Cohen Financial, a national real estate investment firm based in Chicago, has acquired the Bell Industries building at 18456 Fulton Dr. in Germantown, in a sale-leaseback deal, for $2.375 million.
The building, a warehouse and distribution center, has 67,200 square feet of space.
Bell Industries’ operations include computer systems integration, distribution of aftermarket products for recreational vehicles, motorcycles, snowmobile and powerboats, and specialty electronics manufacturing.
Roger Siegel of the Polacheck Co. and Tyler Mattax of CB Richard Ellis represented the seller in the transaction.
The Dickman Co. has announced the following lease deals:

The often ambiguous determination of whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee appears to be headed for clarification … or not, depending on which side of the issue you’re on.
Rep. Jerry Kleczka of Milwaukee’s South Side has co-sponsored the Independent Contractor Clarification Act (HR 1525) with Rep. Amo Houghton (R-NY) which attempts to simplify the classification of independent contractors from a 20-factor formula to a three-point test.
Under the proposal, a person would be classified as an independent contractor if: the employer does not control the manner in which the individual completes assigned tasks; the individual may undertake other business opportunities; and the individual incurs entrepreneurial risk.
Kleczka’s office says the bill is the result of over 20 years of ambiguity in worker classification law. As a result, Kleczka says, workers have lost benefits such as health insurance, Worker’s Compensation and retirement plan payments.
The bill is backed by labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO.
A spokesman for Kleczka’s office noted that the Internal Revenue Service estimated in a 1987 report that 3.7 million workers were illegally reported as independent contractors. The IRS estimated the underpayment of Social Security and unemployment taxes was $2.3 billion in 1987 and $3.3 billion in 1992. A study by the former Coopers & Lybrand accounting and consulting firm (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) projected the number of misclassified workers to be 5 million by 2005.
Simplification and clarification are needed, agrees Nancy Anderson, vice president of federal programs for the Independent Business Association of Wisconsin, but not as proposed by Kleczka.
“Kleczka’s bill leaves the door open for government interference,” says Anderson, who with her husband Terry co-owns Omni Tech in Pewaukee.
The IBA specifically objects to the language in the bill that states, “Businesses that are currently eligible for the Section 530 safe harbor will be covered by a transitional rule which would continue the current safe harbor protections until 2003 or until the IRS issues additional guidance.”
Section 530, included in the 1978 tax bill and permanently extended by Congress in 1982, created a safe harbor for employers to treat a worker as an independent contractor for tax purposes regardless of the true nature of the worker-employer relationship. The safe harbor had to have a reasonable basis such as a prior determination by the IRS or long-standing industry practice.
Anderson says the Kleczka bill leaves a huge loophole for the IRS to change the rules of the game, making it counter-productive for any size business.
“All small businesses will be affected by it,” Anderson says. “We want to alleviate the burden on small business. The Kleczka bill complicates things.”
Brian Reardon, a manager of federal public policy for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), agrees with Anderson. NFIB also has come out opposing the Kleczka-sponsored bill, saying that the bill would set business back 30 years.
“It makes it more complex for people to determine whether they’re independent contractors or not,” Reardon says. “We think the bill operates from the wrong assumption – that everyone starts out as an employee – and then requires you to prove that you are not [an employee].”
Kleczka contends the misclassification of workers hurts some employers because they are put at an unfair disadvantage by competitors who misclassify their workers.
“The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, which represents 4,500 construction firms in support of my bill, says misclassification is ‘epidemic’ in the construction industry and a severe threat to degrade the quality of the workforce and service,” Kleczka says.
“Odds are slim that the bill will make it to the president’s desk,” Reardon of NFIB says. “If all the people that have co-sponsored the bill stand behind it in the Ways and Means Committee, it may make it out of committee. It may even pass in the House. We can certainly stop it in the Senate, but we don’t want it to go that far.”

Cirsten Paine of Virchow Krause explains what KM is:
1) Operational knowledge/organizational information:
This is the kind of information that you would have about a company, how you create your product, how you get the product out the door. Also, workflow management and document management.
2) Collaborative flow. It’s the folklore of the organization, the history, and the company culture. “If somebody leaves, those experiences walk out the door if we haven’t found a way to capture them,” Paine says.
“It’s the culture, the mission, the mantras of the organization – all the informal stuff. If you spent a day here at Virchow Krause, I’ll bet you’d hear people saying the phrase ‘clients come first’ 20 times. It’s all the stuff that isn’t in your computer system, and that you can’t put in a report, but it’s key to your business.” Also, it has to do with where people sit and how they interact.
3) Reference information: Think of a librarian. A lot of companies have a difficult time managing this, which is really the most basic piece. This is all the information that is out there and available about your
industry. It’s like a virtual library of relevant information. Your goal is to capture it as best you can.
4) Customer information. This is all the marketing information,
the stuff about your customer that you need to know.
5) Meta knowledge: Knowing what you have, where it is, and how
it is stored. Imagine some sort of omniscient, god-like librarian, who knows where everything is and how to get at it. That’s meta knowledge. (Most organizations don’t have this).

Badger Gasket in Richfield in Washington County is being purchased by Cooper Manufacturing Co. of Marshalltown, Iowa.
Completion of the acquisition, subject to certain legal procedures, is expected to be consummated by Sept. 1
Cooper Manufacturing, established in 1913, operates in a110,000-square-foot facility in Marshalltown and a 27,000-square-foot facility in Arkansas. It currently employs 92 people.
“The synergies involved will result in better growth potential with an overall reduction in overhead,” said Ron Kelling, president of Cooper Manufacturing.
Badger Gasket was founded in 1994 and, while serving a nationwide market, has the majority of its business in the Midwest. Its market includes small engine, outboard motors, snowmobiles, motorcycles, compressors, small appliances, and general industrial.
Badger Gasket is located in an 11,000-square-foot facility in the Helsan Business Park along Highway 145. It produces more than 25 million hard and soft gaskets per year with its 19 employees. The Richfield operation will be maintained.
William H. Wetterau and Charles H. Gauger are the principles in Badger Gasket.
Martin Products Corp. and Structural Bonding Systems have merged to form Spectrum Contracting Corp. The business is located at 815 Beech St. in Grafton, with a regional office and shop in Addison, Ill.
Structural Bonding had been a restoration firm while Martin Products dealt in protective coatings.
OnCourse Technologies of New Berlin has acquired Cam Solutions of Bloomington, Minn., OnCourse president Charles Beyer and Cam founder-president Kevin Bork announced.
OnCourse technologies went public in 1998 largely to obtain a stock-based “warchest” for acquisition and development. The firm immediately implemented its plan with the aggressive acquisition of New Berlin-based Micro Estimating Systems in the second half of 1998.
