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8 C HARTING UMOS INC.’S EVOLUTION

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12 Real Estate 24 Notable Minority Executives

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Contents

Leading Edge

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

Evers’ proposed $100 million VC fund an important step to support Wisconsin startups, supporters say

By Brandon Anderegg, staff writer Gov. Tony Evers is proposing a $100 million venture capital fund to boost the state’s startup ecosystem as part of his 2021-‘23 budget.

The proposed Wisconsin Fund would follow a fund of funds model, which means $100 million would be allocated to a minimum of four existing recipient funds that in turn would invest those

dollars into Wisconsin-based companies.

At least 20% of the individual companies receiving an investment from a recipient fund must be women- or minority-led and rooted in underserved communities, an aspect of Wisconsin’s model that is unique among other state-backed funds in the country, said Missy Hughes, Wisconsin

BY THE NUMBERS Exports by Wisconsin companies fell by nearly

1.2 BILLION $

in 2020, a 5.4% decline from 2019 and the lowest annual total since 2010.

Economic Development Corp. secretary and chief executive officer.

“The taxpayers would agree that now is the time to be bold,” Hughes said. “Now is the time to think about what it’s going to take for Wisconsin to have a full and strong recovery and a recovery that includes all of our communities and all of the vulnerable people that have been impacted by the pandemic.”

Under the proposal, Wisconsin would become an investor alongside private investors, who must match the $100 million state investment with $200 million in collective investments of their own. Evers’ proposal also calls for the WEDC to establish an oversight board for the new fund.

The Wisconsin Fund would make an investment of no more than $25 million in each fund. The idea behind multiple recipient funds is to spread risk while supporting multiple fund managers who have varying expertise and the ability to reach different communities, said Tom Still, Wisconsin

Technology Council president.

Securing capital for new businesses has long been a challenge for Wisconsin, which is why a fund of this size is critical for entrepreneurial growth in the state, its supporters say. Early-stage companies may be able to raise a first round of funding from family, friends or angel investors, but it’s the next stage of funding that has historically served as a barrier for startups, Still said.

“The promise of this fund is that it will continue a maturation process for young companies as they move along to truly become revenue producing, profitable and job creating,” Still said.

Evers’ budget proposal also includes $200 million for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and more than $29 million for workforce development initiatives, including $8 million that would be awarded to organizations focused on local or regional economic development.

Evers’ VC fund proposal has been met with support from Wisconsin’s broader startup ecosystem, including the Wisconsin Startup Coalition.

“It’s a smart investment to make now to ensure Wisconsin emerges stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Matt Cordio, co-founder of the Wisconsin Startup Coalition. n biztimes.com / 5

Leading Edge

THE

PUBLIC

RECORD How does higher ed R&D spending in Wisconsin stack up?

COFFEE BREAK

Kellie J. Sigh Executive director, College Possible Milwaukee 1515 N. Rivercenter Drive, Suite 105 collegepossible.org Industry: Nonprofit

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer After starting the decade with the third-highest level of research and development spending in the country, the University of Wisconsin-Madison ended the 2010s ranked eighth in 2019. The ranking was the same as the previous year, even as total spending increased. New data from the National Science Foundation also sheds light on how research spending at other Wisconsin institutions compares nationally.

Rank in 2019 (Change since 2014)

Research spending (in millions)

Spending change since 2014

8 (-4)

$1,297

17% (+$189M)

Medical College of Wisconsin

98 (+4)

$245

23% (+$45M)

UW-Milwaukee

197 (-20)

$54

-11% (-$7M)

Marquette University

226 (+18)

$38

60% (+$14M)

Milwaukee School of Engineering

433 (-37)

$4

-9% (-$384K)

Institution UW-Madison

The data also details where R&D dollars are spent. At UW-Madison, for example, 63% of spending goes to life sciences, followed by around 10% to engineering and around 7% to non-science and non-engineering fields. UW-Milwaukee’s spending is more evenly divided with no field accounting for more than a quarter of expenditures. Physical sciences lead at UWM with nearly 21% of dollars spent, followed by engineering at a little more than 18% and life sciences at 16%. A plurality of Marquette’s spending (49%) goes to mathematics and statistics, followed by life sciences at 35% and engineering at 24%.

Federal funding is the top R&D source at UW-Madison, UWM and the Medical College, accounting for between 43% and 49% of funding at those institutions. State and local funding plays a big role at UWM, accounting for 32% of funding, while it accounts for 7% of funding at Madison. Marquette drew a plurality of funding (40%) from its own institutional resources while 78% of MSOE funding came from businesses.

MSOE’s share of research funding coming from businesses is the largest of the more than 600 schools included in the NSF data. n Source: National Science Foundation 6 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

• Kellie J. Sigh was hired in 2020 as the new executive director of College Possible Milwaukee, a local affiliate of a national nonprofit that works to close the degree divide by coaching students from low-income backgrounds in high school and through college.

• A Milwaukee native, Sigh comes from a family of educators. Her uncle, Grant Gordon, was the first Black principal for Milwaukee Public Schools, and her aunt, Lucinda Gordon, founded the former Lady Pitts School for Pregnant Girls in Milwaukee.

• “I come from a family that definitely placed squarely on us that we each stood on the shoulders of giants and that … there’s an expectation that we continue to sew into others.”

• She previously worked for MPS as its director of strategic partnerships and customer service.

• Sigh’s priorities for College Possible are forging strategic partnerships, refining its service model, growing its profile in the community and boosting fundraising.

• “We are helping to address the health … and vibrancy of the Milwaukee community because of the scholars who are coming out educated and many (of whom) are determining to allow their talent to remain here in Milwaukee. So, workforce development is a byproduct of what we’re doing.”

• Sigh is currently working on a doctorate in higher education leadership at Alverno College and holds an M.B.A. from Concordia University.

• In her spare time, she enjoys taking long walks on Milwaukee’s lakefront. “It’s where I do a lot of good thinking and that always takes me to a happy place.”

• After weaning herself off a “good amount of cream and sugar,” Sigh now takes her coffee black. n

MYSUREFIT L O C AT I O N : Milwaukee FOUNDER: Christian Ruth

LILA ARYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

REV UP

F O U N D E D: 2015 P R O D U C T: Virtual shopping and fitting technology platform WEBSITE: mysurefit.com E M P L OY E E S: 35 employees GOAL: Expand MySureFit technology licensing to more brand retailers EXPERIENCE: Christian Ruth is the founder and CEO of management investment firm Covenant Capital Holdings.

He previously held positions with Platinum Equity, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston.

MySureFit aims to disrupt online apparel market with virtual fitting room

By Brandon Anderegg, staff writer

Christian Ruth

MILWAUKEE-BASED startup MySureFit has set out to revolutionize the online shoppers’ experience with its virtual fitting technology platform for men’s and women’s clothing.

Over the past five years, MySureFit, formerly known as SelfieStyler, Inc., developed proprietary measurement and fit points for garments that generate size recommendations with 99% accuracy, said Christian Ruth, MySureFit chief executive officer.

App users input their height before a video prompts the user to stand in various positions for a series of photos. These photos are analyzed to calculate correct sizing and to create a realistic avatar of the shopper, which serves as a model for outfits selected by the user.

MySureFit has developed its technology over the course of several years, but the company launched commercially in 2019 when the technology could be delivered at scale, Ruth said.

Last year, the company hired David Cunningham to lead MySureFit’s brand partnerships. Cunningham was previously brand president for Ralph Lauren’s Chaps and Calvin Klein Jeans.

Ruth says MySureFit has grown to include more than 200,000 users, thousands of customers and has sold tens of thousands of items on the platform.

MySureFit helps shoppers purchase clothing that fits them, resulting in fewer returns, according to Ruth. For brand retailer garments, MySureFit technology delivers a product return rate of less than 1%, much lower than the 30% to 70% return rate of online retailers today, he said.

While in-store garments may have a cycle time of 10 minutes before they are returned to the rack, the cycle time for garments purchased online may take weeks, especially if the shopper purchased multiple sizes of the same garment.

This means online brand retailers not only have to account for artificial demand, but they may also have a stock out situation, which can lead to the loss of customers and revenue, Ruth said.

“This is one of the reasons why a lot of brand retailers are going bankrupt and one of the reasons why they did not want consumers shopping online because the unit economics for online fashion were terrible,” Ruth said.

Although users can shop on the MySureFit app, the company has license partnerships with brand and multi-brand retailers, a segment of the business the company hopes to grow in the coming months.

“We’re not targeting just a couple million dollars; we’re looking at trying to build a $10 billion-plus revenue type business,” Ruth said. n biztimes.com / 7

BizNews FEATURE UMOS’ headquarters at 2701 S. Chase Ave. in Milwaukee.

Charting UMOS, Inc.’s evolution, from migrant advocacy group to $62 million agency

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer THE FIRST WATERSHED moment in UMOS, Inc.’s 56-year progression from a local migrant farmworker advocacy group to a multi-state social services and workforce development agency came in 1997.

The nonprofit organization, then a roughly $8 million operation, grew overnight when it won a 2-year, $51 million contract from the State of Wisconsin to administer the Wisconsin Works welfare reform program in Milwaukee County. UMOS immediately started looking for more office space and began onboarding “an incred-

2021 GIVING GUIDE

ible” number of new employees as the scope of its business multiplied, recalled UMOS president and chief executive officer Lupe Martinez.

“We took a $50 million increase and everybody started scrambling to redo the organizational structure,” said Martinez, who has led the organization since 1974.

UMOS’ second turning point appears to have occurred in recent months. Through the second half of 2020 and into early this year, the organization has won a slew of new contracts, the largest being

an annual $25 million federal agreement to operate a Head Start program for migrant and seasonal worker families in Texas.

In total, UMOS brought in $37 million in new grant revenue last year, which will expand its presence both in Wisconsin and nationally and swell its workforce to roughly 900 employees.

But UMOS’ recent growth spurt is unusual for the organization, Martinez said. Rather, its transformation over the years has usually been one of incremental growth, the accumulation of smaller government contracts that have

led to UMOS’ now robust portfolio of services.

Formed by local ecumenical groups, United Migrant Opportunity Services incorporated in 1965 as an effort to help migrant farmworkers. Its early years were linked to President Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty; it got its start with a single Office of Economic Opportunity grant to fund four day-care centers.

Martinez, who came from a family of migrant farmworkers, joined the organization in 1969 as a bilingual outreach worker. His plan was to work there for a couple years and use it as a launching pad to a position in state or federal government.

In May, he will have been with the organization for 52 years, including 47 at its helm.

When Martinez became executive director in 1974, his priority was to grow UMOS’ services to meet the increased needs of farmworkers and to diversify the organization’s revenue sources.

Soon, the organization widened its reach to serve more demographic groups.

“UMOS had a really good model to provide services to disadvantaged individuals, and whether they’re migrant worker or not, whether they’re Latino or not, it really doesn’t matter,” Martinez said. “The families had needs

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UMOS president and CEO Lupe Martinez.

that needed to be addressed.

And when they saw what UMOS had, they asked ‘can you apply that model to our population as well?’ And that’s how we started diversifying the population that we served and the funding sources that we had.”

Its work now largely falls into three areas: workforce development, child development and social services. It manages more

than 40 government contracts, with programs ranging from tech workforce training to domestic violence prevention to home energy assistance to off-farm labor housing. Workforce development makes up the largest portion of its business, accounting for $12.5 million of its $26.5 million in grant expenditures in 2019-’21. Child education and development is second highest, at $9 million.

Today, it runs programs in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin.

The way UMOS leaders describe the organization’s evolution, its expansion has unfolded organically, with one contract leading to another, and then another. Taking on the Wisconsin Works program 24 years ago got the agency’s foot

in the door to do more workforce development work, and it eventually won another state contract to operate the Transitional Jobs program, which it now runs in counties across the state.

About 98% of UMOS’ funding comes from government sources, with the remainder coming from individuals, corporate donors and foundations.

“UMOS evolved dramatically from just a grant-seeking organization to a performance-based, data-driven, customer-focused organization,” said Rod Ritcherson, special assistant to Martinez, who credits the organization’s Wisconsin Works contract as catalyzing that transformation. “Now, if UMOS didn’t perform, it didn’t get paid. It forced UMOS to evolve. …

UMOS had to up its game. It had to be more competitive. It had to perform. It had to actually show results and outcomes to meet the require-

ments of the funding sources.”

Leveraging political connections has also played a role in UMOS’ growth. Over the past five decades, Martinez, a registered lobbyist in the state of Wisconsin, has made a point to build relationships with county executives, aldermen, governors and other elected officials, both in and outside of Wisconsin.

Working across party lines is a necessity in a state like Wisconsin where the political winds and power dynamics shift every few years, Martinez said.

“Our niche is that we’re very good and have been very successful in tapping into the federal resources. We’re very, very competitive,” he said. “But, depending on who the administration is, whether it’s Democratic or Republican, it can be very volatile. Because based on their needs, they change funding sources. Somehow, we

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BizNews

have been able to manage and survive all of those various administrations. … We have come very, very close to maybe losing major funding sources, but we always land on our feet.”

He said he advises his staff that building “social capital” through connections and partnerships is just as, if not more, important than capital itself. In some cases, the one precedes the other.

For example, Martinez recalls a few years back, when Kenosha County was seeking an agency to run its Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program. County officials sought out UMOS, even though energy was outside the organization’s wheelhouse at the time.

“I got a call from the county executive and he said ‘I have a program here that I need some help with.’ … He said ‘I need to have you run the energy program,’” Martinez said. “I said, ‘We

really don’t do energy,’ and he said ‘Yeah, but you guys manage good programs.’”

UMOS took on the work in 2011, and that led to another energy assistance contract with Milwaukee County.

Martinez stressed that methodical decisions – and judicious restraint – have propelled the organization’s growth over the years. “(Some organizations) see a funding source and grab it because (it’s) there. That’s called ‘flavor of the day,’” Martinez said. “… Some organizations will grab anything that’s coming around.

We don’t do that. Funding opportunities come over my desk every day. As management we look at it and say ‘no, that’s not a good fit for UMOS, that’s not part of our mission, it’s not something we know how to do well.’ We try to remain really focused on what we are very good at.”

By April, UMOS leaders expect the organization to reach $62 million in grant revenue, and new contracts continue to come in.

In late January, the organization won a 5-year, $3.9 million U.S. Department of Labor grant for its TechHire program, an initiative to provide accelerated training in technology fields and other skilled trades to formerly incarcerated individuals.

Its new $25 million contract in Texas, awarded in November, was another major get for UMOS. After eyeing expansion there for more than 20 years, Martinez said, he finally got the call last year to begin operating Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs in the state, which builds on its existing Head Start programs in Arkansas, Missouri and Wisconsin.

It also recently expanded its presence in Illinois, opening four new offices to provide farmworker

job support services statewide, and is in the process of bringing its transitional jobs program to six more Wisconsin counties.

Martinez said his team’s immediate focus is making sure its programs run well, not necessarily on seeking more big contracts.

“We want funding streams that will stick around for a long, long time. That’s priority,” he said, adding that the goal is to grow at a “very slow pace” to maintain sustainability.

“We prefer to grow at a 4% or 5% growth every year,” he said.

But he also sees the need to be ready when opportunity presents itself. And, for UMOS, opportunity often does.

“If someone says ‘we would like to have UMOS expand into state X,Y, Z,’ we want to explore that to see if there’s a program we’re running now that could be replicated there,” he said. n

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the

Interview

NEW YORK-BASED tech giant IBM recently acquired Milwaukee-based Salesforce

consultancy 7Summits from private equity firm Sverica International Management, LLC. Founded by Paul Stillmank, 7Summits builds cloud-computing software within Salesforce, called “accelerators,” which enable businesses to develop pre-built, purposedriven communities for a variety of industries and audiences. IBM now has access to these assets, which the company said it will use to improve the go-to-market strategy and digital experiences of its customers in a way that allows businesses to more easily build partnerships, hire employees and increase sales. BizTimes reporter Brandon Anderegg recently caught up with Stillmank after the sale of his company.

What did IBM see in 7Summits?

“They saw in us a deep specialist that understood collaboration and social thinking. We understand audience journeys and we see every business process as collaborative. … As far as what IBM saw, (they saw) someone who gets how to productize something. When you add that up, there’s a cultural match and they want a company that does stuff the way they do it. We fit really well with how IBM works, so integrating us into the business was much less of a challenge. And we brought a lot of assets, like software and our way of doing work. Our 7Summits way has a lot of development templates, that’s also intellectual property, so that we can help companies scale.”

What about 7Summits is so innovative?

