BizTimes Milwaukee | December 16, 2019

2019 BIZTIMES BEST IN BUSINESS

Big Score ALEX LASRY IS COMMUNITY LEADER OF THE YEAR

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» DEC 16 - JAN 19, 2020

4 Leading Edge 4 NOW

BY THE NUMBERS 5 ON THE JOB WITH… 6 PUBLIC RECORD 8 GETTING THERE 9 IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD 10 BIZ TRACKER 11 WHO’S ON THE BOARD? ON MY NIGHTSTAND 12 PROJECT PITCH IT 13 GOOD LIFE BIZ POLL

18 Biz News 18 F ORMER CREE CEO RETURNS TO MARQUETTE TO FOSTER INNOVATION IN MILWAUKEE 20 THE INTERVIEW

22 Real Estate

COVER STORY

24

41 Health Care Heroes

2019 BizTimes Best in Business

Special Report

JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 25, Number 18, December 16, 2019 – January 19, 2020. BizTimes Milwaukee is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January, July and December by BizTimes Media LLC at 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA. Basic annual subscription rate is $42. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5 each. Periodicals postage paid at Milwaukee, WI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120. Entire contents copyright 2019 by BizTimes Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Contents

53 Strategies 53 MARKETING Robert Grede 54 LEADERSHIP Susan Marshall 55 MANAGEMENT Susan Wehrley 56 A BRIEF CASE

59 Biz Connections

30 Banking & Finance

34 Women in Manufacturing

Coverage includes a look at Ixonia Bank under the ownership of Lubar & Co. and the new branch it will open soon in downtown Milwaukee.

Coverage includes a report on efforts to foster more women in manufacturing careers and profiles of Notable Women in Manufacturing.

59 NONPROFIT 60 GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR COMMENTARY 61 AROUND TOWN 62 THE LAST WORD

WE’RE PROUD TO BE

WISCONSIN’S BANK FOR BUSINESS ™

414-273-3507 | townbank.us JAY MACK President & CEO

JOHN JOHANNES Executive Vice President, Commercial Real Estate

DENNIS KRAKAU Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking

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Leading Edge

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

NOW

Uline’s headquarters in Pleasant Prairie.

Uline plans another big expansion in Kenosha

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer Pleasant Prairie-based Uline Inc. plans to build two new distribution centers along I-94, a $130 million project that would add 350 jobs, according to documents submitted to the city of Kenosha.

During the summer, documents submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

suggested the company would build a 1.29 million-square-foot distribution center between Highway 142 and its two current buildings along the interstate.

Uline is now seeking approvals from the city of Kenosha for two buildings. The first would be a nearly 1.1 million-square-foot dis-

BY THE NUMBERS Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says the city will provide up to

$

2 MILLION

in tax incremental financing to Molson Coors Brewing Co. as an incentive to bring “hundreds” of jobs to Milwaukee.

4 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

tribution center located immediately south of Highway 142 and just east of 128th Avenue.

The second building would be a nearly 644,000-square-foot distribution facility located just east of the first new building.

The two buildings would complete the four-building campus Uline has been constructing over the past several years in Kenosha.

That campus, which currently has a pair of 800,000-square-foot buildings, is across the freeway from where Amazon has a 1.1-millionsquare-foot and a 500,000-squarefoot facility.

Hiring for the new facilities would take employment at Uline’s Kenosha campus from around 700 to 1,050, a company official said.

The Kenosha campus is the base of the company’s Chicago branch operations and ships orders to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and southern Wisconsin.

The distributor of shipping, industrial and packaging materials has grown its presence significantly in Kenosha County and will have more than 5 million square feet of space when the buildings are complete.

The company’s headquarters complex in Pleasant Prairie includes two 250,000-square-foot office buildings and two 1 millionsquare-foot distribution centers,

which supply the company’s 11 regional distribution centers, located throughout North America, including two in Canada and two in Mexico.

The company is also leasing a nearly 420,000-square-foot industrial building in LakeView Corporate Park in Pleasant Prairie.

Uline has more than 2,500 employees in the county, according to the Kenosha Area Business Alliance.

Uline was awarded up to $18.6 million in tax credits to move its headquarters from Waukegan, Illinois to Pleasant Prairie in 2010.

According to Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. records, the company created 2,008 jobs, invested $147 million and has been verified for $16 million in tax credits.

In addition to its Kenosha County operations, Uline has a 600,000-square-foot distribution center in Hudson, Wisconsin, that serves as the base of its Minneapolis operations and ships orders to Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and northern Wisconsin.

A family-owned business founded in 1980 by Liz and Dick Uihlein, Uline now has a catalog with more than 780 pages and more than 36,000 packaging, shipping, industrial and janitorial products. n

1

O&H Danish Bakery

JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

ON THE JOB WITH…

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer During any given week, Racine-based O&H Danish Bakery sells at least 5,000 of its famous kringle pastries from its five store locations in Racine, Sturtevant and Oak Creek. During the holiday season, that number is closer to 8,000.

The kringle production process is complex. It takes three days and a designated 50-person team to create the finished product, starting

with mixing the dough and ending with packaging the pastry. And the appearance matters just as much as the taste.

“We tell our teams that every kringle should be finished to the level that you’d be proud to make as the centerpiece of your grandmother’s Christmas table,” said Peter Olesen, vice president and fourth generation operator. n

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Eggs, flour, butter, milk and yeast are mixed together to form kringle dough. Baking team member Steven Crosby scrapes the last of it into a giant bowl.

Kringle crafter Brenda Nunez uses a template to fold the raw dough into the kringle’s traditional oval shape.

Baking team member Mike Ehret, sprays each kringle with glaze before it is baked.

One oven fits 80 kringles at a time.

Packaging team member Frantz Marcelin smooths icing over the top of each kringle. The pastries air dry for 30 to 45 minutes before being packaged.

Once they are packaged, the pastries are ready to be sold in stores or shipped.

Packaging team member Martha Webster places a seal on each product.

Father and son Eric and Peter Olesen are third- andfourth-generation operators of family-owned O&H.

biztimes.com / 5

Leading Edge

THE

PUBLIC

RECORD Trump outraising top Democrats in Wisconsin

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer

Bringing a wealth of experience to our clients for generations.

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The 10 Democratic presidential candidates who have raised at least $10,000 in Wisconsin have collectively brought in a little less than $875,000 in the state. President Donald Trump, by comparison, has brought in $958,000, or 0.58%, of his fundraising total.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the top fundraiser in the state among Democrats at almost $263,100 while Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has drawn the largest percentage of her donations from the state at 0.38%.

In 2016, Trump raised $1.27 million in Wisconsin while Hillary Clinton raised $2.75 million from the state. Then-Gov. Scott Walker raised $1.28 million for his presidential campaign from Wisconsin.

Here’s how the Democrats seeking the nomination compare for their Wisconsin fundraising: Candidate

Wisconsin fundraising

Percentage of total

Support in November Marquette Law School poll

Change in support from August Marquette poll

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

$263,984

0.35%

17%

-3%

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

$214,180

0.35%

15%

-2%

Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana

$105,252

0.20%

13%

+7%

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

$67,408

0.38%

3%

+2%

Sen. Kamala Harris of California

$63,055

0.17%

2%

-1%

Former Vice President Joe Biden

$57,129

0.15%

30%

+2%

Andrew Yang

$40,863

0.27%

2%

0%

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey

$35,308

0.19%

3%

+2%

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

$18,267

0.20%

0%

0%

Marianne Williamson

$10,143

0.15%

1%

+1%

© Copyright 2019 American Heart Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. All rights reserved. Go Red for Women is a registered trademark of AHA. The Red Dress Design is a trademark of U.S. DHHS. Unauthorized use prohibited.

Source: Federal Elections Commission data as of Nov. 26.

6 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019 2020_MKE_GRFW_Ad_3.875x4.875.indd 1

11/25/2019 2:06:04 PM

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Leading Edge

GETTING

THERE

What attracted you to Reputation Partners?

“The large variety of industries Reputation Partners touches and the full range of services it offers to its clients. When I joined the company in 2011, I didn’t fully appreciate at the time how much being a part of this team would continuously present learning and growth opportunities for my career. Not only have I been able to learn about and gain exposure to a number of different and interesting industries and leaders, but I’ve had endless chances to try my hand at and grow my experience in different facets of PR.”

What are you excited about with your new role?

“With the support of my team, I’m looking forward to building upon what we already have in place and promoting a truly collaborative culture where all of our ideas and wins – both big and small, and no matter whether from my team in Milwaukee or our awesome colleagues in Chicago – are celebrated so we can continue to make Reputation Partners something special.”

What are your favorite activities to do in Milwaukee?

“I am an extremely active (and, admittedly, antsy) person, so anything that gets me outside and exploring Milwaukee will be at the top of my list. When it’s just me, I like to run down on the lakefront or around Lakeshore State Park next to Discovery World (arguably the best view of downtown) and then make my way through the Third Ward. Otherwise, I love simply exploring different walking trails with my wife, whether it be Seven Bridges, Schlitz Audubon or even just walking the riverfront downtown for a beer – that counts, right?”

What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

“Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” n

BRENDAN GRIFFITH Senior vice president and Milwaukee general manager Reputation Partners AGE: 32 HOMETOWN: Arlington Heights, Illinois EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from Illinois State University PREVIOUS POSITION: Senior vice president

8 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

TRIVERA INTERACTIVE N88 W16447 Main St., Suite 200 NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown Menomonee Falls FOUNDED: 1996 OWNERS: Tom Snyder EMPLOYEES: 13 SERVICE: Digital marketing

What’s the history of Trivera and this office location?

Snyder: “We have been a website development firm since 1996, back in the days when people didn’t really know what the internet was.

And we’ve been in various locations in Menomonee Falls and Germantown, but in this location for 10 years this January. It’s a 125-year-old mill building and it has a lot of character. When we had the opportunity to consider this location, I didn’t need to be convinced.”

Who are your clients?

“Mitchell Airport has

been a client of ours for 20 of our 23 years.

MMSD (Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District), Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Rogers Behavioral Health, Strattec Security Corp. … We also do some work for nonprofits.”

What is it like to work in your office?

“People can pick their own start and end times and work from home. Most still prefer to come here because the office is cool and to collaborate with other team members ... Honestly, it’s helped stunt our growth but we’ve always wanted to focus on a great work-

life balance, so we try to make sure our team isn’t putting in more than 40 hours a week.”

How has the neighborhood changed?

“Downtown Menomonee Falls has experienced a kind of rebirth. We have a really strong downtown business improvement district board. They made the decision to redo the streets downtown and added bump-outs so restaurants could get outside seating, huge planters, hanging baskets and they do live music events now ... It’s become a real vibrant community.” n

Relentless client focus.

Husch Blackwell proudly congratulates Angie Trentadue of Steelwind Industries on being named to the Biz Times 2019 Notable Women in Manufacturing list. Client relationships are our highest priority, and we consider it a privilege to partner with professionals like Angie.

huschblackwell.com

555 East Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202 414.273.2100

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

biztimes.com / 9

Leading Edge

The latest area economic data.

42.12

The Milwaukee-area manufacturing index for November was

the fifth straight month the index has been below 50.

A reading above 50 indicates growth, while a reading below 50 indicates the sector is contracting.

$40.2 billion Wisconsin’s 122 state-charted credit unions had

in total assets at the end of the third quarter, up from $36.4 billion at the same time last year.

7.9%

Home sales in the metro Milwaukee area rose

in October, compared to October of 2018, but for the first 10 months of the year were down 0.7% from a year ago.

SAVE THE DATE! BizTimes Media presents the 13th annual:

$26.84

The average private sector hourly wage in Wisconsin was

in October, up 3.43% from a year ago.

Thursday, March 12th, 2020 Milwaukee Marriott Downtown

Sponsors:

Wisconsin’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was

3.3%

in October, up from 3.2% in September.

10 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

WHO’S ON THE BOARD Who’s on the Board?

Gavin Hattersley

MOLSON COORS BREWING COMPANY • Andrew Molson, chairman of RES PUBLICA Consulting Group • Peter H. Coors, co-chairman of Adolph Coors Company • Geoffrey Molson, president and CEO of CH Group Limited Partnership • Gavin Hattersley, chief executive officer of Molson Coors

• Peter J. Coors, senior manager of quality assurance for MillerCoors LLC • Betty DeVita, former chief commercial officer for MasterCard Worldwide • Charles Herington, vice chairman and president of Zumba Fitness • Douglas Tough, former CEO of International Flavors & Fragrances • Franklin Hobbs, president and CEO of Ribbon Communications • H. Sanford Riley, president and CEO of Richardson Financial Group • Iain Napier, senior independent director of William Grant and Sons Holdings • Louis Vachon, president and CEO of the National Bank of Canada • Mary Lynn Ferguson-McHugh, group president of Global Family Care and P&G Ventures at Procter & Gamble Co. • Roger Eaton, former CEO of KFC, a division of Yum! Brands

on my nightstand...

MEG HOPKINS Co-owner, Terrain

“The Things We Cannot Say”

By Kelly Rimmer WHEN SELECTING a new book to dive into, Meg Hopkins usually gravitates toward novels set during World War II. Her latest read did not disappoint.

Hopkins, who co-owns Mequon floral and gift shop Terrain and previously owned the now-closed Elements East, recently finished “The Things We Cannot Say” by Kelly Rimmer. The historical fiction novel takes place both during WWII and present day, telling a tale of tragic love and family secrets.

“The story slips between Nazi-occupied Poland and the crazy everyday pace of modern life, depicting the intersecting and emotional lives of two women,” Hopkins said. “The story itself is a nail-biter.”

Alina is a teenager living in fear as her Polish village is taken over by the Nazis. Alice is a modern-day mother and wife who travels to Poland to visit her hospitalized grandmother, which is when both stories converge. n

I

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biztimes.com / 11

Leading Edge

BIZTIMES MEDIA – Like us

PROJECT PITCH IT CURATE LEADERSHIP: Taralinda Willis, CEO and co-founder; Dale Willis, co-founder and CTO A D D R E S S: 22 N. Carroll St., Madison WEBSITE: curatesolutions.com W H AT I T D O E S: Automates process of reviewing municipal documents F O U N D E D: 2016

AI startup Curate expands into all 50 states

By Brandon Anderegg, staff writer

M

adison-based Curate Solutions Inc. is wrapping up 2019 with a Madison Chamber of Commerce Innovation Award, a new office and a national footprint.

The chamber recognized Curate in November as the most innovative company in Madison, which was timely given Curate’s recent expansion into all 50 states.

Founded in 2016, Curate developed an artificial intelligence software capable of mining municipal meeting minutes and agendas from communities across the country. That data, organized and presented on a dashboard, supplies companies with insights into how decisions and policy changes in local government impact businesses.

The company was featured on “Project Pitch It” on WISN-TV Channel 12 in March.

In July, Curate completed a $1.65 million seed-plus round, which fueled the company’s push to gather data from thousands of municipalities. Curate now has 15 employees and serves more than 150 clients across the U.S. Over the summer, the company hired a product manager, added a customer success position and made several strategic hires in the artificial intelligence space, said Taralinda Willis, Curate co-founder and chief executive officer. Curate also moved into a new Madison office, which quadrupled the size of its headquarters.

With a more robust staff and larger footprint, Curate is now focused on retooling how its software distributes and displays data.

“We know that companies who are impacted by these changing ordinances often have a very large focus,” Willis said. “So, we needed to be in all 50 states to support them.”

Companies with a smaller focus would rath-

Chief executive officer and co-founder Taralinda Willis and chief technology officer and co-founder Dale Willis founded Curate in 2016.

er have a nuts-and-bolts overview of the conversations taking place in city and village halls, Willis said. However, as Curate retains larger clients who are engaged in business across state lines, the company is developing new data delivery methods to meet their needs.

“If you are looking at 10,000 municipalities, you can’t be engrained with each of those communities,” Willis said. “So we’re making sure that the right issues bubble up.”

As the company grew, Willis realized the extent to which local government influences both citizens and corporate citizens. From property taxes and road maintenance, to how global companies like Airbnb and Uber conduct business locally, municipal governments have a lot of authority, Willis said.

“Municipalities have so much power and, before jumping into this, I didn’t realize all the impact the city you live in (has on) your daily life,” Willis said. “So, it’s pretty much a rule around here that everyone votes in every single municipal election no matter how small.” n

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Versiti leader integrates ‘Harry Potter’ fandom into speaking circuit

By Lauren Anderson staff writer

S

ue Johnson, director of clinical education for Milwaukee-based Versiti, got hooked on Harry Potter when the novels first hit bookshelves.

the

Good LIFE BIZ POLL

Sue Johnson, director of clinical education for Versiti, wears a Gryffindor robe.

Like many people in the late 1990s, Johnson started reading the series with her son, who was learning to read at the time of their release.

“He would read a chapter out loud, then I would read a chapter, and we’d talk about it,” Johnson said. “That’s how I got hooked on it … I just love it. It’s such a great series.”

More than 20 years later, she remains a loyal fan, having read and listened to the books and watched the movies several times over.

She’s even incorporated her love of the franchise into her professional life. It’s

A recent survey of BizTimes.com readers.

How much do you plan to spend on Christmas gifts this year?

More than last year:

not uncommon for Johnson to wear her Gryffindor robe while leading educational sessions as part of her international presentation circuit. She regularly integrates Harry Potter themes into her presentations, which she’s named the “Wizardly School of Antigens and Antibodies.“ “In the sciences and medicine, people can be afraid of going beyond the PowerPoint,” she said. “We’re just trying to have fun with learning. There are so many things you have to be serious about. We definitely are serious in what we present, but to add a little twist, I think it’s been really valuable.”

Johnson said her presentations particularly resonate with students and physicians-in-training today, many of whom grew up with the series, just like her son.

“They love it,” she said. n

THANK YOU to our members and our platinum sponsors, who make our exceptional programming possible.

22% 2019 Platinum Sponsors

The same as last year:

Less than last year:

36%

42% 2019 Media Partner

Peer Roundtables for growth-focused CEOs Share your opinion! Visit biztimes.com/bizpoll to cast your vote in the next Biz Poll.

For more information, visit www.mmac.org/cgb.html or contact WHITNEY MAUS @ 414.287.4146 or wmaus@mmac.org

biztimes.com / 13

SPONSORED CONTENT

FIRST BUSINESS BANK ECONOMIC SURVEY 2019 SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN RESULTSBUSINESSES IMPORTANT DATA HELPS GUIDE WISCONSIN Twenty-one percent of companies saw a decrease in sales revenue, sharply higher from the previous year’s historic low 6%, and 59% saw higher sales; also down from the 81% historic high observed in 2018.