By adding Cam Solutions’ additional reach, this transaction is the planned next step in a carefully projected enterprise. “Each acquisition is a load-bearing foundation-stone in the finite design for this enterprise”, says Bernard (Woody) Woods Ill, OnCourse chairman and CEO.
“Cam Solutions’ expertise at integrating disparate software systems now plays an essential role in our complete market strategy,” Woods said, “a fact which will become more evident at the time of our next ‘joint-venture’ announcement, in June.”
Cam Solutions is a 10-year old rep organization for several well-known manufacturing software products including those of sister company Micro Estimating Systems. It presently serves a market in the upper Midwest, from Illinois to North Dakota. Its manufacturing software products include estimating, CAD/CAM, and direct numerical control software. It develops products that enhance the use of the parent company’s software with that of other vendors.
OnCourse Technologies, Inc., with more than 450 shareholders in 26 states, was organized to acquire and develop software, systems and services companies, and products in Internet-sensitive, manufacturing markets. Micro Estimating’s high precision manufacturing software has application via the Internet and is the platform for development of a complete e-business product line.
S-F Analytical, a 100-year-old Milwaukee firm, has merged with the bioassay laboratory of Integrated Paper Services, according to Ed Treick, president of S-F Analytical and Salman Aziz, IPS president.
New sites; expansions
The Mutual Savings Bank Commercial Banking Division has moved from the Mutual Savings Bank corporate offices at 4949 W. Brown Deer Road in Milwaukee to 400 N. Moorland Road in Brookfield.
Hometown Publications, the publisher of several free weekly papers in the Milwaukee area, has purchased seven free weekly papers from Conley Publishing. The purchase of the seven Sunday Post papers brings the total circulation of Your Hometown Newspaper Network’s 19 papers to 365,000, according to Hometown president, Ken Ubert.
CyberLink Network, a Racine-based Internet service provider, is moving its point of presence in downtown Chicago and has completed a new physical POP in Grunee, Ill. The firm also has POPs in Racine, Kenosha, West Allis and Milwaukee.
Heritage Carpet & Interiors has re-opened at the Hartbrook Mall after an expansion and remodeling project which was handled by Oliver Construction Co. of Oconomowoc and designed by architect Bud Bessler. The plans increased the showroom to 7,000 square feet while the warehouse and custom-built divisions were increased by 4,000 square feet.
Ver Halen, The Pella Window Store in Racine has relocated to 1122 S. Airline Road, said Chris Calawarts, managing partner.
Trade Leads
This is a sample of export trade leads provided by the Milwaukee Export Assistance Center, U.S. Department of Commerce. The following companies are interested in purchasing quality American products. To receive a copy of any of these leads, please fax your request to 414-297-3470 and indicate by identifying number which leads you would like to receive.
Russia #462-01-35: Galvanized sheet steel in coils. Must meet Russian standards or closest equivalent. Coil width 1100 and 1250 mm; thickness 0.5 and 0.7 mm. Immediate requirement for 500-600 metric tons per month. Buyer is a manufacturer and wholesaler of trapezoid bent sheets and nails.
Russia #462-06-02: Canned green peas. Standard quality in tin cans of approximately 400 grams each. 40-60 metric tons per month for immediate delivery to St. Petersburg-based importer.
Rwanda #769-06-03: Powdered milk in 25 and 50 kilogram bags, as well as cooking oil. Firm is a private trading company specializing in food products.
Saudi Arabia #517-06-04: Unsweetened chocolate in blocks for baking cakes. Needed immediately in 5 kg blocks with Arabic and English labeling and one-year shelf life.
Ukraine #494-06-05: Aquariums and terrariums and related equipment, such as filtration systems, water heaters, CO2 systems, lighting systems, fish food, and vitamins and medicines for fishes. Equipment should be for use with aquariums and terrariums of 100-300 liter capacity. Buyer can offer pre-payment and wishes to establish long-term relationship with U.S. suppliers.
United Kingdom #412-06-06: Shredded mozzarella cheese. Interested in 20 metric tons per month for delivery direct to UK.
Yemen #521-06-07: Equipment and tools for drilling water wells; heads and bits for drilling equipment; submersible water pumps for irrigation. Firm specializes in import, wholesale, and distribution of water well drilling equipment and tools. Represents U.S. firms Ingersoll Rand and Geven International.
For more information please call the Milwaukee Export Assistance Center at 297-3473. The U.S. government assumes no responsibility for the outcome of any business transaction resulting from publication.
New Firms
Jim and Barbara Berner and their son Jeff have purchased a HobbyTown USA franchise for the Brookfield and northwestern Milwaukee market. The new store, which opened this month, is in Loehmanm’s Plaza at 17115-C W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield. The parent company is based out of Lincoln, Neb. and currently has 118 stores open or under development in 40 states.
The Waterstone Group, a technical staffing company with offices in Mequon, Plymouth and Green Bay, has formed a new division: Employment Administration Services. The division is a professional employer organization (PEO).
Scott Rasmussen, formerly first vice president and division head of commercial banking in southeasternWisconsin for Firstar, is in charge of business development as senior vice president. The business is at 1025 W. Glen Oaks Lane in Mequon and at 506 E. Mill St. in Plymouth.

But inner city business development is not without its problems. Real estate often is plagued with environmental ills, recruiting and retaining quality employees can be difficult, and the typical perception of the inner city is unfavorable. Nonetheless, some Milwaukee firms have found ways to develop – and sustain – business in the city’s urban markets.
America’s first cities were established based on their ability to conduct trade. But as the United States evolved from city to suburbs, cities became less vital as centers of commerce.
Today, after a century of urban sprawl and the never-ending exodus to suburban areas and beyond, cities across the country are rediscovering urban core areas as viable business markets. Cheaper real estate, accessibility and proximity to neighborhoods with disposable income make some inner city areas attractive to business and development.
Milwaukee is among those U.S. cities starting to see early signs of an urban business renaissance.
North of downtown in a once-thriving commercial area, the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District is Milwaukee’s signature urban reclamation project. Established in 1992, the King Drive BID is an area of roughly 250 businesses and 384 commercial properties which acts as a facilitator by soliciting developers, securing tenants and applying for funds.
Since the formation of the BID, property values in the area have increased more than 42%, says King Drive BID director Randy Roth. Over the last three years, the BID has received approximately $25 million in mostly-private investments.
“There is a national trend of rediscovering urban markets,” says Roth, the virtual one-man show who has been in charge of efforts to bring back the historic street north of downtown. “The suburban markets are saturated. King Drive is part of that national trend.”
The King Drive redevelopment strategy consists of four phases aimed at bringing new businesses to the resuscitated commericial strip immediately north of downtown Milwaukee.
