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STITCHED TOGETHER ASCENSION ACQUISITION COULD SHAKE UP WHEATON FRANCISCAN
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Presents:
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Bull or Bear? What’s in store for 2016.
2016
January 29, 2016 | 7:30 - 9:30 am Italian Conference Center
Foreign markets. Energy costs. Interest rates. These are just a few of the factors that promise to impact the economy in 2016. Which of these will work in your favor – and what should you be concerned about? Head into the new year armed with key insights from Economist Michael Knetter Ph.D. and leading industry experts. Seating is limited - register today.
Featured Presenters Include
Michael Knetter Ph.D.
Peter Gunder
Economist, President & CEO Chief Business Development Officer University of Wisconsin Foundation American Family Insurance
Jonas Prising
Todd Zakreski
Chief Executive Officer ManpowerGroup
President HUSCO Automotive
Economic Outlook • Employment • Innovation & Entrepreneurship • Manufacturing
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December 21 - January 10, 2016 HIGHLIGHT S Social Media Strategies
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Be quick, but don’t hurry.
Coffee Break
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A conversation with David Marks of Phoenix Investors LLC.
Book Review
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“Grit to Great”
The Good Life
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The Name Changer stitches names – or insults – on jerseys for sports fans.
Real Estate Spotlight
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Purchase of industrial building portfolio paying off for Westmount.
S TR ATE GIE S Coaching Susan Wehrley 27 Technology Jesse DePinto 28 Leadership 29
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Christine McMahon
Human Resources
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Jo Gorissen
COV E R S T ORY
Stitched together Ascension acquisition could shake up Wheaton Franciscan ON THE COVER: Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital-Milwaukee and Wheaton Franciscan Health CareSt. Joseph. — photos by Shelly Tabor
S P E C I A L R E P O R T:
MANUFACTURING : FOOD AND BE VER AGE 23 Coverage includes a look at the benefits of having four craft alcoholic beverage companies in the Lincoln Warehouse and a report on a Plover distillery’s entry into the Milwaukee market.
BIZ CONNECTIONS Biz Notes 31 Personnel File 32 SBA Loans 34 Glance at Yesteryear 36 The Last Word 38
V I S I T B I Z T I M E S . C O M F O R A D D I T I O N A L S T O R I E S , D A I LY U P D AT E S & E - N E W S L E T T E R S Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . 414-336-7120 Advertising . . . . . . . . . 414-336-7112 Subscriptions . . . . . . . 414-277-8181 Reprints . . . . . . . . . . . . 414-277-8181
Founded in 1995, BizTimes Milwaukee provides news and operational insights for CEOs, presidents, owners and other top level executives at companies in southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Kenosha, Walworth and Sheboygan counties). Subscription Customer Service: BizTimes Milwaukee, 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA, Phone (414) 277-8181, Fax (414) 277-8191, circulation@biztimes.com, www.biztimes.com
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BizTimes Milwaukee (ISSN 1095-936X & USPS # 017813) Volume 21, Number 20, December 21 - January 10, 2016. BizTimes Milwaukee is published bi-weekly, except two consecutive weeks in December (the third and fourth weeks of December) by BizTimes Media LLC at 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120, USA. Basic annual subscription rate is $42.00. Single copy price is $3.25. Back issues are $5.00 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 2015 by BizTimes Media LLC. All rights reserved.
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Job market outlook good for state, region
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mployers in Wisconsin and the metro Milwaukee area expect to hire at a healthy pace during the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey from Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup. Among employers surveyed in the Milwaukee area, 24 percent plan to hire more employees during the first quarter, while 5 percent plan to reduce payrolls and 71 percent expect to maintain current staff levels. That yields a net employment outlook of 19 percent for the area. For the first quarter of 2015, the Milwaukee area had a net employment outlook of 24 percent, and for the fourth quarter, the net employment outlook was 20 percent. For the Milwaukee area, 2016 job prospects appear best in: manufacturing; transportation and utilities; wholesale and retail trade; information; professional and business services; education and health services; leisure and hospitality; and other services, according to the survey. Employers in construction plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in financial activities and government are expected to remain unchanged.
The numbers are similar statewide, with 24 percent of employers planning to hire more employees during the first quarter, 8 percent expecting to reduce payrolls, 66 percent expecting to maintain their current workforce and 2 percent unsure of their hiring plans. That yields a net employment outlook of 16 percent for the state. For the first quarter of 2015, Wisconsin had a net employment outlook of 18 percent and for the fourth quarter, the net employment outlook was 15 percent. Nationally, of the more than 11,000 employers surveyed, 20 percent expect to add to their workforce and 6 percent expect a decline in their payrolls during the first quarter of 2016. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the national net employment outlook is
17 percent, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. The U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs in November and the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 5 percent, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, job gain numbers for September and October were revised upward. The U.S. economy added 145,000 jobs in September (revised up from 137,000) and 298,000 in October (revised up from 271,000). The Wisconsin economy added 15,100 private sector jobs in October, the best month of job growth of the year for the state, according to the latest state jobs data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the best one-month private sector job gain for the state in 23 years,
according to the state Department of Workforce Development. The state also added 1,000 government jobs in October. Wisconsin’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent in October. “With the largest one-month gain in private-sector jobs since 1992, Wisconsin employers are creating more opportunities for thousands of current and new workers to support themselves and their families,” said DWD Secretary Reggie Newson. “With significant job gains across industry sectors, an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent and a state labor force participation rate that is more than five points higher than the nation’s, Wisconsin continues to be a land of opportunity for our world-class workforce.” However, the BLS revised its estimates for September, which indicated that the state lost an additional 5,700 private sector jobs that month, for a new job loss total of 7,000. Including the preliminary October job numbers, the state has added 30,300 private sector jobs year-to-date, according to BLS data.
——Andrew Weiland
SOCI AL M E D I A S T R AT E GI ES
In the words of legendary coach John Wooden… “Be quick, but don’t hurry.”
With social, you can certainly be quick.
That’s social media in a nutshell.
But like any good marketing campaign, a good social campaign is tied to a greater strategic plan. Just because you can swiftly pivot from one social campaign to the next, one audience to the next, one social platform to the next, doesn’t mean you always should.
As we come to the close of 2015, marketing execs will be wide-eyed with excitement about strategies for the coming year. They’ll scurry to highlight trend lines and various pieces of ROI data to justify their bold plans for 2016. And social media departments will not be exempt. The sheer speed of social media can be tempting, allowing you to rapidly experiment and try new messaging, deftly moving from one targeted audience to the next, one medium to the next. Looking to advertise to manufacturing CEOs in southeastern Wisconsin through LinkedIn? No problem. Want to live tweet from your next conference? Social’s got you covered. Is your Facebook audience not as active as you had hoped? Fine, let’s try YouTube. 4
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The best approach to social media is an agile one – a process allowing for speed, but still based in thoughtful execution. With so many potential outlets and audiences, social managers need to have more frequent conversations with their teams and supervisors about the what, where and why of their social messaging. It’s critical for everyone to be on the same page about how social campaigns tie into an organization’s larger business goals and objectives. This helps you stay nimble in
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the social sphere, while always remaining focused on strategy. So for the New Year, be smart and be quick. But don’t ever hurry.
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——Mike Shefky is an account supervisor at The Ritterbusch Group.
leading edge COFF E E B R E A K
POLITIC AL BEAT
Pothole woes BY MATT POMMER, special to BizTimes
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year? “As a company, our smartest initiative was the implementation of our wellness program, which has had a positive effect on current employee attitude and morale. Additionally, the program has been a key deciding factor in employee recruitment. “On the investment front, our smartest move was the continuation of our portfolio re-balancing, in which we have continued to sell retail investment real estate, and reinvest those proceeds into large scale former single-tenant industrial real estate. The ‘Amazon effect’ has had a significant impact on the buying habits of American consumers and the declining need for brick and mortar storefronts, while space for manufacturing and distribution continues to be essential.”
A good friend who lives in suburban Milwaukee recently reported there were potholes on her neighborhood streets. She added that she blamed President Barack Obama for the situation. Cynics might blame conservative talk radio personalities. They regularly lay the blame for American problems, both real and perceived, on the White House doorstep. Republicans have no other choice than to blame Obama. He is the only major Democratic official in sight. Republicans have majorities in both houses of Congress and both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature. The governor is a Republican and conservatives even control the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It’s easy to understand why a solid Republican would surely think the problem resides with Obama. The truth is we are the problem. We want good roads, highways and bridges. But we’d rather not pay any more to accomplish those goals. In October, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities called on Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature “to enact an adequate, equitable and sustainable transportation funding system” that met both state and local needs. The League’s resolution cited a report by the Local Government Institute of Wisconsin that the Wisconsin system of roads and bridges is below average. Less than half the pavement is rated “good” in terms of smoothness. Thirty-five states, including three neighboring states, have roads and bridges in better condition than Wisconsin. Local governments, the people in charge of fixing most street potholes, rely significantly on state assistance. Critics have suggested the state has focused on major highway projects at the expense of help for filling neighborhood potholes. Early in December, gasoline was priced below $2 in some Wisconsin localities. That might be an opening for a gas tax increase to help pay for things like aid to local governments to repair potholes.
of our competition, we immediately begin to make improvements to upgrade our properties, including: roof replacement and repair; utility upgrades; safety improvements; energy efficient lighting upgrades; HVAC efficiency and reliability upgrades; insulation of exterior walls; site work; and the upgrade of interior and exterior appearance.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year? “Our greatest challenge will not be finding new investment opportunities, but will be the allocation of resources. Finding the proper prioritization of allocating both capital and employee time will be the key element in maximizing the full potential of our opportunities.”
What’s the hottest trend in your industry?
“The two hottest trends I see in commercial real estate are both areas that we try to avoid. First, the “There’s always something new at Phoenix! We ‘fee-driven’ model of real estate development, and continue to be on a rapid and exciting growth second, the flight to ‘turn-key investments.’ trajectory. Our footprint has expanded to encompass “I guess we would be considered an old-school approximately 8 million square feet in 19 states. real estate developer/investor these days. We “If you ask our employees, the greatest excitement assess risk, invest primarily our own capital (in centers around our new office building. Given our many cases, initially purchase a facility with all employee growth, we have outgrown our current cash), and we develop or mostly redevelop space. Our new space is currently being built out at property with a long-term view on ownership and 401 E. Kilbourn Ave., in returns. Many of the high downtown Milwaukee. It will profile developments seen provide an improved layout, today are promoted by double the current office developers who have little square footage, and enhanced real equity in the deal and employee and meeting are simply completing the amenities with on-site project for the initial develworkout/spa-like amenities.” oper fees built into the closing of the deal. “Secondarily, many of the Do you plan to hire any real estate firms (including additional staff or the public REITS) are more make any significant investment managers than capital investments in real estate developers. your company in the They have no appetite for property repositioning or next year? renovation, and have a “We’ve dramatically preference for a new or increased our employee newer property with a count in all areas of our longer term lease. We roll investment, management, David Marks up our sleeves and position and construction teams over Managing director ourselves on the opposite the last year. As our growth Phoenix Investors LLC end of the real estate continues, we anticipate 1818 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee spectrum, which has additional hiring, and have www.phoenixinv.com comparatively little demand planned for that growth in and better pricing. Industry: Commercial real estate our new office space. Therefore, we believe our “Making capital improveEmployees: returns are significantly ments is the key element in Approximately 85 (including above market, while our investment strategy. Phoenix Investors and affiliates) ironically, we are taking a Upon acquisition of a new Family: Wife, Rachael; daughters, lower level of risk.” industrial facility, unlike most
What’s new at your company?
Matt Pommer is the “dean” of Capitol correspondents in Madison. His column is published with permission from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, but does not reflect the views or opinions of the WNA or its member newspapers.
BY TH E NU MBERS
Teah and Eve; son, Solomon
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Sheboygan-based property and casualty insurance firm Acuity announced it plans to hire 120 employees over the next six months. n
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MA DE I N M I LWA U K E E
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The Janes family has owned at least part of Wisconsin Metal Products since it was founded in 1915, and president John Janes plans to keep the business in the family. Janes’ great-grandfather was one of the company’s founders, and stock was passed among family members for a number of years. John’s father got hands-on with running the business in the 1960s, and John came on board in 1978, taking the leadership position in the mid-’90s. The company stock is now mostly owned by John and his children. Now, he’s training his son-in-law, Robert Stillman, to eventually take over the business. “We should be in good hands in the future,” Janes said. “We’re not in any hurry – we have a good working relationship, so I bring some of the things I’ve learned over the years, from the Lean aspect and the 5S (workplace organization methods) aspect,” Stillman said. Over the past year, Stillman, who came on board in 2012, has led an effort to rebrand and refresh the company as it celebrates 100 years of metal stamping. WMP designed a new logo that is based on a logo used in the ’40s or ’50s. It also created a new brochure and is launching a new website soon. “We’re trying to kind of preserve the heritage, the history of what we’ve done,” Stillman said. Wisconsin Metal Products originally made Christmas tree stands and products purchased in hardware stores, but since the ’50s or ’60s has focused exclusively on custom parts. It’s a second-tier supplier for automotive manufacturers – some of its parts end up in the brakes and clutches of Ford and GM trucks – and also for the lawn and garden market, with similar parts for riding mowers and lawn tractors. The highest volume parts the company makes are shells for power brake boosters. WMP’s 67,000-square-foot facility has been in operation since the 1920s, with a few additions along the way. The company renovated the front office last year, complete with framed prints of some of its earliest press operators in action, and is continuously investing in upkeep of the building, Stillman said. “We wanted to hold on to that industrial experience of the company, but we’re also staying with the times,” he said. On the manufacturing floor, enormous floor-to-ceiling presses stamp up to 45,000 parts per shift. The company has 18 presses, the largest of which is 2,000 tons. During its busy season, which runs from about October to June, the company runs two shifts. “Just about everything we make is related to brakes and clutches,” Janes said. “I think a lot of people do business with automotive because of the high volumes, but the margins aren’t always super generous.” “We’re trying to diversify our customer base,” Stillman said. The company has looked into several local companies, as well as the railroad and lighting industries. Once a part has been ordered, the customer works with the engineering department to talk about what is feasible and economical, and tweak the design to what is desired. Once a final print has been agreed upon, WMP
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Wisconsin Metal Products keeps it in the family
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Economic Trends
ABOVE: This transfer stamped clutch part travels through 10 stamping stations to be formed. BELOW: Dennis Held loads steel discs into a press to be stamped into parts.