“The original idea for 7Summits is we’re going to enable your customers, your partners and your employees to build your company for you. That’s a social crowdsourcing idea. That was our promise to make sure they knew that if you hire us, we’re going to actually get these audiences working together and they’re going to do the work. So, you don’t have to bring a bunch of customers together for a focus group; let them go collaborate online and bring ideas to you. Those types of concepts are powerful.”

What are your clients struggling with the most right now?

“Most businesses have now transitioned to remote working, but many did it in a hurry and they need to step back and take a more strategic position to do it long-term. You can’t just paste together Zoom, Slack and some other pieces and say we’re ready to go. What are the underlying business processes and how are those audiences engaging with your business to be the most effective at doing that work?”

How will the acquisition benefit Milwaukee?

“Milwaukee, because of the ubiquity of technology, there are companies here with ideas. We have the talent. The benefit to Milwaukee is we’ve proven we have the talent. I think the nature of remote work amplifies Milwaukee’s ability to go after new markets. Another benefit for Milwaukee is jobs. We’re going to keep hiring here. Analysts are talking about the Salesforce economy and how there’s all this job creation going on in general and that’s hard at work here. Look at TechCanary and Penrod. Inside these organizations here in Milwaukee, they are hiring Salesforce talent because they have to manage these environments, so there’s an opportunity, a benefit for Milwaukee to wake up and say, ‘hey, if I get trained in this technology, I can see great job growth.’ Salesforce was just listed on the Dow Jones, so the market is signaling that (Salesforce) is going to be a company for the ages. The technology stack they are creating should make everybody turn their heads and say, ‘why not Milwaukee? Why aren’t we creating the training and enablement to take our slice of that and become more tech-centric?’ This is a time to pivot.” n

Paul Stillmank Founder and chief executive officer 7Summits, an IBM company Milwaukee Industry: Technology Employees: 225 nationally, 71 in Milwaukee 7summitsinc.com biztimes.com / 11

Real Estate

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

Johnson Controls plans to move its downtown Milwaukee employees to its Glendale campus in about two years.

Johnson Controls’ plans to leave downtown could present opportunity for big corporate user, mixed-use redevelopment

THE REAL ESTATE community is being presented with an opportunity to reimagine what the downtown Milwaukee Johnson Controls International Plc. complex could be, following the company’s announcement that it will leave and move its 1,300 employees to Glendale.

While many industry experts said the 420,000-square-foot complex at 507 E. Michigan St. is a prime candidate for a mixed-use project, others argued it provides a chance for Milwaukee to land a major corporate user.

JCI will remain in downtown Milwaukee for two years while it seeks a buyer for the property. It has tapped CBRE Inc. to market the property for sale.

“Johnson Controls is very proud of the 507 Building downtown and its legacy. However, the company is also focused on the eventual transition to our Glendale campus where it will serve as our most efficient and productive office environment,” the company said in an emailed statement.

BizTimes Milwaukee spoke with a number of local real estate developers, all of whom said an adaptive reuse project makes sense for the downtown Johnson

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BIRD’S EYE VIEW: F O R M E R B U C Y R U S C A M P U S , S O U T H M I LWAU K E E

12 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

The former home of mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus International Inc., and later Caterpillar, has landed its first major tenant since being acquired by a New York developer.

The 27-acre former Bucyrus campus sits between Rawson Avenue, 10th Avenue, Milwaukee Avenue and railroad tracks. It contains more than 750,000 square feet of industrial and office space across seven buildings. White Plains, New Yorkbased Reich Bros. LLC bought the campus in 2018.

It recently secured its first tenant in Franklin-based Steele Solutions Inc., which is leasing the 209,675-square-foot “Big Muskie” building.

Caterpillar took over the campus after acquiring Bucyrus in 2011. The company has since reduced its South Milwaukee presence after moving jobs to Arizona.

It still owns and operates from property on the north side of Rawson Avenue.

Controls complex, particularly for multi-family housing and hotel rooms.

Considering the possible uses for the complex, Josh Jeffers, president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based development firm J. Jeffers & Co., said in a recent interview the multi-family market has remained strong. And though hospitality has been hit hard by the pandemic, Jeffers said there may be more demand in the future once it’s back to business as usual.

He said his firm will be watching the Johnson Controls complex closely and will possibly try to acquire it.

Gard Pecor, senior market analyst with CoStar Group Inc., said that since 2015, more than a million square feet of downtown Milwaukee office space has been turned into apartments or hotels.

Another 600,000 square feet is in the process of redevelopment.

“It’s a highly active conversion market for office properties, especially older office properties,” he said.

But some in the local commercial real estate industry are not as quick to jump on the adaptive-reuse bandwagon for the complex.

They contend it presents Milwaukee with an opportunity to land a large corporate user.

“It would be fantastic if there was a single user that would purchase it, and move their corporate headquarters in there,” said Kevin Armstrong, president of Founders 3 Commercial Services Inc. “It could potentially be a fantastic opportunity for somebody to do that.”

Armstrong acknowledged that opportunities for massive corporate relocations are scarce, but they do exist. He pointed to the recent relocation of Rexnord to 111 W. Michigan St. downtown, as well as in-progress corporate projects including Michels Corp.’s R1VER and Rite-Hite’s new headquarters.

Andrew Jensen, principal with Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke, said the Johnson Controls vacancy may be a good time for the real

estate community to shine the spotlight on downtown Milwaukee by talking up the complex’s location and the market’s strengths such as its skilled labor force and low pay rates relative to coastal cities.

“This is a world-class facility,” he said of the complex.

Jensen conceded that 420,000 square feet is a lot of space for a single corporate user to fill, particularly for the Milwaukee market. He said something along the lines of 100,000 square feet makes sense there, with the remaining space being converted to other uses.

Whatever happens to the complex, Armstrong said he expects at least a portion of it to remain as office space.

“Based on its location near the Third Ward, The Hop, being on Michigan (Street), the hotels that are there, I think it has a real opportunity for a good portion of it still remaining as office,” he said.

Industry experts also said they do not see Johnson Controls’ move to the suburbs as the start of a broader migration out of the city’s center.

Pecor said it goes against what the market has been seeing in recent years – companies choosing to move closer to downtown. He noted recent moves like engineering firms HNTB Corp. and GRAEFUSA Inc. to the Two-Fifty building and The Avenue development, respectively. Even more recently, North Shore Healthcare relocated its headquarters from Glendale to the HUB640 building. n

UGLY BUILDING: VAC A N T R E S TAU R A N T B U I L D I N G AT C ALHOUN & C APITOL , BROOKFIELD This vacant building southeast of West Capitol Drive and North Calhoun Road was once home to Pepino’s Italian restaurant. Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, the only thing it’s been serving up lately is sore eyes.

It could have a new look soon. About a year ago, Brookfield-based investor Mishkaat Investment LLC proposed remodeling the building and constructing a new 11,800-square-foot retail building next to it.

Dan Erl, Brookfield director of community development, said the project was approved by the city. He said he expects the developer will soon apply for building permits.

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ALEX ZANK Reporter

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2/2/2021 9:29:26 AM

6 Things You Can Do to Prevent Heart Disease Know your risk Certain factors can increase your risk, such as smoking, kidney disease or a family history of early heart disease. Knowing your risk factors can help you and your health care team decide on the best treatment plan for you.

Eat a healthy diet Center your eating plan around vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, plant-based proteins, lean animal proteins and fish. Make smart choices like limiting refined carbohydrates, processed meats and sweetened drinks.

Be physically active Move more – it’s one of the best ways to stay healthy, prevent disease and age well. Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week.

Watch your weight Stay at a healthy weight for you. Lose weight if you’re overweight or obese. Start by eating fewer calories and moving more.

Live tobacco free If you smoke, quit. If someone in your household smokes, encourage them to quit. If you don’t smoke, vape or use tobacco products, don’t ever start.

Manage conditions & take your medicine Your health care team can help you reduce your risk of heart disease or stroke to live a longer, healthier life.

Work together on your prevention plan. Take all medications as directed.

14 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

biztimes.com / 15

STORY COVER

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pany plans to build its eighth location, on West North Avenue in Wauwatosa.

W

hen Fiddleheads Coffee Roasters opened in 1996, it was one of the first coffeehouses in Ozaukee County. Starbucks, then a 1,000-store company still in the early stages of its nationwide expansion, and other big-name coffee chains hadn’t yet entered that market.

So, for Fiddleheads founder Lynn Wroblewski, educating customers about premium coffee – and why they should spend money on it – was a central part of the job.

“People didn’t know what a mocha was, what a latte was; it was a foreign language to them,” said owner Mike Wroblewski, Lynn’s brother, who joined the business about six months after Fiddleheads’ flagship location opened its doors along Thiensville’s Main Street.

Twenty-five years later, Fiddleheads has grown to seven Milwaukee-area cafés, a wholesale bakery and a small-batch roastery that distributes coffee to local grocery stores, and has built a national fol-

16 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

lowing through its online store, having filled orders from nearly all 50 states.

All the while, retail coffee has evolved into a larger and more competitive market, as consumers became more sophisticated and discerning.

“We had to be nimble over the last 25 years to adjust to the marketplace, to our customers and to our competitors,” said owner Ray Marcy. “Twenty-five years ago, we were pretty much a conceptual sell. Today we’re a competitive sell.”

Fiddleheads is locked into growth mode during a time when many businesses, including some of its local competitors, are scaling back. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and government-imposed restrictions have changed the way people work, gather and spend money. The food and beverage and retail industries have suffered.

But for the family-owned Thiensville-based coffeehouse, the pandemic has catalyzed the openings of two new cafés within the first three months of this year: a corner storefront on North Oakland Avenue in Shorewood and a marquee space on the ground floor of the new BMO Tower in downtown Milwaukee. Next year, the com-

Lynn’s vision

Launching her own coffeehouse was a dream Lynn Wroblewski brought home from Colorado, after developing a passion for coffee during her brief post-college stint as a barista. After returning to the Milwaukee area, Wroblewski spent a year working tirelessly on a business plan – down to every last detail.

“She was the architect, she was the baker, she was the menu selector, she was the coffee beans procurer,” said Ray Marcy, who is Wroblewski’s stepfather.

She didn’t just want to serve coffee, Marcy recalls; she wanted to serve the highest quality coffee, even if it was slightly more expensive than other alternatives.

“She insisted on that – that we do nothing but the very best,” said Loreen Marcy, Wroblewski’s mother.

That’s how Wroblewski led the business for the next 14 years, overseeing the openings of two more café locations, in Cedarburg and Mequon, and the launch of an in-house roastery in 2008, which gave the business ultimate control over production of its

JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

Fiddleheads co-owners Steve Klimczak, Mahnaz Marcy and Mike Wroblewski. biztimes.com / 17

FIDDLEHEADS COFFEE ROASTERS

STORY COVER

mainstay product.

Wroblewski died in 2011 after battling breast cancer. But her vision for Fiddleheads Coffee has been kept alive through her six family members who now own and operate the growing business: her brother, Mike Wroblewski; husband and master roaster, Steve Klimczak; stepfather, Ray Marcy; mother, Loreen Marcy; and cousin R.J. Marcy and his wife, Mahnaz. At 11 years old, Lynn’s daughter, Clara, doesn’t have a hand in the business yet but shares many of her mother’s qualities, family members said.

“We often say with a decision that we make, ‘Do you think Lynn would like it?’” said Ray Marcy.

“It’s kind of a litmus test for us.”

The question often comes up on Friday afternoons. That’s when the family has met weekly for the past 25 years to brainstorm ideas and discuss important issues, from how the kids are doing to how the business is doing. In-person or over Zoom, the meeting are “always spirited,” said Ray Marcy.

“We adopted an attitude a long time ago that great products, great service, great ideas almost always come out of good honest debate, discord, discussion, and sometimes drama,” said Marcy. “All kidding aside, they’ve always been done with love and mutual respect.”

Beyond her taste for quality, Lynn took pride in her people. She believed good employees gave the company an edge, especially as more coffeehouses entered the market. That philosophy continues to inform Fiddleheads’ hiring practices today.

“There were lots of times where we’d work short-handed if we couldn’t find good employees because we knew that was one of the things that set us apart from competition: the people,” said Steve Klimczak.

He said it’s simple things – like noticing when a regular customer arrives and starting to make their drink before they walk in the door – that make a big difference.

Today, Fiddleheads has 100 employees, including 93 café staff and seven executive staff. An ad18 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Fiddleheads current owners (left to right) Ray Marcy, Loreen Marcy, Steve Klimczak, R.J. Marcy, Mahnaz Marcy and Mike Wroblewski. ditional 20 people will be hired at its Wauwatosa location.

Lynn also had a vision for what the atmosphere of a Fiddleheads café should feel like.

She wanted customers to see the coffeehouse as a gathering place, a destination, somewhere you’d want to take out-of-town relatives when they visit, said Mike Wroblewski. Some of its large-footprint suburban storefronts include multiple stories, private meeting spaces and community rooms.

Inspired by the surrounding environment and broader community, the design of each Fiddleheads is a little different from the next. An outdoor patio was a must-have for its Shorewood café along a busy thoroughfare. Thiensville’s all-season garden offers a scenic view of the Milwaukee River. And the renovation of the historic Frank Koehler House in Menomonee Falls was complete with a rooftop seating area.

Downtown Milwaukee is a brand-new environment for Fiddleheads, at least from a geographic standpoint, but what customers want from the in-café experience is unchanged, said Mike Wroblewski.

“They just want a place … where they can just come in for a couple minutes and exhale,” he said.

“Even if it’s in a lobby of an office tower downtown, the people who work in that tower can view us as an extension of their home.”

Going ‘big’

FIDDLEHEADS COFFEE ROASTERS

Lynn Wroblewski stands behind the counter at Fiddleheads’ first location, in Thiensville, on opening day December 1996.

The 2,175-square-foot café space is situated in the corridor that connects the 25-story BMO Tower with the former BMO Harris Bank and M&I Bank office building. It includes high-end furnishings and workspace areas and is attached to the tower’s common area.

It’s the type of building amenity developer Irgens Partners LLC had promised occupants. With direct street access and outdoor patio seating in warmer months, the café will serve as a “neighborhood hub” for surrounding office buildings, said Kevin Schmoldt, managing director at Newmark Knight Frank, who brokered the lease.

Schmoldt reached out to Fiddleheads in early summer after negotiations with another user for the tower’s retail space fell through as a result of the pandemic. The companies met, and the deal was finalized within five weeks. It was the only downtown retail lease between March 2020 and July 2020, according to the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin.

“We did a lot of research on their operation and their brand and I think it’s the best brand in the market,” said Mark Irgens, chief executive officer and manager at Irgens Partners.

With 60% of the BMO Tower leased, Irgens sees Fiddleheads as an asset to attract additional tenants, especially for the retail space along North Broadway and planned along North Water Street,

After the state’s “Safer at Home” order lifted in May, Fiddleheads reopened its cafés for indoor seating not knowing if limited capacity and restricted operations would work out financially. Its leadership had spent weeks improving internal

JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

MAREDITHE MEYER MAREDITHE MEYER MAREDITHE MEYER

FIDDLEHEADS COFFEE ROASTERS

Fiddleheads opened in Shorewood in January, which is a relocation of its Glendale store.

Fiddleheads’ newest café is located on the ground floor of the BMO Tower in downtown Milwaukee.

Inside Fiddleheads’ downtown café.

FIDDLEHEADS COFFEE ROASTERS

Customer shifts

Fiddleheads cafés are open for in-house service, with limited seating capacity and face masks required.

FIDDLEHEADS COFFEE ROASTERS

as part of the redevelopment of the former BMO Harris building.

“It was an exciting deal given the time that we put it together, and I think it’s even more relevant and exciting now, given what’s transpired in the past several months downtown,” said Schmoldt.

Fiddleheads’ growth strategy has always been “organic,” said Mike Wroblewski. There was never a grand plan or timeline to open a certain number of cafés. In retrospect, his sister was content with the one location in Thiensville, while he leaned toward the idea of multiple locations.

“When we saw an opportunity come along that would fit nicely into the Fiddleheads portfolio, we would pursue it,” he said.

The pandemic didn’t change that approach. As Fiddleheads shut down its cafés and furloughed most of its employees, the question was whether to stay put or seize any opportunity that came along.

Fiddleheads decided to “go big,” Marcy said.

Actively growing during a crisis may have been out of the question if Fiddleheads’ financial footing wasn’t as stable. Thanks to a history of “prudent reserves” and good fiscal health, the business entered the shutdown believing it could make it to the other side, he said.

The BMO Tower lease wasn’t the only door the pandemic opened.