“You must understand markets and what a neighborhood can be,” Roth says. “Not every neighborhood is going to be a Brady Street or a Downer Avenue, but that doesn’t mean business won’t be successful there,” he notes, referring to two East Side Milwaukee retail corridors. “Bring in the types of business your market wants and needs, and those businesses will be successful.”
The average income of an urban neighborhood may be lower, Roth explains, but disposable income can be spent at businesses that service the needs of the neighborhood’s residents.
The first phase of the King Drive redevelopment plan focuses on attracting national retailers to the area, especially around the King Drive-North Avenue intersection, as research shows that corner to have high retail potential, Roth says.
In the last three years, six national retailers – Foot Locker, Simply Fashions, One-Price Clothing, Family Dollar, Trak Auto, Foot Apparel and an undisclosed video store – have entered and remained in the market. The King Drive trade area, which reaches to McKinley Street, Capitol Drive, Holton Street and Interstate 43, posts $140 million per year in consumer expenditures, Roth said.
But national chains are not the only businesses targeted for King Drive. The second phase of the redevelopment strategy capitalizes on King Drive’s proximity to downtown Milwaukee and a regional freeway system, as well as its historic quality and pedestrian-friendliness.
In its former life, the street, then known as Third Street, was a popular shopping area which included a Schusters Department Store – a huge building which now serves as a storage facility.
The focus is now on commercial office development and establishing “destination retail” shops and other retail establishments that, due to their uniqueness, draw customers from outside the area’s immediate market.
Driving business
to the drive
Ann Brown’s Devonshire Victorian Tea Shop falls into the destination retail category. In business on King Drive since April of 1997, the shop features a variety of imported teas, homemade pastries, a lunch menu and various tea pots, books and handmade dolls. The atmosphere is tranquil, the decorating – clearly of Victorian influence – was done by Brown herself, and Brown claims natives of England and Ireland attest to the authenticity of the tea shop.
Atypical of inner city businesses, Devonshire Victorian Tea Shop caters to downtown white collar professionals seeking respite from the hustle and bustle of the 9-to-5 workday. Brown’s customers have asked her to open shops in places such as Mequon, Cedarburg and even Door County, and she draws customers from as far west as Waukesha and Madison.
“I’ve never thought that I might lose clients because of the area where this business is located,” says Brown, an African-American anglophile who visited England every year from 1984 to 1994 to research British culture. “I’ve had a few people ask me if I’m concerned about the area, but I’ve never seen any activity that was questionable.”
Brown chose to locate her business on King Drive because she liked the building in which her tea shop now resides. She considered properties on Prospect Avenue on Milwaukee’s East Side and on Capitol Drive in Shorewood, but the traffic on Prospect Avenue is too fast and neither location provided ample parking.
The storefront at 1835 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. caught her eye, and has seemed to work out well, Brown says. The shop experienced two thefts since it was opened, and the business has not yet broken even, but Brown says business is progressing nicely. She plans to rent the property next door to the tea shop so that she can house a catering business she has owned since 1990. Brown says she will apply to the King Drive BID for a grant to help fund the expansion.
Just south of the tea shop, King’s Deli is a lunch spot known for its fresh sandwiches, salads, soups and homemade cookies. Since opening in September 1996, King’s Deli has catered to a niche market – that of healthful eating-out alternatives – neglected by national fast food chains, says deli owner Marigold Hughes.
“People today want to eat well but don’t have a lot of time,” says Hughes, whose business is the only deli in the King Drive area. “A deli provides quick service and healthful, fresh food. Rather than opening another fast food restaurant, this provides a healthful alternative to what can easily come to this area.”
The deli features a sandwich bar that allows customers to watch their food being prepared, something Hughes believes is an important aspect of her business because customers can see for themselves that their food actually is being prepared freshly when ordered.
Although it is true that a fast-food chain probably could be quite successful on King Drive – there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise about six blocks north of King’s Deli – Hughes says she is not concerned that any national chain franchise will come into the area and take business away from her deli.
“A fresh sandwich bar is a unique niche service that no national chain provides,” Hughes says. “You can’t really compare the two, even in terms of a chain like Cousins.”
Hughes stumbled upon the building that houses her deli while helping her husband, an electrician, work in the apartments above the storefront. At the time, the store was boarded up, but Hughes says the space just felt right for a deli. She never even considered another spot.
King’s Deli has never had any crime-related problems, nor does Hughes believe her location hurts her customer base. In fact, she currently is negotiating to rent space in a next-door building so that she can expand the deli.
“There are wonderful opportunities down here for creative businesses,” Hughes says.
Madison’s Designer Shoes, a retailer of high-end women’s shoes such as Via Spiga, Kenneth Cole, Donna Karan and Coach, opened for business on King Drive three months ago with the intention of filling a void in the high-end shoe market in Milwaukee, says store owner Travis Belcher, who also is president of First Night Dining, a company that owns Emerald City, a nightclub on Old World Third Street just south of Juneau Avenue.
Belcher says he considered locating the store – which with shoes of the latest, hippest styles and an atmosphere of fashion chic brings a piece of New York City’s Seventh Avenue fashion district to southeastern Wisconsin – in Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and Mequon, but found that those communities already had high-end shoe retailers, while Milwaukee did not. He chose King Drive because of its history.
“I believe King Drive in a few years is going to be Milwaukee’s key garment district like it was in the past,” Belcher says. “This area has a lot of potential and I think its really going to develop as a major retail area in Milwaukee. I would encourage more businesses to locate here because more businesses means more traffic will be brought to the area.”
Belcher, who received a $2,000 state grant from the King Drive BID to help start his business, plans to expand his business to include the selling of purses and accessories.
“King Drive originally was primarily retail, but when the customer base moved on businesses couldn’t compete with suburban malls, the area became distressed,” Roth observes. “We are trying to establish a diverse base of businesses to ensure long-term stability in the area.”
And again, the point is to know an area’s market and bring in businesses that fits that particular market.
“You have to play off your trade area,” Roth says. “We’re not necessarily focusing on bringing in customers from Wauwatosa or the East Side. Some businesses here do, but the main focus is to bring in businesses which will provide services for the surrounding neighborhood.”
Roth notes one benchmark the BID is using to measure development success: The ability to develop real estate without public subsidies. The first non-subsidized development for King Drive – a real estate development with State Farm Insurance as a tenant – broke ground in April at the corner of King Drive and Reservoir Street. Furthermore, Roth views the proposed demolition of the Park East Freeway as the removal of a barrier that currently separates King Drive from the rest of downtown Milwaukee. Attractions such as the Harley-Davidson Experience Center and the Riverwalk, Roth believes, will facilitate the reintroduction of King Drive to downtown.
“The removal (of the freeway) redefines what’s possible for King Drive,” Roth says. “Without that physical barrier, we’ll be a downtown neighborhood.”