BizTimes Media will host the 2016 Northern Trust Economic Trends Breakfast on Friday, Jan. 29, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St. in Milwaukee. The theme this year is “Bull or Bear? What’s in store for 2016.” Featured presenters include Jonas Prising, CEO of ManpowerGroup, Michael Knetter, president and CEO of the University of Wisconsin Foundation, Peter Gunder, chief business development officer at American Family Insurance and Todd Zakreski, president of HUSCO Automotive. Cost is $60 and includes breakfast. For more information or to register, visit www.biztimes.com/trends. For a complete listing of all area events, visit the event section of our website.
www.biztimes.com/events
BOOK REVIEW
“Grit to Great” Wisconsin Metal Products Co. 1807 DeKoven Ave., Racine Industry: Metal stamping Employees: 32 www.wmpco.com
sends the part to be prototyped and shows the model version to the customer. When the prototype has been approved, WMP issues a purchase order for new tooling for its stamping presses, which it maintains in-house once they’re in use. Most parts are made of hot rolled steel, cold rolled steel or stainless steel. Giant rolls of material are fed into progressive stamping machines to make a part through a series of steps on a strip of material. The company also stamps transfer parts, in which a machine arm transfers a metal disc from one station to the next for another stamping step; and first operation blank parts, in which a part is stamped once and is finished.
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We are all dazzled by the notion that there are some people who get ahead because they are simply gifted, or well-connected, or both. But research shows that we far over-value talent in our culture. In “Grit to Great,” authors Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval tackle the topic. Many people who succeed – even the gifted ones – do so because they’ve put in the thousands of hours of practice and made their own luck, according to the authors. The book includes strategies that helped the authors, and many others, succeed professionally and personally. Drawing on the latest research in positive psychology, the authors discuss why optimists do better in school, at work and on the playing field. The authors explore the concept of tenacity – the quality that allows us to remain focused and avoid distraction in today’s fragmented world. “Grit to Great” is available at www.800ceo read.com for $15.96.
——Corrinne Hess
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NON P RO F IT N E W S
LISC names MANDI finalists Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Milwaukee chapter recently announced the 15 finalists in the running for the 2016 MANDI Awards. The 17-year-old program – which stands for Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation – calls attention to individuals, organizations and corporations making a hands-on impact throughout neighborhoods in need. Each finalist was selected by a 40-member independent volunteer committee that vetted public nominations. Winners will be named at a March 16 gala. Finalists of the U.S. Bank-sponsored program are: »» The “Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award” highlights a public space that helps build the community. Finalists are Moody Park Revitalization, Milwaukee County Parks & Partners; Open Doors, Historic Milwaukee Inc.; and Turtle Park, River Revitalization Foundation. »» The BMO Harris Cornerstone Award honors an organization for its commitment and effectiveness over time. Finalists are COA Youth & Family Centers, Northside Housing Initiative, and Safe & Sound. »» The Northern Trust Navigator Award praises an individual for leadership and collaboration. Finalists are Larry and Sharon Adams, founders, Walnut Way Conservation Corp.; Rodney Bourrage, Sr., founder and executive director, Operation DREAM; and Dick Larsen, community volunteer and retired president, Larsen Electric. »» The PNC Bank Trail Blazer Award applauds an innovative approach to a community issue. Finalists are ACTS Housing, Foreclosure Reclamation Project; Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee; and The Wisconsin Cycle, First Stage. »» The State Farm Building Blocks Award honors a real estate project that advances the community. Finalists are Maskani Place, Heartland Housing; Paper Box Lofts, Sherman Associates; and St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care-Bucyrus Campus, St. Ann Center. »» LISC also gives out the Wells Fargo People’s Choice Award, which honors a winner of a social media voting contest. All finalists are eligible for that award.
——Erica Breunlin
WIsconsIn’s bank for busIness™ Town Bank has the ability to offer the products and technology of the big banks paired with exceptional service, understanding and proper focus that can only be delivered by a community bank. Along with our invaluable experience, and wide array of commercial banking services, we believe that every client is more than just a transaction—they are a valued relationship.
T HE G O O D L I F E
What’s in a name? During a Green Bay Packers workplace spirit day in 2012, Dax Schaefer sported a Brett Favre jersey but covered Favre’s name with duct tape labeled “Dead to me.” Schaefer, a huge Packers fan, harbored resentment toward Favre for playing for the Minnesota Vikings during his last two seasons in the NFL. The act of defiance set in motion Schaefer’s company, The Name Changer, which stitches names on jerseys for sports fans. Those names include clever digs for athletes who have left a team –like “jerk” – as well as names of new athletes who have taken over old athletes’ numbers, and sports fans’ own names. The company, which Schaefer has operated out of his Milwaukee home since 2014, has worked on thousands of jerseys for sports fans and has served customers across the country, as well as in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Schaefer, who also is a corporate executive chef at Asenzya Inc. in Oak Creek, runs The Name Changer with help from a partner company, three seamstresses and his two children – 12-year-old Madeleine and 16-year-old Cole. Profits from the startup are directed into college funds for Madeleine and Cole. Long term,
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The Name Changer stitches custom names, like “Chalupa Batman,” on team jerseys for fans. Schaefer hopes to help his kids cover most of their college tuition so they don’t carry excessive debt when starting their own careers. Most jerseys tended to by The Name Changer represent professional football teams, but Schaefer has also worked on baseball jerseys and is branching into hockey. The entrepreneur has always been a creator, he said, and growing his own company has been a fun endeavor on the side. “I really do enjoy it,” Schaefer said. “It’s a lot of fun because for me it’s not a job. I’m growing something. I’m building something, and you don’t know where it’s going to go.”
10414-273-3507 W. Mifflin St.| www.townbank.us | Madison, WI 53703 608-282-4840 | www.townbank.us
PROUD TO BE A WINTRUST COMMUNITY BANK. We are nearly 3,500 community and commercial bankers, home loan officers, financial advisors and specialty lenders focused solely on our customers and the communities where they live. We all have the same mission: To provide best-in-class financial services to all of our customers, be the local alternative to the big banks, and to improve the communities which we call home.
*Securities and insurance products offered through Wayne Hummer Investments, LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC) founded in 1931. Trust and asset management services offered through The Chicago Trust Company, N.A. and Great Lakes Advisors, LLC respectively. Investment products such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC or any federal government agency, not bank guaranteed or a bank deposit, and may lose value.
——Erica Breunlin w w w.biztimes.com
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leading edge O N T HE M ON E Y
BR EA K ING GR OUN D
Employees, customers with troubled credit can impact your bottom line Credit. Thanks to a deluge of daily advertisements reminding us of the importance of good credit, we’re well aware of the weight our credit scores carry. But did you know that 19 million people in the U.S. are considered “unscorable?” That means 10 million Americans have a thin credit file and another nine million are considered inactive. Furthermore, there are 26 million Americans without a credit score. Those numbers are startling, especially for business leaders. While the consequences of poor credit for individuals and families can be personally devastating, poor credit among employees and customers puts business productivity and profitability at risk. When poor credit prevents employees and customers from buying a car, renting an apartment or owning a home, job performance and sales become vulnerable. For those 45 million Americans with troubled credit, and countless others with fair credit longing to see improvement, there’s good news. It is possible to rebuild credit. In fact, many consumers are experiencing dramatic improvement in this area. Paying bills on time, paying off debt, and keeping a watchful eye on credit history are musts. This diligence improves a credit score over time, helping consumers, their employers and the businesses they patronize. Enrolling in bank products that are monitored by a credit agency can also significantly impact a credit score. When an agency monitors on-time loan payments, the
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL HQ Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. is building a $450 million, 32-story, 1.1 million-square-foot office building on its headquarters campus. The project, Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons, is expected to be complete in 2017.
——Corrinne Hess
result is often a stronger rating. In fact, up to 77 percent of consumers with low or weak credit scores who have enrolled in a bank product that includes agency monitoring have seen an increase in their scores, with an average jump of 50 points. Consumers with no previous score, using the same credit building product, have seen their scores rocket from zero to 641 points in 12 months. As leaders, many of us have an opportunity – a responsibility, even – to help our employees, our customers and our communities understand the importance of credit. Helping others take charge of their scores makes a difference for them, and for you!
——Nina Johnson is senior vice president and Community Reinvestment Act officer for Milwaukee-based Guaranty/BestBank.
2016
Construction Matters.
Milwaukee Chapter No. 13
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Thursday, January 14, 2016 6:45-9:30 a.m.
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Our great lineup of speakers continues with: RESIDENTIAL: Stewart Wangard, Wangard Partners, Inc. RETAIL: Ross Koepsel, Commercial Property Associates, Inc. INDUSTRIAL: Brian S. Parrish, PARADIGM Real Estate, LLC OFFICE: Matt Hunter, CBRE
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ON LIN E POLL
Re: Giving back “Demonstrate and participate in passing on goodness in the world because it only takes a moment to do so.” — Dave Wendland, Hamacher Resource Group
What should be done to prevent mass killings in the U.S.? (multiple votes were permitted):
Greater public investment in mental health programs
48%
More gun control laws
40%
Better enforcement of existing laws
40%
Increased firearms freedoms
19%
Greater support for anti-violence programs
18%
Re: Governor’s Business Plan Contest “Since it was created in 2004, the Governor’s Business Plan Contest has helped hundreds of young firms gain footing. Among other platforms, the contest is a big part of the statewide strategy to create and support more startups.” — Tom Still, Wisconsin Technology Council
Re: Selling during the holidays “Holidays are an excuse for decision makers to put buying decisions on hold. But the worst of them are the Christmas to New Year.”
MEET THE MEDIA Rick Moon of Lunar Communications, Denise Barnett of Snapdragon Flowers, Keith Schmitz of KRPR Inc. and Andy Larsen of Boelter + Lincoln Marketing Communications attended The Milwaukee Press Club’s annual Meet the Media event.
2016 GIVING GUIDE
— Jeffrey Gitomer
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Smart Enough to Know... It doesn’t have to be lonely at the top
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TEC provides the opportunity for business leaders to learn from non-competing peers in a confidential setting with an experienced TEC Facilitator. The results speak for themselves: Member companies grow on average 2.5 times faster than non-member companies. TEC members receive: • Full and half day meetings led by a specially-trained, experienced TEC Facilitator • Personal coaching sessions • Workshops led by business experts • Online best practices library
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innovations Sendik’s rolls out online shopping platform
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rocery shoppers on the go can trade in their wire shopping carts for virtual ones with a new online platform launched by Sendik’s Food Market. The platform, Sendik’s Express, enables customers to browse and select grocery items online, pay for them online and pick up their full orders in store. The platform is web-based and can be accessed through any computer, tablet or smartphone. The digital tool, which ERICA BREUNLIN P: (414) 336-7121 E: erica.breunlin@biztimes.com Twitter: @EricaBreunlin
the Whitefish Bay-based grocer launched in November, holds an inventory that almost mirrors what is offered at Sendik’s brick-and-mortar locations. Customers can add more than 40,000 grocery items to their online shopping lists – everything from bakery goods to dairy products, deli meats, frozen foods, home goods, flowers, meats and seafood, produce and alcohol. “From an owner’s perspective, the vision was that the experience online met the same expectations that we set in our physical stores,” said Ted Balistreri, owner of Sendik’s Food Market. The tool aims to save a commodity that Mark Birmingham, executive director of new business development at Sendik’s, said everyone is short of – time. Through Sendik’s Express, a Sendik’s customer can log in and begin searching a catalog of items by navigating an outline
of categories or just browsing items generally. Customers can add grocery items directly to their online carts and pay for their items with a debit or credit card online. A $5.95 flat fee applies to each order, no matter the size. From there, personal shoppers at Sendik’s stores take over, circulating through store aisles and talking to department heads to ensure an order comes together accurately. Should a question arise or clarifications need to be made, a personal shopper will call the customer directly. While finalizing his order, a virtual customer can designate a pick-up time – at least four hours after he fires off the order. When the customer arrives at a Sendik’s store to pick up his bags, he can call or text the store and pull into a parking spot set aside for online shoppers. The personal shopper will then emerge with groceries in tow and load them into the customer’s vehicle. Sendik’s developed Sendik’s Express in partnership with a technology company well-versed in e-commerce. The grocer would not disclose the name of its technology partner. The development process – from the stage of investigating software providers to the point at which Sendik’s took the web tool live – covered about a year, according to Birmingham. Sendik’s had been wanting to create an online shopping experience for its customers for the past several years and had an online project in the works at least six years ago. The company abandoned the
project when it wasn’t meeting its expectations and when it couldn’t find the kind of tool that would uphold its brand expectations. “Demonstrating the integrity of the company, we’re not doing things just to do (them),” Balistreri said. “We decided to take our time and make sure we were doing it
Sendik’s Food Market 5623 N. Lake Drive, Whitefish Bay Innovation: Sendik’s Express, an online grocery shopping platform www.sendiks.com/shop/ sendiks-express
correctly, and we finally found the keys to make it happen.” The initial launch of Sendik’s Express included seven stores. Within two weeks, Sendik’s made the platform available at all 11 of its full-line stores in southeastern Wisconsin. During its first few weeks, the tool attracted a range of users, from young families to the elderly, and far exceeded the expectations of Sendik’s executives. Sendik’s Express is the only online grocery tool of its kind in the region, according to Balistreri and Birmingham, and one customers have been seeking. “Throughout our nearly 90 years of
Sendik’s Express houses an online catalog of grocery items for shoppers to browse.
business, we’ve been successful because we’ve really listened to our customers,” Balistreri said. “And understanding our customers well, we understood that there was a need for something like this. And we’ve always been innovative, and we think that this innovation helps us be that trusted grocer in this area.” In a crowded grocery marketplace, Sendik’s Express gives the store “another point of differentiation,” Birmingham said. Sendik’s plans to continue enhancing the online platform and refining the search process to make it as easy as possible for customers to find the products they need, Birmingham said. n
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real estate
Tenants renewed leases at 5201 W. Donges Bay Road, Mequon.
Purchase of industrial building portfolio in Milwaukee area paying off for Dallasbased Westmount
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n February, Dallas-based Westmount Realty Capital LLC invested in the Milwaukee market, purchasing a portfolio of 10 underutilized industrial buildings in the metro area. Most of the buildings were built in the 1970s, needed major capital improvements and had numerous rolling leases and vacancies. CORRINNE HESS P: (414) 336-7116 E: corri.hess@biztimes.com Twitter: @CorriHess
Westmount, which purchased the 1.7 million-square-foot portfolio from Oak Brook, Ill.-based CenterPoint Properties for $61 million, took a proactive management role and listened to its local real estate brokers. The effort paid off. In 10 months, two of the most underperforming buildings in the portfolio
have been sold, bringing in a profit of $1.8 million, and the eight remaining properties in the portfolio are one lease away from full occupancy. “We’re 114,000 square feet from full vacancy,” said Stephen Kanoff, founding partner, director and chief investment officer of Westmount. “It’s not a matter of if, just when.” The vacancy is at 7501 N. 81st St., a 183,958-square-foot Kanoff industrial building that was constructed in 1987 and renovated in 2010. “Westmount has taken a proactive management role and let us be aggressive; it has been a great team effort,” said Chad Vande Zande, principal with the Boerke Co. Vande Zande works with Westmount as a special consultant and was familiar w w w.biztimes.com
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with all of the properties because of his previous role working as part of the team selling the properties for CenterPoint. “Westmount is like a lot of different investment groups,” Vande Zande said. “They are a national player – not huge, but cover a lot of markets. I think they have been a good addition to our community.” Boerke Co. principal Jeff Hoffman took the lead on the portfolio. A year before Westmount entered the Wisconsin market, the firm purchased a similar-sized portfolio in Chicago. Milwaukee’s proximity to Chicago was attractive to Westmount, as were its demographics, Kanoff said. Kanoff would love to buy another portfolio in Milwaukee, but it has to be another large transaction – in excess of $20 million. “We’re chasing yield and we’re having to go to secondary markets, like this one, where there is less competition with other buyers,” he said.
