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OCTOBER 12 • 11AM WEBCAST • BE OUR GUEST! COMPLIMENTARY REGISTRATION. THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR Register for free at biztimes.com/businessforum NAVY TOTHESCOTTVETERAN,SEALDALYJOURNEYELITE Scott is a veteran of the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams and served as a Chief Petty Officer, a Master Training Specialist, and as the Officer In Charge of Naval Special Warfare Detachment Ohio. BizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukee
biztimes.com$6.00»20229,OCT-26SEP HEAVY LIFTERS Doral Corp. is one of the region’s fastest-growing companies, and one of Milwaukee’s best kept secrets BizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukeeBizTimesMilwaukee
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AD biztimes.com 18 Heavy lifters Doral Corp. is one of the region’s fastest-growing companies, and one of Milwaukee’s best kept secrets COVER STORY Contents » JUL 19 - AUG 15, 2021 Special Reports 22 Entrepreneurship Coverage includes a look at how Tall Guy and a Grill Catering has overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, and a fire, and launched new concepts under a new family of brands name. 25 Future 50 Meet the Winners of the 2022 Future 50 Awards, recognizing the fastest-growing companies in southeastern Wisconsin. The program returns after a two-year hiatus. 5 Leading Edge 5 BYNOWTHE NUMBERS 6 THE FRANCHISEE – Stretch Zone 8 PROJECT PITCH IT – Debtle 9 GETTING THERE Gina Balke, FaB Wisconsin 10 INNOVATIONS – Marathon Machines 12 Biz News 12 Mission-focused Herb Kohler transformed his company and left a lasting mark on Wisconsin 14 THE INTERVIEW – Maxie C. Jackson III 16 Real Estate 25 Future 50 Awards 66 Strategies 66 HUMAN RESOURCES Dan Steininger 67 A BRIEF CASE 69 Biz Connections 69 PAY IT FORWARD – Jack Jacobson, Newmark 70 GLANCE AT COMMENTARYYESTERYEAR 71 5 MINUTES WITH… Rolando Rodriguez, president and CEO of Marcus Theatres MilwaukeeBizTimes BizTimesbyDecemberandAugustJuly,March,February,January,inmonthlyexceptbi-weekly,publishedisMilwaukeeBizTimes2022.9,October–202226,September10,Number28,Volume017813)#USPS&1095-936X(ISSN POSTMASTER:offices.mailingadditionalandWIMilwaukee,atpaidpostagePeriodicalseach.$9areissuesBack$6.ispricecopySingle$108.isratesubscriptionannualBasicUSA.53202-6120,WIMilwaukee,403,SuiteSt.,JeffersonN.126atLLCMedia reserved.rightsAllLLC.MediaBizTimesby2022copyrightcontentsEntire53202-6120.WIMilwaukee,403,SuiteSt.,JeffersonN.126Milwaukee,BizTimestocorrectionsaddressSendFACILITIES:MILITARYANDNON-POSTALCFS.toUAAallSend LOCALLY OWNED FOR 27 YEARSOCT 9, 2022 4 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 townbank.us/yourpartner $6,900,000 LineMANUFACTURERofcreditand term note BUSINESS®BANKWISCONSIN’SFOR Glenn Margraff Dan Brenton
WORTH grant will be used to leverage a total of $11 million to acquire 100 homes per year, said Whaley-Smith.Aspartofthe WORTH initia tive, the CDA has outlined several strategies: Acquire and rehab roughly 100 properties that would otherwise likely be owned by investors; scale homebuyer coun seling and down payment systems to support 1,000 families of color per year by growing these systems 10% per year; maximize existing inventory systems by producing 75 starter homes available each year for families of color; and advance other supportive systems that help increase homebuyer success rates.
BY THE NUMBERS
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (far left), Gigi Dixon, head of external engagement for Wells Fargo, and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, hold up a $7.5 million ceremonial check from Wells Fargo. The money will be used to boost homeownership among Milwaukee residents of color.
By Cara Spoto, staff writer
During a press conference an
“I like that they are recognizing their history and the roles they and other companies played in literally blocking people out of the hous ing market, and (they) are doing something about it,” said John son, who is the first homeowner in her
The first $2 million of the
A $7.5 million grant from Wells Fargo to boost homeownership among Milwaukee families of color will be spent on acquiring homes, down payments and financial counseling for would-be home owners.The donation is being done through the San Francisco-based company’s Wealth Opportunities Restored Through Homeown ership initiative, a $60 million national effort to address systemic
barriers to homeownership for people of color. Milwaukee is just one of eight markets across the U.S. to receive a WORTH grant.
Teig Whaley-Smith, chief alliance officer of the Community Development Alliance, and Michael Gosman, president and chief executive officer of Acts Housing, will lead the effort, which aims to create 5,000 new homeowners of color in the city by the end of 2025.
$7.5 million Wells Fargo housing grant will fund home acquisition, down payments, counseling
According to U.S. Census data, Milwaukee has the second lowest homeownership rate of major cities in the United States. White home ownership is at about 56%, Latino homeownership is at 38% and Black homeownership is at 27%.
Future strategies will focus on reducing Milwaukee’s homeown ership gap through down payment assistance and converting vacant lots into entry-level homes.
nouncing the funding, Gigi Dixon, head of external engagement for Wells Fargo in North Carolina, pointed to Rae Johnson, who be came a new homeowner in 2020, thanks to Acts Housing. The press conference took place just before Acts Housing’s Neighborhood Table 2022 fundraiser, celebrating the more than 3,214 families the nonprofit has helped purchase homes over the past 26 years. Acts helps prospective homebuyers in Milwaukee and Beloit who have income, credit, language and oth er barriers by providing financial and homebuyer coaching, real estate brokerage services, rehab coaching, loans and grants and post-closing services.
biztimes.com / 5 Leading Edge
Speaking after the event, Johnson said she was happy to see Wells Fargo stepping up to address racial inequality in the housing market.
“Itfamily.feels really humbling,” she said of being a homeowner. “We didn’t grow up with a lot of financial literary so just knowing that I am creating this financial legacy for my 12-year-old son is reassuring.” nto
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$create.148 MILLION The proposed NorthSouth Bus Rapid Transit route along 27th Street in Milwaukee County would cost
MEYERMAREDITHE
Adam Messerschmidt, general manager of the Brookfield studio, works with a client during a 30-minute stretch session.
JANUARY – APRIL 2021:
With the openings of the Oak Creek, Madison and Glendale locations, ROM LLC is expecting to have all six of its locations up and running by mid-October.
“We wanted to make a very big splash in the Wisconsin market. We felt it was very important to get it up and running as quickly as we could.”
“If you need something serious, you will use the health care system, but we feel there is more opportunity for preventative care or purely managing the aches and pains people have in a for-cash environment.”
JoAnn Ley, and Tony and Beckie Kaczkowski
The Kaczkowskis officially decide to bring Stretch Zone to the Wisconsin market under a six-unit fran chise agreement. They recruit longtime friend JoAnn Ley as a third partner and director of operations.
FALL 2022:
THE FRANCHISE: Fort Lauderdale, Flor ida-based Stretch Zone offers 30-minute practitioner-assisted stretching sessions using a proprietary stretch method and patented equipment. Founded by Jorden Gold in 2004, the company aims to help clients of all ages achieve better quality of life by increasing and maintaining the body’s range of motion.
THE FRANCHISE FEE: $49,500
JUNE 2022:
Stretch Zone’s storefront at Brookfield Square mall.
“I had no clue what practitioner-assisted stretching was, … so Beckie and I schedule a demo (at Stretch Zone) in Naples (Florida). We went through it and thought, this is brilliant. Having a background in this field – sports medicine, therapy, orthopedics – it just made so much sense.”
JANUARY 2022:
6 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 Leading Edge @BIZTIMESMEDIA Real-time news
The first Milwaukee-area Stretch Zone loca tion opens at W176 N9356 Rivercrest Drive in Menomonee Falls, followed by locations in Dela field and Brookfield later in the summer.
FRANCHISEEthe
ROM LLC (DBA STRETCH ZONE) STRETCH ZONE
Following the sale of their successful Pewau kee-based industrial sports medicine company, Tony and Beckie Kaczkowski had retired in their late 40s which, as Tony points out, “may sound like the American Dream, but it’s kind of boring to tell you the truth.” One day while scrolling through In stagram, he sees a post from former NFL quarter back Drew Brees announcing a franchise deal with Stretch Zone, and it sparks his interest.
What's the most ASPECTCHALLENGINGOFBEINGANENTREPRENEUR?
biztimes.com / 7 BIZ1COMPASS 2 3 4 5
“For me, the hardest part of being an entrepreneur is trying to balance work with my family and personal life. Owning your own business takes a lot of time; there is always more you can do and it is really hard to truly ever turn it off.”
3 EMMA CAROLLO
1 KELLEY KEMPEL
“What you don’t hear often is the cost of growth. Sometimes it’s less profitable to grow. Having a detailed plan of action still won’t help from the unknown but grit, experience and resilience will help get you there!” n
Co-founder and chief operating officer, Fiveable “Being able to stick to your original grand vision and idea while you have other people’s ideas and opinions thrown at you constantly. You can’t be so easily swayed by others, or you’ll lose in the end.”
“As someone new to entrepreneurship, one of the biggest challenges has been finding community. Coming from a cor porate environment, I had a team and coworkers with similar experiences to connect with every day. Building a business alone means seeking out relations with other entrepreneurs for support and friendship.”
2 NISHANT DESHPANDE
4 TÁN HO
Owner and creative director, Hidden Path Creative
Chief executive officer and co-founder, Investii
Founder, BlackBear Children’s Boutique
5 TRUEMAN MCGEE
“The uncertainty. In startups, the ‘unknown’ pertains to pret ty much everything, including salary, finding market, getting funding and the going concern of the company. A startup can go under without much notice. It’s scary (and obviously not ideal), but it’s the truth. To keep putting one foot in front of the other when the road ahead is pitch black is terrifying. While it’s hard, the joys of building products that people love makes it all worth it.”
Owner, Funky Fresh Spring Rolls
Houston Hoskins was working at a univer sity at the time and noticed the same debt
“When I sat with them, I realized lots of patients were calling with questions about their bills and also trying to make partial payments and negotiate,” she said.
The business, featured earlier this year on Project Pitch It on WISN-TV Channel 12, was created by Sheboygan couple Stephanie and Houston Hoskins. The company’s cloud-based software helps organizations streamline the ne gotiation, settlement and payment of overdue customer
DEBTLECO-FOUNDERS:CO. Stephanie Hoskins, chief executive officer; Houston Hoskins, chief operations officer WEBSITE: debtle.dudaone.com WHAT IT DOES: Offers a software that streamlines the negotiation, settlement and payment of overdue customer invoices. FOUNDED: 2019 PROJECT PITCH IT Debtle aims to companiesconsumershelpandtackleoutstandingbills By Ashley Smart, staff writer
All the couple needed to do to tackle this issue was find a software that would automate the negotiation process and enable a company to set guidelines for how offers can be made. The only problem was that software didn’t exist yet. The couple ended up finding a Wisconsin software studio to build out the first version of Debtle’s platform. That development process took about six months.
8 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 Leading Edge
“It’s very impactful to society to be able to help families avoid going to third party collection agencies,” Stephanie Hoskins said. “Patients are less likely to see a provider if they owe them money. It’s impacting access to care. We started hearing horror stories of people be ing sent to collections. That’s when it became a social impact mission too.”
problems in higher education.
A
Debtle’s pilot run involved inviting approx imately 3,000 patients from across the country to use the software, targeting several indus
UP TO 4 SPONSORSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE TO ANCHOR THE PROJECT PITCH IT PAGE AND BRAND YOUR COMPANY AS A SUPPORTER OF STARTUPS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP. RESERVE YOUR 2022 SPONSORSHIP TODAY! Sponsor:CONTACT LINDA CRAWFORD AT: ADVERTISE@BIZTIMES.COM OR (414) 336-7112 SUPPORT MKE’S STARTUPS!
Stephanie and Houston Hoskins
Thus far, Debtle has raised $190,000 from outside investors and $50,000 from pitch com petitions. n
n overdue bill can be one of life’s most stressful scenarios. That’s where Debtle Co. comes in.
The organization would write off 90% of a patient’s debt on day one, assuming that most of it would not be collected. The couple saw a business opportunity that would not only ben efit the hospital system, but also the patients in the long run.
Stephanieinvoices.Hoskins spent several years in the health care industry working for different organizations on corporate finance and strate gy. In one of her positions, Hoskins was tasked with analyzing the organization’s expenses and finding ways to be more cost efficient. While examining different departments, Hoskins looked at the call center – which was a sizable expense – to see why people were calling.
tries.“Now what we’re doing is automating finan cial assistance and then automating discount programs. Once that new amount is agreed on, we connect patients with as many ways to pay as possible,” Stephanie Hoskins said.
Don’t have a broker? Contact Barb Smith at bsmith@mmac.org or 414-287-4173.
“The (food and beverage) industry is on a roll. Coming off of COVID-19, the industry is so much stronger. Wisconsin continues to be a hub for food and beverage manufacturers. There are obviously some other issues now affecting the industry – supply chain, talent attraction – but I think the industry being able to survive COVID and get through it was huge. I’m really excited for the future. FaB just celebrated its 10th year, and we’re actually going to be doing some strategic planning … and looking at what opportunities our members want and what else we can do to help them grow and be better.”
Discounted rates, quality employee benefits and surplus refund*potential when medical claims are lower than expected. They’re all possible with a UnitedHealthcare Level Funded health plan for your business through the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC).
What excites you most about your new role?
What’s your biggest goal for the organization?
biztimes.com / 9
Get all the details from an MMAC-affiliated broker or visit uhc.com/mmac
GINA BALKE Executive director FaB AGE:Wisconsin 43 HOMETOWN: Racine EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison PREVIOUS POSITION: Chief operating officer at FaB Wisconsin
average health plan surplus refund among the 28.7% of MMAC Level Funded plan sponsors who received a refund in 2021*
$9,300
Administrative services provided by United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates, and UnitedHealthcare Service LLC in NY. Stop-loss insurance is underwritten by All Savers Insurance Company (except CA, MA, MN, NJ and NY), UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company in MA and MN, UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company in NJ, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York in NY, and All Savers Life Insurance Company of California in CA. B2B EI221554556.0 5/22 © 2022 United HealthCare Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 22-1424434-B
“I’d really like to look at some of these issues, like supply chain and talent attraction, and try to look at some other opportunities to approach the problem. We try to share a lot of best practices. For example, we had a company that was really struggling with hiring people and so they decided to do something different and looked at what they could do to automate some machines. This was a third-generation family company that had a lot of the same workers, and they didn’t want people to feel like automation was going to take over their jobs, but they also wanted to improve. … They were able to move people into different positions and no one lost their job, but they were able to be more successful. … If there are ways that we could look at how to help the industry tackle some of these problems in a different way, that’s something we would love to do.”
“My children keep me pretty busy. I’m also really into seasonal decorating – I’m that person who has my Christmas decorations up the day after Halloween, but I’ve learned to embrace it. My husband and I like to be outside a lot. We like to go ATVing in the fall and snowmobiling in the winter. … I love walking, I take my dogs on walks a lot, which is a nice way to be outside and relax.” n
GETTING THERE
*Among the UnitedHealthcare Level Funded plan sponsors who were MMAC members, 28.7% received a surplus refund in 2021, the average of which was $9,300. UnitedHealthcare internal reconciliation analysis, Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2021. Please consult a tax and/or legal advisor to determine if, by receiving this refund, there are any restrictions or obligations. Surplus refund available only where allowed by law.
How do you spend time outside of work?
Teaming up to help bring your benefits costs down
FOUNDER: Glenn Reid
es can also be locked so residents can’t change settings. The target market for Model M machines will primarily be multi-family buildings initially in the Milwaukee area, with plans to expand into more locations. Marathon is simultane ously launching Laundry Network, a cloud-based software for remote laundryMarathonmanagement.Machines is currently selling its flagship Model X direct to consumers online, but the com pany is working with two distribu tors – one on the West Coast and one locally – to get its machines in stores. Those distributors are expected to go live in the next few months.Model X machines have only been available for the past few months, and Reid said the number of units sold is in the hundreds. The price point for a Model X machine is typically $2,650, while competing models from compa nies like LG and Whirlpool cost upwards of $2,800.
Reid’s idea for a washer-dryer combo was sparked by an ad he spotted while glancing through a magazine in 2016. The ad was for a washer and a dryer; Reid couldn’t tell the difference between the two.“I started obsessing about that and realizing it didn’t need to be that way,” Reid said.
By Ashley Smart, staff writer
“(Milwaukee) is a manufac turing corridor, and it’s full of smart people and money,” said Reid. “Everything is here except appetite for risk; no one wants to do anything even slightly risky. I thought, I can bring that with me.”
CONTRIBUTED
INN VATI NS
marathonlaundry.com
The main difference between the Model X and Model M is the kind of software used and who can access what data. With Model M, landlords can do tasks unique to that machine, such as granting permission to a repair person to complete work or removing a former tenant from the machine’s memory. Some machine preferenc
It took about three years be fore the company had a prototype and another two years of tweaking the machine until Model X was ready for the market. A $2.7 million seed round, completed in late 2020, also helped complete the launch of Model X.