In late August, Fiddleheads acquired the site of its future Wauwatosa café, at 8807 W. North Ave. While the original plan was to lease the property from an owner who had been unwilling to sell, circumstances later shifted with the pandemic and both parties benefitted.

“So, a location that we really wanted to acquire, all of a sudden because of COVID, was available to us, and we had to say, ‘Can we make this investment? Do we want to make this investment?’ And we did,” said Marcy.

The owners had a similar conversation about the Shorewood location. They had already signed the lease, and when the pandemic hit, they could have decided to delay the project by a year. They instead moved forward, knowing the business could survive for at least the first year in a COVID economy.

Fiddleheads’ recent growth spurt stands in contrast to a general trend of contraction among Milwaukee-area coffee companies.

In recent months, Milwaukee-based Colectivo Coffee Roasters Inc. has scaled back its local operation from 13 stores to nine currently open. One of its three Madison locations is temporarily closed, and the company backed out of plans to construct a production site for its wholesale baking business, Troubadour Bakery, in Chicago. Milwaukee-based Stone Creek Coffee permanently closed its Walker’s Point café last year.

Inside Fiddleheads’ downtown café. biztimes.com / 19

MAREDITHE MEYER

STORY COVER

FIDDLEHEADS COFFEE ROASTERS

Fiddleheads retails its whole bean and ground coffee in its cafés and at local grocery stores.

Steve Klimczak oversees the small-batch roasting process at the company’s Thiensville facility. processes, revamping the menu and planning for a safe return, running financial models for business at 40% and 60%.

The initial response from customers exceeded expectations, said Marcy. In September, Fiddleheads rolled out its new mobile app, which had been a project long in the making, allowing users to order coffee and food items contact-free for instore or curbside pickup. Since its launch, sales have “significantly improved” and it continues to attract new customers.

“At all of our cafés combined, we’re doing as much business as we were pre-COVID and that’s really a tribute to our customers and baristas in each of the communities we’re in,” said Marcy.

Its Thiensville location has been busier than before the pandemic.

For every pandemic-related shift in consumer behavior, Wroblewski said, there was a counter balance. Downtown commuters weren’t stopping for coffee on their way to work every morning, but came in to get work done or to get out of the house.

Similarly, parents weren’t driving kids to and from school anymore, but sought a family-friendly outing as a break from virtual learning.

In the early days of the pandemic, Fiddleheads saw a huge spike in online sales as people brewed their own coffee from home.

“There were days where we’d have 100 online orders in one day, which just shattered previous records,” said Klimczak, who heads the roasting side 20 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

of the business with Wroblewski.

Grocery store sales were also strong as panic buying ensued.

Fiddleheads’ whole bean and ground coffee is sold at most Sendik’s Food Market stores, Piggly Wiggly in Mequon and Cedarburg, and Outpost in Mequon, with a few additional vendors in the works.

Rooted in roasting

Roundy’s had once been a name on that list.

Fiddleheads struck a deal in 2012 to sell its wholesale coffee at Pick ‘n Save stores across the Midwest.

The relationship ended three years later when Roundy’s was acquired by Kroger, prompting some changes that the roaster felt could compromise its product.

Every day at its 4,400-square-foot roasting facility in Thiensville, small batches of coffee beans are roasted as orders come in. The recommended shelf life of a bag of Fiddleheads coffee is only about three to four weeks.

“If it’s not fresh enough, we’ll take it off the shelves,” said Marcy.

He explained Roundy’s wanted product distributed to its warehouse rather than directly to stores, which could have stretched the timeline between roasting and drinking the coffee a bit too far by the roaster’s standard.

“We have been approached on many occasions with franchise opportunities or other ways to ex-

pand more aggressively,” said Marcy. “Anything that lets go of what Lynn would have wanted, of our standard, we just can’t do. It’s just not in our DNA.” If the business were to ever reach a point where it couldn’t grow anymore, he said, it wouldn’t be a result of its physical footprint as much as its roasting capacity.

“We’ve never talked about it, but I think it would be very hard for us as a family to give up that pride we have in roasting the finest coffee beans that we can roast,” he said.

The move to expand into roasting 12 years ago was huge, and so was the financial investment in the equipment and the facility. The decision came as the market grew and the quality of Fiddleheads coffee sources plateaued. They took matters into their own hands, and today, all of its roasts are processed by Klimczak or Wroblewski.

“No one can really look at the business or the quality through the owner’s eyes except the owner,” said Klimczak. “It’s just our commitment to quality, I guess, that I wouldn’t expect another employee to have.”

Building for the future

At least in the immediate future, Fiddleheads is homed in on expanding locally; those plans don’t include franchising or moving into other markets like Chicago and Madison. And in the midst of what’s already been a busy year, the company still has a few infancy-stage opportunities in the works.

Fiddleheads’ long-term aspirations span generations. About five years ago, the business did some soul searching, said Marcy, and ultimately came up with a multigenerational succession plan. One of the first moves was bringing on Mahnaz and R.J. Marcy as part of the next generation of leadership.

For Mahnaz, who now serves as head of marketing, going into business with family felt personal. Her relatives had spent two decades turning a dream into a reality.

“The passing of Lynn sent shockwaves through Fiddleheads and all the communities we serve, and having the opportunity presented to R.J. and I to be a part of this legacy was no longer a business decision,” she said. “It was now an honor to carry on the torch through its next chapters.”

For the members of Fiddleheads’ first generation, who range a couple decades in age, it was a relief to know the company will be shepherded “for not only the next 10 years but for over the next 30, 40, 50, 60 years,” said Ray Marcy. n

Special Report FAMILY BUSINESS

The little things add up to make a family business culture Arthur Thomas, staff writer CULTURE MATTERS at every business. A good culture can take a company to unimaginable heights, adding something to the collective capabilities of a team. A bad culture can drag a company down, frustrating every new initiative or plan to turn things around.

Family businesses are no different and, if anything, culture matters more for them. A small or medium-sized family business may not be able to go toe-to-toe with big corporations on wages or benefits, but when the owner’s name is on the door and his or her office is right down the hall, a family-business culture can make the

company a place where top talent wants to work.

The funny thing about company cultures, however, is that even though they are always present, they don’t really show up until a company is tested.

That’s what happened for Thiensville-based Shully’s Cuisine & Events over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered its catering business. Then an idea to open a beer garden came together in just a week and another idea to launch zero-contact catering came to fruition in just a weekend. Scott Shully, owner of the business with his wife, Beth, said the company motto

is “adapt, adjust, move forward.”

“Those four little words have meant a lot to employee morale,” he said, adding that employees have been showing their enthusiasm and creativity and stepping into leadership roles.

Developing a culture with the agility to launch new products and offerings quickly doesn’t happen when the crisis strikes; it takes place over years. Shully pointed to placing an emphasis on hiring people with passion, whether it is in food service or another area like art or theater. He also highlighted open dialogue and conversation with employees about the challenges the business faces.

“What’s cool about the family business is all you have to do is knock on someone’s door and we can get an answer for you,” Shully said.

“That’s all it takes.”

While being a family business can offer some advantages in hiring and developing a culture, David Borst says it can also be a double-edged sword as prospective employees worry about what kind of culture they could be stepping into.

“Some people are scared away because they think that they’re not going to be promoted because the family member is going to get the promotion,” said Borst, executive director and chief operating officer of Family Business Leadership Partners.

When family businesses do a good job of leveraging the family-side of the culture, employees feel they’re treated like family, that the owners care and they’re not in it only for profits.

Borst said there are job candidates drawn to that environment who will seek it out.

“The ones that do it well, do it well,” Borst said. “As a result, it’s evident to prospective employees that this is a place that ultimately cares about me.”

Fears about entering a toxic culture at a family business also are not without merit.

“Just because it’s a family business doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s an automatic,” Borst

biztimes.com / 21

said. “There are plenty of situations I’ve seen where the family is … everything in the organization and everybody else be damned and that plays out and people recognize that fairly quickly.”

Many family businesses struggle to reach the third, fourth or even later generations. Borst said the potential to drift away from what was once a strong culture is among the reasons why it is challenging to sustain a family legacy.

“Sadly, there are some businesses that when it gets to the later generations, they milk the business as opposed to respecting it and taking it for what it was intended to be,” he said.

Where does that leave the current family business leader? Family businesses have an opportunity to attract and retain employees with their ability to offer more care and compassion than a large corporation, but also challenges to overcome in sustaining that potential cultural advantage.

Like Shully, Brian Coakley of Milwaukee-based CH Coakley said culture starts in the interviewing process.

“A lot of people don’t roll out of bed and want to become a mover or a modular furniture installer,” said Coakley, vice president of commercial moving at CH Coakley.

For Coakley, the nature of the job means he is looking to communicate the potential for a career path with the company and make sure a prospective hire understands what the job entails. He also will meet with a candidate’s significant other to start to get to know them.

“I want to make sure they’re comfortable too,” Coakley said.

Getting to know an employee’s family doesn’t stop with the interview process, it extends throughout their tenure and includes knowing when major life events are coming up or if employees are facing challenges at home.

“I don’t need to get into the weeds, don’t get me wrong, but there have been times where it’s been easy for us to help and keep them and work with them,” he said, citing instances of adjusting sched-

ules to help an employee care for a sick relative.

Developing a relationship with employees is also important for Rick Russell, president of Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Legal Blank, a provider of legal forms and custom and pre-made signage.

“You get to really know them on a more intimate level, so to speak, because we can,” he said, describing the relationship with employees as almost like siblings. “It’s all in how they’re treated. … That respect goes a long way.”

Any new addition to Russell’s team of 10 people can have a big impact on the company culture, so he works to account for everybody’s comfort level in hiring.

“It’s not just somebody at the top (making the decision),” he said.

Shully said it is important for employees to understand the company’s family-first attitude extends to them, which means they shouldn’t feel guilty about taking time to attend to a sick relative or to attend a family gathering.

The idea is that employees should have confidence that the rest of their team has their back and they can take the time, adding there is an understanding and trust amongst employees of when the company truly needs them.

Even as companies seek to treat employees like family, Borst said it is important to still have protections in place.

“You have to have proper checks and balances, especially if the person is handling money, even if the person is internal and is a family member,” he said.

Shully said he reminds his three children in the business that more eyes are directed at them and how they do their jobs.

“That’s critical for you to understand that that’s just the way it is and that’s what you’re going to have to live with,” Shully said he tells them. “By understanding that people watch what other people do and respond to that action, it’s critical that you continually move forward with a positive attitude and positive approach and express yourself.”

Borst said part of making employees comfortable is demonstrating that the owner won’t always side with their children or other family members.

“I think it’s always important to have a 360-degree feedback system so that the owner is getting the true sense of what is going on and you respect the opinions of anyone, whether they’re blood or not,” he said.

Coakley pointed out that the benefits of a family business don’t just come from the owners.

“The family culture isn’t run by the family that owns the company,” he said. “It’s by many family of the entire staff that pull together that make it successful.” n

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Special Report CORPORATE EVENT PLANNING

The Ingleside Hotel

Venues prepare for return of in-person events Maredithe Meyer, staff writer LOVE THEM or hate them, in-person corporate events are poised for a comeback.

That’s what some Milwaukee-area venues and planners have gathered from a recent wave of inquiries and bookings for dates in the latter half of 2021, bringing a sigh of relief after a devastating year for the events industry.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wiped face-toface meetings, conferences and networking mixers off the books, companies turned to virtual platforms like Zoom and Hopin, and event venues sat empty for months. Now with an end to the pandemic in sight, thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine, local companies are looking to gather in-person again.

“What we’re seeing lately is more companies calling us about future dates,” said Jesse Wilder, general manager at The Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee. “The third and fourth quarters are looking OK compared to where we’ve been … It’s not gangbusters, but it is enough to tell us there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Ingleside has been hosting indoor and outdoor events since reopening in late May, said Wilder, but most of those functions have been social, not corporate. He expects corporate weekday bookings to pick up further along in the vaccine’s distribution, once companies are “more comfortable with the liability of sending their people out.”

He said liability remains a major concern for companies and venues as they approach the return of in-person events while trying to stay afloat financially. The Ingleside implemented its own “Safe Promise” plan to minimize risk. It sets the standard for all events at the property, but clients can build in additional safeguards, such as separate microphones for each speaker or hand sanitizer at every table. And with 40,000 square feet of meeting space, physical distance is not a problem, Wilder said.

“You have to be able to spread people out right now, and we see this being very important through the rest of the year,” he said.

The Brookfield Conference Center hosted 19 total events in January – mostly small meetings of 10 to 20 people. Larger events will begin to come back in April. However, many of the events that were originally booked in May – typically a peak month for the industry – have been pushed back to the third and fourth quarter, said Brandon Smith, director of sales at the Brookfield Conference Center.

“We’re getting a lot of last-minute stuff, too,” he said. “I recently booked a corporate meeting where they called me on Wednesday and we hosted the meeting on Thursday.”

The 44,000-square-foot venue is currently operating at 25% capacity. From an operations standpoint, Smith said, it was beneficial to be in

Waukesha County, which did not impose restrictions on gatherings like other Milwaukee-area municipalities did. Plus, there’s the appeal of its size and newness. The conference center was slated to open April 2, 2020, but the pandemic delayed its debut until July.

Prior to opening, Smith said, the venue had about 115 events, mostly corporate, in the books for the upcoming year. It was able to keep a handful, but the majority were pushed back to 2021 and 2022.

Paul Bartolotta said he was surprised by how many events have been booked for this calendar year and into 2022 at The Bartolotta Restaurants’ catering and events venues.

“I think we’re beginning to turn a corner in the mindset, and we’re seeing that interest in the bookings. … It’s really dependent exclusively on how well as a society we get our arms around the pandemic and the virus itself,” said Bartolotta, the restaurant group’s chef and owner.

With many of The Bartolotta Restaurants’ event spaces located within the city of Milwaukee – the Italian Community Center in the Historic Third Ward, Bacchus in East Town and Discovery World on the lakefront – the company is beholden to local restrictions on top of its own stringent safety protocols.

As corporate business starts to return on a limited basis, Bartolotta said the group has to get creative with the event experience; for example, using mobile bars to serve drinks while city orders require attendees to remain seated at gatherings.

But just because companies are gearing up to transition back into the world of face-to-face connection doesn’t mean that virtual events will cease to exist. Given the varying levels of comfort as the world reopens and the freedom of remote work, hybrid events – with both in-person and virtual components – could be the way of the future.

“In-person (corporate events) will be back – we have no doubt about that – and they will be back strong once everyone is comfortable, but we don’t see hybrids going anywhere,” said Emma Fricke, senior event experience coordinator at New Berlin-based Exciting Events.

The event planning and production company offers a range of services from audio-video to décor. In response to the pandemic, it transformed part of its warehouse into a sound stage where clients could record and broadcast virtual event programs.

Fricke said virtual events have allowed organizations to reach more people, which can be especially advantageous for national companies with offices or board members in multiple cities.

“There’s a lot of learning that can happen, and it’s something you no longer have to travel for,” said Fricke. n biztimes.com / 23

KEVIN ANDERSON WISCONSIN REGION CEO

BizTimes Milwaukee is proud to

present

the

OLD NATIONAL BANK

inaugural

showcase of Notable Minority Executives accomplished

Kevin Anderson is the chief executive officer for Old National Bank’s Wisconsin region, a role he has held since January 2019. He was previously the bank’s Milwaukee region president from April 2016 to January 2019.

spotlighting professionals

across the region. The leaders profiled in the following pages

Prior to coming to Milwaukee, Anderson was a senior vice president for corporate banking in the Louisville, Kentucky area.

were nominated by our editorial

He has been an active community leader in Milwaukee, serving on the boards of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the United Performing Arts Fund. He is also a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, serving on the Downtown Task Force and Milwaukee United Committee.

team or by their peers at work and in the community and showcase the diversity of talent in our market.

The leadership shown by the individuals

Anderson is also a trustee on the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee board.

profiled here is setting an example to shape a better future for our region.

METHODOLOGY: The honorees did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials and editorial team research. This list features individuals selected by the editorial team or for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by our editorial team. To qualify for the list, nominees must be based in southeast Wisconsin. They must be currently serving in a senior level role at their firm, must hold a leadership position in their industry outside of their own organization and act as a role model or mentor.

“Every year, we review our goals for the advancement and opportunities for racial minorities inside our company. Those goals are not just at the corporate level. Those filter all the way down through our organization,” Anderson said in a BizTimes Milwaukee feature on the MMAC’s Region of Choice initiative last year.

