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HONORING MILWAUKEE REGION COMPANIES THAT SHOWED US THEIR BEST DURING DIFFICULT TIMES
from Milwaukee Commerce Fall 2020
by MMAC
By Chris Jenkins, MMAC Communications Director
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been inspired by the stories we’ve heard from our business community. COVID-19 has challenged all of us to innovate, evolve and remain true to our values while making very difficult decisions along the way. To recognize the spirit of resilience we’ve seen throughout the Milwaukee Region in 2020, MMAC created the Focus on the Future awards.
“The Milwaukee Region has always been filled with honest, hardworking, decent people who just want to do the right thing,” says Rick Schmidt, President and CEO of Focus on the Future honoree C.G. Schmidt. “It’s during a pandemic where you really see people who do want to step up and really help make a difference in their communities. Milwaukee is just a great place with great people. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.”
During the initial stages of the pandemic, C.G. Schmidt employees volunteered to bottle hand sanitizer for health care workers and shifted their K-12 education outreach efforts from in-person to virtual. And there are so many other examples. Central Standard Craft Distillery shifted some of its production of spirits to make hand sanitizer. Central Office Systems and Exciting Events began producing temperature check-in stations. Milwaukee Tech Hub and The Commons found a way to make sure college students could still do internships, helping to build our future work force.
In total, we honored 65 companies, organizations and individuals for their inspiring efforts.
“They didn't just lean in, they stepped in to make a difference in so many lives,” said Carrie Wall, President and CEO of Focus on the Future honoree YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. “We work with so many of these organizations to broaden our impact. And we really need to do that. And we know the importance of working together, it truly does make us community and it's powerful to see so many teams working tirelessly keeping our city thriving.”
And to keep their businesses thriving, Gehl Foods responded to rapidly shifting market demands by packaging its foods for home consumption rather than in movie theaters and restaurants.
“This is clearly about the entire team that rallied together, recognizing the situation - we're in this Category Five hurricane that has lasted for five months or longer,” said Michael Schwartz, Vice President and General Manager, Global Food Business at Focus on the Future honoree Gehl Foods. “So everybody pulled together, recognizing the reality of the situation. We had to pivot and we had to redirect our resources, our focus and our processes against things that we're going to line up with the new world.”
The pandemic continues to disrupt our businesses and lives today, but we know it won’t be like this forever.
Our Focus on the Future honorees helped keep a sense of optimism alive until we get to the other side.
“There is every indication that the crises are temporary,” said Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development Lafayette Crump, who gave the keynote address during the Focus on the Future virtual awards ceremony. “We will resolve the public health challenges, and when that happens, people will return to more normal routines – even if it is a ‘new normal.’ Yes, there will be permanent changes. We’ve all become more adept at virtual meetings. But I think we all sense an eagerness to get back to normal, with a return to the office, to restaurants, to entertainment, to school and to travel.”
Added Sherrie Tussler, Executive Director of Focus on the Future honoree Hunger Task Force: “There's just amazing people out there. I'm the person who greets you at the parking lot and gives you your mask. And I don't see sad and angry. I see people thanking and blessing. And I feel thankful and I feel blessed by all.”
MILWAUKEE TECH HUB COALITION AND THE COMMONS COLLABORATE TO KEEP STUDENTS ON TRACK
Hub Coalition and The Commons began hearing stories of students losing their internships because of COVID-19.
These internships allow students to gain work experience and meet graduation requirements. They also provide needed income for education and living expenses.
Within six weeks, the two organizations collaborated to launch a virtual internship program centered around technology and innovation. Students received projects, mentoring, career development guidance, advanced technical content and a stipend.
More than 700 students applied, and a diverse group of 100 students were accepted.
Beyond helping students advance their career development, this program is connecting students and employers in a new way and will hopefully help retain those students here as talented employees in the future. The Tech Hub and The Commons expect to expand on this mission in the future.
SPEARity HELPS SMOOTH THE TRANSITION FROM IN-PERSON TO VIRTUAL
Early on in the pandemic, Darren Fisher challenged the SPEARity team to re-invent its longstanding Business Improvement Quarterly event to a virtual format, increasing the number of attendees without sacrificing content quality.
Clients shared that the SPEARity’s app allowed them to pivot seamlessly from office to work-from-home expectations without a loss in performance.
As the leader of a peer-to-peer executive roundtable group with the MMAC Council of Small Business Executives, Darren Fisher helped the group transition from in-person to virtual meetings so they could continue helping one another through the challenges each of their businesses was facing. They began meeting more frequently and diving deeper into the difficult issues creating havoc in their companies.
As a Black Milwaukee leader, Fisher is currently working on a program to empower Black and Brown leadership in the community. He sees his personal efforts and the company he founded as important contributors to Milwaukee's economy by giving leaders the skills, tools and support they need to continuously improve and achieve greater success.
CONTINUING K-12 OUTREACH EFFORTS IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT
Employees of C.G. Schmidt are used to engaging with K-12 students to spark their interest in construction. But when COVID-19 hit, they had to find a new way.
Project teams used social media to bring their “ask a builder” program to classrooms, answering students’ questions on YouTube.
“’How long does it take to build our building? Why does a concrete mix truck spin? How do you move a tower crane?’ Our people would make a YouTube video that would explain exactly what was going on,” said Rick Schmidt, President and CEO of C.G. Schmidt. “So the students can learn a little more about construction and about the work that was going on.”
Schmidt is proud of his team for continuing to volunteer during the pandemic.
“It just means the world to me, and I can't say enough about the people that we have working here and how proud I am of all the things that they do,” Schmidt said.
SACRIFICING TO KEEP EMERGENCY WORKERS’ KIDS SAFE
Not everyone could work from home during the initial stages of the pandemic – especially health care industry workers. But what about their children?
The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee was there to provide peace of mind, establishing camps to take care of them.
“These are people's kids and families, and they knew they could trust the ‘Y’ to keep them safe,” said Carrie Wall, President and CEO of YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.
Because we knew very little about how the virus spread in the initial stages of the pandemic, YMCA team members had to make significant sacrifices.
“All the staff pledged to completely isolate themselves at home so they didn't really put the kids at risk,” Wall said. “Every team member. They stepped up and limited their amount of time in their personal lives just to protect the frontline employees of those emergency responders, their kids and their families. So I know this team is selfless and I know they are brave, but the sacrifice that they've made was actually profound. And for them, there was no question or hesitation.”
FEEDING THOSE IN NEED WHILE SUPPORTING WISCONSIN’S DAIRY SUPPLY CHAIN
We all remember the images on TV: Wisconsin dairy farmers pouring out milk because of reduced demand in the restaurant industry and school system.
Hunger Task Force saw a solution: Gather donations, use the money to buy milk, cheese and yogurt and distribute it to those in need.
“These were all Wisconsin businesses that we were able to reach out to,” said Sherrie Tussler, Executive Director of Hunger Task Force. “Keep their supply chains intact, buy their products at fair market value using donor contributions -- and we fed hungry people.”
By early Fall, Hunger Task Force distributed more than 3 million pounds of cheese, milk and yogurt thanks to more than $1 million in donations.
“So I feel like we made a difference in the lives of dairy farmers. We gave some dairy farmers that were worried about their situation some hope. And we made sure we didn't waste food.”