FOUNDED: 2016
AFTER INTRODUCING its flag ship product at the start of this year, Milwaukee-based Marathon Machines Inc. has launched a new model of its combined washer and dryer.The internet-connected wash er-dryer machine was mastermind ed by Marathon Machines founder and chief executive officer Glenn Reid, who was hired by Steve Jobs in the late 1990s to spearhead the creation of Apple’s video editing software iMovie.
Reid launched Marathon in 2016, and the company’s flagship Model X went to market five years later. The latest iteration, known as Model M, hit the market in late August.Model M capitalizes on the shared laundry experience in places like dorms, apartments and other multi-family buildings. Reid said property owners could make use of having more data about their laundry machines, such as how often a machine is being used or what kind of repairs need to be done.“Laundry is, I think, a conten tious resource,” Reid said. “You sort of fight over it a bit, even with your own family. Knowing the state your machine is in makes a lot more sense for a washing machine than it does almost anything else.”
ny, located at 1825 W. St. Paul Ave., currently has 10 employees, includ ing five full-time positions.
DISRUPTING THE LAUNDRY INDUSTRY
Marathon Machines Inc. Milwaukee
Some larger appliance compa nies including Whirlpool, LG and Samsung have tested out “smart” washing machines that have Wi-Fi chips, but Reid said his company’s machines provide substantial ly more data to users since the machines have been entirely re-en gineered to support use of the internet.
While Reid is not a believer in the smart home, he is a believer in making the everyday task of doing laundry less of a chore for the average person. His mantra is it’s time for the Internet of Things to actually do something useful, and he thinks Marathon Machines can be the disruptor of the $14 billion domestic laundry machine industry.“Ican’t say anybody gets excit ed about laundry, but if you make it less of a hassle, it really grows on you,” Reid said. n
Glenn Reid, founder and CEO of Marathon Machines, in the company’s Milwaukee facility at 1825 W. St. Paul Ave.
10 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 Leading Edge
Marathon Machines introduces latest washer-dryer combo for multi-family buildings
INNOVATION: Combined washer and dryer that can send data to smart phones
He started Marathon Machines later that year and moved to Milwaukee in 2019 after visiting the city and learning how affordable the cost of real estate was com pared to Silicon Valley. The compa
“We work with a lot of Fortune 500 compa nies and nonprofits. Then we work with a lot of venues, like the Pfister Hotel. We had people working at a big nonprofit gala there recently. We also do work for theaters
Chicago St., Milwaukee NEIGHBORHOOD: Third Ward FOUNDED: 1989 OWNERS: Bob and Lana Wiese SERVICE: Audio-visual equipment rental and sales
STUDIO GEAR
“When we started renting in the Third Ward, people thought we were crazy be cause the neighbor hood was basically
“We purchased the building in 1998. It had formerly been Forrer Interiors.BusinessesAllthree of our locations have been in the Third Ward. Our first office was at 126 N. Jeffer son St. Our second location was at 117 N. Broadway.”
What’s the history of Studio Gear and this office location?
How has you’vechangedneighborhoodthesincebeenthere?
just warehouses. But we decided to put our business there be cause we wanted to be close to downtown and the larger busi ness corporations. And the difference in rent between being north of the freeway or in the Third Ward was huge at the time. “We also lived in the Third Ward for 20 years. The differ ence between now and then is this: Our condo was at 318 E. Chicago St. On any given day, on a Friday or Saturday evening, if we had friends stop ping to see us, they could park right in front of our building. Now, 318 Chicago
is next door to the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel.”
Theatre.”thesomethingandplacesworkedWisconsin.throughoutWehavecloselywithlikeTheRep,wearejustdoingnowwithSkylightMusic n 511 E.
35 and THRIVI NG Entrepreneurship and Financial Wellness Training • Lending • Coaching The WWBIC Times OPEN for BUSINESS Expanding Economic Equity and Empowerment Potawatomi Hotel & Casino | Milwaukee, WI 10:30 am, Small Biz Market 12:00 noon, Luncheon and Program Sponsors begin at $1,000 | Individual Tickets $75 Register now at WWBIC.givesmart.com Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) supports entrepreneurs with financial wellness & business training, one-on-one coaching and lending LISA MENSAH FinanceOpportunityNetwork BETANCOURTDANIEL Community First Fund CONNIE EVANS Association for Enterprise Opportunity NOVEMBER 15, 2022 IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD BIZ POLL Share your opinion! Visit biztimes.com/bizpoll to cast your vote in the next Biz Poll. Kohl’s plans to open a store in downtown Milwaukee. Will it be successful? YES: 58.6% NO: 41.4%
Who are your clients?
In a 2007 cover story interview
Skeptics doubted people would come to stay at a luxury resort in Sheboygan County. But Kohler believed a top-notch resort would be a draw. Today, The American Club is the Midwest’s only AAA Five Diamond Resort Hotel.The success of the American Club led to Kohler’s decision to build world-class golf courses in Sheboygan County. After see ing many American Club guests playing golf at local golf courses, Kohler decided to build his own, first Blackwolf Run in Kohler, which opened in 1988, and then Whis tling Straits, which opened in 1998 north of ThoseSheboygan.courseshave hosted several championship professional golf tournaments, establishing Wisconsin as a world-class golf destination. Blackwolf Run twice hosted the U.S. Women’s Open. Whistling Straits hosted the PGA Championship three times, the U.S. Senior Open, and the Ryder Cup in 2021.
By Andrew Weiland, staff writer
Growing up, Kohler spent many summers as a laborer on the Kohler farms and in most of the manufacturing divisions of Kohler Co. He rejoined the family busi ness full time as an R&D technician shortly after graduation from college in 1965. Kohler became a member of the company’s board in 1967. When his father, who was chairman and chief executive officer of the company, died a year later, he became vice president of operations.
Kohler was elected chairman of the board and CEO in 1972 and president in 1974, at the age of 35.
12 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
Herbert V. Kohler Jr.
Mission-focused Herb Kohler transformed his company and left lasting mark on Wisconsin
Herb Kohler Jr. served Kohler Co. for 61 years.
company’s board of directors op posed, but Kohler persisted with it.
Kohler transformed the compa ny, a manufacturer of bathroom fixtures, which influenced how Americans thought of the design of their kitchens and bathrooms.
During his 43-year span as
In 2015, Kohler became the company’s executive chairman, with his son David taking the helm as president and CEO. Following Herb Kohler’s death, the compa ny’s board of directors elected David Kohler to serve as board chair and CEO.
WISCONSIN LOST one of its most successful, visionary and iconic business leaders when Herbert V. Kohler Jr. – who led and trans formed the Kohler Co., founded by his grandfather, into a global giant and developed golf courses in Sheboygan County that estab lished the state as an internation ally-known golf destination – died recently at the age of 83.
In 1967, the company launched The Bold Look of Kohler, a mar keting campaign featuring toilets, bathtubs, sinks and other fixtures in unique colors. Kohler seized on The Bold Look of Kohler as a new guiding spirit for the company, positioning it as a producer and provider of high-end products and services. He used The Bold Look of Kohler to promote the company’s products as not merely utilitarian, but high-quality pieces that made statements of design and style, especially for luxury bathrooms and kitchens.
BizNews FEATURE
“Herb Kohler’s personal mis sion was to create delight,” the company said in a news release. “For him, there was no halfway. To warrant the ‘Kohler’ nameplate, a product had to be more than durable, functional, and attractive. It had to be joyful and memorable. … Herb, more than anyone, lived and breathed Kohler Co.’s mission of providing customers with gracious living each day. He was a big personality who was steadfast in guiding Kohler associates in the relentless pursuit of the company mission, and he took immense joy in witnessing his customers’ delight firsthand.”
CEO, Kohler grew the company into a world leader, with more than 40,000 employees and dozens of manufacturing facilities on six continents.Helping to drive that growth, the company made more than 48 acquisitions under Kohler’s lead ership. Kohler formed the Kohler Interiors Group – the company’s furniture, tile and decorative products division – with several acquisitions and also built up the Kohler Power business and ex panded its portfolio with a series of acquisitions.PerhapsKohler’s most high-profile move in leading the company was the establishment of its hospitality division. That began in the late 1970s, when he decided to redevelop The American Club, originally built as an immigrant workers’ dormitory in 1918, into a luxury resort. It was a move that the
Nonprofit Awards
Speakers:
“Now, to do that, we have a couple of guiding principles. The
KOHLER:success?
for BizTimes Milwaukee (then known as Small Business Times), Kohler provided insight on his leadership philosophy. Here is a portion of that interview:
(1) (2)
Corporate Citizenship Awards
“We have a mission. Everyone in this company, regardless of what business they are in … are in pursuit of this mission. Our mission is to raise the level of gracious living of everyone touched by our products and services. That means that every customer … that buys a plumbing product, or an engine or a generator, plays a game of golf or stays in a hotel room, comes away feeling strongly positive about that experience. So much so that if that person talks about that experience a year from now or five years from now, invariably that person will smile. If we pro duce smiles, we’ve done our job. Not just momentary smiles, but deep-seeded smiles. If we pro duce smiles consistently, we are attaining our mission. But we have to do it thousands upon thousands of times every day.
biztimes.com / 13 PLATINUM SPONSOR: 2022 CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP PRESENTS: 2022 Awards Categories: Register biztimes.com/npawardstoday!
BIZTIMES: What key philoso phies and best practices are most important to your compa ny’s
Going Beyond Giving Back
BIZTIMES: How would you de scribe your leadership style, and how would you say it compares to the leadership styles of the other members of your family that have run this company?
“The first best prac tice is that we are privately held. Our people are not focused on quarterly results, even though we maintain many of the disciplines of publicly held corporations. We look at longer-term results. And we’re considerably different than a corporation owned by private eq uity. Those folks have mountains of debt and have to suffer the rigors of extracting cash from those com panies. Our weakest competitors are either publicly held or owned by private equity.
Nonprofit Organization of the Year (Small & Large Categories) •
Nonprofit Collaboration of the Year • Nonprofit Executive of the Year Social Enterprise
“The second principle is that we have a single standard of qual ity in everything we do. Making an engine, making a bathtub, producing a restaurant. It’s that single standard of quality above the norm that creates the reputa tion of “AndKohler.then there’s a third principle that’s pretty important. And that is we take 90% of our earnings and reinvest it back into
•
Before the awards, Jim Kacmarcik and Gretchen Jameson of Kacmarcik Enterprises will also share best practices for corporations looking to give back and discuss the vision for the Kacmarcik Center for Human Performance, a new organization aimed at helping everyone pursue their best life at home, at work and in their community.
- Jim Kacmarcik, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kacmarcik Enterprises (1)
Friday, November 4, 2022
the business year after year after year. And that produces the fuel for growth.”
Join as we celebrate the region’s top nonprofits and corporate citizens at the 2022 Nonprofit Excellence Awards, including the Marcus family, this year’s lifetime achievement award recipients.
Breakfast & Program – 7:30-9:30am
KOHLER: “We’re all different. What I bring to the party is ideas and the little sparks of fire, of in terest, of potential. What we have in common is that we have this mission and this same set of guid ing principles, and that’s far more important, ultimately far more important than simply trying to drive a profit and loss statement. We will get much better results, financially, by driving the mission with guiding principles than we will (being driven by) a P&L and a balance sheet.” n
Corporate Citizen of the Year • Next Generation Leadership • In-Kind Supporter • Corporate Volunteer of the Year • Lifetime Achievement
- Gretchen Jameson, Group President, Human Performance and Social Impact, Kacmarcik Enterprises (2)
first is that we live on the leading edge in design and technology in products and processes. Nothing we do can be a copy. With a copy, you’re not on the leading edge. That guiding principle, if we in fact do it consistently, is what makes this place so much fun because we are all charged with doing something better today than anything we did yesterday or the day before. Our job is to bring something new to this world, continually, and not clutter it up with the same old thing.
Italian Community Center
Registration & Networking – 7:00-7:30am
there’s an opportunity for Radio Milwaukee to really define the next generation of public media consumers.”
“One of the things that I’m really about when it comes to public radio and public media is community engagement and public service. That’s my north star. That’s why I’m in this field. I also think
PHOTOGRAPHYFELLERANDREW
Maxie C. Jackson III Executive director 88Nine Radio radiomilwaukee.orgMilwaukee
What are some of the challenges that public radio faces today?
“There’s really three things. My wife and I are from the Midwest, and we are about to become empty nesters. We were interested in relocating to the Midwest. Our parents are still alive, and we have family and relatives in Michigan and Chicago. I actually applied for a job here in Wisconsin maybe three or four years back. I was always interested in the market and the community here, but I’m also intrigued by the city itself. I think Milwaukee was identified as the most segregated community in American not too long ago. What really intrigued me about Radio Milwaukee was the mission of the organization, which is to unite a divided or segregated community.
How have your past roles prepared you for this executive director position?
14 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 BizNews
the
What attracted you to this position at 88Nine?
MAXIE C. JACKSON III is the new executive director of nonprofit 88Nine Radio Milwaukee. Jackson has more than three decades of experience in public media, including radio, television, digital and live events. He most recently served as chief content officer for New England Public Media in Amherst, Massachusetts. In a recent interview with BizTimes reporter Ashley Smart, Jackson shared the challenges public radio is facing today and how he hopes to bridge the gap between the station’s different listeners. Interview
“I have been the president and CEO of two national organizations in my career. I was (executive director) at Pacifica Foundation and also president and CEO of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. I think the NFCB position probably prepared me for this job better than any, but there’s also the fact that I’ve worked at some of the premiere public media environments in the country. Being in management positions at those organizations, I’ve seen what good management looks like. I’ve seen how leadership working with productive boards of directors looks like. I saw what it looks like when a strong leader works with an organization that’s all about innovation, creativity and really growing the audience and developing the brand.”
“I think, first and foremost, we’re going through a change in terms of how people consume media in general, but public media as
“I think the other thing is we are transitioning from the baby boomer generation to Gen X, millennials, Gen Z, etc. What motivates those different cohorts to become supporters of public media is different. Becoming nimbler and more dynamic in how we approach revenue and development opportunities is another piece of the puzzle. A third one, which I would say is really important, is our industry has really failed in many respects in reaching diverse communities. It’s a challenge that we at Radio Milwaukee have to undertake, and I think our effort with HYFIN (Radio Milwaukee’s new urban alternative channel) is a direct call to that, but our industry as a whole has really struggled with creating content that crosses racial divides.”
What are some of your immediate goals for Radio Milwaukee?
Who are your top three artists at the moment?
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“Number one, I’m excited about doing that (exploring) with this staff. We have a lot of creative, passionate and very Milwaukeecentric people working at Radio Milwaukee. I’m excited about the opportunity to work with them, our board of directors and our partners in the community. They’re going to help me be able to understand this community in ways I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”
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well. Digital consumption is forcing us to make sure that we produce content differently than perhaps we did when it was just radio and television. Having a digital strategy, understanding how that digital strategy works with your terrestrial strategy, that’s one big piece.
What are you most excited about when it comes to exploring Milwaukee?
“There’s a guy out of the U.K. called Jacob Banks who I’m really hyped on. His music is like neo-soul with a gospel flavor to it. I’m also a big fan of Robert Glasper. His music is… I guess the best way to put it is he leans in on jazz, but he’s very experimental in a young, progressive manner. I won’t even minimize him to jazz. Lastly, I’ll go a little bit more mainstream for you, and just tell you that Kendrick Lamar is a big favorite of mine. I’m a big fan of his artistry, and I think he’s a really deep thinker. I think he’s really dynamic. Those are my favorites, but I will tell you this: My ultimate favorite artist is Prince.” n
Living a Life of Climb demands your best. It requires resourcefulness and the courage to make tough decisions. It calls for a relentless drive to push forward past every challenge and obstacle. It means you lift as you rise to elevate everyone around you along the way.
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“I think, number one, we have to make sure our own house is in order. So, make sure from a foundational standpoint that all of our systems are on go. What I mean by that is we’ve got to make sure that the very foundation of our organization is solid. Do we have the right employees? Is our mission strong? Is our vision focused? Do we have the right systems in place for the people who work here to be efficient and effective? That’s part of it. The bigger, outward facing issue is how do we make sure our content is really focused to hit the mark of the audience that we are primarily targeting? We’ve got two music formats that we present. We need to make sure that we are
hyper-focused with those formats so that we’re not spread too wide.
“I think we also need to ask ourselves if there are other content models that we need to embrace and engage in that would help us unify the community. Music, some would argue, can be a polarizing content model in the first place. There’s a question as to if the 88Nine audience and the HYFIN audience have much overlap. If they do not, and I’ll unpack that as I look at the research, then we have to ask ourselves: What is the nexus?”
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The Medical College of Wisconsin officially broke ground this month to build a cancer re search facility on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus in Wauwatosa.
ANTICIPATED COMPLETION: Late 2024 or early 2025
BREAKING GROUND: MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN CANCER RESEARCH FACILITY
It’s been well documented that over the past few decades, however, as online stores, big-box discount retailers and quick-fix re tail strips have proliferated – lead ing to the collapse of the mall’s economic engine, the department store – indoor shopping centers across the country have lost most of the market share that once made them beacons.
16 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 Real Estate REAL E S TATE WEEKLY – The week’s most significant real estate news → biztimes.com/subscribe
Only malls that innovate, draw from a larger radius will survive, experts say
bulk of their shopping that wasn’t related to food or basic essentials.