Eight percent project a decrease in sales revenue (up from 2018’s 1% historic low), and 73% project an increase in sales — down from 85%, but still an impressive three quarters of respondents.

Seventeen percent saw a decline in profitability (just one percentage point above the previous year’s historic low), and 54% saw increased profits (down from a historic high 63% in 2018).

The projections for 2020, despite not being as optimistic as those for 2019, are still very positive. Looking ahead, 9% project lower profits for 2020, but 64% project higher profits.

Will you perform better or worse overall in 2020 compared to 2019?

63% 30%

Thursday, December economy, so I am pleased she brought this perspective to12, our Key Industries event.

2019 Although we ourselves on providing this data to help Toppride Reasons for Outperformance 7%

Seventeen years ago, First Business Bank began its survey Worse No Change Better of businesses. As a proud founder of the Key Industries event, every year we are pleased to provide this unique insight into what our local businesses are experiencing, what they are preour clients, we’re keenly aware that behind all the numbers are dicting for next year, including details on strengths, challenges, impressive groups driven and talented professionals working Increased salesof efforts and reasons behind the results. The data helps executives with to achieve their aspirations and goals. At First Business Bank, Join Nancy Johnshoy, viceplanning. president of Trust & Investments for First Business Bank, a 2020 economic upcoming projections and growth ourImproved expertise in effeciencies business banking andfor personal wealth strateinternal This year, our Keynote Speaker, Nancy Johnshoy, CFA®, gies will help power your performance for years to come. Reach forecast, followed by a panel of business leaders discussing economic trends impacting their industries Invested in new talent was the perfect addition as we enter a presidential election out to learn about how we’re uniquely positioned to help you in 2020 and beyond. year. She is our go-to expert on the national and international guide your growth in 2020.

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KEY INDUSTRIES EVENT CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DRIVES ECONOMIC GROWTH INTO 2020

By Brandon Anderegg, staff writer The 2019 First Business Bank Economic Survey shows strong economic data for the year and a positive outlook for 2020, fueled by confident consumers.

The U.S. economy continues its long and slow expansion and is now in the longest economic expansion period on record in U.S. history, said Nancy Johnshoy, vice president and market strategist for First Business Trust & Investments.

Johnshoy was the keynote speaker at Key Industries for Wisconsin in 2020 and Beyond, an event hosted by the Waukesha County Business Alliance at The Ingleside Hotel in Waukesha on Dec. 12.

Johnshoy reviewed the results of the bank’s 2019 economic survey, which was completed by 330 respondents in four key business markets: the Greater Madison Area, southeast Wisconsin, northeast Wisconsin and the Kansas City metro area. Survey data among those markets reflects continued strength, with 59% of businesses reporting increased sales and 54% reporting increased profits in 2019.

When asked about overall business performance, 31% of survey participants reported beating their expectations while 38% met expectations and 31% did worse than expected in 2019.

“They largely attributed worse-than-expected performance to a skills shortage, followed by higher operating costs and by a domestic sales shortfall,” Johnshoy said. “Better-than-expected performance was attributed to an increase in sales efforts, improved internal efficiencies and investment in new talent.”

The leading reason for GDP growth in 2019 is strong consumer spending, Johnshoy said. Personal consumption represents the largest component of GDP, at 68% of the total, while govern-

Chuckel

Johnshoy

ment spending, investment and housing comprise the rest.

However, U.S. consumer confidence fell in November for the fourth month in a row, a sign that American households are growing more cautious amid a global slowdown and continued trade war fears, Johnshoy said.

“Despite the drop, the consumer index remains at a high level, meaning households are poised to support the economy during the upcoming holiday season,” Johnshoy said. “As further evidence, Black Friday online sales broke records at $7.4 billion.”

Johnshoy said consumers are confident, in part, because of job availability.

Unemployment sits near a 50-year low and, as of September, the number of job openings exceeded the number of unemployed Americans by 1.26 million, she said. Wages, up 3.5% over a year ago, are responding to the low unemployment levels, she added.

Regional data also reflects strong employment with only 14% reporting a lower headcount in 2019 and 77% of survey participants reporting an increase in wages. Looking ahead, 46% of employers hope to increase their headcount and only 5% expect a decline, according to the survey. Similar to last year’s results, 72% anticipate an increase in wages.

Troy

Zakreski

“Looking forward to 2020, the survey reflects an outlook that is strong, but slightly more cautious than a year ago,” Johnshoy said.

This is not surprising with the upcoming election, in which consumers often adopt a “wait and see attitude,” she said.

Still, the survey suggests that a majority of companies anticipate increased sales and profitability, with 63% expecting 2020 to be better than 2019, Johnshoy said.

“A strong ‘base case’ outlook for 2020 in terms of the national economy is that we will likely see a continued gradual slowdown in the economy rather than a recession in 2020,” Johnshoy said. “The potential resolution to the trade war has eased fears of an imminent recession in 2020, and such a resolution may well prolong the period of economic boom and low unemployment further.”

INDUSTRY LEADERS HIGHLIGHT WORKFORCE CHALLENGES During the Key Industries event, executives in the health care, construction, retail and manufacturing industries discussed their strategies for staying relevant in today’s economy, along with the challenges they are facing.

Panelists included Brady Chuckel, president of Paul Davis Restoration & Re-

biztimes.com / 15

KEY INDUSTRIES EVENT modeling of Southeast Wisconsin; Todd Zakreski, president of Husco International’s Automotive division; Peggy Troy, president and chief executive officer of Children’s Wisconsin; and Scott Stenger, executive director of the Alliance of Wisconsin Retailers.

Tim Casey, director of economic development at the Waukesha County Center for Growth, moderated the panel.

Chuckel, representing the construction industry on the panel, said Wisconsin’s tight labor market has been problematic as the company searches for skilled employees. With unemployment near an all-time low, the available labor force in skilled trades has been decimated, he said.

“We’re terribly limited with employees and I don’t see it changing any time soon at all,” Chuckel said. “I hired a human resources recruiter and I’m on the way to hiring a second one because you’re sifting through 150 applicants to maybe find two qualified people.”

As part of Paul Davis’ strategy to retain employees, the company is looking to partner with local high schools and colleges, such as Waukesha County Technical College, Chuckel said. In advance of its move to Pewaukee, Paul Davis has adopted a workforce retention strategy.

That has the company getting involved from the moment an employee takes the GED, continuing throughout his or her long-term development within the organization, Chuckel said.

“The years of churning and burning employees are long gone,” Chuckel said.

“So those that were ahead of the curve are probably those that are going to be charging into the future.”

Paul Davis recently broke ground on its new 100,000-square-foot headquarters in Pewaukee’s Northmound industrial area. Besides the new headquarters’ proximity to I-94, the company chose Pewaukee as a way to offer its employees better lifestyle choices outside of work,

16 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

Chuckel said.

“As our employees grow with our company, many of them look for better housing, a quality environment to raise a family and an excellent school system,” Chuckel said. “Waukesha County helps our employees to find a home containing these qualities.”

Husco International Inc., a Waukesha-based manufacturer of hydraulic and electro-mechanical control systems, is also challenged by a lack of experienced labor, Zakreski said. However, the company has restructured their hiring practices to include visiting state universities, including those outside of Wisconsin, to attract young talent.

“We find great talent and we bring them here and ingrain them in the culture,” Zakreski said. “A positive, mutually successful employer-employee relationship must begin with a robust, transparent recruiting process that allows both parties the opportunity to understand each other’s capabilities and expectations.”

Uncertainty in global trade and the most recent trade war has proven difficult for companies like Husco, Zakreski said.

Global businesses are put at a competitive disadvantage when they are forced via tariffs to source products sub-optimally, he added.

For Husco, this could mean buying parts from China that no one in the U.S. had an interest in producing, or shipping parts from the U.S. to Husco’s China operations because those parts are not available in China to the same quality level or performance standard required by the company, Zakreski said.

“In both cases, paying a tariff that our competitors from France and Germany do not have to pay creates yet another economic challenge for us in an already highly-competitive global industry,” Zakreski said.

Earlier this year, Children’s Wisconsin rebranded, dropping the word “hos-

pital” from its name. The rebranding effort reflects how the organization has evolved from a single hospital to a regional, multi-site pediatric health system over its history.

“In the past 20 years, we have expanded our social services programs and are now one of the largest adoption and foster care organizations in the country,” Troy said. “125 years ago, we started as a hospital and today we have one of the leading pediatric hospitals in the country, but we are so much more.”

Because Children’s health system is focused on kids, a relatively flat birth rate in Wisconsin is playing a role in the organization’s strategy, Troy said. For this reason, Children’s has focused on expanding its services beyond the hospital.

“Families continue to recognize the expertise of Children’s doctors for all health needs as we have seen increases in urgent care, primary care and specialty care services,” Troy said. “We would like to see that continue to grow.”

More and more health systems have discovered that only 10% of a person’s health is impacted by health services, Troy said. Rather, health is mostly driven by other social determinants, like where a person lives, their work environment or the personal choices they make, she said.

“We need to think differently about wellness and prevention and move efforts upstream,” Troy said.

Children’s also recently announced a $150 million commitment towards mental health over the next five years. Troy said mental health has been a challenge in the health care industry, especially because Wisconsin has one of the highest teen suicide rates in the country.

“Our plan is to double the number of mental health providers we have,” Troy said. “With a shortage of mental health providers across the country, it will be vital for us to find a way to increase the pipeline.”

FIRST BUSINESS BANK ECONOMIC SURVEY 2019 SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN RESULTS Twenty-one percent of companies saw a decrease in sales revenue, sharply higher from the previous year’s historic low 6%, and 59% saw higher sales; also down from the 81% historic high observed in 2018.

Eight percent project a decrease in sales revenue (up from 2018’s 1% historic low), and 73% project an increase in sales — down from 85%, but still an impressive three quarters of respondents.

Seventeen percent saw a decline in profitability (just one percentage point above the previous year’s historic low), and 54% saw increased profits (down from a historic high 63% in 2018).

The projections for 2020, despite not being as optimistic as those for 2019, are still very positive. Looking ahead, 9% project lower profits for 2020, but 64% project higher profits.

Will you perform better or worse overall in 2020 compared to 2019?

63% 30%

7% Worse

No Change

Better

Top Reasons for Outperformance Increased sales efforts Improved internal effeciencies Invested in new talent Investment in technology Entered new geographical market Increased marketing efforts Expanded product offerings 0%

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5%

10%

15%

20%

Get your complimentary copy of the full report at firstbusiness.com/survey.

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BizNews

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

FEATURE

Chuck Swoboda, former CEO of Cree Inc., is Marquette University’s first innovator-in-residence.

Former Cree CEO returns to Marquette to foster innovation in Milwaukee

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer AFTER GRADUATING from Marquette University’s college of engineering in 1989, Chuck Swoboda headed to the nation’s hub of innovation and technology, Silicon Valley.

Thirty years later, Swoboda has returned to his alma mater, intent on seeing Milwaukee experience an innovation boom of its own.

“There is an opportunity here,” said Swoboda, who retired in 2017 as chief executive officer of Durham, North Carolina-based lighting company Cree Inc. “I see some of the first pieces that are coming together … There’s a totally different vibe to Milwaukee than when I left 30 years ago. It’s a cool, hip place. And it wasn’t then.”

This fall, Swoboda was named Marquette University’s first-ever innovator-in-residence, a position that complements the school’s ongoing efforts to foster entrepreneurial and leadership skills in its students. The university has identified innovation leadership as a key academic priority, recognizing that – in order for the region

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to capitalize on its potential – it needs future leaders to help steer industry changes.

Serving as the hub of that effort is Innovation Alley, a university initiative focused on developing leaders, engaging industry partners around innovation and creating more opportunities for students who have not previously had access to programs that promote innovative thinking and collaboration.

Swoboda’s role as innovator-in-residence is a piece of that effort. He plans to leverage the lessons he learned from leading a company that is credited with pioneering change in the consumer lighting industry by producing the first sub $10 LED bulb. During his tenure with the company, Cree grew from a $6 million to a $1.6 billion company with 6,500 employees worldwide.

“What I saw at Cree is the things we commonly teach in business schools across the country, while they’re great for management, they’re fundamentally opposed to behaviors required for leadership,” he added.

The challenge with innovation, he said, is it requires a different mindset than how people are often trained.

“Most of us go to work every day and we’re rewarded for managing risk and delivering some kind of predictable outcome,” he said.

“But innovation is fundamentally about taking risk to find some new unpredictable outcome. You have

“

Innovation is fundamentally about taking risk to find some new unpredictable outcome. You have to be very comfortable with the idea that it’s not all going to work.

to be very comfortable with the idea that it’s not all going to work.”

So far in his position, he’s launched Innovators on Tap, a podcast that highlights stories of thought leaders who have firsthand experience with leading innovation. He envisions young professionals as his target audience, but Swoboda also sees an opportunity for a broader conversation in the region about how industries can evolve and take risks.

“The goal of doing this is not just to train students or help Marquette, it’s to really engage with businesses,” he said. “If I look at most industries here, they were really innovative when they were founded 100 years ago. It’s really hard to reinvent yourself, but it’s possible. I would love to engage with them to think about how we can help them look at their challenges differently.”

While he spent the majority of his professional life in the Raleigh-Durham area, Swoboda has maintained strong ties to Marquette. He spent 12 years on its board of trustees, including a two-year term as board chair. Both of his daughters are alumni and

his son is currently a senior at the university. It’s also where he and his wife, Karen, met more than 30 years ago.

“There’s a great connection among my siblings and spouse and kids (to Marquette),” he said.

Swoboda was invited two years ago to speak with a cohort of students from Engineers in the Lead (E-Lead), a three-year leadership development program housed in Marquette’s Opus College of Engineering. That led to him providing feedback on the program’s curriculum.

Out of those discussions, Swoboda was encouraged by a few Marquette leaders to write a book about his thoughts on leading innovation. He has now finished the book and it is set for release next spring.

In April, the Swobodas, who co-chair the university’s capital campaign, donated $1 million to support Innovation Alley, along with another $1.5 million to support the university’s men’s basketball program.

“One of the priorities I’m passionate about (at Marquette) is Innovation Alley,” he said. “It’s

really this idea of thinking about innovation not just as a technical problem but as a multidisciplinary problem … While one goal is to bring industry collaborations here on campus, it’s not just to do research. It’s to pursue this idea of developing how people think about innovation.”

The gift allowed the university to double the size of E-Lead and open it up for the first time to non-engineering students.

The program launched six years ago to address a common challenge among engineering graduates. Many would be moved into management positions in the early stages of their career without ever receiving training on how to lead people.

“Most leaders need more than technical expertise,” said Kristina Ropella, dean of the Opus College of Engineering. “They need to know about leadership issues, like interpersonal communication, strategy and culture.”

E-Lead takes students through a three-year program that includes formal coursework on topics such as emotional intelligence, having difficult conversations, leading

diverse teams and leading in innovation, along with experiential opportunities, such as internships and leader shadowing. So far, six cohorts of about 20 students have gone through the program.

This year’s class includes 40 students from engineering and other majors.

Ropella said the goal is to cultivate graduates who are ready to hit the ground running, making immediate contributions to their companies when it comes to innovation.

“They are comfortable having conversations with supervisors about how the company might look at things differently, working with their supervisors and peers on running ideation sessions,” she said. “They have more confidence and courage in having those conversations … They don’t sit back and wait for someone else to make a change.”

Swoboda said Marquette will play a key role in driving innovation in the region as it develops leaders who are comfortable with challenging the status quo.

“For where Marquette sits in Milwaukee and the technology change that’s coming to so many industries, if we can really work on the people side of this, we can take a lot of industries looking at change and give them the people to solve those problems … I think Marquette can do more than just help people develop products,” he said.

“It can develop people that can then develop those products.” n

Imagine everything that comes next.

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the

Interview

BRIGETTE BREITENBACH’S Milwaukee-based branding agency B&Co. serves

clients primarily in the hospitality and real estate industries. Its very first client was the Iron Horse Hotel, located in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood. Breitenbach is also a part-owner of the hotel. While B&Co. has clients in Milwaukee, most of its projects are outside Wisconsin, including as far away as Greece. Clients range in size from a 17-room property to 1 million-square-foot developments. Known for 11 years as Company B, it recently underwent a rebranding of its own. Breitenbach spoke recently with BizTimes reporter Alex Zank about the company’s history, the hospitality business and how that industry is shaping up in Milwaukee.

How did B&Co. get started?

“I previously had a marketing and PR firm, and along came a hotel developer. It turned out to be the Iron Horse Hotel and we started working on the branding of that property. We had never done a hotel before, and that project sucked me in in a variety of ways. It started to get me curious about the hotel industry, and while I was getting more into it, my business partner at the time was getting more nervous. After 12 years of having that business, we decided to amicably part ways.”

What were the reasons for the rebrand?

“I remember putting (the company) together quickly and my attorney said, ‘What are you going to call it?’ And I kind of said to him, ‘Let’s call it Company B for now and I’ll change it later.’ It took me a decade, because you never make yourself your client very easily … What I wanted to do is flip the narrative on our name. Company B tended to sound like Company Brigette, and I didn’t want that and that’s not really what it is.

We have a team of professionals. And so, B&Co. was our sort of way to put ‘B’ in branding first.”

“I really believe consumers today are looking for experiences. And that sounds a little trite, but I think it’s true. If you ask younger consumers, and also older and retired consumers, what they want to spend money on are experiences, not necessarily stuff. Hotels deliver that. I think if what you want to do is just find an inexpensive room to sleep in and explore a city, that’s fine. But you have this group of consumers today that want the hotel experience itself to be memorable. When you go to a lot of different markets, you see the same hotel brands market after market. And that’s not necessarily reflective of an experiential stay. And so, I think where the industry is going is people are recognizing you’ve got to be able to deliver something that is truly unique to consumers who are looking for that. They want to find places to spend their travel dollars that they can then talk about later.”

“I think this industry is going to continue to put pressure on hotels to deliver that experience, and it’s done through guest services, the way properties look and feel — there’s a lot of sameness in the industry right now, so I think the hotels that are outperforming are the ones that are really, truly unique.”

What unique opportunities will the 2020 Democratic National Convention offer hotels?