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Ten months after his initial investment, Kanoff continues to believe investing in the Milwaukee area was the right decision. “We’re not geniuses; there were just a lot of potential deals on the table that the previous owner was not responding to – that is part of what attracted us to the deal,” he said. “We were able to make the most of those potential leases.” He also knew when to sell buildings that were not enhancing the portfolio. The first was a 100,000-square-foot, 46-year-old property that was 22.4 percent occupied at 11925 W. Carmen Ave. in Milwaukee. The Carmen Avenue building was a problem from the beginning, Kanoff said, but the Boerke Company was able to find a needle-in-the-haystack with a tenant to make use of the space. “In the case of that building, we were just lucky sometimes,” Kanoff said. “Our business plan consisted of selling some of the less homogenous buildings and we 11
real estate felt it was the appropriate time to sell.” Kanoff purchased that property for $1.4 million and sold it for $2.8 million to Hilmot Corp., a manufacturer and installer of conveyor systems, which moved its operations from the City of Pewaukee to Milwaukee and more than doubled its space. The second building sold by Westmount from the Milwaukee area port-
folio was a 36,468-square-foot, 45-yearold building at 2450 S. 170th St. in New Berlin. The firm purchased it for $840,000 and sold it to Sharp Products for $1.25 million. That sale was a double win, Kanoff said, because his company was able to secure a buyer without spending capital to improve the building.
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Tenants have renewed leases at 2900 S. 160th St., New Berlin.
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In addition to the building on 81st Street, Westmount still owns seven buildings located in the Milwaukee metro area: »» 5401 W. Donges Bay Road, Mequon, 442,188 square feet »» 7025 W. Parkland Court, Milwaukee, 226,109 square feet »» 2900 S. 160th St., New Berlin, 183,480 square feet »» 9251 Fountain Blvd., Menomonee Falls, 182,000 square feet »» 16800 W. Ryerson Road, New Berlin, 180,284 square feet »» 6736 W. Washington St., West Allis, 113,372 square feet »» 16405 W. Lincoln Ave., New Berlin, 91,473 square feet Now that he has a homogenous group of eight buildings that are 92 percent oc-
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cupied, when will Kanoff sell? “There are no immediate plans to put them on the market,” Kanoff said. “Now we’ll enjoy the cash flow of having them leased. It’s yin and yang. If you sell early, the IRR (Internal Rate of Return) is higher, but your cash on cash multiple is lower. It’s more heart than science.” The plan, he said, is to maximize the length of the remaining terms of the leases and then decide. “With multiple tenants, rent roll is always organic and you come to a point in time when all of those lines converge, you sense the market is taking a turn and it’s time to sell or we’ve maximized it to the point where we’ve gotten enough cash flow and sell,” Kanoff said. “It’s a whole recipe. You can’t bake a cake and leave out an ingredient. Timing is everything.” n
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ECONOMIC SURVEY AND EVENT PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO 2016 WHEN DAVE VETTA, president and CEO of First Business Bank-Milwaukee, launched the First Business Economic Survey for the Greater Milwaukee Region in 2008, he had no idea that it would document an historic benchmark. It was early in the Great Recession and the data didn’t look good. “But it turned out to be a significant place to start measuring regional activity from” says Vetta. “We’ve come so far in seven years, and we’ve got the numbers to track it.” Now in its seventh year, the First Business Economic Survey delivers an annual snapshot of southeastern Wisconsin’s middle market business owners’ predictions for the year ahead. In addition, the survey results include the prior year’s and other historic data, creating a map of regional economic trends. The release of the survey, by design, coincides with the annual Key Industries panel discussion, held this year on December 11 at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee. Over time, attendance has grown from about 75 in 2008 to over 400, on average, today. For the last four years, Governor Scott Walker has spoken to
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attendees about economic trends in both the region and the state. From the beginning, the Waukesha County Business Alliance (WCBA) and BizTimes Milwaukee have been partners. “Our objectives were aligned” said Vetta, “to get to the pulse of what’s happening in the business community and provide a forum for understanding those results in a dynamic environment.” WCBA president Suzanne Kelley says the survey can be a valuable tool for regional business leaders. “The ability to look at region-specific economic trends – across multiple industries – is an invaluable resource for not only our members, but for companies throughout southeastern Wisconsin.” Vetta agrees. “We’ve always wanted to make sure people walked away with something meaningful to apply. It’s rare to get business owners together to talk about business, and we’ve achieved this.” As in past years, the 2015 panel featured five business leaders representing different industries – and perspectives. See what they have to say – as well as photos from the 2015 Key Industries panel and a breakdown of key survey highlights – on the pages that follow.
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Key Industries Highlights ON DECEMBER 11, 2015, over 400 business leaders gathered at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee for a morning of valuable business insights for the coming year. The event included a keynote address by Governor Scott Walker, a panel discussion of distinguished business leaders on their predictions for our region in 2016 and the unveiling of the seventh annual First Business Economic Survey for the Greater Milwaukee Region. Conducted by a third party and underwritten by First Business Bank, the survey polls 100 regional executives on their predictions for their own companies in the coming year, and compares aggregated data year-over-year. Copies of the survey can be downloaded at www.firstbusiness.com/survey. Read on for highlights from the panelists, an overview of the survey and a glimpse at Irgens’ Corridor Project, opening in Brookfield in 2016.
JIM ZAISER PRESIDENT, HYDRO-THERMAL CORPORATION
“Manufacturing in Wisconsin is about people working together.” A recent report shows that for the second time since 2009, US manufacturing factories registered a contraction in the marketplace and 27 percent of CEOs intended to shrink capital outlays. There are a lot of factors that influence that – slow growth in China, mediocre capital spending in the US, a strong US dollar and low oil prices. It’s great for gas prices at the pump, but a lot of manufacturing in the area supports that industry. Our response is that the dollar situation has decreased our export business by 40-percent from last year, but now we’ve seen a huge comeback in the last two months. And it creates other opportunities, for example, in the ethanol industry. Manufacturing may be softening, but anything is better than in 2008 when I became president of Hydro-Thermal.
TIM HANLEY GLOBAL LEADER, CONSUMER & INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS, DELOITTE
“Everyone seems to be keeping a sharp eye on costs, and to be increasingly cautious on spending.” The 2015 First Business Economic Survey findings appear to be slightly more optimistic than the views I am hearing expressed from client senior executives I am meeting both locally and throughout the US. For example, the First Business Economic Survey revealed that 70 percent of respondents expect performance to improve further in 2016. When Deloitte Global surveyed CFOs in North America recently, many remain buoyed by the strength of the North American economy but have voiced strong concerns about how slowing Chinese growth could hit home. They remain committed to growth agendas, but are finding growth to be an increasing challenge, particularly for those that rely on markets outside the US. Everyone seems to be keeping a sharp an eye on costs, and to be increasingly cautious on spending.
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BRAD ZEPECKI MANAGING PARTNER, SAFENET CONSULTING, INC.
PRESIDENT/COO, IRGENS
“Building a pool of strong local technologists will be key.”
“The Greater Milwaukee Area real estate market is strong.”
Given that our economic outlook continues to be positive and the importance of technology and talent to growth, building a pool of strong local technologists will be key. In the short term, one of the biggest challenges companies face is the hiring and retention of highly qualified technical people. For continued success, we need to start at the K-12 education levels and instill in our kids that, believe it or not, a technology career is cool, exciting and makes a major impact on everyday life and business. Additionally, business investment – in education, training, hiring and retention and the myriad of enterprise technology choices available – will ultimately be the driver that take businesses to the next level.
The Greater Milwaukee Area real estate market is strong, and the First Business Economic Survey echoes what we have experienced firsthand in the marketplace. As companies continue to hire to meet business demands, we are seeing their physical plant expand, along with longerterm commitments. This, combined with other positive economic indicators, has resulted in an overall increase in real estate investment.
GREG MARCUS CEO, MARCUS CORPORATION
“Due to the lack of investment in convention facilities, our community is falling behind the country.” Overall I think the tone of the survey reflects what we are seeing in the community. Unfortunately, due to the idiosyncrasies of our businesses – rooted in hospitality and entertainment as they are – it is a little tough to give an exact read. While the hotel business is the more economically sensitive of our two businesses, the potential impact of strengthening demand for hotel rooms is being muted by an influx of heavily-subsidized supply. Further, our booking windows are relatively short (within 90 days, generally) which further inhibits our ability to predict outcomes into the future. The only long-term indicator in the hotel business for us is convention business, and unfortunately for Marcus Corporation and others, due to the lack of investment in convention facilities, our community is falling behind the country. As for the theatres, it is really all product-dependent. If the movies are great, people show up. If they’re not, in the words of Yogi Berra, “If they ain’t going to come, no one can stop them.”
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First Business
ECONOMIC SURVEY 2015 Results
Sales Revenue - Projected
Executive SUMMARY
100% 80%
Record-tying positive performance on sales and strong performance on profitability
60%
48% of businesses reporting an increase in Operating Cost as a Percentage of Revenue
40%
Capital expenditures were the same or higher for 81% of respondents (a further 26% expect an increase in 2016)
20% 0% 2012
2013
Further increases in sales and profits expected, and those expecting decreased sales and profits are at historic low levels
Decrease
Hiring and wages both expected to be strong
2014 Unchanged
2015
2016
Increase
Profitability - Projected
The outlook for 2016 is strongly optimistic, with 70% of companies expecting improved performance over 2015
80% 60% 40%
Will you perform better or worse overall in 2016 compared to 2015?
20% 0% 2012
70%
2013 Decrease
2014 Unchanged
2015
2016
Increase
20% 10%
Number of Employees - Projected Worse
No Change
80%
Be er
60%
Factors Leading to Worse Performance
40%
Domes c sales shor all Higher
20%
opera ng costs Skills shortage
0% 2012
Federal government regula ons
2013 Decrease
Domes c compe on
2014 Unchanged
2015
2016
Increase
Insufficient cash flow Poli cal unrest/war
FULL SURVEY Available
State government regula ons Interna onal compe on Interna onal sales shor all
Get your free copy of the full report including industry specific data at
firstbusiness.com/survey
Technology changes 0.0%
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20.0%
25.0%
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THE CORRIDOR
A SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC - PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
J
ust off Bluemound Rd. near Calhoun Road, construction equipment rumbles throughout a jobsite in a synchronized method. Dirt is being moved and the land is getting prepared for what is soon to become The Corridor, a 66-acre master plan mixed-use development in Brookfield. While the Corridor continues to take shape, the main “foundation building” actually took place much earlier in the form of a public-private partnership developed between the City of Brookfield and Irgens Partners LLC. Driven by the vision of the project’s potential for the community and the city of Brookfield, the partnership came together through commitment and a combined focus by city officials and Irgens to make it a reality. This included incorporating public/green space and community use facilities. Safe and convenient transportation that offered connectivity and a quality pedestrian urban experience were also key elements. The development needed to provide high quality, visibility and value with a focus on employment along with the ability to generate additional or significant tax revenue. Lastly, the project design conceived needed to reflect new urbanism, be environmentally sustainable with attractive landscaping and streetscaping and ultimately deliver a high profile to
attract business and economic growth. Because of the dedicated effort, teamwork, and a commitment to the city’s vision and public support, The Corridor is set to become Brookfield’s next community asset and destination. “This is a great working example of a successful public - private model,” said Dave Arnold, Executive Vice President at Irgens Partners, LLC. “Without the hard work and cooperation from the city officials as well as the public support, substantial job creation due to projects like The Corridor would be extremely difficult to accomplish.” Public support plays an important role to help construct roads and infrastructure to help level the playing field and make the Corridor competitive with developments in surrounding communities using similar approaches. It also provides other public benefits including pedestrian friendly access to green space, trails and other walking/biking pathways. “The goal of the City of Brookfield in partnering with Irgens was to make the 66 acre Corridor a truly premier commercial development and lasting legacy for our community,” said City of Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto. “I believe we are off to a great start.” The development will consist of three components: The Shoppes at the Corridor with 140,000 square feet of
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retail space, high-quality retail stores and destination restaurants; The Corridor Corporate and Technology Park with over 400,000 square feet of Class A multi-tenant office buildings; and a multi-purpose site available for a health/wellness center, a hotel and potential conference center. The Ruby House and Barn will be renovated and repurposed as a complimentary commercial asset for the community. The possible relocation of Visit Brookfield has been mentioned for the space. The Corridor continues to gain momentum as the buzz continues with each new tenant announcement. Current businesses that will call the Corridor home include: Dick’s Sporting Goods, Portillo’s, a Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, a branch bank, a financial services firm and a premier national health club. 500 construction jobs have been created with over 3,000 high-value, high-wage positions to be generated once the Corridor is completed over the next five to seven years. The various benefits of The Corridor will be enjoyed by many for years to come once it is completed. Those who continue to work diligently on the successful public-private partnership, in the spirit of making Brookfield even more attractive, productive and viable, can be proud of the legacy that is currently being built.
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cover story
STITCHED Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Milwaukee.
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BY CORRINNE HESS, staff writer
hen Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare joins longtime competitor Co-
that is more efficient than the current way,” said Jim Mueller, chief executive officer of
lumbia St. Mary’s under Ascension Health’s massive umbrella early
Mueller QAAS LLC, a Waukesha health benefits consulting firm. “A Wisconsin leader
next year, it could mean major changes regionally for the industry.
(for Ascension) will be named sometime in the first half of 2016, and that person will
The combined health care systems will reduce redundancies in the market – both
at the clinical level and with administrative overhead – which, if executed correctly, could lower costs to the benefit of employers and patients.
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The Wheaton Franciscan Sisters announced in October that they had signed a letter of intent transferring all of their operations in southeast Wisconsin to St. Louis-
“Ascension is a well-oiled machine at this point. It has a way of doing business 18
move swiftly on a total reorganization, integration and execution of a game plan.”
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based Ascension, the parent company of Columbia St. Mary’s.
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TOGETHER Wheaton Franciscan-St. Joseph Campus in Milwaukee.