In the larger metropolitan Mil waukee area, almost every single indoor mall has either undergone, or is in the process of undergoing some form of redevelopment that will ultimately reduce its indoor square footage. In the case of Southridge Mall, Mayfair Mall and Brookfield Square, those past and upcoming renovations have largely been the result of the demise of major anchor department stores like Sears and the Boston Store. For Regency Mall in Racine, city leaders are planning a massive re development that would not only include tearing down the former Boston Store building, but also
PROJECT COST: $153 million
First announced in 2019, the 150,000-square-foot cancer research center is anticipated to cost about $100 million to build, plus additional costs to furnish and equip the building, for a total estimated project cost of $153 million. In August, the State Building Commission an nounced $10 million in funding for the project.
ADDRESS: Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, 8700 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa
Parking lots at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa were relatively full on a recent Thursday af ternoon. As consumer attitudes toward malls continue to shift, Mayfair may be the only area mall that survives long term as an indoor shopping center.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Mortenson
What’s to become of the regional mall?
The facility is planned to be a hub for research related to the biological, genetic, and social causes of cancer and cancer disparities in Wisconsin and will allow MCW to centralize its exist ing cancer research operation, currently spread across 10 different buildings on campus.
IN THE 1960S, ‘70s, and ‘80s, the regional, indoor shopping mall wasn’t just a place to hang out, buy a pair of sneakers, or a hot pretzel and Orange Julius, it was the place that most Americans –especially those who moved from the city to the suburbs – did the
SIZE: 150,000 square feet
razing nearly half of the mostly vacant mall’s overall footprint.
Parkland Center, a 222,704-square-foot office building on Milwaukee’s far northwest side, was recently sold for $20.8 million, according to state records.Theseller
Located at 11200 W. Parkland Ave., the building’s tenants include FIS, a financial software company; Global Industrial, a seller of industrial products and office supplies; EQ Unify, an investment recovery firm; and Davians Café and Catering.
SELLER: The GC Net Lease (Milwaukee) Investors LLC
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“All of these things are provid ing an experience that is giving the consumer the justification of spending their time capital on going to the mall,” he said. n
“(The typical department store) used to have 100 to 150 departments. They had furniture, they had toys, they had photogra phy, appliances and electronics,” Egelanian said. “Every time a competitor emerged in a retail category, the department stores exited that category.”
To Egelanian, the demise of the mall has more to do with a 1960s U.S. Supreme Court case –U.S. vs. Parke, Davis, & Co. – that ushered in the growth of large dis count stores like K-Mart, Walmart and Target and specialty stores like Best Buy and Toys R Us, than it does with Amazon.
Speaking to the future of malls, Cory Sovine, a retail broker and senior vice president of retail at Colliers International, and Nick Egelanian, a retail historian and founder of SiteWorks Retail Real Estate Services, predict that the only indoor malls that will survive are those that innovate enough to draw people from a larger radius and abandon the regional, cook ie-cutter models that led custom ers to walk away.
BUYER: Galaxy IL WI LP
ADDRESS: 11200 W. Parkland Ave., Milwaukee
Griffin Capital bought the building in 2013 for $26 million. At the time, it was entirely occupied by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, until it ceased its operations there in 2015.
was a limited partnership affiliated with Griffin Capital of El Segundo, California. The new owner is a limited liability company affiliat ed with Workspace Property Trust of suburban Philadelphia.
“The consumer has said repeatedly through this whole transactional process: ‘My time is worth something to me, more than money. In order for me to spend my time on this experience of driv ing to the mall, parking, walking into the mall, walking through the mall, going to my store, you as the retailer or (owner of the mall) need to make that an incredible experi ence,’” he said.
But even malls as strong as Mayfair – many of which still have struggling department stores as anchors – will have to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into renovations and improvements once those department stores ultimately go under, he said.
On the bright side, Sovine said, there is a newer wave of retailers and mall owners who are working to shift the remaining malls from the formulaic designs and tenant mixes of the 1990s, to an approach that emphasizes customer experience and variety. A shift to dining – like the new 3rd Street Market Hall at The Avenue in downtown Milwaukee – and the advent of modern movie theaters and games – like Marcus Theatre’s BistroPlex at Southridge and WhirlyBall at Brookfield Square –show how operators are working to drive traffic.
Looking at the market na tionwide, Egelanian believes that within the ensuing decades, only about 150 of the strongest malls will still be around. In the Milwau
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The likelihood that even more online retailers may soon start charging for returns and shipping is another factor that should work in favor of malls and brick-and-mortar retailers in general, Sovine said.
The move to the outdoor, town center model, as has been done at Bayshore in Glendale and newer developments like The Corners of Brookfield, is part of a new focus on customers’ time and experi ence, Sovine said.
ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE
kee area, Wauwatosa’s Mayfair, with its top-notch merchandising and ability to draw from a 360-de gree radius – will likely be the last mall standing, he said.
Doral Corp. employees move a machine conveyor section at Komatsu Mining Corp.’s South Harbor campus with the help of a Versa-Lift.
18 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 COVER STORY
HEAVY LIFTERS
W
hen your first taste of driv ing a forklift is at 8 years old, there’s a good chance the family business will become so much a part of who you are that it would be absurd to even think about another career. At least that was the case for Scott Doro, president of Milwaukee-based Doral Corp.
Doral has experienced organic growth since it opened in 1966, under the name Industrial Erect ing, on 26th Street and North Avenue in Milwau
Additionally, Doral offers its customers ware housing options, equipment rentals, and conveyor design and installation.
Doro recalls always being involved in the fam ily business, helping in little ways, like sweeping the floors in the shop. Over the past several de cades, he’s been able to both witness and take part in helping Doral become one of the fastest-growing companies in southeastern Wisconsin.
Doral Corp. is one of the region’s fastest-growing companies, and one of Milwaukee’s best kept secrets
Doro
In the same way that there are movers who help homeowners, there are also companies that help manufacturers move and rig their equipment. In southeastern Wisconsin – and beyond – clients say Doral is a specialty contractor that stands above the rest when it comes to not only equipment moving and rigging, but also fabrication services.
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Doral has worked on major projects in Wiscon sin for companies that include Johnsonville LLC, Klement’s Sausage Co. Inc., General Mills, Caterpil lar, Komatsu Mining Corp., John Deere and others. Doral was also involved in the Fiserv Forum proj ect, construction work on the Hoan Bridge and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s Deep Tunnel.The company is one of the winners of the 2022
As a result of its rapid growth, Doral has add ed around 100 full time employees in the last 18 months, with plans to add another 50 to 100 posi tions in the next 18 months. Out of the company’s 250 total employees, approximately 40 are stationed at its Milwaukee headquarters. The remaining em ployee base is spread across job sites both locally and nationally. As of last year, the company has grown to more than $100 million in annual sales.
BY ASHLEY SMART, staff writer
Future 50 Awards of the fastest-growing com panies in southeastern Wisconsin (see profiles of all of the Future 50 winners on pages 25-65).
“We install manufacturing equipment in any facility, … food, foundries, automotive, distribution, material handling, … anything inside of a factory we install,” Doro said. “If anyone’s ever been on a tour of Miller Brewing Co., almost everything you see on that production floor is what we installed. We do that in facilities all across the country.”
PHOTOGRAPHYFELLERANDREW
Tucked away a couple blocks off of Bay View’s bustling South Kinnickinnic Avenue, many in the neighborhood are probably unaware that Doral’s 225,000-square-foot headquarters facility is even there. But it’s a different story for those in the man ufacturing industry.
As for the technological piece of Doral’s growth puzzle, the latest category the company is investing in is robotics. A robotic welder is the newest addi tion to the shop floor, helping speed up production. Doro said he is constantly researching the newest technological advancements that could be imple mented at “Whenwork.Iwake up in the middle of the night, I don’t look at Facebook or Instagram. I’m online looking for new technology and seeing what im provements there are in the industry,” he said.
Supply chain challenges continue to be the most difficult issue the company is navigating, said Doro. While Doral itself is not affected by supply chain bottlenecks, its customers are having trouble receiving orders for equipment, which often leads to extensions on project timelines.
Tosaid.combat supply chain issues, the company
Identifying new market segments
At the start of the pandemic, Doral’s sales were reduced by 30% to 35%, but the company was able to quickly rebound. Prior to the pandemic, Doral serviced 14 states. The company has now grown to service the entire country.
Doro attributes the company’s continued growth to two main strategies: Identifying new market segments and investing in new technol ogy. In the late 1990s, Doral first started breaking into the food and beverage industry. While many manufacturing jobs were being shipped outside the U.S., that wasn’t the case at food manufactur ing facilities.“Wisconsin had a lot of food and beverage pro cessors that were, for us, untapped, and we just jumped in full speed. We’ve increased that (cate gory) by maybe 100%, 200%,” said Shane DeFendi,
Doral Corp. employees load a machining center workpiece table onto a Versa-Lift.
kee. The company moved to Franklin in 1972 and once more to Oak Creek before eventually settling at its current home at 427 E. Stewart St. in Milwau kee’s Bay View neighborhood in 2000. The compa ny plans to add another 60,000 square feet of space to the former Louis Allis facility in the next several years to accommodate its growth.
20 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 COVER STORY
PHOTOGRAPHYFELLERANDREW
Louis Allis, a maker of large electric motors, closed its doors abruptly in October 1998. The fol lowing year, Doral was hired to remove a large amount of machinery from the plant. Robert Doro, then-chief executive officer, happened to be look ing for his own larger space at the time. Doral pur chased the facility at a bank foreclosure auction for about $1.36 million. In 2007, Scott Doro replaced his father as owner of the company.
Moving forward from the pandemic
“Anything (clients) can put on a piece of paper or draw on a napkin, we can turn it into drawings and then build what they want,” Doro said, describ ing the company’s metal fabrication offerings.
director of business development at Doral.
“When we’re doing new installations, that’s where the frustrations are coming. You’ll get 80% or 90% of the equipment, and you’ll be trying to build a line while missing a piece in the middle,” Doro
Scott Doro said the key to standing out from com petition is Doral’s unique combination of metal fabri cation services and machine rigging and moving.
Doral has historically done most of its business within 100 miles of Milwaukee, but over the past decade or so, about 40% of Doral’s business is out side of that 100-mile radius. DeFendi said Doral was able to quickly bounce back from its pandemic challenges due in part to the work ethic and pride Doro instills in employees.
The company most recently identified the ma terial handling industry as another opportunity for growth. With the rise in the number of distri bution centers being built for companies like Am azon and Walmart, which picked up at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Doral has a whole new segment of construction projects to target.
“Especially in material handling, with more people ordering online for home delivery and less people frequenting stores in person, that’s where the opportunity for growth is for us,” DeFendi said.
does a lot of “reactive” work. Steve Bula, di rector of operations at Doral, agreed that it is the unexpected outside challenges that present the most difficul ties in his position. Anything from dealing with bad weather to having to adjust what equipment the Doral crew has at a job site can make projects more“Meetingdifficult.people and helping them solve prob lems and just coming through for somebody when they need you … it’s very rewarding,” Bula said. “We always figure out a way to get the work done. It’s very cool to see how stuff is made. We kind of get a glimpse of how everything is done. As a con sumer, you just take for granted being able to go buyThethings.”pandemic presented challenges for Doral in that several new safety procedures had to be implemented at job sites, which led to the need for more worker training. Doral’s customers also made major changes to how their facilities were laid out, which meant more planning and adjustments were needed to complete projects.
“Theyequipment.doalotof machine rigging and moving for the brewing industry,” Larson said. “They’re one of the exclusive movers for QTS, which is a huge craft firm. I don’t think you can go in any brewery that doesn’t have something from QTS.”
Doral was awarded a $3.8 million contract as part of the deal, with work starting June of 2021 and ending February of 2022. Approximately 250 pieces of Eaton equipment were moved by Doral.
James Larson has overseen a few moves in his time as co-owner and director of operations of Mil
PHOTOGRAPHYFELLERANDREW
waukee-based Enlightened Brewing Co. The craft brewer’s current home at 2020 S. Allis St. shares a building with Doral. The 14,000-square-foot space is substantially larger than Enlightened’s prior 1,800-square-foot, ground-floor production site and taproom on South First Street.
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Larson said the Doral team has been a wealth of knowledge not only in moving and fixing equip ment, but also providing advice on getting equip ment to run more smoothly and occasionally lend ing a piece of equipment.
“I think one thing that really shows up is the sense of pride that Scott has in the business. It’s something that he grew up with and it’s something that you see motivates not just him, but (also) our leadership team and everyone throughout the company,” DeFendi said.
The Doral Corp. crew makes sure a machining center linear bedway section is level.
“I think the part that makes it work the best is that it’s kind of a turnkey solution for us. When they’re moving equipment, they have the semitruck drivers, they have the semis, they have the equipment that they need, they have a very large staff and they can flex up and down,” Heinzel mannDuringsaid. the Eaton expansion project, Doral also coordinated and subcontracted the needed me chanical and electrical work, basically disconnect ing and reconnecting the equipment.
Ultimately, it was Doral’s equipment options that swayed Komatsu into switching over from a competitor. In particular, Doral’s Versa-Lift fork lifts, which can lift loads from 17,000 pounds to 140,000 pounds, can save days and even weeks of time on a machine installation project. Doral has the largest fleet of Versa-Lifts in North America.
“I have a dozen project managers under me, and they’re all in charge of moving all of that equipment safely from one location to another,” said Olson. “You’ve got two or three dozen differ ent vendors on a daily basis to make that happen. Having Doral be that single source you can trust from a safety aspect, from a time and cost aspect, has been awesome. It’s just one less thing to have to worry about.”
A friendly neighbor
A “truly turnkey” operation
In speaking with some of Doral’s recent cus tomers, one thing rings true: They are pleased with the fact that Doral’s suite of offerings allows for a turnkey moving operation.
Jacob Heinzelmann, manufacturing services director of the power systems division at Eaton Corp., has more than 20 years of experience work ing with Doral.
“Talk is cheap, but the proof is in the pudding,” OlsonKomatsusaid. initially began engaging with Doral to discuss becoming involved in the South Harbor campus in 2018. There were originally 115 Komat su facilities filled with equipment that needed to be moved to the company’s new headquarters.
He was also surprised by Doral’s fabrication capabilities, saying once he and his team toured the Doral shop, their eyes “lit up.”“We didn’t know they had all these capabilities,” Olson said.
Prior to becoming neighbors with Doral in 2019, Larson had heard of the company but had never worked with it directly. That’s because Doral is hired through Quality Tank Solutions to install brewing
One of the first projects Doral helped En lightened Brewing with was the installation of a three-barrel tank at the company’s former Lincoln Warehouse location. Doral also helped the brewery move into its current Allis Street home, a project Larson called a “major build-out.” The equipment purchased for the new space was ready before the building was, so Doral helped store and move it.
“I would just say, past history is probably the biggest thing,” Heinzelmann said. “We’ve done a lot of jobs with them in the past, and they’ve al ways been very timely. … When we have a bud get that’s established, they stick to it. We don’t hit hiccups. It’s confidence in what they’re going to be providing you.”
One of the challenges Olson’s team faces in moving older equipment is that replacements often need to be made. In addition to having Doral move and rig its equipment, Komatsu is also able to ask Doral to fabricate new equipment pieces to make those“Sometimesrepairs. we have a repair we’d like to do and it’s not worth trying to go to the manufacturer, or the manufacturer is no longer around. Being able to do a truly turnkey move has been a big deal for us,” Olson said.
Josh Olson, project manager at Komatsu Min ing Corp.’s South Harbor campus, was unsure what to expect when bringing Doral onto the team working on the company’s new $285 million head quarters and manufacturing facility in Milwau kee’s Harbor District. He didn’t know much about Doral and was unsure what kind of workload the company would be able to handle.
Most recently, Eaton brought on Doral as the preferred contractor to help with a 250,000-squarefoot expansion project at its facility at 2300 N. Bad ger Drive in Waukesha. Eaton said the $24 million project would help it increase production of regu lators and transformers, improve production effi ciencies and reduce costs.
“In working with them in the past and getting to know them as neighbors, if there’s anything that needs to be moved, if there’s anything that needs to get fixed, if anything needs to be welded, there’s probably somebody there that’s been doing it for 20 years,” Larson said. “It’s never a stressful time when Doral comes over to help with something because you know they’ve done it.” n
Special Report
Luckily, the building at 6735 W. Lincoln Ave. is located just blocks away from a fire station, where the fire chief happened to be working late. Within 30 minutes of him seeing smoke, the fire was extinguished, and the damage was largely contained to a back corner of the building. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but what mat ters most is that no one was hurt, said Nowak.
that serves batched cocktails at weddings and private events; and Tall Guy was contracted as the exclusive caterer at The Starling, a new event venue by Two Birds Event Group in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.
BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer
Dana Spandet, founder of Flour Girl & Flame, and Dan Nowak, owner of Tall Guy and a Grill Catering and Brazen Standard Hospitality.
For Sweet Tooth owner Jamie Hazelwood and Liv a Little owner Liv Menzia, being a part of the ice cream collective has taken business to the next level – and then some.
Since last July, Tall Guy’s sister brand, trav eling wood-fired pizza concept Flour Girl & Flame expanded into its own West Allis pro duction space and recently launched Everyone’s Ice Cream, a shop serving a collection of locally produced ice cream; Tall Guy’s liquor license was spun off into The Crafted Tavern, a mobile bar
“It goes beyond just having them have my ice cream there,” said Hazelwood. “It’s great for brand recognition, and I’ve certainly gotten a lot of business from that, … but it’s giving that behind-the-scenes (look) as well and has really helped me as far as how to properly get licensed, taxes and all that kind of stuff.” n
On a broader scale, Nowak sees the growth of his business as an opportunity to give other en trepreneurs a leg up – especially now.