Old National has developed at least a dozen associate resource groups over the years, including ones for African-Americans, Latinos, women and military veterans.

N O TA B L E M I N O R I T Y E X E C U T I V E

Thank you, Kevin!

We appreciate all you do for the Milwaukee community.

Congratulations on your recognition as a Notable Minority Executive. You’ve had a significant impact on this community, and we’re proud to have you on our team.

Kevin Anderson, President, Business Banking and Milwaukee Market 24 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

ADONICA RANDALL

MARILKA VÉLEZ SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

PRESIDENT AND CEO ABAXENT, LLC Adonica Randall, president and CEO of Pewaukee-based Abaxent, LLC, is the leader of the only technology solutions company that is a certified minority/woman-owned business by an African American. In the mid-1970s, she graduated with a computer science/electrical engineering degree from Missouri School of Science and Technology, a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Marquette University and received a patent in MRI suite lighting in the 1980s.

A former leader at GE Medical Systems and A. O. Smith, Randall led the Abaxent technical team that partnered with Johnson Controls on the network technology for Fiserv Forum and the COVID-19 Alternate Care Facility at State Fair Park.

She also advocates for women seeking STEM careers and mentors those interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Randall is a frequent speaker on STEAM, DEIB in technology and joint venture partnerships and has been an associate professor in Alverno College’s Department of Computer Sciences.

She also serves as the vice chair of the North Central Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee that advocates for minority-owned businesses to gain access to increased opportunities within corporations.

“Adonica Randall is an ‘American Hidden Figure’ as well as a role model and industry pioneer in the field of technology,” said Sabrina Robins, director of operations for TAPFIN-ManpowerGroup Solutions.

ASSOCIATED BANK As the senior vice president, senior director of marketing at Associated Bank, Marilka Vélez is responsible for leading all company-wide marketing efforts, including shaping the bank’s existing creative vision and helping outline the bank’s direction for the future.

In her role, Vélez works to develop her colleagues to help grow the bank’s marketing and creative capabilities. She prioritizes a two-pronged approach to growth by attracting new talent with existing digital experience while also helping current colleagues grow their digital skillsets.

Vélez is involved in two Associated Bank programs that support the company’s employees and goals. She is an advocate for the bank’s Leading Leaders program, which ensures top-performing leaders have the skills, knowledge and experience to progress in their careers and help Associated Bank achieve its strategic business goals.

CHANDRA RODGERS COMMUNITY AFFAIRS/CRA OFFICER ASSOCIATED BANK Chandra Rodgers, community affairs/CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) officer at Associated Bank, earned a senior vice president title in August 2019 when she accepted the lead role to oversee the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act governance.

She has continued building alliances through inclusive and thoughtful engagement of diverse internal and external perspectives. Rodgers ensures data collection turns into action, influencing product offerings, service delivery and the bank’s physical footprint, according to William Kopka, vice president and community accountability officer at Associated Bank.

From 2018-’19, Rodgers co-chaired Associated Bank’s Milwaukee Cultural Awareness Colleague Resource Group, engaging, educating and empowering Associated Bank’s diverse network.

Because of this effort, diverse colleagues within Associated Bank continue to demonstrate career growth.

She also serves as the co-chair of Associated Bank’s Milwaukee Cultural Awareness Colleague Resource Group, which drives the bank’s efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Chandra consistently elevates others through mentoring and creating pathways for others’ growth. She is the opposite of divisive, creating and finding common ground to overcome obstacles and de-escalate conflict,” Kopka said.

Outside of Associated Bank, Vélez is the board chair of the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee. She also serves on the board of directors for the Rotary Club of Milwaukee and is a member of the Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee.

Her current roles outside Associated Bank include advisory board member of Diverse Dining, Milwaukee Urban League board member as treasurer, and advisory board member for Cardinal Stritch’s College of Business and Management.

CONGRATULATIONS! All of us at Associated Bank would like to congratulate Marilka Vélez and Chandra Rodgers, on being named 2021 BizTimes Notable Minority Executives. We’re proud of the work you’ve done to champion diversity and inclusion at Associated Bank and effect positive change in the communities we serve.

Marilka Vélez

Senior Director of Marketing

Chandra Rodgers

Community Affairs/CRA Officer Member FDIC. (2/21) P02920

P02920 Minority Executives Congrats Ad FNL.indd 1

2/2/21 3:42/PM biztimes.com 25

KELLY CARTER PROGRAM OFFICER COMMUNITY CARE INC. Kelly Carter, program officer at Brookfield-based Community Care Inc., has always considered herself more nurse than executive. But she has balanced her business acumen with her clinical expertise to help guide the nonprofit organization, which helps adults with long-term care needs live as independently as possible, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since joining Community Care, Carter has helped expand two of the organization’s care programs – Partnership and the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Both programs help frail seniors and individuals with disabilities get the care they need while staying in their homes.

In addition to expanding the PACE program to additional counties, Carter helped to open its Vliet adult day care center in Milwaukee. She also helped develop Community Care’s relationship with several Milwaukee-area religious orders.

Carter takes an active role in mentoring those she supervises.

She identifies opportunities for growth for other women of color, challenging them to take on additional responsibilities and helping them gain confidence, according to Sherrice Harrell, chief administrative officer at Community Care.

“Her passion for her work, as both nurse and leader, is incomparable,” Harrell said.

Outside of work, Carter has served as a leader in her church, volunteered with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and served on the board of the National PACE Association.

26 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

SHERRICE HARRELL

AHMAD KWEKU QAWI

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

PRESIDENT AND CEO

COMMUNITY CARE, INC. When she realized that less than 50% of Community Care’s employees were participating in the company’s retirement plan, Sherrice Harrell, chief administrative officer for Brookfield-based Community Care, Inc., worked to raise awareness among staff and make it easier for employees to contribute.

Harrell helped increase participation in the company’s retirement plan to 85% in a few years.

As an executive with an extensive background in human resources, Harrell saw how employees utilize the benefits they are offered. In an instance when an important benefit was underutilized, she set out to change that.

Harrell made other important changes to improve the lives of employees. She made a point of serving as an example, but also helped identify and encourage the development of new leaders within the organization.

Harrell considers it her duty as a leader to bring people up and position them to take the next steps in their careers, especially women and people of color, according to colleagues.

“As someone who follows the servant leadership model, her goal is to inspire the next generation of leaders by serving as a role model,” said Sarah Yank, Community Care’s marketing and communications manager.

RACINE FAMILY YMCA Ahmad Kweku Qawi is president and CEO of the Racine Family YMCA, a role he assumed in July 2020 after serving 16 years with the organization, the previous 10 years as chief operations officer.

Qawi created the Y’s Strong Communities Agenda, which worked to address a range of academic, behavioral, family and community issues. The Young Leaders Academy (YLA), an academic, character and leadership building mentorship program for black male youth, became the first initiative in the Strong Communities Agenda.

Qawi’s partnerships with local, county and state service agencies resulted in programs that promote equity by targeting issues that disproportionately affect Racine’s youth of color, such as teen pregnancy, childhood obesity, college readiness, lack of strong male role models and gang activity.

In the past several years, Qawi oversaw the opening of a Y community center — the George Bray Neighborhood YMCA Branch — in Racine’s central city (2017), the addition of the First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship program that prepares communities of color and women for work in the construction industry (2018), introduction of Racine’s Credible Messengers gang diversion youth program that connects high-risk youth to mentors who have experienced and overcome similar circumstances (2019) and the addition of Family Service of Racine as the Y’s emotional wellness branch in April 2020.

ANTHONY MCHENRY

CHRIS HERXIONG

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MILWAUKEE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

HMONG AMERICAN PEACE ACADEMY

Anthony McHenry, chief executive officer of the Milwaukee Academy of Science (MAS), has served young people throughout his career. His efforts were recognized before he began at MAS. He is the recipient of the Donald Driver Driven to Achieve Award in 2016 for his work at the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center.

While at MAS, McHenry has led the effort to make MAS, a public charter school serving more than 1,200 K4-12 grade students, a place that promotes community and saves lives. As the CEO of MAS, McHenry, along with his team, have increased student enrollment by 250 students; increased student retention from 85% to 92%; earned the ranking “Exceeds Expectations” on the Wisconsin State Report Card for three years in a row; reached a 100% graduation rate; improved athletics at the school and increased fund development at the school by almost 700%.

Students from MAS regularly receive full scholarships to top-tier colleges and universities for academics and athletics (e.g., Duke, Northwestern, Rice).

McHenry has also formed community partnerships, including a school-based Boys & Girls Club, and active collaborations with Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). MAS was recognized in 2019 as the BizTimes Nonprofit Collaboration of the Year with the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Born in Laos, Chris Her-Xiong, the founder and executive director of the Hmong American Peace Academy (HAPA), and her family left the country in 1975, escaping from communist forces when she was 10 years old – eventually ending up in Iowa.

In 1995 she published “The Hmong: The People and Their History,” which contributed to her being named the 2009 Hmong Woman of the Year by the Hmong Consortium of Milwaukee.

Her-Xiong eventually became the first Hmong teacher hired at Milwaukee Public Schools.

In 2000, she challenged Hmong community leaders to create an organization that preserves the Hmong culture and language while helping students become knowledgeable American citizens.

By 2004, HAPA opened its doors as a public charter school of the Milwaukee Public Schools system. What began as a K-5 school with 200 students today serves more than 1,800 K4-12 largely economically disadvantaged students.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, daily virtual attendance averages 98%.

Construction is currently under way to build a new high school so HAPA can serve even more students.

KENDRA WHITLOCK INGRAM PRESIDENT AND CEO MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Kendra Whitlock Ingram, the president and CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, began her role at the center the week it shut down at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the ensuing months, she has used the time to create multiple connections between UPAF, Imagine MKE, the Medical College of Wisconsin and SBA support organizations.

She has also been speaking on a national level, working to bring resources to many organizations that work in and outside of the facility. She has established group calls with medical and funding advisors and offered flexibility for resident performance groups to help speed the pandemic recovery process.

Whitlock Ingram’s volunteer work within the performing arts industry includes service on the boards of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, The Broadway League, Arts Midwest and National Arts Strategies. These connections have helped bring national attention and connections to Milwaukee.

She has also modified the Marcus Center capital project to focus on using the blackout to its advantage and has raised funds from new donors to help make that happen.

Additionally, she has been part of many conversations about how Milwaukee’s arts scene can better represent all of its constituents, expanding the understanding of how the Marcus Center can serve the broader community.

Marcus Performing Arts Center Staff and Board of Directors congratulates

KENDRA WHITLOCK INGRAM on being named a BizTimes Notable Executive

Your strong leadership, strategic thinking and dedication to the Marcus Performing Arts Center is critically important during these uncertain times. Your ability to keep us focused on our mission to be an energizing force that connects our community to the world through collaboration, innovation, social engagement and the transformative power of performing arts is truly inspiring.

With your continued leadership, we know we can realize the Center’s vision to be the region’s world-class gathering place for all.

ARVIND GOPALRATNAM

CHRIS MISKEL PRESIDENT AND CEO

CLARENCE JOHNSON

VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

VERSITI

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MILWAUKEE BUCKS Arvind Gopalratnam is the vice president of corporate social responsibility for the Milwaukee Bucks and the executive director of the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation. The only Indian-American social responsibility leader in the NBA, he leads the Milwaukee Bucks’ strategic social responsibility and philanthropic efforts.

His leadership has been felt in a number of areas: • The Milwaukee Bucks Foundation brought in more than $2 million, granted to more than 30 Wisconsin non-profits, many of which benefit youth development.

• Bucks players have developed relationships with non-profits over multiple years as opposed to single appearances, including the nearly $750,000 of philanthropic support provided by players in the past 12 months.

• A $500,000 emergency relief fund was created for part-time Bucks employees impacted by COVID-19.

• Opening of Fiserv Forum for the manufacturing/distribution of more than 3 million masks in an eight-week span.

• Distribution of $150,000 worth of food for communities in need.

• Partnered with the Represent Justice Campaign and filmmakers of “Just Mercy” in support of a new NBA initiative, “Play for Justice.”

• Participation in Team Up for Change, a national thought-leadership effort started by the Bucks and the Sacramento Kings.

• Bucks Vote campaign, a platform to empower people to vote.

Chris Miskel, president and CEO of Milwaukee-based Versiti, has been leading the blood center organization through a new and uncertain environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, in 2020, the organization actually managed to increase its impact on the community.

Versiti was one of the first blood centers in the United States to start collecting convalescent plasma from individuals who had previously been infected with the virus. The donated plasma contains antibodies that can help seriously ill patients fight the infection.

In early fall, Versiti began identifying new potential donors of COVID convalescent plasma by testing all blood donors for COVID-19 antibodies. To date, Versiti, through its COVID convalescent plasma initiatives, has been able to help thousands of COVID-19 patients in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

Miskel has also worked to create an inclusive work environment in which diversity is celebrated. Internally, he has launched diversity initiatives, such as an unconscious bias training program to help Versiti better understand and identify bias, cultivate connections with others, and choose courage in the face of bias.

Externally, Miskel has shared Versiti’s diversity efforts as well as the importance of diversity in blood collections.

WISCONSIN COMMUNITY SERVICES, INC. Clarence Johnson has been the executive director of Milwaukee-based nonprofit Wisconsin Community Services, Inc. (WCS) for four years.

In that time, under his leadership, WCS has expanded its breadth of programming and impact on the communities it serves.

When Johnson became executive director in 2017, WCS had 35 programs, 260 employees and an annual budget of $25 million.

Today, it has more than 50 programs, more than 420 employees and an annual budget of $45 million.

Johnson has overseen a number of significant and complex agency initiatives. These include the expansion of shelter care and mental health services for youth and young adults; the addition of Community Building Milwaukee, an initiative that aims to reduce crime, violence, and poverty through Community Building Workshops; and the growth of WCS’ Black Male Advisory Council, a committee of African American men who work at WCS dedicated to working on projects that strengthen themselves and the community.

He has also overseen the re-opening of the Joshua Glover Residential Reentry Center; the establishment of a partnership with the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works, resulting in well-paying seasonal placements for WCS program participants; and the implementation of the Bakari Center, which houses a residential care center for adolescent males involved in the youth justice system and a youth crisis stabilization facility.

congratulations

ARVIND GOPALRATNAM

BIZTIMES MEDIA NOTABLE

MINORITY EXECUTIVE 28 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

MAYSEE HERR

CORY NETTLES

JAMES PHELPS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MANAGING DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER

PRESIDENT

HMONG WISCONSIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Maysee Herr, Ph.D., was hired as executive director of the Milwaukee-based Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce (HWCC) in December 2019 and has brought her experience with nonprofits, education and sustainability to the organization.

Since then, Herr has developed new programs, created new and lasting partnerships, and represents HWCC, a community development financial institution, across the state.

Just as she began her new roles, four months into her new position, the country was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. This greatly changed how the chamber operated.

The chamber remained open, but for the safety of the staff everyone worked remotely and hosted meetings via online platforms.

Herr adapted to these changes, and she oversaw the creation of one of the first COVID-19 small emergency loan funds in Wisconsin to help businesses stay open during the pandemic.

Even during these difficult times, Herr and her team continue to offer standard lending options for small businesses and in 2020, the chamber handled the largest loan volume since its inception.

Herr continues to create partnerships with many new organizations to increase the chamber’s growth, outreach and advocacy to underserved businesses and communities.

JCP CONSTRUCTION

GENERATION GROWTH CAPITAL

James Phelps, along with brothers Clifton and Jalen, started Milwaukee-based JCP Construction in 2008 after seeing a market need amid the Great Recession.

Cory Nettles is the managing director of Milwaukee-based private equity firm Generation Growth Capital, Inc., which he founded to bolster small businesses.

Nettles is also a former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and a former partner with Milwaukee-based law firm Quarles & Brady LLP.

Its primary focus had been multi-family home renovations but has since matured into a commercial construction company providing a wide range of services for construction, general contracting and construction management.

At Quarles, he worked in the Corporate Services and Government Relations Practice Groups. He has mentored many young people and at Quarles, in particular, worked to diversify the workplace.

Phelps leads JCP’s construction and business development team, and provides senior oversight for the project team to ensure that cost, schedule and quality commitments are met.

Nettles has worked to raise funds for many organizations focused on improved educational and work opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth.

He is a graduate of Marquette University’s ACRE program, an industry-supported initiative that prepares people of color for careers in commercial real estate. He began his career in the trades as a painter apprentice for the Facilities and Maintenance department at Milwaukee Public Schools. He then worked in project management at KBS Construction, which is now part of C.D. Smith.