Wheaton is one of the largest health care providers in the Milwaukee area, with nearly 11,000 employees, eight hospitals, three long-term care facilities and several clinics. Its Wisconsin operations are based in Glendale. As a system, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare has more than 100 sites in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Colorado, including 14 hospital campuses, three transitional and extended care facilities and two home health agencies. Columbia St. Mary’s, which has been part of Ascension since 1999, has three
hospitals and several clinics in the Milwaukee area. Upon the expected closing of the transaction with Wheaton Franciscan in the first quarter of 2016, Ascension Wisconsin will include 27 hospitals, more than 24,000 employees, 150 clinics and $3.5 billion in annual operating revenue. Ascension is already the country’s second-largest health system by revenue and the largest Catholic health system in the world, with 131 hospitals in 24 states. The system reported strong fiscal 2015 w w w.biztimes.com
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financial results, which it attributed to increased patient volume, particularly in the outpatient setting. For the fiscal year ending June 30, Ascension’s reported operating margin increased to 3.4 percent, up from 3 percent in fiscal 2014. Anticipating that Wheaton Franciscan president and chief executive officer John Oliverio is nearing retirement (Oliverio’s future plans have not been announced and he denied a request for an interview), the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters were looking for a Catholic system that could
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continue their mission. “As the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters looked to assure their mission will endure, it became clear that the right course was to seek out the organization with the best fit for each of our health care regions and housing division,” Oliverio said in a statement on Oct. 29, the day the acquisition was announced. Sister Pat Norton, chair of the sponsor member board for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, said the decision came after a lengthy discernment process by the Sis19
SHELLY TABOR
Ascension acquisition could shake up Wheaton Franciscan
SHELLY TABOR
cover story
Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Milwaukee.
ters, who are aging and whose numbers are dwindling. “We wanted to transfer our corporate ministries while these ministries are healthy, fiscally sound, and have a strong sense of mission and values,” Norton said. “The choice to transfer our ministries ensures that the needs of the times will continue to be addressed in each community, as the Sisters have worked to do for more than 140 years.” A source who is familiar with the discernment process, but who did not want to be identified, said Catholic-owned hospitals such as Wheaton base decisions on the mission, not the business. He believes the decision to be acquired by Ascension had just as much to do with the system’s size and stability as it did with its beliefs. For example, the Hospital Sisters Health System, which has hospitals in Wisconsin and Illinois, including in Green Bay, Sheboygan and Eau Claire, is a very conservative order, while Agnesian HealthCare in Fond du Lac is run by younger and less conservative nuns, so those systems would not have been as good of a fit, he said. Wheaton’s out-of-state properties will be acquired by other entities: »» Mercy Health Network will acquire Wheaton’s hospitals in Iowa. »» Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital
in Wheaton, Ill., will become part of Northwestern Medicine. »» Franciscan Ministries, a division of Wheaton, plans to transfer its affordable housing property portfolio to Chicago-based Mercy Housing Lakefront. The transfer will include Franciscan Ministries’ current 2,620 units of housing, in addition to the pending acquisition of another 1,200 units in eight states. Bill Petasnick, who retired in July 2012 as chief executive officer of Wauwatosabased Froedtert Health, said being acquired by Ascension is a logical move on Wheaton’s part. “I’m not surprised. It mirrors the consolidation among Catholic health systems across the country,” Petasnick said. “It’s the natural evolution of the Catholic system.” Petasnick has done his homework on how consolidating two Milwaukee health care systems would affect the region. He and former Columbia St. Mary’s president and CEO Leo Brideau signed a joint operating agreement to create Progressive Health in 2008. That partnership would have closely aligned Froedtert Health and Columbia St. Mary’s, and generated an estimated $1 billion in annual revenue for the health care systems. But the agreement ended before it began due, in part,
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to the Great Recession. Petasnick believes Wheaton and Columbia St. Mary’s working under the same umbrella could benefit the region, depending on how Ascension generates internal efficiencies. “There will be back office consolidation and looking at their real estate,” he said. “A lot of the success will depend on the leadership and what urgency is dedicated to this market. The expectation is employers and patients will benefit. Time will tell whether that occurs or not.” Ascension began growing its Wisconsin presence in April 2013, when it acquired Ministry Health Care. Based in Milwaukee, Ministry has 15 hospitals and 46 medical clinics across the state and employs nearly 10,000 people, mainly in the Fox Valley and central Wisconsin regions. By looking at how Ministry has been impacted over the past three years, one can get a clearer picture of how the acquisition will affect Wheaton. In October, Ministry announced it would cut 500 full-time equivalent jobs across its statewide network by the end of November. The majority of job losses will be in support and administrative functions. Wheaton, Ascension and Columbia St. Mary’s officials declined to be interviewed for this report.
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Ascension’s human resources, supply chain and finance services are based in Indianapolis. Information technology is in St. Louis. Whether or not Wheaton’s support and administrative departments will remain in Wisconsin is unknown. Sarah Peck, an associate professor of finance at Marquette University who specializes in mergers and acquisitions, said typically when companies merge, they are seeking efficiencies on cost. “Wheaton is looking to leverage what Ascension has, which is more administrative and IT capacities,” Peck said. “The place where I can see job loss will be administrative functions, but that will take about three years.” Before any decisions can be made locally, a permanent Ascension Wisconsin leader has to be named. Longtime health care leader Vince Caponi has agreed to serve as interim Wisconsin Ministry market executive when Nick Desien, senior vice president of Ascension Health’s Wisconsin Ministry market, retires at the end of the year. Health care experts believe Caponi will also serve as the interim leader of Ascension Wisconsin once the transaction with Wheaton closes. When Oliverio retires, there are still three strong leaders in the Milwaukee market: Travis Anderson, who has been
SHELLY TABOR
president and CEO of Columbia St. Mary’s since 2014; Debra Standridge, president of Wheaton ‘s north market, which includes St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee; and Coreen Dicus-Johnson, president of Wheaton’s central market, which includes the St. Francis and Franklin hospitals. Still, many people have speculated Ascension will bring in someone from out of state to run the Wisconsin market as a whole, even if the system continues to have a Milwaukee-based president or vice president. “I don’t think anyone locally is capable of running a $4 billion to 5 billion statewide operation,” Mueller said. “No one locally really has the resume to make the big decisions throughout the state or the connectivity and the trust of the executives in St. Louis, particularly with the challenges ahead of them.” In addition to the obvious challenges of having to integrate Wheaton’s 11,000 employees into Ascension’s human resources, IT and other back end systems, there are outside factors that Ascension – along with all health care systems – is still grappling with. Changes in the way doctors and hospitals are paid, from the current “fee for service” to a fixed price to provide care to a set number of patients, is causing health systems to look at different ways of managing care. There is also the issue of Accountable Care Organizations. Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin is a group of eight Wisconsin health systems and the Medical College of Wisconsin that work with insurers and employers to offer lower priced health care. The IHN Network includes Columbia St. Mary’s, Ministry, Wheaton and Froedtert Health. Aurora Health Care also has its own Accountable Care Organization and has agreements with Aetna and Humana. If employers join either the Aurora network or IHN, they commit to receiving care at only Aurora or only the health care providers in the IHN network at a reduced price. The overall goal of an ACO is better coordination, improved outcomes and lower costs. In 2014, Froedtert and Ministry Health took it a step further, entering the health insurance business with the purchase of Network Health, a 165,000-member health plan with a reported nearly $900 million in premium revenue. How the relationships between the health systems will be affected with this latest health system consolidation is un-
WHEATON FRANCISCAN HEALTHCARE HOSPITALS NOW OWNED BY ASCENSION HEALTH »» Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Franklin
»» Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints, Racine (two Racine locations)
»» Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Elmbrook Memorial Campus, Brookfield
»» Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, Franklin
»» Wheaton Franciscan-St. Joseph Campus, Milwaukee »» Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – St. Francis, Milwaukee
known. But the combined systems of Wheaton and Columbia St. Mary’s could better position themselves to compete against Aurora Health Care, the state’s largest health care system, and Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin. With the closing of the Wheaton transaction, Ascension will have 27 hospitals and 150 clinics in Wisconsin, which would also make it possible for the group to form a Catholic ACO, which would be a less expensive alternative for consumers, Mueller said. Others, including Petasnick, said it is too early to speculate about whether another insurance product will be created with this acquisition. “I would hate to even respond to that,” w w w.biztimes.com
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»» Midwest Spine & Orthopedic Hospital/Wisconsin Heart Hospital Campus, Wauwatosa
Petasnick said. Another major change will be the cultural shift both within Wheaton and, to some extent, within Columbia St. Mary’s, which had been an island hospital in Milwaukee. In fact, before the acquisition of Ministry in 2013, many believe it didn’t make sense for Ascension to be in the state with only the Columbia St. Mary’s hospitals. The system has continued to improve its finances by adding hospitals in core markets like Michigan and Tennessee and divesting hospitals in Arizona, New York, Washington and Idaho over the last year, so it wouldn’t have been uncharacteristic of Ascension to separate from Columbia St. Mary’s.
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Instead, it has built its Wisconsin presence, first with Ministry, and now with Wheaton. Mueller believes there will be more top-down control from the home office in St. Louis. The biggest piece of control will be with access to capital, and as a parent company, Ascension will decide where to spend its cash. “Ascension is looking at its investments holistically – whether its medical groups or hospitals, it’s going to invest in growth markets,” Mueller said. “They have got a pretty good idea through due diligence what they are going to do differently, but they’ve actually got to get some feet on the ground to finalize the strategy and execute it.” n 21
P R E S I D EN T S’ F OR E C A S T 2016 Company presidents, local CEOs, business owners, managers and other leaders forecast the economic climate for 2015, including the outlook for their own industry and company.
LARRY SCHREIBER
President, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin
The perceived lack of progress in health benefits is often met with a common refrain, “We can’t afford more of the same!” Well, in 2016, expect LESS of the same. With federal health care reform now largely behind us, healthcare provider systems and insurance companies are collaborating to lay the foundation for new models of health care financing and care delivery. One need look no further than our backyard to see this change; where the provider-system alliances of AboutHealth and Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin (IHN) are busy optimizing their organizations to compete on the basis of value, rather than volume. Delivering care as efficiently, compassionately and affordably as possible is the goal, and these two organizations are to bringing fresh energy and ideas to the market. AboutHealth is made up of the systems of: Aspirus, Aurora Health Care, Bellin
Health, Gundersen Health, Marshfield Clinic, ProHealth Care, ThedaCare, and UW Health. IHN is consists of: Agnesian HealthCare, Columbia St. Mary’s, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Hospital Sisters Health System, Ministry Health Care, SSM Health, and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.
data sharing and analytics. It will take time to fully integrate these tools in the health care system, but all represent a positive move away from the current fee-forservice (do more procedures, get paid more money) reimbursement structure.
So what does this mean for patients? Expect to see more team-based care when you visit a local clinic, such as nurse case managers to help patients with chronic conditions, and mental health professionals embedded on-site to provide timely services.
Those who stand to benefit most quickly from these changes are businesses with an executive leadership teams fully engaged in their company’s health benefit plans. Stay in close contact with your broker, and always be thinking about how product could replace, compliment or overlap your existing health and wellness offerings. Above all, don’t be afraid to evaluate new products and benefit structures that may be able to deliver sustained improvements in health at a lower year-over-year cost trend.
These kinds of patient-focused changes are being driven by shared savings agreements in insurance contracts,
In health care, less of the same is a good thing. Just don’t bring old mindsets to the table.
These two alliances will challenge one another to determine the right quality and efficiency metrics, share best practices within themselves, and use data to identify opportunities for improvement.
special report
manufacturing
food & beverage
LEFT: The Lincoln Warehouse in Bay View is home to four craft beverage companies. ABOVE: The stills at Twisted Path Distillery.
Startups mix drinks and ideas at Lincoln Warehouse Building hosts four craft beverage companies
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he Lincoln Warehouse in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood has become an impromptu incubator of sorts for craft beverage startups in the area. Four companies that make alcoholic drink products – Bittercube, Enlightened Brewing Co., La Pavia Beverage Co. and Twisted Path Distillery – coincidentally moved into the five-story, 105,197-squarefoot space at 2018 S. First St. within about a year of each other. The Lincoln Warehouse, which was built in 1928, houses a variety of small businesses, from a gym to a hair salon to a photography company. Since realizing they were all in the same building, the beverage companies have collaborated to innovate, test out ideas, market themselves and even share equipment. “The way I see it is we’re better as a group,” said Mary Pellettieri, co-founder of La Pavia, which makes bitter concentrate sodas under the brand Top Note Tonics. Pellettieri and Noah Swanson founded La Pavia about a year ago, moved into the warehouse in July and recently finished the $45,000 buildout of a commercial kitchen to bottle the tonics, where it has the capacity to make 500 cases per month.
“It was not at all planned,” Swanson said. “We were certainly happy to hear there was a distillery because our product is a mixer, primarily. I think it’s really kind of unique. I don’t think there are any other places that have that many beverage companies.” Top Note Tonics are distributed in Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle, and have been sampled and used at local farmer’s markets, distilleries, breweries and bars, Pellettieri said. La Pavia, which produces about 20 cases of tonics per month, recently enrolled in FaB Milwaukee’s FaBcap accelerator program, and has been networking with even more established beverage companies and working to strategically expand its reach. Bitters manufacturer Bittercube, which was founded six years ago in Madison but moved to the Lincoln Warehouse last year, has also been a source of wisdom for the three younger companies. “We’re kind of leaning on each other,” Pellettieri said. “We look to Bittercube as kind of the senior business within this cohort, so they are a good resource. There’s some synergies there that didn’t exist bew w w.biztimes.com
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BY MOLLY DILL, staff writer
fore. We’re able to innovate more, we’re able to play with some recipes” The companies cross-promote each other’s products, use them to experiment, and host private tastings in a cocktail lounge at Twisted Path, which is expected to open to the public on Jan. 2. The hope is the Lincoln Warehouse and the tasting room become a destination for craft beverages, said Brian Sammons, founder and distiller at Twisted Path. Sammons wasn’t happy as an attorney, so he left his job at von Briesen & Roper S.C., raised some funds from family and friends, and went to work getting the permits and building the equipment to start a distillery. He even has a patent pending for a warming mechanism he invented as he built the stills. The distillery makes vodka, white rum, dark rum and gin. Sammons is working on a few other ideas, including a barrel-aged rye whiskey, brandy and a coffee spirit. “It’s been word of mouth so far, primarily,” Sammons said. “I think it’s been a mutual benefit that we all kind of plug each other and we all have different networks of people we know. They work re-
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ally well together – Top Note and Bittercube are really good for cocktails.” The companies have found some similarities in their work ethic and dedication to craft-style products, he said. For example, Twisted Path makes its alcohol “from grain to glass” instead of buying bulk mash or spirits and adapting them. “Bittercube is the same way where if they want their orange bitters to taste like orange, they get a bunch of boxes of oranges and they sit there and zest oranges all day,” Sammons said. Bittercube moved to the Lincoln Warehouse because owner Ira Koplowitz lives in Bay View and the company was outgrowing the space it shared with Madison distillery Yahara Bay Distillers Inc. Now, the company has quadrupled its space with a 4,000-square-foot suite in the warehouse. “It just gives us the ability to oversee all aspects of the bitters-making process,” Koplowitz said. Bittercube will sell more than $1 million in bitters this year. It now has eight varieties, from Cherry Bark Vanilla to Blackstrap. The company’s growth has been driven by increasing demand from consumers for 23
manufacturing
The tasting room at Twisted Path Distillery will soon be open to the public.
hand-crafted cocktails, he said. “We just saw a real need in the Midwest for more craft, more bitters, and we just decided to start the company,” Koplowitz said. “We’re by far the oldest and biggest company that’s in the beverage community in Lincoln Warehouse. It’s been awesome to mentor them, and not just mentors, but we’re partners now.” For example, Bittercube is collaborating with Twisted Path on a dry spiced rum product, and has partnered with Enlightened Brewing to share resources. “(Enlightened) just bring an awesome energy to the warehouse and they let us use their fridge space, and we let them use our pallet jack,” he said. Enlightened Brewing, which moved
into the warehouse last winter, was attracted to the space because the rent was lower compared to other warehouse and retail spaces and building manager Andy Bandy was flexible with building out and subdividing a space to meet its needs, said founder Tommy Vandervort. The company has 500 square feet of space and has a half-barrel production capacity, but is looking for a space that’s about 1,700 square feet, with a 3.5-barrel capacity, he said. It makes a variety of small-batch beers, from black wheat to gose. “The goal is to stay in the warehouse,” Vandervort said. “We want to stay and keep the appeal of this place as an incubator for all kinds of things, but it’s mainly known for beverage manufacturing.” n
over the next three to five years, so this loan will help us meet the additional demand and also improve on our operating costs.”
and chief executive officer of Busch Precision. “We have used the services of Circle Tool Grinding for many years, and have always been very pleased with their quality. We plan to continue that quality tradition.”
