and 40 global employees, including more than a dozen in Milwaukee. Its office is located in the Eagleknit building at 507 S. 2nd St. in the Walker’s Point neighborhood.

Mort Sayyed, founder and chief executive officer of Minlopro Partners, said the reason for the company’s creation, a desire to put people first, is what’s continued to drive Minlopro Partners’ growth.

He was moved to start his own business after the birth of his first child spurred a desire for greater work-life balance. The same day his son was born, he registered his business.

San Francisco-based Salesforce is one of

Mort Sayyed

the top customer relationship management platforms in the world. Within Salesforce, there are different modules, called clouds, focused on varying areas of a business. Some might be more targeted toward sales while other clouds focus on management.

Minlopro Partners focuses on a handful of clouds within the health care and life sciences industries. About 80% of the company’s clients come from these industries. The majority of the startup’s business currently comes from Salesforce referrals.

“(Salesforce) really is an operations management tool across many industries with many capabilities,” said Sayyed. “It’s a very robust platform, so it integrates with tons of things.”

He and his three co-founders, Jessica Lillquist, Mitul Bhakta and Mireily Backus, selected the health care and life science industries because they each have some level of knowledge in those industries. Sayyed spent several years at IBM in varying sales roles.

“A lot of it was just experiences with those kinds of clouds,” said Sayyed. “Not every one of the co-founders has experience in the industry but is hyper-experienced in the product set, so they know how to transform the software to meet the needs of businesses in an effective way.”

Most of Minlopro Partners’ customers, including Culture Biosciences and BayPLS, are located on the West Coast, but there are aspirations to build a customer base here in the Midwest.

“Milwaukee is our home. It’s the bedrock of our business,” said Sayyed. “While we don’t have any customers here yet, it’s just because we get brought into deals, and we have to target certain teams across the country to help us get into certain markets.”

Minlopro Partners is already doing work with the Chicago Salesforce team, and Sayyed hopes to have a Midwest customer by the end of the year.

As for what’s driven the company’s exponential growth in year one, Sayyed believes a simple people-first philosophy is part of the reason as well as a general shift in the industry toward boutique services.

“Large corporations get lazy all the time when they experience success,” he said.

By the end of the year, Sayyed expects the company’s employee base to grow to between 60 and 70 people, with “as many of them as possible” working in Milwaukee. He’s also hoping to end the year with $8 million in revenue. n

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

FRESH DIGS

SRH

OWNER: Wangard Partners

ARCHITECT: HGA Architects

CONTRACTOR: Findorff

COSTS: $450,000

YEAR COMPLETED: 2023

IN A SIGN of shifting workplace flexibility trends, at least one new office space in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood was recently designed for a growing company in the post-pandemic age.

Milwaukee-based marketing firm SRH recently completed a buildout of nearly 6,800 square feet on the third floor of the Eagleknit Building, an adaptive reuse project at 507 S. 2nd St. The space is more than double the 2,700 square feet the company had been leasing for its previous office in the city’s Brewer’s Hill neighborhood.

SRH’s former office mainly consisted of one open room, which meant only one or two employees could be on client calls at one time. Now there’s enough space for six or seven simultaneous cli -

ent calls.

In designing the layout of its new office, the SRH leadership team was intentional about including private spaces, like quiet rooms, for virtual meetings with remote coworkers or clients.

“That’s the functional side of it. There’s also the attraction side of it,” said Sam Hogerton, partner and executive creative director at SRH. “We wanted to have a place where creative people want to come and spend time, let their imaginations run wild.”

The building is the former Eagle Knitting Mills manufacturing plant that closed in 1991. SRH executives are planning on further decorating the space with local art that pays homage to the building’s previous life. n

MEET THE

Education:

Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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

“Working in a small, family-held liquor store in Madison. It was a great first experience in working as part of a small team, for a caring and generous owner. I learned how powerful it is when leaders truly care about their teams.”

What piece of advice has had the most significant impact on your career?

“Be present, ask for more and be willing to step outside of your comfort zone in your professional career. Sometimes embracing change and taking a risk on something new ends up being the most rewarding and engaging thing any of us can do.”

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

“Although maybe not technically a business leader, I would have loved to have had the chance to have dinner with Paul Volcker (former Federal Reserve chairman). To be able to learn from and hear about how he thought through some of the pressures and challenges he had to deal with in leading through the late 1970s and early ‘80s as Fed chairman would have been fascinating.”

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

“I love being outdoors and spending time in the mountains. We typically spend time out west in the summer and get to Arizona when we can in the winters. There are few things more peaceful than hiking in the mountains.”

What is your favorite Wisconsin restaurant, and what do you order there?

“This is a tough one. There are so many good restaurants in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee in particular. A few favorites include Buckley’s (their Nashville Chicken sandwich is amazing!), Morel, Cloud Red and Ardent.”

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

“I never planned to go into banking or finance. I was a Russian (and economics) major in university and thought I’d work in the foreign service. Banking was originally intended to be a brief stop after college to allow Russia to settle down. It’s a good reminder that we never know where we (or our kids) will end up in life.”

What was your first car? How long did you drive it for?

“My first car was a 1980s silver hatchback Toyota Tercel. It was passed down to me from my mom midway through college. It was a great car, manual transmission, AM/FM radio… the works.”

What’s the toughest business challenge you’ve had to overcome?

“Leading through the 2008-2010 financial crisis was absolutely the hardest thing I’ve done in my career. The fear and anxiety in both the market as a whole and in all of our teams was really challenging. During that period, I learned the importance of consistent and candid communication. How important it is for a leader to be present with their team, even (and especially) when you don’t know the answer or where things will end up.”

What advice would you give to a young professional?

“Take the risk on that job that seems like a stretch. Ask for more. Be intellectually curious. Do what you say you are going to do. And don’t forget to be kind, especially when things get hard.”

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

“We can do better for our children, especially in Milwaukee. There is no simple or easy answer, however I strongly believe that every child deserves to have a stable home and access to a quality education. We all know that if we provide kids with a strong education early in life, their life and the lives of their family will be considerably better in the years ahead.” n

Jud Snyder is BMO’s senior executive for southeastern Wisconsin. Last year, he was named regional president of BMO’s wealth management division, overseeing a team of wealth management professionals located across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado. Snyder was previously president of BMO Harris Equipment Finance for 11 years. Snyder joined M&I Bank in 1994 and moved progressively through the organization until BMO’s acquisition of the bank in 2011. Snyder sits on the boards of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Teach for America Milwaukee and Froedtert Health.

SNYDER

Regional president BMO Wealth Management, BMO Financial Group

This Q&A is an extended profile from Wisconsin 275, a special publication from BizTimes Media highlighting the most influential business leaders in the state. Visit: biztimes.com/wisconsin275 for more.

the Good LIFE

Vicki Martin on getting back to making art

By Cara Spoto, staff writer

Vicki Martin loved to draw as a child. She enjoyed the craft so much that when she headed off to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, she confidently registered for classes as an art major.

She soon discovered, however, that while she had a passion for pencil work, she didn’t really care for all the other disciplines required to earn a bachelor’s degree in the fine arts – things like ceramics, jewelry-making and sculpture.

“I thought, ‘This can’t be my major.’ I’ll just have to (make art) on the side,’” said Martin, who is the president of Milwaukee Area Technical College.

But after she changed majors, Martin never spent much time making art. That is, until about three years ago, when she met then Greater Milwaukee Committee president Julia Taylor, who is also a watercolorist, at an art show. Martin learned that Taylor had also loved drawing as a child but

How did you get into the rim repair business?

Martin Sanchez: “I have been doing ironwork forever. I learned how to do it in Mexico. I worked for a company about 30 years ago on the north side. They made security doors. But I used to work in a restaurant, in a foundry, in factories. When I started doing ironwork and welding again, I didn’t know anything about rims or tires, but there was a guy who came in with a broken rim and he wanted it fixed because I was doing aluminum welding. I didn’t want to do it, but he made me do it. I didn’t like it at first, and then I did the second one the

never made art her vocation because she didn’t feel a connection to other media.

“Well, I work with Julia a lot, so I said, ‘You have the same story I do, and look at you, you have gotten back into art after all of these years. I think I need to do that,’” Martin said. “Before I knew it, she had me over to her house and she gave me a watercolor paint set, some paper, brushes, everything I needed to get started.”

Martin began taking online classes and was soon creating her own watercolor and acrylic paintings. She does a lot of landscapes and water scenes, places of calm for the busy leader.

“I’m always looking for what resonates with me, what makes my heart sing,” Martin said. “Making art is something I want to continue to do for the rest of my life. It is a time to really focus. These paintings can take hours to complete, so you have to keep coming back to them and reworking them.” n

same way and people started coming in. And then bingo, I hit the jackpot.”

What kinds of services do you provide?

“I serve a lot of customers with large, expensive rims, especially with low-profile cars. The main problem is the potholes, but before potholes it’s the low-profile cars. After I started doing rims, customers were asking, ‘How come you don’t have any tires?’ so I started getting used tires to make everyone happy, to fix the flat tire and the rim. We fix about 10 to 12 rims a day. Each one takes about an hour and thirty minutes to do. I also do some

gate repairs. I fixed a gate and a rim for (Milwaukee Common Council President) Jose Perez.”

Why do you think your services are so popular?

“I am the only one for probably 50 miles who does this, so I save the city a lot of trouble. Believe it or not, before there were a lot of complaints to the city because of the potholes, so the city used to have to replace the broken rims because I wasn’t here. They would have to get a whole new wheel. People were spending more money than what they spend now.” n

SANCHEZ RIM REPAIR

1662 S.13th St., Milwaukee

NEIGHBORHOOD: Historic Mitchell Street

FOUNDED: 2014

OWNER: Martin Sanchez

SERVICE: Rim repairs, ironwork/gate repairs

Martin’s painting of the Algoma lighthouse.

Martin

GETTING THERE

What attracted you to the opportunity at Blue Harbor?

“Blue Harbor is a family-owned, independent lakefront property with a broad mix of business, with the opportunity to be of service to our guests and to the Sheboygan community.”

What’s your approach to day-to-day leadership of a resort?

“I prefer to hire highly knowledgeable and capable people, provide goals and let them work toward fulfilling them. I like to walk the property and be visible to guests and team members. I enjoy the ‘general’ in general manager; a general manager has to be curious and interested in the different facets of what makes a hotel run, whether it’s guest services, revenue management, employee relations, mechanical aspects of the hotel, planning, housekeeping and a host of other disciplines.”

What do you enjoy doing when not at work?

“I am looking forward to exploring Wisconsin’s natural beauty and enjoying the Sheboygan food scene.”

Given all the time you spent working in Maui, has it been difficult to see the scenes from the recent fires there?

“Having worked in Lahaina for more than 20 years, I know many, many people who have lost their homes and all of their possessions. While the situation is heartrending, the Aloha spirit is strong among Maui’s people and they will persevere. If you are looking for a way to help, please consider a donation to Maui Strong Fund - Hawaii Community Foundation.” n

WILLIAM T. REES General

Manager

Blue Harbor Resort & Conference Center, Sheboygan

AGE: 65

HOMETOWN: Lived all over the U.S.

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in journalism

PREVIOUS POSITION: General manager of Maui Seaside Hotel

The latest area economic data.

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport passenger traffic was up 6.7%

during the first seven months of the year, with a total of 3.39 million.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate in July was 2.6%.

Wisconsin cranberry growers expect to harvest 4.97 million barrels of the crop this year.

Wisconsin State Fair attendance was up 4% this year to 1.04 million.

Home construction in Wisconsin was down 6.9%

during the first half of the year.

Allenton-based ModTruss tapped to make Twitter’s short-lived ‘X’ sign

ON A SUNDAY afternoon in July, billionaire Elon Musk announced the rebranding of Twitter to “X,” promptly changing his own profile picture on the social media platform to feature the company’s new logo. Just a few days later, videos began circulating on social media of a massive, X-shaped structure, complete with flashing lights, placed atop Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. The sign was installed without the city’s permission and, after numerous complaints, was removed just three days later.

The “X” sign that garnered global attention was designed and built right here in southeastern Wisconsin, by Allenton-based design firm ModTruss.

To bring Elon Musk’s vision to life – if only temporarily – the company used its flagship product, a modular building component called a “truss.” Each truss is shaped like a cube and has bolt holes that are placed every three inches along all six sides of the block. This allows for a near-limitless assortment of installation and building options.

“Think of it as LEGOS. If a kid has a pile of LEGOS, everything he builds is a custom project, but it’s all being built with standard-sized bricks,” said Patrick Santini, founder and chief executive officer of ModTruss. “That’s kind of how we operate here as well, every project that comes through here is very unique.”

The idea for ModTruss grew out of the entertainment industry.

Santini previously ran production companies Kernwer LLC and Northern Lights Production, which built broadcast sets for sports television programming on every major network, he said.

“Building broadcast sets was always a challenge with traditional parts,” said Santini. “So, we started developing ModTruss. Most building components are only designed to connect end to end. If you look at our product, it’s similar to an erector set where there’s a hole pattern around the entire length of the product, which really allows you to free-form design.”

Once the ModTruss product line was spun off from Northern Lights, it expanded beyond the entertainment industry into other sectors such as construction, aerospace, trade shows and events.

“Anywhere you have a structural problem, we grew into those markets,” said Santini.

Twitter’s “X” sign is the second Elon Musk-related project ModTruss has been commissioned to build. The first was the main entrance for the grand opening of Tesla’s gigafactory in Texas.

