The Southeastern Wisconsin Public Relations Society of America awarded Dan Steininger, CEO of Catholic Knights, the Paragon Communicator Award for 2004. The Communicator Award is given out annually to a businessperson, educator, politician or other community leader who maximizes the use of public relations and communication skills in the community.
The Paragon Awards program is held each May to recognize excellence in public relations practice.
PRSA also presented 36 awards to area practitioners for excellence in public relations tactics and campaigns. Jon Stern of CKPR earned Best of Show. The awards are based on research, planning, execution and evaluation. Other Paragon Excellence and Merit award winners include the following: The 440th Airlift Wing Public Affairs for community relations, public affairs and special events; Bader Rutter & Associates for special events; Brady Marketing Group for business to business marketing; BVK for marketing consumer services and media/press kits; Catholic Knights for internal relations, business to business marketing and media/press kits; Charleston/Orwig for newsletters; CKPR for business to business marketing, marketing consumer services and special events; Core Creative for internal relations; Covenant Healthcare for community relations; Elmbrook School District for internal relations; Emerald Isle Marketing PR for internal relations and media/press kits; ESW/Blue Horse for business to business marketing and marketing consumer services; Integre for business to business marketing; Laacke & Joys for special events; Laughlin/Constable for marketing consumer services; ManPower for business to business marketing; McGlinchey & Associates for business to business marketing; Medical College of Wisconsin for newsletters; Morgan&Myers for new media and shareholder; National Funeral Directors Association for integrated communications; Vollrath Associates for annual report performance; Zeppos & Associates for public affairs and satellite interviews; and Zigman Joseph Stephenson for marketing consumer services.
Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation
Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) announced a new loan fund designed specifically for childcare providers at a reduced interest rate. WWBIC’s new loan fund and related program initiatives will empower providers with business knowledge to make their child care more efficient and profitable, and in turn increase the business’ sustainability. The program developed from a broad-based, public-private partnership and is currently delivered in collaboration with local childcare resource and referral agencies.
ESW/Blue Horse
AQS, Hartland, a leading provider of commercial policy administration solutions to the property/casualty industry, has selected ESW/Blue Horse, Milwaukee, as its integrated marketing communications agency. ESW/Blue Horse will provide advertising, public relations, direct marketing, collateral and strategic marketing services in support of AQS’ re-branding initiatives and sustained rapid growth.
Cedarburg Chamber of Commerce
The Cedarburg Chamber of Commerce has announced the appointment of Christopher Smith to its board of directors. Smith has worked as a financial advisor with Robert W. Baird & Co. for the past four years. He will serve on the board for a two-year term.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The UW-Whitewater global business resource center (GBRC) received a federal international education grant of $173,000 form the U.S. Department of Education to support its work in assisting the international business needs of Southeastern Wisconsin. GBRC has conducted more than 50 global market research projects for area companies since its inception in 1999, including Spacesaver Corp., Fort Atkinson, and Lab Safety, Janesville. Aside from funding international outreach, the two-year grant also pays for internal development of international programs within the university.
SBA Announces 2004 Minority Small Business Person of the Year
African American and Native American Mike Weber was awarded the Small Business Administration (SBA) 2004 Minority Small Business Person of the Year award for turning the idea of being a technology consultant into a successful technology company. Weber is the sole founder and majority shareholder of Integrated Systems Corp. (ISCorp), Glendale. ISCorp was founded in 1988 and specializes in the integration, implementation and administration of enterprise-wide network business solutions for financial, educational and medical markets. ISCorp recently moved into a 20,000 square-foot facility to meet its expanding client list and to better serve its existing clients.
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, The Grogan Group, Brookfield, moved its offices to a 4,177 square-foot remodeled portion of Park Place Towers, 11270 W. park Place Dr., Milwaukee. The move allows The Grogan Group to better serve the Financial Network’s customers because of the location near Hwy 41 and Hwy 45.
Water Resource Group
Water Resource Group LLC, Milwaukee, received a $10,000 award for Advanced Manufacturing at the Governors Business Plan contest awards banquet. The Water Resource Group developed the Aquamake Wastewater Recycling System, an organic treatment device that can recycle household and commercial wastewater. The treated water can then be reused for flushing toilets, irrigation and development of green communities.
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

Alton Bathrick and his trademark bow tie have been rousting about between Milwaukee’s corporate corner offices for the past two years, quietly building support for The Milwaukee Collaborative.