“Something I’ve always been passionate about is supporting other local businesses, and that’s something we’ve done at Tall Guy since day one, but I think now that we’ve grown into these other realms, we can start supporting even more local companies,” he said. “2020 through this year has really shown a spotlight on how import ant it is to support local, independent businesses and how many great people are out there work ing super hard. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you’re seeing a lot of these artisan producers popping up and you’re hearing all of these things about ‘The Great Resignation’ or leaving corpo rate jobs. … People are following their passions.”
“The great thing was that our team came to gether,” said Nowak. “… but that’s the nature of off-site catering, we’re always having to kind of roll with the punches with weather and things likeItthat.”took about four months for crews to fully restore and repair the damaged portions of Tall Guy’s building. Meanwhile, the caterer was still recovering from the financial devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw sales plummet 50% in 2020.
In the early-morning hours of July 4, 2021, Dan Nowak awoke to the sound of knocking. There was a police officer at his door, alerting him of ev ery business owner’s worst nightmare: A fire had broken out at the West Allis building that houses Nowak’s catering company Tall Guy and a Grill.
But none of that stopped Nowak and his team from moving forward.
The birth of three new concepts in the span of two years ultimately led to one of Nowak’s biggest moves yet. In June, he launched Brazen Standard Hospitality, giving a name to the fam ily of brands that all started from his original farm-to-table catering business. The group in cludes Tall Guy and a Grill, Flour Girl & Flame, The Crafted Tavern and Everyone’s Ice Cream, together with a total of 80 to 90 part- and fulltimeTheemployees.creation of Brazen Standard allows labor and product to be shared more efficiently across the four brands, while offering customers more ways to customize the food and beverage experi ence at their event.
The business model of Everyone’s Ice Cream – championed by Tall Guy’s executive chef and Flour Girl & Flame founder Dana Spandet – rides on the back of well-established local names like Purple Door and Scratch as well as up-and-com ers Sweet Tooth Grin, which launched on a small scale in 2020, and Liv a Little, a vegan creamery that started up in 2019.
Tall Guy and a Grill Catering emerges stronger from pandemic, raises tide for local entrepreneurs
22 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
“It’s one of those incredulous things you think could never happen to you, I was like, ‘What do you means there’s a fire?’” said Nowak. “I hop in the car with my wife, and we (drove) over, and there were four or five fire trucks, eight or nine squad cars, police officers everywhere; it was just like a movie scene.”
tire stock of cold food products – passed the city’s health inspection, allowing the Tall Guy team to cater all five of the weddings it had booked the very next weekend.
Within a few of hours, power inside the building was restored, gas was turned back on and the kitchen – its cooking equipment and en
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
“We have a wedding coming up at The Star ling and half the menu is Tall Guy food, and then they also want a (Flour Girl & Flame) pizza sta tion,” said Nowak.
biztimes.com / 23 Thank You To All Participants Of The First Business Bank Charity Golf Invitational - Milwaukee On August 22, business leaders competed on behalf of charities at the First Business Bank Charity Golf Invitational at Oconomowoc Golf Club. First Business Bank proudly organizes and funds all event costs so all entry donations go to winning charities. Member FDIC BETTY BRINN CHILDREN’S MUSEUM Bryce Unger & Sarah Dunn COA YOUTH AND FAMILY CENTERS Gelnn Roby & Joe Sinnett COMMUNITY SMILES DENTAL Corey Chambas & Jim Hartlieb FOLDS OF HONOR Matt Neumann & Steve DeCleene HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY Chase Kostichka & Derek Schneider HANDICAP FLIGHT SECOND PLACE ($9,000) Meta House John Richter & Riley Yemm THIRD PLACE ($4,500) United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha DaleCountyVan Dam & Walter Cain CALLAWAY FLIGHT FIRST PLACE ($3,000) Delavan-Darien School District ScottFoundationRobb& Mike Mack SECOND PLACE ($1,500) Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater MattMilwaukeeKrutza & Greg Block FIRST$15,000PLACE BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK Played for by Terry Schultz & Mike Budgins CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNING CHARITIES HUNGER TASK FORCE Andrew Trentadue & John Maiwald LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY Ross Zahour & Todd Trzcinski LIFE NAVIGATORS Ray Wilson & Nick Curran LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WI AND UPPER MICHIGAN Bob Bell & Mike MacNeil MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL John Finerty & Justin Mertz MILLIMAN GIVING FUND Bryan Swanson & Brett Swanson MILWAUKEE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Dave Seiler & Mark Meloy SECURE FUTURES Brad Quade & Kevin Kane SHARP LITERACY Dan Meyer & Craig Cerbins ST. MARCUS LUTHERAN SCHOOL Mark Ciborowski & James Boyle THE WOMEN’S CENTER Jay Cashmore & Mark Boldt ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MILWAUKEE Nezih Hasanoglu & Martin Pepe
PRESENTING SPONSOR: 2:00pm Registration & Networking • 2:30-4:45pm Program •
• Pat Koppa, President, PFlow Industries (3)
• JP Moran, President, LMI Packaging Solutions, Inc. (4)
Growing through ups and downs
Networking Reception Discounted registration for manufacturers
The past few years have been full of challenges with more uncertainty on the horizon, but Wisconsin manufacturers have a unique ability to handle whatever the world throws at them. It would be easy to think of recent years as once-in-a-lifetime challenges, but the truth is there are always lessons to be Learnlearned.from
leaders who have faced challenges, diagnosed the issues, identified what is within their control, and found a solution to move forward at the BizTimes Next Generation Manufacturing Summit. Manufacturers from across the region will share insights on how their companies have navigated the past few years, digging into operational challenges and rolling up their sleeves to determine the strategic path forward. The educational program concludes with breakout sessions on improving your business with sustainability, leadership strategies for preventing federal penalties, and a closer look at manufacturing in southeast Wisconsin. Stay to network and mingle over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
PRESENTING SPONSOR: SPONSORS: SUPPORTING:
• Benjamin Gover, Chief Operating Officer, Glenn Rieder (2)
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 • Brookfield Conference Center Register Today! >> biztimes.com/mfg 41 352 Panelists:
• Tom Danneker, President & CEO, Glenroy (1)
• Sachin Shivaram, CEO, Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry Co. Inc. (5) 4:45-6:30pm
biztimes.com / 25 Partner:Sponsor:PresentingAbbySponsor:Windows & Exteriors American Construction Services, Inc. BestApproyoVersion Media Bevco Engineering Company Biocut BliffertSystemsLumber & Hardware Business Development Pros LLC Central Office Systems Central Standard Craft Distillery Communications, Cabling & Networking - CC&N Doral GoldenFusionEmpowerEggersDuffekCorporationConstructionImprintsElectricRecruiters,LLCPathHomeCare Inc. JamesInCheckHuscoImaging Systems Johnson and Sons Paving Kahler Slater Kriete Truck Centers Krueger Communications Inc. Lakeland Supply Inc. Lauber Business Partners, Inc. LePoidevin Marketing Luther Group LLC M.E. Dey & Co., Inc. Macromatic Industrial Controls MARS Solutions Group Midwest Precision MooreMilwaukeeWarehouseMoldingConstructionServices, LLC Munson, PattynPartsBadgerInc.North America Peabody’s Interiors QPS Employment Group Riverwater Partners Robertson Ryan & Associates Rocket Clicks Royal Basket Trucks, Inc. UbuntuSRH Research and Evaluation Z.T.WolterWixon,VyronVizanceInc.Distribution, Inc. 2022 Future 50 Winners:
NOTABLE MINORITY EXECUTIVE
We appreciate all you do for the Milwaukee Congratulationscommunity.onyour recognition as a Notable Minority Executive. You’ve had a significant impact on this community, and we’re proud to have you on our team.
Old National Bank is a proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of the Biz Times Milwaukee Future 50 Awards. We are grateful to be a strong partner in this event that elevates and recognizes the select honored businesses that are shaping the future of the Milwaukee community.
TIM SHEEHY President, Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce
Kevin Anderson, President, Business Banking and Milwaukee Market
The Future 50 winners will receive their awards at a lunch program at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee on Thursday, Sept. 29. For more information or to register, visit biztimes.com/future50.
DEBBIE FORD Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
the MMAC in 1988, the Future 50 program recognizes the fastestgrowing, privately-owned companies in the eight-county southeastern Wisconsin area that have been in business for at least three years and have shown significant revenue and employment growth. There is no age limit for companies to participate. There is also
Thegrow.Future
you all for letting us share your success stories, and please reach out when you have more news to share. On behalf of BizTimes Media, the MMAC, our presenting sponsor Old National Bank and sponsor University of Wisconsin-Parkside, thank you and congratulations to the Future 50 winners.
50 COMPANIES
Congratulations, Future 50 winners! Thank you for providing valuable learning and career opportunities for our students and graduates.
Message from our sponsors:
Fast-growing companies are innovators and job creators. They develop leaders and buy goods and services in the market, fostering a healthy local economy. Of the 50, seventeen are in manufacturing, logistics and distribution and 11 are in construction, real estate and architecture. Remarkably, more than half of the 50 companies were founded before 2000, which is great to see. You don’t just have to be a startup to be a fast-growing company. Together, the 50 companies have projected 4,858 employees and $2.79 billion in annual sales for
UW-Parkside was founded by the community for the community and has made an extraordinary impact on lifelong learners throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
SPONSOR: PARTNER:
FUTURE HELP GROW OUR LOCAL ECONOMY
26 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
The elements of the UW-Parkside 2025 Strategic Framework provide the university with clear direction as well as agility. We are “Future Focused” on the exciting opportunities ahead!
I invite you to connect with UW-Parkside. Together we’ll build even stronger partnerships to help sustain and grow our vibrant economy.
Thank you, Kevin!
Throughout our history, business partners have turned to UW-Parkside to help solve key challenges. We will continue to prepare graduates with the knowledge, skills, and ethical responsibility to meet your future workforce needs.
DAN MEYER
Established2022.by
BizTimesPublisher/Owner,Media
now no limit to the number of years a company can be a Future 50 winner, because it’s vital for the growth of our region to have companies continue to innovate, reinvent and
After a two-year break, the Future 50 program is back and we are thrilled!
MMAC’s mission is to improve metro Milwaukee as a place to invest capital, grow business and create jobs. If you’re already an MMAC member, thank you for your investment. Our work would not be possible without you. If your company is not yet a member, we would love the chance to talk to you.
Congratulations, again, on your success and recognition as Future 50 Award winners.
BizTimes Media and our event partner, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, are pleased to recognize this year’s Future 50 companies. Based on submitted nominations and an objective ranking of sales and employee growth, these are the fastest-growing companies in the southeastern Wisconsin region.
50 program is one of the many ways in which BizTimes encourages business growth in southeastern Wisconsin, including through our award-winning news coverage, our in-depth industry analysis and our educational and awards events throughout the Thankyear.
In an environment of challenges and uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to note our success stories. That’s why I’m especially proud today to congratulate this year’s Future 50 award winners, on behalf of Milwaukee’s business community and our entire staff at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of AsCommerce.Milwaukee competes with regions across the country as a destination for corporate investment and talented employees, the Future 50 companies and each of their individual stories provide tangible examples that our region is a terrific place to grow a business -- and that we’re gaining momentum.
PRESENTING SPONSOR:
KEVIN ANDERSON President, Business Banking and Milwaukee Market, Old National Bank
Congratulations to all the companies, business leaders and employees who earned these awards. Your achievements make us more optimistic than ever about the future of the Milwaukee Region. We also want to thank our media partners at BizTimes for all the effort it takes to make these awards happen.
biztimes.com / 27 Abby Windows & Exteriors 30 American Construction Services, Inc. ..... 30 Approyo 32 Best Version Media 32 Bevco Engineering Company 33 Biocut Systems .......................... 34 Bliffert Lumber & Hardware 35 Business Development Pros LLC 35 Central Office Systems 36 Central Standard Craft Distillery 36 Communications, Cabling & Networking - CC&N 38 Doral Corporation 38 Duffek Construction 39 Eggers Imprints .......................... 40 Empower Electric 40 Fusion Recruiters, LLC 41 Golden Path Home Care Inc. 42 Husco ................................... 43 InCheck 43 James Imaging Systems 44 Johnson and Sons Paving 45 Kahler Slater ............................. 46 Kriete Truck Centers 46 Krueger Communications Inc. 47 Lauber Business Partners, Inc. 47 Lakeland Supply Inc. 48 LePoidevin Marketing 49 Luther Group LLC 49 M.E. Dey & Co., Inc. 50 Macromatic Industrial Controls 51 MARS Solutions Group ................... 51 Midwest Precision Molding 52 MilwaukeeWarehouse 53 Moore Construction Services, LLC 54 Munson, Inc. ............................. 55 PartsBadger 55 Pattyn North America 56 QPS Employment Group 57 Peabody’s Interiors....................... 58 Riverwater Partners 58 Robertson Ryan & Associates 59 Rocket Clicks 60 Ubuntu Research and Evaluation 60 Royal Basket Trucks, Inc. 61 SRH 62 Vizance 63 Wixon, Inc. 63 Vyron .................................... 64 Wolter 65 Z.T. Distribution, Inc. 65 "expect more from us" Heal h & L fe Insurance Emp oyee Benef ts Ret remen P ann ng (262) 783-6161 cyganiakplanning.com Table of contents: Not all profiles are in alphabetical order Congratulations to the 2022 Future 50 winners from their partners
28 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 202224 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEP 26, 2022 A STATISTICAL LOOK at the 2022 FUTURE 50 3FINANCE/INSURANCE 4EMPLOYMENT SERVICES ANDADVERTISINGMARKETING 5 LOGISTICS DISTRIBUTIONAND 5 TECHNOLOGY 5 OTHER 51112ANDRECONSTRUCTION,MANUFACTURINGALESTATEARCHITECTURE BY INDUSTRY... 10 - 14 15 - 19 20 - 34 35 - 49 50 - 75 75 - 99 100200+199 = 1 COMPANY APPROXIMATE EMPLOYMENT (2022 PROJECTED) 3 10 7 8 10 4 8 $1-2 MILLION $2-5 MILLION $5-10 MILLION $10-25 MILLION $25-50 MILLION $50-100 MILLION $100 MILLION+ APPROXIMATE ANNUAL REVENUE 3,6872019 3,8762020(+5%) 4,3642021(+13%) 20204,858(projected)(+11%) COMBINED TOTAL EMPLOYMENT $1.842019 bil $1.892020bil (+3%) 2021 $2.45 bil (+30%) 2022 $2.79(projected)bil(+14%) COMBINED TOTAL REVENUEMILWAUKEE | 20 OZAUKEE | 1 RACINE | WALWORTH1 | 2 WASHINGTON | 1 WAUKESHA | 25 BY COUNTY PRIOR TO 1979 1980 - 1989 1990 - 1999 2000 - 2009 2010 - 2014 2015 - 2019 19 61 89 7 YEAR FOUNDED
biztimes.com / 29 Relationships and Results Matter WE WANT TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS THRIVE Ready to Get Old? I want to Get Old
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
“Our culture is a constant pool of attitude checks, laughs and sweat. Everyone at Abby Windows & Exteriors works together to keep positivity, no baggage, and focused determination at the forefront of every day. We are a true team.”
Kraig Sadownikow, president and chief executive officer: “As attractive as our pay and benefits are for attracting talent, we have noticed a decline in the number of applications that flow in when we have a new position to fill. With our company growing, it is very important that we are able to attract and hire top talent so that our success continues to grow as our company grows. We have turned to many outlets for finding talent to fill our open positions and find that it takes just a little longer than it used to, to find several qualified applicants to choose from for an open position. We maintain our company’s culture by only choosing the best of the best to join the American Construction team.”
Abby Binder, president and chief executive officer: “It was largely COVID-19 that launched us into growth over the past few years and our immediate prioritization of hiring in order to facilitate that growth.”
30 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
West Bend | Founded: 1980 Industry: Commercial Construction | Employees: 24
THE AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION SERVICES TEAM
Brookfield | Founded: 2010 Industry: Employees:Construction30
AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION SERVICES specializes in commercial construction in the hospitality, retail, industrial and medical fields.
“Finding the right people, coming up with creative new marketing strategies for the new market and doing all we can to keep up a level of demand while going through decreased market demand.”
“The biggest changes we’re working on are adding a second location in the state and looking into all the ways we can streamline our process and run more efficiently.”
ABBY WINDOWS & EXTERIORS provides replacement windows, entry doors, storm doors, patio doors, siding, roofing, soffit/fascia, gutters, gutter protection and skylights.
“We are actively increasing our number of customer-facing personnel. We recognize, in a world of texts, emails, Facebook and the rest, that nothing beats a face-to-face conversation. Overcoming obstacles is more effective in person and celebrating victories is way, way more fun.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
How would you describe your company culture?
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC.