Because a business district needs a viable residential neighborhood to support it, the King Drive redevelopment strategy includes the renovation and development of residential properties in the neighborhoods around King Drive.
According to Roth, 23 homes in the area have been renovated, and the City of Milwaukee has been involved in developing residential properties such as King Heights, King Place, Vineyard Terrace, City Homes, New Covenant and Hillside Terrace. The city provided a construction subsidy to City Homes, a residential development at 21st and Walnut whose properties currently are selling for approximately $90,000. The city also invested $44 million worth of federal grants in the Hillside Terrace housing development located between Galena, Vliet, Sixth and Seventh streets.
“Our philosophy is that anything we do should add value to the city,” says Milwaukee Department of City Development commissioner Julie Penman. “Residential developments enhance business development by bringing more people to the area. And if people come to the area, there needs to be commercial services for them. We work to aid the development of the whole mix because that’s what works.”
30th Street Industrial Corridor
Across town from King Drive, the 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corp. (ICC) is a coalition of businesses and business-related organizations dedicated to promoting and retaining manufacturing jobs in central city Milwaukee. The coalition concentrates its energy on businesses and properties situated within the boundaries of 20th, 30th and Highland Streets, and Capitol Drive.
According to Linn Elliott, executive director of ICC, for about the past four years the organization’s efforts have been focused on brownfields redevelopment, a problem all too familiar to inner city neighborhoods across the country, including Milwaukee.
Metal Processing Co., Inc., a 50-year-old, 25-employee operation located in the corridor at 3257 N. 32nd St., faced closure after a brownfields lawsuit nearly drained the company’s finances, which are estimated at about $1.5 million in annual sales, says Bob Becker, general manager of the firm. Back in 1967, Metal Processing bought property including about two acres and a small warehouse on 32nd Street from Standard Oil. From 1935 to 1967, the land had housed bulk petroleum storage tanks. When Metal Processing purchased the property, it converted the warehouse into a heat treating plant but never used the plot of land on the north end of the property.
But vinyl chlorides were found in the land on the north end of the property, and remediation costs were estimated at more than $1 million per acre. But because Metal Processing had never used the land, it sued Standard Oil for the cost of clean-up. Metal Processing lost the suit.
“We were ready to close our doors and shut down the business,” Becker recalls. “We couldn’t believe we lost the suit, and we didn’t have enough money to appeal. The DNR was super to work with – they didn’t want to put us out of business – but we just couldn’t afford the costs of clean-up or more legal bills.”
So Metal Processing took its case to ICC, which in turn received $400,000 from the state and $50,000 from Milwaukee County to be used for cleanup of the Metal Processing facility.
In spite of brownfields problems, Elliott believes businesses located in the corridor are there to stay.
“Businesses are committed to the area,” Elliott says. “Their employees, and in some cases, their clients are in the area, so businesses have much reason to stay here.”
One of those reasons is the inner city’s labor pool. While suburban companies are hard-pressed to find employees – in some cases busing inner city Milwaukee workers to their suburban plants – firms in urban areas have an often untapped labor pool at their fingertips. While a portion of that labor pool consists of unskilled workers, some businesses in the area have implemented training programs to make local workers employable at their firms.
Interstate Forging Industries, located at 27th and Capitol, has had an in-house apprenticeship program since 1967, part of which sends employees to Milwaukee Area Technical College or Waukesha County Technical College one night a week to be schooled in math and reading skills. The company also has an education reimbursement program.
“There is an abundance of people here for the general labor force,” says Interstate Forging’s Norm Duszynski. “Our programs address the need for skilled workers and develop members of the general labor force for employment at our company.”
Hiring from the local population also cultivates relationships between businesses and residents, says Duszynski, and fosters loyalty which in turn becomes a form of crime prevention.
“If neighborhood residents also work at the businesses in the area, they will feel loyal to those businesses and want to watch out for and protect the facilities,” Duszynski says.
Duszynski says the businesses in the corridor work with neighborhood block watch groups and police on anti-crime initiatives. According to a report from Milwaukee Police, last year the area had 170 fewer personal robberies, 205 fewer house, business or garage burglaries and 318 fewer incidents of auto theft.
North Avenue –
a main street through Milwaukee
North Avenue is a main East-West arterial from Milwaukee’s East Side to suburban Wauwatosa and into Waukesha County, cutting through Milwaukee’s central city. Proponents say its central city section is ripe for business activity.
The North Avenue Community Development Corp. was formed in December to encourage business development along North Avenue between I-43 and 46th Street, says Kathryn Cairney, program officer for the Helen Bader Foundation, a Milwaukee non-profit organization which aids economic development in minority, especially African-American communities.
Cairney admits that bringing new businesses into the area will be difficult at first. The neighborhood is generally perceived as crime-ridden and poverty-stricken, but Cairney refers back to the notion of market knowledge. For example, the Popeye’s chicken franchise on North Avenue at 24th Street is one of the biggest sellers of all Popeye’s franchises in the country, Cairney says. And large businesses such as Popeye’s and the controversial Jewel-Osco at 35th Street and North Avenue are anchor businesses off of which smaller businesses can feed, Cairney says. Furthermore, those businesses provide jobs, which in turn provide income that can be spent locally.
“North Avenue is a well-traveled street in an area with a high concentration of people,” Cairney says. “If business owners see an investment in an area, it makes that area a more attractive place to locate a business.”
Several months ago the City of Milwaukee was instrumental in bringing a Boys and Girls Club to Metcalf Park in what has become known as the Metcalf Park Community Center, in the 46th and North area. It will include a new elementary school. From a business perspective, these two developments bring more consumers to the area, DCD’s Penman says, adding that the city has used the presence of the Boys and Girls Club to recruit businesses to the area.
Milwaukee’s central city is fertile ground for growing a business, as King Drive’s success demonstrates. But the inner city still deals with a significant image problem that not only can deter businesses from locating there, but also can cause difficulty in recruiting and retaining employees.
Environmental issues, such as brownfields remediation, may cause relocating or new businesses to look elsewhere rather than setting up shop in the inner city.
Still, those who understand the nature of urban markets stress the potential for business success in the inner city. As public and private entities continue to work together to build up Milwaukee’s inner city neighborhoods, the hope is that businesses will recognize the potential of these markets and take advantage of them.
“It’s an untapped area with a lot of business opportunities,” adds Carla Cross, manager of MMAC’s Business Network Resource Program, owner of Cross Management Services and this year’s Small Business Administration Minority Business Advocate of the Year. “The biggest detriment to business development in the area is lack of knowledge about the area and its purchasing power. Dollars can be made in the central city.”

InvestorsBank named Joel C. Obermeier senior vice president of operations. Greg Mieske has joined the firm as vice president of operations, and Kim E. DeMartino has been promoted to vice president of mortgage banking.