MA NUFACT U R I N G B R I E F S
Brookfield manufacturer expanding at former Vernon driving range American Friction Welding has purchased The National Golf Center in the Town of Vernon and plans to relocate from Brookfield and expand its business there. American Friction Welding, 115 N. Janacek Road, purchased 18 acres of land at S74 W24255 National Ave. for an undisclosed price. The company is planning to construct a 60,000-square-foot light manufacturing facility on the site, according to Waukesha County Park and Planning Commission records. The facility would initially employ approximately 25 people, with the possibility for expansion over time, John Fischer, president of American Friction Welding, told the county. The National Golf Center, which included a driving range and a mini golf course, closed Nov. 15. Golf pro Paul Mindel, who owned The National Golf Center for 15 years, said selling was a hard decision, but he realized he had become too consumed by the business. “Leaving the Mukwonago, Vernon and the Big Bend area will be very difficult,” Mindel said. Mindel is starting a new business, the Wisconsin Golf Academy, which will focus strictly on golf instruction. He will have two locations. One in Keystone Physical Therapy, 17045 W Capitol Drive, Brookfield and the other at Swing Time, W197 N10340 Appleton Ave., Germantown.
“I had been thinking about doing this for about 18 months,” Mindel said. “From a quality of life standpoint, it’s going to be great.”
TJM Innovations gets MEDC loan to ramp up GutterStuff production Milwaukee-based TJM Innovations LLC recently received approval for a $1.24 million loan from the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. to purchase equipment. TJM also plans to invest $1.24 million from other sources, for a total investment of $2.48 million. Of the investment, $2.3 million will be used to purchase the equipment and $180,000 will go toward the installation of a sprinkler system, according to the MEDC application. The additional equipment will be used to expand the company’s GutterStuff product line. GutterStuff, a foam gutter filter that allows water through but prevents debris buildup, is sold at several big box retail stores and a number of hardware stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as online. TJM currently has 12 full-time employees. With the funding, the company expects to add 10 full-time and two part-time employees over the next two years. “We are just going gangbusters, so we need to keep up with demand,” said Julie McNamara, president of TJM. “We are in a couple of large retailers nationwide and in Canada and our contractor business is picking up, both in gutter protection and pest control. We anticipate a 30 to 40 percent growth per year
The manufacturer, which also makes a Roof Drain foam filter, CorbZorb eco-friendly absorbent products and Bandshell iPhone sound amplification cases, is based in a 104,000-square-foot facility at 5519 W. Woolworth Ave. in Milwaukee. TJM, which was founded in 2007, is also currently expanding its CobZorb line, McNamara said.
Busch Precision acquires Circle Tool Grinding Milwaukee-based Busch Precision has acquired West Allis-based Circle Tool Grinding Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Busch Precision manufactures and machines critical-tolerance and unique specification parts and large components. Circle Tool offers tool grinding and sharpening services, a capability Busch did not previously have. It will be integrated as the Circle Tool division of Busch Precision. The Circle Tool facility at 1916 S. 73rd St. in West Allis will be shuttered, and much of the company’s equipment will be moved into extra space in Busch’s 140,000-square-foot facility at 8200 N. Faulkner Road in Milwaukee. Three of the six employees from Circle Tool will come on board at Busch, which now has a total of 54 employees. “This acquisition adds an important service we can now offer to our customers who are looking to control their tooling costs,” said Michael Mallwitz, president
Complete Office acquires Wausau distributor Germantown-based Complete Office of Wisconsin has acquired the office supply and office furniture operations of Wausau-based Hadley Office Products. The transaction price was not disclosed, but Complete Office’s revenue will grow from $50 million to $60 million with the acquisition, said Ron Beam, co-owner and chief executive officer of Central Office. Complete Office distributes office supplies, furniture and promotional products throughout Wisconsin. It will add Hadley’s Wausau facility and its five employees to its distribution network. Complete Office, which now has about 165 employees, also has branches in Madison, Appleton, Stevens Point, La Crosse and Sheboygan. Purchasing Hadley has allowed Complete Office to further expand its footprint in central Wisconsin and gain a group of loyal customers, Beam said. Mark and Deb Hadley, former owners of Hadley Office Products, will retire. Complete Office has grown from $11 million in sales in 2006 to $60 million in sales today, both through organic growth and through two other acquisitions: Bubrick’s Office Supply in 2006 and Emmons Business Interiors in January of this year.
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manufacturing
Great Northern Distilling infuses Milwaukee with craft spirits
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lover, Wis.-based Great Northern Distilling is stretching its footprint to Milwaukee as the craft distiller works to introduce its spirits to city bars, restaurants and liquor stores. The company’s beverages are currently available at more than 60 venues in Milwaukee, including liquor stores like Ray’s Wine & Spirits, Whole Foods Market, Woodman’s Markets and G. Groppi Food Market, as well as dining establishments like Pizza Man, Company Brewing, Cubanitas, Palomino and Honeypie. Within the next six months, Tim Demeter, sales and marketing director at Great Northern Distilling, predicts the company’s products could be pretty readily available at any liquor retailer in Milwaukee. Demeter, who is based in Milwaukee, has spent the past four months concentrating on expanding the craft distiller’s presence in the area. Milwaukee is the next market for Great Northern Distilling to service after its success in dispersing spirits across central Wisconsin. The craft distiller, which began distilling in November 2013 and now has a workforce of 10, produces its lineup of alcohol in-house at its Plover facility, where it also runs public tours. Plover is a suburb of Stevens Point. Great Northern Distilling manufactures four alcohols – Great Northern Potato Vodka, Great Northern Herbalist Gin, Opportunity Rum and Great Northern Vanguard Whiskey. In addition to the Vanguard Whiskey, the company recently released a rye whiskey and issued a limited release of “Doppelganger Whiskey” with O’so Brewing Company’s Dominator Doppelbock beer. Part of the company’s interest in infiltrating Milwaukee has stemmed from the city’s caliber of restaurants and bars, according to Brian Cummins, founder and head distiller. With so many of the taste-making restaurants and bars being based in the Milwaukee area, Cummins said, “it’s really important for us to have a strong
BY ERICA BREUNLIN, staff reporter
presence there.” Cummins said a surging interest in craft liquor also has pulled Great Northern Distilling into the Milwaukee market. “Certainly as the major population center of the state, you’ve got a lot of passionate people that not only are looking for new types of craft beer, but they’re also looking for new types of craft liquor,” Cummins said. “And a gin is not a gin is not a gin. Everyone’s formula’s different. Everyone’s tastes are different.” In seeking out Milwaukee locales, Demeter has targeted venues likely to serve higher end cocktails. Great Northern Distilling largely appeals to “foodie” audiences, he said, and audiences who appreciate farm to table menus. Similarly, the craft distiller operates with a “grain to glass” mindset. “We really are all about having a small carbon footprint and using as many locally sourced ingredients as possible,” Demeter said. “Not only are our spirits made in Wisconsin, but they are for the most part even grown in Wisconsin from raw ingredients,” he added. One of the distillery’s primary values rests on sourcing as many ingredients as it can from within a 150-mile radius, according to Cummins. In competing against other craft distillers, Great Northern Distilling has not encountered a very cutthroat environment, he said. The craft spirit space is a “relatively friendly” environment, he said, as he holds a lot of respect for peers like Great Lakes Distillery, Central Standard Craft Distillery and Twisted Path Distillery. With more craft breweries than craft distilleries in Wisconsin, distillers feel that there’s still a lot of room for creativity and innovation without stepping on each other’s toes too much, Cummins said. Drew Malley, beverage manager at PieINC, hasn’t noticed a very competitive atmosphere among distillers either. “They all seem to play together pretty nicely,” Malley said. PieINC owns Palomino and Honw w w.biztimes.com
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Cummins left a career at a paper mill to launch the distillery. Inset: The company’s Potato Vodka has been on the market the longest and is its top seller.
eypie, both of which serve spirits produced by Great Northern Distilling. The restaurants mainly incorporate the spirits into top shelf drinks. Malley has seen craft distilleries become more popular, particularly as distilleries garner recognition through awards programs and niche publications focused on spirits. Craft distilleries add a sort of “uniqueness” to drinks “just because everything’s done on a smaller scale,” Malley said. Craft spirits can be harder to get, and
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give patrons something new and different to try, adding to their appeal, he said. As Great Northern Distilling continues working to ramp up its own popularity among craft beverage fans, the company plans to expand into the Chicago market as soon as the first half of 2016. From there, it aims to grow across the greater Midwest into Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. The company sells to retailers through its Wisconsin distributor, Madison-based General Beverage Sales Co. n 25
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strategies
Stop the madness of busy-ness Practice personal leadership over your time
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ne of the areas the EGO likes to penetrate is our belief system around our time, making us believe we do not have enough of it and we are not enough to get everything done! This belief exists in almost every business I’ve consulted, and causes people to either fight to make “it” happen or flee from responsibility because they have already given up in their minds before getting started. Think about it. When you ask people these days how they are, they often say, “Busy!” It’s as though there is something so prideful about NOT having time because we are so important and busy. What would people do if we jokingly answered, “I’m actually quite well, thank you! Stunned about how much time I have now that I am so clear about my purpose and how to choose my time accordingly!” That mindset-reset would blow people away, because most of us do not have that much empowerment, due to our lack of
clarity around our purpose and priorities. It’s time to practice personal leadership over our time and stop making excuses that we don’t have enough of it, or believing we are not enough to do what must be done to reach our goals. When we don’t see how we can best add value to the organization’s purpose and goals, we just stay busy – reacting to demands versus creating our schedule based on our priorities. If that’s the case, then take personal responsibility and ask yourself: “How might I have the greatest impact on the goals?” When you ask this question, and listen for guidance from your Intuitive Self, you will be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and see the landscape that tells you how to prioritize your time. When you prioritize, you will have plenty of time to do what matters most. It is the 80-20 rule in business: 20 percent of what we do makes 80 percent of the impact. Discover what that 20 percent is, and you will have plenty of time because the rest w w w.biztimes.com
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This type of reaction stifles communication and collaboration. But because our EGO can swing from grandiosity to deprivation thinking, when it comes to its decisions around time, it can often think in terms of “all or nothing.” As a result, we shut down collaboration and innovation with a statement like, “Sure, I can do that!” or “No, I don’t have time!” When we commit quickly without considering prior commitments, our priorities, or our goals, we are setting ourselves up to prove the EGO is right – we don’t have enough time. This is how we create a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we overload ourselves with meaningless matters and find ourselves swamped, our EGO says, “See, I am so busy and don’t have enough time!” Then when someone makes a request of us, we can self-righteously claim, “I just don’t have time – I’m so busy!” There is a solution to stop the madness of busy-ness: By taking your chosen priorities and projects and outlining them to your goals, you help your mind align your choices accordingly. Seeing how your time is allocated to the goals makes you see and believe you can achieve what you have set out to achieve when you stay steadfast and on-track. When we don’t have our time mapped out, we flounder and say “yes” to requests and fall into the “busy and important” mindset of the EGO. We need to acknowledge our EGO’s ways regarding time and stop the madness. We do this by remembering that we always have time for what matters most.
Challenge:
SUSAN W EHRLEY COACHING was likely just busy-ness! Our EGO is quick to use time as the excuse for a lack of engagement, productivity and availability. When we explain our purpose and priorities to people and ask, “How might we consider your request as well as my priorities to find a solution that works for both of us?” we are likely to find a win-win solution! This response is in contrast to saying “yes” or “no” automatically, which is what most people do.
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In order to make priorities clear, try using a transparent dashboard that aligns projects to the goals, and also outlines who will do what by when. This helps people to have a visual reminder of the commitments already made, and how they align to the goals. By having a visual reminder of commitments, we can also entertain changes by asking each other, “How might we move this around so we can get that done?” Since time is a resource, being transparent with our time creates a culture that is more collaborative and innovative. n Susan K. Wehrley is the founder and CEO of BIZremedies Business Building Process, which includes her Digital Dashboard to align your priorities to your goals. She is also the author of “EGO at Work,” her new book about how to reconstruct your mindset so you can achieve your goals. You can learn more at www.BIZremedies.com or contact her at Susan@solutionsbysusan.com or (414) 581-0449.
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strategies
Will a robot take your job? Automation’s impact will be huge
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utomation has already proven to successfully replace human workers in numerous industries. We see it happening all around us and we consistently choose to ignore it. Yet the implications are massive: How will our free markets function without a working middle class? How will people earn a living? Which jobs will be the first to disappear?
Not if, but when In time, robots will wipe out one job after another. The population of men between the ages of 25 and 34 who are unemployed is 11.5 percent, with no improvement in sight. In fact, technology is moving so fast that the RATE of development itself is increasing. We are currently facing the calm before the storm. If you believe that your job is unable to be replaced by a robot in the future, think again. Once robots learn to design and program themselves, the markets will be flooded with layoffs and humans will be forced to rethink their career choices.