ABBY BINDER
ABBY WINDOWS & EXTERIORS
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
thought she couldn’t handle getting her masters degree.
want to add I graduated with distinction (high honors) — the same woman who thought she couldn’t do it in the first place!” Designed for busy, working adults. Learn more uwp.edu/GRADUATEat Graduate study at UW-Parkside offers worldclass programs in a variety of formats giving you the necessary flexibility to fit academics into your busy life. Take a look at our graduate programs as you take the next valuable step to enhance your education and qualifications. Applied Biotechnology (MS) Applied Professional Studies (MA) Biological Sciences (MS) Business Administration (MBA) Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MS) Computer and Information Systems (MS) Cybersecurity (MS) Health and Wellness Management (MS) Healthcare Administration (MS) Information Technology Management (MS) Professional Communication (MA) Sport Management (MS) Sustainable Management (MS) HIGHER EDUCATION. HIGHER POTENTIAL. GRADUATE
“I would not be to also PROGRAMS
Trina Smith
able
thought I
biztimes.com / 31
do it, but was part of the graduating class of 2022 with a Master of Arts in Applied Professional Studies with a concentration in Leadership and Public Service. Oh, and I
Kevin O’Brien, chief executive officer: “BVM employees quickly shifted to a remote work environment back in 2019 when the pandemic started. Our amazing team (and updated equipment) made this transition seem effortless, and while we missed being around each other, the quality of our work never wavered. We’ve now implemented a hybrid work schedule for our employees, so they have the flexibility and convenience of working both in the office and remotely. Like many other businesses, inflation and supply chain disruptions have created temporary situations that we’ve had to work through. As a print media company, the sourcing of paper was a challenge at the start of this year. Our leadership team continues to find creative solutions to assure our advertisers and millions of readers have the best possible experience each month.”
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
Brookfield | Founded: 2007
“Approyo is growing with new team members and clients, but Approyo is also looking at additional competitors to acquire in the year ahead. We feel, with our strategy and our strength in our core fundamentals, that we are in a perfect position for growth.”
Industry: Advertising & Marketing
Christopher Carter, chief executive officer: “When I look at the last three years, we see several global issues that come forward. SAP is in the largest upgrade cycle in their history to all of their customers. Next, you have a global pandemic and staff issues, where with clients needing a critical solution run flawlessly, Approyo is one of a very limited number of companies able to support a global landscape, migrate it to any cloud and support it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
CHRISTOPHER CARTER
32 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
BEST VERSION MEDIA
MuskegoAPPROYO|Founded: 2011
BEST VERSION MEDIA works with small and mid-sized businesses to offer hyperlocal branding solutions. It distributes more than 1,100 community magazines to neighborhoods across the U.S. and Canada.
THE BEST VERSION MEDIA TEAM
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
APPROYO provides full SAP service technology with extensive capabilities in hosting and managed services, upgrades and migrations, running any SAP supported core functionality.
Industry: Technology
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions to understand your customers’ needs. A second one is from a sign that I have in my office: ‘Without sales, it all comes to a halt.’” | Founded: 1965 Manufacturing IEWC, Revere have helped the chain and have continued to also be great partners.
issues
Standard Electric and
THE BEVCO ENGINEERING COMPANY TEAM
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
What’s the best business advice you’ve received?
biztimes.com / 33
Chris Shult, chief executive officer: “The workforce shortage and supply chain issues are the two biggest obstacles to our growth. We continue to miss revenue goals because our suppliers cannot get us the components that we need to ship product.”
“Bevco is continuing to see opportunities in many markets that we serve. As the workforce shortage continues, we are seeing more opportunities from companies looking to outsource so that they can focus on their core competency, which typically does not include building control panels.”
BEVCO ENGINEERING CO. Sussex
Our customer’s trust in us, as we worked through all the Covid and supply chain issues, was the key contribution to our continued growth over the past several years. Without their trust in us we never would have had the opportunity to be recognized as a Future 50 Award winning company. This shows the true partnership that we have developed with every customer. Thank you for that trust! We will continue to show you every day that you have made a great decision in choosing us as your partner. Special thanks to each member of our team, at Bevco, for all their hard work managing through Covid and supply chain issues. This is a true testament to the dedication we receive from all our employees. Thank you to our key suppliers; Gexpro,
Electric; who
us manage
supply
FIND US: W222N5739 Miller Way | Sussex, WI 53089 262-820-2400 | bevcoengineering.com When you partner with Bevco Engineering, you are benefitting from more than 65 years of experience coupled with a fervent embrace of industry-leading technology.
BEVCO ENGINEERING CO. designs and builds electrical control systems and panels for the industrial and health care markets.
Industry:
How would you describe your company culture?
THE BIOCUT SYSTEMS TEAM
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
“Lots of collaborative, fun energy around customer delight.”
BIOCUT SYSTEMS
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
What’s the best advice you ever received?
34 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 we know: Strategic partnerships matter TO OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERS On being named a 2022 BizTimes Future 50 award winner. We are proud of our partnership and the way you strive for excellence every day. BevcoCompanyEngineering LakelandInc.Supply CONGRATULATIONS
THE BIOCUT SYSTEMS TEAM
BIOCUT SYSTEMS designs, manufactures and services companies in the bioscience and pharmaceutical markets and the health care industry, focusing on improving the lives of patients.
“Talent. As we continue to grow, finding the right people will continue to take the most effort.”
“Focus on the customer and their mission.”
“Create an environment that makes it easier for startups to get started, succeed and then stay in Milwaukee.”
Milwaukee | Founded: 2001 Industry: Bioscience & Pharmaceutical Markets Employees: 21 | Sales (2022 Projected): $6.2 million
Don Melnikoff, president: “We are working on newer innovative projects in the gene and cell therapy (space) that is opening up new opportunities.”
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
BLIFFERT LUMBER & HARDWARE is a supplier of building materials and hardware to contractors and homeowners primarily located in southeastern Wisconsin. The company’s mission is to help the community grow by supplying building materials to hospitals, stadiums, new homes and a variety of other projects.
THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROS TEAM
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Eli Bliffert, owner: “Customers continue to flock to Bliffert Lumber & Hardware because of our extraordinary service, which stems from our hard-working and ‘doing the right thing’ culture. Low interest rates have made it a lot more affordable for people and companies to borrow money for construction projects.
THE BIOCUT SYSTEMS TEAM
What’s the best business advice you’ve received? “Keep going.”
Employees: 15
“The biggest opportunity for growth is geographically. Our existing footprint sits in southeastern Wisconsin, but there is demand for construction all across the state of Wisconsin.”
The southeastern Wisconsin community is underbuilt from a housing standpoint. The demand for new construction resulting from this realization has driven growth significantly.”
Employees: 260 | Sales (2022 Projected): $240 million
Industry: Lumber and building materials
Oak Creek | Founded: 1904
THE BIOCUT SYSTEMS TEAM
BLIFFERT LUMBER & HARDWARE
biztimes.com / 35
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROS LLC provides business development support services, including full-cycle sales support, trade show support, cold calling, outbound email service, social media posting and audience building, CRM building and management, field rep operational support, pipeline building, sales strategy and planning.
“Continuing to find talented people that can add to our already powerful crew. Also, continuing to find strong business fit clients that we can grow with over time.”
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROS LLC
Milwaukee | Founded: 2010
ELI BLIFFERT
Marc Case, president: “Primarily, it is our people and our commitment to our transparent processes. We hold ourselves and our partner clients accountable to our shared goals in a way that is productive and meaningful.”
Industry: Business development
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“Our 24/7 support is unique in the SMB marketplace, and we believe we can leverage that benefit to grow our client base. Our security camera group will see good growth because organizations are seeing more need for physical building security to protect their employees.”
Christopher Rosecky, president and owner: “Grow and continue to improve our clients experience.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
CHRIS ROSECKY AND ART FLATER
CENTRAL OFFICE SYSTEMS
Employees: 12 | Sales (2022 Projected): $2.95 million
Industry: Manufacturing and distilling
CENTRAL OFFICE SYSTEMS provides managed network services, surveillance cameras, door access, VOIP phone systems and low-voltage data cabling.
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
THE BIOCUT SYSTEMS TEAM
“We work closely with our suppliers and team to stay as lean and on time as we can, but we are certainly not immune to significant increases in costs and lead times being much longer. The challenge will continue to be offering a great product at an economical price for our customers.”
CENTRAL STANDARD CRAFT
“God gave us two ears and one mouth. Use them proportionally.”
What’s the best business advice you ever received?
CENTRAL STANDARD is a craft distillery that produces a line of spirits, all distilled and bottled in Milwaukee. The distillery’s newly renovated 150-year-old building in downtown Milwaukee houses a tasting room, restaurant, event center and rooftop bar.
36 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
“Supply constraints. We are seeing a second wave of backorders which could significantly increase the time it takes to complete projects. And IT client acquisitions. Many organizations settle for mediocre IT service and support because they perceive making a change as too complex and difficult, holding off on changing providers until they are in pain.”
Waukesha | Founded: 1972
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
MilwaukeeDISTILLERY|Founded: 2014
Evan Hughes, chief executive officer; Pat McQuillan, president; and Jim Kanter, chief commercial officer: “The growth experienced over the last three years has been attributed to our focus on quality products and a team that believes in what they make and sell. The entire state of Wisconsin has been an incredible supporter of Central Standard, and they are a big reason for our growth.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Industry: Information technology and building security
EVAN HUGHES AND PAT MCQUILLAN
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
Our Recently Promoted Principals
biztimes.com / 37 Rachel mcalexanderr@sva.comMcAlexander SVA is pleased to announce the promotions of Todd, Vanessa, Chris, Rachel, and Sheri. Their outstanding leadership and technical skills, as well as a commitment to providing excellent client service, exemplify the goals of SVA. To Serve. People. Better. Measurable Results.® SVAaccountants.com
Congratulations to
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Scott Doro, president and chief executive officer: “Identifying new market segments and continued investment in new equipment and technology.”
Milwaukee | Founded: 1972
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
“Our purpose is to ‘connect the unimaginable.’ Technological innovation continues to accelerate. As such, we will strive to adapt our solutions capabilities in lockstep with infrastructure, connectivity and communications developments across key industry sectors offering sustainable growth.”
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
Industry: Industrial construction
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“Continued investment in manufacturing growth.”
38 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
How would you describe your company culture?
“Fun and competitive.”
What’s the best business advice you ever received?
Brian Adams, vice president of solution design and project management; Rob Freiboth, VP of technical field resources; Dan Witkofski, VP of operations; and Gary Wood, director of radio frequency technology: “Technology advancements, such as 5G, continue to drive infrastructure and connectivity innovation. Increasing in-building public safety and first responder communications requirements have also contributed to CC&N’s sustained growth.”
What’s new at your company and are you planning any major changes in the coming years?
JOE FRANZEN, SEAN MCBRIDE, STEVE BULA, EVAN CONLEY, SCOTT DORO, KATHRYN WALKER, TONY LASHAY, JOHN SLATTERY, AND SHANE DEFENDI
CC&N provides installation and service of structured cabling, fiber and wireless network solutions. The company is 100% employee owned.
OF TECHNOLOGYDIRECTORGARYFIELDTECHNICALRESOURCES;WOOD,OFRF
“We’re always investing in new equipment and technology for the shop and the field. This will provide opportunities to stay competitive in the coming years.”
“Learn from your mistakes, and do what you do best.”
Employees: 250
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
Brookfield | Founded: 1985 | Industry: Technology Employees: 175 | Sales: $36.5 million (2022 projected)
DORAL CORP. provides machinery moving and rigging, material handling and metal fabrication services to companies in the food and beverage, construction and manufacturing industries.
“Manufacturing and material handling.”
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DAN WITKOFSKI , VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS; BRIAN ADAMS, VICE PRESIDENT OF DESIGNSOLUTION&PROJECT MANAGEMENT; ROB FREIBOTH, VICE PRESIDENT
“Talent. We are fortunate to employ an extremely talented team of professionals committed to delivering best-in-class, quality solutions to our customers. Our growth will be paced by our ability to attract and retain new employee owners committed to the success of CC&N and our ESOP.”
DORAL CORP.
COMMUNICATIONS, CABLING & NETWORKING - CC&N
For more information, call (414) 276-4425
What’s the best business advice you ever received?
biztimes.com / 39
President & CEO Marcus Center for the Performing Arts
With a resume boasting nearly 15 years of experience, Kendra’s name came to the top of the list in the search for a replacement for retiring Marcus Center president and CEO Paul Matthews. With her charisma, experience, reputation and focus on diversifying theater in Milwaukee, there was no doubt she was the right woman for the job. Since stepping into her role in March of 2020, Kendra’s leadership and dedication to Milwaukee during past two and a half years has proven her to be a true Person of Action.
Future 50 Winners! We are proud to be your business partner!
“There is always opportunity when you do the right thing.”
Waukesha | Founded: 2017
Congrats!
THE DUFFEK CONSTRUCTION TEAM
DUFFEK CONSTRUCTION provides general contracting and design-build services to small businesses and organizations. The firm combines large-project knowledge and experience with the cost structure and personal approach of a small, family-owned firm.
What’s new at your company and are you planning any major changes in the coming years?
How would you describe your company culture?
DUFFEK CONSTRUCTION
KENDRA INGRAM
Mike Duffek, president: “We are going to continue to work each day to provide the most client-friendly and client-focused construction experience in the nation. Each project is the dream of our client, and it is our goal to make that vision a reality. We know that our client’s success determines our success. Each decision we make is based on whether it will help our customers.”
“Our team is driven, passionate and focused on how construction projects are managed and delivered.”
Industry: Employees:Construction15|Sales:$19.4 million (2022 projected)
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
SHAUN ZASKOWSKI, AARON BURSIEK AND THEIR FAMILIES
EGGERS is a contract apparel decorator that provides screen printing, embroidery, art, fulfillment, kitting, warehousing, distribution and sublimation. All services are done in house at our two Wisconsin facilities.
EGGERS IMPRINTS
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
Industry: Employees:Manufacturing82
Aaron Bursiek and Shaun Zaskowski, owners: “Building rapport with customers and general contractors by providing quality service in a timely manner.”
“I don’t believe in obstacles. I believe in finding different resolutions out of the ordinary to adapt. Employee growth is our main focus.”
THE EGGERS IMPRINTS TEAM
“Inclusion of all individuals is very important for Wisconsin, the U.S. and the world.”
Brown Deer | Founded: 2008
Employees: 22
Industry: Electrical contractor
Waukesha | Founded: 2018
“The tight labor market has been a large obstacle for growth.”
Dan Eggers, owner: “Listening to employees, coworkers, customers, vendors and suppliers was key to getting through the hurdles of the last couple of years. Listening to needs and adapting, in addition to communicating properly internally and externally, helps navigate the partnership and find resolutions.”
40 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“We plan on adding more equipment.”
EMPOWER ELECTRIC is an electrical contractor that specializes in commercial, industrial and residential projects, including generators, car chargers, service upgrades, lighting upgrades, remodels, fire alarm systems, low-voltage systems, landscape lighting and smart home automation.
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
EMPOWER ELECTRIC
“Working with vendors to keep an eye on supply levels and pricing and anticipating increases in materials to lock in prices as quickly as possible.”
“Yes. Recruiting and partnering with leading companies to bring talent into their organizations is an ongoing evolution. We’re currently building out a dedicated health care vertical to specialize and focus on clinical health care recruitment.”
biztimes.com / 41 Visit biztimes.com/reprints or email reprints@biztimes.com today for more information. 9 ORDERREPRINTS!YOUR Awards, cover stories, special reports, advertisements, feature stories, whatever your interests may be. We’ll provide reprints of any published material. BINDER WINDOWS EXTERIORS providesreplacementwindows, doors,storm patio doors, roofing, soffit/fascia, gutters, gutter and skylights. factors have contributed the most growth in three years? Abby Binder, and chief executive officer: “It was COVID-19 that launched us over the years and our prioritization of hiring facilitate that are the biggest obstacles your company’s continued growth? “Finding the people, coming creative new strategies the new market doing all we keep up level demand while through market demand.” you plan to changes company? “The biggest we’re working are adding location state and into all the streamline process and run efficiently.” How would describe your company culture? “Our culture constant pool attitude checks, sweat. Everyone at Abby Exteriors together keep positivity, no baggage, focused determination the every true team.” ABBY WINDOWS & EXTERIORS Brookfield Founded: 2010 Industry: Employees:Construction30
FUSION RECRUITERS offers retained search services for upper-level positions in human resources, marketing, sales, communications, strategy, legal and operations.
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
John Hagenow, chief executive officer: “Building long-term, genuine relationships and partnerships. Clients who become friends, and friends who become clients. Employment brand and company culture have allowed us to hire some of the best and brightest recruiters who share a passion for building authentic relationships. We’re hiring great people so they not only bring their experiences and expertise, but also tell us what to do – not us telling them what to do. Unlimited paid time off and being fully remote with an award-winning team helps build our strong culture.”
Waterford | Founded: 2009 Industry: Staffing Employees: 13
JOHN HAGENOW
FUSION RECRUITERS
LLC
Deborah Allen, president: “Word of mouth, and building solid relationships with our team members and the clients we serve.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
GOLDEN PATH HOME
“Insurance timely payouts and the competitive markets that we cannot compete with. Caregivers are not receptive to state changes.”
NICOSIA
Proud To Be A Future with
50 Winner! At Golden Path we believe our accomplishments can only be judged by the success
KING, CEO/OWNER
“Yes. We’re adding more technology and updating benefit plans for our team members.”
CARE INC.
Milwaukee | Founded: 2013 Industry: Health care
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
our team, clients and community.