Obermeier joined Bando McGlocklin in March 1997, serving as vice president of residential lending. He was named vice president of residential lending of InvestorsBank when it was spun off from Bando McGlocklin in September 1997. Obermeier is a member of the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association.
Mieske comes to InvestorsBank from the Department of Financial Institutions for the State of Wisconsin. He is a 1988 cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a bachelor of business administration degree in finance.
Mike Rau has been hired as marketing and operations manager for Wisconsin Gas Water Services, a part of the WICOR Energy Group.
Rau received his master of science degree in environmental engineering from Marquette University (1982) and earned a bachelor of science degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison (1978). Rau, his wife Peggy and their three daughters reside in Milwaukee.
Kathryn Hill has joined Suby, Von Haden and Associates, as human resources manager in its Milwaukee office. Hill will be responsible for staff in both the Milwaukee and Rockford offices. She received her certificate in human resources from The Management Association and will be completing her studies at Cardinal Stritch University to receive her bachelor of science degree in management at the end of the year. Hill is a member of the Human Resources Management Association and The Management Association, Inc.
Owen W. Lavin III has joined Torke Wirth Pujara, Architects and Engineers, Wauwatosa, as project manager.
Charles P. Stevens has joined the 41-attorney Labor and Employment Relations Practice Area of the Milwaukee office of Michael Best & Friedrich. He is a director of the Greater Milwaukee Employee Benefits Council and of the Human Resources Management Association of Southeastern Wisconsin, as well as a member of the Milwaukee and American Bar Associations’ Employee Benefits Committees. He received a B.B.A. in 1977 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. in 1981 from Marquette University Law School. Prior to joining the firm, Stevens was a partner at Lindner & Marsack, S.C., in Milwaukee.
The Associated General Contractors of Greater Milwaukee (AGC-GM) has appointed Lisa Johnson to the position of membership services and information services specialist. She replaces Sue Hartt. Johnson received her undergraduate degree from Carthage College in Kenosha. Prior to accepting the position at AGC-GM, she served as sales coordinator at Mayflower Tours in Downers Grove, Ill. Johnson resides in Oak Creek.
Granite Microsystems, an engineering-based designer and manufacturer of custom integrated computers and related products in Mequon, has appointed Karl Radke as director of business development. In the newly created position, Radke will be responsible for generating sales leads, conducting market research, and channel development. He will also oversee marketing and advertising of Granite Microsystems’ products. Radke joins Granite Microsystems after 13 years with Northern Computers, Inc., where he was manager of engineered systems.
Radke, of Racine, serves on the Supervisory Management Advisory Committee for Gateway Technical College. Radke gained his technical background at the Control Data Institute in Milwaukee, and a bachelor of arts degree in management and communications from Concordia University of Wisconsin.
John “JR” Rickinger has joined Charleston
Orwig, Inc., Hartland, as a senior art director. He comes to the 40-member advertising and public relations agency from Celtic Advertising, Brookfield, where he was the creative director. Rickinger’s 12-year prior experience was at Blue Horse Advertising, Milwaukee, as the vice president/creative director. Originally from Menomonee Falls, Rickinger resides in the Town of Brookfield.
Rachel St. George has joined Marx McClellan Thrun, Milwaukee, as an art director. She was previously an art director at Scott Advertising, also in Milwaukee. Prior to that she worked at Nelson & Schmidt advertising. St. George holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.
Cheryl Vader has been named the new director of the Healthcare Management Group for SVA Consulting, an affiliate of Suby, Von Haden & Associates. Most recently, Vader served as CEO of a 200+ physician member IPA. She received associate degrees in nursing and science from Bay de Noc Community College in Escanaba, Mich. In 1992, she graduated magna cum laude from Northern Michigan University with a bachelor of business administration, majoring in accounting. Currently, she is pursuing her master’s degree in public administration.
SysLogic, Inc., a Brookfield-based provider of application development services and Internet-based solutions for commerce, has appointed Al Thompson as vice president and general manager. He joins SysLogic from CompuCom Systems where he served as area vice president for the Midwest region. Thompson received his business administration/economics degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Andrew Aho has joined American WholeHealth Networks (formerly National Employee Benefits, Inc.), of Hartland, as vice president of business development. He most recently held the position of vice president, professional development and research at the American Chiropractic Association in Arlington, Va. American WholeHealth Networks is one of the leading complementary and alternative medicine companies in the country.
Robin Finco has joined Advertising, Boelter & Lincoln, Milwaukee, as print production manager. Before joining Advertising, Boelter & Lincoln, she worked as account manager and pre-press coordination at HM Graphics. Finco is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville earning a bachelor of science degree in communications with an emphasis on print and production management.
TKO Doors, of Sussex, has hired Bill Knoten as operations manager for its Sussex facility. Most recently, Knoten was plant manager for Crown Prince, a screen printer with a plant in Brookfield. Knoten attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, studying industrial technology. He lives in Wauwatosa along with his three children and wife, Gail.
Jegg Gauger has been promoted to the position of controller of the Asset Management Division of Towne Realty, a Milwaukee-based real estate company. Gauger, who will also manage the daily accounting of the firm’s Residential Division, joined Towne in 1994.
Cheryl Mazurek has been named executive manager of McKee & Associates, a marketing management firm based in Brookfield.
Paul Daniel has been named director, public relations, for Core Creative, a Milwaukee-based advertising and public relations agency. Daniel previously worked as a free-lance marketing consultant for Laacke & Joy in Milwaukee. A resident of Lisbon in Waukesha County, he holds a bachelor of arts degree in communications from UW-Milwaukee.
Ann Gribble has been named marketing director at Graphic Solutions, an advertising communications firm in Glendale. Gribble holds a bachelor of science degree in journalism from UW- Oshkosh. Chris Haines has also joined the firm as emerging technologies director.
Brian J. Bennett has been hired by Meyer & Wallis to fill the vice president, director of client services position.He was most recently marketing director for Beatrice Foods, Waukesha. He also previously served as vice president, account supervisor at Laughlin/Constable Advertising.
Dave Rouse has joined West Allis Savings Bank as division vice president, manager of residential lending. He was most recently employed as a mortgage officer at Firstar Bank. Rouse is a board of directors member and past president of the Milwaukee chapter of the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association.

Most businesses have software systems to handle accounting, inventory control, scheduling, shipping and other functions. Most of that software is licensed from a vendor. Unlike off-the-shelf software, customized software may have license fees in the $10,000 to $1 million range.
Most disputes between the software vendor and the licensee after the software is installed fall into a few major types and often are avoidable with careful drafting of the license agreement.
There are steps that businesses can take to avoid the most common disputes. A look at some of those steps follows.