He is a member of the boards of directors of: Weyco Group, Inc.; Robert W. Baird’s Baird Funds, Inc.; the United Way of Greater Milwaukee; Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee; Milwaukee World Festival; Teach for America; the Medical College of Wisconsin; the Greater Milwaukee Foundation; the University of Wisconsin Foundation; City Forward Collective, Inc.; Usher’s New Look Foundation, Inc. and Associated Bank.

JCP has worked on such high-profile Milwaukee construction projects as the Northwestern Mutual downtown office tower, Bader Philanthropies’ King Drive headquarters and Fiserv Forum.

Nettles has received the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship (for post-graduate research in Africa and the former Soviet Union), University of Wisconsin-Madison LEO Fellowship, North Milwaukee State Bank Trail Blazer Award, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Connection 2003 Trail Blazer Award.

In addition, Phelps is board chairman of the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District and sits on the MMAC Board of Directors, Milwaukee Rep Board of Trustees and Bradley Tech Foundation Board.

Congratulation James for being a fearless leader!

Congratulations Dr. Maysee Herr

Your work sets the foundation for a strong future.

Notable Minority Executive

Commercial Lending and Business Services Patrick Martin (262)796-4500, ext. 5045 patrickmartin@landmarkcu.com

JCP Construction provides stability and security backed by a family-inspired culture. Build a future with a company where you feel valued, serve your community, and are treated like part of the family. Join our team.

Project Engineers

Equal Housing Opportunity | landmarkcu.com | Insured by NCUA

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Project Managers

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Project Foremen

1849 N. MLK Drive, Suite 200 | Milwaukee, WI 53212 Office: 414-372-7300 | jcp-construction.com

biztimes.com / 29

ROLANDO RODRIGUEZ

CRISTY GARCIATHOMAS

ANTONEO DESHAZOR

CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO

CHIEF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MARCUS THEATRES

ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH

Rolando Rodriguez has always loved an escape to the movies.

When his family moved from Cuba to the United States, his first job was as a theater usher, an industry he has left only briefly since.

During the pandemic, Rodriguez has remained at the forefront of the challenges faced by the movie theater industry. He was elected chair of the National Association of Theatre Owners and to the board for the Global Cinema Federation. Rodriguez has helped its 900 U.S. and 1,050 global member companies representing 150,000 diverse people reopen the industry, launch CinemaSafe protocol standards, negotiate with studios, and promote the love of watching movies on the big screen.

At Marcus Theatres, Rodriguez encouraged his team to find new revenue streams (curbside popcorn, Parking Lot Cinema, advanced online ordering) while the company’s 89 theaters across 17 states were closed due to government guidelines.

Within Greater Milwaukee, Rodriguez served as the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) 2020 community co-chair, helping raise more than $11.6 million, including funding to increase access to and inclusion in the arts. He is also an advocate for the Hispanic community, co-founding the Milwaukee Hispanic Collaborative in 2019 and continuing to serve as its board chair.

As the head of external affairs for Advocate Aurora Health, Cristy Garcia-Thomas oversees everything from patient experience to diversity and inclusion to community relations for one of Wisconsin’s biggest employers and one of the country’s largest health care systems.

Garcia-Thomas was among the inaugural group of executives to join the leadership team of Advocate Aurora following Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care’s merger with Downers Grove, Illinois-based Advocate Health in 2018. Prior to her current role, she served as chief experience officer for Aurora and president of the health system’s foundation.

Garcia-Thomas has held other high-profile positions in the Milwaukee community outside of the health care industry, including leading the United Performing Arts Fund as president and chief executive officer from 2007-’11 and serving as publisher and vice president of the Specialty Media Division of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

She also serves on several boards for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, most recently being elected to the board of Milwaukee-based We Energies parent company WEC Energy Group. She also sits on the boards for Delta Dental, Chicago United, Greater Milwaukee Committee, the United Community Center, and the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, for which she co-chaired its 2018 campaign.

Congratulations ROLANDO RODRIGUEZ CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, MARCUS THEATRES

Notable Minority Executive

Thank you for leading by example and showing others how they can make a difference.

30 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

MATT TALBOT RECOVERY SERVICES, INC. Antoneo DeShazor, executive director of Milwaukee-based Matt Talbot Recovery Services, Inc., has more than 11 years of experience in managing Matt Talbot programs and services, including gender-specific residential drug treatment programs, community-based residential facilities (CBRFs) for clients with complex psychiatric disorders, transitional and recovery support housing services and supervised release services for correctional clients.

DeShazor is respected and effective because of his leadership skills, collaborative approach to problem-solving, and commitment to ensuring that the homeless, the chemically dependent, and the mentally ill receive the highest quality health care and social services possible, according to Karl Rajani, president of Matt Talbot Recovery Services.

“Antoneo has effectively managed various social service and health care programs and has served as a role model for the clients he serves,” said Rajani. “Over the years, Antoneo has helped thousands of clients manage their mental health issues, overcome their substance use disorder problems, transform their lives, rejoin their families, and become productive members of society.”

Before becoming executive director, DeShazor served in a number of roles in the organization, including site checker for Department of Corrections transitional housing facilities, monitoring probation and parole clients, and aftercare/employment specialist.

Congratulations, Antoneo, on being recognized as a Notable Minority Executive. Thank you for your tireless efforts day in and day out fighting mental health and substance use disorders in our community. We are proud of you. Your friends and colleagues at Matt Talbot Recovery Services, Inc., Genesis Behavioral Services, Inc., Horizon Healthcare, Inc., and American Telehealthcare.

mtrcinc.com

gbswi.com

atelepsych.com

horizonhealthcareinc.com

MATT RINKA

DARREN FISHER

PARTNER AND FOUNDER

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

RINKA

SPEARITY

MANUEL ROSADO PRESIDENT SPECTRUM INVESTMENT ADVISORS

Since founding Milwaukee-based architectural firm RINKA in 2006, Matt Rinka and his team have designed numerous buildings and development projects throughout the metro Milwaukee area.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Darren Fisher, chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Spearity, has managed to grow his business and help other businesses reach their goals as well.

As president of Mequon-based Spectrum Investment Advisors, Manuel Rosado works to advance equality in the workplace by being an advocate for diversity and inclusion.

Many of these projects have had a significant impact on the communities in which they are located. The Milwaukee Bucks Deer District, for example, has created a new “living room” for the city of Milwaukee where the community can gather for a sporting event, a live concert, or a seasonal market.

By using the pandemic as an opportunity to pivot his business to implement more technology, he made his services more accessible to anyone, and helped keep Wisconsin business owners safe and successful, according to colleague Kaylea Hampe.

Rosado is a native of Puerto Rico and has been in the retirement plan and investment management industry for 21 years.

He had worked at Spectrum for 15 years, becoming president two years ago.

Fisher started coaching formally in 2009 as a business consultant, coach and trainer. He is the author of the book “The Confidence Quadrant” and become an international motivational speaker.

Under his leadership, Spectrum has hired Colombian-born Katherine Marquez and Smita Sinonpat from Thailand as investment analysts, providing both with professional and personal guidance to not only succeed at their jobs, but to feel at home while being so far away from their families.

The 30-story Moderne, built during the height of the Great Recession, created a new landmark west of the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee.

Growing the company from one person to more than 40, Rinka has implemented a strategy for the firm to promote from within.

Through mentorship and elevating younger staff members, he has expanded the firm’s leadership in tandem with the growth of the company.

Rinka also serves on multiple boards throughout the community including MIAD, the UWM Foundation, and the Froedtert Hospital Board. He also believes in helping support the industry’s future generations and, through the firm, offers an annual scholarship to UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, as well as donations to NOMAS (National Organization of Minority Architecture Students).

Unofficially, his coaching began as a youth coach for his children’s various youth baseball, basketball, football and softball teams.

Rosado also promoted Sue Weeden to the role of senior relationship manager, underscoring the importance of recognizing women’s contributions in what has long been a male-dominated profession.

“What I learned after working with children and adults is that everyone needs goals, a plan and support to make that happen.

Through working on fundamentals, my teams always improved over time. This served me well when working with adults, too,” he said.

Outside of Spectrum, Rosado has served as the president of the Eastbrook Church Council (from 2016-’19) as well as the coach of the boys’ volleyball team from 2016-’20 at Eastbrook Academy, part of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.

Fisher holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University and a Master of Science degree in computer science education from Cardinal Stritch University.

Rosado also introduced Spectrum to SecureFutures and donated all proceeds raised at Spectrum’s annual golf event to the nonprofit organization.

Congratulations

Manuel on being named a 2021 Notable Minority Executive Thank you for your leadership.

We’re proud to work alongside you!

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SM

INVESTMENT ADVISORS

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NINA JOHNSON

DAVID LEE

LUIS AYALA

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CONSUMER AND BUSINESS BANKING

CEO

VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE

U.S. BANK Nina V. A. Johnson joined U.S. Bank in April 2019 as the senior vice president of consumer and business banking in southeast Wisconsin. She has been charged with building centrality, maximizing a digital banking platform and creating opportunities that result in positive synergies.

Based in Milwaukee, Johnson oversees a team of more than 450 and the operation of 62 branches across the region.

Johnson has served on more than 40 nonprofit boards and committees and consortiums, including the Froedtert Hospital Board, SecureFutures Advisory Board, Wisconsin Banker’s Association’s DEI Advisory Board, ACTS Housing Advisory, The Salvation Army, UWM Graduate School, Children’s Hospital Anti-Bullying Advisory, MATC “Promise” Cabinet, Dominion Bible College and the YWCA Southeast Wisconsin.

She also served on a handful of national committees that supported the modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), including the American Bankers Association (ABA) collaborative white paper on the “Modernization of the CRA,” submitted to the U.S. Treasury in 2017.

Johnson also is the founder of “Circles,” a relationship-building platform giving employees a safe space to discuss sensitive topics through a business development lens. Her first book, “Recession...I’m Not Participating,” was published in 2013.

IMAGINE MKE

VISIT MILWAUKEE

As the inaugural chief executive officer of Imagine MKE, David Lee is working to unite the arts and culture sector to ensure its survival during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee is leading an emergency public funding campaign, resulting in more than 5,000 grassroots letters to elected officials and more than $40 million in CARES Act funding for the arts.

Lee also developed the MKE Artist Relief Fund, raising and distributing almost $200,000 to 423 artists in six weeks. He has worked to provide a voice and a platform as the sector navigates the consequences of unprecedented revenue losses.

“Imagine MKE is essential to addressing COVID’s impact on the organizations and the artists that make our region a destination,” said Deanna Tillisch, former CEO of the United Performing Arts Fund.

One of the key pillars of Imagine MKE is fostering a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion. Lee and his team are leading initiatives to ensure BIPOC artists have equal opportunity and arts organizations embrace differences in ethnicity, race, experience and thought.

Imagine MKE is also driving efforts to leverage the benefits of the arts to connect and heal as the community emerges from the pandemic.

Luis Ayala, vice president of finance for VISIT Milwaukee, stepped into a challenging role at the organization as the hospitality community was dealing with COVID-19.

Ayala was responsible for managing a budget that needed to be slashed quickly while maintaining necessary personnel. He managed to reduce spending at VISIT Milwaukee by more than 40%, allowing the organization to stay afloat.

Because of how VISIT Milwaukee is funded through its partnership with the Wisconsin Center District, Ayala also fostered a relationship with his counterpart at the WCD for more accurate and timely accounting reports.

Ayala’s strategic planning, along with his understanding of finance and accounting has made him an invaluable voice on the leadership team, according to Kristin Settle, senior director of communications and public affairs for VISIT Milwaukee “His business acumen and ability to look at the big picture and long-term projections was instrumental in keeping the organization going in 2020 and set VISIT Milwaukee up to continue in 2021 with a 50% budget reduction while maintaining key services for its partners,” she said.

Ayala also works to support diversity and inclusion at VISIT Milwaukee by participating in the organization’s ongoing culture work.

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DR. EVE HALL PRESIDENT AND CEO MILWAUKEE URBAN LEAGUE As president and chief executive officer of the Milwaukee Urban League (MUL) since 2017, Dr. Eve Hall has worked to advance the organization’s profile; restructured staff, programs and services for optimal impact; expanded corporate and business leader networks and partnerships; and surpassed fundraising goals to fund expanded employment, education programs, services and advocacy.

She has furthered efforts to renovate and upgrade MUL facilities for improved safety and is focused on advancing with others continued neighborhood revitalization. Community and business convenings have increased through roundtables and forums on equity/equality and critical issues.

Prior to leading MUL, Hall was the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin president and CEO, where she led the renewal of the organization, launched a revolving loan fund for diverse businesses and secured more than $800,000 in funding.

EDWARD DESHAZER

JOAQUÍN ALTORO

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

CEO

GREATER HOLY TEMPLE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Edward DeShazer is the executive director of the Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy, which serves a 98% disadvantaged student population. He has been the executive director for five years, but began at the Academy 16 years ago, when he started as a 7th grade teacher.

During DeShazer’s tenure as executive director, the school’s suspensions lowered 75%, which helped raise its state report card by 18%.

Each year DeShazer raises money to donate 1,000 backpacks filled with supplies for city students in need. He also led a Christmas fundraiser this year that raised $11,000 for presents for struggling families.

Before that, Hall was chief innovation officer, vice president of programs and executive director for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, where she spent 10 years impacting student retention, scholarships and university/school district partnerships promoting postsecondary education.

Last year, he accepted a position on the Executive Committee of the Closing the Achievement Gap Consortium, which covers 38 school districts and 100,000 students. Its goal is to help close the gap between their higher and lower performing students. This group also hosts camps in the summer for the African American Youth Initiative, where students learn about finances, leadership and other valuable tools to help them become leaders.

Hall is also the co-founder of the African American Women’s Project Fund, which supports and promotes the well-being of women and girls.

DeShazer also serves on the board of FIT Club MKE, Inc., an organization that fills a void in the community through sports, wellness, academic curriculums and mentorship to kids in need.

WISCONSIN HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Believing that an organization’s culture drives action and impact, Joaquín Altoro, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), brought organizational culture to the forefront of his leadership agenda.

The internal systemic changes and cultural shifts he has made have led to numerous initiatives, including: • A study on community development financial institutions (CDFI) to identify opportunities to increase economic growth in underserved markets.

• An updated allocation plan to increase opportunities for developers of color to qualify for housing tax credits.

• Collaborative partnerships with national experts on supportive services that link housing with health care and job training to assist vulnerable populations.

• A rural affordable workforce housing initiative featuring financing tools that provide immediate resources and a community pilot to identify long-term housing strategies.

• Expanded supplier diversity goals to double utilization of minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses.

• A new organizational structure and internal innovation lab to address market needs and advance WHEDA’s mission beyond its current reach.

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ELMER MOORE, JR.

GEORGE A. TORRES

HÉCTOR COLÓN

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

PRESIDENT AND CEO

SCALE UP MILWAUKEE

LA CAUSA, INC.

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN & UPPER MICHIGAN

Elmer Moore, Jr., executive director of Scale Up Milwaukee, has dedicated his career to creating better opportunities for communities of color.

Through his work at Scale Up Milwaukee, he co-created both SPARC and Rising Tide to support the growth of minority-owned companies, with a focus on creating generational wealth for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

Securing a significant grant from the SURDNA Foundation, Moore and his team offer educational opportunities and resources for business owners of color working to significantly grow their companies and re-invest in their communities.

This past year, Moore led his team to find and offer solutions to the digital divide — highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic — impacting many business owners of color. In addition, Moore consults with dozens of companies, many owned by BIPOCs, on how to sustainably manage and grow their businesses.

Moore also teaches an entrepreneurship course at Marquette University, advising his students on how to start and grow their own ventures. As chairman of the Social Development Commission, Moore oversees programs to build equity for low-income individuals and families in the community. He also lends his expertise on the board of directors of SecureFutures, a local nonprofit focused on building financial literacy in teens.

JESUS GONZALEZ FOUNDER MAZORCA TACOS AND ZOCALO FOOD PARK Jesus Gonzalez is a first generation Mexican-American. A graduate of Nativity Jesuit Middle School and Marquette University High School, he obtained a culinary arts and business degree at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.

Upon graduation, he worked in New York City for three years to advance his leadership and business skills. In 2017, he founded Mazorca Tacos with a vision for it to serve as a platform for young talent in Milwaukee. He also co-founded Zocalo, Wisconsin’s first food truck park.

Gonzalez also spends time working to help young entrepreneurs bring their own dreams to life. He serves as a mentor for “Teens Grow Greens” and hosted the organization’s Chef’s Dinner Competition in 2020.