GOLDEN PATH provides non-medical home health care and lifestyle services, including bathing, meal prep, grooming and light housekeeping as well as supportive home care and companion services.
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
42 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 Contact Us: Milwaukee,7577414-236-5208NTeutoniaAve.WI53209 Nicosia King - Owner
“More support for opioid abuse and keeping our state safe.”
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
“Competing with the market and providing our team with compatible hourly wages.”
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
INCHECK specializes in helping organizations of all sizes design and implement preemployment background screening and employee monitoring solutions. End-to-end services include background checks, drug testing, employment verifications, education verifications, occupational health screening, motor vehicle reports and monitoring.
“There has been so much consolidation in the screening industry over the past 18 months, and those mergers and acquisitions are certainly changing the landscape. Compared to just a few years ago, there are fewer mid-market providers the size of InCheck. We see this creating a tremendous opportunity for us.”
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
Austin Ramirez, chief executive officer: “Strategic investments in technology development that have enabled the company’s growth in vehicle automation, electrification and emission reduction systems.”
“External geopolitical conflict, inflation, economic headwinds and continued COVIDrelated supply chain disruption.”
HUSCO designs and manufactures hydraulic and electro-mechanical components for automotive and off-highway applications. Husco’s global engineering teams work with customers to develop custom, innovative product solutions that meet the evolving system requirements of on-highway vehicles and off-highway equipment, including advancements in fuel efficiency, electrification, and automation. Product applications include engine controls, transmission controls, steering systems, brake controls, electric drive disconnect systems and thermal management systems.
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
ANDY GALLION AND ADAM KIEHL
AUSTIN RAMIREZ AND GUS RAMIREZ
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Founded: 1946
“Husco’s primary competitive advantages are our extraordinary team members and the strong culture of innovation, risk taking and high performance.”
WaukeshaHUSCO|
I n WauwatosaCHECK|Founded: 2002
“Improve K-12 education.”
Industry: Human resource services and background screening
Andy Gallion, chief executive officer: “We used the ‘slow time’ in 2020 to reflect on growth plans, improve infrastructure and bolster our efficient, scalable systems. After many months of analysis and discussion, we recalibrated from a primarily in-office workforce to a new model of ‘virtual first.’ We then implemented ways of working more effectively and efficiently in our new virtual world, deploying new collaboration tools and platforms.”
biztimes.com / 43
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Industry: Employees:Manufacturing1,500-plus
“The most opportunity for growth will be in two parts. First, we will continue to grow our market share in the Fox River Valley and the Madison markets. And second, we will continue to concentrate on complete client satisfaction.”
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
Brookfield
Industry:
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
Lola Tegeder, chief executive officer and Thomas Tegeder, president: “Acquisitions are on top of the list, along with us expanding into document workflow solutions.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
44 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 to our valued business partners on being named a 2022 Future 50 Winner! CONGRATULATIONS tcnb.com | 414.325.1140 DORAL COPORATION JAMES IMAGING SYSTEMS LUTHER GROUP, LLC Growing businesses like yours keep our hometown strong. Your hometown bank. BUSINESS CARES DID YOU 18.2KNOW?MILLIONliving veterans served during at least one war as of 2018. Call 414-336-7112 or go online to biztimes.com/veterans to sign up and submit your logo. OCT. 21 2022 OCT. 21 2022 NOV. 7 2022 SPACE RESERVATION: LOGO DUE DATE: PUBLICATION DATE: We invite your company to join in supporting VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES by placing your logo on the front cover of BizTimes Media. Your support of the cover will go towards a full month of exposure for Veterans and their Military Families in print, online and enews. VETERANS VETERANSHONORINGALLWHOSERVED Thank You $5.00202121,NOV biztimes Locally Owned Since 1995 LOLA TEGEDER AND TOM TEGEDER
“Other than supply chain disruption, the biggest obstacle is the trending decline of printed materials.”
JAMES IMAGING SYSTEMS provides document imaging and printing solutions to commercial clients.
“We are growing our managed print services and software solutions divisions. We will also continue to grow our electronic document storage business.”
JAMES IMAGING SYSTEMS | Founded: 1977 Office equipment
THE JOHNSON AND SONS PAVING TEAM
JOHNSON AND SONS PAVING
CO. Menomonee Falls | Founded: 2014 Industry: Employees:Paving/Contracting81
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
biztimes.com / 45 On November 7th, BizTimes Milwaukee will name the 2022 Notable Veteran Executives in a special editorial feature in print and online. This section will feature current and former service members who are recognized by colleagues, superiors and other as leaders and role models within their workplaces as well as in the wider community. ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS NOW! N OTABLE VETERAN EXECUTIVES To nominate visit biztimes.com/notable Nomination Deadline: September 30, 2022 Issue Date: November 7, 2022
Jason Johnson, president and owner: “Largely, our dedication to honest, ethical customer service has been the biggest factor in our rapid growth since we started. We believe in being transparent throughout our paving process, from quote through completion. We begin by understanding our customers’ needs and then creating a few paving options to help them meet their needs and budget. Next, we hire pavers and operators through a union to ensure our team is made of the very best. Finally, we give our customers the tools and knowledge to maintain the health of their pavement for years to come to help limit their spending on overall maintenance and replacement. We’ve also opened our own crushed stone and asphalt plants to control quality from the very start. By being able to source our materials directly from our own plants, we not only control the quality, but can also offer fair prices even while others are negatively impacted by shortages and supply chain issues.”
JOHNSON AND SONS PAVING CO. offers a full range of asphalt and concrete construction services for customers in Sheboygan, Fond Du Lac, Washington, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Dane, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties and surrounding areas.
Al Krueger and Glenn Roby, co-chief executive officers: “Since our firm’s beginning in 1908, Kahler Slater has embraced resiliency. We see design as a tool to help both our clients and our firm solve challenges. The challenges of the last few years have encouraged us to rethink our approach to our operations, marketing, business development and client relationships. We recognized the need to continue to develop new and effective ways to collaborate, communicate and design, both virtually and in person. We adopted new technology to quickly share ideas and collaborate seamlessly during the design process as well as collect data and monitor market trends.”
46 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
Employees: 535
KRIETE TRUCK CENTERS
Industry: Commercial truck sales and service
Milwaukee | Founded: 1908 Industry: Architecture
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
KRIETE TRUCK CENTERS is an exclusive provider of Mack, Volvo, Hino and Autocar commercial trucks in Wisconsin. The company sells and supports several lines of equipment, including Palfinger, Cross Country Manufacturing, Serco, Barko, Kesla, Putzmeister and Great Lakes trailers. Kriete provides full-service body shops, service facilities, wholesale and retail parts distribution, truck leasing and rental, and financing to the commercial truck market. It also offers its own proprietary line of aftermarket parts labeled KAMP.
“… As a services firm, our people are paramount to our success. We sharpened our focus on the support, growth and retention of our staff. In 2020, we made the strategic decision to relocate our Milwaukee headquarters. We saw the opportunity to lead the discussion around the future of the workplace by using ourselves as a pioneer in rethinking how we work. As we were determining our own space needs, we found our story resonated with businesses across many sectors. Our market experts created new tools and processes that add transparency to the difficult decisions many businesses and organizations are facing.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
A. David Kriete, president and chief executive officer: “Our people, our team. I mention as often as possible to our team that we are called to be stewards, at home but also in our professional lives. I sincerely believe that this concept resonates genuinely with everyone on the leadership team. As such, we’re always finding ways to help the next person internally service the next customer or prospect externally and support our business partners, both internally and externally. The mindset of stewardship has shaped the way we operate.”
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
Milwaukee | Founded: 1951
KAHLER SLATER specializes in architecture, interior design, strategic advisory and environmental branding for the civic and cultural, health care, higher education, corporate workplace, residential, hospitality, and wellness sectors.
THE KRIETE TRUCK CENTERS TEAM
“Continued pursuit of sustainable, strategic acquisitions is always at the forefront of our minds. I will continue to relentlessly pursue those opportunities. In addition, growth within our existing footprint is fundamental to the operations and sales teams. Our leadership team has a few succession plans that need to be shored up and that will pave the way for the next generation of leadership at Kriete.”
TRACIE PARENT, GLENN ROBY AND AL KRUEGER
KAHLER SLATER
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
KRUEGER COMMUNICATIONS INC. provides voice, data, IT and video communication services for commercial customers throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
LAUBER BUSINESS PARTNERS INC.
Elm Grove | Founded: 1959
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
What’s new at your company and are you planning any major changes in the coming years?
Allen Krueger Jr., president and senior systems architect: “Staying true to the mission, pivoting ahead of when others would make changes and never giving up on the path forward, even during the terribly complex times of COVID-19. We were there for clients, delivering product, handling emergencies and delivering the right solutions when they needed them most. Our constant investment in our clients through research and development and all the new changes of cybersecurity also have aided us in leading the pack in our market and region. We enjoy investing every day in new approaches, processes, tools and resources to further bolster what we deliver for our clients.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
ALLEN KRUEGER JR.
LAUBER BUSINESS PARTNERS INC. provides professional consulting services to small and mid-sized companies, in the areas of human resources, finance and accounting, nonprofit management, recruiting, strategic planning, and leadership and team development.
COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Sales: $6.8 million (2022 projected)
KRUEGER
Industry: IT/MSP & Enterprise Telecom
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“The biggest obstacle is always going to be locating the right best-in-class team members, along with building further into our processes as we evolve. We are in a complex industry that has nearly infinite options, combinations and directions.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“Attracting the right talent and expanding our geographic footprint.”
“We will be expanding and moving to new offices in Milwaukee and expanding elsewhere in the state.”
Milwaukee | Founded: 1986
JULIE TOLAN AND MARK WIESMAN
Owners Mark Wiesman, chief executive officer, and Julie Tolan, executive vice president: “We have added great people to our team, launched new service lines, improved marketing and added business development capacity.”
Industry: Consulting
biztimes.com / 47
On December 12th, BizTimes Milwaukee will name the 2022 Notable Women in Health Care in a special editorial feature in print and online. This section will feature women who went into health care to help people and have staked out paths to make an impact. They represent educators, administrators, physicians, researchers, nurses, and advocates and are all accomplished professionals from different corners of the field. OTA BLE WO ME N IN HEALTH CARE November 4, Date: December 12,
LAKELAND SUPPLY produces and distributes a full line of packaging supplies, janitorial products, paper products and industrial facility supplies.
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“Potential customers not looking for better options and solutions when it comes to packaging solutions and supplies.”
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
LAKELAND SUPPLY INC.
Industry:
Pewaukee | Founded: 1984 Packaging manufacturing and distribution
Vince Schmidt, president: “Culture was our key. We hire to our culture, and our team has continued to rise to every challenge even when times were tough. Lakeland also invested in more inventory and continued to hire when others were not.”
2022 THE LAKELAND SUPPLY TEAM
48 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 We believe that families, faith and partnerships are life priorities and we hold ourselves to the highest moral and ethical standards. As your partner, you can trust Lakeland’s commitment to exceed expectations through an allegiance to integrity, honesty and service excellence. Our ultimate goal is to make a long-lasting and positive impact wherever we go; leaving all we meet better as a result. Lakeland Supply offers problem solving solutions and services to make your business better. From custom packaging, light assembly/kitting, equipment sales and tool repair, Lakeland is your single source for solutions designed to increase productivity and efficiency. lakelandsupply.com | 262-549-6800 YOUR ONE STOP SOURCE Thank you to all of our employees, customers and vendors! PACKAGING : JANITORIAL : FACILITY SOLUTIONS
2022 Issue
Nomination Deadline:
ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS NOW! To nominate visit biztimes.com/notable N
“We will continue to adjust and change to market conditions and the business environment while continuing to hire successful people who support our mission and culture so they can help us to leave everyone we meet better than they were before.”
Dean LePoidevin, president and chief executive officer: “Hiring the brightest, most experienced associates to best serve our clients and their customers. By focusing on a few select industries, we bring our clients a deep understanding of their markets, competition and customers, which allows us to quickly provide insightful marketing strategies and compelling creative solutions.”
Jason Luther, president and managing member: “The strength of our team and the trust of our clients and investors to execute projects on their behalf. We are truly fortunate to have assembled a cohesive, hard-working team that supports one another and works together to achieve the primary goal: success for our clients and investors. Our ability to achieve that success during these tumultuous times is truly a testament to our incredible team.”
L e POIDEVIN MARKETING
Industry: Employees:Advertising12|Sales: $2.65 million (2022 projected)
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
LEPOIDEVIN is a full-service business marketing firm serving companies in the animal health, medical diagnostics, professional tool, pest control, turf and ornamental, packaging and material handling industries. Its clients are located throughout the U.S., Europe and the Pacific Rim.
“By targeting prospective clients in the industries we serve, we continually add new non-competitive companies and brands that, in turn, strengthen our knowledge and experience in each business vertical.”
THE L e POIDEVIN MARKETING TEAM
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“High construction costs coupled with high interest rates and no rental rate growth — that is a combination that would halt many potential development projects. In addition, we need to continue to be the employer of choice for our team.”
LUTHER GROUP INC.
Elm Grove | Founded: 2012
LUTHER GROUP is a commercial real estate firm that offers brokerage, development and property management services. The company has completed more than 50 projects with a total value of $500 million.
Industry: Commercial real estate
THE LUTHER GROUP TEAM
Brookfield | Founded: 1997
“Never, ever give up.”
biztimes.com / 49
What’s the best business advice you’ve received?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Industry: Employees:Logistics70|Sales: $11.5 million (2022 projected)
Sandi Siegel, president: “Our industry has faced enormous challenges as a result of political and economic stress. Those of us involved in international trade during the major disruptions in supply chain were forced to find creative ways to remain competitive and support our customers. We looked at our core services and strategically realigned our pricing model and service package. We focused on our key, long-term customers to help them manage their business disruptions and spent less time trying to attract any new business or develop new services. Working closely with our key customers was vital for all of us to withstand the uncertainty in the supply chain and the economy.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better? “Work on ways to improve the diversity.” | Founded: 1907
(LEFT TO RIGHT): SANDI SIEGEL, LEAH GARDENIER AND SARAH AZAR
M.E. DEY & CO. offers a full range of logistics services, including customs brokerage, trade compliance and international freight forwarding.
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
IMPORT • EXPORT • FREIGHT FORWARDING • COMPLIANCE • CUSTOMS • E-SERVICES
M.E. DEY & CO. INC. Milwaukee
“The continued disrupted supply chain issues, which require long-term efforts and improvements in infrastructure as well as regulatory change. There has not been enough reform to control the large ocean carriers and rail terminals that are passing on egregious fees to the importers and shippers.”
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
TIM BURNS, WADE NELSON, STEVEN SUNDLOV, SCOTT BUETTNER, CHRISTOPHER CURTIS, AND ERIC HORWATH
MACROMATIC designs and manufactures control, monitoring and protection products to manage electrical processes and to protect equipment from damaging fault conditions.
MARS SOLUTIONS GROUP is a technical staffing and consulting firm that helps clients hire top-tier talent in tech-related fields.
Rashi Arora Khosla, president and owner: “Being a people-first and culture-first company. And an innovative and agile approach to our delivery model.”
Industry: Electronic manufacturing
RASHI KHOSLA
MACROMATIC INDUSTRIAL
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“MARS has been successful year after year due to the innovative process, services and mindset that it embodies. Our vision is to stay in lockstep with the pace of digital transformation and the advent of machine learning and artificial intelligence and the many ways it changes our lives.”
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
“We are very agile in our mode of operations, so change is constant for Martians. We do not have near-term plans to make any big changes other than identifying funding sources to scale our self-funded diversifications.”
Waukesha | Founded: 2006
WaukeshaCONTROLS|Founded: 1975
biztimes.com / 51
Steven Sundlov, president and chief executive officer: “There are three main factors responsible for our growth. First, we re-established our five-year plan and then broke that down into yearly goals. Each yearly strategy is condensed down into a onepage strategy that every employee has on their desk, and we have implemented key performance indicators that are published monthly. Everyone knows what needs to be done to hit our goals and where we stand at any given moment.
“Second, we started aggressively managing our supply chain back in 2020. Currently our inventory sits at three times our normal levels. We are delivering product in standard lead times when our competition is sometimes quoting a year to deliver product. And lastly, we have heavily invested in the business. A new website with ecommerce was launched. And we purchased equipment for our manufacturing organization, making it more efficient. All of this leads to improved Ease of Doing Business (EODB) for our customers.”
“Scaling and funding the newer divisions.”
Industry: Talent recruitment
“Increased focus and pragmatic openness to workforce diversity, thoughts and work environments.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
MARS SOLUTIONS GROUP
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
MIDWEST PRECISION MOLDING provides plastic injection molding, assembly operations, insert molding and custom engineering.
“Recession and inflation. We see strong demand through the remainder of 2022, but only time will tell what 2023 will bring.”
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
“Focus on sourcing though local supply chain companies first. We need to develop ways of marketing and supplying our local manufactures with the parts they need before they source them out of state.”
Lake Geneva | Founded: 1978 Industry: Employees:Plastics90| Sales: $12 million (2022 projected)
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Larry Austin, chief executive officer: “Over the past three years, we have seen increased demand for many of the parts that we produce for food service, medical and water filtration companies, linear actuator components, custom bobbins and plastic gears. Many MPM customers have been converting metal parts into plastic parts to take advantage of a significant cost savings.”
