BizTimes Milwaukee | October 30, 2017

Y E L D BRA R ERA E T N E C

ilwaukee M to t if g s ’ it tt Bradley Pe e n a J f o y c a The leg

plus ATTRACTING STARTUPS TO REVITALIZE COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS 14 YOUNG LEADER CHARTS A COURSE FOR DOWNTOWN KENOSHA 26 HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS FLOCK TO KENOSHA COUNTY 28

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BY THE NUMBERS 5 INNOVATIONS 6 THE PUBLIC RECORD GETTING THERE 7 IN FOCUS 8 IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD 9 JUMP START 10 THE GOOD LIFE BIZ POLL

12 BizNews 12 THE INTERVIEW 13 MADE IN MILWAUKEE

14 Real Estate 38 Strategies 38 LEADERSHIP Dan Schroeder

COVER STORY

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COURTESY OF MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 23, Number 16, October 30 - November 12, 2017. BizTimes Milwaukee is published bi-weekly, except two consecutive weeks in December (the second and third weeks of December) by BizTimes Media LLC at 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA. Basic annual subscription rate is $42. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5 each. Periodicals postage paid at Milwaukee, WI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120. Entire contents copyright 2017 by BizTimes Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Contents

The Bradley Center era

The legacy of Jane Bradley Pettit’s gift to Milwaukee

Special Report

39 COACHING Susan Wehrley 40 MANAGEMENT Jo Gorissen

42 BizConnections 42 NONPROFIT 43 PERSONNEL FILE 44 GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR COMMENTARY 45 AROUND TOWN

26 Business in Kenosha County Meet the winners of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance’s Ovation Awards, learn about the surge of new health center development in Kenosha County and hear from the young new leader of Downtown Kenosha Inc.

46 THE LAST WORD

HOLIDAY PARTY

WITH US!

LEARN MORE AT PAYSBIG.COM/MEETINGS

MANAGEMENT RESERVES ALL RIGHTS ©2017 FOREST COUNTY POTAWATOMI COMMUNITY, WISCONSIN

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BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn chairman Terry Gou, discusses the company's planned Mount Pleasant site.

Mount Pleasant, Racine County to invest $764 million to support Foxconn project

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer Foxconn Technology Group’s decision to build its $10 billion LCD panel campus in Mount Pleasant will prompt a $764 million investment from the village and Racine County, but local officials say taxpayers are protected and the costs will be recouped in 25 years.

Mount Pleasant plans to create a tax increment financing district to fund the $764 million investment,

BY THE NUMBERS Potawatomi Hotel & Casino will be the naming sponsor of the Milwaukee streetcar system, to be called “The Hop,” as part of a

$10

MILLION 12-year deal.

4 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 16, 2017

which would include land acquisition, infrastructure upgrades, financing expenses and contingencies.

The local incentive package would come on top of the $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker. Foxconn plans to build a $10 billion, 20 million-square-foot facility that will initially employ 3,000 and eventually could have up to 13,000 employees.

As part of the TIF plan, Foxconn would be eligible for up to $100 million in development incentives that would be tied to job creation and capital investment targets that mirror what the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. negotiated as part of a yetto-be-signed contract.

Local officials say the project would not lead to increased property taxes and a county sales tax will not be needed, either.

“We wanted to make sure the taxpayers were protected,” said Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave. “We were able to craft a deal without raising property taxes, without instituting a sales tax so we’re really excited about that.”

Instead, the TIF district will use the estimated $31 million in additional property tax revenue generated by Foxconn’s initial 20-million-square-foot campus to fund the improvements. That campus will be built on a roughly 1,200-acre area in the southwest

portion of the district to the north of Highway KR, south of Braun Road, east of I-94 and west of Highway H. Public improvements planned in the deal include several road expansions that account for about $12 million of the investment.

Roughly $160 million would go toward water and wastewater infrastructure improvements. Another $116 million would be dedicated to public safety upgrades.

Any development in the nearly 1,800 acres planned for future Foxconn expansion or supplier locations would help speed up the time it takes to repay the investment costs, as would development in a more than 900-acre area north of Highway 11 that is included in the district.

The main taxpayer protection, however, is a provision that would require Foxconn to pay Mount Pleasant for any shortfall in property taxes if the incremental value is less than $1.4 billion in any year after 2021.

Other protections for the municipality include a provision in the Foxconn incentive bill that requires the state to cover 40 percent of public debt costs if the deal goes south, potentially putting the state on the hook for $113.2 million.

The company would also pay a special assessment, estimated at $73.5 million, to cover the costs of public improvements related to the initial campus development. n

INN

VAT I

NS

Bradley’s WashBar aimed at seamless, spash-less hand-washing BRADLEY CORP.’S washfountain first arrived on the scene in 1921.

A large bowl with multiple spray heads that allowed several users to wash their hands simultaneously, it was an innovation for its time.

Nearly 100 years later, the newest iteration in the company’s commercial product line – an integrated three-in-one handwashing system with smart technology – hardly resembles your great-grandfather’s washfountain.

Recently introduced to the commercial washroom industry, the Verge with WashBar Technology stores soap, water and a dryer in one unit and uses smart technology for a touchless hand-washing process.

The product is a response to the splashy experience common to commercial restrooms.

“You tend to have a paper towel or hand dryer that’s on the wall off to the side from the sink,” said Will Haas, product manager for Bradley Corp. “So people with wet hands drip that water on the floor to get to the paper towel or hand dryer.

In the case of the hand dryer on the wall, the water gets blown all over the floor and walls. We wanted to get the dryer in the sink and make sure all the water is going down the drain, where it should go, instead of on the floor, on the walls or even on the user, their shoes, their pants, etc.”

The product was also aimed at reducing the expense, maintenance and environmental impact of using paper towels, and mitigating safety concerns related to having water on the floor. Haas said the WashBar also increases accessibility for users in wheel-

The WashBar stores soap, water and a dryer in one unit and uses smart technology for a touchless hand-washing process.

chairs and expedites traffic flow.

While Bradley has produced the three-in-one concept for nearly a decade, the company has refined its packaging over the years. The newest version is the first time all components have been in a single, compact metal casting.

The product has garnered attention since its release, winning multiple design awards this year.

“It lends itself to a more intuitive experience when you integrate it into one casting,” Haas said. “...It was definitely inspired from the architectural and design community as far as overall look and aesthetic, yet kept the user and intuitiveness in mind.”

The product also features advanced software technology that allows the facility manager to adjust the soap type to foam or liquid, as well as the dryer speed.

The dryer is able to dry hands in 12 to 15 seconds.

For the user, the WashBar technology is designed so there are no false activations. If a user is using the faucet, for example, the dryer won’t go off. The fountain can also be put to sleep for cleaning purposes.

LED lighting and icons on the bar are used to guide the user through the hand-washing pro-

cess. The LED is blue to indicate the function is ready to use and turns green when in use.

The product was originally designed for office buildings, restaurants and higher-end retail spaces, Haas said, but it’s since taken off in more settings, like schools, airports, train stations and salons.

“I think it’s a combination of the functionality of the product, the look of the product and the pain point that it solves,” Haas said. “It’s a trifecta. And it seems to resonate with so many more applications. In general, it’s really a good fit for any public handwashing space, wherever hand dryers are acceptable.” n

LAUREN ANDERSON Reporter

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

biztimes.com / 5

Leading Edge

@BIZTIMESMEDIA – Real-time news

THE

PUBLIC

RECORD One zero makes a big difference

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer WISCONSIN’S HISTORIC PRESERVATION tax credit program has grown in popularity since lawmakers raised the cap from 5 percent to 20 percent of project costs in 2014. Gov. Scott Walker proposed a $10 million annual cap on the entire program in his budget, but lawmakers opted for a $5 million per-parcel cap instead. Walker said that amounted to “almost no limitation” and used his veto pen to cut one zero and make the cap $500,000 per parcel. While Walker says the program is “one of this state’s most expensive economic development incentives,” developers say it makes projects possible that otherwise could not secure financing. Walker’s new cap doesn’t take effect until July 1, 2018, and developers say they expect any projects in the pipeline to be moved up in advance of the deadline.

According to Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. data, since 2014:

161 projects with $1.3 billion in costs have received $252.2 million in tax credits.

Just nine projects would have exceeded the $5 million cap put in place by lawmakers. They received $72.5 million in tax credits.

84 projects that received $168.8 million in tax credits would have fallen between Walker’s $500,000 Another

GETTING

THERE

Like about your new role?

“It’s an amazing feeling to be part of a team pioneering advances in every facet of cancer treatment. Two examples are the Nicholas Family Foundation Translational Research Unit for early-phase cancer clinical trials and our recently opened 24-Hour Cancer Clinic. It’s why people come to us from all over the country.”

How do previous roles help?

“I started my nursing career in the emergency department at Froedtert Hospital, so bringing a fresh perspective to oncology helps tremendously.”

Why did you get into health care?

“I began my career as a forensic investigator at the Medical Examiner’s office in Milwaukee County. After several years, I wanted to play a more proactive role in helping people avoid injury and illness so I went back to nursing school for a second career.”

Favorite thing about Milwaukee?

“Custard. I have two sisters who grew up in Milwaukee and now live out of state. We have to be sure to stop at Kopp’s whenever they are back in town visiting.”

What do you like to do in your free time?

“Relax and spend time with my husband, Lanny, and two children, Blake (13) and Brynn (11). From soccer practice to Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal and Irish dance competitions, there’s never a dull moment at home.”

What are you reading/watching right now?

“I love reading, especially medical non-fiction. I just finished ‘Bellevue’ by David Oshinsky, which is the fascinating history of Bellevue Hospital. For fun, I also enjoy escaping in the ‘Outlander’ series by Diana Gabaldon.”

cap and the $5 million cap from lawmakers.

42 percent

About of the projects received less than $500,000 in tax credits, but they accounted

$11 million

for of all credits awarded.

TINA CURTIS AGE: 39 HOMETOWN: Milwaukee EDUCATION: BS, BSN, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; MSN, MBA, DNP, Marquette University

The conversion of the Mackie Building, 225 E. Michigan St., benefitted from $2.5 million in historic tax credits. The program will be capped at $500,000 per parcel starting July 1, 2018.

6 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 16, 2017

PREVIOUS POSITION: Director of outpatient cancer services, Froedtert Hospital CURRENT POSITION: Executive director of cancer services, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network

inf cus

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Outfitting the witches and gouls RUBIE’S COSTUME CO., the largest costume wholesaler in the world, in June bought New Berlin-based BuySeasons Inc. The companies have undertaken the integration in stride, and BuySeasons was humming right along this month in its busiest weeks of the year, ahead of Halloween.

BuySeasons, which also makes and distributes party décor, has about 60 warehouse employees most of the year. In September and October, when the company does about 50 percent of its business, it ramps up to about 300 workers on two-and-ahalf shifts, seven days a week, said Eric Kirkhofer, chief operating officer of BuySeasons.

At the 470,000-square-foot facility on Moorland Road, BuySeasons drop ships costume orders for not only its own buycostumes.com, but also for major retailers like Target, Walmart and JCPenney.

BuySeasons’ software system ensures costumes are picked, packed and shipped as efficiently as possible. From a computer on the picking carts that tells employees to “move on” to a different shelf to an alert to forklift drivers when a product needs replenishing, the warehouse is designed to organize the chaos of filling as many as 45,000 orders per day.

“There’s so many critical jobs to making this work,” Kirkhofer said. “It’s very much a flow and if any one of those pieces falls apart, it doesn’t work.” n -Molly Dill biztimes.com / 7

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Connect

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

BLENKINSOP 7131 W. Greenfield Ave. NEIGHBORHOOD: West Allis FOUNDED: 1983 OWNERS: William Blenkinsop EMPLOYEES: 1 SERVICE: Sewing machine repair and tune-ups

Now through December 14, every time you play this special game, you are helping to raise funds for 31 children’s charities.

To learn more, visit paysbig.com/heart.

How long have you had your store?

“I’ve been in business for 35 years, but I worked out of Hancock, which was originally Minnesota Fabrics. I traveled all across the state and worked out of a different store every day. About 10 years ago, they started shrinking and filed Chapter 11. I saw the handwriting on the wall and opened a little shop on this street. I’ve been in this particular location for two years.”

How many sewing machines do you typically repair a month?

“Well, it depends on the month, but I would say we are averaging probably 15 a week. Could be better. I used to do 15 a day. Not as many people are using sewing machines as they were back in the heyday, but it’s not that bad.”

I don’t imagine there are a lot of people with your skillset. Do you repair machines from all over the region?

“On this block, there are two of us. Across the street there is (Milwaukee Sewing Machine Co., 7226 W Greenfield Ave.). They

sell sewing machines, they do industrial machines. I don’t sell and I don’t do industrial machines; I am strictly domestic.”

How do you see the future of the business?

“I’m 62. It will support me until I’m 70, that’s for sure. Then I’m done. No one else wants it.”

How have sewing machines changed over the years?

“Machines are more sophisticated now because they have computers inside of them.

But the basic repair, cleaning and adjusting is the same. n

Advertise in these upcoming special reports and get your message in front of area business executives.

Nonprofit Excellence Awards

November 27, 2017 Space Reservation: November 8, 2017

Banking & Finance December 11, 2017 Space Reservation: November 22, 2017

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8 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 16, 2017

Contact Linda Crawford today!

Phone: 414.336.7112 Email: advertise@biztimes.com

NanoRED LLC LOCATION: Medical College of Wisconsin FOUNDER: Johnathan Ebben, Gang Xin, Karthika Divakaran, Pradeep Kannampalli and Ranjit Verma.

FOUNDED: 2015 PRODUCT: Cancer therapeutics delivery platform WEBSITE: nanoredbiotech.com EMPLOYEES: Three

EXPERIENCE: Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in chemistry, immunology, oncology, pharmacology and toxicology at MCW, Blood Center of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

NanoRED directs cancer drugs to tumors

By Molly Dill, staff writer

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

GOAL: Get the product to patients

WHEN DOCTORS are treating cancer, it can be difficult to get medication to cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. A Wauwatosa startup is working to address this problem by using IR-triggered liposomes to deliver cancer therapeutics directly to tumors.

