Emerging Industries | Technology
CEO
Penrod | Milwaukee
Chris Widmayer co-founded Milwaukee-based software consulting company Penrod in 2011. The firm, which specializes in CRM solutions on the Salesforce platform, serves the health care, life sciences, field service, manufacturing and technology industries. Its clients range from startups to Fortune 500 companies. The firm was bootstrapped from its founding until earlier this year, when it raised $8 million from Salesforce Ventures and an undisclosed Milwaukee family office.
Widmayer served as chief operating officer until 2018, when co-founder Joe Taylor stepped away from the business and Widmayer became CEO. Widmayer is also involved in the Milwaukee startup and tech community, hosting and speaking at events.
Earlier in his career, Widmayer was an adjunct instructor at ITT Technical Institute and worked for Kohl’s Corp. as a systems analyst. He was an entrepreneur early on, starting a successful World Wrestling Federation news website while he was in high school in the late 1990s.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