When the company was approached once again by Musk’s team in July, it was given only one day to prepare for the build-out.

“It’s not uncommon in the special events world to have timelines like that,” said Santini. “It’s also part of the reason they chose our product line. They could build (the structure) with off-the-shelf parts.”

ModTruss was presented with a theoretical sketch for the “X”

MODTRUSS

7741 Commercial Lane, Allenton

INDUSTRY: Design-engineering

EMPLOYEES: Approximately 20 modtruss.com

sign. That sketch then went to one of the process engineers for optimization into a buildable platform. Final approval came from a structural engineer who tested the sign for safety, ensuring it could withstand the elements, especially the wind.

Once built, the entire structure, including the base, was 26 feet tall. The “X” alone was 17.9 feet tall.

“This project made a controversial splash just because of the nature of how the public perceived it,” said Santini.

So, what happened to the “X” sign once it was taken down? All the standard pieces that made up the structure were broken down and sent back to ModTruss.

“I can promise you it has already been installed in two or three other event structures,” said Santini.

Since word got out that ModTruss helped design the infamous sign, the company has garnered increased attention to its product, but overall Santini said it’s been business as usual.

“Most of the people in the industry already knew it was ModTruss. They didn’t need to be told,” he said. “Once you know what ModTruss looks like, you can tell there’s a brand within a brand when you’re looking at that ‘X.’” ModTruss is currently adding a new 20,000-square-foot building ats its headquarters for warehousing space. The company is also actively hiring. n

The giant “X” sign that ModTruss created for Twitter’s San Franciso headquarters. ASHLEY SMART Reporter

New West Allis home improvement company servicing former customers of bankrupt Window Select

By Ashley Smart, staff writer

AS THE TROUBLED Menomonee Falls-based home improvement company Window Select continues navigating the bankruptcy process, hundreds of homeowners will soon have outstanding work from the company completed.

Even before Window Select, which sold windows, siding and doors, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, customers had been complaining for months of incomplete and improperly finished renovations.

Now, a newly formed West Allis-based home improvement company called TruVista is moving forward with fulfilling a sizable chunk of Window Select’s out-

standing contracts.

TruVista was formed in January and is backed by a group of shareholders with experience in the management consulting business. Spearheading the company’s efforts is Mohit Shah, president of TruVista. He’s an entrepreneur who most recently served as a senior project director for North Carolina-based management consulting firm Cogent Analytics, which is leading Window Select through its bankruptcy proceedings.

“I’m a serial entrepreneur. I’ve built and scaled several businesses in a high-intensity environment, so it seemed like a good fit,” said Shah.

He’s also no stranger to contractor fraud. He and his family were victims of a scam that occurred at their Mequon home when he was a child.

“We were putting an addition on the house. It was coming up on winter and the contractor opened up the entire side of our house, took my dad’s money and ran off,” said Shah.

He began his career as a renewable energy developer in 2007, which is when he founded his first business, NGSolar. Shah ended up selling NGSolar and its eventual portfolio companies in 2011. From there, he launched an ed tech company called Yaphie.

The startup offers a platform that helps high school students prepare and apply to colleges. Shah owns the intellectual property for the software but is in talks with a Washington D.C.-based software company that would like to purchase it.

Following his time launching NGSolar and Yaphie, Shah moved to India in 2015 and formed a research and development/management consulting company called Emanar Enterprise.

“I did commercial development, residential construction … I’ve done projects for cities, whether it be retrofitting an entire city with LED lights or retrofitting schools with energy efficient applications,” he said.

He once again built up that business into a larger portfolio of companies and ended up selling it. In 2022, he was recruited by Cogent Analytics. Discussions on taking over Window Select’s unful -

Mohit Shah, president of the newly formed home improvement company TruVista.

filled contracts began last year.

DIVVYING UP THE CONTRACTS

In January 2022, Window Select hired Cogent Analytics for management consulting. That September, Cogent decided bankruptcy was the only solution to Window Select’s problems.

North Carolina-based Phoenix Investment Group Holdings then announced it would be willing to take over Window Select’s contracts at a projected loss of $1 million. Phoenix said it would create an entirely new entity, TruVista, to do so.

During the bankruptcy process, any remaining contracts were broken down into three buckets: those that were profitable endeavors, those that would break even and those that would come at a loss.

“I wasn’t looking to cherry pick (what contracts I wanted). For me, it was saying whoever wants to move forward, I’ll take all the work. I don’t think anyone else did that,” said Shah.

From February through April, TruVista contacted all 1,700 customers who still had open Window Select contracts. From there, approximately 600 wanted to move forward with TruVista.

TruVista is currently working through the process of “re-measuring” homes for each project and confirming and ordering materials.

Before an installation can be completed, each project must go

through the re-measuring process. Since June, when TruVista was officially awarded the remaining contracts, 20 installations have been completed. Shah said that number will exponentially increase as the company works toward the end of the list of homes that need to be re-measured. He expects all 600 contracts to be fulfilled next spring.

Once the remaining Window Select contracts have been handled, Shah wants to continue developing TruVista into an endto-end exterior home improvement company. He believes the company can grow to bring in $20 million to $25 million annually within the next three to five years.

“There aren’t very many contractors in the state of Wisconsin that are going to perform 600 jobs in this calendar year,” he said. “I think that opportunity could drive organic growth for us in a way that very few competitors might have experienced.”

NEXT STEPS FOR WINDOW SELECT

While hundreds of customers are approaching the end of their home improvement journeys, Window Select is still deep in the throes of the bankruptcy process. Cogent Analytics has allegedly discovered that Window Select’s founding chief executive officer Justin Kiswardy paid $4.3 million to insiders. Kiswardy not only paid $3.8 million to himself, but $298,210 to his significant other,

$118,461 to his brother, $54,785 to his mother and $59,555 to his father “for which no apparent consideration (was) received by the debtor,” according to a recently filed liquidation plan in the case.

An attorney for Kiswardy did not respond to a request for comment.

The legal counsel guiding Window Select through the bankruptcy process sought to locate any assets that could possibly be paid to creditors and found the payments to company insiders. The plan of liquidation says the $4.3 million was paid between 2020 and 2021, the same time customer complaints of incomplete work and improper installation began streaming in.

That’s not the only noted discrepancy in Kiswardy’s finances. The liquidation plan also mentions Window Select’s attorneys learned of $210,000 being held in escrow from the sale of a building in Ohio.

“Justin Kiswardy had directly tried to obtain the funds by filing a suit under the name of ‘Justin Gabel’ as the plaintiff,” according to the liquidation plan. “The body of the complaint identifies Justin Gabel as ‘Justin Gabel aka Justin Kiswardy.’ Gabel is Justin Kiswardy’s mother’s family name.”

Out of the $210,000 that was held in escrow, $160,000 could be traced to transfers made from Window Select’s bank accounts, according to the plan.

“Cogent Analytics is working with the authorities through the

bankruptcy proceedings and is unable to comment on litigation against Window Select owner Justin Kiswardy,” the firm said in a statement.

The proposed liquidation plan in Window Select’s bankruptcy case is awaiting final approval. Some objections to the plan have been filed, including one on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Through its attorney, DWD said it has filed a proof claim in the amount of $18,754 for unpaid employee wages. DWD argues the liquidation plan does not account for the organization’s secured claim and violates “numerous bankruptcy code provisions,” so it cannot be approved as is. n

“There aren’t very many contractors in the state of Wisconsin that are going to perform 600 jobs in this calendar year. I think that opportunity could drive organic growth for us in a way that very few competitors might have experienced.”

— Mohit Shah

Development booming in Oconomowoc

THERE ARE CURRENTLY 2,121 housing units in the development pipeline in Oconomowoc. There are also tens of thousands of square feet of commercial space, more than 100,000 square feet of industrial space, dozens of new businesses and downtown revitalization underway, all in a city of about 12 square miles and a

population of about 18,000.

Between 2010 and 2021, Oconomowoc saw a 15% increase in its population, according to U.S. Census data, and added more than 2,000 housing units in the same time frame.

While quality of life, high-ranking schools and Lake Country’s natural beauty have contributed to Oconomowoc’s population boom, city staff and developers also point to intentional practices that have made the city ripe for development and continued growth.

Once a bedroom community of mostly single-family homes, the city is on a mission to create neighborhoods with life cycle housing and return to the self-sustaining municipality it was decades ago, said Bob Duffy, economic development director for the City of Oconomowoc.

“At one time, most of the people that lived here supported the downtown, supported the businesses, but consumer patterns change, traffic patterns change,” Duffy said. “We’re trying to shift back to some of that.”

Take a drive down Highway 67 and this is evident.

At the north end of Oconomowoc is the Prairie Creek Ridge subdivision with 288 single-fam -

WHO REALLY OWNS IT: FORMER UW-MILWAUKEE BOOKSTORE

UW-Milwaukee alums might recognize the building at 3120 N. Downer Ave. as the former Neebo Bookstore or, before that, the Panther Bookstore. More recent graduates might not have seen the building’s commercial space occupied much at all.

Built in 1913 across the street from the university’s Mitchell Hall, the recently refurbished two-story building has four residences and multiple ground-floor retail spaces, which are all vacant.

In 2022, permits were filed to open a Badger Game Store in the building. In 2020, Simplicity Esports and Gaming Company announced that it had plans for a gaming center to be located there. There were also plans filed for Purple Cloud Market. None of those plans have moved forward.

ADDRESS: 3120 N. Downer Ave., Milwaukee

OWNER: Dowth LLC

ASSESSED: $1.43 million

A 2020 aerial rendering of Wangard Parners’ Olympia Fields development.

RDL ARCHITECTS

ily lots and the 88-unit Park at Prairie Creek Condominiums that surround a public park, elementary school and land for future commercial buildings.

To the southwest is downtown Oconomowoc, which has been the site of revitalization and increased density in recent years including a senior living facility, three condo developments and almost 100 apartments as well as the redevelopment of the historic Rockwell building.

“That’s really helped to fuel the vitality of our downtown, that’s started to bring in restaurants, retail, make it a destination,” Duffy said.

Farther south is the Pabst Farms development area and Summit Avenue corridor, which includes the large Olympia Fields mixed-use development by Wangard Partners. The area is also home to other developments including the 302-unit Hackney House apartment complex by Mandel Group.

Data from Mandel’s development provides some insight as to who’s moving to Oconomowoc – and from where. About 40% of residents who moved to Hackney House had previously owned a home. That’s very high, especially given that only 6% of the tenants are retirees, according to Bob Monnat, senior partner at Mandel, indicating the move was either employment or lifestyle driven.

Further, only 24% of tenants moved from somewhere else in Lake Country, which is low, Monnat said. A notable portion, 14%, moved from Milwaukee’s western suburbs such as Wauwatosa or Brookfield.

Mandel Group is partnering with Pewaukee-based Neumann Developments Inc. on a 622-unit housing project, known as Olde Highlander, recently moving forward near the former Olympia Resort grounds, located along Highway 67 near Oconomowoc Lake.

“I would like to tell you that we are super proactive in our approach to developing real estate. The truth of the matter is that we don’t have that privilege in

southeast Wisconsin,” said Steve DeCleene, president of Neumann Developments.

DeCleene noted three things that drew the firm to the Oconomowoc area. First, as development moves west from Milwaukee, large parcels are difficult to find further east. Properties under 25 acres are not very attractive for single-family home developments in today’s economy. But in Oconomowoc, Neumann was able to purchase 228 acres of land for its Olde Highlander development.

Second, bringing sewer and water lines to doorsteps is way more expensive than any developer can afford to do and be profitable right now, but in Oconomowoc, most parcels are already hooked up to city utilities, he said.

“When we find out about a parcel that meets these two criteria, and that’s in a great school district in a great community, we get pretty aggressive,” DeCleene said.

Third is zoning. Oconomowoc’s zoning code allows for 70-footwide lots in suburban districts and 50-foot-wide lots downtown. That’s compared to many other Lake Country municipalities that don’t currently have zoning for lots narrower than 100 feet – those restrictions aren’t very attractive for single-family home developers.

“(Municipalities with lot width minimums of 100 feet and up) are really saying, ‘We’re not interested in a house if it’s worth less than $600,000 or $700,000,’” DeCleene said. “That’s a really unhealthy attitude toward housing in America today.” n

THERMTECH EXPANSION

Waukesha-based metal heat treating company ThermTech recently purchased a 90,000-square-foot building in New Berlin for $8.7 million, which the company will expand into in the coming months to accommodate more equipment and employees.

This will be ThermTech’s fifth facility. The company currently has three others on Travis Lane and one on Pearl Street in Waukesha. The New Berlin building was formerly occupied by Hubbell Gas Utility Solutions, which permanently closed its operations there earlier this year.

ThermTech has had a 37% increase in revenue in the past year, while the thermal processing industry has experienced growth of 11%, according to Jason Kupkovits, vice president of sales and strategic direction at ThermTech.

“While ThermTech has historically catered to heavy industries such as mining, paper pulp processing, agriculture, heavy manufacturing and defense, growth in medical- and space-related fields is powering our sales to new levels,” Kupkovits said.

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Baird makes its mark on Milwaukee

CEO Steve Booth discusses new office lease, convention center naming rights deal and growth

BY ARTHUR THOMAS, staff writer

In the span of about four months earlier this year, Milwaukee-based financial services firm Baird made two commitments to downtown Milwaukee that will also raise the company’s profile in the region.