Led by Johnathan Ebben, an M.D./Ph.D. student in pharmacology and toxicology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Gang Xin, a post-doctoral fellow in immunology at the Blood Center of Wisconsin’s Blood Research Institute, the company was formed after a group of students and post-doctoral fellows joined forces to participate in the National Cancer Institute and the Center for Advancing Innovation’s Nanotechnology Startup Challenge in Cancer.

Using an NCI platform, NanoRED has developed a unique application and is bringing it through pre-clinical experiments. The goal is to advance it to clinical trials in about three years, Ebben said, but first they must demonstrate how the toxicity is metabolized in the body.

“All of the targeted molecular therapies that exist right now aren’t effective,” Ebben said. “This technology leapfrogs all of that because we can

directly release many different drugs right where we want it in the tumor microenvironment.”

NanoRED won the Life Sciences category in the 2017 Governor’s Business Plan Contest, and has also participated in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s I-Corps program, both of which provided the grant funding, business services and mentorship that have so far supported the company. Xin and Ebben plan to apply for a federal SBIR/STTR grant within the next year.

NanoRED coordinates with investigators, primarily research scientist Amit Joshi, at MCW to design the experiments to test its platform.

The fastest way to get to clinical trials is probably by licensing each molecular entity to a few different pharmaceutical groups, Ebben said.

“Once we can show that we can deliver a molecule to a tumor without affecting the rest of the body, it’s a way for us to potentially collaborate with a lot of different people to advance many different therapies,” he said.

“We both have family members suffering from cancer, terminal stage,” Xin said. “We really want this thing to go to market as soon as possible.” n biztimes.com / 9

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us

Fight night in Thailand

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

T

odd Barden, financial advisor at the Milwaukee branch of New Yorkbased Morgan Stanley, has always enjoyed fitness as a hobby. He has competed in multiple races and triathlons, including the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii.

the

Good LIFE

This summer, Barden took his hobby to a new level as he competed in a professional Muay Thai – Thai-style boxing – match in Thailand.

He had first tried mixed martial arts only three years prior at Milwaukee’s Roufusport Martial Arts Academy. After earning high-level belts via weekly training sessions, Barden set a goal to compete professionally.

“When I started in 2014, I didn’t really have an end goal, but I think the goal evolved as I got better, I got more confident and I had unbelievable coaching that gave me the skills and the confidence,” Barden said. “I needed to have a big goal to keep

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going further.”

Duke Roufus, owner of Roufusport, reached out to Phuket Top Team, an MMA and Muay Thai training academy in Thailand, to arrange the competition.

In August, Barden and Joe Nicols, his Roufusport coach, traveled to Thailand for almost two weeks to put his Muay Thai skills to the test.

Barden trained with the current and five-time Muay Thai world champion and his Phuket Top Team coach for a week to prepare for his fight night competition in the Bangla Boxing Stadium. Barden won three out of five rounds against a professional Thai boxer who was competing in his 20th professional fight.

“The Thai culture and everything around this sport was amazing,” Barden said. “It’s a very respectful sport – the bowing and praying and paying homage to your coaches and the sport.” n

A recent survey of BizTimes.com readers.

Will Milwaukee officials attract enough sponsors to pay for the entire operating cost of the streetcar?

YES:

NO:

33%

67%

Ask about the Run of Site BONUS! Holiday Gift & Party Planning Guide publication dates: November 13, 2017 November 27, 2017

December 11, 2017

For more information contact: Linda Crawford at (414)336-7112 or advertise@biztimes.com

10 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 16, 2017

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

SPONSORED CONTENT

Momentum is Building in Southeast Wisconsin’s High-Growth Startup Community

H

igh-growth entrepreneurs play a critical role in the economic vitality of the Milwaukee-Waukesha metropolitan area. Early-stage, scalable startup companies are the net creators of new jobs in the American economy. Since 2016 the Southeast Wisconsin region has seen continued growth and momentum in the entrepreneur community.

Established Companies Are Engaging with Startups in Meaningful Ways

Local companies are doing more than just taking meetings with local startups, they are becoming engaged purchasing products and services from local startups, and offering strategic support, investment.

Some examples include, Aurora Health Care’s innovation team which has taken an active role in helping grow local HealthTech startups such as EmOpti and IdeaWake. Northwestern Mutual is working to fund early-stage startups with equity investments of up to $85,000 through Reverse Pitch MKE program taking place during Milwaukee Startup Week. The establishment of their $50 million Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures is also a good sign, although the fund does not have a local focus it seems like that could change over time. Other local companies such as Direct Supply, Fiserv and Generac have formed partnerships with or made strategic investments in startups both locally and around the country.

The Startup Funding Environment Continues to Improve

The Milwaukee-Waukesha metro saw a definite increase in venture capital investment in 2016. While we continue to underperform similar sized metros in terms of venture capital invested per capita according to recent research conducted by the Public Policy Forum. There is a need for the community to focus on increasing access to early-stage capital for young,

high-growth companies.

This could be done in a number of ways, one would be through the establishment of a Badger Fund of Funds Venture Capital firm can lead smaller deals (~$200,000). Another way to do this would to increase the number of accelerator programs perhaps led by local companies who could provide more than just cash, such as access to expertise and resources have an interest in seeing Wisconsin’s technology economy grow and thrive.

Educational Institutions are Building a Pipeline of Entrepreneurial Talent

The Milwaukee-Waukesha region is really a college town, with over 120,000 students enrolled in our dozens of great colleges and universities. Specific institutions such as Concordia University Wisconsin, UW - Milwaukee and Marquette University have made it a priority to expose students to high-growth entrepreneurship with the infusion entrepreneurship and innovation in their undergraduate programs.

It has also been great to see local school districts such as Elmbrook, Shorewood and New Berlin focus exposing K-12 students to entrepreneurship at an even earlier age.

Local Entrepreneurs Continue to Build Great Businesses

Local startups have seen significant growth over the past year. Venture backed companies such as

Access HealthNet, Bright Cellars, Montage Talent, Rent College Pads, Scanalytics and Wantable provide hundreds of family sustaining jobs in the region and continue to expand their customer bases. Meanwhile companies like Penrod demonstrate that Milwaukee has plenty of tech talent to support their bootstrapped national expansion to other cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas and Atlanta.

Momentum in the Milwaukee-Waukesha metro area’s startup community is building. If you are an entrepreneur, investor or corporate leader or curious community member and would like to experience some of that momentum for yourself, attend the second annual Milwaukee Startup Week presented by Northwestern Mutual, November 6th through the 12th, 2017. Milwaukee Startup Week is supported locally by Aurora Health Care, Concordia University Wisconsin, Husch Blackwell, Accelity Marketing, Answerport, BizTimes Media & 620 WTMJ. To see the line-up of 35+ events visit: WIStartupWeek.org/Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Startup Week is November 6th - 12th, 2017!

WIStartupWeek.org/Milwaukee

Matthew Cordio is Co-founder & President of Startup Milwaukee and Skills Pipeline Group a technology talent acquisition firm.

BizNews

the

Interview

IN JANUARY, Miron Construction Co. Inc. hired Jill Didier as vice president of busi-

ness development for Milwaukee. Didier has held leadership roles in the private and public sectors, serving as mayor of Wauwatosa from April 2008 to January 2012. She resigned a few months shy of the conclusion of her four-year term after being appointed by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele as economic development coordinator, a role she held for almost two years. BizTimes reporter Corrinne Hess recently spoke with Didier about her new job with Miron, a Neenah-based general contractor with an office in Wauwatosa, where Didier is based.

How did you end up working in the construction industry?

“People kept telling me I should work in construction, and I couldn’t figure out why. But now that I am with Miron and in this particular role, I can see it incorporates everything I have done in my career, from marketing and communications, to understanding the economic development efforts of a municipality and the permitting process. This has really given me a chance to make my career come full circle and I love having an opportunity to work with a company that is still family-owned after 100 years.”

How do you see your role with Miron?

“My job is more than just getting businesses, it is an opportunity to have Miron become part of the community and establish who they are. If you ask people in the community to name the top three construction companies, Miron might not be the first to come to mind. And yet, we are one of the largest general contractors in the state. Part of my goal is to help bring Miron’s name to the community, but ultimately, find an opportunity for us to do what we love and help someone’s dream come true.”

How did you become involved in politics?

“I was the head of marketing and communications for Stewart Associates Inc., a company that sold financial-related products to credit unions.

Then I became a stay-at-home mom. One day at a block party, someone said I should run for alderman. At first I laughed, but then I ran for the 4th district seat and won. I’m a big believer that you can’t complain or be upset about a process unless you are willing to make that process better.

So midway through my term, I ran for mayor and was successful.”

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

What do you think about all of the changes Wauwatosa has experienced during the past 10 years?

Jill Didier Vice president, Milwaukee business development Miron Construction Co. Employees: 1,200 miron-construction.com 12 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

“Every common council, every city worker that has ever had a touchpoint makes it what it is today. No one person can say, ‘I did that’ or ‘I am responsible.’ In Wauwatosa, there are some of the most dedicated city workers, from our police and fire to the people who work at City Hall. When I see what is going on and the growth of the Village, I’m very proud that it has become a destination, whether it is the sports at Hart Park, or the restaurants, or the ability to shop for unique products you can’t find anywhere else.”

What are you most proud of?

“Recently, when I see people I haven’t seen in a while, they thank me for my efforts and for offering an open mind and an open door to hear issues and problems. If that is my legacy, then I can be proud of that.”

What about your time with the county, working on economic development: What are you most proud of?

“One of the unique projects we worked on establishing was the revolving loan fund (the $1 million fund allows Milwaukee County companies to receive financing of 40 percent of the total project cost, or up to $250,000). Oftentimes, when an entrepreneur or developer comes to the city or county, there is just a little gap. I’m hopeful this revolving loan fund bridges this gap.” n

La Lune carves its niche with rustic furniture MILWAUKEE’S RIVERWEST neighborhood looked a lot different in 1986, when Mario and Cathy Costantini decided to move their rustic furniture business there from the Third Ward.

The abandoned factory they moved into had broken windows; its cream city brick was black from smoke and street gangs caused problems in the area. Today, the Florentine Opera Co. practices and has its offices in the Costantinis’ building, Colectivo Coffee is just around the corner and La Lune Collection produces furniture that goes into highend projects around the country.

“There were many places in the city that we discounted,” said Mario, La Lune co-founder and head designer. “Riverwest was on the fence.

Did we know that we were going to be able to help restore Riverwest?

We hoped we would do that, but it certainly was not a sure thing.”

The Costantinis were 23 when they started their business in 1978.

Cathy, now La Lune’s business manager, was a French major at Marquette University and Mario planned to go to medical school in his native Argentina. The possibility of military service in his home country prompted him to consider going to U.S. medical schools.

As Mario prepared his applications, the couple decided to start an interior design business. They were able to rent space for a showroom next to The Pfister Hotel downtown and managed to convince a banker to give them a $50,000 line of credit.

“We didn’t have any money, we didn’t have a business plan, we didn’t have any background or any-

thing like that,” Mario said.

The showroom location helped them find clients and before long, they were designing rustic themes for Chicago-area restaurants. As they started receiving calls from people asking where they could find the furniture, the couple decided to start making their own pieces. They quickly found a market for their product and attracted celebrity customers like Ralph Lauren, who still orders every few years.

La Lune’s catalog has grown from around a dozen pieces initially to 600. The company uses willow and poplar wood to make tables, chairs, cabinets and beds in a variety of finishes. The wood is nearly entirely sourced from within Wisconsin, but 95 percent of orders go outside the state. The look is especially popular in the second home market, mountain states, upstate New York, New England and the Carolinas.

It’s a narrow niche, but the Costantinis are fine with that.

“It’s this little sliver of the furniture world that we own,” Mario said.

“Sometimes rustic is more popular for a few years than others. We really don’t care about those fashion trends; we don’t pay attention to them – we are in our own niche and world,” he added. “We’re not chasing what’s in today. We’re about the past; we’re about making rustic furniture the way it was made for hundreds of years. We believe that there is always going to be a market for that.”

Saying that La Lune is making things the way it has been done for hundreds of years isn’t something to

La Lune Collection co-founders Mario and Cathy Costantini

LA LUNE COLLECTION 930 E. Burleigh St., Milwaukee INDUSTRY: Rustic furniture EMPLOYEES: About 30 lalunecollection.com

take lightly. Much of the equipment in the company’s 25,000-squarefoot facility dates back to the early 1900s, but Mario said it is more than dependable.

“We philosophically tend to be very low-tech about everything that we do, because it works for us,” he said.

But La Lune is also operating in an increasingly global market, which adds to the challenge of doing business.

“We’re competing against people who manufacture furniture in China who earn a few bucks a day,” Mario said. “How do you find the niche?

How do you find the place that works within that playing field?”

He said La Lune takes a cue from Harley-Davidson Inc. by embracing quality and the value of the brand.

“They’re not a commodity and we don’t want to be a commodity,” Mario said. “You get a Harley because it’s a Harley and it has that cache to it. We work on always being in the same frame of mind as they are. Somebody can be a little less expensive than us, (but) it’s not

La Lune. It’s not our quality.”

La Lune has also found its willingness to do custom pieces helps protect it from overseas competition because designers won’t look to foreign competitors for one or two pieces. Today, roughly half of the business is custom.

“Most manufacturers don’t like to do custom. It’s hard to do custom well,” Mario said. “Over the years, we’ve gotten good at it.” n

ARTHUR THOMAS Reporter

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

biztimes.com / 13

Real Estate

@BIZTIMESMEDIA – Real-time news

The city is working with the property owner at North 19th Street and West North Avenue to white box the building and find a “pop-up” retail tenant as part of a new initiative.