Software defects discovered after installation
Few software installations are problem-free. But some installations result in problem after problem, with the vendor unsuccessfully attempting to fix the defects over a period of months. This scenario often results in litigation.
Most of those problems may be avoided if the licensee has the opportunity to accept or reject the software within a specified time after the installation. Unlike major business acquisitions, the software license agreement typically does not give the licensee the right to test the software and terminate the license if the software does not perform as promised.
As a solution, the agreement may allow the licensee to run acceptance tests for a period of time after installation, such as 30 to 90 days. Any problems and defects discovered during the testing period are discussed with the vendor, who then tries to correct the problems.
After the vendor fixes the problem, the licensee resumes its acceptance testing and has another period of time, such as 15 days, to discover any other problems. The process is repeated until the problems are solved or until a set period of time has passed, such as 90 to 180 days after installation. At that time, the licensee may terminate the agreement, all money is refunded and neither party has any further liability to the other.
Payment schedules
Many license agreements provide that the entire license fee is due upon software installation or within 30 days of installation, before the licensee has an opportunity to test the software.
If defects are discovered after installation, the licensee’s remedy is to request the vendor to fix them. Since the licensee typically does not have a right to cancel the agreement and obtain a refund, it has little leverage if the licensor does not fix the defects quickly or properly.
The solution to this problem actually is quite simple: schedule the payments to coincide with milestones being met, much like construction contracts. A certain portion of the license fee may be due upon contract execution, such as 25 to 33%. Another portion may be due upon installation, such as 25 to 33%. The remainder may be due upon acceptance, or upon the completion of any additional programming services to be performed by the vendor.
If there are multiple installations or additional modules to be installed at a later time, a portion of the total license fee may be held back and released upon the successful completion of each installation.
Maintenance and support issues
Software maintenance agreements – and warranty provisions in the main license agreement itself – typically provide that the vendor must fix “defects” in the software. The term “defects” sometimes is undefined, but more commonly is defined as a failure of the software to perform “in accordance with the documentation.” If the term “documentation” is defined at all, it may be defined as the online help, the user manuals that accompany the software or the software specifications.
In view of the different definitions of terms like “defect” and “documentation,” few vendors and licensees really understand what the warranty or maintenance provisions cover.
As a result, there are many disputes between vendors and licensees over whether a particular failure of the software is a “defect” that the vendor must fix at its expense, or a “modification” that is made at the licensee’s expense.
To avoid this problem, the terms “defect” and “documentation” should be defined clearly in the license and maintenance agreements. Also, the licensee should inspect the documentation before signing agreements to verify that every function which the licensee expects the software to perform, including each report to be generated, is discussed or shown in the documentation. If a desired function is not found in the documentation, the documentation or the agreement should be amended to include a specific reference to that function. If the function is agreed to be a modification to the software, the modification should be specified in detail in an attachment to the agreement.
Summary
Most disputes involving software licenses may be avoided by careful drafting. Clearly defining the conditions for acceptance, payment and fixing defects will avoid some of the most common disputes and improve the relationship between the parties.
Casimir F. Laska is a partner in the Milwaukee law office of Michael, Best & Friedrich.

A firm which installs television cable in the Milwaukee area has been granted
a $308,000 loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 program. The loan was approved through the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp., a 504-program lender.
The company, Advanced Communication Specialist, was one of three businesses to gain MEDC support.
ACS will purchase a former police department building for its expanding operation. The company is making the move not only because it is out of space in its current facility, but also because its owners intend to diversify their base of business. Time Warner is its only current customer.
The police department building, at 17165 W. Glendale Dr. in New Berlin, sits on a 1.94-acre lot that is entirely paved for parking, has an underground garage that is suitable for vehicle maintenance, and which has 20,650 square feet of combined garage, warehouse and office space. There is also a communication and dispatch tower that the company can utilize.
ACS, which currently employs 57 people full time, expects to hire 40 new employees. Firstar Bank is participating in the project’s $770,000 total cost.
MEDC’s loan committee also approved financing for two other firms at its May 10 meeting.
Weld Specialty Supply Corp. received a $146,000 second mortgage loan to purchase and renovate a property at 8929 N. 107th St., Milwaukee. The company is a wholesaler of welding supplies, primarily wire welding materials and some welding rods. The firm expects to add four full-time employees to its staff. Ozaukee Bank is participating in the $367,000 project.
Timothy and Janice Finke received a $69,000 second mortgage loan to purchase property at 130 E. Morgan Ave. in Milwaukee. A portion of the building’s main floor will be remodeled to make space for a beauty salon to be run by Ms. Finke. Mr. Finke, who has been in business since 1985, operates an architectural firm. The project will create one full-time position. Tri-City National Bank is participating in the $190,000 project.

The African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Milwaukee will aid in the development of 500 new and existing central city Milwaukee businesses over the next five to seven years, said Dester Martin, executive director of the Chamber.
“The entire city of Milwaukee presents opportunities for business development,” Martin said. “We want to do our part to aid that business development and to encourage the African-American community to take advantage of the business opportunities here.”
Part of the plan, which was announced last month, involves the Chamber working with students at North Division High School to prepare them for careers in professional fields such as architecture, engineering and computer science. The program, which starts in September, includes opportunities for students to get internships with local Milwaukee businesses in fields of the students’ choice.
“The high school students represent the future of business in Milwaukee,” Martin said. “By getting them interested in professional careers now, we are hoping to insure that central city business development will continue for years to come.”
The Chamber’s main role in the plan is not one of recruiter, Martin said. Businesses wanting to locate in Milwaukee contact the Chamber, which then directs the business owners to the proper individuals and organizations that can aid the entrepreneurs in various areas of business development. The Chamber also will provide information about Milwaukee’s population, demographics and politics, Martin said.
Furthermore, in August of last year, the Chamber received a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant, which will be used to aid start-up businesses, Martin said.
Martin believes the Chamber’s goal of developing 500 businesses in five to seven years is achievable, but he adds that as with any goal, there never is 100% certainty that it will be reached.
“We think the goal definitely is realistic, but we can’t play God,” Martin said. “We will do as much as we can to help business owners, and hopefully we will reach the goal.”
– Heather Stur

Don’t look for the decision-maker. Your quest should be to determine who fills six distinct buying roles
{First of two parts}
Derrick had just sold the big deal to the chief financial officer of a very large company. For nearly a year, he’d been touting the benefits of his company’s product, a financial software package, to the CFO. At last he got the nod. But a week into its implementation, Derrick got a call from one of the CFO’s underlings: The customer was killing the project and uninstalling the software.
The customer firm’s CIO – chief information officer – had come up with reasons why Derrick’s software wasn’t a good solution for the company. Let’s put aside the question of where the CIO was before the decision to purchase was made. What was stunning about this turn of events was that the CIO actually reported to the CFO on the company’s organizational chart. And the CIO killed it himself – he didn’t convince the CFO to do so. Now that’s weird.