In March, the company signed on to be the naming rights sponsor for the expanded downtown convention center, now known as the Baird Center. The 15-year deal gives a new name to a facility that has gone a decade without a corporate brand attached to it after going through four different names in the 2000s and early 2010s. Then, in July, Baird extended its lease at the U.S. Bank Center through 2033, while also taking over three additional floors. As the building’s largest tenant, Baird now occupies 21 of 42 floors. While a global firm with 1,600 employees in the city making a long-term commitment is a good sign for commercial real estate downtown, the most visible change will be the addition of Baird signage to the building. U.S. Bank will continue to have signs on the east and west sides of the tower while Baird’s will be on the north and south sides and the parking garage.

BizTimes Milwaukee managing editor Arthur Thomas recently sat down with Baird chairman and chief executive officer Steve Booth at the company’s headquarters to discuss the recent announcements, Baird’s growth and navigating an uncertain economic environment. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

BizTimes: Let’s start with the most recent big news, the decision to extend the lease at the U.S. Bank building. Why now? Why extend through 2033? You make this long-term commitment to downtown Milwaukee in an uncertain office environment, what was the thinking that went into this?

Booth: “Here in Milwaukee it became clear we needed more space. Extending the lease, it’s a little bit of a two-way street, because I don’t know where else we could go to find 21 floors. Look, we know Baird is going to be around, it’s the beauty of being privately held and employee-owned. We’ve had some pretty remarkable growth over the past 10 years around our entire footprint but also here in Milwaukee. This gives us assurance. We’ve got great space, and this really is a phenomenal building. I think this part of town is a really attractive place to be. We’ve had some pretty good luck getting our people back in the office here, because frankly parking, getting here – it’s relatively easy compared to some of our other locations – but fundamentally, we know that we’re going to need to continue to grow here.

“Of our 1,600 people who are in Milwaukee, in this building, about a thousand of them are in our support services group, which we call our CRG group, so they support the whole firm. Milwaukee is just a huge competitive advantage for us in terms of having this be our headquarters city, from the standpoint of those support services. Then, our businesses here are also growing. It’s the private wealth management and our asset management

business in particular that needed more space.”

BizTimes: Was part of the decision that it’s a good time if you’re a tenant to say, ‘Hey, we’re ready to commit, we’re ready to be here longer term?’ I’m sure many landlords would like to have that certainty through 2033.

Booth: “We like to define our partnerships as win-win. It’s a win for us in terms of we got solid terms and … office (space) doesn’t cost us as much here. I’m not going to get into specifics, but in terms of having 21 floors, this is a pretty cost-effective place to have it, certainly relative to the space. I think it’s a winner. U.S. Bank as the (landlord), I don’t know what the rest of their portfolio looks like, but having a fully leased building, just given what we all read, it’s a winner for them, too.”

BizTimes: Switching to the other big local Baird news of the year, the naming rights for the Wisconsin Center, the Baird Center. What value did you see in being associated with that facility?

Booth: “Fundamentally, we saw it as just a remarkable opportunity. We didn’t have an appreci-

ation of what the new expansion of the convention center was going to be, and I don’t think many in Milwaukee had an appreciation for what it was going to be. As we learned about it, we were frankly just incredibly impressed with what the new space was going to bring to the table.

Baird chairman and chief executive officer, Steve Booth

On the Baird Center:

“We didn't have an appreciation of what the new expansion of the convention center was going to be, and I don't think many in Milwaukee had an appreciation for what it was going to be.”

— Steve Booth

“The naming rights, we saw that as just an opportunity to put our name and our brand, which we’re very proud of, on something we think is going to be an extraordinary asset for the community. Without getting into general terms, I think it was a win-win, because for us we were interested in something longer term – it’s a 15-year arrangement – I don’t think many entities around town were probably interested in 15 years. For us, longer was better. And then as opposed to having our name on a sports stadium or something like that, that’s something I really don’t see us doing, but as we thought about it, this is a community asset, it’s going to be bringing people from around the United States and the world to our city, our headquarters city. We operate around the U.S. and around the world, and it just seemed to be a great intersection of interests to have our name on the building.”

BizTimes: Between the naming rights and new signage on the U.S. Bank tower, that’s two high-profile or very visible signs of Baird being in Milwaukee. How intentional was that in terms of trying to raise your local presence and maybe make the brand better known in the region?

Booth: “It really wasn’t. If you think about (the U.S. Bank Center), that story was literally 50 years in the making. We moved into this building 50 years ago, we took three floors. We have generally expanded. We have been the largest tenant in the building for quite some time; U.S. Bank, though, owns the building and it was their prerogative to have their name on top of the building. With this lease extension, and just as part of the negotiation, we are literally more than half of the tower now. I mentioned before the win-win partnership, (U.S. Bank) knew our desire to have our name on the top of the building because we’re more than half of the building and, happily, they agreed. We came to this reasonable compromise of we’ll take the north and south and they’ll take the east and west. But that’s 50 years in the making.

“The Wisconsin Center, that was more in the past year and was somewhat opportunistic. It’s going to be neat that these two things are going to come together. We have a lot of people here and our brand is fairly well known, but it wasn’t easy to see the Baird name. It probably should have been easier to see it but there just wasn’t that opportunity. Now we’ll have a fair amount, probably appropriate exposure in our headquarters city that has just been foundational to our growth and our success.”

BizTimes: So, you’ve got about 1,600 employees in Milwaukee now, a decade ago that was about 1,100. What’s been the key for the firm in terms of growing in Milwaukee verses somewhere else, especially considering we’re not a financial hub in the same way as New York or Chicago?

Baird’s financial performance since 2013

Baird has seen both its net revenue and operating income grow significantly over the past decade, culminating in a 46% net revenue increase in 2021. While results were down in 2022, it was still the firm's second best year.

Booth: “Well, it’s the growth of the overall firm. … The growth of the firm overall has been 72% over the last decade, Milwaukee has been 45%, so the rest of the firm has grown at a faster pace. … We’ve also had the benefit of making some really attractive acquisitions that have fostered a little bit faster growth outside of Milwaukee. Certainly, growing by 500 people here in the last 10 years, that’s pretty good growth for the city. Yes, we are not a financial hub, but we now have over 300 IT professionals here in this building, and we have a phenomenal IT group. And our growth, we need to have a phenomenal IT group and I consider it a huge competitive advantage for the firm. I’m not sure we would have been able to do as well if we were in some other city because I think we have the best IT team in the state.”

BizTimes: We’ve touched on it a few different times, but when you look at, whether it’s net revenue, operating income, book value, dividend, total assets, everything over past decade-plus, it’s growth. What are the keys to that growth? You mentioned the inorganic parts of it, but what’s driving the organic parts?

Booth: “Being privately held and employ-

ee-owned, maintaining a crystal-clear focus on the client and what’s best for the client, and then being a great place to work for our associates … that is just differentiated today. That has created an ability to focus in a world where it’s harder to focus. That focus and being able to think for the long term, it has just led to some pretty phenomenal growth.

“Frankly, our growth has exceeded our expectations, but it’s because we started off thinking, ‘What do we need to do for our clients? What do we need to do to remain a great place to work?’ And then interestingly, people want to come to us, clients want to come to us, and some of these acquisitions that I mentioned, although our growth has been well beyond those acquisitions, all those things have come together and created some pretty spectacular growth over the past decade.

“Some of our best growth opportunities have come because growth for us is really people, it’s adding people or it’s adding firms. But in times when there’s difficulty or layoffs – for example, the first six, seven, eight months of the year here have been challenging … but we’ve had some really amazing recruiting opportunities that have taken place in some of our capital markets businesses in particular. Just as, for example, this bank paradigm across the country has played out. We are not a bank, and

we do not own a bank, and as a result we’re not burdened by some of the issues that have come with the ‘bankification’ of financial services and the advice business, which has just further differentiated our model and has led to some pretty attractive recruiting opportunities, which will lead to growth. It takes a little time for that to turn into revenue, book value and operating income, but we’re setting the stages today for another leg of growth, two, three, four years down the line.”

BizTimes: You look at this past decade, and it’s been an environment in which we had very low interest rates. Now, the Fed’s been fighting inflation and it’s a totally different paradigm. How does the current environment change the prospects for continued growth? You’re suggesting it has created some opportunity.

Booth: “It has and then the other thing, these changing market conditions, the fact that clients need our help to navigate these extraordinary things that keep happening in the markets, that’s why we’re in business. Again, being privately held and employee-owned just allows us to maintain a clear focus on giving our clients great advice. If everything was continuing to grow and there was nothing that was unpredictable per se, our clients wouldn’t need us as much and the opportunity for us to add value wouldn’t be as great. And then,

frankly, just change. Change is our friend and there has been a lot of change over the last five and 10 years across each of our served markets. We’ve tried to be on the forefront of that change. We lead with people and great advice, but technology – people supported by great technology – that’s just been a part of the global economy over the past 10 years, certainly in financial services, and we’ve been able to be on the front end of that with a people-centric approach but with some great technology, which has also helped us.”

BizTimes: Looking back over the past couple years, record revenues for Baird in 2021 at $3.4 billion, the next year comes down a little bit as the M&A market changed and evolved. How do you navigate when things are good and not getting too caught up in that? 2022 was your second-best year ever, which looks great, but the problem now is we’re comparing your results to your best year. How do you navigate that psychologically as a company?

Booth: “This is our philosophy in how we built the company and, keep in mind, we’ve been building it for 103 years. We have purposely built a pretty balanced business model so we’re not beholden just to one end market, because we know each of our end markets is cyclical, and they are unpredictable in terms of when they will cycle. Just look at the past three months here in terms of the market rebound, it’s unpredictable and so we have purposely built a balanced business model around five businesses (private wealth management, asset management, fixed income capital markets, equity capital markets, principal investments) that serve differing end markets that are on different cycles. Then, as part of our business model, we’ve also tried to have a balance of recuring revenue or fee-based revenue versus transactional revenue, which also helps balance this. So, the answer to your question is, it’s the balanced business model that lets us know.

“We were profitable each and every month in ‘08 and ‘09 and that was the ultimate litmus test for this business model that we had literally been building for years. It has only gotten better from then, so we know it’s going to work. Some businesses may cycle down, some will cycle up. Two years ago, though, was one of those rare years where literally everything, everything was up. We’ll take ‘em when we can get ‘em, but we know it probably wasn’t going to last; 2007 was the last time I’d seen that. And frankly, last year and this year are better than we probably would have expected given that two years ago we literally grew by a billion dollars in one year and now we’re pretty close to that.

“What I love about the five businesses is they’re all really durable businesses; our growth has been really durable, and it continues to be. That’s what

On raising the firm’s profile:

“We have a lot of people here and our brand is fairly well known, but it wasn’t easy to see the Baird name. It probably should have been easier to see it but there just wasn’t that opportunity. Now we’ll have a fair amount, probably appropriate exposure in our headquarters city that has just been foundational to our growth and our success.”

— Steve Booth

This image shows what the U.S. Bank Center will look like after Baird signs are added to the north and south sides.

gives us the confidence to continue to invest. Each year, our brand gets a little better known in our industry, and it helps us attract new clients. It’s also easier to attract people today, just frankly as there’s more awareness around what we call the Baird difference.”

BizTimes: As you look into the future, what are the greatest opportunities for continued growth and greatest challenges?

Booth: “Each of our businesses, the growth opportunity has never been better, ironically because of what I said earlier. We’re a mid-sized player and the benefit of being a mid-sized player is there’s a lot of market share that’s available. That said, these markets continue to change and evolve and so we’re going to need to continue to change and evolve.

“My biggest concern is complacency. Complacency is the enemy and change is our friend, as I like to remind everybody. But change is hard, it’s never ending. ... COVID was hard. This market setback last year, it was hard. M&A right now, which is our second biggest revenue stream, is tough. We’re having to work super hard to get an M&A transaction done, but if it were easy, anyone could do it.”

BizTimes: We talked a lot about technology and obviously the past nine months or more have been dominated by discussion around AI and how that’s going to change everything under the sun. How do you see that shaping your business going forward? Is it a threat, a risk, an opportunity, all of the above?

Booth: “It’s an opportunity for us. It’s an opportunity for most of American business. There are the AI creators, but it’s going to be the application of AI throughout the U.S. economy, just as software has been so incredibly revolutionary to productivity in the United States and the world, AI applies to even the creation of better software and code, all the way through making more efficient relatively mundane tasks.

“We’re a self-clearing firm from an operations standpoint, it’s another big aspect of what we do here in Milwaukee but some of the early applications of AI – robotic process automation – we have used in our back office in clearing operations, and frankly it’s been a game changer for us in terms of better, cheaper, faster, without having to have people to do that, which would have been the paradigm 10 years ago. That will continue, certainly in our back office operations, but each of our busi-

nesses, we’ve had some discussions on it, they’ll be able to apply AI technology, and frankly there will be people out there who are in the business of coming up with technology that we can apply to our businesses. That’s why we need this great IT team that’s embedded in each of our businesses to quickly and efficiently put it into each of our businesses – that truly will help our clients or help our people be more efficient.”

BizTimes: In terms of managing, people are a differentiator for you, and you have a technology that can make their lives easier but also can be seen as a risk, as a threat to a job. Applying it in a balanced way so people don’t see it as AI wiping out all these jobs but see it more as a tool that can benefit their work, is that a tricky balance to navigate?