Initiative aims to attract startups to revitalize commercial districts

For the past four years, Dr. Noemi Prieto’s former office at South Cesar E. Chavez Drive and West Greenfield Avenue on Milwaukee’s south side has been vacant.

Prieto purchased the building more than a decade ago for her pediatrics practice. After her retirement, she found no one was interested in purchasing the 7,882-square-foot property.

“Many businesses had left the area and a lot of the properties were empty,” Prieto said. “The city was astute enough to start

planting the seeds a few years ago and set up programs to bring the south side and Walker’s Point back to life.”

Prieto is now taking part in a new initiative that has been launched by the city of Milwaukee and a consortium of nonprofit and business leaders to help revitalize three commercial districts near downtown Milwaukee.

The project, called “Ramp Up,” provides an initial $200,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s PRO Neighborhoods initiative to finance white box and façade improvements for properties like Prieto’s.

Her one-story, two-unit building at 1308 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive is currently being renovated with help from a city grant. Once complete, she will work with Kenneth Little, commercial corridor manager for the Department of City Development, to find tenants for the space.

“I would love to bring some of the services back to the community (that are) not currently available,” Prieto said. “I really look forward to being able to enhance the community.”

The pilot phase of the Ramp

UGLY BUILDING: FORMER D O T E M I S S I O N S T E S T I N G S I T E , 24 01 W. S T. PAU L AV E .

The former DOT emissions testing building on West St. Paul Avenue in the Menomonee Valley.

14 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

In mid-2012, Wisconsin’s state-run vehicle emissions testing sites were closed and testing was handed over to private businesses.

Some of the emissions testing buildings, however, have sat vacant for the past five years, including the property still owned by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation at 2401 W. St. Paul Ave. in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.

The sign that once alerted drivers of their estimated wait time is broken and blacked out. Weeds, litter and two abandoned cars were on the site when BizTimes visited.

The building stands out, particularly since over the past several years, Menomonee Valley Partners, the city of Milwaukee and private businesses have made huge investments on West St. Paul Avenue, filling underused or abandoned industrial buildings to bring the street back to life.

According to DOT spokesman Michael Pyritz, there have been various ideas discussed for the former vehicle testing property since 2012, but the future of the building is unknown.

Up program, which was launched in early October, includes developing and matching small businesses with “pop-up” retail opportunities that activate commercial space and make way for permanent retail placements.

The goal is to set up pop-up shops in three commercial districts over the next year. The targeted districts are: • The Cesar E. Chavez Business Improvement District, which is South Cesar E. Chavez Drive between West National Avenue and West Lapham Boulevard.

• The Historic King Drive BID, which is on North Dr. Martin Luther King Drive between West McKinley Avenue and West Locust Street.

• The North Avenue/Fond du Lac Marketplace BID, which is on West North Avenue, between North Eighth and North 27th streets and West Fond du Lac Avenue between North 17th and North 27th streets.

Twelve to 15 retail-friendly businesses are expected to participate, giving entrepreneurs a chance to test their projects and strategies.

The Ramp Up project is being modeled after several similar programs across the country, including Detroit’s successful Motor City Match program.

Motor City Match distributes $500,000 quarterly to new and existing small businesses to revitalize struggling neighborhoods. The money comes from Detroit-area foundations, as well as block grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“Just as development capital has flowed to downtown opportunities, we want to make sure investments flow to adjacent cultural commercial corridors that have been plagued by historical disinvestment,” Donsia Strong Hill, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corp. Milwaukee said in a written statement. “This strategy will help these districts stabilize and mitigate the risk of displacement.”

LISC will provide technical assistance to the BIDs and property owners, and supplement funds with additional financing products.

The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp. will help identify and match small businesses and artists well-suited for the commercial districts and available space.

Ramp Up also includes a new Milwaukee branch of Mortar, a Cincinnati-based minority business accelerator. The Milwaukee program will be based at the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, in partnership with LISC and the Milwaukee Urban League.

Deshea Agee, executive director of the Historic King Drive BID, has a few properties in mind he would like to see white boxed through the program. One is an empty storefront located in the 2000 block of North Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, between Fein Brothers and DreamBikes.

There is also a prime building just east of the Foot Locker store at 339 W. North Ave., Agee said.

“Once we get tenants in there, it will highlight the space,” Agee said. “Even if the space isn’t permanently occupied, this program provides support at the start for people who are just starting out and for the property owners.”

As far as finding tenants, who ideally will be entrepreneurs, Agee said he already knows a handful of people living in the neighborhood who are interested in starting businesses. He expects more people will come forward after the MKE Business Now entrepreneurship summit, held annually in January. n

CORRINNE HESS Reporter

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

DELAVAN MILLS FLEET FARM A Mills Fleet Farm store to be built at the former Geneva Lakes Kennel Club in the city of Delavan is the first phase in redeveloping the 201-acre property at Highway 50 and I-43.

The $30 million Fleet Farm project will be located on about 30 acres of land at the former dog track site, which has been vacant since 2005.

Construction is expected to begin by Nov. 1.

The zoning has been changed from light manufacturing to mixed-use, allowing for retail, residential or light industrial on the property, although further city approvals will be needed when additional tenants are secured.

OWNER: DKC135 LLC and DP71 LLC, which are represented by NRB Land.

DEVELOPER: Commercial Horizons Inc. SIZE: 218,653-square-foot store, 4,900-square-foot gas station

RESERVE YOUR BOOTH!

MAY 2018

CONTACT LINDA CRAWFORD TODAY! (414) 336-7112 || advertise@biztimes.com

biztimes.com / 15

COVER S

TORY

16 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

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biztimes.com / 17

COVER S

TORY ere about ter. They w n e C y in le d ever event f the Bra e – the firs t d atriums o re am g ve o n -c io ss it e gla exhib filed into th ional Hockey League and visitors at N ls a ca in un d lo , rs 8 e 8 g in 19 nton Oil ound and fo ober evenin n the Edmo e turned ar o ct sh , O it ke e, tt ly ta e s ar am P e k g y n an ng the Bradle lackhaw night. Duri t jewel. ropis t Jane e Chicago B n g e th th in m n an n e ch il p ai h at o p rt w e at to ds th w ente wauke ’s brand ne t in the stan the late Mil r Milwaukee ly teens – sa ed her grandmother, ar e r e present he h in – then e spott Center to re an y sh , le rm d re e e ra m B Th m . s Harri Sarah Zi nter court of the BMO rlooking ce n the board o ts the suite ove e arena, beaming. si the w o n id. She on to build at th d $90 milli merman sa e m gazing out de a at Zi vi n o ,” ro d p ce d la ad vents an hawk s, h e ck ud of that p le la ro ab B p it e ry ar th y. r ve ac r fo t and ch “She was other’s leg er announce tertainmen her grandm Pettit, a form than 5,000 sport s, en yd o Ll family and , d . then-husban es, would hold more lion visitors ne and her oors 36 mil e decad d re s it th In 1985, Ja t h g ex u n thro t the welcoming throughou ort s teams, arena that, sp se al o n rp io u p ss imult d profe to college an home court JANE BRADLEY PETTIT FOUNDATION

O

The 2017-’18 season will be the BMO Harris Bradley Center’s 30th and final season. In September 2018, Milwaukee will bid farewell to the Bradley Center, as the $524 million Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center prepares to open its doors. As a physical building, it will no longer stand; but for many – Milwaukee natives and visitors alike – the Bradley Center will live on through memories and the legacy of community-centered giving that Jane Bradley Pettit left behind.

The house that Jane built

18 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

Bucks fans during the team’s win over Golden State in 2015.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

Pettit made the gift in 1985 in memory of her late father, Harry Lynde Bradley, who co-founded the Milwaukee-based Allen-Bradley Co. in 1903.

Now a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation Inc., the company had an environment that Pettit wanted to give to her community.

“Her giving was very consistent with the way (Harry Lynde Bradley) cared for his many employees,” Zimmerman said. “He had thousands of employees and they had an incredible corporate culture that included dozens of sports teams, a touring orchestra, a medical center on site, a beautiful cafeteria, job training – it was really exceptional at Allen-Bradley. I think she saw that and, in some sense, wanted to play that role for the broader community.”

The donation was one out of dozens of philanthropic gestures she made throughout her life – both privately and through the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation.

These gifts include $20 million to the Lynde & Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School, formerly the Milwaukee Trade and Technical High School, $9 million for the Pettit National Ice Center and upwards of $100,000 to United Way of Great-

Jane Bradley Pettit

er Milwaukee & Waukesha County.

“She was very much in tune with the needs of the community, the fact that there was great need, and that there was so much work to do,” Zimmerman said. “She wanted to help in as many ways as she could and you can see that in the breadth of her giving.”

Although Pettit was publicly commended for much of her giving, many of her earlier gifts were given anonymously, Zimmerman said, which was aligned with her humble nature. Pettit preferred not to be publicly recognized, maintaining a quiet but impactful presence during her life.

“She was motivated by a love of Milwaukee, a sense of her family having been grounded here, being nurtured by Milwaukee and wanting to nurture the city in return,” she said.

Glenn Robinson during the Bucks’ 2001 season.

WISCONSIN ATHLETICS

G RE A TE S T S P O R TS MOME NTS GREATEST SPORTS MOMENTS IN BRADLEY CENTER HISTORY 1.

WISCONSIN WINS HOCKEY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The Bradley Center hosted the NCAA men’s hockey championship, the “Frozen Four” three times. The last time, in 2006, the University of Wisconsin beat Boston College to win the national championship. The Badgers held on for a 2-1 win as a Boston College shot hit the post with less than two seconds left.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

2.

BUCKS’ ‘BIG THREE’ RUN TO THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS The Milwaukee Bucks’ best season at the Bradley Center was in 2000-’01. Led by the “Big Three” (Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell), the Bucks made it to the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to Philadelphia in a seven-game series.

Wisconsin won the NCAA Hockey National Championship in 2006 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

3.

MARQUETTE WINS CONFERENCE USA On March 8, 2003, led by Dwyane Wade, Marquette men’s basketball defeated Cincinnati at the Bradley Center to clinch the Conference USA regular season championship. The Golden Eagles would later advance to the Final Four.

4.

GEORGIA TECH BUZZER-BEATER WIN IN NCAA TOURNAMENT The Bradley Center was an NCAA men’s basketball tournament host site seven times. The most thrilling ending to those games was James Forest’s buzzer-beating three-point shot in 1992, giving Georgia Tech a one point upset over USC to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

5.

MARQUETTE BEATS NO. 1 RANKED VILLANOVA Marquette stormed back from a 15-point halftime deficit to knock off No. 1 ranked defending national champion Villanova in 2017. Fans stormed the court at the Bradley Center for a raucous post-game celebration.

6.

MARQUETTE BEATS NO. 2 RANKED UCONN Playing in its first game in the Big East, Marquette showed it could handle one of college basketball’s toughest conferences when it beat No. 2 ranked UConn in 2006.

7.

WISCONSIN BEATS OREGON IN NCAA TOURNAMENT With the Bradley Center packed with Badgers fans, Wisconsin beat Oregon in the NCAA tournament in 2014 to advance to the Sweet 16. The Badgers would make it all the way to the Final Four.

. . . . . . . . . . SPORTS continued on page 21

Dwyane Wade surrounded by students who stormed the court after Marquette clinched the 2003 Conference USA title. biztimes.com / 19

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

TORY HERB KOHL

COVER S

Keeping the ‘Milwaukee’ in Milwaukee Bucks In 1984, the Milwaukee Bucks started their 17th season, playing in their home arena, the MECCA. The Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, built in 1950, was home to the Bucks, Marquette Warriors men’s basketball, Milwaukee Admirals and Milwaukee Wave until the Bradley Center opened just one block to its north.

Known today as the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, it currently houses the Milwaukee Admirals, Milwaukee Wave, Milwaukee Panthers men’s basketball, and Brewcity Bruisers roller derby.

The Bucks’ 1980-1984 seasons brought the team five consecutive division titles and two consecutive conference finals, in ’83 and ’84.

The team had hit its stride, but the franchise was faced with two major problems: owner Jim Fitzgerald planned to sell the Bucks due to declining health, and the MECCA was the smallest arena in the league, no longer meeting NBA standards.

Fans feared that out-of-town investors would buy and relocate the team if the Bucks were not soon purchased and a new arena was not soon built. Luckily, Herb Kohl – the heir to the family-operated Kohl’s department and grocery store business – stepped in.

He had left Kohl’s in 1979 after the company had been purchased and his family’s management contract had expired. With the right amounts of time, money and interest – in the team and in the community – Kohl purchased the Bucks for $18 million in February 1985. Milwaukee celebrated the purchase, but the Bucks still needed a new home.

“How we would get to a new arena was something that was totally unknown,” Kohl said. “But I thought, ‘Well, I’ll buy the team anyhow, we’ll worry about that afterwards, but let’s keep the team in Milwaukee.’ I just had faith that things would turn out well.”

Kohl said he bought the team on a Friday and on the following Monday, representatives of the Pettit family unexpectedly visited his office and told Kohl, much to his surprise, that the Pettits would build a new facility.

Milwaukee was able to keep the Bucks and on October 20, 1986, Bradley Center construction broke ground. When it opened two years later, Kohl’s suite was right next to the Pettits’ suite.

During the Bradley Center’s early years, the Pettits owned the minor league Milwaukee Admirals hockey team. The couple’s dream was to bring a National Hockey League team to Milwaukee to play in the Bradley Center. But in 1990 the Pettits withdrew their bid for an NHL expansion franchise because they felt the $50 million entrance fee was too high and they were concerned it would take years to turn an expansion team into a quality team that would attract fans. In addition, the 20 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

Herb Kohl on the day he bought the Milwaukee Bucks in 1985.