“The DNC is going to shine a spotlight on the city as a whole, but our brand of hospitality is really what will shine. Midwesterners are great at hospitality. We hear it all the time from clients around the country. I believe our friendliness (and) our genuine nature is what DNC attendees and the media will be talking about.” n

Read more at biztimes.com 20 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Where do you see the hospitality industry headed?

Brigette Breitenbach President, B&Co. 218 S. Second St., Milwaukee Employees: 10 (eight full-time and two contract employees) bcobranding.com

SPONSORED CONTENT

Resolve To Keep Your 2020 Resolutions

by Dave Spano

Dave Spano President & CEO Annex Wealth Management Web: annexwealth.com Social: linkedin.com/company/ annex-wealthmanagement/ Contact: (262) 786-6363 The end of every year tends to bring out our fondest memories – and our biggest anxieties. ‘Tis the season for lists: lists of what to wear to what event; what present to buy and who gets it; what to bake and what to bring and what to attend with whom.

And I haven’t even gotten to our year-end lists. Some of them are fun – I noticed my 2019 most-played Spotify playlist has more Tom Petty than I remember listening to. It’s fun to look back, especially at the end of a decade, and recall what we looked like ten years ago. Facebook turned it into the “10 Year Challenge,” where 2009 me looks like my younger brother. Everyone has changed at least a little over the decade, as have our relationships, careers and goals.

As we near the beginning of a new decade, many of us have plenty on our resolution list. Resolutions are often full of hope. Some have a call to discipline, or a return to simplicity. Others seek an end to negative or damaging behavior. A study of resolutions found that the three most common resolutions are “save more money”; “eat healthier”; and “get more exercise.”[1] …about that “save more money” goal. Studies show Americans are likely to set a financial New Year’s resolution[2], but many rely on themselves to reach it[3]. What we’ve found through the years we’ve been helping folks reach retirement goals is that you might not have a good handle on what “save more money” means. How much do you put aside, and how often, and for what?

Most Americans – not just the less-advantaged, but across demographic groups – are not saving enough to hit their retirement savings goals. In fact, this study showed most folks are saving about half of what they need to hit their goal[4].

So here’s my modest proposal: find an advisor you can trust to help you set realistic goals for 2020 and beyond. Kick off the new decade getting help from someone interested in you. You may look at your concerns about the new year – and the next decade – differently when you find someone who’ll listen to where you are, where you think you’re headed, and then, can help you get there.

Sources: 1. The Most Common New Year’s Resolutions for 2018. By Martin Armstrong 2. New Year Resolutions 2019 Survey. By NEFE/Harris Poll 3. 75 percent of Americans are winging it when it comes to their financial future. By Jessica Dickler Sponsored Content

4. Americans need to double their retirement savings. By Annie Nova

biztimes.com / 21

Real Estate

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

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R ATE N. W ST.

E. ERIE ST.

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK? NORTH WATER STREET, FROM EAST ERIE TO EAST BUFFALO STREETS

125-129 N. Water St. Owner: 125 Water LLC, registered to John Wimmer Tenants: None

5 226 N. Water St. Owner: Mitchell on Water LLC, registered to Michael Dilworth Retail tenant: Royal Enfield of Milwaukee

22 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

2 124 N. Water St. Owner: Alliance 37 LLC Tenant: Tied House

6 236 N. Water St. Owner: 236 North Water Street LLC, registered to Sue and Robert Strauss (privately owned residential condo units above) Retail tenant: The Cat Doctor

3 200-208 N. Water St. Owner: Chicago Street Lofts LLC, registered to Robert Joseph Tenant: Hoffman York

7 245-249 N. Water St. Owner: River View Lofts LLC, registered to Robert Joseph Retail tenants: Arch Apothecary, Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria

4 218 N. Water St. Owner: SU Real Estate Group LP, affiliate of SURG Restaurant Group Retail tenants: Gouda’s Italian Deli, Bugsy’s Back Alley Speakeasy

8 233-243 N. Water St. Owner: The Saddlery LLP, registered to Ann Pieper Eisenbrown Retail tenant: Milwaukee Ale House

ALEX ZANK

1

JON ELLIOTT OF MKE DRONES LLC

2

The owners of the former Grand Avenue mall, who are busy transforming the property into a mixed-use complex called The Avenue, recently purchased the Majestic Lofts next door. This is the latest in a series of acquisitions the developers have made of properties that are located next to or near the former mall.

The 135 apartments are located in the Majestic building at 225-233 W. Wisconsin Ave., which is connected to The Avenue. Through an affiliate, developers Josh Krsnak of Minneapolis-based Hempel Cos. and Tony Janowiec of Milwaukee-based Interstate Development Partners LLC purchased the apartments for $10.55 million.

Krsnak revealed recently the two aren’t done acquiring properties in the area.

“We’ve acquired, since the mall, six additional assets; we have our seventh asset under contract right now,” he said at a Greater Milwaukee Committee member meeting.

KORB + ASSOCIATES

FEATURED DEAL: M A J E S T I C LO F T S

VILLARD COMMONS Project officials broke ground this fall on Villard Commons, a mixed-use building to be located at the southeast corner of West Villard Avenue and North 37th Street in Milwaukee.

Villard Commons will contain 36 affordable apartments renting at below-market rates, seven market-rate apartments and 1,600 square feet of first-floor commercial space. It is being developed by Milwaukee-based Index Development Group and Northbrook, Illinois-based Brinshore Development. Index is made up of five graduates of Marquette University’s ACRE program.

Rise and Grind Café will open its third location in the building’s commercial space.

Construction is slated to finish in September 2020.

DEVELOPERS: Index Development Group LLC and Brinshore Development LLC COST: $8.3 million

28th Annual Forecast Breakfast Thursday, January 16, 2020 6:45 – 9:30 a.m.

Italian Conference Center 631 E. Chicago Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee’s Premier Real Estate Networking Event!

Do you enjoy one-legged waterskiing while balancing plates on your head?

Did you just get back from a deathdefying adventure in Bora Bora?

Tell us more about yourself! We may select you to be featured in BizTimes Milwaukee.

Fill out a questionnaire at biztimes.com/featureme

Proud to have our Keynote Speaker: Michael Brennan, Graaskamp Our great lineup of speakers continues with: Residential:: Ian Martin, Mandel Group Retail:: Max Rasansky, CBRE, Inc. Industrial:: Chad Vande Zande, Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke Office:: Tom Shepherd, Colliers International

Valuable industry information available exclusively to attendees at the event.

Register today. iremwi.com biztimes.com / 23

STORY COVER

best BIZTIMES

 IN BUSINESS 

2 019

THE TOP AREA NEWSMAKERS, MOVERS AND SHAKERS OF THE YEAR What a year it has been for the Milwaukee-area business community. The city won the opportunity to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention at Fiserv Forum, which had a huge first year of operation. Speaking of Fiserv, the Brookfield-based firm made the biggest deal of the year in the area. Meanwhile, numerous real estate developments are popping throughout the region. The area’s retail landscape continues to change shape.

As we near the end of 2019, BizTimes Milwaukee continues its annual tradition of highlighting the businesses and leaders that made news this year in southeastern Wisconsin. They are profiled here in our seventh annual BizTimes Best in Business report.

This section honors our staff’s selections for southeastern Wisconsin’s corporation, chief executive officer, small business, family-owned business and community leader(s) of the year.

Past honorees include: Northwestern Mutual, Foxconn, Direct Supply, Coakley Brothers, WEC Energy Group, Gehl Foods, Steinhafels, Generac, Uline, Klement Sausage Co., Michels Corp., Good City Brewing, Aurora Health Care CEO Dr. Nick Turkal, Sherman Phoenix co-creator and entrepreneur JoAnne Johnson-Sabir, Rev Group Inc. CEO Tim Sullivan, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin CEO Peggy Troy, Allen Edmonds Corp. CEO Paul Grangaard, Badger Meter Inc. CEO Rich Meeusen, and Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce president Tim Sheehy.

This year’s honorees are: Fiserv, Inc., which completed a $22 billion allstock deal to acquire First Data Corp. and gained massive brand recognition from its sponsorship of Fiserv Forum; Kohl’s chief executive officer Michelle Gass, who is steering the company through a stormy retail environment using several new strategies, including a partnership with Amazon; J. Jeffers & Co., one of the Milwaukee-area’s most active commercial real estate development firms; Bartolotta Restaurants, which lost its co-owner and Milwaukee restaurant industry icon Joe Bartolotta this year and gracefully shared the grieving experience with the community; and Milwaukee Bucks vice president Alex Lasry, who led the city’s successful bid to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Read all about what these organizations and leaders accomplished in 2019 in this special report.

24 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

COMMUNITY LEADER OF THE YEAR:

ALEX LASRY

best BIZTIMES

 IN BUSINESS 

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer DESPITE BEING BORN AND RAISED IN NEW YORK, Alex Lasry now unabashedly claims Milwaukee as his home.

He planted roots here in 2014 to take on a vice president role with the Milwaukee Bucks after the team was purchased by his father, hedge fund manager Marc Lasry, and Wes Edens. Later, Jamie Dinan and Mike Fascitelli joined the group as majority owners.

That career move laid the foundation for what would become a major passion project for Alex Lasry: convincing the Democratic National Committee that Milwaukee is fit to host a major national political convention, historically awarded to top-tier metros.

With Lasry at the helm, a local bid committee — including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, local DNC activist Jason Rae and others — worked to raise funds, garner non-partisan support, meet party prerequisites and make a strong case for Milwaukee, a city that might otherwise be overlooked.

In March, that work paid off when DNC chairman Tom Perez selected Milwaukee over Houston and Miami for the event, promising the region an estimated $200 million in economic impact and an unprecedented amount of national and international exposure.

In recognition of his role in helping Milwaukee win the 2020 DNC, Alex Lasry is the BizTimes Best in Business 2019 Community Leader of the Year.

Lasry recalls two specific events that drove him to lead the bid: the 2016 presidential election and the more recent Amazon HQ2 search.

Like other local Democrats and party supporters, Lasry saw political value in bringing the convention to a swing state that supported the Republican presidential candidate in 2016 (Donald Trump) for the first time since backing Ronald Regan in 1984. But politics aside, he noticed Milwaukee was often left out of the conversation for largescale events or national headquarters sites.

“We just weren’t even talked about as a potential city for Amazon (HQ2),” Lasry said. “You’d see cities like Charlotte or Denver, San Diego, Cleveland, Columbus, but you never saw Milwaukee and that, to me, was frustrating.”

He believes hosting a national political convention will give Milwaukee a competitive edge in the future.

it y Leader of t he Yea

r JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

Commun

Alex Lasry

“It would show the world what I know to be true about Milwaukee, which is that it’s a top-tier city and a destination city,” he said. “More people need to see Milwaukee and know about Milwaukee because once they do, they’ll fall in love with it.”

Lasry previously worked for the Obama administration as deputy counselor for strategic engagement and was also involved in Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign. He said that experience has come in handy as he navigates the political nature of the convention and the various groups and organizations involved.

But it was local connections, made through the Bucks and Fiserv Forum, that ultimately helped Lasry get both Democrats and Republicans on board during the bid process, he said.

“I was able to talk to those people and say, ‘Hey, getting this convention is more than just politics.

This would be a big deal,’” he said.

Thanks to Lasry, $11 million in local donations had already been secured by the time Milwaukee was selected as host city.

In addition, Cynthia LaConte, CEO of Milwaukee-based The Dohmen Co., had agreed to provide $7.5 million to help fund a $10 million line of credit required to win the DNC bid, according to a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. BizTimes confirmed LaConte’s involvement and financial contribution with a source familiar with the matter.

The credit line would serve as emergency funding, only to be used if convention costs exceed the fundraising total.

Emerging as an accomplished leader and champion of Milwaukee at age 32, Lasry claims allegiance to a younger generation of Milwaukeeans who are civically engaged and driven to make an impact.

“They’re seeing all the great things and the creative things that are happening in other cities and they don’t want to move to another city to get those things; they want that to happen here and I think they also see some of the problems that are happening in Milwaukee and want to be a part of fixing it. I’m excited to be a part of that group and do what I can to be a leader and make sure that’s all happening here,” he said.

Lasry remains involved in the DNC as honorary finance chair of the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee, working to raise a total of $70 million for the July convention and helping the city take full advantage of what’s expected to be a game-changing opportunity.

And those efforts won’t slow once the convention is over. Lasry said he plans to shift his focus toward the “next big thing” — attracting other conventions, national companies, startups and, of course, bringing home an NBA Championship.

“We just grabbed the biggest convention, now we have to capitalize on this opportunity,” he said. biztimes.com / 25

best BIZTIMES

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CORPORATION OF THE YEAR:

FISERV INC.

MAREDITHE MEYER

Corporation of the Year

BY BRANDON ANDEREGG, staff writer EVERY TIME TV CAMERAS PANNED OVER Fiserv Forum during the Milwaukee Bucks’ playoff run, the Fiserv brand was prominently displayed in living rooms across the nation, and beyond.

When Fiserv purchased the arena’s naming rights in a 25-year contract in 2018, brand awareness of the business-to-business financial technology company surged. With the Bucks appearing in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals in 2019 for the first time since 2001, the value of the naming rights seemed to multiply beyond what many anticipated, paying dividends within the first year of the contract.

“It’s been an incredible bonus that the Bucks played well and we got the Democratic National Convention (which will be held at Fiserv Forum in July),” said Jeffery Yabuki, president and chief executive officer of Fiserv. “We’ve actually gotten some new business from executives outside of Wisconsin who have been watching the Bucks play and have looked up, ‘Hey, what does Fiserv do?’ and that has turned into business.”

Beyond growing its name recognition through the arena deal, Fiserv made major news of its own in 2019 through a mega-merger with its acquisition of New York-based point-of-sale transaction company First Data Corp.

The $22 billion all-stock deal brought together two leading Fortune 500 firms to create the No. 1 global card issuer and merchant processor. As the “new Fiserv,” the company is expected to generate $15 billion in annual revenue and to nearly double its market capitalization to about $78 billion.

The acquisition gave Fiserv an end-to-end solution in the payment space – from the point a customer inserts their chip at the checkout to the back-end processing of their purchase.

Through the acquisition, Fiserv also capitalized on a cross-selling opportunity by offering its Clover merchant system to the customers of banks.

Fiserv’s colossal acquisition was unlike anything the fintech industry had yet seen, with experts forecasting more to follow.

As predicted, Fiserv competitor FIS announced plans to acquire Worldpay in a $43 billion deal in March.

“After we announced our acquisition, there were two other very large transactions that followed,” Yabuki said. “Really talking about the fact that we pioneered a new path for how fin26 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

Fiserv Forum

Jeffery Yabuki

tech and payments will operate from an industry standpoint.”

For completing the massive merger and growing its brand recognition internationally through the arena naming rights deal, Fiserv is the BizTimes Best in Business 2019 Corporation of the Year.

As a result of the combination with First Data, Fiserv will hit record revenue and earnings for the year, Yabuki said in a Nov. 6 third-quarter earnings call. Combined sales performance was up 15% in the quarter and is up 8% year-to-date, he said.

“This has been a monumental year for Fiserv,” Yabuki said in the earnings call. “We were named (one of) the World’s Most Admired (Companies,

by Fortune magazine) for the sixth year in a row, celebrated our 35th anniversary and, most importantly, combined with First Data to help achieve our aspiration of moving money and information in a way that moves the world.”

Fiserv has 48,000 employees worldwide, with

roughly 1,000 located either in the company’s Brookfield headquarters or in Milwaukee-area offices. Since the acquisition, employee headcount in the Milwaukee area is “slightly up,” Yabuki said in a December interview with BizTimes.

“We will continue to view Milwaukee as one of our most important hubs,” Yabuki said. “We’re currently headquartered here and we currently have no plans to change that.”

However, as the company’s busy year draws to a close, it is back on the hunt for a new headquarters location in the area, Yabuki said. The search was suspended amid the First Data acquisition, which was more than a year after Fiserv first announced it was looking for a new headquarters.

“We really wanted to make sure that we got off to a fast start,” Yabuki said. “We’re just now picking up and looking at where we want to be based, how do we want to make sure we build out a platform that will allow us to attract the best and brightest people. I expect us to make that decision sometime in the early part of 2020.”

best

CEO OF THE YEAR:

BIZTIMES

MICHELLE GASS THIS YEAR WAS A CHALLENGING ONE for brickand-mortar retail.

It seemed each week brought yet another bankruptcy, mass store closure or liquidation as companies struggled to keep up with the rise of ecommerce. By late October, U.S. retailers had announced 8,993 store closures, according to a recent report by Coresight Research. By comparison, store closures during all of 2018 totaled 5,844.

However, one national retailer that appears to be weathering the storm that has sunk many of its competitors is Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Corp. Steering the $20 billion Fortune 500 company is Michelle Gass.

As chief executive officer, Gass is the thought leader behind what’s considered an outside-thebox approach to an ever-changing retail landscape.

Kohl’s, which has 1,100 store locations in 49 states, made a number of strategic moves this year, including expanding its partnership with retail giant and competitor Amazon.

The company’s annual revenue has stayed steady with slight year-over-year increases in 2017 and 2018. This year started off strong, but revenue dipped during the second quarter with growth returning in the third quarter, according to the company’s earnings reports. Overall, total revenue is up 2% over this time last year.

Instead of closing stores, Kohl’s is experimenting with the size of its existing stores. Plans are in the works to reduce its stores’ square footage, making way for complementary businesses to operate in the same building.

For her innovative ideas and approach to leading Kohl’s through industry disruption, Michelle Gass is BizTimes Best in Business 2019 CEO of the Year.

Gass joined the company in 2013 as chief customer officer after 17 years in various leadership roles at Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. During her tenure, she oversaw Starbucks’ marketing, product and global strategy operations while the coffeehouse giant grew from 1,000 locations to 20,000 within that time frame.

She became CEO of Kohl’s in May 2018 upon the retirement of Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s former chairman, chief executive officer and president.

Mansell’s role was split between Gass and Sona Chawla, who stepped down as president of the company in October.

CEO of t he Year

MAREDITHE MEYER

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer

 IN BUSINESS 

Kohl’s headquarters Michelle Gass

As a newcomer, Gass brought a fresh perspective to the Kohl’s leadership team during a time when the company needed to evolve. Speaking at Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit in October, Gass recalled making one of her first bold moves just six weeks into the chief customer officer role.

“I had responsibility for the marketing organization and the digital part of the business, which was the high-growth part of the business,” she said. “But what I quickly realized was to transform that part of the business we actually had to transform the entire company.”