Which jobs are at the highest risk? As you can guess, tedious mechanical tasks will be the first to be replaced. Remember all those manufacturing jobs the U.S. outsourced to China? The good news for us is that some of those jobs are coming back to the states; the bad news is that the robots are on the short list for employers, since they don’t require salaries or paid holidays. Robots will cut labor costs in America by 23 percent by 2025, making automation critical in order to compete in a global market. Next, consider the millions of Americans who drive for a living. The consensus is that some cars will drive themselves by 2017, followed by an alarming growth rate of 134 percent year after year. Uber and Lyft may be in demand for drivers now, but not for long. Your Uber ride in the future will be full of low prices and self-driving cars. For example, Google is a major investor in Uber, along with being a pioneer in the autonomous vehicle industry. The silver lining here is that there 28
will be theoretically fewer accidents, since human error accounts for 90 percent of accidents on the road. Office jobs, too, are at risk of vanishing. These information-rich jobs won’t go away overnight, however. The robots will need to be trained to take over first, which will require robust business processes and automation-friendly tasks to be defined. Editing spreadsheets will soon be a thing of the past. Even software developers should fear that robots could one day automate their jobs, despite the extremely high demand for software developers in today’s job market. It’s predicted machines will be capable of designing and programming themselves by 2029.
Which jobs will have security in the future? It is forecast that robots will replace 70 percent of today’s jobs by the end of the century. So which jobs are so complex that robots aren’t capable of undertaking them? Geoff Colvin argues in his Fortune article “Humans are underrated” that a better strategy is to ask, “What are the activities that we humans, driven by our deepest nature or by the realities of daily life, will simply insist be performed
by other humans, even if computers could do them?” He offers the example of a judge: Although it’s feasible to think that computers could be capable of providing better, more statistically relevant rulings in court, we can always go back and blame a judge for deciding to allow an undeserving convict to have a second chance. Humans will always need somewhere to point the blame and assume the risk for certain key decisions. Another skill humans will always excel at is simply being human. Robots may be cheaper and quicker at bartending or serving tables, but they won’t be able to strike up a genuine conversation or laugh at your jokes. Humans like to do business with humans; just listen to any peeved customer on the phone with the seller’s automated call center. For this reason, sales and most customer-facing jobs will likely be given to the humans. Similarly, humans will be preferred for leadership and management positions due to their empathy. Sincere, genuine, human empathy is necessary for these roles and it doesn’t mean as much coming from a machine.
JES S E DEPIN TO TECHNOLOGY
Being more human Colvin argues, “The meaning of great performance has changed. It used to be that you had to be good at being machine-like. Now, increasingly, you have to be good at being a person. Great performance requires us to be intensely human beings.” If you want to invest in your career by excelling at one thing, strive to become a better human being. The beauty in all of this is that jobs of the future must ultimately be more humanlike and more fulfilling. Creative thinking and relationship building will be the core skills of the next generation workforce. n Jesse DePinto is a Milwaukee-based serial entrepreneur and business technology consultant. His company, Tosa Labs, helps clients design smart products for the Internet of Things. You can connect with him via email at jesse@ tosalabs.com, via cell phone at (937) 829-3720, or via social media at LinkedIn.com/in/JesseDePinto or Twitter. com/JesseDePinto
Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: 25 to 54 years
SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS (RESEARCH.STLOUISFED.ORG)
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strategies
Maintain a broader vantage point Get up on your ladder
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ne of the fundamental responsibilities of a leader is to bring the future to the present to prepare the organization to embrace new ways of operating. This requires blocking time to think strategically and determining how well the company and employees are prepared to meet the new expectations. This discipline of blocking time – looking out at the horizon, identifying emerging trends, seeing new possibilities as well as the potential threats, and identifying how to close the gap between where the company is now and where it needs to be to grow – is what I call “being on your ladder.” Being on your ladder is the time you take to reflect, think and ponder possibilities. It’s about investing time to identify and develop core strategies that will prepare the company for the future. It’s also about crafting the communications that will best rally the organization around a shared vision, so each and every employee feels she can contribute in a meaningful way. Getting up on your ladder isn’t easy; staying on it is even harder. There are many demands that can jostle you from the perch. On the top of that list are team members who find it difficult to navigate the day-to-day business of business. Their pleas can be compelling, and too often so convincing that you come down off your ladder. Before you can step on the first rung to get back up the ladder, you are bombarded with a revolving door of requests from other people who want “just a moment of your time.” Short conversations turn into back-to-back scheduled meetings. Before too long, you realize that it’s been awhile since you’ve been on your ladder. While it is important to be available and responsive to team members, it’s also important to assess why your input is needed. Do people need clearer direction? Permission to make decisions? Knowledge or perspective because they lack experience? Better training? More manpower? Or do they just want to connect with you? Constantly coming down off your ladder with every request creates dependency. Employees learn that they can relinquish their decision authority to you, and with that, the accountability for results. Over
time, this can stifle initiative, organizational creativity, cross-functional communications and personal ownership for results. Leaders of startup companies experi-
While you may experience some initial pushback, once team members see the amazing results, it’s highly likely that they will form a tight circle around the
C H R IS TIN E Mc M A H O N
“ Being on your ladder is the time you take to reflect, think and ponder possibilities.” ence this most profoundly. As the company grows and becomes more successful, departments are created. Managers who worked side-by-side with the leader on a daily basis, when it was an all-hands-ondeck startup, now have their own departments to run. On the surface, people understand the new lines of responsibilities, but under the surface, they yearn for the way things used to be. When the startup hits $20 million, and then again makes the jump to $80 million, leaders feel a constant tugging to come down off their ladders. This is not just about team members needing input or direction, but about re-connecting with the leader. It’s not unusual to see employees who have helped the company grow during the initial phase leave the organization when it moves into growth mode because they are unable to adjust to the new ways of operating. It’s important to recognize that being on your ladder isn’t reserved for those only at the highest levels. Rather, it is a discipline that every manager can embrace. That broader vantage point allows you to gain a perspective that provides clarity around which are the most critical priorities and to develop the roadmap to accomplish them. With the New Year nearly upon us, it’s the perfect time to assess how much time you currently invest in being on your ladder and what you want that number to be in 12 months. Be specific and set realistic goals for each of the four quarters. Then, develop a realistic plan for proactively addressing what pulls you down, and what keeps you off your ladder. w w w.biztimes.com
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base of your ladder and become the first line of defense in protecting you from non-essential matters. When this happens, it’s confirmation that responsibility has been shifted to the proper levels with-
LEADERSHIP in the organization, freeing you to focus on strategic opportunities that result in business growth. n Christine McMahon advances sales success by providing strategic sales and leadership coaching and training. She is a co-founder of the Leadership Institute at Waukesha County Technical College’s Center for Business Performance Solutions, and can be reached at (844) 369-2133 or ccm@christinemcmahon.com.
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strategies
Hirer beware
How to avoid making the wrong choice
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ou no doubt have made your share of hiring mistakes. You know how costly they are in many ways, including the emotional expense of resolving the situation. I made a doozy of a hiring mistake when I was about 20 years old and decided to interrupt my college experience for a year so I could set up my dad’s office. At that time, and ever since he launched his business, my dad kept all the administrative duties to himself. He ran a small
interstate trucking business, and besides one or two ledgers on his desk, the rest of the paperwork consisted of notes stuck here and there in his pockets. During the first month, I spent a lot of time retrieving those notes and attempting to organize them into systems of some sort. Finally, I accomplished that to my satisfaction; though I believe Dad was always more comfortable with those scraps of paper he could pull out wherever he might be.
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Now I was ready to ship off to the University of Florida. I set about interviewing applicants for the job of managing the “new” office. Dad left that all up to me, and I finally made a selection: a pleasant, middle-aged women who came across as smart and congenial. “She’ll do nicely,” I thought. In long-distance conversations with my parents, my dad had little to say about his new office manager, and finally I coaxed out of him that she hadn’t worked out. Turns out she had a serious problem with alcohol abuse and no interest in doing anything about it. Shortly after I returned to school, she began missing work frequently, as well as coming in late and leaving early. Occasionally, she showed up a little tipsy. Dad resolved the situation, then said he would just go back to his “old ways” of office management until I got home on break. I felt sad about her problem, and humiliated that I had pretty well messed up my last responsibility for Dad’s company. I hadn’t thought of that experience for ages, until I read one of David Brooks’ columns, titled “The Employer’s Creed.” The column reminded me of how tricky and how important it is to make the right hire. Brooks began, “Dear Employers, You may not realize it, but you have a powerful impact on the culture and the moral ecology of our era. If your human resources bosses decide they want to hire a certain sort of person, then young people begin turning themselves into that sort of person.” Hmmm. The first principle in the Employer’s Creed, says Brooks, is, “Bias hiring decisions against perfectionists.” He described the resumes depicting an applicant with a 3.8 grade-point average, who served in leadership positions in all kinds of campus organizations, was awesome in in-
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JO GO R IS S EN HUMAN RESOURCES ternships, and in off-hours distributed bed nets in Zambia. You know that kind of resume. Brooks cautions that the perfectionist has followed a cookie-cutter formula for success and that we really don’t know much about what he is really like, beyond a high talent for social conformity. I would add another cautionary remark, in that the perfectionist may have at times done anything to maintain that grade average. In your organization, he may feel compelled to appear perfect to his superiors, even if it takes a bit of lying or stealing credit from a co-worker. The article includes several other principles. One I like especially is: “Reward cover letter rebels.” Brooks says, “Job seeking is the second greatest arena of social pretense in modern life – after dating.” He advises us to look for the people who do not spin or exaggerate. “You want people who are radically straight, even with superiors.” The article is from the Tuesday, April 1, 2014 edition of “The New York Times.” If you want to consider following David Brooks’ Employer’s Creed, you may “correct some of the perversities at the upper reaches of our meritocracy. You may even help cultivate deeper, fuller human beings.” I think our universe could use an influx of such folks, don’t you? n Jo Gorissen is a certified transition coach and a former Milwaukee area resident. She can be reached at jgorissen1@gmail.com.
biz connections CA L E NDAR
NONPROFIT DIRECTORY
The West Allis/West Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce will host ABLE West Networking on Wednesday, Jan. 6, from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at Dave & Buster’s, 2201 N. Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa. Network with members of the Brookfield, Wauwatosa and West Allis/West Milwaukee chambers at Active Business Leads Exchange. Cost is $15 with advance registration and includes breakfast buffet. For more information or to register, visit http://business.wawmchamber.com/events.
SPOTLIGHT
The Sussex Area Chamber of Commerce will host its annual Chamber Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 14, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Sussex IM, N65 W24770 Main St. The event is free. For more information or to register, visit http://bit.ly/1m62JY1. The Waukesha County Business Alliance will host One-on-One with Public Officials on Friday, Jan. 22, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at its offices, 2717 N. Grandview Blvd., Suite 300 in Waukesha. The free event will offer coffee and an informal meeting with Waukesha County elected officials. For more information or to register, visit http://bit.ly/1TuLtGi. The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center will host Laugh It Up Milwaukee 2016 on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. at the Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee. The event will feature comedian Patton Oswalt, and will raise money for the JCC and for Special Olympics Wisconsin. Cost is $45 to $95. Tickets are available at www.laughitupmilwaukee.org. See the complete calendar of upcoming events & meetings.
www.biztimes.com
BIZ NO T ES Wisconsin Parkinson Association The Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Parkinson Association recently honored several local companies and individuals at its Awards Celebration & Annual Meeting. Knut Apitz, former owner of Grenadier’s Restaurant in Milwaukee and WPA board member, received the Tulip Award for profoundly impacting education and awareness of Parkinson’s in the area. Mike Engel, chef and owner of Pastiche Bistro & Wine Bar in Milwaukee, received Innovative Fundraiser award for his idea to donate an upcharge from every request to change the preparation of a menu item to WPA. Craig Plowman, president of HeatTek Inc. in Ixonia, received the Bedrock Award for helping to plan and sponsor the annual golf outing. Patrick Pelkey, a support group facilitator and public advocate of the organization, received the Mission Driver award. Volunteer Jack Hunter earned the Volunteer of the Year award for his photography of nearly every WPA event.
Waukesha County The Waukesha County Department of Parks and Land Use Recycling Program has received both the 2015 Recycling Excellence Award for Innovation and the 2015 Recycling Excellence Award Honorable Mention for Projects and Initiatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The DNR noted Waukesha’s recent partnership with the City of Milwaukee to
construct and operate a regional single sort Materials Recovery facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley. In addition, Waukesha set up a request for proposal system for a coordinated recycling/ waste collection contract. Waukesha County estimates the projects together helped save more than $4 million per year in collection costs for its community partners, and has increased recycling rates by about 30 percent.
ManpowerGroup Milwaukee-based workforce solutions firm ManpowerGroup announced Kate Donovan, senior vice president of ManpowerGroup Solutions and global RPO president, has earned a Silver Stevie Award. Donovan was recognized in the Female Executive of the Year category at the 12th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The global awards, named for the Greek word for crowned, honor female entrepreneurs, executives and employees and the organizations they run. This year, there were more than 1,300 nominations from a variety of industries and organization sizes. The awards were presented at a dinner ceremony attended by more than 400 in New York City. Donovan joined ManpowerGroup in 2008 as managing director of ManpowerGroup Solutions, and was named to her current role in 2014.
To have your business briefs published in a future issue of BizTimes Milwaukee send announcements to briefs@biztimes.com. w w w.biztimes.com
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Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts 19805 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield (262) 781-9470 | www.wilson-center.com Year founded: 1999 Mission statement: To be the catalyst for lifelong discovery and exploration of the arts. Primary focus of your nonprofit organization: World-class performances, festivals, classes, exhibits and workshops; arts education and outreach; outdoor sculpture landscape. Other focuses of your nonprofit organization: Rental spaces for individuals, schools, organizations and corporations. Number of employees at this location: 26 Key donors: Thanks to our Performing Arts Sponsors, Visual Arts Sponsors, Education Sponsors and Annual Fund Contributors, contributed revenue is a key component to the Wilson Center’s success, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the annual operating budget. Executive leadership: Jonathan Winkle, president and chief executive officer Board of directors: »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»
Jan Wade, board chair Marie O’Brien, past-chair & governance co-chair Michael Klinker, development co-chair Emery Harlan, secretary Michael Hofbauer, treasurer & finance chair Paul Bertling, programming chair Susan Cerletty, visual arts chair Craig Jorgensen, facilities chair Carrie Gillstrom Matteson, governance co-chair Jack Nelson, development co-chair Dean Potratz, marketing chair Julie Steinhafel, education chair Fred Syrjanen, development co-chair Wayne Larsen, endowment chair Don Albinger »» Jon Donahue Betty Arndt »» Gregory Downey Sue Bellehumeur »» Jean Elste Lynn Chappy »» Matt Gibson
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»» »» »» »»
Craig Husar Latrice Knighton Richard Kollauf Bill Kolstad, ex-officio »» Gary Mahkorn »» Jerry Mellone »» Dana Monogue
»» »» »» »»
Geoff O’Connor Ralph Patitucci Lori Rolfson Robert Scott, ex-officio »» Kate Wilson »» Tim Wnuk
Is your organization actively seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes What roles are you looking to fill? The Wilson Center is looking for candidates from diverse professional backgrounds to serve as passionate ambassadors for the mission and vision of the center. Ways the business community can help your nonprofit: The Wilson Center relies on support from corporate partners through event, performance and advertising sponsorships. We look to the business community to help share Wilson Center performances and programs with their staff, either through group outings or communication of special ticket discounts. We also have beautiful spaces available for corporate meeting and party rental. Key fundraising events: The Big Event on Saturday, June 24, 2016, is an exhilarating, all-inclusive evening complete with dinner, dancing, and entertainment, and serves as the major channel through which the Wilson Center raises funds for educational programming. Young professionals under 45 can participate in The Big Event at a discounted ticket price by attending Crash the Party. On Monday, Aug. 1, 2016, the Wilson Center will host the Golf Classic – a day of golf and exceptional food at one of the area’s most beautiful settings, The Legend at Merrill Hills in Waukesha – which raises essential funds to support the Center’s arts and education programs.