Pettits would have had to pay an indemnity to the Blackhawks. They said they would seek an existing NHL team to acquire and move to Milwaukee, but that never happened.

So, the Bucks remained the Bradley Center’s only major league tenant. The team went on to make 13 NBA playoff appearances throughout its 29 seasons at the Bradley Center, but only twice advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs.

The Milwaukee Admirals were the Bradley Center’s only hockey tenant from its opening until 2016, when the team returned to its previous home at the Panther Arena.

Ray Allen during the Bucks’ 2001 season.

A lasting impact The Bradley Center created a necessary new home for Milwaukee’s professional basketball team, but the impact of the Pettits’ gift went far beyond the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee’s population in 1980, before the Bradley Center was built, was 636,212 – a 14 percent decrease from its peak population in 1960. Milwaukee’s white flight of the late 1960s drained the city’s population and as a result, its economy suffered.

The 1980s are seen as a turning point for the city, especially for downtown Milwaukee as a center of commerce. And it is no coincidence that the upturn occurred during the time the Bradley Center was built.

In 2012, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce released a study on the Bradley Center’s economic impact on the Milwaukee area. The study estimated that the Bradley Center

Students storm the court after MU beat No. 1 Villanova in January.

MILWAUKEE WAVE

G RE A TE S T S P O R TS MOME NTS GREATEST SPORTS MOMENTS IN BRADLEY CENTER HISTORY 8.

BUCKS BEAT HAWKS IN PLAYOFFS The Bucks have only advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs twice in the Bradley Center era. Besides the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals run, the only other time they advanced was in 1989, the team’s first season at the Bradley Center. The Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, but then were swept by the Detroit Pistons.

9.

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

The Milwaukee Wave after it won the 2001 National Professional Soccer League Championship at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

MARQUETTE BIG EAST COCHAMPS Marquette finished in a three-way tie for first place in the Big East in 2013.

The season included four victories at the Bradley Center over ranked teams.

Marquette advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.

10. BUCKS BEAT BULLS IN PLAYOFF

GAME ON BUZZER-BEATER

The Bucks have not had a lot of playoff success at the Bradley Center. But one of the most memorable games was a buzzerbeater victory over the Chicago Bulls in game four of their 2015 series. But the Bulls went on to win the series in six.

11. BUCKS WIN FIVE OT GAME

In 1989, the Bucks beat the Seattle Supersonics 155-154 in a five overtime game at the Bradley Center. It remains one of the longest games in NBA history.

12. BUCKS END GOLDEN STATE

RECORD WINNING STREAK

In 2015, the Golden State Warriors began the season with a record 24-game winning streak to start a season. But that streak was halted on Dec. 12 of that year at the Bradley Center by a 108-95 Bucks win that thrilled a capacity crowd.

13. MU BEATS NOTRE DAME ON

BUZZER BEATER

Steve Novak during Marquette’s 2006 season.

Notre Dame is Marquette’s oldest basketball rival. One of Marquette’s most exciting Bradley Center wins came in 2006, when a last-second Steve Novak three pointer beat the Irish and thrilled a sellout crowd.

14. ADMIRALS WIN CALDER CUP

The Milwaukee Admirals won the Calder Cup in 2004, the championship of the American Hockey League.

15. WAVE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Milwaukee Wave won three championships while playing at the Bradley Center. They won the National Professional Soccer League in 1997-’98, 1999-’00 and 2000-’01.

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TORY

generates $95.8 million per year in direct revenue.

A large portion of that revenue is annually respent in the local economy, increasing the Bradley Center’s total economic impact on the region.

According to the study, the total gross dollar impact generated by the Bradley Center is $204.5 million. Not to mention its support of 2,350 jobs, generating $73.1 million in annual payroll.

Steve Costello, president and chief executive officer of Bradley Center Sports and Entertainment Corp., moved to Milwaukee from New York just in time to watch its community impact unfold.

He has worked for the Bradley Center since it was halfway constructed in 1987.

“Jane recognized that the community was in a tough situation and there was no clear path forward,” Costello said. “The gift had an impact on the community, and still does, in the sense that we can do great things and one person or a small group of people can change the nature and the wellbeing of a community. It was a gesture that was part of a continuum that led to the things that have happened since.”

The Bradley Center’s surrounding businesses, like the bars and restaurants on North Old World Third and North Water streets, especially appreciate the foot traffic of a Bradley Center game or concert night. Milwaukee’s famous Mader’s Restaurant, located on North Old World Third Street just east of the arena, remodeled its bar area in 1988 specifically because of the Bradley Center’s opening, increasing from six bar stools to 30.

“That turned out to be a great decision for us over the years,” said Dan Hazard, general manager of Mader’s. “Each event at the Bradley Center has an economic impact on all of us on this street.”

Hazard said big name concerts at the Bradley Center can bring 300 to 400 patrons into the restaurant in one night. That number is about 100 less for Bucks games, but that can vary by opponent. The Chicago Bulls bring in the largest crowd every time the team is in town, he said.

The give and take relationship between Milwau-

kee and the Bradley Center is mutual. Costello said he credits Milwaukee’s business community with keeping the arena flourishing for the past 30 years.

“Whenever we’ve shared our situation and, at times, asked if there was some support that might be available, I can’t remember a time that an organization said no,” Costello said. “We’ve got a great community that recognizes the value in (the Bradley Center).”

As the Bradley Center aged and the need for a new arena became apparent, it required financial support.

BMO Harris Bank purchased the Bradley Center’s naming rights in 2012, becoming its main sponsor and renaming it the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The deal provided the additional revenue needed to maintain the facility until replacement plans were set.

That sponsorship closely followed the bank’s 2011 acquisition of Milwaukee-based M&I Bank parent Marshall & Ilsley Corp.

“BMO tries to play a significant role in the communities that we serve,” said Jud Snyder, BMO’s senior executive for southeast Wisconsin. “For us, (the naming rights deal) was a great way to give back to community, get brand recognition and continue the service to Milwaukee that M&I had been a part of.”

The bank had already been part of a group of various local businesses – deemed the Champions of the Community – that had partnered with the Bradley Center to extend its life. By purchasing the naming rights, BMO Harris took the lead role in the sponsorship effort.

Rockwell Automation Inc., Kohl’s Corp., Johnson Controls International plc and MillerCoors LLC are among the 25 businesses that still support the Bradley Center.

Although Milwaukee’s business community saw the importance of the arena throughout its 30 years, Costello said the community also recognized the need and pushed for a new space with the same purpose.

“The community had a very open and vigorous discussion over the years and concluded that places like the BMO Harris Bradley Center are part of

the lifeblood of the community,” Costello said. “This is why we have a beautiful new building coming out of the ground that will open in a year.”

A place for the people A major part of Costello’s job is working with 30 local charities that currently benefit from the Non-Profit Fundraising Program – an initiative that donates the Bradley Center’s food and beverage revenue, made at concession stands, to participating organizations.

Throughout its 30 years, the program has contributed about $15 million – $500,000 per year – to more than 100 local organizations, Costello said. He estimates the Bradley Center gives the same amount of money, or more, each year to the community through direct donations or services – such as hosting Milwaukee Public Schools staff training days.

“That sense of service and that sense of giving back and seeing our role as one to serve the entire community, including non-sports fans, is part of our DNA,” Costello said.

To honor Pettit during the Bradley Center’s last season, it has selected 16 local organizations – primarily serving Milwaukee’s women, children and families – to benefit from a fundraising campaign that will generate $200,000. The campaign has already raised $40,000 and will commence with a community gala on April 11.

These organizations – the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Library, Next Door and Sojourner Family Peace Center among them – were selected with Pettit’s family and foundation, and represent causes that Jane supported during her life. “(Jane) cared about the safety of women and girls in our community,” said Carmen Pitre, president and chief executive officer of Sojourner Family Peace Center. “We were a long-term charity of hers before she died and we get sustaining support from Jane’s foundation. There are donors who stand at the core of what you are and the work you do in the community, and that’s so vital to nonprofits. Jane was one of those donors for us.”

Pitre said Sojourner has, in the past, also bene-

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BMO HARRIS BRADLEY CENTER

BMO HARRIS BRADLEY CENTER

HY T R O W E T NO C ON C E R TS NOTEWORTHY BRADLEY CENTER CONCERTS Number of appearances in parenthesis.

1.

PAUL MCCARTNEY (2)

2.

THE ROLLING STONES (2)

3.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (8)

4.

ROGER WATERS (1)

5.

FRANK SINATRA (1)

6.

PRINCE (1)

7.

GARTH BROOKS (2)

8.

EAGLES (2)

9.

BILLY JOEL (4)

10. ELTON JOHN (5) 11. U2 (2) 12. LADY GAGA (1) 13. ERIC CLAPTON (4) 14. JANET JACKSON (5) 15. TAYLOR SWIFT (1)

BMO HARRIS BRADLEY CENTER

Taylor Swift

Bruce Springsteen

The Rolling Stones

Milwaukee, WI

Beloit, WI

Madison, WI

Oconomowoc, WI

$31 MM Refinance

$23.5 MM

$27 MM Build-to-suit

$18 MM

Member FDIC

COVER S

TORY

The next chapter

fitted from the Bradley Center’s Non-Profit Fundraising Program, although the organization did not participate directly.

As a community leader, Pitre believes the arena is a source of community building.

“It isn’t that Jane just built a center, she gave a gift where people could have experiences, over and over and over again, of joy and connection with other people,” she said. “That is an amazing gift way beyond a building.”

Milwaukee has encountered major challenges, such as racial segregation and economic disparity, which is why, Costello said, the city needs a place that unites its people.

“We face so many different things that are complicated and entrenched and seemingly impossible to solve, but bringing people together to share a common interest with family, friends, neighbors or strangers makes you feel like you are part of something. That’s all part of this sense of community that Jane’s gift brought.”

Home court advantage Those common interests, for many people who have entered the Bradley Center in its 30 years, have been Milwaukee’s sports teams.

“I think most people understand that when a local team is doing well, it lifts everyone’s spirit, everyone’s hope,” said John Steinmiller, executive vice president of operations for the Milwaukee Bucks. “We forget about the day-to-day problems that everyone has and really celebrate and enjoy watching a playoff game or winning streak. Whatever it is, it is very good for the community.”

During the Bucks best year at the Bradley Center, the 2000-01 season, the team advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, coming just one win short of the NBA Finals. The Bucks won seven playoff games at the Bradley Center during that run. Steinmiller said he has fond memories of the Bradley Center victory in the seventh game of the

conference semifinals series against Charlotte that advanced the Bucks to the conference finals. Fans celebrated in the streets outside the Bradley Center for two hours following the game, he said.

Marquette University’s men’s basketball team has played its home games at the Bradley Center since it opened. Over its 29 seasons at the Bradley Center, the team has made 15 NCAA tournament appearances, advancing to the tournament’s Final Four in 2003.

“When you are playing in an NBA arena, it really adds to the feel around your program,” said Bill Scholl, Marquette’s athletic director. “It’s important to recruits, it’s important to student athletes and I think the building has played a huge role in the evolution of Marquette basketball over the last 30 years.”

With a college basketball game capacity of 18,850, filling the stands for games hasn’t always been easy for Marquette.

“We worked so hard to make (the Bradley Center) an exciting place,” said former Marquette men’s basketball coach Tom Crean. “It had great acoustics but it was a large building, so filling it required effort and creativity. However, when it was filled, the energy was second to none.”

Heading the Golden Eagles from 1999 to 2008, Crean coached the team to its 2003 Final Four appearance, led on the court by Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener and Robert Jackson.

Crean said the Bradley Center was also vital to the fundraising efforts for the Al McGuire Center, the team’s practice facility on Marquette’s campus that opened in 2004. The university hosted key donors in the Bradley Center’s suites during games.

“What I loved about the Bradley Center was you felt like you were in a college environment for a college game, a hockey arena for a hockey game, and you certainly felt like you were in a professional sports arena for a Bucks game,” Crean said.

Sharing the facility with the Bucks and Bradley Center tenants, Crean said he and his team learned a lot about effective partnerships. They all had the goal of making the Bradley Center the best venue possible.

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2017 GIVING GUIDE

In 2013, the Bradley Center’s life had come full circle. Just like the MECCA in 1980, the Bradley Center was determined to be below modern NBA standards. The Bucks were given three years by league officials to build a new arena or the team would have to relocate.

The Bradley Center’s size, its outdated, inadequately-sized locker room spaces and the limited food and beverage services were among its shortcomings as the NBA evolved.

Herb Kohl sold the Bucks in 2014 to a group led by Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens, hedge fund managers from New York City, with the requirement of keeping the team in Milwaukee. The deal included $100 million from Kohl to help pay for construction of a new arena.

The Bucks signed a lease to play in the new arena for 30 years and Kohl said he wouldn’t be surprised if the end of that lease marked the end of yet another entertainment arena.

“Buildings have a life, too,” Kohl said. “Many of the buildings that were built during the Bradley Center’s time period had about a 25 to 30 year life and then they need to be replaced. Buildings don’t last forever; things change.”

The Bradley Center’s final season will brings to Milwaukee several noteworthy events including Cirque du Soleil, Katy Perry, Guns N’ Roses, Lorde and Disney on Ice. Marquette men’s basketball will open its season on Nov. 10 and the Milwaukee Bucks played their home opener on Oct. 20.

The Bradley Center will officially close its doors in July after it hosts its last event, for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.’s annual meeting in Milwaukee.

“It’s a special time for Milwaukee,” Costello said. “We all look forward to the next chapter, we look forward to passing the torch to the next generation of community leaders, givers, philanthropists, and sports and entertainment leaders in our community. We want to do our best to end on a high note and in the spirit of Mrs. Pettit and what this gift has meant to the community.” n

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Special Report BUSINESS IN KENOSHA COUNTY

Young leader charts a course for Downtown Kenosha Arthur Thomas, staff writer NICOLE THOMSEN could have been a nurse.