Gass relayed her findings to then-CEO Mansell, who heeded her advice for a complete overhaul.

“More than anything, it really galvanized the organization (into) a new future,” she said.

Six years later, Gass continues to drive change.

Kohl’s this year announced and launched a number of new brand partnerships, including those with Fanatics, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s Elizabeth and James, Scott Living by HGTV’s Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott, Nine West, Ellen DeGeneres’ pet collection and Brett Young’s Caliville.

But larger “strategic” deals with Planet Fitness Inc., Aldi and Amazon paint a clearer picture of the company’s long-term strategy for driving foot traffic into its stores.

Planet Fitness this year opened 10 new 20,000to 25,000-square-foot facilities adjacent to select Kohl’s stores throughout the country. Last year, Aldi stores were added to as many as 10 Kohl’s locations. “…It’s actually demising the space,” Gass said.

“So it looks like two separate storefronts, but creates that destination to create that overlap with the customer base.”

Since July, shoppers have been able to return eligible Amazon merchandise at all Kohl’s stores, free of charge. The service was first rolled out in 2017 and had only been available at 100 stores in the Milwaukee, Chicago and Los Angeles markets.

Gass views the move as a vehicle for introducing more customers to the brand.

“Something I certainly learned in my days at Starbucks is you gotta try lots of things,” Gass said.

“It has to be aligned with our vision and strategy and, in this case, quite practically, it’s how do we drive traffic to stores, keep our stores relevant?” biztimes.com / 27

 IN BUSINESS 

Small Bus

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR:

J. JEFFERS & CO.

iness of the Year

CONTRIBUTED

best BIZTIMES

BY ALEX ZANK, staff writer AS MILWAUKEE and other southeastern Wisconsin communities continue seeing one major development project after another, a name that keeps popping up is J. Jeffers & Co. The Milwaukee-based developer certainly kept busy in 2019, and things will likely stay that way in the years to come.

Just to name a few major events for the firm this year: it broke ground on the Huron Building, a new 11-story downtown Milwaukee office building; it purchased landmark Milwaukee buildings in downtown and the Walker’s Point neighborhood with plans to redevelop them; and commenced work on a historic renovation project called Gold Medal Lofts in Racine’s Uptown neighborhood.

Other, less visible changes have also occurred.

The developer recently underwent a reorganization and realignment of its overall mission.

J. Jeffers & Co. is led by Josh Jeffers, president and chief executive officer, along with Danielle Bergner, chief operating officer and general counsel. Jeffers founded the company in 2012, and Bergner joined in July 2018 after leaving her post as managing partner of Milwaukee-based Michael Best & Friedrich LLP’s Milwaukee office.

“I think of myself, at least, as being an accidental entrepreneur,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers & Co. got its start after Jeffers lost his job at a private equity firm during the Great Recession.

He decided at that time to attend graduate school, with a desire to get into real estate development.

His first projects as a Milwaukee real estate owner and developer involved buying duplexes in

Rendering of the Journal Square project

Josh Jeffers

the city and rehabilitating them, thanks in part to assistance from the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

From there, he took on small commercial building projects, which led to bigger and bigger developments.

Now, Jeffers & Co. has gone from a one-man band to a 12-employee team executing $60 million to $90 million projects.

Jeffers said there are plenty of projects worth highlighting for the coming year, but there are three in particular that will be taking up much of the firm’s attention. They include the $60 million Huron Building at 511 N. Broadway, the redevelopment of the Journal Sentinel buildings on the block southeast of West State Street and Vel R. Phillips Avenue, and the redevelopment of the former Horlick Malted Milk Co. complex in Racine.

Each of those projects stands to transform the area where they’re located, Jeffers said. However, he expects the Horlick project to have a significant and lasting impact on the entire community.

“It’s one of the most exciting projects we have,

and I think it will end up being a massively catalytic project in Racine,” Jeffers said.

The $91 million redevelopment project will include more than 300 affordable and market-rate apartments, commercial space and a job training center for union trades. It will be a mix of historic preservation and new construction.

Work on Journal Square, meanwhile, won’t start until the newspaper’s lease expires at the end of 2020. But Jeffers in late fall revealed plans to convert the main building into as many as 203 housing units. Plans for the remaining buildings are in the works. Jeffers said he anticipates the entire redevelopment to total around $115 million.

Jeffers is also co-developer for the Milwaukee Athletic Club’s $70 million renovation project.

Jeffers said that, after Bergner joined the firm, they spent months thinking about the direction of Jeffers & Co. Over roughly the past year, they’ve “intentionally deconstructed the whole business” and built it back up under that new vision, he said.

J. Jeffers extends a special

THANK YOU to our employees and partners for their dedication and for sharing in the vision of building a different kind of real estate company – one that embraces real estate development as a powerful vehicle for enhancing communities and creating value for both our investors and the communities we work in.

best

FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR:

BIZTIMES

CONTRIBUTED

THE BARTOLOTTA RESTAURANTS

 IN BUSINESS 

Fam i ly-

Owned Business of the Yea

r

BY MAREDITHE MEYER, staff writer MILWAUKEE’S RESTAURANT INDUSTRY took a major hit earlier this year when beloved restaurateur and local business community icon Joe Bartolotta passed away.

The president and co-founder of Bartolotta Restaurant Group LLC left behind a family-owned operation that started as one Italian eatery and grew to 16 top-tier restaurants and catering facilities, employing nearly 1,000 people.

Joe built the restaurant empire brick-by-brick alongside his brother, Paul Bartolotta, whose role as co-founder and chef has now taken on a new meaning.

“My job, which is not a small one because my brother was a person of enormous stature, is to continue to build upon his legacy and not live in the past, but to say, ‘OK, what’s the next 25 years of success look like for The Bartolotta Restaurants?’”

Paul intends to do that by doing what Joe did best as a leader: thinking and moving forward, he said.

He said Joe had always been the visionary of the two, initially convincing Paul in 1993 that there was, in fact, a market for fine dining in Milwaukee.

“To his great vision, he saw it,” Paul said.

Carrying the loss of his brother and business partner, Paul has now stepped into the lead role at a company adjusting to major change.

While the past nine months haven’t been easy, the company and family that owns it have carried out Joe’s legacy by continuing to prioritize two things Joe loved: the employees and community.

For that, Bartolotta Restaurant Group has been named the BizTimes Best in Business 2019 Family-Owned Business of the Year.

Growing up in a close-knit Italian family with parents who constantly welcomed people into their Wauwatosa home, Joe and Paul naturally placed hospitality at the forefront of their business.

Celebrating Joe’s life has had a similar feel.

About 2,000 “FOJs” – friends of Joe – attended the public funeral service held at the Riverside Theater in downtown Milwaukee. The bar was open and coffee was served. More than 10 of his family members, friends and colleagues took the stage to share memories and stories of his life.

Soon after, Paul participated in panel discussions at local business events, including BizTimes Media’s annual Family & Closely Held Business

Rumpus Room, a Bartolotta Restaurant

Summit, where he candidly discussed the company’s transition.

Jennifer Bartolotta, Joe’s wife and director of the company’s philanthropic arm Care-a-lotta, gave the keynote address at MMAC’s Future 50 Awards luncheon in September, sharing humorous and emotional “Joe stories” and nuggets of his entrepreneurial wisdom.

Asked about his family’s decision to publicly process Joe’s death, Paul said, “It was just very natural, kind of whatever we felt was appropriate.”

For Paul, as the new public face of the company, memorializing Joe has meant speaking honestly and authentically from his heart, not worrying if it was the right or wrong thing to say, he said.

And as head of the company, he focused on uplifting his team and directing conversations toward how “we were going to live Joe’s legacy,” all while allowing employees to grieve on their own time, he said.

Known for a leadership philosophy that prioritized his employees first and profit last, Joe’s legacy is felt throughout the local restaurant industry. Many of Milwaukee’s chefs and restaurateurs

Paul Bartolotta

who now own or manage their own concepts once worked at a Bartolotta restaurant, Paul said.

“Some people find long-term homes; other people learn and stay and help us get better, and then have the desire and the itch to go do something on their own, and it’s great to see because as more restaurants open, all that does is force everybody to get better,” he said.

In September, work was completed on what was Joe and Paul’s last joint endeavor. After closing for two months of renovations, Bacchus reopened with a new look and menu. The project was aimed at transforming the fine dining restaurant, which has operated for 15 years on the ground floor of Cudahy Tower in downtown Milwaukee, into an all-occasion eatery.

As part of Joe’s vision, the refurbished bar-restaurant is brighter and more vibrant with new flooring, lighting and furniture.

Major improvements were also made at Ristorante Bartolotta last year as the brothers’ flagship concept celebrated 25 years in business. biztimes.com / 29

Special Report BANKING & FINANCE / M&A

Ixnoia Bank sees opportunity in downtown Milwaukee

BY BRANDON ANDEREGG, staff writer WHEN THE LUBAR FAMILY recapitalized Ixonia Bank in 2012, the United States was still wading through the aftermath of a historic economic downturn.

The financial crisis, closely tied to the collapse of the housing market, left several banks, especially small banks, on the hunt for equity capital as they fought to recoup incomplete land and real estate development loans.

Sheldon Lubar, the founder and chairman of Milwaukee-based private investment firm Lubar & Co., was searching for investment opportunities in the small- to mid-size banking space. To aid the search, Lubar hired Lorrie Heinemann, who was secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions under former Gov. Jim Doyle.

Heinemann identified Ixonia Bank, based in the Jefferson County town of the same name, as needing capital, or as Lubar describes it, “financially troubled.” He bought Ixonia Bank, which at the time had six branches and roughly $270 million in assets.

“I talked to my colleagues and they thought I was a little crazy because nobody was doing it,” Lubar said. “And I said, well, that makes it even more of an opportunity.”

Lubar spent the first 13 years of his career working for Marine National Exchange Bank and Marine Corp. In addition to Lubar’s background in banking and private investment, he liked what he saw in Ixonia Bank’s staff and believed there was 30 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

ABOVE: The new 4,000 squarefoot Ixonia Bank branch will be located at 611 E. Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Milwaukee.

RIGHT: Sheldon Lubar, president and CEO of Ixonia Bancshares Inc.

a lot of upside to the purchase.

“I felt very strongly that we could build this up,” Lubar said. “(Lubar & Co.) was taking small companies and building them into larger, more profitable and more successful companies. I felt we would be very capable of financing small- and mid-sized companies that would come to a bank like that.”

Eight years later, Lubar wants to capitalize on what he sees as another big opportunity for Ixonia Bank: the renaissance of downtown Milwaukee.

In 2017, Ixonia Bank revealed plans to open its first Milwaukee County branch in the heart of downtown. Those plans will take shape in January 2020 when Ixonia Bank opens its eighth branch in Foxconn Technology Group’s North American headquarters building at 611 E. Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Milwaukee.

The 4,000 square-foot, full-service location will focus on commercial banking and will be led by senior vice president and Milwaukee market manager Doug Ortyn, assistant vice president and client experience manager Karla Lauersdorf and commercial banking officer Patrick Lubar.

Founded in 1918, Ixonia Bank has branches in Ixonia, Dousman, Hartland, Oconomowoc and Watertown, as well as a loan production office in Madison. The bank expanded its branch network in recent years, moving into Dane County in 2017 and adding a second Oconomowoc branch in 2018.

Lubar is president and CEO of Ixonia Bancshares Inc., the bank’s holding company. According to its most recent filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Ixonia Bank had 78 employees, $371 million in total assets and $1.8 million in net income at the end of 2018.

Milwaukee County now has 235 bank branches, which is 36 fewer than it had five years ago, according to the FDIC. The decline in branches is not surprising given new technologies, like mobile banking, that are driving changes in bank branch strategy. The advent of mobile banking has reduced branch traffic volume nationwide, which shows the ongoing evolution of the industry as bankers listen and react to the needs of their customers.

Bank mergers and acquisitions also play a role in some branch consolidations. Too many physical branches serving the same customers in a small geographic area can lead to branch closure.

Wisconsin Bankers Association president and chief executive officer Rose Oswald Poels said Ixonia Bank’s move to Milwaukee is not unusual given its footprint in southeastern Wisconsin.

Even with several consolidations and mergers in Milwaukee County and competition from larger banks, Oswald Poels said there’s still a rich market for community banks to operate.

Other banks are noticing growth in southeastern Wisconsin and have doubled down on

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Special Report BANKING & FINANCE / M&A their presence. Town Bank is one example, Oswald Poels said. For financial institutions, an influx of businesses only adds to the allure of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, she added.

“I think what it really demonstrates is that Milwaukee has really become over the last years a growth part of our state’s economy,” Oswald Poels said. “I think all of southeastern Wisconsin is a growing market opportunity for the financial institutions to take advantage of.”

Ixonia’s entrance into the Milwaukee-area market is a strategic move to not only capitalize on downtown’s growth spurt, but also to leverage the Lubar name and the family’s deep roots in the city.

“They have a network here that is second to none as far as business relationships are concerned,” said Dan Westrope, Ixonia Bank chairman and chief executive officer.

A look at Ixonia Bancshare’s board of directors reveals the extent of the family’s Milwaukee connections. In addition to Lubar and Westrope, the board consists of Fiserv president and CEO Jeffrey Yabuki, Major League Baseball commissioner emeritus Bud Selig, Lubar & Co. chief investment officer David Bauer, TMI Holdings vice chairman Kenneth Krei, Growing Minds founder and pres-

ident Susan Lubar Solvang and Wag-Aero Group owner and CEO William Read.

Ixonia Bank hasn’t yet established a physical presence in Milwaukee, but the bank is already involved in several large projects, including The Huron Building, The Avenue and the Reed Street Yards apartments, Westrope said.

These visible projects, Lubar said, are a sign that changes occurring in Milwaukee have attracted people and companies to downtown.

“To have residential downtown, it’s a game changer,” Lubar said. “When you have people who work downtown and live downtown, that’s a sign of vitality in a community.”

The bank’s proximity to Foxconn’s Milwaukee office was a calculated decision and the result of a connection with the Foxconn team through David Lubar, president and CEO of Lubar & Co., Sheldon Lubar said.

“A major employer in this town … is going to be in the news,” Westrope said. “And whenever the TV camera takes a picture of the Foxconn building, they’re not going to be able to do it without taking a picture of the sign of Ixonia Bank.”

Westrope said the branch will use its location to engage small commercial businesses and manufac-

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turers primarily, although he expects the branch to serve some consumers too. And while Ixonia Bank will be among plenty of competition in Milwaukee, Lubar and Westrope plan to use the bank’s size and local connections to their advantage.

“We have a local team of really good bankers that have been in this market their whole careers,” Westrope said. “We have the Lubar family that has been here their whole lives.”

Westrope said Ixonia Bank will sell “local decision-making,” while Lubar’s trademarked “professional ownership,” a philosophy applied to Lubar & Co., will be replicated with clients of the bank.

“Sheldon doesn’t make a living out of the businesses that he buys,” Westrope said. “He doesn’t drain them of capital and doesn’t look to them to provide him with his lifestyle.”

Lubar said most businesses don’t have professional ownership, which he described as business management with the sole purpose of improving the company.

“In the world of private equity, the idea is to build the earnings and sell it,” Lubar said. “That’s understandable, but that’s not our objective. Our objective is to build a bigger, better business that we’re proud of.” n

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Is inflation on the horizon? Are domestic service businesses insulated from those that do business internationally?

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Special Report

BEN HOEKSTRA/MENOMONEE VALLEY PARTNERS

WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING

Ann Klicka, a steamfitter pre-apprentice, provides students from St. Joan Antida High School a demonstration during the first Young Women in the Trades day held by Menomonee Valley Partners at JM Brennan.

Efforts foster more women in manufacturing In an industry with workforce challenges, females make up less than a third of employees

BY ARTHUR THOMAS, staff writer WHEN THE MENOMONEE VALLEY PARTNERS began holding career day events a few years ago, there would often be just three or four girls in a group of 20 students learning about careers in engineering and manufacturing.

On one tour at Rexnord, a young woman remarked that she had wanted to be an engineer but was doubting that decision after she didn’t see any women or people of color in those roles during her visit.

A top executive at Rexnord happened to be with the group and heard that message. A few weeks later, Catrina Crane, director of workforce and business solutions with Menomonee Valley Partners, got a call from a woman who worked at Rexnord.

“She said, ‘We’re her; we’re just kind of sprinkled around. Rexnord is a 55-acre campus, but I’m a woman, I’m an engineer and let’s make some things happen for these kids,’” Crane recalled.

That conversation led MVP to create its Young Women in STEM program, which draws students from several schools to bring together an all-girls group. Like many career experiences, students tour a company and learn about the industry.

The difference is that the program brings together women in the industry to provide mentoring and one-on-one engagement. It opens up an opportunity for students to ask questions like balancing work in manufacturing with being a mom and others they may not address in a group with their male classmates.

“You’ve removed the stereotype of this is only 34 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

for men,” Crane said.

While there are around 139,000 women in manufacturing in Wisconsin, it is easy to see how that stereotype could develop. Women make up about 29% of the industry, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, while they make up about 50% of the workforce overall.

In an industry where employers often lament their inability to find employees, the underrepresentation of women presents an opportunity to tap into a broader employee pool. It can also be a challenge to draw women to a male-dominated industry that battles lingering perceptions of dark, dirty and dangerous manufacturing jobs.

Until 2017, Wisconsin had a chapter of Women in Manufacturing, a national trade group that supports and promotes careers in the industry for women. The chapter’s board disbanded, but in 2018 and 2019 a new group of women worked to restart it, ultimately relaunching in May. Since the relaunch, the chapter has grown membership more than 20% to around 130 people. The group holds regular events, including plant tours and a speaker series. The program is geared toward everyone from the shop floor to the c-suite, said Andrea Virsnieks, board chair and a manager in manufacturing and distribution at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP. She added that companies the chapter has worked with so far have been eager to open their doors.

“I feel like because there is such a misconcep-

tion with manufacturing companies and women in manufacturing that they’re just wanting to help,” Virsnieks said.

But there is a difference between opening a company’s doors for a plant tour and hiring significant numbers of women in a male-dominated industry.

“We still don’t find very many (women) applying for jobs, especially the skilled trades jobs, and rarely will find women applying for engineering jobs,” said Mary Isbister, president of Mequon-based GenMet. Isbister said the education system has done better in recent years at encouraging young women to consider technical fields but added interest is often ultimately driven by what children experience at home.