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biz connections PER SO NNE L F I L E
■ Banking & Finance Wisconsin Bank & Trust has named Phil Zastrow vice president, wealth advisor, in its downtown Sheboygan branch. Zastrow has more than 20 years of experience in banking and financial services. He previously served as a vice president at Kohler Credit Union. He also worked for seven years at Community Bank & Trust, where he was a senior vice president. In his new position, he will work with high net worth individuals, families and nonprofits to help them reach their financial goals. He will advise clients on asset management, investment and risk management, and financial planning. Looking Glass Investments, a fixedincome alternative investment firm focused on marketplace lending, has appointed Andrew Siefkes executive vice president – client services. In this role, Siefkes will focus on establishing and maintaining client relationships, as well as business development. Siefkes served on the firm’s board of advisors from 2012 to 2015. Prior to joining Looking Glass, Siefkes was a director of client services for Centare, a software and technology development firm, and director of new business at Great Lakes Media Technology. Siefkes also was a member of the
Thiensville Fire Department from 1995 to 2012, and he continues to serve as a member of Thiensville Fire Department Inc.
■ Design Kahler Slater, of Milwaukee, has appointed Kim Bruffy associate principal and national director of business development for health care. Bruffy has more than 25 years of combined experience in business development, design and project management and will serve as a member of Kahler Slater’s Health Care team, which is working with clients across the United States, Singapore and Canada. A Virginia native, Bruffy will immediately engage with several of Kahler Slater’s east coast clients. Her responsibilities include uncovering new health care opportunities for the firm and helping to develop strong client relationships. Bruffy, a certified interior designer, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her portfolio of project work has included the design of higher education, sports and corporate office environments before shifting her focus to health care business development.
■ Education Law enforcement veteran Kevin Kober has been named director of public safety at Carroll University in Waukesha. Kober,
whose appointment is effective Jan. 4, has about two decades of experience in Waukesha law enforcement. He is joining the school’s public safety arm after Kober serving as patrol division commander with the City of Waukesha Police Department. Kober joined the Waukesha PD as a police officer in 1996 and has expertise in leadership, crisis management and response, community relations, program and department building, and team building. At the helm of Carroll’s public safety, Kober will reinforce the safety and security of students, faculty and staff and will also ensure the school’s public safety department continues to partner with local law enforcement. Kober, who has completed advanced training programs with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Quantico, Va., is currently working toward a master’s degree in leadership and organizational development at the University of Virginia. The University of Wisconsin-Parkside has named Robert Ducoffe, Ph.D., provost and vice chancellor. Ducoffe comes to UW-Parkside from the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics at Indiana University South Bend, where he has served as dean. He will succeed Fred Ebeid, Ph.D., who has been the school’s interim provost and vice chancellor for more
NEWS B R I E F S
Children’s Hospital to open clinic at Midtown Center Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin will open a clinic at the Midtown Center in Milwaukee’s central city. The 20,000-square-foot Midtown Clinic, 5433 W. Fond du Lac Ave., will offer patients pediatric and adolescent primary care, behavioral medicine and dental care. The clinic will be built in space formerly occupied by Office Depot and is slated to open in late summer 2016. Dr. Smriti Khare, president of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Primary Care, said the health system looked at projected population growth and determined there was a need for pediatric health care on the northwest side of the city. A gift from the Harley-Davidson Foundation will fund a Children’s school nurse at an elementary school and a community navigator near Harley’s headquarters, 3700 W. Juneau Ave. Children’s
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currently provides 10 registered nurses who see students more than 9,000 times per year. Dental services at the new Midtown Clinic will be provided by Children’s North Avenue Dental Clinic, 5019 W. North Ave., which will move to the new Midtown Clinic by September 2016. Primary care and behavioral medicine services currently housed at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Downtown Health Center on the Aurora-Sinai campus will move to the new clinic. More than 91 percent of patients seen at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee locations are insured by Medicaid.
Menomonee Falls sells former Kohl’s distribution center for $7.2 million The Village of Menomonee Falls has sold the former Kohl’s Corp. distribution center to Milwaukee moving and storage company C.H.Coakley & Co. for $7.2 million. B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e
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CMK Inc., the corporate structure for Michael Coakley, managing partner of C.H. Coakley & Company, purchased the 388,000-square-foot building at N54 W13901 Woodale Drive. Mark Fitzgerald, Menomonee Falls village manager, said Coakley is planning to use the building primarily for data storage.
than three years. He will begin his new role in spring 2016.
■ Interior Design Design Tech Remodeling, of Mequon, has welcomed Cristy Harmon as a designer and sales person.
■ Legal Services Milwaukee-based Miller McGinn & Clark S.C. has hired estate planning attorney Mark Andres. In his new role, Andres will largely focus on estate planning and administration, elder law, and tax planning. He has 15 years of experience practicing law.
■ Manufacturing Jason Baumann has joined Schaefer Brush Manufacturing, a 110-year-old industrial brush manufacturer in Waukesha, as its supply chain and logistics manager. Baumann will also serve on the strategic planning committee. He has years of experience as a senior buyer and transportation coordinator. Milwaukee-based Sensient Technologies Corp. has added Mario Ferruzzi, Ph.D., and Donald Landry, Ph.D., to its board of directors. Ferruzzi is a professor in the departments of Food Science and Nutrition Science at Purdue University. Landry is the Samuel Bard Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. He also works as the director of the Division of Experimental Therapeutics at the school.
■ Marketing
The Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club is also proposing to lease a portion of the space to use as its headquarters. The village has owned the building since 2011, when it obtained it from Kohl’s Corp. in exchange for a building in the Woodland Prime business park in Menomonee Falls, Fitzgerald said. Kohl’s had been leasing back space until the end of October. The company no longer needs the space since expanding its headquarters with additional facilities in Menomonee Falls. In June, the Kohl’s Innovation Center opened in a 366,000-squarefoot converted factory warehouse.
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Deardorff Scott Pewaukee-based Mangold Creative LLC has welcomed Steve Deardorff as a web development and internet marketing specialist. Deardorff previously worked for Guarantee Digital as senior web developer. He is experienced in website design,
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development and maintenance, as well as logo creation. The company has also hired Katie Scott as a marketing project specialist. Prior to joining Mangold Creative, Scott was an account executive for z2 Marketing for a year. Before that role, she spent nearly eight years working for The Roberts Group Inc. as an account manager.
■ Nonprofit
IndependenceFirst, she spent 10 years as chief operating officer at Wheel & Sprocket. Before serving as COO at the company, she served as marketing manager for eight years. In her new position, she will continue developing and advancing human resources systems, communications, policies and procedures for IndependenceFirst.
■ Professional Organizations
The St. Josaphat Basilica Foundation, which preserves, restores and enhances the Basilica of St. Josaphat as a local and national historical landmark, a cultural asset and a center of spirituality for Milwaukee, has welcomed Very Rev. Javier Bustos as a new member to its board of directors. Rev. Bustos is currently the pastor and administrator at St. Joseph’s Parish in Waukesha, the archdiocesan delegate for health care, and Vicar for Hispanic Ministry of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He is also a lecturer of moral theology at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theory. Saint John’s Communities Inc. has named Mary Puetzer Milliren director of clinical services. Milliren has a variety of clinical and managerial experience, having worked at the Laureate Group-The Arboretum in Menomonee Falls; Aurora-St. Luke’s Medical Center; the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Wheaton Franciscan-St. Joseph’s Hospital. In her new position at Saint John’s Communities, she will run all elements of clinical services. She will also serve the organization’s leadership team and contribute to its strategic plan. Life Navigators has hired Cari Lawson as a registered nurse. Lawson will work in the organization’s Care Management Unit.
IndependenceFirst has appointed Liza LeClaire director of human resources. LeClaire has more than 18 years of experience in human resources management and strategic internal communications. Prior to joining
The Greater Brookfield Chamber of Commerce has named its 2016 board of directors. Elected directors are board chair Bob Suycott of Willis; Derek Berube of First Bank Financial Centre; Lynn Braden of Winter, Kloman, Moter & Repp SC; Tony Calvino of FedEx Ground; Lori Choinski of Gerald Nell; Matt Geik of Jamba Juice; Spense Mather of Securant Bank; Tiffany Mitchell-Detvan of Edward Jones Investments; Mark Ostendorf of Residence Inn by Marriott; Allison Quartuccio of Denali Realty; and Gjeret Stein of Sensible Gurus. Sue Gresham of Innovative Client Solutions has been newly elected to the board. Outgoing members are Steve Miazga of RA Smith National and Jackie Ruppel of Johnson Bank.
■ Real Estate Wangard Partners Inc. has hired Andrew Justman as a project manager, multi-family development. Justman will be responsible for the initiation and advancement of all new multi-family developments, as well as management of site prep, plan review, architectural/engineering design team members, cost estimating, bid analysis, governmental approvals/permitting, contract administration and cost/budget/risk management for each project.
■ Staffing
Susan G. Komen (414) 389-4881 komensoutheastwi.org
PHONE: WEB:
Our mission is to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering others, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures.
Krist D’Amato WFA Staffing Group, of Milwaukee, has promoted Thomas Krist from president to chief executive officer and Fred D’Amato from vice president to president. Both Krist and D’Amato have worked for the company for close to 20 years. w w w.biztimes.com
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biz connections SB A L O AN S The following loan guarantees were approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration in November:
Jefferson County Esser Properties LLC, 650 Owen St., Lake Mills, $142,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Green-Pak LLC, 1120 Main St., Fort Atkinson, $342,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Kenosha County Car Doctor LLC, 5912 Sheridan Road, Kenosha, $10,000, U.S. Bank; Glacier State Distribution Service, 7517 60th St., Kenosha, $127,500, JPMorgan Chase Bank; Insulated Wall Holdings LLC, 6320 20th Ave., Kenosha, $1.3 million, Southport Bank; Powell Enterprises LLC, 6328 49th Ave., Kenosha, $15,000, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.;
AMP Wellness Inc., 2084 N. Commerce St., Milwaukee, $1,808,000, Alterra Bank; Bumstead Provisions LLC, 2671 & 2675 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee, $445,000, First Bank Financial Centre;
waukee, $15,000, Wells Fargo Bank; Rockwell Mechanical LLC, 4829 W. Mill Road, Milwaukee, $150,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Village Pub of Shorewood LLC, 4488 N. Oakland Ave., Shorewood, $306,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Spectrum Electronix LLC, 420 Melvin Ave., Racine, $15,000, Wells Fargo Bank;
FarmHouse Studio LLC, 4509 S. 6th St., Milwaukee, $75,000, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.;
Ozaukee County
Dura-Trel Inc., P.O. Box 122, Sheboygan Falls, $1.3 million, Commerce State Bank;
Graig M. Goldman, 1200 Capitol Drive E, Milwaukee, $30,000, U.S. Bank;
Ben I Fit LLC, 10505 N. Beechwood Drive, Mequon, $440,000, Cornerstone Community Bank;
JLR Enterprises LLC, 15157 W. National Ave., New Berlin, $111,000, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.;
Federal Tool & Engineering LLC, 5338 Portland Road, Cedarburg, $104,000, Commerce State Bank;
Milwaukee Deburring Inc., 6533 N. Teutonia Ave., Milwaukee, $28,000, Tri City National Bank;
Golden Oak Dental Care, 11345 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon, $1.43 million, First Bank Financial Centre;
Diedrich’s Counseling Services Inc., 7015 W. Vogel Ave., Greenfield, $25,000, Associated Bank;
Mommy Dearest Children Center LLC, 4008 W. Burleigh St., Milwaukee, $150,000, Ridgestone Bank;
Ben I Fit LLC, 10505 N. Beechwood Drive, Mequon, $440,000, Cornerstone Community Bank;
TH Enterprises LLC, 406 N. Main St., Thiensville, $34,500, Partnership Bank;
Munson Inc., 6747 N. Sidney Place, Glendale, $150,000, First Bank Financial Centre;
Racine County
Milwaukee County
Paw Paw and Bessies Daycare, 297779 N. 17th St., Milwaukee, $71,200, Legacy Redevelopment Corp.;
B&K Real Estate 7 Mile LLC, 13600 7 Mile Road, Caledonia, $1,215,000, Guardian Credit Union;
2301 S. Logan Ave. LLC, 2301 S. Logan Ave., Milwaukee, $30,000, Spring Bank;
Prudent Diagnostics Laboratories LLC, 2564 N. 124th St., Apt. 412, Mil-
Paris Pet Crematory Inc., 4627 Haag Drive, Union Grove, $135,000, Peoples Bank;
Valiant Electric Inc., 5408 50th St., Kenosha, $111,000, Racine County Business Development Corp.;
Southeast Wisconsin Pressure Cleaning LLC, 1405 16th St., Racine, $68,700, Community State Bank;
Sheboygan County
Prellwitz Real Estate Holdings LLC, 150 Victory Lane, Elkhart Lake, $950,000, Hiawatha National Bank;
Walworth County Busy B’s Garden Center LLC, W7449 County Road X, Delavan, $25,000, First Citizens State Bank; Busy B’s Garden Center LLC, W7449 County Road X, Delavan, $25,000, First Citizens State Bank; Northside Subway Inc., 501 Interchange N, Lake Geneva, $206,200, The Harvard State Bank; SRE Properties LLC, N9200 Highway ES, East Troy, $305,000, First Bank Financial Centre;
Washington County Joseph C. Valind LLC, 3700 W. Washington St., West Bend, $20,000, First Bank Financial Centre;
Waukesha County
NEWS B R I E F S
Schreiber to head New York BlueCross division Lawrence Schreiber, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin, has been named the new president of Empire BlueCross BlueShield in New York. He will begin at Empire’s Manhattan headquarters on Dec. 28. Schreiber joined Indianapolis-based Anthem in 2006 and has served as president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin since 2009. The health insurer has more than 1,100 employees across the state. Under Schreiber’s watch, Anthem saw a “significant” increase in membership and financial growth, the company said. Anthem was recognized by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association as the fastest growing Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan in 2010. “We don’t have a new president to announce right now,” said Scott Larrivee, public relations director at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin. “Larry will be around to help with the transition and while we get an interim structure in place.” Empire is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anthem Inc. and the largest health insurer in New York, covering more than 4 million residents. Schreiber, a New York native, replaces Brian
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Griffin at Empire BlueCross, who in September was appointed president of Anthem’s Commercial and Specialty Business Division. He will be tasked with overseeing Empire’s small and large group and individual business, as well as the future strategy of the division and its interactions with elected officials and thought leaders.
prevention and religious programming for its students and their families.