She was on the right path as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She’d started clinical training, worked as an obstetric technician and had an internship lined up at Froedtert Hospital.

Everything was on track until she realized that being a labor and delivery nurse wasn’t really her dream job. More than halfway through the UWM nursing program, she decided to drop her nursing major and managed to find a community engagement internship at Froedtert instead.

Thomsen found out how much she enjoyed being involved in the community and ultimately transferred to UW-Parkside. She decided to major in business, helped with university fundraising efforts and worked remotely with San Thomsen Francisco-based One Degree Inc. She stumbled into a national sales competition at William Paterson University and won one of her events.

The competition opened up doors at major companies, but Thomsen said she felt drawn to her local community. When she saw a job posting for executive director of Downtown Kenosha Inc., Thomsen felt her background met all the criteria, even if she was just entering her final undergraduate semester.

She applied and managed to land the job.

Her first official day was May 1 and she graduated from Parkside May 13.

“She showed this incredible initiative and innovation and analysis,” said Zohrab Khaligian, a community development specialist in redevelopment for the City of Kenosha and a member of the Downtown Kenosha board.

Khaligian said Thomsen’s response to an interview scenario question about density was to bring the board hard, well-researched data that could be used to convince an out-of-area retailer to locate downtown. He said her medical background gave her a more analytical approach and the unconventional path gave the board more confidence than if they were hiring someone without the same range of experiences.

Thomsen also has an advantage over the previous two people to occupy her role: she 26 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

Crews work on the Gorman & Co. hotel project in downtown Kenosha.

grew up in the area and knows the community in a way a newcomer can’t match.

“I’ve always been part of the downtown as a consumer,” she said. “I’m passionate about it, I love it. I’ve always seen the downtown for what it is and what it could be.”

Downtown Kenosha Inc. has had its ups and downs as a young organization. Originally conceived in 2012, it received nonprofit status in 2014 and Thomsen is the third person to lead the organization.

The creation of DKI also coincided with Kenosha’s transition from only having a downtown business improvement district to embracing the Main Street community development program.

Khaligian said the board’s initial hire, Violet Ricker, came from the Main Street program in Waukegan, Illinois. While she was well-versed in the program, Kenosha’s progress was ahead of Waukegan’s and Ricker wasn’t able to meet the board’s expectations, he said.

The second hire, Christopher Naumann, came from On Broadway Inc., Green Bay’s Main Street program. Green Bay was ahead of Kenosha, but Khaligian said there are pros and cons to every hire and Naumann eventually returned to Green Bay.

Amidst the leadership changes, development of downtown Kenosha has continued.

Madison-area developer Gorman & Co. is currently working on converting the historic Heritage House at 5706 Eighth Ave. into an 80room boutique hotel. Renovating the 102-yearold building was among the ideas included in the 20-year strategic plan DKI is charged with carrying out and Gorman worked for several years to secure financing.

The area has also seen the development of 100 new apartment units and Mayor John Antaramian has had the city take control of vacant properties where possible. In mid-October, crews were wrapping up road and streetscape construction and prepping for the demolition of a parking structure.

“We’re finally seeing some large-scale development happening again,” Khaligian said.

Thomsen said the Heritage House project is the first thing she points to when describing the potential of downtown Kenosha to people outside the area.

“That’s a testimony to where we’re heading as a downtown and the type of investments that are going to be happening in our downtown in the future,” she said.

That’s not to say the downtown area is

without challenges, and it doesn’t take long to find empty storefronts. Then there’s the reality that the downtown is a 15 to 20 minute drive from the interstate. The millions of square feet of buildings developed for the likes of Amazon, Uline Inc. and a number of manufacturers are bringing new people to the area, but getting them to regularly come downtown is another challenge.

“You don’t feel that sense of place when you get off the highway. You know you’re heading there because the sign tells you that you are, but it doesn’t feel like you’ve approached our downtown quite yet,” Thomsen said.

She suggested one way to overcome the geographic challenge is to make sure downtown offers unique living, shopping and entertainment opportunities, especially to attract millennials to the area.

“We’re driven by experiences and driven for unique experiences with unique people and things we haven’t done before,” Thomsen said.

She pointed to two four-day stretches over the summer when DKI partnered with Milwaukee Brewing Co. to hold pop-up beer gardens on Simmons Island, a park just north of the

core downtown area. Beyond beer, the events featured live music, games, volleyball, bonfires and food trucks.

Thomsen said the beer gardens drew people from throughout the region, other organizations have since replicated elements of the events, and the park is seeing more investment from the city.

“It was just the coolest thing to see because it was just authentic,” she said. “You had everyone there that you would have wanted and it sparked something in people.”

Khaligian also pointed to the Kenosha Area Convention and Visitors Bureau creating Restaurant Week a few years ago as something that has helped draw people to downtown. At the same time, the retail offerings in downtown have been catching up and giving people a reason to be there when there are not events going on.

“We’re finally making these incremental steps,” he said. “Now we really have all the pieces coming together.”

Downtown Kenosha Inc. was created to carry out a 20-year vision, but it was left to Thomsen to develop the year-to-year strategy

to make that plan a reality. Khaligian said one of Thomsen’s biggest challenges is to get and keep everyone involved in downtown’s revitalization on the same page.

Even though she is just a few months removed from college, Thomsen is keenly aware of the importance of having everyone work toward the same goals.

“The buy-in is huge and the goal is always collaboration,” she said. “Whenever you go through change it’s painful, because people like what’s normal, people like how things are, but I do think downtowns aren’t exempt from thinking progressively because you have to keep up.”

She’s also aware of the opportunity all the development near I-94 – from Foxconn to Uline to Amazon to Haribo – presents for downtown.

“That’s going to change the landscape of jobs, it’s going to change the landscape of amenities needed, it’s going to impact us as a downtown,” Thomsen said. “You have to think ahead. Getting people to see the bigger vision and outside of the day-to-day, is always going to be something that’s a little more challenging, but something that’s not impossible.” n

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Special Report BUSINESS IN KENOSHA COUNTY

Health care providers flock to Kenosha County Several major building projects in the works

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer THIS MONTH, the Froedtert Health brand officially entered Kenosha County.

On Oct. 1, under an expanded affiliation with the Wauwatosa-based health system, Kenosha’s United Hospital System changed its name to Froedtert South. Now part of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network are United’s Kenosha Medical Center and its St. Catherine’s Medical Center campus in Pleasant Prairie.

Already underway is a 239,977-square-foot addition to St. Catherine’s campus that will house an advanced outpatient surgical wing, with plans to be ready for occupancy next year.

And more is in the works. A new plan from Kenosha-based Bear Development LLC for a commercial development near the corner of state Highways 31 and 165 in Pleasant Prairie includes a four-story, 50,000-square-foot medical office building, which Froedtert South plans to occupy.

It’s the latest development in a trend of Milwaukee-based health care systems making plans to expand their footprint in the growing Kenosha County market.

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin expects to break ground before the year’s end on a new 30,000-square-foot clinic off of Highway 50, just west of I-94. The new clinic, which is scheduled to be completed in fall 2018, will combine two of the hospital’s primary care locations, as well as its Kenosha Clinic.

The facility – the cost of which the hospital did not disclose – will offer expanded services, including imaging and radiology, laboratory, adolescent medicine, endocrinology, neurology, pulmonology, rehabilitation and developmental therapies, sleep services, and otolaryngology and audiology.

Juliet Kersten, vice president at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, said the new clinic will provide additional specialty services and increase accessibility for Kenosha-area residents.

“The Kenosha clinic continues our care closer to home philosophy,” Kersten said. “We have seen an increase in Kenosha families choosing Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin providers, including pediatricians. The new clinic allows 28 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

A rendering of the 30,000-square-foot clinic Children’s Hospital plans to build in Kenosha.

Children’s Hospital to expand specialty care services that Kenosha families currently have to travel to the Milwaukee area to get.”

Aurora Health Care, meanwhile, is in the midst of expanding its presence in Kenosha with a new 200,000-square-foot development project. Earlier this year, the Milwaukee-based hospital system announced plans to build a 100,000-square-foot medical office building and a 100,000-square-foot outpatient care center on 158 acres between 60th and 71st streets in Kenosha, west of I-94. The new facility is expected to create an estimated 140 new professional health care jobs.

Aurora has been in the Kenosha market since 1995, when it opened an outpatient health center, which was later expanded into a full service hospital, Aurora Medical Center Kenosha, at 10400 75th St. The medical center has proven to be one of Aurora’s most profitable. In 2016, the hospital’s net income was $63.5 million, or 30.3 percent of net patient revenue. That’s compared to United Hospital System’s Kenosha hospital income of $20.4 million, or 6.6 percent of net patient revenue, in 2016.

Aurora has continued to expand in Kenosha and the Illinois market, which it entered in 2009 with the acquisition of Northern Lake Medical Ltd., a 43-employee physician group with primary care clinics in Gurnee, Lindenhurst and Fox Lake, Illinois.

Aurora opened a 27,000-square-foot health center offering pain management and ophthalmology services at 6815 118th Ave. in Kenosha and a 38,000-square-foot cancer center at 6811 118th Ave. in June 2014.

Allan Baumgarten, a Minnesota-based analyst who releases an annual report on the health care payer and provider markets in the state, said health care providers are looking to

A rendering of Aurora Health Care’s $130 million medical office building and an outpatient care center planned west of I-94 in Kenosha.

Kenosha County, in part, because Waukesha and Ozaukee counties are seen as saturated.

While Kenosha County’s population is growing, the rate of growth is about half as fast as in Waukesha and Ozaukee. Meanwhile, median household incomes in Kenosha County, at $54,918, are higher than Milwaukee County ($43,873) but less than Waukesha ($76,545) and Ozaukee ($76,433).

“There are two zip codes in Kenosha (County), 53142 and 53158 (Pleasant Prairie), with above average household incomes,” Baumgarten said. “They are probably getting most of the new investment. I think each of the systems wants to strengthen the pipeline of Kenosha County patients coming to their main facilities and to their specialists.”

Baumgarten said the planned development of Foxconn Technology Group’s $10 billion facility in Mount Pleasant, while located in neighboring Racine County, will likely also generate more business for health providers in the Kenosha area. n

2 0OVATION 17

2OVATION 0OVATION 1AWARDS 7 OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

AWARDS

K

enosha County is home to many notable and successful companies and businesspeople. The Ovation Awards, presented annually by the Kenosha Area Business Alliance in partnership with BizTimes Milwaukee, recognize the best of the best: companies and individuals that have exhibited a history of growth, innovation and a positive overall impact on the community.

The program and the related feature coverage by BizTimes provide a fantastic opportunity to learn about the companies and people that are driving Kenosha County’s economy – now and into the future.

This year’s award winners represent a diverse group of businesses and entrepreneurs that are leaders in their respective industries. We congratulate them on their success, thank them for their investments in the community, and encourage them to continue innovating and striving for excellence.

P R E S E N T E D B Y:

On behalf of our sponsors, Johnson Financial Group, the University of WisconsinParkside, CenterPoint Properties, CliftonLarsonAllen, Colerget Conference Center and our supporting sponsors Dooley and Associates and the Prairie School, we are proud to recognize and celebrate their collective achievements.

Congratulations and best wishes for much continued success!

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2 0OVATION 1 7 OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: KENALL

MANUFACTURING

10200 55th St., Kenosha INDUSTRY: Lighting manufacturer EMPLOYEES: 450 kenall.com

Ken Hawkins founded Kenall Manufacturing in Chicago in 1963.

His son Jim assumed sole ownership of the company in 1983 and has been the primary architect of its accelerated growth.

Kenall began as the first lighting manufacturer to make vandal-resistant polycarbonate lighting for high-abuse applications. It began with public housing, and later expanded into dormitories, correctional facilities, parking garages, schools, hospitals, public transportation facilities and other demanding environments.

Today, Kenall has shifted from traditional technologies, such as fluorescent, high-intensity discharge and incandescent, to LED. LED lighting is more efficient than previous technologies. The combination of energy efficiency, long life and color selection appeals to commercial lighting designers, architects and engineers, and continues to help drive the company’s growth.

New product lines including the Indigo-Clean Continuous Environmental Disinfection, advanced sensors, networked communica-

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tions and color-tuning.

“We are going through a paradigm shift in our industry in the sense that lighting fixtures are becoming smart devices,” said Jim Hawkins, chairman and chief executive officer.

Lighting is changing from traditional bulbs and high intensity discharge lamps to semiconductor-based, solid-state lighting and controls systems.

“Lights have the capacity to be smart in that they can monitor the environment and adjust to it, in addition to providing robust reporting and other capabilities,” he said.

The company is just beginning to scratch the surface of what the new solid-state lighting can do, and plans to continue to explore new opportunities with the technology.

Kenall is also adding to its Indigo-Clean product line.

“As we move toward a post-antibiotic era, having an effective, safe method of killing bacteria is critical,” Hawkins said. “The health care systems with hospitals that have installed Indigo-Clean have gotten amazing results and are adding it in their other facilities.”

In 2014, Kenall relocated from Gurnee, Illinois to Kenosha. The

HAWKINS

MARRY

company purchased 32 acres in the Kenosha Business Park and constructed a new $25 million headquarters that includes a new fiber laser material sheet stock cutting machine, multiple press brakes, welding equipment and increased fabrication capacity. In addition, Kenall now has a stateof-the-art testing facility, a showroom, and an additional 13 acres adjacent to its current headquarters for future expansion.

The employee count and revenue have increased steadily, and Hawkins expects that trend to continue.

In 2016, Kenall earned its ISO 9000 certification and hired internal counsel to handle the company’s intellectual property. The company is currently seeking to fill additional positions.