“Zocalo has created an ecosystem that harvests community and cultivates relationships with future leaders in the food industry,” said Maritza Gonzalez, Jesus’ sister. “Jesus cares for the city that has contributed to his successful innovation. He is a member of the Walker’s Point Association where he shares his insight and vision for Milwaukee with elected officials, leaders and business executives. Jesus is only just getting started.”

34 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

George A. Torres serves as the president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based La Causa, Inc., one of the largest bilingual, multicultural agencies in southeastern Wisconsin. La Causa provides a broad range of family-centered programs and services and employs almost 300 people.

During his tenure at La Causa, Torres has led initiatives including the construction of a new corporate office, increasing enrollment at the organization’s charter school to 800 students, leading a capital campaign to help build a new state-of-the-art crisis nursery and respite center, and expanding programs to fit community needs.

PRESIDENT AND CEO

Héctor Colón was named president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin & Upper Michigan in 2017. Coming from the Milwaukee County Health and Human Services Department, he had considerable experience in the social issues facing the community.

As executive director of Health and Human Services, Colón led an effort to turn deficits into surpluses. He led several countywide initiatives, including efforts to reform the juvenile justice system, end chronic homelessness, transform mental health care, and end a 30-year waitlist for disability services.

Torres works to advance equality through the diversity of the staff at La Causa (51% are people of color) and by advocating for support of immigration programs like DACA, according to Allison Iyescas, La Causa’s director of awareness and engagement.

At LSS, Colón began his role by conducting listening sessions throughout the organization. When he needed a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities LSS was facing, he began to build his team.

He also acts as a mentor to youth at La Causa Charter School, especially through its scholarship program, which provides funds to charter school students pursuing education in private schools and/or universities.

For the three-year period before Colón became CEO, the organization incurred losses of $4.3 million. During the subsequent three-year period, the organization has had gains of $8.1 million, a $12.4 million turnaround.

Torres has also served on the board for St. Josaphat Basilica Foundation and on Gov. Evers’ transition team as an advisor on early education. He was also appointed to a number of statewide positions while serving as Milwaukee County’s director of Transportation & Public Works.

Today, LSS is more focused and effective for the people and communities that it serves, according to John Howman, president of the Allied Consulting Group, LLC, a Vistage chair, and former LSS board chair.

JOANNE SABIR CO-FOUNDER AND CO-DEVELOPER SHERMAN PHOENIX JoAnne Sabir has made her mark on Milwaukee as a community development leader and entrepreneur. She currently serves as an advisor at American Family Insurance, but is better known as the co-developer and co-founder of Sherman Phoenix.

The central city entrepreneurial hub houses 25 Black-owned businesses, which have approximately 150 employees, and has raised $4.1 million to date from venture philanthropists and impact investors.

In 2017, Sabir was recognized as BizTimes Milwaukee’s Best in Business Community Leader of the Year for her leadership of the Sherman Phoenix project.

Sabir is also co-owner of Shindig LLC, a fresh-pressed juice company that she started with her husband, Maanaan Sabir, almost a decade ago in Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights neighborhood. The business has scaled production and recently launched an online store to distribute its juices nationwide.

Sabir will make her debut as a mogul on the upcoming season of local Shark Tank-style show “Project Pitch It.”

JOE’MAR HOOPER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SAFE & SOUND Joe’Mar Hooper, executive director of Milwaukee-based Safe & Sound, Inc., has maintained a community-first focus throughout his career. He has led multiple community-wide efforts for change including the creation of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee and helping found the Eviction Prevention Coalition — an effort that has led to the creation of the Rental Housing Resource Center. He is currently helping co-lead efforts to address reckless driving.

In his time at Safe & Sound, a nonprofit that works to build safe and empowered neighborhoods, Hooper has stressed increasing diversity on his board and staff. He recently created new roles and filled them with women of color. The new executive leadership at Safe & Sound is 60% BIPOC. He has also prioritized BIPOC vendors in each of the roles he has held, ensuring the organization’s funding helps to grow the capacity of Black- and brown-owned businesses.

Hooper serves as the chair of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the cause of youth mentoring in the region.

Hooper currently serves on the board of directors for the Milwaukee College Preparatory School, Wisconsin Policy Forum, MENTOR-Greater Milwaukee, and the City of Milwaukee Board of Review. He is a former member of the City of Milwaukee Library Board, The Salvation Army Advisory Board and the Social Development Commission of Milwaukee County.

JOHN W. DANIELS JR.

KEITH STREICHER

CHAIR EMERITUS

DIRECTOR OF VETERANS UPWARD BOUND

QUARLES & BRADY John W. Daniels Jr. is the chair emeritus of national law firm Quarles & Brady LLP, which has approximately 475 attorneys in 10 offices across the country. He was the firm’s chairman from 2008 to 2013, and has been chair emeritus since 2013.

As an attorney, Daniels has specialized in real estate law, representing property owners, investors and governments in numerous complex real estate development projects. He previously served as the national president of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Daniels is also chairman of the board for Advocate Aurora Health, the health care system with over $12 billion in annual revenue that was created by the merger of Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care and Downers Grove, Illinois-based Advocate Health.

He also serves as president of Black Directors Health Equity Agenda, a national group of directors of major health systems.

Daniels is also the chairman of the Fellowship Open Inc., an annual fundraising golf tournament held at Silver Spring Golf Club in Menomonee Falls that encourages community organizations to foster academic achievement in Milwaukee’s urban youth.

In addition, Daniels is the chairman of Milwaukee-based V&J Holding Companies, which he co-founded with his sister Valerie Daniels-Carter (who is CEO of the company). They launched V&J in 1982 with a single Burger King restaurant in Milwaukee and it now is a multi-brand operation.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSINMILWAUKEE Since joining the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as director of Veterans Upward Bound, Keith Streicher has worked to ensure marginalized groups have a voice. He is a mentor to the 125 Veterans Upward Bound students and has implemented the “A Seat at the Table” initiative, mentoring and encouraging staff and colleagues to become more active in their community.

Outside of UWM, Streicher is a board member of Outpost Natural Foods and advocates for more collaboration between the organization and minority vendors. He is a member of numerous boards and has chaired the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee’s Annual Campaign for two consecutive years.

He has taken a hands-on role in preparing the next generation for a better future by helping oversee scholarship distribution on the Milwaukee’s Finest Scholarship Foundation board.

Streicher also works to improve the lives of veterans, LGBTQIA people, and ethnic minorities by volunteering at shelters, central city schools and veterans nursing homes.

In his first year at UWM, Streicher has increased the visibility of LGBTQIA veterans, added more women in leadership roles on the Chancellor’s Veterans Advisory Committee and provided meals to 50 homeless veteran families.

ALICIA KISER VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES M3 INSURANCE As a member of the senior leadership team, Alicia Kiser, vice president of human resources at M3 Insurance, works to represent and set a good example for her M3 colleagues and the community.

Kiser feels a responsibility to introduce alternative perspectives which often requires offering a different and sometimes dissenting point of view, according to her colleague Kim Dandrea, private client risk manager at M3.

For instance, Kiser helped introduce a parental leave policy at M3 in 2017 and introduced a Diversity Day in 2020 so M3 employees can celebrate a holiday of their choosing that is not a typical paid holiday.

Kiser introduced the Business Resource Groups at M3 to help facilitate discussion and education of underrepresented groups across the organization, and also found ways for BRGs to make an impact across the organization as well as externally for clients and the community.

Kiser’s mission as an HR professional has always been to help people reach their maximum potential. She loves mentoring and feels it is a natural byproduct of her mission, Dandrea said. She has had mentees at all levels of the organization and still mentors many of those that have left M3.

KIP RITCHIE

KOFI SHORT

LUPE MARTINEZ

PRESIDENT

DIRECTOR OF PREVENTION SERVICES

PRESIDENT AND CEO

GREENFIRE Kip Ritchie is a member of the Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC) and serves as president of Greenfire, a construction company owned by the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation (PBDC), the economic development arm of the FCPC, which is headquartered in Milwaukee. Ritchie has been at the helm of Greenfire since 2014.

DIVERSE & RESILIENT Kofi Short is the director of prevention services at Milwaukee-based Diverse & Resilient (D&R), driving programming focused on HIV prevention, sexual health and LGBTQ+ acceptance and leadership development.

He has been closely involved with the company since its inception in 2010, having previously served as chief operating officer of the PBDC.

While working in the arts and international performance, he first became involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in 1999 with Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City after witnessing the impact the disease had in the dance and theater world.

Under Ritchie’s leadership, Greenfire has received dozens of awards, including Fastest Growing Firm, Diversity in Business, Top Construction Company, Newsmaker of the Year, Largest Minority-Owned Company, and a Cream of the Cream City Award.

Upon returning to Milwaukee, Short channeled his skills and passions to become more involved in direct prevention work and leadership development among Black gay and bisexual men in the city.

Ritchie has spent most of his career serving FCPC and Indian country as a whole. In addition to leading the Greenfire team, he spends time sharing best practices with various tribal economic development programs.

Short has led the D&R programs of Acceptance Journeys, a program addressing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, and numerous HIV / STI testing and prevention programs. He has been published in the American Public Health Association, conducted research for several evidence-based interventions, and has presented research and workshops for the CDC, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Leadership Conference, the Milwaukee Area Health Education Center and various community-based organizations.

To help achieve this, he sits on the boards of many tribal programs and businesses, he presents to tribal organizations across the country and shares knowledge he has gathered over the years.

Ritchie also serves on several local and regional board of directors and is engaged in a variety of community and philanthropic organizations.

Short currently serves as a co-facilitator for the Wisconsin Health Leaders Fellowship Program, a leadership immersion program for gay, bisexual, and trans people of color who are emerging leaders in the field of HIV prevention and care.

UMOS As president and CEO, Lupe Martinez is the chief strategist at UMOS, a non-profit advocacy organization whose mission is to provide programs and services that improve the employment, educational, health and housing opportunities of underserved populations.

UMOS, headquartered in Milwaukee, also has operations in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas.

Martinez is a former migrant farmworker who is familiar with the feeling of being overlooked and not having a voice. Today, Martinez instills into UMOS employees the importance of treating everyone like family, said Roderick Ritcherson, president of The Ritcherson Companies.

Martinez works to make a difference in the lives of the 300,000 people annually who walk through UMOS’ doors seeking employment, safety, education, home energy and food assistance.

In addition to his work with UMOS, Martinez is chairman of the National Farmworker Alliance; past chairman of MAFO, a national partnership of farmworker and rural organizations; vice chair of Farmworker Justice; a board member of the Association of Farm Worker Opportunities Program; president of the Wisconsin Farmworkers Coalition; vice chair of the Governor’s Council on Migrant Labor (for Wisconsin); an executive board member of EMPLOY Milwaukee; a board member of the Wisconsin Community Action Program; state director of LULAC-Wisconsin; president of LULAC Council 337 and a board member for Mexican Fiesta.

biztimes.com / 35

MARK THOMAS

NIKKI PURVIS

OSSIE KENDRIX

REGIONAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/ SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

CHIEF EQUITY OFFICER

PRESIDENT AND CEO

AMERICAN RED CROSS Mark Thomas joined the American Red Cross as its regional CEO/Southeastern Wisconsin executive director in December 2018. At the time, the Red Cross was experiencing dramatic change — bringing all five of its lines of service under one umbrella – to become “One Red Cross.”

Thomas hit the ground running. He led efforts to diversify Wisconsin’s boards of directors and has recruited new members to best represent the diverse communities that the Red Cross serves. He stressed connecting the organization’s humanitarian relief efforts with partners and areas of need in the community.

With the Red Cross volunteer team, he works to identify creative ways to recruit volunteers who best represent the communities served and to provide opportunities for staff to grow.

As issues around race, policing and equity became national and local headlines during the last year, Thomas responded by bringing together staff and volunteers for town hall meetings.

Thomas’s work has been recognized by the Red Cross’s national leadership and he has been tapped to serve on the black executive steering committee as well as the leadership cabinet for a national diverse donor/sickle cell initiative. In addition, he serves as the chairperson for the Community Care, Inc. board of directors and as a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

OTIS WINSTEAD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GREAT LAKES DRYHOOTCH Otis Winstead serves as the executive director for Milwaukee-based Great Lakes Dryhootch, a veteran-led, veteran-serving organization. Winstead has guided the organization toward a more inclusive view of veteran status, starting with hiring a more diverse staff and making other changes that could encourage more BIPOC veterans to seek services from the organization.

Recently, Winstead began an effort to create an African American veteran commemorative wall at the Milwaukee War Memorial building. Winstead brought leaders from the African American community (NAACP, SDC, Black veterans groups, etc.), the director of the War Memorial, the city, and other agencies together to find a common path forward. The African American War Memorial wall was unveiled last year.

Currently, Winstead is serving as a community leader for a COVID-19 rapid response grant, coordinated with the city of Milwaukee Public Health Department and the Milwaukee County Office of African American Affairs. This project addresses immediate needs in African American, Hispanic, Southeast Asian, and Native American communities in and around Milwaukee.

Winstead has provided critical logistical assistance in assembling and distributing millions of disposable masks early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, providing tens of thousands of pounds of food relief, and helping the effort to conceptualize how to change health behaviors in BIPOC communities to reduce COVID-19 spread.

36 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

CITY OF MILWAUKEE After more than 11 years as a city of Milwaukee employee, Nikki Purvis has recently moved into the role as chief equity officer for the city’s Department of Administration - Office of Equity and Inclusion.

In her previous role as the city’s small business development director, she oversaw the former Office of Small Business Development, which served as a gateway for small business enterprises interested in engaging in the city’s procurement process.

As chief equity officer, she will continue her work engaging small business owners and will work to identify ways to ensure that all Milwaukee residents have access to needed resources.

Under Purvis, the Office of Equity and Inclusion will lead efforts to see that each city department can work more effectively and collaboratively to advance racial equity and inclusion, identify and change policies and practices that may be contributing to racial disparities and inequity and develop a shared racial equity framework with data-driven tools and measures to evaluate progress in these areas.

“Purvis has an important and critical role with the city of Milwaukee,” said Ossie Kendrix, president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin. “In many ways, (she’s working toward) changing the narrative associated with the city of Milwaukee so it becomes recognized as a thriving place for families to raise Black children.”

AFRICAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF WISCONSIN As president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, Ossie Kendrix works to advance equality in the public, private and non-profit sectors in southeastern Wisconsin and beyond.

He also works to be as a role model and mentor to his staff, colleagues and entrepreneurs and lends his time and talent to local boards and organizations, helping to advance their missions and visions of creating a more equitable community.

“Ossie has been a leader in this space for several years, and in his current role as the president and chief executive officer of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, he has really demonstrated and elevated his power, influence and advocacy,” said Nikki Purvis, chief equity officer for the City of Milwaukee.

Though he moved to the Dallas area in late 2020, he has continued leading the Milwaukee-based organization remotely.

Kendrix and his wife, Deirdra Kendrix, plan to maintain dual residences in Milwaukee and Texas. The move was prompted by an expansion of Deidra’s consulting firm in the Dallas area.

Despite the move, he has a project underway to create coworking space to launch new businesses. He’s overseeing construction of the chamber’s Legacy Coworking and Innovation Space on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Milwaukee.

RACHAAD HOWARD

RAFAEL GARCIA

OWNER

COMMUNITY FIRST

CREAM CITY PRINT LOUNGE Rachaad Howard started his business more than 10 years ago, making shirts in a little two-bedroom apartment and selling the shirts out of a backpack. Three years later he had built his first bike cart to sell his shirts and has continued to grow ever since.

In 2020, a year when many small businesses were failing, Howard kept working hard and it paid off, including a deal with Kohl’s to carry his line promoting diversity and inclusion. The Kohl’s line included 12 designs including “Black culture is not a trend.”

Howard opened Cream City Print Lounge just over a year ago.

The West Allis business is an interactive retail and apparel printing lounge that allows guests a space to hang out, print t-shirts and even have a drink or host their own private t-shirt making party.

“His business is not just a business, it is a walking billboard for a cause. Whether it be social injustice, inclusion, helping the homeless, or mentoring youth on business, art or entrepreneurship, Rachaad is here to help,” said Brianna Roeck, founder of Against the Grain LLC, a life brand and blog that helps with branding and marketing new businesses.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Rafael Garcia is a real estate developer, and executive director of Milwaukee-based Community First, a non-profit organization that fosters affordable housing.

Community First began as the housing program of the YMCA of Milwaukee. In 2011, the YMCA supported Community First’s “spin off” as a separate non-profit agency, under the direction of Garcia.