Booth: “Again, we’re a people-centric business and people are our biggest asset. The real underlying asset behind those people is the trust that our clients have in our people and Baird and then frankly that our people have in the firm. So that’s at the epicenter of each of our businesses. We’ve already been taking technology, and its different in each of the businesses, and they’re taking it in places where they can, again, help our people deliver a

Steve Booth

VALERIE HILL

Baird’s employee growth

better overall value proposition. Maybe there will be some elements of our business where AI replaces us, but when you’re talking about what we do, what’s probably an opportunity for disintermediation has already been disintermediated. We’re in some pretty attractive market segments where you’re going to need people. Frankly, our people can be better by leveraging AI to come up with a better solution set for the client.”

BizTimes: Having that employee-ownership element to the firm, how does that change your approach to growth, decisions about investments, whether that’s naming rights or extending a lease? How does that help shape the overall direction of the firm?

Booth: “The other piece of that is being private. Being privately held, frankly not being public and not having the distractions of a public company, a lot of people who join us are coming from public companies that have to be so short-term focused, and maybe that creates a conflict for some longer-term client goals. A lot of the businesses that we compete in, we compete against bank-owned models – and again, we’re not a bank – so they’re coming at it from a bank-lend-

ing product standpoint whereas we’re coming at it from an advice standpoint. We’re a pretty attractive place, and we’re a pretty unique place, and then also we’re a pretty stable place. You haven’t been taken over, and you’re on your third iteration like some of our competitors who sold 10 years ago. These clients are just like ‘enough’, that’s a significant differentiator in and of itself and then being able to own a piece of the firm, which we just think is fair.

“We’re really proud this year of our 5,100 employees; we just crossed over 80% of our associates are shareholders, which is remarkable. We’re a C-corporation, by the way, so we have shareholders. Our top 20 executives, our executive committee, owns less than 10% of the company. It is super widely spread. It’s fairly spread. When you join, you get your fair share of the firm and you get to add as you’re here and when you retire or leave, you have to sell back. That’s also unique. We have a pretty unique value proposition in terms of being able to have a great career here, one where there’s going to be minimal distractions, you can stay focused, and then you also get to share in the success of the firm while you’re here. It’s pretty differentiated and hopefully will continue to be so. I’m fairly confident it will.” n

VALERIE HILL

Baird has seen its overall workforce grow from around 2,900 in 2013 to nearly 5,100 at the end of 2022. While growth has been faster outside of its Milwaukee headquarters, in part due to acquisitions, the firm’s growth outside of the city fuels the need for additional support services, which are based in Milwaukee.

On growth : “My biggest concern is complacency. Complacency is the enemy and change is our friend, as I like to remind everybody, but change is hard, it’s never ending.”

— Steve Booth

HOW QUALITY LOOKS

At CG Schmidt, we’re committed to quality throughout all phases of construction. We create spaces where people can gather to ideate and innovate, to build relationships and grow businesses. As your trusted building partner, we recognize that the success of your work ultimately depends on ours, and we look forward to working with you today so we can build a better tomorrow, together.

WITH ENTREPRENEURSHIP comes risk. It’s because of this risk that startup founders often find themselves in the conundrum of needing funding to support their work or research, but not having enough evidence to prove their idea is profitable in order to garner an investment.

That’s where Milwaukee-based BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation has found its sweet spot. BrightStar uses a “venture philanthropy” model to solicit donations and deploy them into early-stage startup companies that will create jobs in Wisconsin.

The organization’s goal is to spur economic development in Wisconsin. Donations are used to invest in equity stakes in rapid-growth startups. BrightStar announced recently that since its creation in 2013, the organization has invested more than $10 million in more than 70 tech startups. Its portfolio companies have gone on to create more than 1,500 jobs in Wisconsin. BrightStar normally invests between $50,000 and $250,000 into each startup.

“We’ve done exactly what we’ve said we would do,” said Todd Sobotka, executive director of BrightStar. “We’ve deployed capital and been the most active. We’ve shown successes. There’s no doubt the model has proven itself out now. It’s an incredible weapon and asset for the state that no one else has.”

When Tom Shannon, executive chairman of BrightStar, decided to tackle the issue of job creation in the state a decade ago, he opted to rely

on the goodwill of Wisconsin’s philanthropists as opposed to the “old school” business community that’s typically more risk averse.

Most of BrightStar’s first year was dedicated to lining up initial capital support from the foundation’s founders, building out the structure of the organization and creating a unique nonprofit model that gained approval from the IRS.

“All the raw materials (for job creation) were here, and all the research was here but Wisconsin was full of very conservative investors,” said Shannon. “The corporate establishment not only wanted revenue, but also profits.”

Today, BrightStar’s portfolio of companies includes everything from med-tech to software startups. Wisconsin unicorns Shine Technologies and Fetch Rewards have also received investments from BrightStar.

“We’re willing to take on some of that risk disproportionately to get a startup going and if they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, the capital will follow,” said Shannon.

SEEDING WISCONSIN STARTUPS

In 2017, SoFresh co-founder and chief executive officer Toby Thomas took a buyout package and left his corporate job at Pactiv Evergreen. He was a research and development manager who had identified extending the shelf life of food products as an unmet need for companies.

Thomas had just begun developing SoFresh when he spotted a newspaper ad for BrightStar’s

BY ASHLEY SMART, staff writer

HATCH program, a pitch competition created to give entrepreneurs outside of Wisconsin’s major cities a platform to present their businesses. SoFresh ended up winning the pitch competition as well as a $2,000 prize. That money was used to formalize SoFresh’s first patent, which will be published in the next two to three months.

“BrightStar didn’t know it, but they had funded our first patent of this idea of how to reduce food waste,” said Thomas.

As SoFresh has continued to develop as a company, BrightStar has remained an out-of-sight partner. SoFresh closed its seed funding round of $1.3 million last year. Thomas raised about $1.2 million before he approached BrightStar for the remaining funds needed to close the round.

“They said, ‘We’d love to put $200,000 into your company,’ and at the time I only needed $100,000 to close the round,” said Thomas. “That helped us get the equipment that we needed to make the product that got us our trials, and now we’re manufacturing here in Kenosha on that same equipment.”

A crucial component to how BrightStar invests in startups is the use of SAFE agreements. SAFE funding is not debt but an agreement that states an investor will get stock at a later date in exchange for the cash investment now.

“It’s a great way to give the entrepreneurs the freedom to spend money without the liabilities of typical debt,” said Thomas. “The SAFE just made everything very easy and quick.”

In 10 years, BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation has helped create upwards of 1,500 jobs, 70 startups

The BrightStar Wisconsin team, (left to right) Fred Raasch, Tom Shannon and Todd Sobotka. SoFresh founders Toby Thomas and Bill Belias.

Carol Hirschmugl, co-founder and chief executive officer of COnovate.

Old National, 1834 Investment Advisors opens Huron office in downtown Milwaukee

MOVE INTEGRATES COMMERCIAL BANKING AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT TEAMS

In an effort to better serve clients who desire a broader suite of financial services, Old National opened a new office in Milwaukee that houses its core commercial banking team and its registered investment adviser (RIA) firm, which offers holistic wealth management services. The new location more readily enables the integration of premier banking services with wealth advisory and investment management offerings.

Old National’s commercial banking team includes team members that can support deposit options, lending solutions and treasury management needs for businesses of all sizes, including commercial real estate firms.* While the RIA, 1834 Investment Advisors Co., provides customized financial planning and investment management services for individuals and businesses, including retirement plan services.

Located at 511 N. Broadway Street in the historic Huron building, the 20,000-square-foot office space on the eighth floor is dedicated to the commercial and wealth management teams. The first floor houses a 2,500-square-foot banking center serving consumer and smaller business clients.

We have started modeling this approach in a handful of our larger, key markets as we have found that our commercial clients often have more diverse, complex financial needs that go beyond traditional banking services. With this service delivery model, we can easily provide company decision makers access to an integrated team of professionals who can offer a more comprehensive suite of financial services—services that can not only support his/her business but also his/her personal wealth management needs.

Kevin Anderson President of Business Banking and Milwaukee Market President

1834 Investment Advisors Co., an affiliate of Old National Bank, was formed on the promise of building stable, enduring wealth management and investment advisory relationships with our clients. The name honors the storied legacy of Old National Bank, which was founded in 1834. Some of the firm’s wealth management services are offered in collaboration with 1834, a division of Old National Bank. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. is an SEC registered investment adviser and a wholly owned subsidiary of Old National Bancorp.

To learn more about Old National Bank’s business services, visit oldnational.com/business.

To learn more about 1834 Investment Advisors, visit 1834investmentadvisors.com.

1834 Investment Advisors Co. is an SEC registered investment adviser and a wholly owned subsidiary of Old National Bancorp, a publicly traded bank holding company. Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of professional competence, education or other special training or that the adviser has been sponsored, recommended, or approved by any agency of the United States.

Investment instruments utilized by 1834 Investment Advisors Co. and 1834, a division of Old National Bank, are not insured by the FDIC nor any other government agency, are not deposits or other obligations of 1834 Investment Advisors Co.; 1834, a division of Old National Bank; Old National Wealth Management; nor Old National Bank, its parent company or affiliates, and involve investment risk including the possible loss of principal invested.

*Credit and deposit products are offered by Old National Bank. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

BANKING & FINANCE

Carol Hirschmugl, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based COnovate, agreed that SAFE funding was key to keeping her startup running.

Hirschmugl co-founded COnovate with Marija Gajdardziska in 2020 as a spinoff out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where they both served on the faculty as physics professors. The startup makes new advanced composite material for lithium-ion battery anodes, called COphite. Gajdardziska, who continues to serve as dean of the graduate school at UW-Milwaukee, exited the startup in June.

“We had always thought someone would come take what we learned and make something useful with it. We found out that no one was going to do that,” said Hirschmugl.

That was the reason for launching COnovate, to take the duo’s patented idea and make it into a product. The startup’s funding has mostly come through Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants, which are also strictly non-dilutive.

“We were a spinoff from the university just getting our feet underneath us, paying to use equipment at the university,” said Hirschmugl.

“We needed to buy equipment we couldn’t afford.”

BrightStar gave COnovate its first angel funding, a total of $50,000, which allowed the startup to purchase the equipment it needed to begin producing COphite.

“When we discovered this, the size of the material was smaller than the end of your hair,” said Hirschmugl. “Today, we make 10 kilograms, which is like filling up four flour bags of material. That’s 13 orders of magnitude. We could not have done that without the equipment we bought.”

COnovate is working to prove its composite material can be used in large-format batteries.

STRENGTHENING CONNECTIONS

Another thing both Hirschmugl and Thomas can agree on: BrightStar’s support runs deeper than the organization’s initial investment. They both said the connections they’ve made through the BrightStar team continue to be some of their strongest business relationships.

“I would encourage young entrepreneurs to get involved early on with BrightStar,” said Thomas. “They have a lot of resources at your disposal.”

Looking forward to the next 10 years, Sobotka said the organization will be looking for better

ways to leverage the connections it has across the state. He added the organization could be a bit more aggressive when it comes to being a leading investor early on to help accelerate a company’s growth.

“We’ve quietly gone about our business the last 10 years proving it out, but we’re just still scratching the surface as far as being a brand that’s known across the state,” said Sobotka.

Since 2013, BrightStar has raised $8 million from donors with an expected return ranging from $20 million to $24 million. The organization is once again gearing up to raise money from donors, although an exact amount has yet to be determined.

“It is amazing to see the positive changes that have taken place over the past 10 years in the Wisconsin early-stage ecosystem, and we are proud to have been a key player in advancing so many of them,” said Jeff Harris, BrightStar’s co-founder. “We are betting on Wisconsin, its people, its ideas and its work ethic. These investments are paying off as we have already invested substantially more than has ever been donated. Each charitable gift grows over time to further support more and more Wisconsin businesses.” n

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Organizations craft workplace policies based on what’s best for business, not broad trends, experts say

IT’S MORE than three years removed from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those prognosticating the death of the office have proven false, although that does not mean the workplace landscape isn’t different than it was in early spring 2020.

“There is no one-size-fits-all (approach to the office) more so now than any other time in history, likely,” said David Pudlosky, managing director of JLL’s Milwaukee office.

Industry experts and office users who spoke with BizTimes had a similar refrain. Organizations are making decisions about their offices based on individual interests and needs, not based on some sweeping “next big thing.”

“You shouldn’t jump on the ‘trend’ bandwagon, you should do what’s best for business and what’s best for the culture or the future culture we (the office user) are trying to evolve to for our organization,” said Heather Turner Loth, business development practice leader with Milwaukee-based architecture and design firm Eppstein Uhen Architects.

“The office environment is not going away,” said Pudlosky, whose job it is to help tenants find and secure office space. “There will be a different version of it, but it’s not going away.”

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago took significant steps in recent years when it shifted from pre-

dominantly in-office to hybrid work policies for its office employees.

The organization moved out of and later sold its former headquarters building in Greendale, establishing a new headquarters operation at its James O. Wright Center for Work & Training in Milwaukee. It houses some departments at the Summit Place office complex in West Allis and has hoteling space at its retail operations center in Sturtevant and community access center in Waukesha, where employees can come in and occupy open, unassigned workstations.

Goodwill’s shift to hybrid started out of necessity during the pandemic, said Skip Dexter, chief operating officer. He clarified the hybrid policy applies to only about 5% of Goodwill’s workforce, as many others in retail and operations work on-site daily due to the nature of their roles. Those who work hybrid include support staff, such as IT.

The American Heart Association’s Wisconsin chapter recently relocated from Schlitz Park to The Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. The decision was not due to the pandemic, but because its existing lease expired, which provided the group an opportunity to reimagine its workplace, said Katie Connolly, executive director of AHA Wisconsin. Like Goodwill, AHA Wisconsin also has a hybrid approach.