In addition to valued relationships with the surrounding commu-

Congratulations to the KENOSHA COUNTY BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS Embedded in our culture is a genuine sense of mission to make every community where we live and work better because we’re there. It’s a philosophy anchored in the philanthropic spirit of our founder and demonstrated in the way we do business and the individual actions of our associates. That is why we are proud to Kenall Manufacturing employees recently earned ISO certification.

recognize the 2017 Kenosha County Business Excellence Award Winners:

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Kenall Manufacturing

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Kenosha Kingfish Baseball Club

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR S.R. Mills, Bear Real Estate Group

FAST FIVE

Kenall produces an Indigo-Clean line designed to clean and sanitize rooms like the Henderson Hospital in Henderson, Nevada.

nities, Kenall has established and continues to cultivate its relationship with Gateway Technical College.

In 2016, the company made a $250,000 donation to the Gateway Promise Program, a scholarship initiative to ensure all qualifying students seeking an education in the college’s district will be able to do so tuition-free. The company donated an additional $75,000 to the Promise program this year.

Because of Kenall’s commitment, Gateway has named its newly renovated law enforcement training center the Kenall Protective Services Training Center.

In addition to Gateway, Kenall has integrated itself in the Kenosha community by giving back to other organizations, like the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative, Kenosha Common Markets Inc., Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, ALS Association Wisconsin and Building Our Future Kenosha County. n

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2 0OVATION 1 7 OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: KENOSHA KINGFISH 7817 Sheridan Road, Kenosha INDUSTRY: Sports entertainment EMPLOYEES: Nine full-time, 200 seasonal northwoodsleague.com/kenosha-kingfish/

The Kenosha Kingfish Baseball Club just wrapped up its fourth season. The team averaged more than 2,500 fans a game and sold out 33 of its 36 games this season.

“Our fans have been great. The community support is unmatched and the corporate community has been a great support over the last four years, as well,” said Conor Caloia, chief operating officer of Big Top Baseball. “We’re very fortunate to be in such a great community.”

The team debuted in the fall of 2013 as part of the Northwoods League under the parent organi-

zation Big Top Baseball, which also oversees the Madison Mallards, Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and Green Bay Bullfrogs.

The Kenosha area’s booming economy and strong corporate community was one reason the Kingfish settled in Kenosha, Caloia said.

“We’ve been very lucky,” Caloia said.

“We came to the area at a time when growth was already strong. We know that’s only going to continue.”

Access to Historic Simmons Field was also important, Caloia added. Simmons Field opened in Kenosha in 1920. It was home to

BASEBALL CLUB

the Simmons Bedding Co. baseball team, and could seat 7,000 at the time. The stadium has been home to several teams over the years, including the Kenosha Twins, a Minnesota Twins minor league team, from 1984-92.

Simmons Field had fallen into disrepair until the Kingfish, in partnership with the City of Kenosha, invested more than $1 million to help restore the 83-year-old ballpark in 2013.

The ballpark now features 2,100 stadium seats, several corporate

COLOIA

SCHMITT

hospitality areas, a party deck and general admission lawn seating.

In the inaugural season, the Kenosha Kingfish finished 41-30 overall.

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The Kenosha community quickly fell in love with the team, helping the Kingfish earn an eighth place national ranking of attendance per game in the summer collegiate leagues.

The Kingfish organization sees itself as community equity. The players, coaches and staff want to be involved.

“We’re out and about in the community, our mascot and players make appearances at several events, and the stadium serves as an excellent venue for the community, as well,” Caloia said.

“Kenosha is so collaborative, and our relationship with KABA and other community organizations has been instrumental in the growth of our organization. We enjoy being a part of the community.”

The team is interested in longterm success in the community, Caloia added.

In the next 30 days, the team plans to unveil a new five-year stadium plan and other community investments.

The Kingfish survey fans and ticket holders at the end of each season and listen to what the com-

The Kenosha Kingfish organization sees itself as community equity. The players, coaches and staff want to be involved.

The Kingfish, in partnership with the City of Kenosha, invested more than $1 million to help restore 83-year-old Simmons Field in 2013. munity wants.

“We’re in the entertainment business, too,” Caloia said. “In addition to being a responsible community partner, our goal is to provide affordable family-friendly entertainment for people in the community. We will continue to do that and make enhancements to the game experience that provide family fun for the community.”

WE GO

Caloia credits the team’s success not only to the community, but to the team’s dedicated fulland part-time staff.

“The community, our ticket holders, host families and our staff have allowed us to continue to grow and be successful,” he said. “It’s a group effort, and we couldn’t do it without the support of everyone involved.” n

The Kenosha Kingfish Baseball Club just wrapped up its fourth season. The team averaged more than 2,500 fans per game and sold out 33 of 36 games this season.

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2 0OVATION 1 7 OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR: S.R.

MILLS

BEAR REAL ESTATE GOUP

4011 80th St., Kenosha INDUSTRY: Commercial Real Estate EMPLOYEES: 135 www.bearrealty.com

Growing up, S.R. Mills was surrounded by the real estate business.

His father, Stephen Mills senior, was hired in the 1970s as a real estate broker for I.J. Bear and Son; then a small residential brokerage firm based in Kenosha. He would later purchase the company from Manford Bear.

S.R. even graduated with a degree in real estate, finance and investment from St. Cloud University, but after college went to work in the technology space at several companies in northern California.

For S.R., being an entrepreneur was, in a way, all he knew.

“I’ve always been doing it to some degree,” he said. “I never really saw anything different. I always kind of understood that running your own business usually means wearing multiple hats, working considerably more hours, and while there was usually more risk there was always more reward too.”

Mills joined his father, and the Bear family of companies in 2002.

He has earned a masters degree in real estate, and also holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member “CCIM” designation. He also sits on the Wisconsin CCIM Board of Directors.

“I enjoyed the tech space, but (coming back) was a great opportunity for me to learn from my family and other leaders in the business,” Mills said.

Bear Real Estate got its start in the Kenosha community in 1924.

What started as a small, residential brokerage shop has quickly grown into a sizeable, real estate operation with six separate entities.

S.R. Mills serves as president and 34 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

S.R. MILLS

STEPHEN MILLS

a principal of the company.

Under the Bear Real Estate Group umbrella is Bear Commercial, Bear Homes, Bear Capital, Bear Development, Bear Property Management, and CMA-Construction Management Associates.

Each company plays a pivotal role in the growth of the company which is focused on acquisition, development and construction of residential communities, retail, office, industrial, multi-family residential and hotels, said Mills.

The company has holdings in 17 states and is active and developing in six states at the moment.

“Our focus has shifted from small commercial and residential single family to more multi-family and high end market areas,” Mills said.

Nearly 60 percent of the company’s development work centers on multi-family development. The company specializes in workforce housing, senior housing and highend market rate buildings.

Additionally, the company has expanded into the hospitality market, just finishing up a new hotel in downtown Milwaukee, and the health care market developing a new campus in Pleasant Prairie for Froedtert.

In addition, the company just received approval for a new subdivision in Pleasant Prairie as well.

“We’re going to continue to focus on what we think we do well,”

Above: Grand opening for Willis Avenue Apartments in Perry, Iowa.

Left: Bear Development’s Layton Square Apartments in Cudahy.

Below: Homewood Suites hotel project in downtown Milwaukee.

Mills said. “We’re working with great partners and we’re positioned to continue to take advantage of Kenosha’s growth,” he said.

With the addition of Foxconn to the region, Haribo, IKEA and Amazon, Mills expects to continue to see growth in several markets.

The company plans to continue

to grow and is currently looking at options to expand beyond its current 25,000-square-foot space, and also plans to hire additional employees.

Realistically, the company could add an additional 50-100 employees over the next three to five years, Mills said. n

2 0OVATION 17

| FAST FIVE OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

FRONTIDA ASSISTED LIVING LLC 8322 14th Ave., Kenosha INDUSTRY: Senior living EMPLOYEES: 140 frontidacare.com Steve and Crystal Miller first acquired three assisted living facilities in Milwaukee County. Within a couple of years, the two became known in the industry for their ability to solve problems and manage turnarounds. Since that time, Frontida has added new facilities in Kenosha, Caledonia, Milwaukee, New Berlin and Fond du Lac, for a total of eight facilities.

Five of the eight specialize in care for older adults with mental illness.

“We listen to the needs of our communities,” said Crystal Miller, president.

“We didn’t have a background in this business when we started. Our only option is to be innovative, and we think the best way to do that is to listen. We listen to what our communities, what our staff members and

OTTO NELSON MOVING & STORAGE 6203 28th Ave., Kenosha INDUSTRY: Moving and storage EMPLOYEES: 20 ottonelsonmoving.com

CRYSTAL AND STEVE MILLER what our residents need, and then respond.”

According to Miller, they surrounded themselves with capable people and continued to reiterate the vision they had for the company.

“The talent war is a really big deal, particularly a really big deal when you’re taking care of people,” Miller said. “We determined early on that one thing we can do is treat our employees and our caregivers better than anyone else in the industry.”

Congratulations! from the strategic partners behind

Bear Real Estate Group Congratulations, S.R. Mills!

We are proud to be a community partner with Bear Development.

Otto Nelson arrived in America when he was 19 years old. He and his wife, Marie, settled in Kenosha County, where they made a living farming for almost 20 years. In 1919, Nelson made the decision to purchase a truck and start a moving business.

Today, almost a century later, the company still operates under the same founding philosophies and a commitment to service, work ethic and integrity.

Tom Nelson, Otto’s grandson, has been with the company 59 years and co-owns it with George Follensbee and Jeff Zastoupil.

The company still provides relocation solutions for businesses and individuals throughout southeastern Wisconsin, the Midwest and beyond.

In 2016, Otto Nelson Moving & Storage

GEORGE FOLLENSBEE added another 5,000 square feet to its facility.

The project included an additional dock area and yard improvements, Follensbee said.

Tom Nelson still provides guidance in a support role to Follensbee and Zastoupil, but is trying to stay retired, Follensbee said.

Otto Nelson currently has 35 pieces of equipment, more than 20,000 square feet of warehouse space and employs approximately 20 people.

“We would not have taken these steps (to grow) if not for the business climate of Kenosha County,” Follensbee said.

Thank you to our team for your part in helping us achieve the Fast Five! Your dedication has made Frontida Assisted Living a great place to work and live!

FI R ST B U SI NESS WES RICCHIO (26 2) 605-7800 FIRSTBUSINES S.COM

Congratulations to our esteemed client S.R. Mills of Bear Real Estate Group!

VA LER I AGENCY, I NC. PETER VALERI JR. (26 2) 6 5 4- 02 21 VALERIAGENCY.COM

frontidacare.com (262) 925-9302

biztimes.com / 35

2 0OVATION 17

| FAST FIVE OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

PURATOS CORP.

SL MONTEVIDEO TECHNOLOGY INC.

5000 70th Ave., Kenosha INDUSTRY: Food and beverage EMPLOYEES: 79 puratos.us

A talented workforce and an ability to innovate are driving the growth at Puratos Corp. in Kenosha.

The facility houses the U.S. chocolate production operations for the Belgium-based business.

“We have an unmatched dedication to quality, innovation and customer service,” said Leonard Booth, site manager for Puratos in Kenosha. “Whatever our customers need, we approach the challenge with a high level of efficiency and experience.”

In the past few years, the company has successfully executed a range of clean label products and also converted its compound chocolate range to 100 percent sustainable – two factors that have played into the company’s growth.

Puratos offers a full range of innovative products, raw materials and application BOOTH expertise to the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors globally.

The original company was founded in 1919 in Brussels, Belgium and today has products and services available in more than 100 countries around the world, usually via local subsidiaries like the facility in Kenosha, Booth said.

He credits the success of the company to its people.

“Our success is the result of an employee base that is highly engaged and passionate about what they do,” Booth said.

8201 109th St., Suite 500, Pleasant Prairie INDUSTRY: Industrial and aerospace electric motors and generators EMPLOYEES: 70 slmti.com and torquesystems.com

SL Montevideo Technology was established in Kenosha 17 years ago from an aerospace division out of Rockford, Illinois.

The company provides custom electric motor and generator manufacturing services, and aerospace applications across many different industries.

“Our Kenosha facility has doubled revenue in the past few years,” said Michael Gardner, VP/GM of industrial products. “By adopting lean principles, we have been able to maintain our existing 50,000-squarefoot facility and have been able to limit the number of increased operating hours.”

The Kenosha facility currently employs 65 people, and Gardner credits the employees for

the company’s growth.

GARDNER “During the last few years, we have not had any trouble hiring skilled employees from Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Beloit. Kenosha seems to be in a labor sweet spot,” he said.

SL Montevideo is going on more than four years with 100 percent on-time delivery metrics and has adopted lean principles to achieve world-class operations, Gardner said.

The company is in the process of establishing a sales force and marketing team that will focus on new customers, new products and new applications that will support future growth in the Kenosha community.

Montevideo Technology Inc. - Pleasant Prairie

A special Thank You to all our customers and employees who have helped us win the KABA 2017 Ovation Award.

MTI is a great place to work. Come join our team!

Prairie Lane Playground Equipment

SLMTI designs and manufactures high performance precision AC and DC motors, amplifiers/drives, controllers and windings for Aerospace, Defense and Industrial markets worldwide.

Pleasant Prairie Location

slmti.com torquesystems.com

slmti.com/about-us/careers 36 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

8201 109th St., Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158

2 0OVATION 17

| FAST FIVE OVATION AWARDS AWARDS

VONCO PRODUCTS LLC 10826 250th Ave., Trevor INDUSTRY: Manufacturing EMPLOYEES: 110 vonco.com

Since 1955, Vonco Products LLC has produced flexible packaging products for the medical, food and industrial markets. The company’s recent growth stems from a new packaging product for liquid products, particularly medical fluids and stand-up pouches.

The company recently completed a move to a new 80,000-square-foot facility in Trevor.

Previously located in Lake Villa, Illinois, Vonco outgrew its existing location and found Kenosha County to be a great fit.

“It was important to us that we didn’t lose any of our associates with the move,” said Keith Smith, president of Vonco Products.