For Isbister, it wasn’t odd to pursue a technical field – chemistry originally – because her mom had been a chief technologist in a radiology department when she was growing up. It was her father who took more of an interest in liberal arts and literature. Isbister came to manufacturing when, along with her husband Eric, she bought GenMet. Amy Street, chair of the Women in Manufacturing-Wisconsin membership committee, came to manufacturing because she was mechanically inclined and often took a technical or analytical approach to things.

“I wanted to work with my hands, create things and make things,” said Street, now a fabrication engineer at Grafton-based Kapco Metal Stamping.

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Special Report WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING ficer of Brookfield-based GenAlpha Technologies, it was almost as if manufacturing chose her. She won a student-athlete award in high school and sat at a table with people from W.H. Brady Co. during the awards banquet. After serving as a machinist in the Navy, Harrington applied at W.H. Brady Co. and worked on the production floor.

She later went back to school, working there while she went to Marquette University for business.

Harrington eventually went to work at Bucyrus International, taking on a variety of business roles as the company grew and was eventually acquired

by Caterpillar. She said it was the variety of opportunities she received that kept her in the industry.

“Manufacturing always has to keep reinventing itself as the needs of its customers keep expanding,” Harrington said.

Street said opportunities are also plentiful on the shop floor, adding that employees need only ask their supervisor or other superiors what they need to do to get prepared for advancement within the company.

“It will evolve, you just have to ask; you have to work hard and most companies want you to stay,” she said. “They want you to grow within the company.”

Outside of those who are naturally drawn to the industry, Isbister said the lack of women in manufacturing contributes to the challenge of attracting more women, noting women tend to thrive in more collegial settings.

“If you’re in an environment where there’s mostly men and you’re one woman or one of very few, you’re not typically invited into that group,” she said, adding some men might still unconsciously question if a woman can pull their weight on the shop floor.

While GenMet doesn’t explicitly set out to recruit more women, Isbister said the company does broaden the pool of applicants by hiring from non-technical backgrounds.

“We feel that we can train them to be good fabricators,” she said.

Street said Kapco too has been hiring more people who previously worked at fast food restaurants and grocery or department stores. She said it is important in those cases to have training readily available for new hires, mentors on the shop floor and supervisors who are prepared to train and teach people without a manufacturing background.

Isbister said it is also important to make social spaces welcoming, to create diverse teams for work

projects and talk through issues with people who do have concerns.

She also advised against bringing on women solely to increase gender diversity in the company, something she acknowledged wanting to do in her early years at GenMet. “As long as you can make accommodations that you’d make for anybody, that’s OK, but they have to be qualified or you’re just going to reinforce the things that people are going in thinking,” Isbister said.

Harrington said that as she grew in her role at Bucyrus, she often found herself as the first or only woman in the room, adding that it often led to a feeling of needing to fit in.

“I have learned that the more often that I am just authentically myself, that’s how I best fit in. I think sometimes it’s just the courage to be who you are,” Harrington said.

She said what is needed from men is the space for women to have a voice and for manufacturing companies to continue giving women opportunities.

“When you’re given that space to have the voice and you come with the courage to be who you are, relationships naturally form and progress is made cohesively,” Harrington said. n

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NOTABLE WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING

BizTimes Milwaukee is proud to present the inaugural list of Notable Women in Manufacturing, spotlighting accomplished professionals throughout the region. The women profiled here were nominated by their peers at work and in the community (more about the selection process below) and showcase the diversity of talent in our market. The leadership shown by the women profiled here is setting an example to shape a better future for our region.

METHODOLOGY: The honorees did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials.

This list features only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by our editorial team. To qualify for the list, nominees must be based in southeast Wisconsin, currently employed at a manufacturing company with a minimum sales revenue of $3 million, and must be serving in a senior level role at their firm.

MARY WIBERG SPRINGER

DAWN SCHEFELKER

VICE PRESIDENT

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND HEARTH CRAFT BRAND MANAGER

THERMTECH HEAT TREATING INC. Mary Wiberg Springer grew up in the heat-treating industry, working with her dad’s first company, Midland Metal Treating, as a teenager.

Her father, Charles Wiberg, and brother Steve Wiberg later started another heat-treating company named ThermTech in Waukesha. In 1989 Mary accepted the challenge to become a part of the family business. As the company grew she helped develop systems, people and culture while her dad and brother established processes and equipment.

Charles Wiberg retired in the early 1990s, naming Steve and Mary equal partners, president and vice president, respectively. Together with their team, they grew the business from $5 million in sales to $25 million in sales.

ThermTech provides heat-treating services for more than 700 customers in the Midwest.

Wiberg Springer has been actively involved in The Metal Treating Institute Trade Association for over 25 years, achieving the acknowledgement of first woman president in 2006.

DESIGN SPECIALTIES, LLC Dawn Schefelker has enjoyed a multi-decade career making an impact in Wisconsin manufacturing.

For the past 13 years, she has been chief financial officer for Design Specialties, a custom fireplace door and hearth accessory manufacturing business in Milwaukee.

Her leadership helped the company transition from being a privately-owned business to one of private-equity ownership (Blackthorne Partners) in 2015.

She has helped deliver 25% EBITDA expansion for the business over the past three years. She operates as a mentor to other Blackthorne company CFOs, sharing her best practices to the benefit of four additional Wisconsin manufacturing businesses.

In October, Schefelker successfully completed the acquisition of another competitor and fireplace door manufacturer from Indiana (Hearth Craft) and she will now act as brand leader for this new business in addition to her CFO duties to provide long-term strategic guidance, ensure financial success and support future growth for the company’s combined Milwaukee-based operation.

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NOTABLE WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING

STACY PETERSON

PRESIDENT

BARBARA LANGE

KRISTIN FALKNER

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

R&B GRINDING CO., INC.

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

CONNOILS, LLC Connoils is a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of nutraceuticals (sports nutrition and dietary supplements). The company sells bulk nutritional oils, such as borage, blackcurrant, flax, evening primrose, pumpkin and MCT, bulk spray-dried nutritional powders, and bulk nutritional softgels to the wholesale industry.

Its customers have their own private label product line and bottle, label and sell their items to the retail industry.

The company recently built a state-of-the art facility in Big Bend, and is a pioneer in the hemp and CBD industry. Connoils this year achieved the rank of 1,354 on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest growing privately-held companies in North America. Peterson has also received numerous local awards and achievements in Wisconsin and the greater Milwaukee area.

“Peterson has shown extensive leadership in the nutraceuticals industry,” said Spencer Shimon, former marketing coordinator for Connoils.

SERVER PRODUCTS, INC.

In 1958, Ray Biddle Sr. left his job to purchase a used grinding machine and with his newly married wife, Marilyn, started R&B Grinding Co., Inc. Sixty-one years later, with 200 pieces of manufacturing equipment, 120 full-time employees, $20 million of business and as the third largest steel component supplier to a Fortune 500 company, R&B Grinding has been named the Racine 2019 Manufacturing Business of the Year by Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce.

Ray’s death in 2014 did not afford him the honor of this prestigious accomplishment. As the sixth-born of Ray and Marilyn’s children, Barbara Lange assumed the role of president of R&B Grinding in 2017 during a very challenging time with eroding margins and declining sales.

Leading her older sister Linda and brother Ray Jr., Barbara embarked on strategically developing their leadership team and, with her father’s business tenacity and devotion to her employees, has led R&B Grinding to new operational and financial heights.

Having been in the family business her entire life, Kristin Falkner began her career at Server Products after graduating from college in 1997. Her grandfather, Al Wickesberg, founded the company in 1949, and today it operates in Richfield, providing portion control and point-of-use holding equipment to the food service industry.

Falkner became president of Server Products in 2009 after her father, Paul, retired. Under her leadership, the company has doubled its annual sales, completed a 10,000-square-foot expansion and employs 160 fulltime employees.

Under Falkner’s leadership, the company is committed to social responsibility. Her drive to contribute to the common good inspires Server Products’ involvement with free health clinics and food pantries, support for a work program for students with disabilities and sponsorship of the Cancer Relay for Life.

“Her emphasis on integrity, positive attitudes, strong work ethic and unwavering focus reinforces Server’s commitment to customer delight,” said Brent Henschel, marketing manager for Server Products.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE

NOTABLE WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING

Stacy Peterson, CEO of Connoils®, LLC and the AbbyChristopher CBD Oil brand would like to thank everyone that helped us reach this milestone.

NOMINATIONS OPEN SOON FOR:

BizTimes 2020 Notable Women in Commercial Banking (March 2) Notable LGBTQ Executives (April 13) Notable Women Residential Real Estate Brokers (June 8) Notable Women in Law (August 10) Notable Women in Manufacturing (October 5) Notable Women In Health Care (December 14)

Please visit us at AbbyChristopher.com to purchase high quality WI farm to bottle CBD products. Or call at (262) 261-6990 38 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

To view more, go to: biztimes.com/notableMFG

Leading with purpose.

Kristin Falkner President/CEO Server is a company built upon a foundation of values and value: values established by our founder more than 70 years ago and value in the relentless innovation and future-forward vision of our third-generation President/CEO. Under her leadership, Server has more than doubled its annual sales and grown its staff to more than 130 team members. As we embark on an all-new chapter in our journey to unprecedented smallwares sophistication, we share our gratitude and excitement for the path ahead.

I NT E L L I G E N T BY D E S I G N ™ Š2019 Server Products Inc.

NOTABLE WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING

MEGAN TZANOUKAKIS

ANGIE TRENTADUE

VICE PRESIDENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN

VICE PRESIDENT

SUSSEX IM Megan Tzanoukakis is vice president of supply chain at Sussex IM, a $70 million custom molder and contract manufacturer located in Sussex.

In her role, she works to oversee and drive efficiencies between customer service, purchasing and warehousing.

She is one of the executive leaders of Sussex Brands, a division of Sussex IM producing consumer items. She also manages ecommerce and retail business activities for Sussex Brands – Mr. Lid Storage Containers and MOGO Mouth Guards.

“Megan has been integral to the success of our efforts to continuously improve Sussex IM,” said John Berg, director of marketing for Sussex IM. “She has raised the bar and has driven change throughout the organization.

Within the last year, Megan has led a focused approach on key areas of our ERP. We are improving the data that is driving our decisions. We are seeing increased utilization efficiencies and a reduction in variances as a result of these efforts.”

JENNY WENGER SENIOR DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES, TALENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

STEELWIND INDUSTRIES, INC. In 2016, Angie Trentadue was promoted to vice president of Steelwind Industries, Inc., a large capacity fabrication shop offering heavy custom metal steel fabrication services for large parts in high and low volume runs.

Based in Oak Creek, the company also offers machining, heat-treating services, abrasive blasting and industrial painting.

Trentadue started working in the family business at a young age, and has consistently taken on new leadership roles and responsibilities within the organization. She is currently responsible for all accounting, purchasing, HR and overall administration of the company. In 2017, she was charged with an expense reduction program and sales growth initiative, which drastically improved the company’s profitability. In 2018, she led the initiative to increase both sales and the quality of earnings through a detailed analysis. Trentadue also currently manages all human resources functions for the company’s 60+ employees, including benefits, hiring and company events.

KAPCO METAL STAMPING “Jenny is a tremendous recruiter and ambassador of manufacturing for Kapco and the Milwaukee area,” said Keith Doszak, business development manager for Kapco. “Her assessment of our human capital needs, the landscape of talent and how to land high-impact individual contributors has allowed Kapco to grow beyond revenue goals year-over-year. She has a vision that goes beyond the job postings that reflect our blessed growth.

Her team and its professional and personal network never allow themselves to rest on their heels in this tough market. Jenny’s deep manufacturing knowledge not only helps us recruit strong talent, it helps us retain talent in a very competitive market. She understands what we do, where our teams’ opportunities for growth are and what struggles exist in metal manufacturing. Jenny’s team not only understands the job posting through her leadership, they thrive on the opportunity to educate candidates on our strengths, opportunities and the bright future her team is leading.”

BANKING BEYOND EXPECTATIONS firstbusiness.com/mke

CONGRATULATIONS

ANGIE TRENTADUE

Member FDIC

40 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARDS The annual BizTimes Media Health Care Heroes Awards recognize the heroes among us – people and organizations making an impact on the health and wellness of southeastern Wisconsin in the health care sector. In this special section, we honor their achievements and tell their stories.

Profiles by Lauren Anderson and Andrew Weiland

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Special Impact Award: Children’s Wisconsin Lifetime Achievement Award: Martin Schreiber Advancements in Health Care: Dr. Katja Kovacic Behavioral Health: Crisis Resource Centers Behavioral Health: Dr. Terri deRoon-Cassini Behavioral Health: Dr. Adel Korkor Community Service: Monica Hebl Community Service: Joshua Knox

Presented By:

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Executive Leadership: Cheryl Maurana First Responder: Ladonna Davis Health Care Staff: Fabiola De Chico Health Care Staff: Bryan Lewis Nurse: Barb Burmeister Nurse: Jeffrey Couillard Physician: Dr. Madelaine Tully Volunteer: Dr. Peter Geiss

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n 2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS

DR. LYNN D’ANDREA, DR. LOUELLA AMOS, DR. MICHAEL MEYER AND DR. MICHAEL GUTZEIT OF CHILDREN’S WISCONSIN

Children’s Wisconsin creates national awareness of harmful impact of vaping on teens

By Andrew Weiland, staff writer

DOCTORS AT CHILDREN’S WISCONSIN became alarmed this summer when a rash of otherwise healthy teens were admitted with serious respiratory problems.

Eight such patients were admitted to Children’s between June 11 and July 25. Their symptoms included fatigue, shortness of breath, a cough and chest pain. Some had nausea and some had anxiety.

Children’s staff tried to determine what was causing those symptoms and why so many patients were suddenly coming down with them.

“We weren’t sure what we were dealing with,” said Dr. Michael Gutzeit, chief medical officer at Children’s Wisconsin. “But we were concerned it was a public health issue because of the intense cluster of patients. The first thought was this could be an infection of some sort that was spreading through the community.”

The patients all had evidence of inflammation of the lungs in the lining of the airways that lead into the lungs.

But what was the cause? Children’s doctors were stumped, at first.

“There wasn’t anything we could put together that would explain why these patients were so sick and why they were having such breathing difficulties,” Gutzeit said. “The

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2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS n thought process was: something’s irritating these lungs and it’s something that happened relatively abruptly, because they were healthy before this. Thinking through that, what would they all have been doing at the same time that would be the common thread here? And that’s what led to vaping. It was the only common thread we could see that would explain the symptoms that were happening.”

Vaping involves inhaling a vapor created by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or other vaping device. E-cigarettes are battery-powered smoking devices that have cartridges filled with a liquid that usually contains nicotine, flavorings and chemicals. The liquid is heated into a vapor, which the user inhales.

All of these teen patients at Children’s with otherwise unexplainable respiratory problems had begun vaping fairly recently. Some had been doing it for a few months, others for less than a week.

“That gave us another indicator that vaping was associated (with their breathing problems),” Gutzeit said.

The staff at Children’s knew they had not proven that vaping was causing respiratory problems in teens, but because of the sudden surge of these patients, the hospital decided it needed to let the public know and issue a warning.

“I really admire the courage of the team to do this,” Gutzeit said. “We didn’t have proof.

There was an association, but we didn’t have a cause. We didn’t have enough patients to say there was an absolute cause. It takes a lot longer time (to determine that). But, we were so concerned about the potential impact we were seeing to our youth, we thought it was imperative to put this out as a public health message.”

The hospital collaborated with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which helped with the investigation and provided information about similar cases that had been reported to the state.

“They supported our finding with what they were seeing,” Gutzeit said.

Hospital staff also did research and couldn’t find any literature reporting a link between vaping and respiratory problems in teens.

Children’s made the announcement at a July 25 press conference. Soon after, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert, putting the health issue on the national radar.

More than 2,200 cases of e-cigarette or vaping product use associated with lung injury have been reported to the CDC, including 48 deaths.

Some states have since banned the sale of e-cigarette products.

We are proud of our Children’s Wisconsin 2019 Health Care Heroes Awards winners!

In recognition of the work of numerous staff members of Children’s Wisconsin to investigate what was behind the rash of teen patients with respiratory problems and for creating public awareness of the harmful effect vaping appears to have on the lungs of teenagers, the hospital is the recipient of a Special Impact Health Care Heroes Award from BizTimes Milwaukee. “(The award) really recognizes a big team at Children’s that came together,” Gutzeit said.

“This was a lot of different pieces that came together in a puzzle that wasn’t very clear initially, and became more clear as people talked and got better ideas about what we were seeing.”

Months later, many of the teens that came to Children’s this summer with sudden respiratory problems still have breathing issues, Gutzeit said.

“Some of them continue to show lung function that has not returned to normal,” he said. “This is our biggest concern, the potential long-term effects of vaping.”

Since this summer, the hospital has seen more teenage patients with similar respiratory issues.

“We continue to see patients that come into our hospital, as well as our clinics,” Gutzeit said.

“Some are more severe than others, but they all have the common thread of vaping and varying degrees of breathing trouble.” n

Advancement in Health Care Award Katja Kovacic, MD, is recognized for giving hope and healing to kids with abdominal disorders through neurostimulation, a groundbreaking, non-invasive treatment for cyclic vomiting syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome. Dr. Kovacic’s research led to FDA approval of a device to treat irritable bowel syndrome, and families from many states come to Children’s Wisconsin to receive the treatment for their kids.

Special Impact Award In July, 2019, an interdisciplinary team of Children’s Wisconsin physicians and staff made the connection between vaping and serious lung disease in teens, sparking a national conversation. Since this group boldly sounded the alarm, more than 2,000 cases of lung injury associated with vaping have been reported, major e-cigarette companies have changed their advertising and production, and some states have banned the sale of e-cigarette products.

biztimes.com / 43

n 2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Martin Schreiber Former governor of Wisconsin, author of “My Two Elaines”

MARTIN AND ELAINE SCHREIBER

On a recent afternoon in a conference room at Lutheran Home in Wauwatosa, former Wisconsin Gov. Martin Schreiber shared with a group of area nursing students his journey as a caretaker of his wife, Elaine, who was diagnosed 16 years ago with Alzheimer’s.

It’s a talk Schreiber estimates he has given more than 400 times over the past three years, but one that he remains passionate about communicating to as many people as possible.

“If Alzheimer’s is bad, ignorance of the disease is worse,” Schreiber said. “Ignorance of the disease causes further pain, anxiety, depression and grieving. If people better understand what this disease does, we can better cope.”