Some time ago, we touched on the subject of corporate power and influence in the large account sale. I promised to follow up with some specific how-to tips. This month and next month, I intend to deliver.
First, remember these important principles:
1. “Searching for the decision-maker” is a meaningless concept in a complex sale.
2. Your sales plan is only as strong as the contacts that support it. A whole lot of support for your solution doesn’t mean much if it comes from people with little muscle in the customer organization.
3. The contacts with the most power are the hardest ones to reach. The Business Resource salesperson recognizes that and, therefore, has a healthy skepticism about the influence that any contact possesses until that influence is confirmed.
4. In the words of Margaret Thatcher, “Being powerful is like being a lady: If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” Truly powerful people go out of their way not to call attention to their own influence. The opposite is true as well: Those with limited power try to make the loudest case for how much power have.
And in this era of matrix management structures and virtual organizations, relying on a formal organizational chart to measure who has power is even less reliable than in the past.
In large organizations in particular, there’s no one “decision-maker.” Instead, there are “buying roles” – six in all. Four are official: The buying company would readily acknowledge that these roles exist and that people are assigned to them. Two are unofficial, neither designated nor acknowledged by the buying company.
The four official
buying roles are:
1. Approver. The person in senior management who gives final approval to a buying decision. The Approver can say “yes” even if everybody else says “no.” Usually the purchase comes from the Approver’s departmental budget. (That means, by the way, that people in the purchasing department are almost never Approvers. They don’t have a budget; they spend other departments’ dollars.) Approvers approve the need to make a particular purchase. They approve how much can be spent – and tend to be by far the most flexible on how much should be spent. Their view is much more holistic, focusing on total cost of ownership, not simply lowest unit price. Typically they approve the buying process and buying team, then disengage from the process – sometimes permanently, and sometimes re-emerging towards the end of the cycle. As a salesperson, your best chances of gaining access to Approvers is usually early in the buying cycle, sometimes very late, but almost never in the middle.
2. Evaluator. This is the person, or people, assigned to objectively analyze a proposed purchase, usually against predefined criteria or specifications. Evaluators can say “no” even if everyone else says “yes.” A “no” from just one Evaluator can kill a deal – unless overruled by an Approver.
3. User. Anyone who uses or is otherwise directly affected by the product or service in question. Users often are appointed to be Evaluators. But rather than weighing the product against some specified criteria, their primary interest is in functionality and ease of use, because they’re the ones stuck with using it.
4. Designated Decision-Maker. This is the term I use to identify the individual – sometimes more than one – who, hearing from Users, Evaluators and even from the Approver (the latter usually indirectly), makes the commitment to purchase. This person’s ability to “make a decision” has been granted or designated by a higher authority. Only when he or she is also the Approver can this person truly be called the Decision-Maker.
Now for the two unofficial buying roles:
Coach. A Coach truly wants you to win more than he or she wants your competitors to win. A Coach also has a good working knowledge of the business and organizational issues within the customer company. For whatever business, personal or political reason, the Coach is willing to share with you information and offer direct steering and guidance through the sale that other salespeople don’t get. A Coach does not have to have a lot of influence, however. For that reason, don’t ask a Coach to introduce you to others in the customer company unless you’re certain that the Coach is respected by the people to whom you’re requesting the introduction.
Information Source. An Information Source is any contact who is open to meeting with you and sharing reliable information about the buying company’s business or organization. Unlike a Coach, however, an information source will generally, if asked, provide the same information to your competitors. One of the big mistakes salespeople make is to label an Information Source a Coach simply because he or she is very friendly.
Take a look, then, at some of your more complex accounts and try to identify people who fill each of these six buying roles.
Jerry Stapleton is president of The IBS Group, based in Brookfield. He can be reached at 414-784-0812.

Local firms getting innovative in
the elusive search for valuable employees
Southeastern Wisconsin companies face the continuing challenge of how to find and retain good employees.
Bureau of Labor Statistics tell the whole story. The unemployment rate in the Milwaukee area averaged 3.09% in 1998. And yet our area civilian labor force only increased 1.5% from 1997 to 1998.
What, then, are companies doing to cope in this tight labor market? We recently surveyed our TEC CEOs and were surprised to learn that many companies are using a plethora of tactics to recruit and retain employees.
Some have innovative hiring tactics, such as offering employees $50 to $500 bonuses for referrals who become employees. They also offer signing bonuses to new hires. Others hold periodic “job fairs” and even have raffles to attract candidates. More recently, firms are advertising positions via the Internet, and totally re-engineering the content and message of advertised job postings to make them more interesting, eye-catching, and appealing.
Still, other companies are advertising in surrounding communities where the job commute is an hour or less. Many companies are training their supervisors to conduct effective screening interviews, while also selling the merits of being an employee at their companies. In some cases, that includes personality and skill testing to improve the match between the individual’s qualifications and job requirements.
Another frequently mentioned recruitment tactic is to find a temporary position for a strong candidate, even when an immediate full-time position is unavailable. Some companies actually have job candidates meet in a casual atmosphere with existing employees over refreshments and snacks in an effort to persuade the job candidate that the company is a good place to work. Most of our survey respondents indicated that they have taken the hiring process out of the “back room” and have glamorized not only interview settings, but the vitality of the interview experience.
Many companies invite the job candidate back two or three times before finalizing the hiring decision – a practice that is even used with part-time employees.
Companies have made contact with area high school counselors and have supplied offer sheets and other data about company benefits. In some cases, these contacts are nurtured over the school year. Other firms have hired full-time recruiters, mimicking military recruiters. These people not only manage the recruiting process, but they also serve as ambassadors in the community to represent the interests of the company.
Jim Cerny, CEO of EWC, a Pewaukee-based manufacturing firm, said, “Finding and keeping good employees is no less important for most businesses today than finding and keeping good customers.”
Our TEC survey indicated that a primary retention objective is to ensure that employees are always treated honestly, with respect and fairness. This places a high premium on well-trained and enlightened first-level supervision, especially supervisors who have been trained to be sensitive listeners and communicators.
Second, wage and benefit packages also must be competitive. Employee turnover correlates directly with pay and benefit packages that are inferior to what neighboring companies offer. Likewise, the chance to participate in direct payout profit-sharing plans and gain-sharing opportunities is a retention plus.
Third, many companies use ingenious techniques to make employees feel a more integral part of the business. Letting employees set their own work schedules, using integrated work cells, frequently recognizing and praising employee accomplishments, unscheduled personal time off practices, and maintaining a positive and uplifting and clean work environment are other ideas.