“We have a very technical workforce so we weren’t interested in going too far and losing any of our employees.”

The company narrowed its search to three counties, Kenosha County and McHenry and Lake Counties SMITH in Illinois, and ultimately settled on being the anchor tenant of The Kenosha Area Business Alliance’s new business park in Trevor, just eight miles from its former location “The political climate, the focus on manufacturing and agriculture within the state, and the strong presence of both food and medical industry was appealing,” Smith said.

In addition to moving to a new facility, Vonco has also invested heavily in new equipment and upgrading its quality certifications. Over the next year, Vonco also plans to certify its clean room.

Congratulations to these dynamic companies and entrepreneurs!

Let’s continue to celebrate growth in the Kenosha area throughout the year.

Thank you to our sponsors, Johnson Financial Group, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, CenterPoint, CliftonLarsonAllen, The Colergét Conference Center and The Prairie School for their investments in the Kenosha- area business community.

Congratulations and best wishes for continued success!

Congratulations! from the strategic partners behind

Thank you from Vonco Products, LLC

Vonco Products LLC

As a new corporate resident of Kenosha County, it’s an honor to be chosen as a Fast Five in the 2017 Ovation Awards from the Kenosha Area Business Alliance. Thanks to our employees, customers, suppliers and partners for making it possible. We’re excited to bring our unique combination of flexible packaging technology and industry awareness to the community.

Congratulations Vonco Products!

We are proud to partner with you for success!

CCB TECHNOLO GY PATRICK BOOTH

(26 2) 8 86-42 2 2 CCBTECHNOLO GY.COM

Congratulations to Kenosha County Business Alliance Fast Five Winner Vonco Products LLC!

Fast custom development Expertise on liquid-tight solutions

SIKICH LLP

Leak-proof guarantee Consultative engagement approach (26 2) 75 4-9 400 SIKICH.COM

We’re proud partners of the best and brightest.

Congratulations on your much deserved award!

TOWN BANK | WINTRUST COMMERCIAL BANKING BILL STONE

(414) 273-3 507 TOWNBANK .US

Vonco Products, LLC 10826 250th Ave., Trevor, WI 53179 1.800.323.9077 sales@ vonco.com vonco.com

biztimes.com / 37

Strategies LEADERSHIP

The approach of effective leaders

•

Lessons learned through the years Over the years, I have often been asked about my thoughts on what effective leadership is or is not. In this column, I will share some “lessons learned” regarding effective leadership, derived from my consulting experiences through the years.

• Lesson No. 1: The best “doers” do not necessarily make the best leaders.

The Peter principle is an error that is made when a candidate is selected based on performance in his or her current role, rather than with regard to the qualities necessary for success in the new role. Often, this results in the person’s promotion to his or her level of incompetence. Doing the work well is much different than facilitating the efforts of others so they do their work well.

Therefore, when it comes to selecting leaders, choose wisely.

• Lesson No. 2: Leaders don’t arrive, they act.

I sometimes have smiled to myself when I have heard a leader, upon being selected for a new role, make a comment along the lines of, “I’ve always wanted this job” or “I’ve been working toward this opportunity for years.” These leaders have missed the point; leadership is not a destination, it is a journey. Leaders do not “arrive” in their roles. Rather, they fulfill their roles with vigorous action. They are going places, not standing still.

• Lesson No. 3: Mastering the art and science 38 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

•

•

•

•

of leadership takes practice.

The best leaders with whom I have worked identified themselves as “leaders.” They viewed leadership as a calling, as a craft they did their best to master through disciplined learning, practice and effort.

Leadership is an intentional journey.

Lesson No. 4: Leaders eat last.

The best leaders are not self-aggrandizing self-promoters. Rather, they are “employee-centered,” recognizing that the best indicator of how well they are doing is how well their employees are doing. In that sense, they are selfless; they give of themselves on behalf of the people they lead. They operate with humility.

Lesson No. 5: Leaders leave the place in better shape than they found it.

Effective leaders adopt a long-term point of view. While they recognize that today’s results matter a great deal, they know that for an organization to sustain peak performance over time, the race needs to be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint. Leaders focus on perpetuating a firm foundation for sustainability. They are stewards.

Lesson No. 6: Leaders are credible.

Memorable leaders with whom I have worked have been real people. They have not been braggarts or pompous. They have operated with sincerity and authenticity, along the lines of, “What you see, is what you get.” Leaders are trustworthy.

Lesson No. 7: Leaders can take the heat.

As you move up the organizational hierarchy, the issues become more complex, as do the corresponding choices and solutions. The most effective leaders exhibit calm under fire. Indeed, their ability to persevere in the face of adversity is a defining characteristic.

Lesson No. 8: Leaders challenge the status quo.

The best leaders with whom I have worked are tinkerers. While they focus on perpetuating what their organizations have done well, they do not rest on a record of accomplishment and success, but rather, try to

extend it. They are change champions who have encouraged restlessness and ongoing renewal, recognizing that “what got us here won’t get us there.”

• Lesson No. 9: It’s what you learn after you know it all that matters the most.

The most effective leaders don’t act like the smartest person in the room, even if that is the case. Rather, they endeavor to use their wisdom and knowledge to benefit the people around them. In that sense, they try to give away all of their ideas, knowing that in doing so, they are helping others to expand their capabilities, resulting in better performance by all. These kinds of leaders have been energetic learners and teachers.

• Lesson No. 10: You can get a lot done if you don’t care who gets the credit.

Leaders, when the desired results have been achieved, are often lauded and praised.

However, the best leaders know that they did not achieve these results by themselves.

They celebrate success by shining the light on the people who got the job done.

Ultimately, according to Lao-Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, ‘We did it ourselves.’” n

DANIEL SCHROEDER Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D., is president of Organization Development Consultants Inc. He can be reached at 888.827.1901 or Dan.Schroeder@OD-Consultants.com.

Strategies COACHING

Why you can trust your gut Make logical sense of your instincts You know when you know it.

There is no denying it: We’ve all had those unexplainable gut instincts.

And we’ve all said in hindsight, “I had a gut feeling!”’ or “I just knew it in my gut!”

Fortunately, behavioral modeling researcher Marvin Oka has now helped us make sense of this gut knowing. He suggests we have three “brains,” a head brain, a heart brain and a gut brain. These three brains interact as a dynamic intelligence, passing information through the vagus nerve, which acts as a superhighway of information from our primitive gut brain, through our heart brain to our head brain, which ultimately puts the pieces of the puzzle together for us.

Our three brains operate from three different “nervous systems:” 1. Our head brain: Gives us reasoning through our autonomic nervous system; 2. Our heart brain: Gives us emotions through our intrinsic nervous system; 3. Our gut brain: Gives us intuition through our enteric nervous system.

Not capable of “thought” as we know it, our gut brain sends neurotransmitters and hormones to our head brain to communicate what feels right to us, or not. Our gut brain contains 100 million neurons. Neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine, and nitric oxide are in the gut.

We cannot trust our mind alone to guide us, as our head brain includes the sympathetic nervous system, which propels us into the “fight or

flight” response. This fight and flight response can create feelings of aggravation when we feel under stress. This causes us to at times move forward with blinders on. Other times, we are crippled by self-doubt and fear we don’t see the possibilities right in front of us. Making decisions from our head brain alone can therefore often lead to impulsivity or analysis paralysis.

On the other hand, when we don’t consider our heart brain, we may make logical decisions that make sense to others, but we are not considering what we value and love. In these cases, these decisions just don’t “feel” right to us. Even if we do reach our goal, it is meaningless and unfulfilling.

And finally, when we don’t listen to our gut brain, we miss cues at the tip of the iceberg that alert us to stop and pay attention. Ignoring these hunches creates crisis management. In hindsight, we look back and say, “I had a gut feeling, but just ignored it!” Because it was “just a gut feeling” we didn’t have logical proof and ignored the cues warning us to pay attention.

When we learn to work with this symbiotic relationship among the gut, heart and mind, we tap into what I call in my ALIGN program, “Gut Intelligence.” Gut Intelligence is the symbiotic relationship among the gut brain, heart brain and head brain. This relationship is fostered through our awareness of those subtle signals in our gut.

When we feel that twinge, that ache, that excitement and knowing, we must S.T.O.P. and get more conscious of what we knew unconsciously.

A client of mine recently used my techniques in hiring. A candidate looked perfect on paper, but when he tapped into his Gut Intelligence, he became aware of subtle signals he was concerned about. This led him to follow his gut and ask questions to dig deeper to validate what he sensed. He was happy he did, because he found this person was not a match for his culture, even though he had the skills to meet the job description.

Using my S.T.O.P. Technique will help you to increase your Gut Intelligence. It works like this: Slow down and breathe; Tune in to your awareness of what is happening inside you; Observe what is happening around you; Perceive a new possibility by asking your head brain one powerful question,

“HOW MIGHT I MAKES SENSE OF WHAT MY GUT IS TELLING ME?” This question sends a signal to your head brain to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It tells your unconscious reasoning to make logical sense of what you primitively knew.

Challenge: When did you have a gut knowing? Did you S.T.O.P to listen to it? What was it telling you to do or say? n

SUSAN WEHRLEY Susan K. Wehrley is a consultant, coach and author. This article is an excerpt from her book, “ALIGN” which will be available later this year. You can contact Susan at (262) 696-6856, email her at Susan@ BIZremedies.com. biztimes.com / 39

Strategies MANAGEMENT

Rivalry in the ranks Internal competition can hurt your company culture

“When employees are pitted against each other, it can become costly to the organization. The spirit of teamwork dies. Conflicts increase and morale can go down.”

— name

40 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

During graduate school, the day before one exam I was sick and asked a friend if she would share her class notes.

You know how sometimes the day before an exam you can pick up some hints about the upcoming test? Well my friend Lois came to visit after the class and gave me a list of items the professor said would not be on the exam. To my surprise, the next day all of those items were right there on the test!

Our class was small and Lois and I had become quite good friends. I was astonished when I saw the questions on the exam. When I asked Lois about the situation, she shrugged and said, “I just wanted to get a better grade than you.”

I didn’t get it then and still don’t. I am sure the prof could give out as many A’s as he felt appropriate. Lois and I were able to heal our friendship, but I never came to an understanding of her behavior that day. I got as far as realizing it was about competition, but I never figured out what the prize might be.

In coaching within business organizations, I’ve learned that to encourage innovation, many companies set up creativity contests and reward the employee who comes up with the best idea.

There may be a panel of judges to name the winner, or sometimes a jury of one – the CEO or head of R&D. Setting up a competition like this has fueled some great results. Some organizations, like AT&T and American Express, extend the contests to customers.

However, when employees are pitted against each other, it can become costly to the organization. The spirit of teamwork dies. Conflicts increase and morale can go down. The contests, in a sense, discriminate against women, as women often prefer to work in collaboration rather than competitively. Forced ranking fuels the costly aspects of the competitive environment.

An even more costly type of competition is when it is underground. A rivalry between two employees can infect the organization and often has no real basis. One associate can create a belief that another is standing in the way of her success in the organization; soon, almost any interchange

between the two becomes a part of the imagined threat.

When I work with this situation, I always try to figure out: what is the prize they seem to want?

It might be to feel they are the favorite in the eyes of the boss. Unfortunately, before long, employees may take sides in this imagined or drummed up conflict and it becomes more costly, as attention is diverted from production and toward the drama within the team or department.

Fortunately, these costly situations can be neutralized and even prevented. Teamwork can become a part of how you do business. Rewards can go to teams rather than individuals. Job descriptions can be shared in full so roles are clear.

Incentives can be offered for outstanding teamwork. If you see a little soap opera developing within the ranks of your reports, you can face it head on and coach the employees to resolve it skillfully and respectfully. You can encourage focus on external competition rather than internal.

To inspire innovation within the ranks, set up systems for the idea people to collaborate, provide the resources they need and keep management out, other than offering support and recognition. n

JO GORISSEN Jo Gorissen is a certified transition coach and a former Milwaukee-area resident. She can be reached at jgorissen1@gmail.com.

Marketplace

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BizConnections NONPROFIT

news VISION FORWARD SELLING HAWLEY ROAD CAMPUS Vision Forward Association, a nonprofit that serves individuals with vision loss and their families, is selling its campus on Milwaukee’s west side, where it has been located for nearly 100 years.

Vision Forward’s board has accepted an offer from Milwaukee-based LCM Funds Real Estate LLC to purchase its 7-acre campus at 912 N. Hawley Road, which is expected to be finalized

by November.

By selling its campus, Vision Forward positions itself to provide more community-based services, the organization said.

The organization plans to rent its space from the new owners and remain on the campus for the next three or four years, said spokesperson Dena Fellows.

Vision Forward has 44 full-time and part-time employees at its campus.

The campus includes Hawley Ridge Apartments, a 58-unit independent living apartment building at 920 N. Hawley Road, which serves residents both with and without vision loss. LCM intends to continue operating the apartments in this way.

-Lauren Anderson

c alendar The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center will host an awards ceremony and reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the rotunda of Bayshore Town Center, 5800 N. Bayshore Drive in Glendale, to mark the end of its Canstruction competition. Canstruction is a charity art competition held in cities throughout the world that challenges architects, engineers and students they mentor to design and build giant, eye-popping structures made entirely of canned food. More information is available at jccmilwaukee.org.

The Military and Veterans Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will host the fourth annual Military & Veterans Ball from 6 to 11 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3 at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave. The event is open to all military, veterans and civilian community supporters. It will feature a “Titantic-themed” cocktail party before and after the dinner program and a silent auction, with proceeds going to support Healing Warrior Hearts.