Schreiber’s mission is to cure what he calls “Careheimer’s disease,” the adverse effects that can affect those who serve as caregivers to Alzheimer’s patients if they don’t take care of themselves. Since 2016, he has travelled across Wisconsin and 15 other states to share his message with families, employers and health care providers. He frequently delivers his lecture to future health care workers

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“

If people better understand what this disease does, we can better cope.

who are training at local colleges.

Schreiber, who served as governor from 1977-’79, said he views his awareness campaign not as a job, but a passion project.

“It really pains me to know how horrible this disease is and that we as a society really don’t know how to deal with it, to make the lives of people better,” Schreiber said.

“I never thought I would be in this position and it’s not anything that I do where I felt an obligation. It’s more of a passion to try to help caregivers learn, cope and survive.”

At each of his stops, Schreiber widely distributes his book, “My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer’s Caregiver.” The book recounts the story of meeting Elaine as high school freshmen in the 1950s, their marriage, the early signs of her Alzheimer’s – including when she started getting lost while going to familiar places or forgetting her favorite recipes – and his experience of caring for her.

Schreiber said he learned about the importance of availing oneself of caregiver resources the hard way. It motivated him to write the book for others who are going through similar experiences.

“I thought I didn’t need any help,” he said. “And that’s a mistake that a lot of caregivers make. We think we can do it ourselves and we don't know how to fight this disease and the only way we can fight it is by knowing more about it so we can be in a position to steal those moments of joy.”

Schreiber has sold or donated more than 30,000 copies of the book to caregivers, with net proceeds benefiting caregiver support programs.

In addition, Schreiber collaborated with Wisconsin’s state government and business groups to create the Dementia-Friendly Employers Toolkit, which is designed to help employers support employees who are caring for a loved one with dementia.

Schreiber has also been a major supporter of Lutheran Home, where Elaine lives. He donated the lead gift for its $10 million capital campaign to build a new 45,000-square-foot memory care assisted living community that is connected to the Lutheran Home campus at 7500 W. North Ave. The new facility will be named “Elaine’s Hope” and will offer supportive programs for caregivers.

“Lutheran Home has been a comfort; it’s a place where I know my loved one will get the very best possible care,” he said. “(Elaine’s Hope) will be a leader in helping caregivers have a chance to live a fuller life by offering caregivers a keener insight into the disease and a better understanding of what a caregiver must do to keep themselves healthy.”

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n 2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS ADVANCEMENTS IN HEALTH CARE

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Dr. Katja Kovacic

Crisis Resource Centers

Pediatric gastroenterologist and assistant professor, Children’s Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin

Milwaukee Center for Independence

Since 2015, Dr. Katja Kovacic has led research at the Children’s Wisconsin Research Institute using groundbreaking neurostimulation treatment for children with abdominal disorders.

Recently, the FDA approved use of the neurostimulation device to treat irritable bowel syndrome. That decision was based on the research of Kovacic and her colleagues, according to Children’s Wisconsin spokesperson Andy Brodzeller.

Neurostimulation has also shown success in treating children with cyclic vomiting syndrome, giving new hope to patients and their families.

The neurostimulation device is placed behind the ear of the patient and attaches several tiny electrodes, about the size of dimes, to the skin. It delivers tiny amounts of electrical impulses to nerve branches in the ear. The impulses are so subtle most patients do not notice them, according to Brodzeller. The device is worn by a patient for five days.

DR. KATJA KOVACIC

The treatment has helped children from across the nation. One teen from Arizona, Dylan Knotek, suffered for more than two years with cyclic vomiting syndrome. He experienced severe nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain daily and was unable to leave home, go to school or play sports.

Dylan was referred to Children’s Wisconsin for a clinical trial. After receiving neurostimulation treatment there he has felt normal and been able to go back to school, play basketball with friends and get his driver’s license.

Families from throughout the country are traveling to receive this treatment at Children’s Wisconsin, which hopes it will be approved by the FDA for nausea and vomiting disorders like cyclic vomiting syndrome and then could become covered by health insurance.

16th Annual

In 2007, Milwaukee’s first Crisis Resource Center opened its doors to provide an alternative to involuntary emergency room admissions for those experiencing psychiatric crises.

Over the past 12 years, the program – run by parent organization Milwaukee Center for Independence – has expanded from one seven-bed facility on the city’s south side to two Milwaukee facilities with 27 beds.

Providing an alternative to emergency departments and criminal justice facilities is important for those experiencing crises, as those settings can contribute to clients being re-traumatized and their mental health symptoms being exacerbated.

The CRCs offer 24-7 services, including recovery-focused assessment, stabilization, psychosocial groups and peer support. The facilities see about 100 admissions monthly, with a growing number of daily walk-in non-admissions.

The average length of stay at a CRC is seven days, but it is individualized for each patient,

THE CRISIS RESOURCE CENTERS TEAM

with a focus on linking clients to services upon their discharge.

The CRCs have built strong partnerships with health systems, law enforcement, homeless outreach organizations and the Milwaukee County Health Division to reduce the rate of inpatient psychiatric admissions, according to Dan Baker, director of Crisis Resource Centers.

Baker said the CRCs have seen an increase in self-referrals among clients, reflecting a growing awareness of the service and people feeling empowered to access the care they need.

“We’re really proud of the program we’ve been able to develop, as well as the partnerships and collaborations systematically we’ve been able to develop around it to help people in need,” Baker said. “It’s a true passion.”

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2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS n BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Dr. Terri deRoon-Cassini

Dr. Adel Korkor

Associate professor, department of surgery, division of trauma and critical care, Medical College of Wisconsin

Founder, AB Korkor Foundation for Mental Health

Dr. Terri deRoon-Cassini, associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is advancing research to identify neurological, biological and psychosocial markers that can help prevent the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder.

PTSD is most often associated with military engagement but often affects those who experience traumatic events, such as vehicle accidents or shootings. Froedtert & MCW research indicates that up to 40% of civilian survivors develop PTSD. A licensed psychologist, deRoon-Cassini, started the trauma and health psychology service for the level 1 trauma center at Froedtert Hospital. She provides patient care to traumatically injured survivors who have been hospitalized and has an outpatient behavioral health clinic for patients who experience traumatic stress and other outcomes after trauma. She is also a professor in the department of surgery, division of trauma and critical care at MCW.

DR. TERRI DEROON-CASSINI

deRoon-Cassini helped launch a collaborative of researchers from MCW, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University and the Milwaukee VA, dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by trauma through research, intervention, prevention, education and outreach. The group, called the Milwaukee Trauma Outcomes Project, is focused on treatment solutions in the areas of neurobiology and cognitive, behavioral, social and intervention science.

She has received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, as well as MCW, for her research. Most recently, she received funding to understand the impact of socioenvironmental stress, including chronic neighborhood violence and discrimination, on creating a biologic vulnerability to traumatic injury that leads to poor outcomes.

In 2016, Dr. Adel Korkor, a retired nephrologist, founded the AB Korkor Foundation for Mental Health. With 37 years of experience as a physician, he began a new mission to address mental health issues.

“During the years of carefully tending to the nuances of the human body, I became intensely aware of the body and brain connection,” Korkor says on the foundation’s website. “I understood and experienced the complexity of the brain and the pivotal role that mental health plays in our physical wellbeing. Additionally, I have observed the painful, pervasive struggle of patients with mental illness from stigma, limited access to care and inadequate insurance coverage.”

The foundation developed the Five Fifty Run/Walk series of 5K races in all 50 states in 50 days to raise awareness and funds to support organizations that address mental health issues.

Korkor has led every one of them for two years in a row.

DR. ADEL KORKER

Korkor, who himself has lived with panic disorder, is the driving force and funder behind the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing’s first cohort of students in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program. Six enrolled practitioners will graduate this month from the program. In addition to providing funds to launch the program, Korkor is funding two scholarships per year for the first five years of the program.

The foundation also provided funds to start an integrated medical/behavioral health program at ProHealth Care, and enabled a Milwaukee area school to start a suicide prevention program.

Congratulations to Dr. Adel B. Korkor on winning a BizTimes Health Care Heroes Award!

2019 was a banner year for the AB Korkor Foundation for Mental Health! In just our second full year in existence, we accomplished many amazing things: » Over 3,000 people attended our Five Fifty Fifty Run/Walk for Mental Health events in all 50 states and we raised over $200,000 » We provided $50,000 in scholarship assistance for behavioral health students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee » We brought the Hope Squad suicide prevention program to the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District » We provided funding to several service agencies in the mental health field » We started the world’s first virtual run/walk for mental health called the Run the World for Mental Health. It was held on World Mental Health Day and nearly 200 people from all over the world participated.

We would like to make 2020 an even bigger year and provide more support in our efforts to make the world a better place for those suffering from mental illness through the promotion of exercise and wellness. For more information on the Foundation and the 2020 Five Fifty Fifty Run/Walk for Mental Health Series please visit our website.

Dr. Korkor is the founder of the AB Korkor Foundation for Mental Health

adelbkorkorfoundation.org | (262) 646-2059 2301 Sun Valley Drive, Suite 200 | Delafield, WI 53018

n 2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS COMMUNITY SERVICE

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Monica Hebl

Joshua Knox

Dentist and owner, Burleigh Dental

Clinical associate professor, physician assistant studies, Marquette University

Monica Hebl, the owner of Burleigh Dental in Milwaukee, is one of the state’s leading providers of and is an advocate for dental care for low-income individuals.

Burleigh Dental is one of the largest Medicaid dental service providers in the state, according to Wisconsin Dental Association executive director Mark Paget. Because of the low reimbursement rates provided by Medicaid, few Wisconsin dentists treat such a high number of those low-income patients.

Hebl has also volunteered for charitable dental clinics statewide, caring for children and adults. She chaired the WDA Foundation’s recent Mission of Mercy at State Fair Park, which provided free dental care to more than 1,000 people over two days, and has volunteered for other Missions of Mercy in Wisconsin and other states.

She volunteered as a treatment scheduler and in-office provider for the Greater Milwaukee Dental Association’s Headstart/Give Kids a Smile campaign for more than 15 years.

SPONSO

THE IN

Hebl also served on then Gov. Jim Doyle’s Task Force to Improve Access to Oral Health Care and has been part of the Milwaukee County Oral Health Task Force since 2011. She has also met with and testified before lawmakers in Madison and Washington on low-income patient dental care issues.

“I enjoy being able to help people from all walks of life,” Hebl said. “As a profession, we need to find a way to make sure we take care of all people.”

Hebl received the WDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. “(Hebl) has spent her impressive career serving and advocating for expanded access to oral health care for our community’s most vulnerable residents,” Paget said.

JOSHUA KNOX

“When we have students who come in and show concern, it is a source of hope for the patients,” said James West, executive director of Repairers of the Breach. “It also helps the members, because you can’t be all you can be when you have a disease and don’t even understand your health problems.”

In addition to his work at Repairers of the Breach, Knox has taken multiple trips to Honduras and Nicaragua with Global Brigades, is an ambassador for the National Health Service Corps and a grant reviewer for physician assistant education training grants for the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.

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LILA ARYAN

INSIDE

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A trip to Honduras through the Global Medical Brigades chapter at Marquette University inspired Joshua Knox to do more to meet the medical needs of people in his own backyard.

While providing medical care in developing villages during his trip in 2011, Knox, a physician assistant and clinical associate professor in Marquette’s department of physician assistant studies, reflected on how he was serving people in Milwaukee.

When he returned, Knox connected with Repairers of the Breach, a daytime shelter and resource center in Milwaukee, and began taking teams of physician assistant students to provide health care services to patients at the organization’s clinic.

Over the past eight years, the partnership has served dual purposes: providing health care to those who might not otherwise have access and training future PAs on how to deliver medical care with empathy and attentiveness.

You design…

.We deliver…Tom

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Package includes industry exclusivity, full page ad, professional photography, design and editing, PDF and framed plaque of your profile and inclusion on the BizTimes.com Inside the Industry pages in the digital edition

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ee JANUARY 21, 2019

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IN THE JANUARY 20, 2020 ISSUE, BizTimes Milwaukee will kick off the year with a look at top local businesses in a wide variety of industries. Our readers learn about the past, present and future of industry standouts as each continues to make their mark in the Greater Milwaukee marketplace.

We invite you to join us and showcase your company as an exclusive industry leader in the January 20th issue of BizTimes Milwaukee. Positions are limited.

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

2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS n EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

FIRST RESPONDER

Cheryl Maurana

Ladonna Davis

Senior vice president for strategic academic partnerships, Medical College of Wisconsin

Licensed practical nurse Community Care

Cheryl Maurana has directed the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin since the endowment was created 20 years ago.

The $450 million endowment came from the conversion of Blue Cross Blue Shield United into a stockholder-owned company. Leading the endowment, Maurana has directed the distribution of more than $250 million to 450 initiatives to improve health across Wisconsin.

As head of the endowment, Maurana was also heavily involved in the establishment of a new school of pharmacy at MCW and establishing its branch campuses in Green Bay and Wausau.

Maurana is also the founding director of the Robert D. and Patricia Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education and the affiliated Kern National Network for Caring and Character in Medicine. The National Network is based at the Medical College of Wisconsin and includes seven

2019 HEALTH CARE

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH assini Dr. Terri deRoon-C department of

Associate professor, of trauma and critical surgery, division of Wisconsin care, Medical College

HEROES AWARD WINNERS

CHERYL MAURANA

top academic medical centers, including the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, from across the country.

Maurana joined MCW in 1995 to direct the statewide Area Health Education Center program, a collaboration of the state’s two medical schools, leading it through a major strategic reorganization. She founded MCW’s Center for Healthy Communities and served as the first MCW senior associate dean for public and community health.

In 2007, she launched MCW’s PhD in public and community health, focused on community-based participatory research.

In 2010, she served as the founding director for the Institute for Health and Society, whose mission is to improve health and advance health equity.

to normal and he became alert. The Milwaukee Fire Department then arrived on the scene and provided the man with medical attention.

Davis’s lifesaving response was captured on video, posted to social media and viewed more than 3 million times. She was later recognized

by Milwaukee police chief Alfonso Morales and Mayor Tom Barrett during MPD’s 2019 Merit Award Ceremony.

Davis said she hopes her actions will raise awareness of the importance of CPR training.

She will soon receive her degree to become a registered nurse.

ORDER YOUR REPRINTS!

Dr. Adel Korkor Foundation for Founder, AB Korkor Mental Health

Korkor on winning to Dr. Adel B. Congratulations Care Heroes Award!

BizTimes Health

16th Annual

Make connections

LADONNA DAVIS

n

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Korkor, a retired nephIn 2016, Dr. Adel for AB Korkor Foundation rologist, founded the as 37 years of experience DR. TERRI DEROON-CASSINI Mental Health. With associate professor a new mission to address DR. ADEL KORKER Dr. Terri deRoon-Cassini, a physician, he began launch a collaboof Wisconsin, is advancing deRoon-Cassini helped at the Medical College mental health issues. and the has lived with panic carefully tending to from MCW, the University neurological, biological “During the years of Korkor, who himself research to identify the rative of researchers and funder behind body, I became intensely that can help prevent kee, Marquette University is the driving force psychosocial markers of Wisconsin-Milwau nuances of the human Korkor disorder, kee College stress disorder.

VA, dedicated to improving body and brain connection,” University of Wisconsin-Milwau the psyonset of post-traumatic and the Milwaukee re- aware of the in “I understood the by trauma through associated with military first cohort of students foundation’s website.

PTSD is most often the lives of those affected and says on the and of Nursing’s proaffects those who experiprevention, education complexity of the brain health nurse practitioner engagement but often search, intervention, and experienced the our chiatric mental Trauin accidents plays will graduate Milwaukee vehicle such as called the mental health Six enrolled practitioners ence traumatic events, outreach. The group, the pivotal role that to observed gram. is focused on treatment & MCW research indicates program. In addition Additionally, I have or shootings. Froedtert ma Outcomes Project, this month from the cogni- physical wellbeing. of patients with program, Korkor survivors develop PTSD. of neurobiology and pervasive struggle funds to launch the painful, that up to 40% of civilian solutions in the areas the providing to science. deRoon-Cassini, per year for the first stigma, limited access social and intervention A licensed psychologist, mental illness from is funding two scholarships ser- tive, behavioral, from the Centers coverage.” and health psychology She has received funding and inadequate insurance years of the program. started the trauma and National care the Five Fifty five center at Froedtert provided funds to Prevention also developed trauma and 1 level Control foundation foundation the The The vice for for Disease her rehealth all 50 states in patient care to traumatas well as MCW, for medical/behavioral series of 5K races in Hospital. She provides Institutes of Health, start an integrated funding to un- Run/Walk funds to support and enabled a Milwho have been hospirecently, she received at ProHealth Care, to raise awareness and ically injured survivors health search. Most issues. program l stress, 50 days prevention health behavioral suicide a mental socioenvironmenta start of outpatient area school to talized and has an derstand the impact organizations that address for two years waukee violence and diswho experience traumatic every one of them clinic for patients including chronic neighborhood program. to Korkor has led after trauma. She is a biologic vulnerability stress and other outcomes crimination, on creating in a row. surgery, of the department leads to poor outcomes. also a professor in traumatic injury that critical care at MCW. division of trauma and

9:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. | Potawato

On March 8, 2019 Ladonna Davis sprang into action when she encountered an unconscious man outside of a Walgreens store in Milwaukee, stabilizing him until emergency responders arrived on the scene.

Davis, a licensed practical nurse at Brookfield-based Community Care, Inc., was exiting the store when she heard a woman scream for help. Davis approached the woman and found a pale, lifeless man in the driver’s seat of a car.

Davis pulled the man from the vehicle and placed him on the ground to perform CPR. Davis informed the woman that she was a nurse and asked if the man had taken anything. The woman said he had done heroin.

Davis instructed another person to retrieve Narcan – an emergency treatment used to block the effects of opioids – from the Walgreens pharmacy, while she continued performing CPR. Davis then administered the Narcan and, within minutes, the man’s breathing returned

a In just our for Mental Health!