Schreiber previously worked in executive management roles at UnitedHealth Group and Aetna.
The 40,000-square-foot addition represents phase one of what could be a three-phase construction project, according to Christine Safranek, director of mission advancement at the school, and Sara Roemer, director of communications.
St. Marcus breaks ground on campus expansion St. Marcus Lutheran School recently celebrated the groundbreaking of a 40,000-square-foot expansion project at its second campus, located at 2669 N. Richards St. in Milwaukee. The project will enable St. Marcus to grow its student body at the campus to more than 400 students in grades K3-8. Once the project is complete, the school will serve more than 1,120 students at its two campuses. Its original campus is located at 2215 N. Palmer Street in Milwaukee, four blocks south of the second campus. St. Marcus is a high-performing voucher school that offers its students what it describes as “cradle to college” programming in addition to health resources, information on disease B i zT i m e s M i l w a u k e e
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St. Marcus acquired its second campus last December. The school purchased the 13,000-square-foot building from the Council for the Spanish Speaking, Inc. for $460,075, according to city records.
St. Marcus hopes to complete phase one by next August. The initial phase will feature four floors with at least eight classrooms, an art room, a music and dance room, a library, special education space, small group instruction space and room for offices. The school will pour about $9 million into phase one, with funds coming from its $18.8 million “Courage to Commit” campaign, started in July 2014. Milwaukee-based Rinka Chung Architecture is serving as the project architect, and Milwaukeebased Catalyst Construction is serving as the school’s construction partner. School officials are still configuring the specifics of the project’s second and third phases.
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All American Aquatics Inc., 300 Chaffee Road, Oconomowoc, $100,000, First Bank Financial Centre; AM Sussex Inc., W232 N6116 Waukesha Ave., Sussex, $1,050,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Benz Metal Products Inc., N58 W14789 Shawn Circle, Menomonee Falls, $695,000, First Bank Financial Centre; Brew Sisters LLC, 920 Greenwald Ct., Suite 600, Mukwonago, $10,000, Wells Fargo Bank; Esch Inc., 15500 W. Greenfield Ave., Brookfield, $335,200, Stearns Bank; Frentzel Products Inc., W227 N6370 Sussex Road, Sussex, $956,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.; Jilly’s Car Wash, northwest corner of Highway 164 and Capitol Drive, Pewaukee, $933,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.; M&M Gymnastics, 16770 W. Victor Road, New Berlin, $462,000, Racine County Business Development Finance Corp.; Quality Tank Solutions LLC, 652 Armour Road, Oconomowoc, $197,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.; Rally Pizza LLC, 17115 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield, $419,000, First Western SBLC Inc.; The Potter’s Shop, 1314-13160 S. West Ave., Waukesha, $218,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.
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biz connections
n GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR VOLUME 21, NUMBER 20 DECEMBER 21 - JANUARY 10, 2016 126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120 PHONE: 414-277-8181 FAX: 414-277-8191 WEBSITE: www.biztimes.com CIRCULATION E-MAIL: circulation@biztimes.com ADVERTISING E-MAIL: ads@biztimes.com EDITORIAL E-MAIL: andrew.weiland@biztimes.com REPRINTS: reprints@biztimes.com SALES & MARKETING
PUBLISHER / OWNER
Dan Meyer dan.meyer@biztimes.com
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Mary Ernst mary.ernst@biztimes.com
PROJECT MANAGER
Jon Anne Willow jonanne.willow@biztimes.com
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Sarah Sinsky sarah.sinsky@biztimes.com
MANAGER OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
EDITORIAL
Robert Bahillo robert.bahillo@biztimes.com
EDITOR
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Andrew Weiland andrew.weiland@biztimes.com
Kevin Gaschk kevin.gaschk@biztimes.com
MANAGING EDITOR
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE
Molly Dill molly.dill@biztimes.com
Maribeth Lynch mb.lynch@biztimes.com
REPORTER
Corrinne Hess corri.hess@biztimes.com
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
PRODUCTION & DESIGN
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Amber Stancer amber.stancer@biztimes.com
Alex Schneider alex.schneider@biztimes.com ART DIRECTOR
Shelly Tabor shelly.tabor@biztimes.com
Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com
General Hospital In this photo, taken on May 13, 1938, Mary Jane Burdoll reads a scopeometer at Milwaukee County General Hospital. The eight-story, 600-patient hospital was constructed in 1931 at 87th Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The building was later demolished and the area is now part of the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa. — This photo is from the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Photo Archives collection. Additional images can be viewed online at www.mpm.edu.
Independent & Locally Owned — Founded 1995 —
COMME NTA R Y
Trump is a nightmare for the GOP
R
epublican voters looking forward to the end of the Obama administration and dreading the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency should be worried about Donald Trump. Trump continues to lead most of the polls in the Republican presidential primary, which he has dominated for months. According to a recent Reuters poll, Trump is supported by 35 percent of potential Republican primary voters. But that means 65 percent of those voters favor some other candidate, or none of them. There are 14 candidates in the GOP primary, which has split the pie of voters into many different pieces. Trump has benefitted from the plethora of candidates. He leads the polls with the largest slice of the GOP pie, despite lacking the support of a majority of Republican voters. Many voters are understandably frustrated with the failures of the Washington political establishment and worried about
terrorism, among other issues. Trump supporters seem to like him as a political outsider that talks tough, and bluntly, and knows how to get stuff done (he’s a developer who can build big buildings). But Trump’s campaign lacks detailed and well-thought-out ideas (his speeches largely consist of him bragging about the polls). And worst of all, his most outrageous ideas are just pandering to people’s fears and are in conflict with traditional American ideals and values. Trump compares his plan to block all Muslims from entering the country to FDR’s authorization of the detention of Japanese, German and Italian immigrants during World War II. He compares his plan to deport illegal Mexican immigrants to the Eisenhower administration’s “Operation Wetback.” Trump thinks it’s a good idea to repeat some of America’s mistakes of the past. Trump’s idea of an unconstitutional
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religious test to enter the country was met with outrage from both sides of the aisle, but the Republican outrage was especially noteworthy. “This is not conservatism,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville. “What was proposed (by Trump) is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for…some of our best and biggest allies in this struggle and fight against radical Islamic terror are Muslims, the vast, vast, vast, vast majority of whom are peaceful.” Some critics of Trump say his statements make it look like America is at war with Muslims and actually help ISIS recruit members. Trump has made outrageous statements throughout his campaign that his supporters love, but that have offended others. With that approach, how could he possibly attract enough independent voters to be elected? He can’t. It’s possible Trump could
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ANDREW WEILAND Editor BizTimes Milwaukee
win the Republican nomination, but there is no chance he could win the general election. “Donald Trump is Hillary Clinton’s Christmas gift wrapped up under a tree,” said former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, another Republican presidential candidate. “If he were our nominee…Hillary Clinton will wipe the floor with him.” When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped out of the presidential campaign, he called on other candidates to do the same to clear the field so a credible Republican candidate could take on Trump. If the Republican presidential field remains crowded and Trump wins the nomination with a plurality but not a majority of votes, it will be a disaster for Republican hopes to take back the White House next fall. n
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biz connections
COSBE Holiday Party The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE) hosted its annual Holiday Party on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at the MMAC offices in downtown Milwaukee. 1
Dale Boehm of Caspian Technologies, Deborah Seeger of Patina Solutions, Jeff Tredo of Rinka Chung Architecture Inc. and Tony Mallinger of Metal-Era.
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Paul Sweeney of PS Capital Partners LLC, Annette Tipton of Able Access Transportation LLC and Mary Isbister of GenMet.
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Jeff Wein of SITE Staffing and Tom Carney of Royal Basket Trucks Inc.
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Jon Teraoka of W.I.S. Logistics, Harriet Pedersen of Commerce Industrial Chemicals Inc. and Mark Sobczak of Sikich LLP.
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Mary Ellen Powers of MMAC, Paul Haislmaier of TRC Global Solutions Inc. and Wayne Staats of Granville Business Center.
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Tyler Denham of Newport Network Solutions and Bill Burnett of Milwaukee 7.
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David Wierdsma of Everything2Go.com and Larry Schmidt of Lakeland Supply Inc.
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Theretha King of Express Drug Screening LLC, Linda Crawford of BizTimes Media and Debra Auer of Express Drug Screening.
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John Parrish of Cultivate Communications, Bill Johnson of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Robert Wendt of Cultivate Communications and Joe Mazza of Cristo Rey Jesuit Corporate Work Study Program.
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ERICH SCHROEDER PHOTOGRAPHY
the last word
Empower local leaders to make decisions Gina Peter is the executive vice president and division manager for Wells Fargo Commercial Banking in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Companies with a multi-state presence should engage the expertise and guidance of local managers to make informed in-market decisions, she says. “Your Milwaukee-based business is growing. You’re expanding to new markets across Wisconsin, the Great Lakes and the Midwest – or perhaps further around the United States and the globe. With your company’s success comes a big decision: Should you continue to control your company’s decision-making, or should you consider loosening the reins and empowering your local leaders to make decisions? 38
“In my experience, empowering local decision-makers can produce notable results. “Our offices nationwide – just like the one here in Milwaukee – operate as local headquarters for satisfying our customers’ financial needs and helping them succeed financially. This empowers our commercial bankers to be more flexible and nimble in reacting to local market conditions and opportunities. “Empowerment drives your local leaders to make decisions, create growth strategies, and serve customers as close to home as possible. It’s energizing to be trusted to hire, budget and invest in your own community. When aligned with company values and combined with a keen understanding of how the local team’s actions impact the whole business, this approach inspires better decision-
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Gina Peter Executive vice president and division manager Wells Fargo Commercial Banking 100 E. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1400, Milwaukee Industry: Commercial banking Employees: 2,100 total in Wisconsin www.wellsfargo.com/com/commercial-banking
making and provides a greater incentive to grow. “While many business owners and executives like to maintain control over all aspects of their business, I encourage you to provide a solid vision for your leaders and have confidence in their expertise and guidance. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.” n
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GIVING GUIDE Didn’t make it in this year?
Reserve your space for the 2017 Giving Guide!
Check out the new digital edition:
biztimes.com/giving
E A S T E R
S E A L S
S O U T H E A S T
W I S C O N S I N
MISSION Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin provides exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities.
Connecting Individuals with Disabilities to a World of Possibilities
2222 S. 114th Street West Allis, WI 53227 (414) 449-4444 eastersealswise.com GOALS facebook.com/eastersealswise @ESSoutheastWI
To change the way the world defines, views and treats disabilities so that every person can achieve their full potential. To provide exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work, play and engage in their communities.
220 REVENUE: $10,412,379 YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1934 TOTAL EMPLOYEES:
Live: Hands-on, comprehensive, vital services and support to help people reach their full potential—regardless of challenges, needs or disabilities.
SERVICE AREA Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin serves six counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, Kenosha and Racine.
Learn: Programs designed to help children and adults learn—and often re-learn—basic functions, master skills needed to develop and thrive, and be sharp and active as they age.
FUNDING SOURCES
Work: A range of training, placement and related services that help people prepare for the workforce—because meaningful work is often the key to overcoming challenges and having a good life.
FUNDRAISING/EVENTS We hold two annual fundraising events that offer opportunities for individuals and corporations to get connected: • Walk With Me – Wednesday, June 29th at the Milwaukee County Zoo. A family event to walk together to raise funds and awareness for individuals with disabilities. Be a corporate sponsor or form a walk team. Registration begins in January at www.walkwithme.org/milwaukee • Autism Awareness Month – April. Through this cause marketing campaign, you can align your business with Easter Seals to help spread the word and raise needed funds to provide scholarships to families that are on the therapy waiting list for early intervention support services.
Play: Fun, healthy programs for children and adults and caregivers to relax, connect with friends and engage in constructive activities—all so necessary to living the best life possible.
Program Fees .................................... 62% Government Contracts ........................ 18% Commercial Sales ................................ 9% Donations ........................................... 7% Other Income ...................................... 4%
Act: Our vibrant community of friends and supporters stands with those who face challenges by volunteering, advocating, donating and participating in events that inspire us all and sustain our cause.
Dale Van Dam (Chair) ★ Peggy Niemer (Vice Chair) ★ Kenwood & Wells, LLC
Jim McMullen (Secretary) ★ PNC Bank
Nancy Creuziger (Treasurer) ★ Robert Glowacki CEO
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Michelle Schaefer COO
Easter Seals knows the personal impact your gifts make is of great importance to you. There are many ways to make a difference: Volunteer or leadership at the Board level; corporate volunteer days; tailored event sponsorships; individual gifts; in-kind gifts; or through your United Way Giving Campaign. A bequest gift allows you to combine your personal financial objectives with your charitable giving goals to establish a lasting legacy.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS M3 Insurance Solutions
Robert Ranus Retired, Roundy’s
David Glazer
David Glazer Real Estate, LLC
Bill Hughes
Sue Pierman
Pierman Communications
Daniel O’Callaghan
Harley-Davidson Motor Co.
Massage Envy
Sara Walker
Tari Emerson
2016 GIVING GUIDE | www.biztimes.com/giving
Tom Kelly
Kelmann Restoration
Jean Schramka
Patina Solutions
Roger Schaus
Associated Bank
Jeff Squire
ProHealth Care
Tom Gagliano Morgan Stanley
ManpowerGroup
Retired, Generac
Take advantage of the opportunity for your organization to be seen by the Region’s Business and Philanthropic Leaders all year long.
★ DENOTES EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Frank Windt
Schenck Business Solutions
Your involvement in this annual publication includes an in-depth profile, plus several advertising elements in BizTimes Milwaukee magazine, BizTimes Nonprofit Weekly enewsletter and BizTimes.com.
GIVING OPPORTUNITIES
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Our dedicated volunteers play an essential role in positively impacting the lives of those that we serve. We have a variety of opportunities throughout the week and weekend to fit your availability and interests. Learn how you can make a difference through volunteering at www.eastersealswise.com.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Publication Date: November 14, 2016
www.eastersealswise.com
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