D O N AT I O N R O U N D U P Aurora Health Care is giving $500,000 to help improve athletic fields at two sites in Sheboygan – Horace Mann Middle School and the athletic fields at Saemann Avenue and North Taylor Drive | ACTS Housing’s Longest Neighborhood Table event brought in $170,000 for the Milwaukee-based nonprofit, which helps families become homeowners through credit counseling, real estate sales and home rehabilitation counseling | New Perspective Senior Living-West Bend has donated nearly $15,000 to the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeastern Wisconsin this year | Pittsburghbased PPG is giving $10,000 to Discovery World to mark National Manufacturing Day | Associated Bank partnered with the Brewers Community Foundation to host the third annual Hits for Homes program at Miller Park and donate a combined total of $100,000 to Housing Resources Inc.

42 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

nonprofit

SPOTLIGHT

COMMUNIT Y C ARE INC .

205 Bishops Way, Brookfield (414) 231-4000 | communitycareinc.org Facebook: facebook.com/communitycareinc LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/510041

Year founded: 1977 Mission statement: Community Care develops and demonstrates innovative, flexible, communitybased programs to care for at-risk adults in order to optimize their quality of life and optimize the allocation of community resources.

Primary focus: Community Care’s main focus is to serve the long-term care and health needs of more than 10,000 older adults and adults with physical or intellectual disabilities through one of our three programs: Family Care, Family Care Partnership and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. Community Care is the only organization in the state that offers the PACE program.

Employees at this location: 950 Executive leadership: Kenneth Munson, chief executive officer; Christy Smith, chief financial officer; Dr. Mary Parish-Gavinski, chief medical officer; Edward Kohl, chief program officer; Virginia Kramer, chief information officer; Michael

Garlie, chief compliance, quality and risk officer; Sherrice Gilcreast, chief administrative officer; Kelly Carter, program officer Board of directors: Robert Goldstein, chair; Mark Thomas, vice chair; Gil Llanas; Daniel Brophey; Marianne Canter; Ed Corrigan; Edmund Duthie, Jr.; Rick Gebhardt; Brenda Gray; Ben Greenebaum; Kimberly Kane; Anne Kiekhofer; Yvette Rowe; Lori Stortz; Richard Theado; Martha Valerio; Stephen VanderBloemen; Wendell Willis Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes. What roles are you looking to fill? Finance/accounting, long-term care, health care, government relations, public relations and a variety of other areas.

Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: Volunteers to help with entertainment, arts and crafts, and/ or intergenerational programming

PERSONNEL FILE BANKING & FINANCE

Old National Bank, Brookfield

Grande

Levchets

Old National Wealth Management has a named John Grande senior vice president, director of wealth management. He has more than 25 years in the industry. Regina Levchets has also joined the Old National Bank’s commercial real estate team as vice president, relationship manager. She has more than 10 years of experience in the field and specializes in complex real estate transactions.

BANKING & FINANCE

and secretary of Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., has been elected to the Marquette University board of trustees. He is a two-time Marquette alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude, and a law degree, magna cum laude.

LEGAL

Godfrey & Kahn, Milwaukee

Anhalt

George

Partnership Bank, Cedarburg Gary Heckendorf has joined Partnership Bank’s growing business team as senior vice president, focusing on business development in and around Ozaukee and Washington counties.

PNC Bank has named Leesa Gilliam vice president and senior client advisor for the wealth management team in southeastern Wisconsin. She has more than 25 years of financial services experiences, including asset management for high net worth individuals, corporations and endowments. Most recently, Gilliam served as director and private wealth advisor with BMO wealth management.

EDUCATION

Marquette University, Milwaukee Raymond Manista, senior vice president and general counsel

MANUFACTURING

Standard Process, Palmyra Standard Process has named Kim Horneck as its director of marketing. In this position, Horneck will be responsible for developing brand, marketing and communications strategies and programs to increase brand recognition, while also expanding business in multiple channels to support the company’s accelerated innovation and growth.

MANUFACTURING Hall

Hernandez

BANKING & FINANCE

PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Milwaukee

for the planning and coordination of operations technical support, including tool room, maintenance, automation techs and project management.

Schlederer

Vogt

Stein

Wallace

Godrey & Kahn S.C. has hired Brian Anhalt, Stevin George, Dana Hall, Pedro Hernandez, Madeline Schlederer, Alex Stein, Brian Vogt and Ed Wallace as associates in departments throughout the firm.

Max Weiss Co., Milwaukee David Gregg, a steel industry veteran of two decades, has been named director of operations at Max Weiss Co., a custom metal bending, forming and fabricating company. Gregg, who has served as plant manager at Max Weiss since 2014, has experience in the metal rolling/ shaping industry that includes production and personnel management, sales and purchasing, facility and equipment maintenance, and quality control supervision.

MANUFACTURING

W.M. Sprinkman Corp., Waukesha

MANUFACTURING

MGS Mfg Group, Germantown MGS Mfg. Group has hired Mark Mueller as engineering manager at its Germantown injection molding facility. This newly developed position is responsible

Burke

Heidtmann

W.M. Sprinkman has hired Laura Burke as a senior process

engineer and Michael Heidtmann as a field services manager.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Stantec, Mequon Sarah McDonald has joined the global design firm Stantec as landscape architect and urban planner.

McDonald has more than eight years of experience in landscape architecture and urban planning, with a focus on improving quality of life and protecting the environment.

REAL ESTATE

Chicago Title, Milwaukee Nicole Allard has joined the Wisconsin-based commercial division of Chicago Title as a national account executive.

She has extensive experience as a commercial broker and lender.

SENIOR LIVING

Eastcastle Place, Milwaukee Megan Schelwat is the new community admissions coordinator for the health center at Eastcastle Place.

TECHNOLOGY

Valuation Research Corp., Wauwatosa Valuation Research Corp. has hired Jack Warning as a financial analyst in the Milwaukee office. Warning graduated from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa in May 2017 with a major in finance and a minor in political science. Before graduating, Warning worked as a finance and treasury intern for Elkay Manufacturing, a private wealth management intern for Hoopis Financial and a commodity broker intern for Choice Capital Group. biztimes.com / 43

BizConnections VOLUME 23, NUMBER 16 | OCT 30, 2017

GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR

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

SALES & MARKETING

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

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

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

ADMINISTRATION

INTERN REPORTER Maredithe Meyer maredithe.meyer@biztimes.com

Wauwatosa Village

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Sue Herzog sue.herzog@biztimes.com

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

This photo, taken in 1870, shows the intersection of Harwood Avenue and West State Street in Wauwatosa. Today, the area is known as the Village, and the streets are lined with shops and restaurants.

— This photo is from the Wauwatosa Historical Society Collections.

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

ART DIRECTOR Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com

Independent & Locally Owned — Founded 1995 —

COMMENTARY

Amazon HQ2 in MKE? It’s worth a shot SEATTLE-BASED AMAZON created a lot of excitement when it said it planned to build a second North American corporate headquarters, with 50,000 employees, and invited cities to submit proposals.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, co-chairs of Milwaukee 7, recently announced M7 submitted a proposal to Amazon.

We are competing with almost every major metro area in the United States for Amazon’s “HQ2.” Does anyone think Milwaukee has a chance to win?

Honestly? No. There are several regions with stronger economies, better transportation systems, bigger talent pools and warmer weather for Amazon to pick from.

However, many doubted Wisconsin could land Foxconn Technology Group’s massive LCD screen plant, which it now plans to build 44 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

in Racine County. When rumors were first circulating that Foxconn was considering Wisconsin, I called a prominent industrial real estate broker who was skeptical because Wisconsin never wins multi-state competitions for huge economic development deals.

But Wisconsin did win that competition, as the state agreed to provide $3 billion in incentives and Mount Pleasant and Racine County are working on a $764 million local incentive package.

Foxconn was also attracted to our area because of the access to Lake Michigan water and an ample supply of available land between two major population centers, Milwaukee and Chicago.

Local officials are also playing up our proximity to Chicago, and Madison, in the bid for Amazon. Chicago and Madison have a talent base that could help fill jobs. Area business travelers can use O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, in addition to Mitchell International in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee offers access to Chicago’s assets without the downside of doing business in Illinois, which has higher taxes and major financial problems, Barrett says.

It’s good to see area leaders thinking about how to take advantage of the region’s proximity to Chicago. We need to think of ourselves as part of the Chicago mega-region, especially as

Foxconn and other development occurs along I-94, filling in the gap between Milwaukee and the Windy City.

If, somehow, Milwaukee got Amazon’s HQ2, it would be transformational. The city would become a Midwestern Seattle, which is booming. The 50,000 high-paying Amazon jobs would dwarf the 13,000 Foxconn jobs.

The bidding for Amazon HQ2 is intense.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced a state and local incentive package worth $7 billion if Amazon picks Newark. After approving a $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn, what could Wisconsin afford to do for Amazon?

What’s it going to take to win?

The Milwaukee area’s chances to land the Amazon HQ2 indeed may be very slim. But area officials wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they didn’t at least give it a shot. Throw the Hail Mary pass and see what happens. n

ANDREW WEILAND EDITOR

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

AROUND TOWN Next Generation Manufacturing Summit BizTimes Media and Milwaukee 7 recently held the 2017 Next Generation Manufacturing Summit at State Fair Park in West Allis.

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DAVE DORAN of BMO Harris Bank and RUSS PLEWA of Johnson Bank.

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DAVE WILK and WILL BARRETT of 3M.

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KIM PALMER of Kim Palmer Consulting, SUE KOHLMANN of Kohlmann Management Group and ROXANNE BAUMANN of WMEP.

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ROB EBNER, JAN BEAUDWAY and CHAD VANDERPLOEG of 3M.

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DAVID NILES of PKI Digital Marketing and JIM GELDERMANN of BizDoc Storage.

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JEFF DUTHIE of 3M and EVA WHITE of Rapco Fleet Support Inc.

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Moderator MIKE SHIELS, dean of the School of Applied Technologies at Waukesha County Technical College, and panelists DAVID WERNER, manufacturing and supply chain director for the Industrial Adhesives and Tapes division at 3M; JIM LEEF, president of ITU AbsorbTech; JIM HAWKINS, chief executive officer of Kenall Manufacturing; and JOHN MELLOWES, CEO of Charter Manufacturing Co. Inc.

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Attendees at the Next Generation Manufacturing Summit.

Photos by Paul Gaertner

MMAC All-Member Meeting

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The Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce recently held its biannual All-Member Meeting at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee.

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SANDY BOLZ of Delta Dental of Wisconsin and CASSIE BOLZ of The Benefit Services Group.

10. JEFF TREDO, MARK DEBRAUSKE and AMANDA RAABE , all of Tredo Group LLC. 11. CHERLYN JENSEN of Billboard Connection and BARBARA INGRAHAM of Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse.

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12. KATIE STAHRE and JOHN STEWART, both of Wells Fargo, and BEN PAGE of Rocket Clicks.

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13. ROBERT SIMPSON of Aon Risk Services Central Inc., JERRY FULMER of WEC Energy Group and KENNETH ANDERSON of Aon Risk Services.

14. CAROLINE NEWMAN and BONNIE HOEFT, both of Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. 15. JAY RABIDEAUX of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation and EVAN HUGHES of Central Standard Craft Distillery.

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Photos by Maredithe Meyer biztimes.com / 45

BizConnections

L I S A AT TO N I TO Title IX 45 years later: What has changed?

The Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee, which makes grants to advance equity for area women, celebrated the 45th anniversary of Title IX and its impact

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

the LASTWORD

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E XECUTIVE DIRECTOR Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee | Milwaukee womensfundmke.org Industry: Philanthropy Location: Milwaukee

on women’s lives and careers at an event on Oct. 25. Lisa Attonito, executive director of the Women’s Fund, describes the transformation that has occurred.

“The answer is simply: So much! This is especially true since, for Gen Xers and millennials, it is life’s known ‘normal.’ The 1996 Summer Olympics, held in Atlanta, were proof things changed. It was at those games that girls born in the early 1970s proved their skills as women athletes, winning gold in basketball, gymnastics, soccer, softball and synchronized swimming. Clearly, a new era for sports in America had arrived.

“It didn’t happen by chance. It was a piece of legislation quietly signed into law on June 23, 46 / BizTimes Milwaukee OCTOBER 30, 2017

1972 during a volatile time of war, government dishonesty and controversial school busing.

Those 37 words changed the trajectory for millions of Americans, especially women and girls.

It has become one of the most significant laws to advance equity for women in American history.

“As we celebrate the 45th anniversary of Title IX, the breadth, depth and its evolution are often overlooked and unrecognized, and always vulnerable. Today, Title IX ensures equity in sports and also access to higher education and opportunities for STEM curriculum and careers.

For many women, participation in sports was just the beginning, especially at the collegiate level, where earning scholarships to participate in athletics created the opportunity to pursue higher education. These opportunities continue to be the building blocks of personal achievement, building career and business success. Personal health, confidence, leadership skills, teamwork and trust are just a few of the ROIs. “To leaders: Talk sports with women and hear what Title IX is doing for your business. You may be surprised and awed at the same time.” n

PRESENTS:

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December 7, 2017 • 7:00 - 9:30AM • Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Nine Top Business Leaders Share 10 of Their Best Ideas Nine leaders from Southeastern Wisconsin’s most successful companies will share 10 of their secrets to success, vision, company & personal philosophies and initiatives – both big and small – that can be applied to any leader or business. This will be a fast-paced discussion followed by a Q&A, where the leaders will present their top ideas.

Make plans to attend as you prepare to be a better leader in 2018.

To register, go to biztimes.com/90ideas

Presenters: • Dr. Eve Hall, President & CEO – The Milwaukee Urban League (1) • Jerry Jendusa, Co-Founder & Partner – STUCK LLC (2) • Vincent Lyles, President & CEO – Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (3) • Marsha Mather, Owner – Laacke & Joys (4) • Ugo Nwagbaraocha, President – Diamond Discs International (5) • Marie O’Brien, President & CEO – EnterForce (6) • Rick Schlesinger, Executive Vice President – Milwaukee Brewers (7) • Vince Shiely, Partner – Lubar & Co. (8)

Register today: biztimes.com/90ideas SPONSOR:

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