The organization’s new offices at The Avenue are drastically different than its old space.

BY ALEX ZANK, for BizTimes

AHA Wisconsin shrank its office square footage by approximately one third. But the new space comes with windows, new furniture, upgraded technology and a new layout designed for collaboration rather than a standard cubicle farm. Upgraded technology in the conference rooms makes it easier to conduct virtual one-on-ones or have teams gather in the same room for national AHA calls. A work cafe has tables where people can work or gather.

“My team is there every Tuesday, and that’s when we do team meetings and people get that opportunity to collaborate, work one-on-one and then certainly come and go as they need to be in there,” Connolly said. Her team consists of 11 people, though AHA Wisconsin has additional employees using the office who are part of different groups.

Like AHA Wisconsin, many users are dedicating more space for collaboration, said EUA’s Turner Loth. She challenges clients whose workforce is at least partly remote or hybrid to think about workers’ individual needs. Some users still opt for an assigned desk for every employee out of an abundance of caution because they are not sure what the correct course of action is for their work environment.

“You’ve got to look at the way in which people work,” she said. “If you have a hybrid population, what are they doing then when they come to the

Examples of office spaces designed by Eppstein Uhen Architects.

office? And if it’s for a collaboration, do they truly need a desk or do they need a place to touch down and plug in their technology? That could be in the form of a work cafe, maybe it’s departmentalized on a floor, and you have a zone … and that’s your touch-down space as a hybrid employee versus someone who comes in every day.”

For companies like Goodwill, a flexible work arrangement is an asset for organizations wishing to be nimble and remain competitive.

“Whereas historically our offices had dedicated spaces for the individual, now they have dedicated spaces for teams,” Dexter said. “I think being flexible as an employer is important, and a flexible work environment helps keep you competitive.”

Pudlosky said companies are flocking to higher-end, amenity-rich “Class A” office buildings to entice employees back into the office as well as recruit new talent. This is true for both the suburban and downtown markets. Landlords of older, “Class B” office properties are pouring millions into upgrades and new amenities. He pointed to the Chase Tower in downtown Milwaukee as an example.

“The flight to quality is a very real thing right now, where the decision makers are upgrading their real estate in an attempt to drive people back to the office,” he said. “I think the proactive, well-capitalized landlords are putting investments into their real estate. … If (the landlords) believe the corporate office space is dead, then why are they doing that?”

Turner Loth said clients are asking her firm to add all sorts of amenities to their offices. However, employers can’t rely on amenities alone to create employee buy-in for a return to the office.

“If you don’t have policies in place, or strong leadership at the top saying, ‘This is what we expect,’ amenities are not necessarily going to draw those employees in. It’s the policies, and then the amenities help support the activities once they get there,” she said.

With myriad workplace policies now in place following the COVID-19 pandemic, industry experts see a rather simple explanation behind what some may view as arbitrary, random decision making. Company leaders are not following what they see as trendy, but crafting policies based on what’s best for their organization. Some major local companies, like Milwaukee Tool, are expanding their office footprint while others are opting for a hybrid or remote approach.

Turner Loth sees a pattern among those organizations who are doubling down on their office footprints.

“For those companies that have to innovate and stay ahead of competition, I do see more of an uptick in bringing their employees back,” she said. “It’s a way of face-to-face interactions with employees, trust building and teamwork.” n

Post-pandemic office renovations aim to strike balance between collaborative space and privacy

BY ASHLEY SMART AND HUNTER TURPIN, staff writers

SEVERAL COMPANIES in southeastern Wisconsin have invested millions into office renovations over the past few years – a reflection of a national trend toward hybrid work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – but how have those redesigned spaces fared in bringing employees back together?

BizTimes Milwaukee spoke with three local companies that recently renovated their offices, representing a combined total of 449,000 square feet of space, to discuss the renovations, what’s working, what isn’t and what they’d do differently.

MISSION-DRIVEN RENOVATION

When the Dohmen Company Foundation initially purchased the former Fein Brothers Building on King Drive in Milwaukee’s Halyard Park neighborhood for its headquarters, the organization’s values became instrumental in guiding both leadership and employees through the renovation process.

The 34,000-square-foot building at 2007 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and an adjacent building at 334 W. Brown St. now make up a campus that houses operations for the foundation as well as its nonprofit spinoff Food For Health and social enterprise The Food Benefit Co.

Key to finding a new headquarters was securing a space that allowed the organization to co-locate within the community it serves, said Kathy Koshgarian, president and chief executive officer

of Food For Health and The Food Benefit Co.

If the organization was going to establish a brand-new home, the goal was to “truly start fresh and come from what we want to embody,” said Koshgarian.

Dohmen moved into the main headquarters building on King Drive in May of 2022 and into the food production facility on Brown Street seven months later.

The ground floor of the headquarters building includes space for community events and programming, a demonstration kitchen, a fitness facility and two clinical wellness rooms. The upper floor houses the organization’s administrative staff.

“We needed an open concept and enough room to deliver all of this programming,” said Koshgarian. “Our vision was to create a community health hub that felt open and welcoming.”

As organizations, Dohmen and Food For Health strive for sustainability. To that end, the office features lights with motion detection sensors and secure remote access to the building via mobile device. Koshgarian said Food For Health has invested significantly in technology and seen a significant return on investment.

Conference rooms in the building are outfitted with video conferencing technology called Airtame. The organization also invested heavily in office phones and telecommunication infrastructure but found it to be somewhat obsolete. Instead of landlines, employees use computer software that

functions as a telephone.

“If I were to do it over again, I wouldn’t have purchased a desk phone system. That was a big aha moment,” said Koshgarian.

Within the office space, cubicles are built with higher walls for privacy, and there are two private rooms employees can use for individual phone or video conversations. Since the move, Koshgarian has seen teams use open collaboration spaces for meetings more often as opposed to closed conference rooms.

The new headquarters straddles the line between having open areas for collaboration, while still providing opportunities for privacy. Koshgarian said this balance has strengthened Food For Health’s culture.

“What really excited (employees) was they were part of the design of the build-out,” she said.

Other employee benefits like access to healthy vending machines and Food for Health’s programming have also helped generate excitement within the organization.

STRIKING THE RIGHT BALANCE

Milwaukee Tool is another company that’s sought to provide the perfect balance of collaboration and privacy for employees at its newest office building, located at 551 N. 5th St. in downtown Milwaukee.

Nicknamed the Red Beacon, the recently unveiled Milwaukee Tool building currently houses 900 employees, which will eventually increase to about 1,200.

At the center of the five-story downtown office building is an amphitheater with stadium-style seating, designed to encourage gathering among employees. Milwaukee Tool removed some office space from the building, which was originally

The Dohmen Company Foundation aimed to provide employees with a balance of openness and privacy at the organization’s new headquarters on King Drive.

At Milwaukee Tool’s new downtown office, conference rooms are the areas in highest demand by employees.

370,000 square feet and now is about 350,000 square feet, to create a more open layout. The company also doubled the number of windows in the building for more natural light.

“Collaboration is the cornerstone of how we innovate, so any of the areas within our building that allow for collaboration are utilized the most,” said Tim Brasher, senior vice president of brand marketing at Milwaukee Tool.

Conference rooms are the spaces used most frequently. At times, there are more employees who need a conference room than spaces available. To help solve this issue, each floor of the building features small, collaborative work areas.

“These flexible workspaces are designed for more organic flexibility, allowing spontaneous work groups to form versus having to formally reserve a meeting space,” said Brasher.

There are also smaller, one-person rooms for employees who need to make a call or host a private meeting. Based on feedback, the amenities employees are most excited about are the full-service coffee shop, on-site gym, full-service cafeteria and outdoor heated patio. The one-person booths are also popular.

From a design standpoint, the openness of the

company’s new office is, without a doubt, the element that’s paid off the most, said Brasher.

“We all but eliminated closed-wall offices and utilized glass on the interior to ensure clear line of sight,” he said. “In fact, the cubicles are all lowered to 40 (inches) so you’re able to see clear across the 67,000-square-foot floors.”

ATTRACTING EMPLOYEES INTO THE OFFICE

In a post-pandemic world that allows employees more workplace flexibility but has many employers emphasizing the importance of face-to-face collaboration, office space needs to not only be functional, but also attractive enough to make employees want to work in-person.

From 2020 through 2021, Johnson Financial Group remodeled two floors at the Cathedral Place building at 555 E. Wells St. in downtown Milwaukee. Its vision was to encourage interaction, but there was uncertainty around how to accomplish that.

“We built this really great space, and it sat empty for a year, year and a half, so we crossed our fingers and rubbed our lucky rabbit’s foot and hoped that everyone would come back,” said Jim Popp, chief executive officer of Johnson Financial Group.

“And they did, the remodel was successful.”

The remodel was also extensive.

“We didn’t take these two floors down to the studs, we took them down to the floor plates. I don’t think we saved a single wall,” Popp said.

As a result of the open floor plan, employees have been working together as intended but the design also allows for the most light and best views to be accessible to everyone, rather than just those with private offices. This has made the office more attractive to employees.

Throughout the office, casual spaces where employees can meet with one another or just have a change of scenery have been popular, Popp said.

But some of the most worthwhile investments have been the simplest ones – adjustable desks so employees can stand or sit throughout the day and kitchens stocked with coffee and snacks, bringing a residential comfort to the space – but don’t cost much in in the long run.

“I think when you build a space that has a nice fit and finish and has collaborative space that is high-end, and has great views and great amenities, it makes people feel like the office is a really good place to get stuff done and spend time with colleagues,” Popp said. n

N OTA BLE LEADERS I N SUSTAINABILITY

BizTimes Milwaukee is proud to present its inaugural showcase of Notable Leaders in Sustainability, spotlighting area executives who are balancing environmental and economic concerns within their organizations and industries. The individuals profiled on the following pages were nominated by their peers and highlight the talent in the region.

METHODOLOGY: The honorees did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials. This list features only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after review by our editorial team. To qualify for the list, nominees must be employed at an organization in southeastern Wisconsin and currently serving in a senior-level role. They must also demonstrate excellence in the area of environmental sustainability and the ability to effect change within the organization, industry and community.

CINDY BOHLEN DIRECTOR OF RESPONSIBLE INVESTING AND CHIEF MINDFULNESS OFFICER RIVERWATER PARTNERS

Colleagues say Cindy Bohlen is the driving force for sustainability at Milwaukee-based Riverwater Partners. As director of responsible investing and chief mindfulness officer, Bohlen leads the organization certification and reporting efforts, including B Corporation certification and reporting to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

Bohlen also was integral to Riverwater Partners becoming a Water Champion through The Water Council, according to Laura Peck, chief compliance officer at Riverwater Partners.

Promoting sustainability within Riverwater, Bohlen implemented tracking of various metrics, including volunteer hours, carbon emissions, diversity data, training hours, charitable donations, steps taken and security performance.

“This data-driven approach allows Riverwater to gauge its impact over time and pinpoint areas for improvement,” Peck said.

“Riverwater guides investee companies on their sustainability journeys. Cindy takes charge of engaging executives to demonstrate how sustainability benefits all stakeholders and improves financial outcomes,” she said.

In 2022, Riverwater provided educational resources to 19 companies, five of which started publicly reporting their sustainability efforts. Six of the companies Riverwater engaged in 2021 have also begun publicly reporting their sustainability initiatives.

MARTY BROOKS PRESIDENT AND CEO WISCONSIN CENTER DISTRICT

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marty Brooks, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Center District, was making decisions about the $456 million Baird Center expansion. Despite the COVID-initiated economic crisis, Brooks planned the project with sustainability in mind, according to Joe Scialfa, director of communications for WCD.

“He chose to invest in Milwaukee’s future by making the expansion a model of sustainability for the hospitality and entertainment industry,” said Scialfa. “But more importantly, he believes that being green is an investment in the long-term health of the greater Milwaukee community and the people who call it home.”

At the onset of the expansion project, Brooks set a high-priority goal of obtaining LEED silver certification. With that in mind, the construction management team presented him with a variety of green features that would help WCD meet certification requirements, including triple-silver low-emissivity glass on the façade, bird-friendly glass on the skywalk, a rooftop solar array and a 320,000-gallon underground stormwater detention system. “These features were not mandated by the city or the state. Marty knows that having a sustainable facility gives the Baird Center a competitive advantage,” said Scialfa.

PATTI BERES FOUNDER BE GREEN PRO

Patti Beres, founder of Oconomowoc-based lawn service company Be Green Pro, defines what it means to run a sustainable organization, according to Art Flater, a client of Be Green and vice president and principal of Central Office Systems.

Flater first met Beres at a Pewaukee business owners roundtable event in winter of 2019 and remembers her handing out samples of a sustainable ice melt product for driveways and walks.

“I did not think much about it, but I used it on my front walk all winter,” he said. “In the spring, there was no dead grass on the edges of the walk, like there would be after a winter of using salt. That’s when I recognized what sustainable lawn care really meant. Safer for pets, and safer for the environment.”

Beres launched Be Green in 2010 to offer all-natural, low-toxicity solutions for lawn care, pest management, tree care and other yard scape services. The company has grown to serve more than 500 clients in southeastern Wisconsin.

In addition, Beres has been a speaker for the eWomen Foundation and contributes to pet safety and adoption efforts as well as veterans causes.

JOE MEYER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | SCIENCE TEACHER CATHOLIC ECOLOGY CENTER | MARQUETTE

UNIVERSITY

HIGH SCHOOL

After working in national parks and studying science and nature, Joe Meyer, a science teacher at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, opened the Catholic Ecology Center, a 60-acre nature center located in Nesho, Wisconsin, that fuses faith with care for the Earth.