Korkor Foundation year for the AB amazing things: events in 2019 was a banner accomplished many for Mental Health in existence, we Fifty Fifty Run/Walk second full year attended our Five at the » Over 3,000 people raised over $200,000 health students we all 50 states and assistance for behavioral ilwaukee $50,000 in scholarship the University of Wisconsin-M » We provided adison and to the West Allis-West University of Wisconsin-M prevention program Hope Squad suicide » We brought the field District in the mental health Run the agencies Milwaukee School service health called the funding to several » We provided run/walk for mental nearly 200 Health Day and world’s first virtual on World Mental » We started the Health. It was held Mental for World the world participated. people from all over in our efforts provide more support the bigger year and through even an illness 2020 mental make and the 2020 We would like to those suffering from on the Foundation a better place for more information to make the world our website. and wellness. For Series please visit promotion of exercise for Mental Health Five Fifty Fifty Run/Walk

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n 2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS HEALTH CARE STAFF

HEALTH CARE STAFF

Fabiola De Chico

Bryan Lewis

Community health coordinator Ascension St. Francis Hospital

Assistant to the Dean for Health Related Professions and director for the Pre-Health Program and Center for Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Fabiola De Chico, a community health coordinator for Ascension St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee, joined the hospital’s Su Salud team in 2013.

Su salud is Spanish for “your health.” The program helps lower barriers for Latina women traditionally underserved by the health care system.

After joining the Su Salud team, De Chico became an educator, translator and confidant for the more than 600 women that she serves each year. Many of those women do not have access to health care and are affected by financial, language or other barriers.

She has developed collaborations with clinics like Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers and Angel of Hope Clinic, and organizations like Susan G. Komen Wisconsin and the state’s Well Woman Program to help women access breast and cervical cancer care and education.

“Fabiola is caring and compassionate and it shows,” said Lisa Phillips, the city of Milwaukee’s

FABIOLA DE CHICO

manager for the Well Woman Program.

From July 1 to Sept. 30, De Chico helped more than 300 women navigate their breast health needs and the health care system, said Nichole Gladney, director of community outreach for Ascension Wisconsin. “(De Chico) continues to break down barriers to access by providing compassionate, personalized care to every person she meets,” Gladney said. “Fabiola De Chico is a champion for Hispanic women in Milwaukee.”

De Chico also volunteers at community health fairs, breast health run/walks like Komen’s “More than Pink” walk, community phone banks that raise money for breast health and she raises awareness about Su Salud’s work on local television stations including Telemundo

Above all, Bryan Lewis views it as his job to help students believe they can reach their professional aspirations.

Lewis, assistant to the dean for Health Related Professions and director for the Pre-Health Program and Center for Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, works with students throughout their college journeys, from choosing courses to arranging job shadowing opportunities to preparing for professional placement tests and interviews.

“My hope is to help them with every possible aspect of their professional development for whatever it is they are looking to do for the rest of their life,” Lewis said.

When working with students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college, Lewis is committed to helping them navi-

BRYAN LEWIS

gate what can be a complicated and intimidating process of pursuing health-related professional school.

“As a former pre-med student in a former lifetime, I’ve been down the road, I know the pressure they feel,” he said. “I don’t want them to feel like they have to do it by themselves … I try to help them realize that what they thought is a far-off reality is in fact something they can do.”

UW-Parkside boasts a 90% success rate among its pre-health and pre-med students who apply to professional schools, more than twice the national average of about 40%.

Lewis attributes that success to UW-Parkside’s faculty and staff.

“We have a top-notch faculty here, great staff and tremendous support for students,” he said.

n 2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS NURSE

NURSE

Barb Burmeister

Jeffrey Couillard

Registered nurse, Froedtert Hospital

Registered Nurse Advanced Pain Management

Barb Burmeister has been a cancer inpatient nurse for 35 years. She has worked at Froedtert Hospital for 24 years in the inpatient bone marrow transplant unit, and before that she worked for Milwaukee County Hospital (John L. Doyne Hospital) until it was acquired by Froedtert.

“Barb has always been an excellent nurse of incredible technical skills, compassion for patients and families and dedicated to working as a team with all professionals to best serve patients,” said Cathy Buck, president of Froedtert Hospital.

“While Barb is soft spoken, her leadership in nursing and on the bone marrow transplant unit cannot be overstated.”

Burmeister is also a major supporter of Kathy’s House, a nonprofit guest house for patients and caregivers who travel to receive care at Milwaukee area hospitals. Kathy’s House is named after Kathy Vogel Kuettner, a patient of Burmeister who died in 2000 after a yearlong battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Kathy’s House opened in 2001 and Bur50 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

BARB BURMEISTER

meister was a supporter from the beginning, making her first donation that year. She also organized the first dinner for Kathy’s House guests provided by the nurses on the bone marrow transplant unit.

It has continued twice a year ever since.

A huge Brewers fan, Burmeister has raised more than $11,000 since 2015 selling memorabilia on eBay and sending the profits to Kathy’s House. She also raises money for the Lutheran Home.

“Barb has touched a lot of lives over her career,” said Patty Metropulos, president and chief executive officer of Kathy’s House. “She is an amazing woman and nurse.”

Jeffrey Couillard draws from nearly 50 years of professional experience in his job as a registered nurse at Advanced Pain Management.

Couillard, who previously worked as a charge nurse and image quality technician, has spent the past nine years of his career with APM in Greenfield, where he has garnered a reputation for creating a safe environment where patients feel comfortable and understood.

Couillard connects with patients by learning their hobbies, using music to comfort them and letting them give him nicknames. He brings his own personal experience of being a patient to his work. He was the first-ever recipient of an interspinous spacer at APM to treat his spinal stenosis.

His multi-faceted background in clinical and technician roles also allows Couillard to take on a wide variety of tasks at APM, from scrubbing into procedures to providing post-op care.

He has also taken on leadership roles. He was appointed infection controls officer at APM,

JEFFREY COUILLARD

through which he represents the health system at health care conferences and educates staff on best practices.

Couillard graduated from Milwaukee Area Technical College’s first surgical tech class in the 1970s and later went on to complete the college’s nursing program.

Outside of work, he volunteers his time at his church worship group as a musician and with its addiction recovery group.

2019 HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARD WINNERS n PHYSICIAN

VOLUNTEER

Dr. Madelaine Tully

Dr. Peter Geiss

Family practice physician Progressive Community Health Centers

Medical director, Lake Area Free Clinic

A Milwaukee native, Dr. Madelaine Tully graduated with honors from Rufus King High School, earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard and completed her residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine.

She began her career in private practice but felt discouraged by restrictions of what she could do to serve patients with limited or no insurance.

In 2008, that prompted her to join Progressive Community Health Centers, which has four locations in Milwaukee and serves more than 16,000 low-income patients each year. Nearly 70% of its revenue comes from Medicaid reimbursements. Its patients are disproportionately impacted by health disparities and face socioeconomic challenges.

At PCHC, Tully has led quality improvement initiatives and clinical trials focused on chronic disease management. She launched a diabetes group visit model and introduced a fruit and veg-

DR. MADELAINE TULLY

etable prescription program.

Tully volunteers at the CH Mason Free Clinic on Milwaukee’s north side and trains medical residents through UW-Madison’s TRIUMPH program, which was created to address inequities and shortages of physicians in urban areas.

“She often works late into the evening and comes in on off days,” said Jenni Sevenich, chief executive officer of PCHC. “She visits patients in the hospital on her personal time and has been known to cover a prescription co-pay for a patient who is between jobs. If a patient misses an appointment, she will personally call them to ensure everything is OK. Madelaine does these things not because they are required of her but because she has simple compassion for fellow humans.”

Patients coming into the Lake Area Free Clinic in Oconomowoc are often navigating highstress situations beyond just their medical condition, such as homelessness, job insecurity and language barriers.

Dr. Peter Geiss, medical director of the clinic, has built a reputation of advocating for his patients to improve not only their health, but also caring about their lives outside the clinic.

In 2007, Geiss – who at the time was chief medical officer of ProHealth Care – took on the volunteer medical director role at the clinic. He went on to be president of the clinic division of ProHealth Care Medical Associates from 2011 to 2013, before launching his own health care consulting firm.

He spends about eight hours weekly providing medical care to individuals and families who lack insurance. Many patients work full-time but either aren’t offered health insurance or can’t afford premiums. By the end of 2019, LAFC will have had 11,000 patient visits.

“At the Lake Area Free DR. PETER GEISS Clinic, we see thousands of uninsured low-income working people who need health care,” Geiss said.

“I feel lucky that for the last 12 years I have been able to help provide the care these patients need.

After all, this is why I became a physician over 40 years ago.”

LAFC case managers said Geiss is committed to delivering high-quality and attentive care.

“As an RN working alongside him, I have witnessed first-hand his amazing work with countless patients. I have heard patients who were desperate and scared say, ‘You saved my life,’ ‘I don’t know what I would have done without your help,’ ‘You are a godsend,’ along with other high praises,” said Crystal Cepican, a case manager. “Many patients present to the clinic feeling sick and not knowing what is going on.

He researches the best treatment for patients.

He provides culturally competent care to them by listening to their concerns and situations.”

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Strategies MARKETING

The benefits of company uniforms A fringe benefit for employees that helps build your brand

MENTION UNIFORMS to your employees and they will probably conjure up images of orange polyester jumpsuits with “Norb” or “Nancy” over the pocket. Pretty grim.

But uniforms can be everything from simple T-shirts to high fashion apparel purchased at the trendiest boutique. As long as they are “uniform.”

Research shows uniforms work in the workplace. The American public favors the idea of employees wearing identifiable apparel almost 8 to 1, according to a study conducted for the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors.

ATTRIBUTE

% MENTIONING

Easier to recognize More professional More neat More pride in their company Better trained More predictable

97 73 69 66 58 53

Whether yours is a machine shop where heavy-duty uniforms are worn to withstand dirt and frequent laundering, or a financial institution where more formal business attire is standard, uniforms appeal to your customers.

This is a win-win tactic. Your employees get an attractive fringe benefit. You get a lot of good advertising.

Create visibility for your company Uniforms can build name awareness in your community and throughout your industry. Use your staff as walking billboards.

Not just at your office, either. Put your logo on baseball caps, T-shirts, jackets, golf shirts, the latest in casual wear, or any kind of clothes your staff likes enough to wear outside their homes. The more of your employees’ neighbors and friends who see your company name and logo, the better.

The key is to pick attractive apparel your employees will be proud to wear (e.g., a good quality casual shirt or 100% cotton sweater with the company crest tastefully embroidered on breast, collar or cuff) something stylish that they can wear around the office, and when they are running errands or cheering their kids on at the local soccer match.

There are good reasons for uniforms around the workplace, too. Wearing stylish clothes makes your employees happy while building a sense of camaraderie and team effort. Equally as important, the uniform look provides quick and easy identification for customers and vendors at trade shows, golf outings and industry events.

It’s easy to outfit your staff in uniforms. And not terribly expensive.

Simply choose your corporate “style” and take your clothes to a local embroiderer.

You’ll pay for a setup charge of a few hundred dollars to make your company’s name and logo.

(Remember, it’s not your employee’s name you want over the pocket. It’s yours!)

Then each shirt, jacket or baseball cap can be embroidered for a few dollars, depending upon the complexity of your logo.

The benefits of uniforms are many. They provide you one more way to get your name in front of your customers. Your employees appreciate the fringe benefit. And you’re assured they always look sharp.

Just try and stay away from the orange polyester jumpsuits. n

Appearance is important to your company’s credibility A client whose computer programmers frequently spent whole days in their customers’ offices was having trouble enforcing a dress code. The programmers, a creative and somewhat eccentric lot, often expressed their creativity and eccentricity in the way they dressed.

We shopped a few catalogs and outfitted all the programmers in khaki slacks and jean shirts with the company logo on the breast pocket.

They liked wearing the comfortable attire, and they all looked sharp. A few months later, we added dark slacks, sweaters, and several other outfits, all bearing the company logo.

ROBERT GREDE Robert Grede is the author of “Naked Marketing - The Bare Essentials.” He is president of The Grede Company, a Milwaukee-based consulting firm specializing in marketing and strategic planning for small business. More information is available at www.TheGredeCompany.com. biztimes.com / 53

Strategies LEADERSHIP

Enhancing the value of all leaders Don’t just focus on a single category I AM FREQUENTLY ASKED about the pace and success of getting more women into leadership roles. This is a perennial topic of discussion, debate and sometimes disagreement.

Not that some people don’t want to promote women. Who would admit that? The argument is that when we focus specifically on one category of worker by gender, profession, race or other characteristic, we miss a larger opportunity to develop and promote others outside the current lens.

The focus on women is by now a long-running effort. Yet results are uneven, and currently disappointing, not just in the United States, but globally. A 2018 Catalyst study shows that Eastern Europe leads the world in gender-diverse leadership. Grant Thornton’s 2018 rankings agree, showing 87% of European businesses having at least one woman in senior management and 36% of businesses’ senior roles being held by women.

That said, women held just 24% of senior roles across the world in 2018, down from 25% in 2017.

The share of female CEOs in the Fortune 500 dropped 25% between 2017 and 2018.

What’s going on?

Lots of things and that’s why numbers like these create heartburn and discouragement both for women and the companies that support them.

Using large company statistics to paint the picture of women in leadership skews the reality on the ground.

Take, for example, the number of wom54 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

en-owned businesses. Statistics from the American Express OPEN’s “The State of Women-Owned Businesses 2017” show that more than 11.6 million firms are owned by women, employing nearly 9 million people and generating $1.7 trillion in sales. Additionally, women-owned firms account for 39% of all privately held firms and contribute 8% of employment and 4.2% of revenues. Women of color own 5.4 million firms that employ 2.1 million people and generate $361 billion in revenues.

That’s not nothin’!

The point here is that women are succeeding. They are growing. Men are, too. Minorities are, too. The disadvantaged and disabled are, too.

There are more jobs than workers today, creating heartburn throughout the business community.

Rather than singling out one category of talent and telling a tale of woe or success, let’s dedicate our resources and energy to increasing the asset value of all our leaders. What does this mean? Helping emerging leaders look beyond the perks of the title to the breadth and depth of decision-making that goes with the role. Helping existing leaders understand their responsibility in continually developing others through active teaching, mentoring, modeling and broadening their capabilities. Recognizing that every organization, association, community and school system has an existing power structure that is necessary, sometimes arcane, and often dysfunctional.

That’s what change brings.

The human challenge of growth and change is well-documented through the ages. The antidote to chaos is patient and intentional learning. Including individuals who have not typically been part of leadership and decision-making roles creates tension. If you’ve ever handed car keys to a teenage driver, you know the feeling. Learning to choose a response when faced with unfamiliar challenges rather than reacting as you are wired to react requires discipline, experimentation and, yes, sometimes acute discomfort. It is how we mature.

Learning the business of your organization through study and experience is a great point of focus. Broadening your view to place your organization in a bigger industry-wide picture and learning about the forces that encourage or hamper growth is critical. Identifying individuals with specific skills and getting them in places of greatest influence and impact is both art and science. All take enormous energy. All require a preoccupation that places self in proper context.

The world is increasingly complex — and tough. Our leaders need to be smart, thoughtful, courageous and resilient. They need to be open to divergent points of view in order to develop a broad understanding of commerce and the players who participate. They need to recognize their power to contribute to organizational growth and success as well as their responsibility to join their talents with others.

We need to have women and men who are willing to lead, who aspire to achieve more, and who are not afraid to step into challenging positions. n

SUSAN MARSHALL Susan Marshall is an author, speaker and the founder of Backbone Institute LLC. For more information, visit backboneinstitute.com.

MANAGEMENT

Build them up 10 ways to create confident employees A LEADER’S DREAM is to have employees that have the wisdom to know the truth and the guts to do something about it. This type of discernment, in the moments that matter, assure leaders that their employees have the confidence to overcome obstacles and make effective decisions that align to the company’s vision, values and goals. I call this wisdom “gut intelligence.”

Here are 10 ways you can create confident employees who have increased gut intelligence and, therefore, are able to make clear, calm and confident decisions: STRATEGIC PLANNING When a leader engages employees in the creation of the vision, values, goals and initiatives— they become invested in the execution and results. This contrasts with a top-down process, in which leaders tell employees what the vision, values, goals and key initiatives will be. Being asked one’s opinion on strategy creates confidence, because that which we create we support.

VISION BOARD QUEST After co-creating the company’s vision, values and goals, have each employee create a vision board to help them see how they can personally contribute and add value. This helps to bring the unconscious knowing from the gut, up the gutbrain axis, for greater clarity and confidence.

MEDITATION PRACTICE Encouraging employees to take half an hour a day to ponder how to handle issues will help them increase their gut intelligence and confidence. When employees meditate, they are less likely to put the monkey on someone else’s back, ignore cues at the tip of the iceberg or take some-

one else’s monkey on their back. The reason is: the more we meditate, the more we become clear, calm and confident.

CREATE TEAMS While many initiatives are assigned to departments or individuals, there will be some initiatives that are better off being assigned to cross-functional teams. This is a good idea when greater intellect and buy-in is needed. When we create cross-functional teams that have a clear problem-solving question to answer, we create confident employees who learn more about the business from different vantage points. This helps them to make more confident business decisions for the overall good of the business.

CROSS TRAINING Providing cross training increases gut intelligence, promotes overall decision-making and confidence because it allows employees to better understand other areas of the business. To make cross training pay off, be sure to have employees focus on a goal and how each department can better reach that goal. Creating consciousness and collaboration increases confidence.

RECOGNITION Recognition is often considered the responsibility of one’s own manager. But what if recognition became more of a responsibility from everyone in the organization? When everyone partakes in recognizing who is contributing to achieving their goals, getting their initiatives done on time, meeting standards of excellence, innovation, customer service, teamwork and helping to achieve a ROI, it builds confidence because everyone’s perspective is considered.

QUARTERLY SCORECARDS Quarterly scorecards allow leaders to have a culture of increased gut intelligence and confidence. By doing scorecards quarterly, instead of yearly performance reviews, leaders give employees confidence by praising them on what they are doing well and coaching them on where they need improvement in a timely basis.

DIGITAL RESULT BOARDS When leaders use a digital results board they help their employees increase their gut intelligence and confidence by showcasing progress to the

goals and initiatives. The digital results board also inspires commitment, as it communicates publicly to everyone what they confidently know they can do, versus focusing on what they can’t do.

HUDDLES Huddles are a great way to raise the level of gut intelligence, solve problems, make collaborative decisions and increase the confidence in your employees. Huddles are used to have a quick meeting of the minds on issues that arise so everyone can move forward in a unified and confident way.

GOAL-ALIGNMENT CONVERSATIONS Similarly to the huddle, the goal-alignment conversation can be used to increase gut intelligence and confidence so that all agree on how to achieve the goals. A goal-alignment conversation is used to sync up a team, departments or individuals who may be rowing in different directions and therefore not using an agreed-upon approach.