Since opening its doors in 2012, Community First has been offering services to Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods by coordinating substantial home repair projects for homeowners in need.

Community First works (at no cost) with under-resourced homeowners to ensure that their homes are brought up to code.

Since 2012, Community First has made $1.5 million worth of home improvements in the community, serving more than100 households.

“I love the opportunity to work with Milwaukee’s central city residents to improve their quality of life, starting with their home. I get the opportunity to meet so many passionate people that are as committed to improving our neighborhoods as I am. I do have an absolutely wonderful job,” Garcia said in a Newaukee profile.

RANDALL HARLAN

RASHI KHOSLA

RONALD ADAMS

FOUNDER AND CEO

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

MARS SOLUTIONS GROUP

VICE PRESIDENT OF FIELD DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

PANTHER WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS Randall Harlan is senior vice president of Panther Workforce Solutions, a managed service provider (MSP) that helps companies and organizations more efficiently acquire and manage their contingent and permanent workforce. Panther Workforce Solutions’ parent company, The Panther Group, is a national staffing and recruiting firm. “(Harlan) is committed to his community through his work and his long-time dedication on boards and committees that seek his expertise,” said Gail Valenti, development director of IMPACT. Harlan serves as chairman of the board at West Allis-based IMPACT, a non-profit organization best known for its 2-1-1 Crisis Call Center. IMPACT helps nearly 300,000 people each year regain personal stability and collaborates with community partners to foster system improvement in southeastern Wisconsin.

Harlan’s contributions toward advancing equality within his community is found in his work, his accomplishments and his extraordinary talent to serve missions and honor lives of those he is able to help, Valenti said.

He also is a founding member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc. The foundation’s purpose is to assist the fraternity’s Milwaukee alumni chapter’s commitment to community service, social welfare and academic scholarship.

In 2020, Rashi Khosla, founder and chief executive officer of town of Brookfield-based MARS Solutions Group, led her team in launching a new platform for integration, sentiment analysis and employee engagement. The product, Ovation, was designed to help companies with furthering diversity and inclusion efforts using an AI-powered platform.

MARS SG has earned numerous awards and accolades, including spots on the Inc. 5000 list, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s Future 50 list and several CIOReview recognitions. Khosla was named the Enterprising Woman of the year in 2017 by Enterprising Women magazine.

MARS SG has developed offerings in the IT and engineering staffing arena and has diversified into the information management services area. Khosla and her team also launched a program in 2020 to support women that are returning to the workforce after a break in their career, under a new initiative called MARS Returnship.

Khosla supports numerous organizations dedicated to helping kids with disabilities and mentoring women in the STEM field.

She serves on the board and the human resources committee for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin. She also serves on the social committee for i.c. stars in Milwaukee, an immersive technology workforce training and placement program for promising young adults.

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL This past year, Ronald J. Adams, vice president of field diversity and inclusion of Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual, led his team and advised executive leadership in unprecedented times.

He built a diverse team (83% women, 67% BIPOC) who helped lay the groundwork for creating inclusive cultures in 76 field offices nationwide, in an industry that is 82% white and male.

In 2020, Northwestern Mutual’s field force added 1,300+ diverse advisors, with an increase in women (48%) and BIPOC (22%) advisors. When the civil rights protests and unrest of last summer unfolded, his team and office leaders were prepared to guide offices in thoughtful responses through listening sessions, crucial conversations and sustained action. Most field offices also saw year-over-year production increases. “(He) is the go-to executive for some of our most fastidious leaders offering one-on-one coaching and perspective,” said Gladys Manzanet, senior director of field diversity and inclusion at Northwestern Mutual.

Adams has been a key advisor for the African American Leadership Program and African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee.

He’s tapped to speak at industry and community-driven conferences – including the Professional Dimensions 2020 Virtual Ideation Summit. He was also recognized as one of North America’s Most Influential D&I Leaders – 2020 and Madison 365’s Black Power 2020: Wisconsin’s 51 Most Influential Black Leaders.

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SHANEE JENKINS

TINA CHANG

VICE PRESIDENT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CHAIRMAN AND CEO

YMCA OF METROPOLITAN MILWAUKEE As vice president of social responsibility for the YMCA, Shanee Jenkins’ responsibilities include mission advancement, fundraising and diversity/equity/inclusion. In 2018, her contributions helped the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee become the 79th member of the YMCA of the USA’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Global (DIG) Innovation network.

She chairs both an internal staff and a board-sponsored volunteer committee comprised of Milwaukee diversity equity inclusion (DEI) officer thought-leaders.

Jenkins advocated for the Y to be one of the initial nonprofit organizations to sign the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) Region of Choice pledge committed to improving diverse hiring and management at businesses and organizations in the region.

In the fall of 2020, she co-planned the Wisconsin Y’s Fall State Alliance Leadership Conference, which focused on social justice and inclusion. This advocacy led to the first ever YMCA Statewide Social Responsibility committee. She also chairs the Y’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, and launched the annual Martin Luther King Youth Engaged Event, and the 2021 Deliberate Dialogues event featuring panel discussions on social determinants of health.

UGO NWAGBARAOCHA PRESIDENT

SYSLOGIC, INC. Tina Chang, chairman and chief executive officer of Brookfield-based SysLogic, Inc., an information systems consulting and services firm, became the company’s first employee in 1996, when the tech industry was even more male-dominated than it is today.

Chang is now sole owner. She is also the CEO of SysLogic sister-tech companies SysSpark LLC and Cyberspect LLC. Throughout SysLogic’s 25 years, Chang has worked to leverage technology to positively influence the world while serving hundreds of clients and the community. In fact, Chang and the SysLogic team have innovated several first-in-nation solutions, according to Christine Hoxworth, marketing strategist for SysLogic, Inc. As a woman-led and minority-owned company, a focus on workplace equality and representation has been very intentional at SysLogic.

SysLogic is one of the most diverse technology services firms in the region. Chang is currently focused on expanding SysLogic’s footprint nationally, which includes additional technological opportunities for diverse workforces and underserved communities.

Chang has been formally mentoring students through the YMCA for the past 26 years. She also informally mentors Milwaukee youth, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders.

DIAMOND DISCS INTERNATIONAL Ugo Nwagbaraocha, president of Milwaukee-based Diamond Discs International, grew his company during the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to serve as a leader for Milwaukee’s diverse community of business owners.

Nwagbaraocha recognized the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on minorities both in terms of health and business, so he leveraged his position as president of Wisconsin’s National Association of Minority Contractors to amplify their voice.

Nwagbaraocha, who is also chairman of Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce affiliate The Business Council, worked to ensure small businesses had equal access to resources and opportunities through federal, state and local programs.

Nwagbaraocha has advanced the discussion around the advantages of a thriving diverse business community through deliberate and intentional conversations with major corporations.

In 2020, Diamond Discs earned recognition from the Small Business Administration, which awarded Nwagbaraocha with a small business champion award.

Diamond Discs also won a competitive request for proposal to provide Milwaukee Public Schools with personal protective equipment, providing millions of PPE to more than 200 locations throughout Milwaukee.

Nwagbaraocha pointed to MPS’ transparent RFP process as a great way to facilitate economic growth locally.

TELLING YOUR STORY

IN YOUR OWN WORDS… BT360 CONTENT SOLUTIONS helps companies create and deploy engaging content to enhance their brand and drive meaningful engagement.

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 Custom Events & Webcasts  Deployment & Distribution  Lead Generation & Lead Nurturing  Research, Audit & Strategy For more information, please visit BIZTIMES.COM/BT360 or contact Maggie Pinnt, 414-336-7127.

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38 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

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ULICE PAYNE, JR.

VALERIE DANIELS-CARTER

WILLIE SMITH

PRESIDENT ADDISON-CLIFTON

PRESIDENT AND CEO

NORTHWEST SIDE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP.

Ulice Payne, Jr. is the president and founder of Brookfield-based Addison-Clifton, LLC, a global trade compliance firm.

Payne launched the company in 2004. Addison-Clifton assists clients in developing and maintaining global trade compliance management systems. In addition to Brookfield, the company has offices in Chicago, Shanghai and Ningbo, China.

Previously, Payne was managing partner for the headquarters office for Milwaukee-based law firm Foley & Lardner and chaired the firm’s international business team.

Payne has served as the Wisconsin commissioner of securities, chaired the U.S. Department of Commerce – Wisconsin District Export Council and is past chair of the Wisconsin World Trade Center.

He was also the president of the Milwaukee Brewers from 2002’03, and served as chairman of the Bradley Center Sports and Entertainment Corp.

Payne is an officer on the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce board of directors.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

V&J HOLDING COMPANIES INC. Valerie Daniels-Carter, the president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based V&J Holding Companies Inc., began her career at First Wisconsin National Bank as a retail and commercial lender. Later she was an auditor in the financial underwriting division for MGIC Investment Corp.

She wanted to start her own business and in 1982, Daniels-Carter and her brother John Daniels (an attorney who today is chair emeritus of Quarles & Brady) launched V&J Foods with a single Burger King restaurant, which they built at 5812 W. Lisbon Ave. in Milwaukee. The company still owns the restaurant.

John Daniels, the chairman for V&J, invested in the company and has served as an advisor for Valerie Daniels-Carter, who leads the day-to-day operations of V&J as its CEO. Within 16 years, Daniels-Carter grew the company into a 137unit, multi-brand operation. Today the company has 131 restaurant units including real estate holdings and operation agreements.

He also serves on the boards of Foot Locker Inc., ManpowerGroup and WEC Energy Group, and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

The success Daniels-Carter had in growing her business led to more opportunities as other brands approached her about adding franchises. In addition to Burger King, V&J brands now include Pizza Hut, Auntie Anne’s, Coffee Beanery, Nino’s Southern Sides, MyYoMy Frozen Yogurt and Captain D’s Seafood.

Payne also is a past chair of the national board of directors for the YMCA of the USA.

Daniels-Carter is also a part owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and board member of the Green Bay Packers.

TELL YOUR STORY YOUR WAY ANNIVERSARIES March 29th Issue Celebrate your milestone with the Milwaukee business community. Tell your company’s story and share your plans for the future.

Space Reservation: March 10

Willie Smith, executive director of the Northwest Side Community Development Corp. (NWSCDC), has led the resurgence of business interest in Milwaukee’s northwest side.

As executive director of NWSCDC since 2020, and previously as director of lending for the organization, Smith has increased small business loans for community residents and businesses located on the northwest side.

Last year, NWSCDC’s eight small business loan total was a 300% increase over the organization’s three-year average. Five of the eight small business loans went to African American entrepreneurs, supporting a wide variety of industries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith led NWSCDC to pivot and adapt its methods of engaging with neighbors and business partners. For instance, the organization hosted a series of three North Side Pop-up Farmers Markets, anchored by one of its business lending clients, Signature Sweets.

Smith also led the NWSCDC community organizing team to distribute thousands of free masks and assisted with hundreds of food box deliveries for shut-in seniors.

Smith also serves on numerous local boards, including the 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corp. and Bridge Builders. He was also recently appointed to Milwaukee’s City Plan Commission.

in these upcoming Thought Leadership pages HOW TO: ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES May 10th Issue Share your firm’s expertise on specific topics for small business as those companies are looking for local providers. You can pick a topic from our list or submit your own.

Space Reservation: April 14

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

biztimes.com / 39

Strategies INCLUSION

is creating a framework to integrate ED&I principles in your organization’s strategy development in a repeatable way.

Enter design thinking.

How to better attract and retain diverse talent Use design thinking to drive an inclusive culture MANY COMPANIES with a goal of building a culture of inclusion to attract and retain diverse talent wonder why their efforts fail to produce their desired results. The key to achieving sustainable outcomes is to consider each decision in your diversity and inclusion strategic planning process from an inclusive lens before taking action. Adopting a problem-solving methodology that integrates diversity and inclusion principles with design thinking can help.

WHAT’S INCLUSION? An inclusive culture results in belonging, the feeling of acceptance, security and support – what everyone wants in a workplace. When you belong, you feel like an important member of the group and that you can express your opinions without fear. Research shows a virtuous cycle that occurs when there’s belonging in a workplace.

Fostering a culture of inclusion requires leaders to acknowledge their blind spots and biases and replace assumptions with empathy and understanding. Similarly, designing strategies that more effectively drive a culture of inclusion requires intentionally considering diverse perspectives before making decisions about strategy development and program execution. The key 40 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

WHAT’S DESIGN THINKING? Design thinking is an approach to problem solving embraced by digital product designers. Design thinking requires having deep empathy and understanding of the customer and uses a process of questioning to challenge assumptions in order to identify innovative solutions not instantly apparent with one’s initial level of understanding.

Design thinking and inclusion principles strongly align. Apply design thinking questioning techniques to approach diversity and inclusion strategic planning in a structured and repeatable way to lead to more meaningful and sustainable results.

HOW TO INTEGRATE DIVERSITY & INCLUSION AND DESIGN THINKING Here’s the questioning process I use with clients who wanted to rethink their diversity recruiting strategy to achieve better results of attracting and retaining qualified people of color into the company: 1. Define the desired outcome. The greater the clarity about what you want to achieve, the easier it will be to create a strategy to enable success. Ask: » What do you want to achieve? » Where, when and with whom do you want to achieve this? » How will you know when you’ve achieved the goal? » Why is it important?

2. Uncover the root problem. Articulate the biggest problem or obstacle to achieving your desired outcome, then repeatedly ask “why” five times to determine the root cause of a problem.

3. Ideate solutions with empathy. Brainstorm possible solutions to address the root cause of the problem by asking, “what if…?” to generate ideas, concentrating on possibilities, not constraints.

Then select one solution to flush out in detail

by delineating process steps needed to execute it. Consider how to execute each step to best achieve the desired outcome by putting yourself in other people’s shoes and connecting with how they might think and feel about the solution. For each process step, think about “what wows?” – the approach stakeholders will love, value and appreciate the most.

4. Check assumptions and biases. Consider how your thinking differs from stakeholders.

What assumptions have you made? What questions should you ask to validate your ideas? Who can give you needed feedback and how will you get that feedback? You may need to get creative to identify people outside of your current network to provide the diverse perspective you need.

5. Refine the strategy. Redesign your solution based on what you heard from your interviews.

Ask: » What did we learn? » Based on what we learned, what aspects of our strategy should we keep, stop or modify? n

BETH RIDLEY Beth Ridley is a former corporate executive turned speaker, leadership inspirer and workplace culture consultant. She leverages 25 years of corporate leadership and management consulting experience to partner with leaders to transform workplace cultures.

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New Hire?

Share the news with the business community!

Announce new hires, promotions, accolades, and board appointments with BizPeople.

Visit biztimes.com/bizconnect to submit your news! biztimes.com / 41

BizConnections BIZ PEOPLE

Advertising Section: New Hires, Promotions, Accolades & Appointments

LEGAL SERVICES

MWH Law Group LLP is pleased to announce Warren E. Buliox as Equity Partner, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Buliox joined MWH when it was formed in 2016, and will lead alongside Equity Partners Kerrie Murphy, Emery Harlan, and Julie Bittner. Buliox works from the Milwaukee office of MWH Law Group specializing in employment litigation and general civil litigation. He holds degrees from Alabama State University and Syracuse University College of Law. "With his added vision and leadership, MWH will continue to deliver the highest quality legal services in a genuinely diverse and inclusive firm environment," Murphy said.

EDUCATION Kim Schultz, MSOE’s new director of corporate and foundation relations, develops and manages the university’s engagement and opportunities with corporate and foundation partners.

EDUCATION

Herzing University promotes Jarvis Racine to Lead Strategic Partnerships. As VP of Strategic Partnerships, Workforce Development and Government Affairs, Racine will focus on strengthening Herzing’s corporate partnerships to help businesses, healthcare providers and community organizations solve workforce challenges.

CONSTRUCTION

MANUFACTURING

Waukesha-based precast manufacturer Spancrete has announced the retirement of president and COO, Alan Antoniewicz. Since the beginning of his tenure 12 years ago, Alan developed business strategies that focused on the core business of precast concrete and driving profitable growth for the company. Day-today he led the team to establish positive customer relationships, develop innovative Spancrete products and equipment, and ensure high safety and quality standards companywide. He looks forward to spending more time with family and continuing to serve the community with his various board positions in retirement.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Perlick is pleased to announce Chris Baichoo joined Perlick, as our new Chief Sales Officer.

Chris brings expertise from prior management, sales and engineering roles, including his recent role at Federal Industries, a leader in refrigerated merchandise.