“The CEC creates a place for youth and families to experience the quiet found in nature and learn about the beauty of creation and how to live more sustainably,” said Archbishop Jerome Listecki of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The mission of the Catholic Ecology Center is to deepen faith and foster a stewardship ethic through hands-on encounters with the natural world. This is done through educational programming, stewardship projects, retreats, recreational outings and partnerships with schools and parishes.

“I am inspired by the ways the project has engaged people in developing a deeper faith and an awareness for the natural world. They are committed to engaging students to serve in their communities,” said Jeff Monday, principal at Marquette University High School.

BEAU ENGMAN FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT PACE EQUITY

As founder and president of Milwaukee-based financing firm PACE Equity, Beau Engman champions energy efficiency and green building initiatives.

Engman founded PACE Equity in 2013 to finance buildings with lower carbon emissions. PACE Equity provides Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing that offers private capital to fund items in a commercial building’s construction budget that have a quantifiable water, utility or renewable impact.

In 2022, PACE Equity launched the CIRRUS Low Carbon program, a financial product that offers a lower cost of capital to projects that build or renovate with a lower-carbon design. The program has led to multiple developments in Milwaukee and beyond.

Engman also serves on the board of PACENow, a nonprofit organization that promotes and implements PACE funding around the country.

PACE Equity has supported 100 projects with $225 million in energy and operational savings.

LARRY WITZLING SENIOR PLANNER AND URBAN DESIGNER GRAEF

Larry Witzling, Ph.D., senior planner and urban designer at Milwaukee-based GRAEF, has created a career around the belief that “all places can be beautiful and that the enjoyment of those places is not solely reserved for a few, but for all,” said Justyce Dixon, corporate marketing and communications leader at GRAEF.

Witzling has acted on this belief through his private practice, his professorship at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and community efforts. He has been involved in sustainability issues for more than a decade, has worked on several sustainable building and planning projects and has worked on neighborhood sustainability issues in Racine, Kenosha, and Milwaukee. He has spoken about sustainable housing design and has taught continuing education classes on sustainable development.

“Not only has Larry put his expertise to practice in shaping Milwaukee’s urban design history, but he also has coached thousands of students to seek excellence in their planning careers,” said Dixon. “At UWMilwaukee, he was the quintessential ‘pracademic.’ He brought the world into the classroom to immerse students in real-life scenarios and guide their maturation as thinkers, planners and designers. Larry appreciated the free thought that exists at universities and found ways to harness that unbridled creativity. He continues these efforts today as professor emeritus. Larry has never differentiated professional practice from education; as a dedicated student, he believes that theory is alive and can evolve to better serve communities.”

TIM BOLGER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT BANK OF AMERICA

Tim Bolger is a senior vice president at Bank of America as well as BofA’s Midwest sustainability champion. In this role, he leads efforts by BofA’s Global Commercial Banking Midwest Region to support the sustainable finance initiatives of companies across the region and advises companies on the transition to a low-carbon economy. Bolger leads a team of nine sustainability ambassadors across the seven-state region, serves as a subject matter expert for client meetings and has been a speaker at events across the region on topics relating to sustainability. As the Midwest Sustainability Champion, Bolger also serves on the Business Banking & Global Commercial Banking Sustainability Council, which brings together a handful of leaders across the country to support and promote the Bank of America enterprise sustainability strategy. This strategy includes helping clients use sustainability principles to grow their businesses responsibly.

“Tim’s leadership and expertise have been critical in helping BofA deliver sustainability insights and solutions across the region,” said Cara Pan, a Midwest regional executive at Bank of America.

C-PACE financing, Beau built a business that hires locally but influences nationally. Never complacent, he innovated a one-of-a-kind financing solution to drive impact by incentivizing climate-friendly building practices.

JASON KORB OWNER AND PRINCIPAL KORB AND ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS

Jason Korb, owner and principal at Milwaukee-based Korb and Associates Architects, is the designer and architect of the Ascent apartment tower in Milwaukee, which upon its completion became the tallest mass timber hybrid building in the world.

The 284-foot, 25-story building, developed by New Land Enterprises, edged out Norway’s Mjøstårnet for the title. The Ascent features 259 apartments, retail space, an elevated pool with operable window walls and a sky deck.

“Jason and the firm have become leaders in the industry for sustainable building method awareness and advances. Jason has worked in the industry for years, serving mission-based organizations and striving to design legacy projects, such as the Ascent and the St. Augustine Preparatory School expansion,” said Liz Syrrakos, operations manager at Korb. “He is also involved on numerous boards and progressive organizational committees to serve and advance the city of Milwaukee and its constituents in need. Jason is dedicated to his staff and his clients, and that impact is visible to all who know him.”

ERICK SHAMBARGER DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY CITY OF MILWAUKEE

Erick Shambarger is the director of sustainability for the City of Milwaukee, a cabinet level position in Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s administration, and the leader of the city’s Environmental Collaboration Office.

Shambarger has worked with businesses, nonprofits, community groups and the public to advance sustainability goals through initiatives like the Better Buildings Challenge and the Refresh Milwaukee Plan, completed in 2013 following a community-based process called the Mayor’s Green Team.

In his role as director of sustainability, Shambarger is the program manager for the Milwaukee City County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity. The task force was created in 2019 and is charged with developing a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Milwaukee by 45% by 2030 while creating the maximum number of family-supporting jobs in areas that currently lack economic opportunities.

This June, the resulting Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan was passed by the Milwaukee Common Council and signed by Johnson. Shambarger and the ECO will have primary responsibility for implementing the plan and reporting on progress.

Keep up with BizTimes’ 2023 roundup of the leaders making a difference throughout southeast Wisconsin. At companies across southeast Wisconsin, notable executives are running businesses, navigating company restructurings, serving on boards, running marketing departments, and investing in growth throughout the region. The notable individuals profiled in these categories are nominated by their peers at work and in the community.

insurance industry. Nomination Deadline: September 15, 2023 Issue Date: October 23, 2023

THE NONPROFIT Wish List

A short list of how you can help the nonprofits featured in the Giving Guide. You’ll find their profiles on pages 22-141, which include numerous ways for you and your company to volunteer, attend events, fundraise or make donations.

ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis

» Financial DonationsEvent Sponsors

» Gift cards

CONTACT: Ashley Kopca ashley@abcdmentor.org

ACTS Housing

» Hands-On Home Rehab Volunteers

CONTACT: Terrence Sipple terrence@actshousing.org

All Hands Boatworks, Inc.

» 9-12 Passenger Van

» Safer dock & launch access

» Welding station for training

CONTACT: Patrick McBriarty patrick_mcbriarty@yahoo.com

American Cancer Society, Inc.

» Event volunteers

» State leadership volunteers

» Road to Recovery drivers

CONTACT: Elisabeth Thomsen elisabeth.thomsen@cancer.org

American Heart Association

» Event volunteers

CONTACT: Katie Connolly volunteerMKE@heart.org

Archdiocese of Milwaukee

» Financial donations

CONTACT: Bob Pfundstein pfundsteinb@archmil.org

Bookworm Gardens

» Event sponsors

CONTACT: Elizabeth Weiland elizabeth@bookwormgardens.org

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee

» New toys for kids ages 5-12

» Gift cards - $10 and uP

CONTACT: Mia Krantz donations@bgcmilwaukee.org

Bridge Builders

» Fund Developer

» Property Renovation

» Property in Target Area

CONTACT: Kurt Owens kurt@bridgebuildersmke.org

Community Advocates

» Pack ‘n Plays

» Strollers

» Twin sheets/blankets & pillows

CONTACT: Jeri Kavanaugh jkavanaugh@communityadvocates.net

Convergence Resource Center

» SOS bag items

» A weekend getaway for staff

» New Laptops for staff

CONTACT: Debbie Lassiter ceo@convergenceresource.org

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School

» CWSP Van Drivers / Volunteers

» Uniform Clothing Items

» Donations To Fund Scholarships

CONTACT: Shannon Watry swatry@cristoreymilwaukee.org

Crohn’s & Colitis FoundationWisconsin Chapter

» Corporate sponsorships

» Event volunteers

» Special event auction items

CONTACT: Leslie Del Ponte ldelponte@crohnscolitisfoundation.org

Danceworks Inc

» Endowment Fund Investment

» Capital Refresh for Studios

» Outreach Program Funding

CONTACT: Julia Dorf jdorf@danceworksmke.org

EastCastle Place

» Donations

» Community Life Volunteers

» Auction Items or Door Prizes

CONTACT: Michael Brever mbrever@eastcastleplace.com

Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin

» Summer Camp Volunteers

» Adult Day Center Volunteers

» Adult Recreation Volunteers

CONTACT: Stacy Alauf stacya@eastersealswise.com

Feeding America - Eastern Wisconsin

» Volunteers

CONTACT: Erika Eykmans EEykmans@FeedingAmericaWI.org

Franciscan Peacemakers

» Individual Donations

» Corporate Giving Connections

» Gas + Grocery Giftcards

CONTACT: Katie Coffey katie@franciscanpeacemakers.org

Girls on the Run Southeastern Wisconsin

» End of Year Campaignl Donations

» ‘23 Sneaker Soiree Sponsorship

» Fundraise through Solemates

CONTACT: Cait Christenson cait.christenson@girlsontherun.org

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago

» Small kitchen appliances

» Living room and bedroom decor

» Home goods

CONTACT: Retail Customer Service RetailCustomerService@goodwillsew.com

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

» ThriveOn Collaboration

» ThriveOn ECE Fund

» ThriveOn Small Business Loans

CONTACT: Fiesha Lynn Bell FBell@greatermilwaukeefoundation.org

Greater Milwaukee Urban League

» Mentors for students 11 to 17

CONTACT: La’Amecia Taylor LTaylor@tmul.org

Greenfield High School Air Force JR/ROTC

» Drill Team Travel Uniforms

» Rocket Club Team Polos

CONTACT: Andrew Davis adavis@greenfield.k12.wi.us

Healing Warrior Hearts - Starfish Foundation

» Donations/auction items

» Meals for veterans retreats

» Office and facility supplies

CONTACT: Patricia Clason warriorheart@starfishfound.org

Humane Animal Welfare Society - HAWS

» Pet Food – Canned/dry

» Healthy Training Treats

» Corporate Volunteer Groups

CONTACT: Jennifer Smieja jennifer@hawspets.org

International Institute of Wisconsin

» Home Goods & Other Furnishings

» Winter Hats, Coats, & Gloves

» Auction Items

CONTACT: Estela Vazquez-Ornelas evazquez@iiwisconsin.org

Kathy’s House

» Paper Towels

» Toilet Paper

» Disinfectant Spray

CONTACT: Liz Beaudoin lizb@kathys-house.org

Kinship Community Food Center

» Healthy Shelf Stable Food

» Hygiene Items

CONTACT: Susan Peinsipp donations@kinshipmke.org

MACC Fund - Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer

» Auction Items

» Event Volunteers

» Donations to Research

CONTACT: Danielle McNeill dmcneill@maccfund.org

Malaika Early Learning Center

» New School Bus

» ThriveOn King Fundraising

» Full-time Floating Teacher

CONTACT: Tamara Johnson tjohnson@malaikaelc.org

Marcus Performing Arts Center

» Annual Fund Contributions

» Program & Event Sponsorships

» Volunteer Ushers

CONTACT: Megan Huse mhuse@marcuscenter.org

MATC Foundation

» Student scholarship support

CONTACT: Laura Bray braylm@matc.edu

Milwaukee Academy of Science

» Winter gear & school supplies

CONTACT: Tresca Meiling tmeiling@mascience.org

Milwaukee Ballet development@milwaukeeballet.org

Milwaukee College Prep

» Take A Stand Event Sponsors

» Holiday Gifts for Families

» Personal Hygiene Items

CONTACT: Brittany Sanderson brittany.sanderson@milwcollegeprep.com

Milwaukee Excellence Charter School

» Fundraising

» Volunteer Opportunities

» Event Sponsorships

CONTACT: Rodney Lynk Jr. Rodney.lynk@mkeexcellence.org

Milwaukee Film rachel@mkefilm.org

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design

» Sponsor an AICAD PostGraduate Teaching Fellowship at MIAD

» Support MIAD’s Digital Equity Fund ensuring student access to technology

» Donations of industrial sewing and textiles equipment

CONTACT: Tracy Milkowski tracymilkowski@miad.edu

Nativity Jesuit Academy

» Personal philanthropy

» Event sponsorships

» Mentors for Nativity alumni

CONTACT: Emily Keuter advancement@nativityjesuit.org

Operation DREAM

» Gift carDS for youth

» Restaurant gift cards

» Tickets to evENTS FOR YOUTH

CONTACT: Hannah Harris hannah.harris@operation-dream.org

Penfield Children’s Center

» Diapers, wipes, kids clothing

» Toys & books for ages 0-6

» Classroom & ART SUPPLIES

CONTACT: Megan Wurz meganwurz@penfieldchildren.org

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin

» Vision screening volunteers

» Fundraising - auction items

» Fundraising - donations

CONTACT: Breanna Reckamp Breanna@pbwi.org

Rocketship Public Schools Milwaukee

» Donations

» Student Chromebook’s

CONTACT: Kadeem Gill KGill@rsed.org

Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin

» Non-Holiday 10-12” plush

» Individually wrapped snacks

» Travel toiletries

CONTACT: Olivia Kresse okresse@rmhc-easternwi.org

Seton Catholic Schools

CONTACT: Kelsey Hau khau@setoncatholicschools.org

SHARP Literacy

» Crayons and Magic Markers

» Crayons and Magic Markers

» Model Magic

CONTACT: Mary Patscot Rocha mary@sharpliteracy.org

Siebert Lutheran Foundation

» Give a Gift to Siebert Serves

CONTACT: Sarah Gilday sarah@siebertfoundation.org

St. Marcus School

» Grocery Gift Cards

» Gas Gift Cards

» Big Box Gift Cards

CONTACT: Cecilia Davis cecilia.davis@stmarcus.org

St. Coletta of Wisconsin

» Sponsorships for Events

» Volunteers

» Board Members

CONTACT: Robin Baker rbaker@stcolettawi.org

The Ability Center (TAC)