When you utilize these 10 ways to create a foundation that supports increased gut intelligence, your culture will produce employees who are confident and make wiser decisions.

CHALLENGE: How might you increase your employees’ gut intelligence and confidence so you can have greater results? n

SUSAN K. WEHRLEY Susan Wehrley is the owner of BIZremedies. She is an executive coach and author of nine books. Her latest book is, “The Yogi Executive,” and this article is an excerpt from that book. You can learn more at BIZremedies.com or Susan@ BIZremedies.com. biztimes.com / 55

Strategies A BRIEF CASE

As a business leader, how do I spend more time working on the business rather than in the business?

Will Nasgovitz Chief executive officer Heartland Advisors “At Heartland, a time-tested, consistent framework for evaluating companies is at the center of every investment decision we make. Over the years, I’ve seen how this ‘investment mentality’ also helps in managing a successful business – including finding the time to actively work on the business.

“For example, successful investing requires zeroing in on critical information about each potential opportunity. A consistent framework helps avoid missing either the big picture or a vital detail.

“The same applies to managing the business.

I’ve found these lessons from investing helpful in identifying and asking mission-critical questions.

Those questions are vital in shaping strategy as well as keeping an organization’s focus on meaningful results.

“Part of asking tough questions is the willingness to hear ‘tough’ answers and to listen to differing views. Just as we strive to bring together different perspectives in analyzing an investment opportunity, it’s helpful to bring varied—and even conflicting—approaches together to support business progress.

“In both investing and business management, careful listening can help avoid unnecessary risks.

It also carries the benefit of freeing up time, as trusted team members put their talents to work in pursuit of a common goal.”

56 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

Alex Yampolsky

Brad Zepecki

Chief operating officer and co-founder Vytal Health (formerly Wellness Script)

President and chief executive officer Octavian Technology Group

“Unplugging completely has been the best and most eye-opening thing I can do for myself and my business. I regularly save up travel points and get away for three to five days somewhere exotic. I use my time there to take in the sun and a few drinks but most importantly to reflect and think. I always come back with pages full of ideas and one to two major revelations.

“Changing up the scenery and being able to focus without distractions has been very helpful.

My co-founder and I regularly take turns being away from the office and working out of local coffee shops. I use specific coffee shops when I need to grind and others when I need to zoom out and think or read.

“Doing a yoga practice is great because it helps clear my head from all the daily noise. When my mind inevitably wanders off during the practice, I end up having an ‘aha!’ moment of some kind or I am able to think about something very important I’ve been putting off.”

“If someone is not steering the ship, building a plan and a strategy to work toward our goals, it will be a lot harder to achieve them.

“I was with a former company about 18 months and we were not making headway advancing the business. I talked to one of the owners, who was my boss at the time. He said, ‘You have a diamond in Milwaukee.’ But I knew that I couldn’t grow this diamond in the rough by myself. So, I simply told my staff, ‘I need help.’ After that, people in the office got involved, and it was only then that the business began to take off. We aligned as a team around a vision and that made all the difference.

“Most business owners and entrepreneurs have trouble giving up control. I want to let go so that others have an opportunity to grow. It’s a leadership skill that you build once you realize it’s not all about you. Over the years, I had managers that I didn’t like because I never felt empowered. Give your people autonomy, hold them accountable and it will allow you the time to work on the business.

Be humble. Trust people to do their jobs.” n

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BizConnections BIZ PEOPLE

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

MANUFACTURING Perlick is pleased to announce Lindsey Linder joined our team as Vice President, Human Resources.

Prior to coming to Perlick, Lindsey was the Chief Human Resource Officer at ASQ. She’s also held positions at Rexnord and Broan-NuTone.

Lindsey received her bachelor’s and masters degrees from Marquette University.

In her new role, Lindsey will lead Perlick’s strategic growth efforts: becoming an employer of choice that drives attraction and retention of talent, building a culture founded on family values and creation of HR programs that drive organizational excellence to support our associates with career growth.

CONSTRUCTION Tricia Braun, former Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of WEDC, has joined the JP Cullen team at the construction management and general contracting firm as Director of Client Strategies.

MEDIA & MARKETING

INSURANCE

Brendan Griffith has been promoted to Senior Vice President and General Manager of Milwaukee at Reputation Partners, a strategic communications firm in downtown Milwaukee.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Dan Wolfgram has been named chief operating officer of Badger Mutual Insurance Company.

Wolfgram will join the Milwaukee-based company beginning December 2, 2019. As COO, Wolfgram will evaluate and implement a comprehensive strategic plan.

BANKING

Jennifer Verbrigghe has 19 years of experience helping clients maximize and protect their wealth. She works closely with families on achieving their financial goals, estate planning, financial education, tax planning, and preparing the next generation.

Kristine Iwinski brings over 25 years of banking experience to CIBC Commercial Banking in Wisconsin, focusing on helping privately held middle market companies achieve their business goals with banking solutions including lending and treasury management.

FINANCIAL SERVICES First National Bank (soon to be Forte Bank) is pleased to announce the hiring of Gary Heckendorf as vice president/ commercial lender. Heckendorf brings more than 25 years of banking experience and will help grow the bank’s presence in Ozaukee County.

BANKING Ryan Smalley will support middle market businesses in Wisconsin. He brings over 20 years of experience to PNC in commercial banking, risk management, underwriting and relationship management for commercial, mid-market and corporate banking clients.

LEGAL SERVICES William D. Gardner is a shareholder in the Banking and Commercial Finance Section.

He has extensive experience representing banks, non-bank lenders and borrowers in loan originations, workouts, financial restructurings and bankruptcies. Received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.

New Hire?

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58 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

NONPROFIT MILWAUKEE AREA CREATIVES CALL ON EMPLOYERS TO HIRE 1,600 MINORITY EMPLOYEES BY 2030 A new initiative of nonprofit organization Greater Together is aimed at increasing the diversity of metro Milwaukee’s creative industry.

Partners in the initiative, which include members of the region’s creative industry, are calling on their own firms to hire at least 1,600 minority employees in the next 10 years.

The Greater Equity 2030 initiative is based on research by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that highlights racial disparities in the region’s creative fields. The report indicates that an estimated 1,600 minority hires in creative fields are needed by 2030 in order for the industry to mirror the rest of the metro area workforce.

Initial partners include

Cramer-Krasselt, BVK, Hanson Dodge, Sosh, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Mindpool Live and SRH Marketing. Other supporters include the Zeidler Center for Public Discussion, Imagine Milwaukee, MKE/LAX, Milwaukee People’s Flag, Heil Family Foundation, Astor Street, NO Studios and 88Nine Radio Milwaukee. Partners have contributed $50,000 and sponsors have given $76,000 in support of the initiative so far.

As part of the effort, Greater Together said it will partner with Mayor Tom Barrett’s internship program to place 60 Milwaukee Public Schools juniors and seniors in internships at 30 creative industry employers next summer.

— Lauren Anderson

c alendar Milwaukee’s Finest Scholarship Foundation will host its Inaugural

Holiday Party on Saturday, Dec. 21, from 12-3 p.m. at Mitchell Street Public Library, 906 W. Historic Mitchell St., Milwaukee. More information is available at mfsf.org.

Starry Nights Charity will hold its third annual charity event on

Saturday, Dec. 21, at 10 p.m. at Company Brewing, 735 E. Center St., Milwaukee. The event will raise funds and awareness for Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity ReStore and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD and mental health support.

Twelve Bars of Charity Milwaukee will be held Friday, Dec. 20,

from 8 p.m. to midnight. The holiday pub crawl will benefit local charities, including Hunger Task Force, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Alzheimer’s Association, Wisconsin Humane Society, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, Best Buddies, Broadscope Disability Services and Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin.

More information is available at 12barsofcharity.com/Milwaukee.

D O N AT I O N R O U N D U P

AT&T gave $150,000 to four Milwaukee nonprofits, including the Salvation Army of Milwaukee County, Friedens Community Ministries, Feeding American Eastern Wisconsin and We Got This. | Milwaukee-based Heroes for Healthcare was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs. | Shorewood residents Larry and Elaine (Hafemeister) Lange made a $5.5 million bequest to the Shorewood Public Library. | The Milwaukee Bucks and Harley-Davidson recently made a $45,500 donation to the Harley-Davidson Foundation. | Menomonee Falls-based SKYGEN USA recently donated nearly $5,000 and 2,000 pounds of food to the Hunger Task Force. | Cousins Subs awarded a combined $5,000 to All Saints Catholic School, Giving to the Nations, Inc., Interchange Food and Wisconsin DECA.

nonprofit

SPOTLIGHT W O M E N ’ S F U N D O F G R E AT E R M I LWA U K E E

316 N. Milwaukee St., Suite 215, Milwaukee 414-290-7350 | womensfundmke.org Facebook: facebook.com/womensfundmke Twitter: @womensfundmke Year founded: 1986 Mission statement: To activate philanthropy that advances equity for women.

Primary focus of your nonprofit organization: We convene the community around interesting and important issues that impact women, award HER Scholarships to women who are non-traditional college students age 35 or older, and provide essential funding to area nonprofits focused on core system barriers.

Other focuses of your nonprofit organization: The Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee guiding principles are: » Inclusion: Empowerment of women. » Leadership: Develop and support women leaders. » Equity: Economic, social and political equality in all women’s lives. » Sustainability: Grow the endowment; maintain a responsible business structure that protects our assets and maximizes the use of funds.

Number of employees at this location: Three Key donors: American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, Associated Bank, Susan Engeleiter, Johnson Controls, Donna Kleczka, Nancy Peterson, Julie Ragland and Sterling F. Strause Revocable Trust

Board of directors: Julie Ragland, chair; Donna Kleczka, secretary; Deborah Roesner, treasurer; Erika Sander, chair, Grants Advisory Committee; Kareeda ChonesAguam; Sandy Cunningham; Barbara Drake; Heidi Furlong; Julie GorensWinston; Chris Grota; Melissa McCord; Carla Muñoz; Kat Ramirez; Sheila Reynolds; Cathy Seasholes; Monica Shah-Davidson; Marilka Velez; Jerri Washington.

Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes. What roles are you looking to fill?

We are seeking directors willing to help to grow the Women’s Fund endowment, engage others, and actively participate in organizational leadership.

Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: The easiest way for the business sector to get involved is to host and/or sponsor Women’s Fund events. We convene the community around interesting and important issues that impact women responding to events/ news as it evolves. We work closely with our sponsors regarding date, location, topic, event experience, etc. and are regularly seeking event partners.

Key fundraising event: Women’s Fund Presents, held annually in the fall.

Executive leadership: Lisa Attonito, executive director biztimes.com / 59

BizConnections VOLUME 25, NUMBER 18 | DEC 16, 2019

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 | advertising@biztimes.com EDITORIAL: 414-336-7120 | andrew.weiland@biztimes.com REPRINTS: 414-336-7100 | reprints@biztimes.com PUBLISHER / OWNER Dan Meyer dan.meyer@biztimes.com

SALES & MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Mary Ernst mary.ernst@biztimes.com COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT / OWNER Kate Meyer kate.meyer@biztimes.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR Andrew Weiland andrew.weiland@biztimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lauren Anderson lauren.anderson@biztimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Arthur Thomas arthur.thomas@biztimes.com REPORTER Brandon Anderegg brandon.anderegg@biztimes.com

BMO Tower rises where St. Charles Hotel once stood This 1932 photo by Henry Hunter shows the St. Charles Hotel the year it was razed. The hotel was built in 1858 and bought by Pabst in 1895. The brewer expanded and remodeled it before selling it in 1923. It closed after a prohibition raid in 1928. The Henry Bergh statue in the foreground was eventually moved to the Wisconsin Humane Society. The new BMO Harris Tower is currently being built at this site in downtown Milwaukee.

— Source: Milwaukee Public Library

COMMENTARY

Milwaukee’s hottest spot AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE CO.’S decision to locate its new Milwaukee office in the former Mandel Graphic Solutions building demonstrates the area around Fiserv Forum is the hottest spot in the region.

American Family plans to have 400 employees in the five-story, 110-year-old building located on North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, just over a block north of the arena.

The building is located just outside of the Deer District, a 30-acre development area controlled by the Milwaukee Bucks and anchored

by Fiserv Forum.

The arena has been a big success since its opening last year. Huge crowds have come to see the Bucks, one of the best teams in the NBA, Marquette games and an impressive list of concerts and other events. Led by reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks appear poised for another deep playoff run, so 60 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

the Deer District should be hopping again all winter and spring.

Most of the Deer District is still undeveloped land, but what the Bucks have developed so far includes the team’s training facility, an apartment building and the entertainment block with Good City Brewing, Punch Bowl Social, The MECCA Sports Bar and Grill, Drink Wisconsinbly and the Beer Garden. The entertainment block has become a lively destination, even on non-game days.

The Bucks have also hosted numerous events on the plaza in front of the arena, including the popular Christkindlmarket.

About a block west of the arena, the redevelopment of the former Pabst brewery complex into the mixed-use Brewery District is virtually complete. Badger Mutual Insurance announced recently that it will move its headquarters, and 90 employees, from the south side to The 42 building at the Brewery District.

One block south of the arena, J. Jeffers & Co. plans to transform the Journal Sentinel complex into a mixed-use development including 203 units of affordable, student and workforce residential housing.

One block north of the arena, redevelopment plans for the former National Ace Hard-

REPORTER Maredithe Meyer maredithe.meyer@biztimes.com REPORTER Alex Zank alex.zank@biztimes.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Paddy Kieckhefer paddy.kieckhefer@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Molly Lawrence molly.lawrence@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR Meggan Hau meggan.hau@biztimes.com

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

PRODUCTION & DESIGN GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com ART DIRECTOR Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com

Independent & Locally Owned — Founded 1995 —

ware building include a downtown Harley-Davidson dealership.

So, what’s next? The Bucks have big plans to develop the two vacant blocks south of Fiserv Forum (the former Bradley Center site) and two vacant blocks north and northeast of the arena. The Bucks are marketing land north of the arena for office development. Brookfield-based Fiserv is considering a new location for its headquarters and has already sponsored the name of the arena. Maybe the company will move its office next door.

The Bucks have also vetted hotel development proposals for sites north and south of the arena.

Construction at the vacant Deer District sites will have to wait until after the 2020 Democratic National Convention, to be held at Fiserv Forum, which will bring even more attention to the arena and the surrounding area. n

ANDREW WEILAND EDITOR

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

AROUND TOWN

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Disrupt Milwaukee 3.0 Disrupt Madison & Milwaukee held its third annual event at Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery as part of Wisconsin Startup Week.

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LOVINA AKOWUAH of LBA Consulting, ANGELA NINO of Empathic Workplace and KRISTIN STRUNK of Harley-Davidson.

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SEAN RETI of O.C. Tanner, ANDY TARNOFF of OnMilwaukee.com and BRIANNA RETI of O.C. Tanner.

3.

HEATHER OHLINGER and MONICA HINEK, both of Creation Technologies, and LORA MIRASOLA and STACY FENNER, both of Charter Manufacturing.

4.

MIKE BROOKS of National Business Furniture, and REBECCA LOPEZ and MEG KURLINSKI, both of Godfrey & Kahn S.C.

5.

TARA RAHMANI of MSOE, IVAN RAHMAN of Northwestern Mutual and SAM LISTER of BLNK Slate Media.

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BRIAN HENNING and KIRK MUENZENBERGER, both of ADP.

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JOHN HAMMER, DAN NOVAK, BRANDON POLACHOWSKI and KRISTIE WITHEROW, all of ADP.

8.

GLEN COLWELL of Pension Advisors and GLENN REID of Marathon Laundry Machines Inc.

2019 Commercial Real Estate and Development Conference BizTimes Media recently held its annual Commercial Real Estate and Development Conference at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.

9.

JENNIFER SENNETT and JEFF STOUT, both of CLA.

10. DAN REARDON and CARTER OLLES, both of Marquette University, and DENNIS SAMPSON of Ixonia Bank.

11. THOMAS MONAGHAN of Grapevine Realty and GLENN ERICKSON of HPF Commercial.

12. SHARI ENGSTROM of Sid Grinker Restoration Inc. and BRIDGET FRITZ of Moore Construction Services LLC.

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13. ALBERT MARKS of Mosaic Construction, and DILLAN DOMRO, MARGARET GEHRING and MOLLY OGDEN, all of CBRE. 14. TIM NEMEC, YANNI BAMBARAKOS and JOE PORTER, all of Tri City National Bank.

15. ISAAC BERG of Colliers International and PEPI RANDOLPH of Greenfire.

16. PATTI KEATING KAHN of PK2 Group and JULI KAUFMANN of Fix Development.

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17. PEPI RANDOLPH of Greenfire and KALAN HAYWOOD SR. of Haywood Group.

Photos by Maredithe Meyer

biztimes.com / 61

BizConnections

E.J. KUBICK |

CEO

The right people make challenging work possible E.J. Kubick was recently named chief executive officer of Waukesha-based MetalTek International. He says an important part of a leader’s job is to clearly communicate expectations and strategy.

“The two most important things a CEO works on are people and strategy. People need a strategy to connect to, and the strategy needs people to accomplish it.

“People are a company’s most valuable resource. As CEO, my job is to ensure our employees treat each other in a way consistent with MetalTek’s values. If I can clearly communicate what behaviors we expect and where we are going with our strategy, I have an excellent chance of engaging employees. Engaged employees will take initiative. If that becomes something employees expect of one another, then superior perfor62 / BizTimes Milwaukee DECEMBER 16, 2019

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

the LASTWORD

mance and growth will naturally follow.

“At MetalTek we encourage our people to hold each other accountable for behaviors that include your safety and the safety of others, ownership of problems and keeping commitments. In all, we have 21 behaviors that together define our culture. MetalTek has a companywide program where employees publicly recognize each other for demonstrating these behaviors. We celebrate team success, but recognizing individual contributions is just as important.

“Finding the right people for our culture starts at hiring. We can train technical skills but

MetalTek International Waukesha Industry: Custom metal products Employees: 900 (550 in Wisconsin) MetalTek.com not passion for the work. A MetalTek machine shop supervisor calls it ‘lean forward attitude.’ He and other MetalTek leaders are looking for people who physically lean forward, ask questions and are engaged.”

“MetalTek makes high specification metal products that power, protect and connect the world. Our customers are in demanding industries, including defense, petrochemical and aerospace. Challenging work, but the right people make it possible.” n

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