As CSO, Chris oversees both commercial and residential sales groups, as we work to bring both of our sales avenues together to function as a more cohesive central sales force. Based in Milwaukee, WI, for over 100 years, Perlick designs, engineers and manufactures luxury refrigeration equipment and systems for both homes and the bar, restaurant and beverage industries.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Vrakas CPAs + Advisors Names Mike Hall new Shareholder. Mike has been with the firm since 2004 having spent 16 years in the tax department. He specializes in providing consulting and tax services to small to medium size privately-held businesses and their owners, including a focus on ESOP-owned companies.

Vrakas CPAs + Advisors Names Mary Ellen Michaelson new Shareholder. Mary Ellen has been with the firm since 1999 having spent 21 years in the tax department. As Shareholder, she will continue to provide consulting and tax services, but also be a leader of the small business accounting department.

EDUCATION

EDUCATION

Herzing University promotes Dr. Jeff Hill to Regional PresidentWisconsin. Dr. Hill will oversee all three of Herzing University’s Wisconsin campuses – Brookfield, Madison and Kenosha. He will focus on initiatives designed to enhance student experience, retention and graduation outcomes.

Herzing University appoints Dan Peterson as President of Online Division. Peterson will lead initiatives that advance and expand the school’s online offerings while making higher education more accessible and affordable. He’ll also focus on enhancing student experience, retention and graduation outcomes.

NONPROFIT

As part of its expanding equity and justice work, YWCA Southeast Wisconsin welcomes Paula Phillips as the new Senior Director of Race and Gender Equity. Starting her career in ministry, Paula shifted her focus to the nonprofit sector when she moved to Milwaukee to serve as an AmeriCorps participant with Public Allies and then continued her nonprofit sector work at City Year Milwaukee. Prior to YWCA SEW, she worked to empower women and promote diverse leadership at the Medical College of WI and recently completed a four-year term on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors. Paula is an alumna of MATC and UW-Madison.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Vrakas CPAs + Advisors Names Scott M. Syrjala new Shareholder.

Scott has been with the firm since 2009 having spent 11 years in the tax department. Scott specializes in providing tax planning, compliance and research support to privately-held businesses and their owners in a variety of industries.

INSURANCE

Robertson Ryan presented their Jack Ryan Community Service Award to Gail Bishop in Burlington, WI. She is involved in VetsRoll, were volunteers raise $400,000+ each year to take over 220 veterans to Washington DC. She’s made this trip 7 times.

To place your listing, or for more information, please visit biztimes.com/bizconnect 42 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

BIZ PEOPLE

Advertising Section: New Hires, Promotions, Accolades & Appointments

NONPROFIT Kathryn J. Dunn has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, where she has led transformational efforts in community investment, engagement and impact for over a decade.

ARCHITECTURE

Kahler Slater promotes Jeff Piette, AIA to Vice President. After 27 years with Kahler Slater and 13 years as Higher Education and Sports + Recreation Team Leader, Piette has been promoted to Vice President. He will continue to lead the firm’s sports and recreation market and guide the firm’s strategic plan.

LEGAL SERVICES Jeffrey E. Mark, Shareholder and co-chair of the Health Law Section at von Briesen & Roper, s.c. is named as a 2020 Client Service All-Star MVP, by The BTI Consulting Group.

CONSTRUCTION Marissa Young has joined JP Cullen as Director of Business Development. “Her prior experience and knowledge will be a valuable resource for clients as they plan for the growth of their business,” George Cullen, Co-President at JP Cullen said.

BIZ UPDATE

MANUFACTURING

ACU I T Y E A RNS BE S T WO RK PL ACE RECO GNI T I O N FRO M GL A SSD O O R

Janel M. Hines has been promoted to Vice President of Community Impact at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, expanding her leadership roles in grantmaking, strategy and advancing racial equity and inclusion. She joined the Foundation in 2011.

dent and CEO. According to Glassdoor’s review page for Acuity, the insurer earns a 4.9 out of 5.0 rating, with 99% of respondents recommending Acuity to a friend.

Acuity has been honored with a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award for a second consecutive year. The award, which recognizes the 100 Best Places to Work among U.S. large companies, is based solely on the input of employees.

LEGAL SERVICES Susan E. Lovern, President and CEO and chair of the Commercial and Business Litigation Section at von Briesen & Roper, s.c. is named as a 2020 Client Service All-Star by The BTI Consulting Group.

INSURANCE

Robertson Ryan & Associates recently welcomed Patti Blaschka, an agent owner in the company’s Milwaukee office, as its newest shareholder. Patti specializes in both commercial and personal insurance products and has been with RRA since 2016.

MANUFACTURING

Standard Process has announced the recent promotion of its Director of Human Resources, Krista Beaudry, to the new role of Vice President, Human Resources.

Krista brings more than 25 years of HR experience to the new role.

“Over one million employers are reviewed on Glassdoor, and out of those, Acuity is ranked in the top 100 in the U.S. We are honored and humbled to be valued so highly as a place to work,” said Ben Salzmann, Acuity Presi-

INSURANCE

Robertson Ryan & Associates recently welcomed Pat Skaar, an agent owner in Wisconsin as its newest shareholder. Pat has been in the insurance industry for 30+ years and holds the designation of Certified Insurance Counselor. He joined RRA in 2006.

MANUFACTURING

WorldBridge Partners welcomes Jason Kayzar as newest Executive Search Consultant.

WorldBridge Partners (WBP) has engaged the talents of Jason Kayzar. Kayzar comes to WBP with over 3 decades of sales leadership experience. WBP is a Manufacturing Talent Acquisition and Recruiting Firm focused on companies located in the Midwest.

This latest honor adds to Acuity’s workplace awards, including Glassdoor’s Highest Rated Companies for Work/Life Balance During COVID-19 (#1 in the nation), Forbes’ list of America’s Best-in-State Employers (#2 in Wisconsin), the ACORD Millennial Women’s Insurance Advancement Award, and a Top Entry Level Employer by CollegeGrad.com.

MANUFACTURING

RSM US LLP, Milwaukee, has promoted John Stetzenbach to Assurance Partner.

John has over 14 years of public accounting experience providing audit and consulting services to public and large private internationally-active companies.

He serves clients within consumer products and industrial manufacturing industries.

BANKING

First Federal Bank is proud to announce the promotion of Maxwell Vos to Project Manager and Security Officer. He will support and supervise major projects, manage virtual banking operations, and oversee the bank security program.

To place your listing, or for more information, please visit biztimes.com/bizconnect biztimes.com / 43

BizConnections PAY IT FORWARD

Kim Dandrea 44 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

ANDREW FELLER PHOTOGRAPHY

Kim Dandrea partners with Girls on the Run to build confidence KIM DANDREA has discovered many benefits to the discipline of running: mental wellness, stress relief and a sense of personal accomplishment.

In recent years, Dandrea, a private client risk executive of M3 Insurance, has worked to help Milwaukee youth discover that running is for them, too.

A little over two years ago, Dandrea was participating in a half-Ironman triathlon in Michigan when she took note of her fellow competitors and realized they mostly looked like her.

“I noticed there were not a lot of women of color,” said Dandrea.

“I started to think, what can I do about that? How can I create opportunity to have a more diverse group?”

Soon after, at an event hosted by Milwaukee professional women’s group TEMPO, Dandrea ended up connecting with St. Joan Antida High School president Marikris Coryell. Dandrea, who was already familiar with Girls on the Run after having attended its annual Sneaker Soiree fundraiser, began planning to bring the program to the high school.

“I really wanted to get it started at the school age because I thought, if I could capture some of that younger audience, it may be something that I could open their eyes to an opportunity,” she said.

Dandrea helped launch a running club at St. Joan Antida, leading a core group of about eight girls in twice-a-week practices, which culminated in participating in the end-of-the-year Girls on the Run 5K. In partnering with Girls on the Run, which is a national nonprofit with a southeastern Wisconsin affiliate, the club developed into more than just a running program.

GOTR hosts programming for girls in third through eighth grade

Kim Dandrea Private Client Risk Executive M3 Insurance Nonprofit served: Girls on the Run Service: Volunteer and board member

with the goal of strengthening their social, emotional, physical and behavioral skills. Its curriculum is specifically designed to reach girls at a critical stage in the development of their confidence.

“It has facets of teaching girls lifestyle skills – how to navigate challenging situations, confrontational situations, helping to build self-esteem, and there’s community projects involved,” Dandrea said.

She recently joined Girls on the Run Southeastern Wisconsin’s board of directors with the goal of expanding its reach to more schools in the seven-county greater Milwaukee area.

“There is so much value our community can gain by having strong girls,” Dandrea said. “My mission really is to help spread the word and leverage my business and my triathlon network to help promote this program.” n

LAUREN ANDERSON Associate Editor

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

inf cus

JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

Nerf wars at 1st and Bowl AFTER BRINGING the concept of “football bowling” to the Milwaukee area in 2019, 1st and Bowl has added another game to its roster.

The bar-entertainment venue recently opened a “Nerf Wars Tactical Zone” on the upper level of its 20,500-square-foot warehouse building in Wauwatosa. Groups of up to 20 people can rent the 3,000-square-foot arena – complete with obstacles, shelters and targets – to battle friends or co-workers in organized Nerf gun competitions such as capture the flag and humans vs. zombies.

The concept was an idea that sprung out of the COVID-19 shutdown last year, said 1st and Bowl co-owner Bryan MacKenzie. While 1st and Bowl sat empty for a few months, he and partners Tim Johnson and Craig Galarneau had time to think about how they would keep things new and exciting for customers.

Since opening, 1st and Bowl had attracted more families and kids than originally expected.

But its mainstay game, football bowling, proved to be challenging for the younger demographic.

“So, we said, ‘We need to find a way to cater more toward some of these other groups that we see come in. … We have to look for a way to be better,’” said MacKenzie.

Interest has gradually picked up since the Nerf Wars Tactical Zone opened late last year.

Events have ranged from a 6-year-old birthday party to a bachelor party, but once the pandemic subsides, MacKenzie expects corporate groups to make up a significant portion of bookings. n — Maredithe Meyer biztimes.com / 45

BizConnections VOLUME 26, NUMBER 16 | FEB 22, 2020

GLANCE AT YESTERYEAR

126 N. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Milwaukee, WI 53202-6120 PHONE: 414-277-8181 FAX: 414-277-8191 WEBSITE: www.biztimes.com CIRCULATION: 414-336-7100 | circulation@biztimes.com ADVERTISING: 414-336-7112 | advertising@biztimes.com EDITORIAL: 414-336-7120 | andrew.weiland@biztimes.com REPRINTS: 414-336-7100 | reprints@biztimes.com

PUBLISHER / OWNER Dan Meyer dan.meyer@biztimes.com

SALES & MARKETING

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

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

A new terminal at Mitchell Field This photo shows the new terminal built in 1955 at General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee with cars parked across the street. The parking lot would eventually be replaced by a parking structure. That year, around 521,700 passengers traveled through Mitchell. In 2020, 2.63 million passengers went through the airport, a nearly 62% drop from 2019 and the lowest level since 1984.

— Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Public Library/Historic Photo Collection

COMMENTARY

Downtown takes a hit DOWNTOWN MILWAUKEE has experienced an exciting revitalization during the past 20 years.

But that revitalization has been on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, some downtown building projects have been completed, continued or started during the past year, but the office buildings, hotels and restaurants downtown have been largely vacant. Theaters are closed. Fiserv Forum went almost a year without spectators. It’s been quiet downtown.

Then came stunning news that Johnson Controls plans to leave downtown, and will pull out 1,300 employees, to consolidate its operations at its headquarters in Glendale. It’s the worst news in decades for downtown.

In recent years several companies have moved their offices to downtown Milwaukee.

Those companies and their employees provide an economic boost that helps support restaurants, hotels, shops and other businesses. But that momentum has been lost during the pandemic and it might be difficult to get it back, 46 / BizTimes Milwaukee FEBRUARY 22, 2021

especially now that the culture of working from home has become more accepted.

Why should we care about this? Because downtown Milwaukee is the economic heart of southeastern Wisconsin, and regions need a vibrant central business district to attract businesses and talent.

As successful as downtown Milwaukee has become in recent years, it has still been unable to attract some of the region’s largest companies, which are typically the occupants of downtown office towers in major cities. Kohl’s considered moving its headquarters downtown and passed. GE Healthcare looked at downtown, but chose to build a massive office building in Wauwatosa instead and now has big growth plans in West Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Tool expanded in Brookfield and now is adding a second campus in Menomonee Falls.

Fiserv has considered a headquarters move to downtown, but hasn’t pulled the trigger.

And now Johnson Controls is leaving downtown.

All is not lost for downtown, of course. A lot of exciting things are happening there and once the pandemic finally ends, downtown could spring back to life. The Bradley Symphony Center will be an absolute gem. 3rd Street Market Hall at The Avenue is going to be a

REPORTER Maredithe Meyer maredithe.meyer@biztimes.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES Linda Crawford linda.crawford@biztimes.com CONTENT SOLUTIONS MANAGER Maggie Pinnt maggie.pinnt@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Paddy Kieckhefer paddy.kieckhefer@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christie Ubl christie.ubl@biztimes.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Dylan Dobson dylan.dobson@biztimes.com SALES ADMIN Gracie Schneble gracie.schneble@biztimes.com

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

PRODUCTION & DESIGN

REPORTER Alex Zank alex.zank@biztimes.com

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

Independent & Locally Owned — Founded 1995 —

wonderful spot to eat and hang out. New hotels and office buildings opened just last year.

And the Johnson Controls complex itself offers an exciting opportunity to attract new office tenants or for a redevelopment that could include residences.

Ultimately residential development is the most important component to increasing the vibrancy of downtown. The greater the population density of downtown the better. The more people that live there the more businesses will want to be there and those residents will help support restaurants and retail downtown.

Downtown is the place for dense residential development. As we have seen in Bayside and Wauwatosa, apartment tower projects planned outside of downtown are resisted by those communities. But those projects will always be what downtown needs and should continue to embrace. n

ANDREW WEILAND EDITOR

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

JAKE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

5 MINUTES WITH…

JOHN STIBAL

President and chief executive officer, FIRE Inc. JOHN STIBAL retired as city of West Allis development director at the end of 2020 but has continued his work with First-Ring Industrial Redevelopment Enterprise Inc. as the organization’s president and now also its chief executive officer. FIRE is a community development financial entity, funded annually through federal New Markets tax credits, that provides financing to businesses in low-income neighborhoods. Stibal recently spoke with BizTimes Milwaukee reporter Alex Zank about his more than three decades at West Allis and the next chapter in his career.

ROLE AT FIRE INC. “Our application (for New Markets tax credits) is in. We’ll find out if we get it in July. We’re doing deals as we speak right now trying to finalize agreements on the monies that we already have. By the way, this is our seventh allocation in a row we’re working on, and there are only three other entities in the country that have gotten seven in a row.

“I’d like to see us do more in our service area, which is Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. … We’ve done a lot in Milwaukee County. … It will be marketing to Racine and Kenosha economic development groups, businesses, and real estate attorneys and brokers to bring FIRE’s attention to these people as they’re putting their deals together.”

OUTLOOK FOR WEST ALLIS “I think they’re going to be spending more energy on trying to assist small businesses. That’s where we think our biggest growth opportunity is going to be, is helping small businesses expand. We’ll probably see 80% of our job growth in the small business area, so it’s a very critical part.

“Also, multi-family development has been (important) in terms of the quality we’ve been able to attract for development. We can compete favorably with cities like Wauwatosa and have valuable propositions that people want. In West Allis, we can give them that same quality and 25% less cost. That’s why all of a sudden, our multi-family market is booming and the rents are increasing, and as rents increase all property values increase. That’s been a focus that I’m sure the city will continue to focus on.”

HOW GOVERNMENTS CAN ADDRESS DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES “Probably the biggest deterrent to development is the lack of available land. I think we’ll be looking at acquiring more property and demolishing it to try to get it repositioned for redevelopment. It’s a matter of acquiring the industrial dinosaurs, so to speak, and then getting the properties demolished and through environmental cleanup, so that the site can compete with a greenfield site. Developers are always worried about the risk in a project. So, if you take out risk proposition, we can compete with anybody on development.” n biztimes.com / 47

25 YEARS …and Counting!

BizTimes Media is celebrating 25 years. We’re marking the occasion with a special publication on March 29, 2021, that looks ahead to the next 25 years while also celebrating the people, companies and moments that made southeastern Wisconsin what it is today. Make sure your message is included for the thousands of readers who will see this special issue.

Connect with us to reserve your space.

Call or email Linda Crawford at 414-336-7112 or advertise@biztimes.com.

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