MIDWEST PRECISION MOLDING
THE MIDWEST PRECISION MOLDING TEAM
52 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 Midwest Precision Molding 901 Geneva Parkway N. | Lake Geneva, WI 53147 262-249-5620 | mpmplastics.com Proud to be a 2022 Future 50 Winner! For over 40 years, Midwest Precision Molding (MPM) has served as Wisconsin's leading provider for plastic injection molding. If you can dream it, we can create it.
biztimes.com / 53 ADVERTISING RESERVATIONS NOW OPEN Contact Linda Crawford at advertise@biztimes.com or (414) 336-7112 for details. WHO MADE THE LIST? Space reservation: October 16 To Our Customers: From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the opportunity to work with you. And to This Team: You are the hardest-working, kindest, most devoted crew in the business. #Gratitude! MilwaukeeWarehouse.com
John Arcuri, president: “The uncertainty of the supply chain has created an enormous demand for warehouse space from manufacturers who are stockpiling raw materials closer to home. Also, manufacturers continue to place greater emphasis on their core manufacturing business, outsourcing the activities, like warehouse and distribution, that are not a component of their expertise.”
“The company continues to fight the supply chain challenges and tight labor markets. We use customer-supplied forecasting to ensure we meet all required demands while continually updating and monitoring current material lead times. The labor market continues to be tight, but our current staff does a good job of achieving our production goals.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
M ilwaukee
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
M ilwaukee Warehouse is a warehouse and distribution services company, providing order fulfillment and warehouse distribution services for food-grade, retail, industrial steel and general commodities in the Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin markets.
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
Warehouse Milwaukee | Founded: 2018 Industry: Employees:Warehousing21
THE M ilwaukee Warehouse TEAM
“Two obstacles: A stagnant economy translates to fewer goods moving through the supply chain. And finding talent.”
Questions about growing your business? We have answers.
To learn more about how we can help your business, visit JohnsonFinancialGroup.com/grow-my-business.
Mike Moore, president: “First and foremost, our team. We have assembled an exceptional group of construction professionals who are passionate about their work and delivering projects for our customers. Second, our customers. Our goal is to work with customers who value us as a true partner. A large portion of our work is repeat business, and we have grown alongside many of our first customers, which has been rewarding.”
“Don’t be afraid to pay for advice. There are experts in different industries for a reason – use them and value them!”
MOORE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LLC Menomonee Falls | Founded: 2007 Industry: Employees:Construction24|Sales: $75 million (2022 projected)
MOORE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES is a construction manager, design-builder and general contractor, serving commercial, institutional and multi-family markets in Wisconsin.
Products and services offered by these Johnson Financial Group companies: Johnson Bank, Johnson Wealth Inc. and Johnson Insurance Services, LLC.
54 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
“I see us continuing to grow in the distribution and fulfillment and senior living sectors, as they both continue be in high demand.”
“Changing a mindset from always having the ability to take on more work to not overcommitting ourselves so we can properly service our customers.”
What’s the best business advice you’ve received?
THE MOORE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES TEAM
MATT H. Business Banking
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
MUNSON INC.
“Access to growth capital as a Midwest-based business. As a tech-manufacturing hybrid, PartsBadger is fortunate to be able to support triple-digit growth, but with that comes challenges as growth capital is scarce in the region and traditional banking institutions are not structured to accommodate business needs like PartsBadger needs.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“We treat everyone as family. We are with each other more than with our own families, so it’s important to cultivate and maintain strong bonds by helping and respecting each other and having each other’s best interests at heart.”
Industry: Construction
Parts B adger is an online machine shop offering custom CNC parts for entrepreneurs, engineers, product designers, manufacturers and makers.
Sales: $23.3 million (2022 projected)
Cedarburg | Founded: 2017
Glendale | Founded: 1955
THE MUNSON TEAM
biztimes.com / 55
P arts B adger
THE P arts B adger TEAM
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Industry: Contract manufacturing and machine shop
Robert Fetherston, president: “Openness to new ideas, bringing on business development, retaining employees and continuing to hire outstanding people who share in our values and mission. And increased demand for our products and services due to pent-up demand and the need to work with a reliable partner.”
MUNSON INC. is a paving and fencing company serving commercial and residential customers in the greater Milwaukee area. It specializes in projects ranging from driveways to large parking lots, industrial chain link fences to decorative wrought ironstyle fencing as well as tennis courts and running tracks.
“Establishment of remote working to accommodate the flexibility our employees need while keeping our commitments to our clients. Educating our customers upfront about supply chain issues and force majeure pricing was very important, especially with our steel products.”
How would you describe your company culture?
Roy Dietsch, chief executive officer: “PartsBadger has a culture of innovation, speed and responsiveness where everyone is encouraged to think outside the box and create opportunity. As a startup, PartsBadger is doing things we’ve never done before and, most of the time, it is a strategic advantage that allows us to create systems and processes that serve customers better and are more efficient than industry norms. At the root of this innovation is a creative and adaptable team that fundamentally believes in transforming manufacturing for the better.”
PATTYN NORTH AMERICA
Employees: 37 | Sales: $48 million (2022 projected)
DUSTIN KONRUFF AND RUBEN NIELSEN
A
• Who’s ready to go above and beyond for our customers around the country?
How would you describe your company culture?
• With a customer-first mentality?
NO R
HIRING
Field Service Technician
Sussex | Founded: 2011
Industry: Manufacturing and automation
is looking for a Are you an electrical or mechanical engineer
56 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
R I
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
• Who’s excited to work for a FUTURE 50 Awarded company?
Then join us!
Dustin Konruff, vice president of operations, and Ruben Nielsen, vice president of sales and marketing: “Without a doubt, we have a great team of professionals at Pattyn that continue to be dedicated and are always refining their skills in the ever-changing and evolving automation industry. The COVID-19 pandemic also has been a major growth factor. As we work in automation, the lack of people in various workplaces has forced companies to heavily invest in automation and machinery. In addition to labor shortages, bringing more manufacturing back to the U.S. has also been a contributing factor. Lastly, the heightened focus on sanitation and hygiene. The removal of hands-on labor from touching medicaland food-grade items is only increasing the need for automation, which in turn increases the need for Pattyn.”
• Who has a passion for automation and machinery?
Apply now on www.pattyn.com/careers T H A M E C
PATTYN NORTH AMERICA manufactures stand-alone packaging machines all the way up to a fully automated turnkey solution. The firm offers case erectors, bag inserters, weigh filling, quality control, counting and filling, bag closing, case closing and palletizers.
“Relaxed, team-oriented environment that encourages collaboration and personal growth.”
QPS is a full-service staffing and recruiting firm, specializing in industrial, skilled trades, office and clerical, and professional staffing. The firm offers temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire options. The company is 100% employee owned.
QPS EMPLOYMENT GROUP
Brookfield | Founded: 1985 Industry: Staffing and recruiting
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“QPS has always been strong on manufacturing, but we believe there is an opportunity to diversify, and we have been growing our professional division to accelerate professional talent solutions.”
THE QPS EMPLOYMENT GROUP TEAM
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee/southeastern Wisconsin better?
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“Addressing the inequities that exist in our city, which also contributes to high crime rates.”
Scott Mayer, chairman and chief executive officer: “Over the past three years, we have worked at growing our existing lines of business and really expanding our professional division. We rebranded the division as ‘accelerate professional talent solutions’ in December 2021. The further expansion of professional talent solutions offerings from QPS has enhanced partnerships with clients, customers and candidates at all levels. In addition, becoming 100% employee owned has helped retain current staff and attract job seekers.”
RIVERWATER PARTNERS is a socially responsible investment advisory firm providing services to individuals, families, nonprofits and institutions. Its team of independent fiduciaries delivers a range of services from financial planning to wealth and asset management.
THE TEAM AT RIVERWATER PARTNERS
“Adding talent. Finding the best interior designers to join our team. Building relationships with local developers on our commercial side and growing our national presence on our residential side.”
THE TEAM AT PEABODY’S INTERIORS
58 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
“Our biggest opportunities are in the institutional space. The Riverwater Small Cap portfolio has the longest track record in the country for a small cap value ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) product as well as having the largest asset base. With the growing demand for ESG in investors’ portfolios, Riverwater Partners has a multi-year lead against the competition.”
Kelly Boecker, president: “We have aggressively sought out commercial work. Our commercial portfolio has had a significant impact on our growth as a company. We have also added four interior designers to our design staff that have brought in new business, and we’ve shifted our focus from retail sales to custom design work.”
RIVERWATER PARTNERS
Industry: Interior design
PEABODY’S INTERIORS provides high-end interior design services for clients across the country. The firm specializes in new home construction and renovations while working in partnership with general contractors and residential architects. The company also provides custom products and furnishings.
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
What’s the best business advice you’ve received?
Milwaukee | Founded: 2016 Industry: Employees:Finance11
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Adam Peck, founder and chief investment officer: “The acquisition of Falcons Rock Investment Council, a socially responsible investment advisory firm. Additionally, we have seen recent traction with being recognized as the only investment firm in Wisconsin specializing in socially responsible investing. That brand awareness, coupled with increased interest in socially responsible investing, has contributed to an increase in sales of 500% and a growth in size of our team of 120%.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“Designer retention and an uncertain economy.”
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
“Trust your instincts.”
PEABODY’S INTERIORS
Brown Deer | Founded: 2008
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
Chris Illman, chief executive officer: “First, we are a very unique insurance agency. Our tagline is, ‘We’re an agency for agents,’ and we truly mean that because all of our agents are independent business owners, and they all own their books of business. The philosophy of that is nobody cares more or takes better care of a client than an independent agent who owns that client list. They can consult and advise clients with a passion that’s more meaningful than transactional.”
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
Proudly
Robertson Ryan & Associates congratulates all Future 50 Winners!
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
biztimes.com / 59 Top 100 US Insurance Agency | www.RobertsonRyan.com | (414) 271 3575
Milwaukee. Proudly team driven. Proudly growing.
CHRIS ILLMAN
Milwaukee | Founded: 1960 Industry: Insurance | Employees: 286 (419 w/agent owners) Sales: $61.7 million (2022 projected)
ROBERTSON RYAN & ASSOCIATES
ROBERTSON RYAN & ASSOCIATES offers a broad range of solutions for business, personal and benefits insurance. The company has more than 45,000 clients, from homeowners to small businesses to national accounts across all industries.
“You’re going to see our reach expanding out, because our value proposition is a national value proposition. We’re very different, and our uniqueness is well positioned because we sit between the big M&A folks and small one- or twoagent shops.”
THE ROCKET CLICKS TEAM
UBUNTU RESEARCH AND EVALUATION provides evaluation of programs, partnerships and practices intended to improve or create systemic, behavioral or social change. The company also designs programming for young people and adults that promotes critical thinking and develops analytical skills to increase individual and collective capacity to create a just and equitable world.
60 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
“We moved our service delivery to a primarily virtual model, which increased accessibility. We also moved our staff to a fully remote model, increasing their quality of life and relationship to work.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Monique Liston, founder, joyful militant and chief strategist: “Being community engaged! We are responsive to the needs and experiences of Black people in Milwaukee and bring that into every project that we engage.”
Industry: Evaluation & Education Employees: 13 | Sales: $1.5 million (2022 projected)
Tyler Dolph, chief executive officer: “A steadfast commitment to our employees. We’re constantly listening, growing and evolving based on feedback from our team. Remaining hyper-focused when it would be easy to drift. Living by our core values and having a clear vision for where we’re headed.”
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
ROCKET CLICKS
“The sociopolitical and socioeconomic climate. As the political climate changes, we are faced with new challenges and new ways of engaging decision makers in things that currently have their attention. Also, budgets are moral documents and with changing leadership, there comes changing priorities that might impact budgets for research and evaluation on topics we are experts in.”
ROCKET CLICKS is a digital marketing agency, specializing in paid advertising and search engine optimization (SEO).
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
UBUNTU RESEARCH AND MilwaukeeEVALUATION|Founded: 2017
THE UBUNTU RESEARCH AND EVALUATION TEAM
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“80% of our business expense is salary, so as salary pressure for top talent increases, we have no choice but to either ask our team to carry more weight or raise our prices.”
Industry: Employees:Marketing/Advertising48
“The biggest change on the horizon is the re-organization of our team. The re-org will enable $8,000 to $15,000 salary increases for most of our team members. No layoffs. Three additional manager positions have already been offered – two are being promoted internally and one is an RC alum – and even more are coming soon.”
Menomonee Falls | Founded: 2008
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
ROYAL BASKET TRUCKS makes material handling carts and solutions used in health care, hospitality, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, waste and recycling, athletics, commercial laundry, higher education and other industries and markets.
ROYAL BASKET TRUCKS INC.
Darien | Founded: 1982 Material Handling
Industry:
Is there a nonprofit your company regularly supports? If so, why?
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
“SMILES Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Darien, Wisconsin. I believe in helping disabled individuals achieve independence, which SMILES does so well. Additionally, we support United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, Safe Families for Children (Wisconsin), and Children’s World Impact. We are active in our local communities, supporting many events and activities.”
BILL FALCON, JENNIFER TUTTLE, TOM CARNEY, MICHAELANN NEWMAN, CINDY LAPIDAKIS
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Tom Carney, president: “Manufactured products in the U.S. with minimal supply chain interruptions. Ongoing capital investments driving continual process improvement and expanded manufacturing capabilities. New product development supporting target growth markets and organic growth within our core markets.”
“Our ability to expand the product offering with new manufacturing capabilities provides us the strength needed to push into new markets. These additional processes strategically expand our solutions within current industries and markets, such as hospitality, health care, commercial laundry, textile rental and manufacturing.”
Matt Sabljak, president and partner: “A virtuous cycle of finding and keeping great people on our team who find and keep great clients, who in turn help us find and keep more great people. That, and lots of luck.”
“Oh yeah! We’re moving into a much larger office space on Second Street in Walker’s Point to suit our expanded team and post-pandemic working styles. We’re also ramping up our own marketing to let this cat out of the bag and help more marketing leaders shift perspectives and do work that deserves to get noticed.”
Where do you see the most opportunities for your company to continue growing?
MilwaukeeSRH | Founded: 2014 Industry: Employees:Advertising20|Sales: $5.2 million (2022 projected)
SRH provides full-service advertising services, including branding, strategy, creative and media.
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
62 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 We’re your local business banking experts. Milwaukee | Greenfield | Brookfield | West Allis Congratulations to the Future 50 winners! Congratulations to our partners: SRH | Midwest Precision Molding | Peabody’s Interiors Rocket Clicks | Vyron | Robertson Ryan & Associates PROUD TO SUPPORT THE MOST IMPACTFUL BUSINESSES OF SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN THE SRH TEAM
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“Everywhere. We’ve only just begun. There’s enough opportunity within a few square blocks of downtown Milwaukee to satisfy our growth ambitions for a decade. And marketing leaders here are hungry for new, full-service agency options. It’s a good time to have youthful energy combined with veteran leaders.”
Industry: Food flavors and seasonings
THE WIXON TEAM
Jeff Cardenas, president: “The insurance industry has seen a lot of consolidation, and our fierce commitment to independence has resulted in some incredible partnerships with like-minded insurance agencies that seek positive workplace cultures, substantial organic growth and enhanced resources for clients. Many of our competitors have chosen a different path and have joined private equity firms or national brokerages. But for us, being part of a great journey with great people is meaningful and rewarding. We have discovered that associates are attracted to workplaces that are family-focused and associate-centric, and our exclusive shareholder program is a differentiator. Our clients also tell us that they appreciate working with a locally owned agency that reinvests dollars back into the local community.”
Industry: Insurance
What’s the best business advice you’ve received?
biztimes.com / 63
Employees: 250-plus
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“As a growing company, we constantly hire new associates, and we first need to overcome the tendency for insurance to not be top of mind for many job seekers. The majority of insurance professionals did not originally plan to join the industry but eventually found their way into an industry with limitless potential.”
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
“Within the food industry, trends in health, convenience and taste continue to drive growth. Sodium reduction, flavor modifications of natural clean label ingredients and sugar reduction are current drivers for Wixon.
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
“Always buy lemonade from children’s lemonade stands.”
“Like so many manufacturers in Wisconsin and the U.S., our capacity is limited by our ability to hire workers. Throughout 2021 and into 2022, we have over 20 unfilled positions at Wixon.”
WIXON produces seasonings, ingredients and flavors for the food industry.
“In 2021, we secured an additional 110,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space to accommodate the growth of our consumer products packaging division.”
St. Francis | Founded: 1907
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
HartlandVIZANCE|Founded: 1978
JEFF CARDENAS AND DIMAS OCAMPO
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
Peter Gottsacker, president: “Continued innovation of new food products, technology and flavors. In the past three years, Wixon has commercialized over 593 new items with $36.4 million in sales. Over 31% of our 2021 sales were from new products.”
WIXON INC.
VIZANCE provides risk management, business insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance and financial service solutions to companies, families and individuals throughout the Midwest. The firm designs and implements a full range of insurance, claims management, wellness and financial service solutions that protect the financial security of businesses and families.
Industry: Manufacturer’s representative Employees: 53 (32 in southeastern Wisconsin)
BREHM
“Our people are the key to our success. Our team has a deep pride in the work they do and a passion for the customers they serve. In a market where finding new team members is difficult, our ability to meet the needs of our customers and expand into new markets presents a serious challenge. We have been lucky that our incredible culture has attracted the best of the best and we have been able to fill our current employment needs. However, the search for this talent becomes more and more difficult each day.”