» $250 - Friend of TAC

» $500 - Supports open gym

» $1000 - Supports ASAP event

CONTACT: Cay Landowski cay@taciwi.org

The Florentine Opera

» Community Circle Sponsor

» Volunteer support

CONTACT: Anali Warner info@florentineopera.org

UMOS

» Toys for Breakfast with Santa event

» School supplies for grades k-6

» Event volunteers

CONTACT: Kaye Hartmann kaye.hartmann@umos.org

United Community Center

» Various supply drives

» Various giving opportunities

CONTACT: Jennifer Steiner Jennifers@unitedcc.org

United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County

» FinanciaL Donations

» Gina Santigati

CONTACT: gsantagati@unitedwaygmwc.org

Wellpoint Care Network

» Annual Donations, Sponsorships

» Pampers and Baby Wipes

» Community Garden Supplies

CONTACT: Stephanie Allen sallen@wellpoint.org

Wisconsin Hero Outdoors

» Sponsors for women’s events

» Donations for meals

» Volunteers for small events

CONTACT: Tammy Sawyer tsawyer@wiherooutdoors.org

YWCA Southeast Wisconsin

» Updated Computers

CONTACT: Tracy L. Williams twilliams@ywcasew.org

Zoological Society of Milwaukee

» Volunteers

CONTACT: Lynn Wilding lynnw@zoosociety.org

Cross the bridge

Seek common ground when trying to resolve a dispute

attempted to coerce the other into believing that their position was the right position.

I asked the CEO to stand up and to walk to the opposite side of the room and attempt to persuade me that where she was standing on an issue was the right place to be. She made several attempts, and I reciprocated by literally moving further away.

When I called a “time out,” I asked if she saw any other alternatives to the strategy that she was using that clearly wasn’t working. As she struggled, I suggested that perhaps if she came to my side of the “bridge” with curiosity, my resistance might begin to dissipate. For her, physically moving from one side of the room to the other resulted in a shift. The light bulb went on for her, and she appreciated that if she began by seeking to understand what was driving my resistance, she had a greater opportunity to influence a change. I encouraged her to ask questions rather than to preach the benefits of the change.

Emotions drive behavior. As leaders engage in rapid-fire change, we need to slow down with genuine curiosity, in order to accelerate. We’ve got to learn that as tempting and familiar as it is to magnify our persuasive efforts, a change will not occur without the “other” feeling heard and understood.

BEYOND DUALITY

derstanding rather than criticism and judgment. I suspect there will be new learning and new appreciation for each of us if we decide that we want to cross the bridge into understanding.

There are surprising benefits in exploring unfamiliar territory with curiosity and respect. In the end, we have the opportunity to expand our options in decision making when we strengthen our capacity as leaders to embrace different viewing points. If we embrace the notion that “we aren’t all right, only partly so,” we will be more inclined to look for common ground. When we are on common ground, we have a greater capacity for understanding. We have a greater capacity for compassion, and we have a greater capacity for forgiveness.

On common ground, we can move together into our desired future.

“We grow up in a world that keeps things separate Science is a thousand miles from faith

The right wing and the left are far divided Though the angel cannot fly without them both.”

— Jan Phillips

n

SO OFTEN we find ourselves in situations with others where we create a battleground without appreciating our unconscious contribution to the conflict.

BRIDGE BUILDING

In a recent conversation with a client CEO, she described a common scenario between herself and a senior leader. As she told her story about attempting to convince the leader to support a change initiative, I began to envision the two of them on opposite sides of a bridge. The more the CEO attempted to convince with logic, the greater the gap on the bridge.

Each of them was holding a position. Neither of them was interested in learning about the other’s perspective. From either end of the bridge, they

Jan Phillips, the author of the book “No Ordinary Time,” asks: “Can you evolve your own thinking process beyond duality, beyond ‘right and wrong,’ beyond ‘good and evil?’ Can you accept that we are all right, but only partly so? That we need to mix our thoughts up with others to come up with the greatest variety of solutions, the highest synthesis of consciousness?”

In writing this article, I was aware that none of us is immune from the temptation of staying on our own side of the bridge. I have a dear friend whose political views are diametrically opposed to mine. Often, we engage in efforts to convince one another that one or the other position is the right one; or we determine that we cannot talk about the issues. We have not yet engaged in a dialogue with curiosity. Even though we love and respect one other, we have not committed to a path that invites un-

Karen Vernal is executive vice president and chief dreamer with Cavendish Vernal, a Milwaukee-based leadership and organizational firm. She can be reached at Karen@ccvernal.com.

KAREN VERNAL

“True genius is the ability to hold two contradictory thoughts simultaneously without losing your mind.”

— Charles Beaudelaire

PLANNING

Ideal end

The power of early exit planning for entrepreneurs

A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR’S greatest responsibility is to prepare their business (and themselves) as early and intentionally as possible for “The Dream Exit” they’ve earned and deserve.

This is true even if they’re not ready to sell or think they never will.

An entrepreneur’s dream exit results when two objectives are met. First, the entrepreneur’s business sells for its maximum value. Second, the entrepreneur’s continued meaning and purpose is maximized in their post-exit life.

Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs neglect this crucial aspect of business planning. They launch their ventures with a vision, a plan and a drive to succeed but often overlook the importance of maximizing their business’s potential and value over time. This oversight can be costly.

An exit strategy isn’t merely a plan for selling your business, it’s a strategic playbook that guides an entrepreneur’s planning and decisions from the outset. Operating with this principle in mind significantly enhances your business’s worth. It also makes you a better entrepreneur.

When you run your business as if it’s always for sale, you commit and become intentional about doing the right things, the right way, all the time. You adopt a “buyers’ lens” that keeps you looking at and valuing your business the way a potential buyer would.

This intentional exit strategy planning changes the game by:

1. Providing clarity and direction: It aligns operational and personal decisions with longterm goals, influencing your business model, target market and growth strategy.

2. Increasing the value of the business: It encourages a focus on building sustainable systems, diversifying the client base and strengthening the brand – all attractive to potential buyers or successors.

3. Leveling the playing field: Buyers are experienced and often expect to have an advantage. Effective exit planning levels the playing field and shifts this advantage to you, which is where it should be.

Over my career, I’ve purchased 23 companies from entrepreneurs. Not one had done any kind of exit planning or had an exit strategy as far as I could tell. The first serious thought that any of them had about exiting came after my partner or I first asked them if they would be interested in selling. I’m sure they dreamed about it – all entrepreneurs do – but they never explored that dream with any serious planning effort.

And you can guess what happened. In every case, we had the opportunity to define what their dream exit looked like through our buyers’ lens instead of theirs. We had the advantage, and we used it to make our dream purchase, not their dream exit, come true.

Ironically, even with the benefit of these experiences in my back pocket, I left $4 million on the table of my first exit because my ego told me I knew what I was doing. My ego lied. It was the buyer who knew better. Lesson learned.

They say that you get what you deserve in life, but when it comes to maximizing the value of your business and the value of your life’s work it’s simply not true. You only get what you deserve when you plan to get what you deserve.

You should start your dream exit journey today. It only requires courage and a few simple, actionable steps:

1. Develop an exit-ready mindset today: Embrace the concept of exit planning as a tool for continuous improvement and value creation.

2. Design your business to operate optimally without you: Build a competent team and systems that ensure business continuity and increase its value.

3. Commit to being the best exit-ready entrepreneur possible: Make exit readiness a priority and a consistent part of your business strategy.

4. Accept that being exit-ready is your most important responsibility: Recognize the impact of early, intentional and consistent exit planning on your business’s value.

5. Get help: Find an expert now who knows the ropes and can help start getting you exit-ready today with your thinking and your business.

If these steps resonate with you, congratulations! Your journey is underway. You’re already experiencing the transformative power of an exit planning strategy on you and your business. Remember, The Dream Exit isn’t just about the destination; it’s about the journey of continuous growth and value creation. n

MIKE MALATESTA

Mike Malatesta, founder of Advanced Waste Services, is The Dream Exit expert, host of the How’d it Happen podcast, and author of “Owner Shift: How Getting Selfish Got Me Unstuck.” He can be reached at thedreamexit@gmail.com

Engage your audience

Best practices for effective sales presentations

SALES PRESENTATIONS have suffered a bad rap. Rightfully so. They are expensive and timeconsuming to make, and when used as a crutch they can bore viewers to tears.

By following and incorporating these best practices for captivating sales presentations, you can significantly increase your company’s conversion rates.

Know your audience.

The people in your audience have unique interests, motivations and reasons for watching and listening to your presentation. Know who they are. If you can, get the names and titles of the people you will be presenting to, and look them up on LinkedIn. No, it’s not stalking – it’s intelligence gathering. Make sure the content of your presentation speaks to their interests.

Ask the right people the right questions before your presentation.

This alone will make or break your presentation. There are plenty of stories of companies that quickly found out after an agreement was signed and upfront money was paid that the salesperson didn’t truly understand their needs and oversold their company’s capabilities. This will surely damage a brand’s reputation.

In many cases, presenters either don’t ask enough questions or don’t go deep enough by asking the right questions, assuming they already know and understood the specific needs of the company.

Get to the right people and ask the right questions beforehand to understand the problems the

prospect wants to solve.

An effective sales presentation is about your audience, not how great you are.

How many people want to listen to a presenter talk about how great they are? It’s not about you at all. It’s about them. Forget your agenda, they don’t care. Focus on their needs and how you can provide an ideal solution.

Use the right presentation tools wisely and effectively, or not at all.

How many presentations have you been to where the presenter overloaded every PowerPoint slide with content, only to read each slide nearly word for word? Or worse, presentations that had poor graphics and the slides were so packed with text and graphs that none of it was readable.

PowerPoint presentations are necessary for many applications. However, a best practice is to limit slides to those where critical and relevant research data must be shared.

For information regarding product quality, service delivery, value propositions, brand promises and sharing success stories, you won’t want your audience distracted by slides. Brand it.

Use your sales presentation to reinforce your brand value and credibility by including success stories, case studies and testimonials to prove and demonstrate how your brand has helped current and previous customers.

Practice, but not too much.

Successful presentations are well-rehearsed. Practice your presentation repeatedly, refining your delivery, timing and transitions. This preparation will boost your confidence, ensuring a smooth delivery of your key points and a positive impression on your audience.

However, if you practice too much, you’ll become robotic. And if you miss a step, it may very well throw off the rest of your presentation. Learn the concepts, not the words.

Be interesting.

Everyone loves and remembers a good story. Most of us know that good marketing is good storytelling. People remember stories much more readily than facts or figures. Therefore, telling

your story in an engaging way is a very effective sales tool, sure to elicit a desired emotion. Build narratives around your products or services that encapsulate your brand’s purpose, values and mission. Use your story to connect with your audience on an emotional level.

Plan for interaction and engagement.

People don’t like to be talked to; they like to be talked with. Don’t be the lecturer or the preacher. Engage with your audience and ask them questions.

Control the room.

Be prepared to have one or two people in the room ask a lot of questions, interrupt you and test your knowledge about your material and how it applies to their company. If you’re well prepared and have done your homework, this will be your time to shine and build your credibility along with their confidence in you as a trusted resource and professional.

If you lose control of the room, the conversation will rapidly turn into an interrogation where you’re under the spotlight and the material you intended and needed to present gets shoved to the side.

The easiest way to control, or regain control, of the room is to pause and let everyone know that you’re glad they are asking their questions and that you will be addressing their topics within the remainder of your sales presentation. Then make sure you do. n

SCOTT SEROKA

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

Tip Sheet

How small businesses can use AI to drive efficiency

While 70% of small business owners are aware of tools that use artificial intelligence, only 40% are actively using them, according to a recent survey conducted by SCORE. While the thought of incorporating AI

into everyday tasks may seem daunting, here are some simple ways AI can help businesses become more efficient:

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

As small businesses constantly strive to improve the overall customer experience, AI has become an even more useful tool. A recent Harvard Business Review article says the use of chatbots can help small business owners deliver prompt customer service, cut down on wait times and reduce staffing costs.

“In addition, chatbots can learn from customer interactions, continuously improving their accuracy and effectiveness,” according to the article.

SOCIAL MEDIA

AI tools like ChatGPT can help small business owners draft social media posts. However, business owners should keep in mind that AI still has limitations.

“ChatGPT lacks true comprehension of text like

humans do and relies on pattern recognition rather than understanding,” according to SCORE. “Consequently, it may produce text that seems accurate but is actually misleading or nonsensical.”

MARKETING

Small business can also utilize AI to create personalized marketing campaigns and collect and analyze customer data to create targeted marketing messages that resonate with customers. Email campaigns, social media ads and other targeted content can “speak directly to each customer’s unique needs and interests.”

“AI-powered tools can analyze data about which types of content perform best with specific audiences and suggest topics and headlines based on that data,” according to Harvard Business Review.

