Athenet, Wisconsin’s largest independent internet service provider, has launched its Cable Enhanced Service — a high-speed cable access internet service which will use Time Warner Cable’s lines. The service is available in the Time Warner Cable Division serving Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and surrounding communities. The service will compete with Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner service. Athenet was selected to be the southeastern and northeastern Wisconsin alternative, as directed by the Federal Trade Commission to limit AOL Time Warner’s market share. Frank Orlando is the Milwaukee sales manager for Athenet, which is based in Appleton, and which is on the Web at www.athenet.net.
The African American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) of Greater Milwaukee "Coming to the Plate 2002" Business Directory — Visitors Support and Vendors List for service needs is now available. The directory is available for $15 at the chamber office at 6203 W. Capitol Dr. in Milwaukee, or for $20 if mailed out. The chamber can be reached at 414-462-9450.
Susan K. Wehrley, president of Susan K. Wehrley & Associates of Brookfield and Phoenix, is airing her radio show, "Performance Solutions" in Milwaukee again, but this time on "The Word" Radio AM 540 (WRRD), every Saturday at noon. WRRD is the AM sister station to The Fish. Both are owned by Salem Communications.
The radio topics will be similar to the workshops Susan gives her business clients. They will include tips on manifesting your destiny, effective teamwork and moving from manager to leader. Her current series is on effective teamwork and will run through Dec. 7. Topics will be posted on the company’s Web site: www.solutionsbysusan.com. Listeners can e-mail Wehrley at susan@solutionsbysusan.com with their questions and receive free coaching on the air, if their question is chosen. New to the show this year, is the Susan K. Wehrley private chat room, offering listeners a way to stay connected after the show and continue the conversation with one another. It is only available to the listeners by logging on through Wehrley’s Web site.
Call_Solutions of Waukesha has acquired Patrick Marketing Group, a full-service direct marketing agency headquartered in Calabasas, Calif.
"The acquisition of this creative agency is a strategic step in expanding the mix of services Call_Solutions provides to meet the goals of our clients in reaching the full scope of their target markets," commented George Dalton, president and CEO of Call_Solutions (www.callsolutions.com). "Within our acquisition strategy, we have rapidly added the operational dimensions our clients seek for their total direct marketing solution. The Patrick Marketing Group brings to Call_Solutions that ‘up-front creative marketing engine’ that clients rely on to define the strategies for driving their sales growth and manage their entire direct marketing process."
Formed in 1982, Patrick Marketing Group (www.patrickmarketing.com), has approximately 40 employees focused on providing business-to-business direct marketing. Clients served range from leading telecom and technology services companies such as AT&T, Nortel Networks, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Unisys, to leaders in the automotive industry such as General Motors, Porsche and Penske, as well as a range of other firms such as 3M, Deloitte Consulting and Pioneer Electronics.
Gary Patrick continues as president of the PMG business, with Craig Shields as executive vice president.
Noted Mr. Patrick, "With Call_Solutions, clients gain an expansive planning and implementation process for complementary direct marketing services that deliver real results."
Call_Solutions.com, Inc., a privately held company with headquarters in Waukesha, was formed in August 2000 and has annualized revenues of approximately $70 million. The Patrick Marketing Group deal is the 15th acquisition by Call_Solutions.
Visual Systems, a Milwaukee manufacturer of book components, overhead transparencies and ancillary products for educational and supplemental textbooks, has been recognized with the "Best of the Best" workplace in America award by the Master Printers of America. This is the third consecutive year the firm has one the award; it is one of 37 firms nationwide to win the honor.
Church & Chapel Funeral Service has opened a pre-arrangement center and funeral home at 380 Bluemound Road in Waukesha.
Wisconsin Leasing has moved from We Energies facilities to its own headquarters at 2514 S. 102nd St., West Allis. The move marks a transition to independence for Wisconsin Leasing, a former division of Wisconsin Energy Corp. Wisconsin Leasing was purchased in June by Lynne Robinson and SB Partners, a private equity group based in Chicago. Robinson had been president of Robinson Management Resources, a financial consulting firm in Brookfield.
The McFarland Group’s sports marketing group has entered into agreements with three sports entities to assist with sponsorship procurement. The Elm Grove agency will work with two major motor racing sanctioning bodies, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the American LeMans Series (ALMS) to develop series, event and other sponsorship marketing alliances. The agency will also work with Elkhart Lake’s Road America on sponsorship expansion. Agency president Mike McFarland and business development manager Harold Strohmeier are handling the efforts.
Several new shops and moves of shops have been announced for the Shops of Grand Avenue as the downtown mall continues to be redeveloped. According to Joe Weirick, president for Polacheck Management, seven businesses are in various stages of moving. All are expected to be in place by the start of the holiday season. New tenants include Qdoba Mexican Grill Subway and Stone Creek Coffee. It was earlier announced that the shopping center would also be getting an Applebee’s restaurant and a Wild Flour bakery. Shops that are moving include Village Shoppe, Rainbow Shop, Kids Footlocker and Payless Shoe Source. The Village Shoppe will move to a new location at the second floor landing of the mall’s downward escalators. Rainbow Shop will expand to larger space on the first level of the new Arcade. Kids Footlocker will move to the second level of the new Arcade. Payless Shoe Source, now located in the Plankinton building, will build its new prototype store next to Children’s Place on the second level of the new Arcade.
Jewish Family Services has honored New Berlin Plastics Co. for its commitment to employment of newly settled refugees by naming the company Employer of the Year. The company, which has worked closely with Jewish Family Services Job Development staff, has employed 23 refugees since May of 2000 and also offers English as a Second Language classes on site.
Delphi Corp. of Milwaukee and Toyota have announced a $20,000 "Community Connection" grant to develop a computer lab for the Milwaukee-area job-skills development program at the Workforce Training Center. The WTC is a collaboration of the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, noted Mona Garland, director of WTC. Garland said that WTC does not have the equipment to meet the need for computer-based training on site and must rely on other facilities and subcontractors, many of which close at 5 p.m. The new computer lab’s plans call for 16 PC-equipped workstations, to accommodate a minimum of 12 hours of technology training per day. In addition, the United AutoWorkers Local 438 is donating furniture, valued at $3,000, for the computer lab. WTC plans to have the lab operating by December.
Oct. 11, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