Roberta Brehm, president: “Vyron isn’t just an HVAC equipment company. We provide full energy system solutions to our clients. We partner with local mechanical contractors and engineers to optimize the system’s design to meet the needs of building owners. This value-added service is what creates long-lasting, trusting relationships with our mechanical partners and gives us an edge in the market.”
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Waukesha Founded: 1955
info@vyron com
PROUD TO BE A FUTURE 50 WINNER
ROBERTA
|
|
VYRON is an HVAC manufacturer’s representative, serving the needs of facility owners, mechanical contractors and mechanical engineers in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
VYRON CORP.
Here at Vyron, we pride ourselves on our strong relationships with our employees, vendors and customers These strong relationships have helped us grow into industry leaders and gain recognition among Southeast Wisconsin's fastest growing companies. We thank our dedicated employees, customers, manufacturers and all of our business partners for their support!
Since 1955, Vyron has served the needs of facility owners, mechanical contractors and mechanical engineers with sound HVAC advice Visit vyron.com to learn more. 401 Pilot Court, Suite B | Waukesha, WI 53188 | P 262 783 3600 E
64 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 CongratulationstoVizance. We are proud to be your financial and strategic partner, and look forward to helping you succeed in the future. The Business Bank Run By Business People Lake Country 262.567.7509 Milwaukee 414.763.2428 ixoniabank.com Learn More Scan Me! Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender
Scot Trojanowski, owner and president: “We have secured our growth by making investments in personnel, our facility and equipment. This has given us the ability to continue superior service to our customers throughout the entire Wisconsin market.”
Z.T. DISTRIBUTION is a full-service direct store distribution company to the grocery trade. The firm distributes a variety of nonperishable items to major chains and independent grocers throughout Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Services include warehousing, delivery, order writing, merchandising and marketing of national and regional brands.
THE Z.T. DISTRIBUTION. TEAM
Waukesha | Founded: 1962
“Z.T. Distribution Inc. has seen great strides in growth and expansion within the past few years, more than doubling the size of our facility, creating more positions to provide upward mobility within our organization and increased service and attention to our customers, and making substantial investments in equipment and technology. Our goal is always to look forward and to stay ahead, whether that is achieved by organic growth or acquisition.”
Industry: Grocery distribution
What are the biggest obstacles to your company’s continued growth?
Employees: 61
“Maintaining an experienced, well-trained workforce whose goals match our company vision.”
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
Do you plan to make any changes to your company?
“The pandemic had a significant impact on our 2020 revenues. We were able, with the PPP funds and cost controls, to weather the pandemic and retain over 90% of our staff. We took actions, including remote work and health precautions in alignment with CDC guidelines to assure the health of our staff through the pandemic.”
Z.T. DISTRIBUTION INC.
WOLTER INC.
Industry: Industrial equipment
WOLTER describes itself as an “operational productivity toolbox,” with services including new and used material handling equipment, service and training to automation and robotics, overhead cranes and hoists, power systems, railcar movers, office and industrial storage solutions, complete engineered systems and more.
What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Jerry Weidmann, president: “Our strategic plan included an annual growth plan of 10%. This included a territory expansion plan that took us from a two-state territory to a seven-state territory and included six acquisitions within the last three years.”
THE WOLTER LEADERSHIP TEAM
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What factors have contributed the most to your growth in the past three years?
Brookfield | Founded: 1962
ple now want to work virtually and have more flexibility, yet they still need interaction with oth er employees.Successful HR leaders possess high social skills, communicate well, listen carefully and can nav igate working with a dramatically more diverse workforce.Inarecent Harvard Business Review article, entitled, “The C Suite Skills That Matter Most,” the authors indicated that leaders “who are good with people” should be promoted to the position of CEO. This diverges from the traditional model, which calls for people with high technical expertise, ad ministrative skills and a track record of managing financialConsequently,resources.we can look forward to promot ing HR leaders to the top jobs in the coming years.
In advance of those annual meetings, anony mous questionnaires should be developed to test whether the company’s culture and leadership are living up to its stated values. In addition, those anonymous assessments will provide a wealth of information to see if there’s a disconnect between leadership and the organization’s employees.
Then I asked them why they thought I felt that way. They seemed puzzled.
How can any HR professionals survive this constant change in the labor market and the reg ulations coming from Washington or state govern ments?Irecommend that top management meets with key HR professionals annually to review the cul ture and changes so that the culture aligns with the company’s values.
important as hiring the right peo ple is that those new employees need training, mentoring and help as they go through the on boarding process to fit within the organization’s culture, which is a primary responsibility of HR professionals.Theymust also prove adept at managing the ever-growing list of HR tasks that must be main tained to comply with federal and state regulations and enhance a culture that pays competitively and can attract employees. The legal challenges are myriad, whether it involves firing, promotion, or compensation, as there’s always the need for HR professionals to ensure these matters are handled professionally and competently.
66 / BizTimes Milwaukee SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
The reward will show up in multiple ways as employee departures are reduced, hiring new pros pects becomes easier and the organization drives better financial results in a competitive world. n
ments of HR leaders and what they think is right or wrong about the culture.
In setting up these collaborative annual review sessions with HR professionals, I recommend the following process be followed to ensure the best results:
1. Understand the problems. I call problems mountains that need to be scaled, and cre ativity is the only way that can be done. Use the anonymous survey information to start defining the most current challenges. Lay out the requirements of new federal and state mandates. Review carefully assess
Dan Steininger, author, national and international speaker, and business advisor is president of Steininger & Associates LLC, which helps companies drive innovation. He can be reached at DSteinin@execpc.com.
Everyonecerns.
IN SPEAKING at an association meeting of HR professionals, I told them that as a CEO I have always loved HR professionals.
Most importantly, the world continues to change rapidly, impacting an organization’s cul ture and human resources in dramatic ways. For example, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, peo
Strategies
HUMAN RESOURCES
4. Top management must then communicate the ongoing changes needed to improve the culture and address the workforce’s con
Why we should love our professionalsHR
needs to recognize that trying to cre ate a culture that addresses the emotions of human beings is never easy. Still, people can appreciate genuine attempts to listen and learn from the in formation gathered.
So, I asked them: What makes a great company or organization?Iremindedthem that one of the greatest man agers in baseball was asked the same question about his team and why they kept winning the WorldHisSeries.answer was that he had great players.
3. Apply an evaluation matrix to the ideas to determine which meet the agreed-upon cri teria for implementing new ideas. Then de velop a responsibility matrix for implement ing those ideas.
2. Then, use the traditional ideation session to think differently about solutions. There is plenty of access to information on how com panies across the country handle the chang ing marketplace from an HR perspective. Google them and put the best ideas into play!
This annual review should drill down into questions about how meetings are conducted and whether they effectively tap the skills and knowl edge of the workforce.
DAN STEININGER
So, who finds those players and the key em ployees of any organization? Of course, it’s the HR professionals!Butequally
“Any of our team members can gain experi ence in different skills with a wide variety of re sponsibilities. We recognize that the best learning experiences are on-the-job experiences. These skills can be brought into any future career. Every team member is given an opportunity to share their idea and work from scratch to bring a prod uct or service to market. Working at Rex Academy also allows team members to work closely with company founders and managers, which provides experience in running the company.”
biztimes.com / 67 A BRIEF CASE
“Ondone.topof all of that, we have a genuine mis sion as a company: to bring the joy of wine to ev eryone. As a challenger brand, we have purpose, and in support of that, we lean into core values that define how we treat our customers and how we operate as a team. Holding ourselves to a standard where we all believe in what we are doing is just as important as salary and benefits. The buy-in then happens when our candidates look at our customers and at our employees. If our customers and employees believe – and it’s based on real actions and real results – then we aren’t selling promises, we are selling momen tum and outcomes. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?” n
» What can you do to make people feel valued when you’re resource-strapped and unable to pay high wages?
When hiring at a startup company, how do you get potential employees to buy into your vision and make the leap to join you?
» Where do you find self-starters who are ready to take initiative? After all, startup founders don’t have the bandwidth (or de sire) to micromanage.
“We take our hiring process very seriously since we are looking to build a team. We aren’t looking for bodies to just fill a role, but people who can help drive new ideas and support our goals. I make sure the values, vision and expecta tions all match each other to ensure effective and productive work, meetings and projects. I always look for individuals who are hungry for responsi bility and eager to learn.
“At Rex Academy, we offer a flexible and au tonomous work environment. We have a work flow driven by innovation to meet our modern society. We offer our employees a work-life balance that is unheard of in traditional compa nies. We also offer equity in the company in the form of stock options to potential employees. The chance of getting an early opportunity to make money from the company’s success is very at tractive. We offer equity to attract qualified can didates who may not be willing to work for less than they are worth.
“Self-Determination Theory provides a psy chological framework for the closest thing to a sil ver bullet. SDT suggests that human beings have three innate needs that must be met for optimal functioning: autonomy, competence and related ness. Respectively, people must feel a sense of free dom over their lives, believe that they can achieve mastery in the things they put effort towards, and know that they are part of a bigger social whole.
“People who have these three needs satisfied tend to show higher intrinsic motivation for the activities they take part in. They engage for the innate enjoyment of the activity itself as opposed to extrinsic rewards, such as payment, and are far more likely to take initiative, work harder and feel more connected to a mission. Find people who are values-aligned and give them the free dom to do their best work, and their work will truly be their best.”
Sandhya Padala Chief executive officer and Rexco-founderAcademy
“Hiring at an early-stage startup is filled with all sorts of challenges:
» How do you inspire with a bold vision when the company is still taking shape and the vi sion itself is still being constructed?
Amina Moreau Chief executive officer Radious
Joe Megibow Chief executive officer Bright Cellars
“Talent is critical for any startup. When small, every single employee matters. Sure, startups have far fewer processes and resourc es, but they make up for it with great people who work as a team and do whatever needs to be done. We look for people who have a passion for that kind of visibility and accountability. It’s easy to get lost in a bigger company where projects can drag on for years or teams never ac complish anything. We create an environment where employees matter, employees work on projects that really matter, and we actually get things
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Friendship Circle of Wiscon sin provides support, friendship and opportunities for inclusion to people with special needs in the Milwaukee area, according to its website. Among its various programming, the organization operates a social enterprise, Friendship Cafe, that provides job training and employment to adults with disabilities.
paid $5,000 to be a sponsor. They were equally Jacobsonimportant.”thisyearasked a couple of longtime work clients, now friends, to sponsor him in the fundraising effort, allowing him to more than double the amount he raised in 2021. Of the 50-plus people who participated in the 2022 ride, Jacobson came in first for total dollars raised and second for total number of donors, he said. A man from New York City recruited the most donors – five or six more than Jacobson – which shows just how far and wide the mission of Friendship Circle has spread.
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Jack Jacobson (left) and his nephew Sol Weingrod (right) at the Bike4Friendship ride in August.
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Newmark’s Jack Jacobson goes the extra mile for Friendship Circle of Wisconsin
JACK JACOBSON, a director in commercial real estate firm Newmark’s Milwaukee office, recently trekked 130 miles by bike from Milwaukee’s North Shore to Algoma. The two-day ride along the Lake Michigan shore aimed to raise money and awareness for Friendship Circle of Wisconsin, an organization near and dear to him.
While it was only Jacobson’s second year participating in the organization’s annual Bike4Friend ship event, he’s been connected to the nonprofit for years thanks to his nephew, Sol Weingrod.
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“That’s how I see it: You gave people this connection, for what ever they were able to spend, to an organization that promotes diversity. … The bottom line is it makes me feel good and it helps all kinds of people,” said Jacobson.Heplans to not only continue supporting the Friendship Circle of Wisconsin and participating
Weingrod, 37, is a longtime member of Friendship Circle and
MAREDITHE MEYER Associate Editor
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currently works at Friendship Cafe as a concierge. Over the years, Jacobson has gotten to know other members of the orga nization through Weingrod and has seen its mission in action.
“If they’re doing something like this, we’re happy to support them because, you know, it’s a community,” Jacobson said. “We help each other.” n
Jack Jacobson Director, Newmark (Milwaukee office)
in Bike4Friendship, but also recruit other riders and volun teers to join him. And because of the generosity he’s seen in those who have supported a cause that’s important to him, he intends to do the same whenever the opportunity arises.
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Nonprofit served: Friendship Circle of Wisconsin
“The goal of the whole orga nization is inclusion, and they’re really good at it, so I wanted to support the organization (by participating in the ride),” said Jacobson.Thisyear’s Bike4Friendship event raised a total of $251,157, surpassing its $250,000 goal. Of that, Jacobson – with the help of his wife and nephew – raised about $27,000, from more than 100“Fordonors.me, it was important that I reached a lot of people. … Some people gave significant, large contributions and some people gave significant small contribu tions but significant for them,” said Jacobson. “I was happy to get $10 from my great nephew that he handed me in cash, and I was happy to get sponsors who
Big plans
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The Milwaukee Public Museum is the next local cultural institution with a grand vision and ambitious plans for a new facility. The museum’s current home, built in 1962, has significant struc tural issues, including roof leaks, that threaten its priceless collection of artifacts. A new facility is needed.
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This summer, MPM’s exterior design plans for the new museum have received mixed re views. It’s a bold design, largely inspired by geological formations in Mill Bluff State Park near Tomah. Some have praised the design, while others have been critical.
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THAT FAMOUS QUOTE came to mind recent ly when Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava returned to Milwaukee to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion, which he de signed. Best known for its Burke Brise Soleil, the moveable, wing-like sunscreen atop the build ing that looks like a bird when fully extended, the Quadracci Pavilion transformed the Mil waukee Art Museum into the city’s most iconic building. So impressive was Calatrava’s design that his name became synonymous with the building and many to this day call the building “TheTheCalatrava.”projectcost $125 million, paid for by private donations, including $10 million from Betty and Harry Quadracci, the founders of Quad/Graphics. The size, scope and cost of the Milwaukee
ANDREW WEILAND
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This undated Fred Friedrich photo shows men and children in front of E.O. Friedrich Cutlery & Grinding on North Water Street in downtown Milwaukee. The photo was taken at the site of what is now Red Arrow Park. The business existed from 1877 to 1896, when founder Ernst O. Friedrich died.
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— Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Public Library/Historic Photo Collection
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men`s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.” – Daniel Burnham, architect and city planner.
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Bottommuseum.line:Can the MPM plans inspire the philanthropic support that the MAM and MSO did? Time will tell. n
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Another major cultural institution in Milwau kee, the Bradley Symphony Center, is also an ex ample of how big plans can inspire support from donors, resulting in the creation of a community treasure. Needing its own home to avoid sched uling conflicts it encountered at the Marcus Per forming Arts Center, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2021 completed an $89 million project to transform the former Warner Grand Theatre. Built in 1931 as a movie theater, it was a true “movie palace” of its day, but the beautiful and elaborately designed building was in rough shape prior to the MSO project. Now, it’s been transformed into an opulent, modern symphony hall. The vast majority of the cost was paid for by private donors, inspired by the MSO’s grand vision for the facility.
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Kate kate.meyer@biztimes.comMeyer
Now MPM is seeking public input on the museum plans as it works on designs for the in terior and exhibits. It will be a huge challenge to create a modern museum that also appeals to local residents who are nostalgic about the current
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This summer, MPM unveiled design plans for a new $240 million facility. So far, $110 million in private, state and county funds are committed. MPM has began a fundraising push to raise the remaining $130 million.
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Art Museum expansion grew as Calatrava’s designs were so impressive they excited and inspired the city’s philanthropic community to give more money to support it.
“From a structural nature of the industry, I think you’re going to see where there’s going to be a lot of other entertainment components and alternative programing that will be introduced into the theaters, and we’re already starting to do that, whether that’s library films, some sport ing events that are being shown in the actual theater environment …
CHALLENGES BEYOND COVID-19 HEALTH AND SAFETY:
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open up that funnel and you’ve got a lot of people trying to make a lot of product all at once. The good news is from a consumer confidence basis, we’re seeing that the numbers and the reaction from consumers on getting back out to the movie and being in that social environment have increased dramatically.”
“I still believe that this is one of the best price-value relationships of entertainment, anywhere, to be found. Look, I love baseball, I love football, I love basketball – all of which are fantastic events – I love going to theme parks, all of those have a significant price point associated with it, where when you think about the price-value relationship of experienc ing a great movie in a great environment, enjoying some great food and beverage, on a comparable basis, I don’t think there’s anything like it.”
ROLANDO RODRIGUEZ
“I think one of the advantages we have as (Marcus Theatres) is that we tend to own most of our real estate, so that gives us a great deal of flexibility of what we do, not only inside of our theaters, but also on the outskirts of our theaters to make them a lot more attractive entertain ment components.” n
ROLANDO RODRIGUEZ has been president and chief executive officer of Marcus Theatres since 2013 and was named chairman in 2017. He will retire from the positions on Oct. 1 but will stay on as a senior advisor and will also continue as chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners. Biz Times managing editor Arthur Thomas talked with Rodriguez recently about what’s ahead for movie theaters.
“One of the rippling effects of (COVID shutdowns) was ... a supply issue from the film companies. What that meant was the film companies, many of which own streaming services, since the theaters weren’t open, they had to place their films out and try to monetize them in any way that they could, so a lot of those films ended up going into the streaming services.“…There are still some challenges with the supply issue, more so because ... the production of these films was delayed … well now you
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President and chief executive officer, Marcus Theatres
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