Companies also are offering flexible working hours, in-house day-care, ongoing education and training, and, increasingly, 360-degree performance evaluation opportunities. Some firms routinely “celebrate” business successes with employee parties, company-wide outings and routine communications about the details of the company’s competitive market strategies. Fred Lewis, CEO of MTE Corp., a Menomonee Falls producer of small transformers and related power equipment, says “routine reviews of your human resource policies and programs is an absolute must to ensure that you are equal to or better than other firms in the area.”
Many of our survey respondents said the job position must allow employees personal growth potential. Otherwise, people stagnate in their jobs and become apathetic, no matter how many of the other retention techniques are used. The best way to exploit this is by providing cross-training and job rotation possibilities.
Last but not least, companies are increasingly turning to creative and improved benefit plans such as paid child care, employee discounts on products, tuition credit, unpaid leaves of absence, family-friendly services and matching 401K plans.
The smart company today should be reviewing its current practices and moving quickly to seize new opportunities. John Howman, CEO of Inacom Information Systems in Milwaukee, one of the largest computer systems integrators in the Midwest says, “Any company that doesn’t believe its employees are its most important asset is on a collision course with ultimate failure in the new millennium.”
Harry S. Dennis III is president of The Executive Committee, a professional development group for CEOs, presidents and business owners. This is the first of a monthly column authored by him in Small Business Times.

management creates a strategic
advantage if you manage it right
Four years ago, executives at Stephen & Brady, a Madison advertising agency, determined that the firm’s clients were headed in a strategic direction known as relationship marketing.
Instead of relying solely on the channels of distribution, relationship marketing is all about establishing a direct relationship with the customer.
“In order to do that, you need to know an awful lot about the market and the customer so you can position your products in terms of meeting their needs more specifically,” explains Pam Black, who is in charge of strategic information services for Stephen & Brady. “It’s all about driving your company to serve your customer needs.”
Enter the emerging field of knowledge management, which is about having the ability to embrace all the information out there that is pertinent to your company, your customers, and even your own employees and the way they do their jobs. From that vast storehouse of knowledge, you take out what is relevant, understand it, and use it to your strategic advantage, says Cirsten Paine, director of IT consulting services for Virchow Krause in Madison.
Capturing the operational knowledge within your own organization is the first step in the process. That is the nuts-and-bolts information about how you create your product or service, and how you get it out the door.
“With downsizing and employee turnover, and the dissolution of the belief that you work at a company forever, we no longer have the luxury of relying on long-term employees who provided that knowledge in the past,” Paine says.
Add to that a staggering amount of new market information to keep track of, and it’s clear that an organization needs a structured, systematic way to manage its knowledge, or risk losing it when the valued employee walks out the door, Paine says.
“What you have to have is some documentation about where and how the knowledge is stored and how to get at it,” Paine says. “With the rise of the service sector, all of my inventory is with the people who work for me. The only way I can build equity within my organization is if I can somehow capture that knowledge and keep it within the organization, even if the people walk out the door.”
The next step in the process is documenting or capturing the collaborative flow. That’s harder to grasp, but represents one of the most critical areas of knowledge management, Paine says.
“It’s the culture, the mission and the folklore of the organization,” Paine says. “It’s all the stuff that isn’t in your computer system, and that can’t be put in a report, but it’s key to your business. If somebody leaves, those experiences walk out the door if we haven’t found a way to capture them.”
Where people sit in an office and how they interact has a lot to do with establishing collaborative flow.
“With our consultants, we have moved people as many as three times, because a lot of interactions have to do with where people sit,” Paine says. “We make an effort to have different people sit down and eat lunch together. It sounds trivial, but we really get a lot out of it.”
Next is reference information. Think of it as a vast library of everything that you need to know about your industry, and then picking out the pieces that help you achieve a better overall result.
Once a week, the CEO of Highsmith Inc., in Fort Atkinson, spends two hours a week sifting through stacks of articles rounded up by his corporate librarian, Lisa Gueda Carreño, looking to spot trends and nascent connections that have the potential to reshape his $55 million business supplying audio/visual materials, and educational software to schools and libraries.
Duncan Highsmith has woven that approach of thinking out ahead into his CEO presentations to the point where others are starting to catch on. Managers think more about long-term development instead of focusing solely on day-to-day operations. And it all starts with having a reference librarian who supplies him with the fodder he needs to think ahead.
A potential gold mine
Customer information is what Stephen & Brady is after as it seeks to assist its customers through relationship marketing, Black says.
In targeting the food service industry, Stepehen & Brady compiles and updates a database of chain restaurant menus so that sales and marketing people can better understand what the chains are doing, and how that might fit into what Stephen & Brady clients like Kraft and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board have to offer.
Beyond menu tracking, it becomes a matter of tracking the companies, themselves, Black says. Factors like financial performance, overall business strategy and how they differentiate themselves from the competition are all catalogued.
“All of these resources are brought to bear in building the knowledge base, and answering the questions of our clients,” Black says.
In partnership with an IT consulting firm called Stratagem, Stephen & Brady plans to start helping its clients with a relationship marketing technique called data mining. All companies have a wealth of information stored in various places, Black explains. The trick is, to bring that knowledge into a usable, actionable format.
“This allows you to start using data in order to understand who are the likely targets of new products,” Black says.
Bar code scanners at supermarkets can be used to determine shopping habits if a customer has a frequent buyer store card, which allows purchasing patterns to be analyzed. With that information, advertising can be sent out to the right people, Black says. Banking is much the same in that banks have a wealth of information about their customers buying habits. The trick is to use that information to their advantage in marketing products and services.
“With the software that is available today, it can sort through the data, link different aspects and generate information for you,” Black says. “You can communicate with the customer on a more personal level based on the customer’s level of interest.”
For all of this to work right, it’s important to have a well thought-out plan with goals and objectives. The quality of the information that goes into the system is critical. Black says.
“You have to continually monitor who is doing what, and how accounts and markets are changing. We find that a report generated anywhere from three to six months ago is woefully outdated.”
If all of this is starting to make your head swim, consider that another critical element of data mining is setting up networks that ensure the right people have access to the information at the right time. That means setting up a communication network within your information systems. One key aspect is to set up a central place where updates are done regularly.
“We have mapped out the approach we are taking, including what information will be housed in the system and how it will be accessed,” Black says. “This is a huge undertaking, and it is happening at companies all over the world. You have to do this in stages. The volume of information, and all of the things you can do with that information, is absolutely huge.”
The call for knowledge management right now among middle market firms and small businesses is minimal, Paine says. But once the dust settles from Y2k concerns, look for a big push in this nascent field.
“Make sure that there is more than one person in the organization who is the linchpin of knowledge,” Paine advises. “You want it documented, you want it shared and replicable. If you know where your knowledge is, and what it is, that’s a big help.”