AI-driven personalized marketing campaigns can help build stronger connections with customers and increase brand loyalty. n

Friday, November 17, 2023

7:00 AM – Registration

7:30-9:45 AM – Breakfast and Program Brookfield Conference Center

Prepare your next move

Are you positioned for future opportunities?

Navigating higher interest rates, rising construction costs, housing affordability issues and a soft post-pandemic office market is a challenge. Join industry experts for a keynote and panel discussion on strategies to thrive in this dynamic landscape. You will gain insights into emerging trends and connect with professionals from across the industry. Join us November 17th to shape your future success.

Sponsors:

Keynote: Spencer Levy, Global Client Strategist, Senior Economic Advisor and host of The Weekly Take podcast for CBRE

Thursday, October 5, 2023 | Italian Community Center

Growing amidst constant change

The economy is changing. Supply chains are changing. Your workforce and what employees want are always changing. Regulations and technology are changing. How can you build and grow a business when everything around you is always changing?

Join BizTimes Media for the Next Generation Manufacturing Summit for insights on how companies in one of Wisconsin’s most important industries are dealing with the challenges of today’s market while also preparing for tomorrow.

This year, the event will be a half-day program where you can immerse yourself in the latest industry trends with exhibitors, gain invaluable knowledge from thought-provoking seminars, and hear from a panel of local manufacturing leaders discussing trends and best practices. Following the program, join fellow attendees for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at the networking reception. Don’t miss this opportunity to make connections, learn and propel your business to new heights. Register now!

Confirmed Speakers:

• George Baumann, President and CEO, GL Industrial (1)

• Tracy Pearson, President and CEO, Perlick Corp. (2)

• Terry Tuttle, President, HellermannTyton North America (3)

• Megan Tzanoukakis, President and CEO, Sussex IM (4)

Breakout sessions: How to Onboard Star Employees

A great onboarding program is key to retention and accelerated productivity – create a better employee experience from the start.

Navigating the Future: AI and Automation in Manufacturing

Join local manufacturers in a panel discussion exploring how they have integrated AI and automation into their manufacturing processes, driving innovation and operational excellence in their own businesses.

PRESENTING SPONSOR: SPONSOR: SEMINAR SPONSOR: EXHIBIT SPONSOR:

From the Marquette Interchange to the Domes

This undated photo shows the area near the Marquette Interchange looking to the southwest. The Mitchell Park Domes are in the distance along with the 16th Street Viaduct. Among the businesses just beyond the interchange are Lubotsky Tires and Milwaukee Casket Company.

— Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Public Library / Historic Photo Collection

COMMENTARY

Milwaukee is a business magnet

MILWAUKEE TOOL, Fiserv, Michels, Rite-Hite, Twin Disc, Church Mutual, Manitowoc Company and Mayville Engineering. What do these companies have in common?

Within the past five years, all of them have either moved their headquarters to the city of Milwaukee, have added an office in Milwaukee, or have announced plans to do so. In most of these cases, the companies said they want an office in Milwaukee to help attract the talent they need to grow their business.

For decades after World War II Milwaukee lost a large number of businesses, some heading to the suburbs, others to different states or countries seeking lower-cost labor.

Milwaukee’s population has fallen steadily since the 1960s, and the city is still struggling with serious issues, including racial segregation, poverty and crime.

Even so, Milwaukee has significant economic

advantages, such as population density and cultural and entertainment amenities, that attract the talent businesses need.

Some companies are moving to Milwaukee from the suburbs. Rite-Hite, formerly based in Brown Deer, completed a new headquarters development in Reed Street Yards in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, bringing 300 employees. Milwaukee Tool opened a downtown Milwaukee office, where it has 900 employees and plans to grow its staff there to 1,200. Fiserv will soon move its headquarters from Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee and plans to eventually have 780 employees there.

What’s been even more interesting is seeing companies from outside of the Milwaukee area choosing to establish an office in the city. As part of a $100 million mixed-use development in Milwaukee, Brownsville-based Michels Corp. established an office on the top floors of an eight-story office building. Manitowoc Company moved its headquarters to an office building on Milwaukee’s far northwest side.

Last year, Merrill-based Church Mutual Insurance opened an office in downtown Milwaukee. The company said its Milwaukee office will en -

VOLUME 29, NUMBER 8 | SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

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 | advertising@biztimes.com

EDITORIAL: 414-336-7120 | andrew.weiland@biztimes.com

REPRINTS: 414-336-7100 | reprints@biztimes.com

PUBLISHER / OWNER

Dan Meyer dan.meyer@biztimes.com

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Mary Ernst mary.ernst@biztimes.com

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT / OWNER

Kate Meyer kate.meyer@biztimes.com

EDITORIAL

EDITOR

Andrew Weiland andrew.weiland@biztimes.com

MANAGING EDITOR Arthur Thomas arthur.thomas@biztimes.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Maredithe Meyer maredithe.meyer@biztimes.com

REPORTER Ashley Smart ashley.smart@biztimes.com

REPORTER Cara Spoto cara.spoto@biztimes.com

REPORTER Hunter Turpin hunter.turpin@biztimes.com

INTERN REPORTER Ellie Batten ellie.batten@biztimes.com

SALES & MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF SALES

Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Paddy Kieckhefer paddy.kieckhefer@biztimes.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Dylan Dobson dylan.dobson@biztimes.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christy Peterson christy.peterson@biztimes.com

SALES ADMIN Kristin Anderson kristin.anderson@biztimes.com

ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Sue Herzog sue.herzog@biztimes.com

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE/CIRCULATION Derik Sneide derik.sneide@biztimes.com

PRODUCTION & DESIGN

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com

Independent & Locally Owned Founded 1995 —

hance its recruiting efforts providing access to a diverse pool of young talent. It also offers an option for an urban location for employees who wish to remain in Wisconsin but don’t want to live in a smaller city.

That’s a formula that could continue to attract more companies from smaller Wisconsin communities to open offices in Milwaukee. Mayville Engineering Co. is the latest example. Its leaders announced plans to move the company’s corporate headquarters to Milwaukee, saying the company, which went public in 2019, needs to be in a larger city to attract the talent it needs.

For similar reasons, don’t be surprised if companies like Michels, Church Mutual and Associated Bank eventually decide to make their Milwaukee offices the headquarters for their companies. n

ANDREW WEILAND

EDITOR

/ 414-336-7120

/ andrew.weiland@biztimes.com

/ @AndrewWeiland

United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County will provide 50,000 computers to low-income families over the next three years.

The nonprofit made the announcement late last month at the kickoff for its 2023 Community Campaign, which runs through December.

The fundraising goal is $57 million – the same number as last year – and will be focused on stopping family homelessness, bridging the technological divide for under-resourced families, improving workforce transportation and providing

UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY TO PROVIDE 50,000 COMPUTERS TO TECH-CHALLENGED FAMILIES calendar

school-based mental health services to high schools.

The plan to purchase computers for needy families is unique since United Way won’t necessarily be writing a check to a nonprofit but will aim to solve the hardware problem more directly.

“We all know that the digital divide existed before the pandemic, yet over the past few years, it has continued to widen and get worse,” said campaign co-chair Sheldon Cuffie of American Family Insurance. “This has impacted the lives of so many people in our community.”

—Cara Spoto, staff writer

SPOTLIGHT

Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary will host its Rotary Around the World fundraiser from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the River Club of Mequon, 12400 N. Ville Du Parc Drive, Mequon. Tickets are $100.

Joyce’s House will host Book’Nic, a literary-focused picnic and fundraiser from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 5531 W. North Ave., Milwaukee. A donation pays for one basket, one blanket, lunch for two people and Book’Nic memorabilia. Event will include activities for adults and children.

The Center for Urban Teaching will host a 20th Anniversary celebration and fundraising event at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6 at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee. Tickets range from $150 for an individual or $1,500 for a table of 10 people.

The South Milwaukee Public Library will host a Family Bowling Fundraiser from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22 at Classic Lanes Oak Creek, 7501 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek. Tickets are $25 and include three games, shoe rental, pizza and soda. Proceeds will go to pay for children’s library materials.

DONATION ROUNDUP

Generac Power Systems donated $55,000 to the American Red Cross of Wisconsin to purchase a new ProMaster 3500 blood services vehicle. | The Milwaukee Building Trades Council partnered with United Way to deliver more than 4,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to Milwaukee-area schools. | Hupy and Abraham donated $10,000 to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. | Viewers of WISN-TV Channel 12 helped raise $53,236 through the Class Act School Supply Drive for children across Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. | Cousins Subs donated $13,650 in grants to area organizations through its Make It Better Foundation. Recipients included Kingdom Workers and Neighborhood House Community Center.

MOBILISE

790 N. Milwaukee St., Ste. 316, Milwaukee, WI 53202 (414) 424-2414 | mobilisewi.org

Facebook: facebook.com/mobiliSEwi

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mobilisewi

Year founded: 2015 (under the name Regional Transit Leadership Council)

Mission statement: MobiliSE unites leaders around shared strategies and actions to address southeastern Wisconsin’s transportation challenges.

Primary focus: MobiliSE is a convener, an advocate and leader in the area of multimodal transportation in southeastern Wisconsin. We advocate for better and more innovative transit and transportation options across our region. We oversee FlexRide Milwaukee, an on-demand workforce transportation program that has served over 1,200 riders since its launch in March 2022, helping them access 185 job locations in suburban communities outside the scope of public transit.

Number of employees: 2

Key donors: MobiliSE is funded by local philanthropic organizations and businesses. Philanthropic supporters include United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, Bader Philanthropies and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Our business supporters include GRAEF, HNTB, the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center.

Our signature program FlexRide Milwaukee is funded through a $4.2 million grant from the State

of Wisconsin Workforce Innovation Grant program, federal American Rescue Plan Act funds from Milwaukee County and contributions from participating businesses.

Executive leadership: Dave Steele, executive director; Joy Loomis, program manager of FlexRide Milwaukee

Board of directors: Kathy Ehley, chair, former Mayor of Wauwatosa; Samantha Maldonado, vice chair, Chaksa Consulting; Tracy Johnson, treasurer, CARW; John Kissinger, immediate past chair, GRAEF.

Jeramey Jannene, Sarah Greenberg, Corey Zetts, Marjorie Rucker, Andrew Davis, Matt McGovern, Ashley Booth, Jeff Polenske, Beth Wierick, Lucia Lora-Lara Galazewski, Charles Green Jr., Avelina Poppert.

Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes

What roles are you looking to fill?

Legal, marketing

Ways the business community can help: Businesses can help by becoming a member of MobiliSE, supporting our ongoing work to bring new transportation choices to our region. Our business members understand that better and more innovative transit and transportation choices are critical for the long-term success of the Milwaukee region.

5

MINUTES

WITH… JOEL PLANT

IN THE FACE of rising construction costs and interest rates, Madison-based concert promoter FPC Live is revising its plans for an indoor music venue development in downtown Milwaukee’s Deer District. The project – originally billed as a “complex” housing one 4,000-capacity venue and a second 800-capacity venue – will be scaled back to a single concert venue with capacity for 4,500 people, to be built on the northeast section of the former Bradley Center block, just south of Fiserv Forum. With an estimated cost of $60 million, up from the initial estimate of $50 million, construction is now expected to break ground late this year for an early 2025 opening. BizTimes associate editor Maredithe Meyer recently spoke with Joel Plant, chief executive officer of FPC Live parent company Frank Productions, about what led to the decision to alter the project and what it means for Milwaukee’s live music scene.

DECIDING FACTORS

“There were two big variables that moved on us in the past year, one was material cost. You saw steep increases in almost every commodity and then you saw decreases in commodities like wood. Our building has no wood, it’s all steel and concrete. Those prices are elevated from a year and a half ago and beyond, and they’re likely to stay elevated. The other piece is interest rates. The loans that we had committed to but not closed on got more expensive. We needed to make this room viable, and nobody is going to build a room that they can’t support. In order to do

that, we made the decision to focus solely on the large room, enhance the amenities inside a bit and increase the capacity, which makes the room more scalable for more artists.

“Our ability to secure financing was not in question. The question was, how much financing do we want to secure?”

DRAWBACKS OF ONE VENUE VERSUS TWO

“There’s always a risk of missing an artist for a variety of reasons. … The best scenario was that two-room complex, but the variables changed on us. What we’re giving up is the ability to bring artists into a state-ofthe-art, 800-capacity room. There are other rooms in the market that will serve artists at that level of their career. We’ve booked into all the rooms in Milwaukee historically and moving forward, we’re optimistic that we will have the opportunity to book into some of those rooms in the future. I think the market is poised to continue to see pretty dramatic increases in the range and size of artists.

“The balance between the small room and large room always was the smaller room was going to have more shows with a much lower attendee count and the large room was going to have fewer shows with much higher average attendee count. We’re still anticipating 135,000 to 175,000 ticket buyers to just the large room, so fewer events but a substantial amount of visitors to Deer District and Milwaukee.”

MORE OPPOSITION EXPECTED?

“A lot of the opposition that we heard about locally (last year) was about the 800-capacity room, concerns from some of the smaller venue operators in town about that room cannibalizing some of their business. With the removal of that room, I would expect at least neutrality or, if not, support from some of those smaller venues who recognize objectively that a new, state-of-the-art room that is of a higher capacity than their room will bring more interest to the market.” n

Chief executive officer, Frank Productions

Rendering of FPC Live’s music venue complex in the Deer District, now being scaled down from two concert halls to one.

Joel Plant

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