As Bathrick sees it, minority-owned businesses in Milwaukee face a fundamental obstacle from the outset, because many do not have access to capital to build capacity and expand their companies. Essentially, minority entrepreneurs often are left out of the "good old boy network."
Bathrick, a retired former vice president of Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., and his son, Gib Bathrick, have acquired The Hide House on Milwaukee’s south side.
Quite simply, The Milwaukee Collaborative model intends to bring minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs together with medium-sized companies to launch joint ventures to procure contracts from large corporations. The joint ventures will be based at The Hide House, a former tannery.
"More than anything, The Milwaukee Collaborative is a connecting mechanism," Bathrick said.
Bathrick recently revealed his plans for The Milwaukee Collaborative to Small Business Times executive editor Steve Jagler. The following are excerpts from that interview.
SBT: Could you explain how you expect The Milwaukee Collaborative works?
Bathrick: "The Milwaukee Collaborative is a strategy to strengthen neighborhoods by creating economic activity. It includes wealth creation, the expansion of inner city businesses, a job creation strategy and this is where it’s unique, it’s incorporated into an effort to revitalize a specific neighborhood, by revitalizing buildings, creating tenants within the buildings that are neighborhood-friendly.
"The Milwaukee Collaborative has three types of participants. The first participants are major corporations, both local and national, that support diversity. The second participant is either a minority entrepreneur or an existing minority-owned business. The third participant is the mentor investor. In general, we define that as a medium-sized company or larger that provides goods and services to the Fortune 500 companies in America. If the mentor investor is located in the suburbs, it requires he or she to move an identifiable component of their business, including people and equipment, to a central city neighborhood and provide technical assistance to a minority entrepreneur or a minority-owned business and provide financial assistance which could amount to up to 49 percent investment in an MBE (minority business enterprise)."
SBT: What’s the incentive for the mentor investor, the medium-sized company?
Bathrick: "The incentive for the mentor investor is that they will be able to, in partnership with the minority business, expand the amount of business they’re doing with the Fortune 500 companies. Our effort with The Milwaukee Collaborative is to link those three participants we talked about so that it’s attractive for the mentor investor to help a minority business grow and reach scale.
SBT: And these joint ventures would be located at The Hide House?
Bathrick: "We want basically to redevelop that facility – roughly six buildings on five and half acres, with a quarter of a million square feet. We want it to be used by neighborhood-friendly tenants to strengthen the neighborhood."
SBT: The minority-owned businesses or entrepreneurs .,. You have one so far, and that would be Think Innovative Media, right?
Bathrick: "Yes. And a number that are talking to us. We met with two today that we think are potential participants. We’re working with a law firm in town that is helping on both sides of the equation, on the MBEs and the mentor investors."
SBT: Can you tell me who that law firm is?
Bathrick: "Sure. It’s Reinhart (Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren S.C.). They have a minority business strategy within the firm. They are working with us, and we’d like to work with anybody in town that understands the collaborative."
SBT: What kind of feedback are you getting from the larger corporations, the Fortune 500 companies?
Bathrick: "We had talked to a lot of corporations, both locally and nationally, and they’re all supportive. All we have to do is connect the businesses, the mentor investor and the minority businesses."
SBT: Of the larger corporations you’ve been talking to, I understand one of them is Johnson Controls Inc.
Bathrick: "They are either the leader or one of the leaders in the country that understands that diversity is a good business strategy. Their chief executive officer, John Barth, is now chairman of the National Minority Suppliers Development Council, and what they’ve learned is understanding diversity and learning how to help support minority enterprise has been a methodology for them to increase sales. The companies they work with are focused on diversity as a good business strategy."
SBT: Are there any other large corporations in town that you’ve talked to?
Bathrick: "Miller Brewing Co. and Harley-Davidson Inc. are active. And we have to prove ourselves, too. There are some companies that are aware of what we’re doing. We have to help develop some strong MBEs, and it make take us some time to do that. It took longer to become part of the overall Milwaukee community than I thought. I think one of the advantages of The Milwaukee Collaborative is that through the Federal Reserve Conference in March and the Business Roundtable, we’re becoming a national connector. We’re connecting Milwaukee with some of the national leaders in this area.
"We’re also connecting some of the Milwaukee initiatives. For example, not totally unrelated, we just hosted the announcement of a new center at the University of Wisconsin, which is the Center on Business & Poverty. We’re convinced that one of the things they’ll do is focus a lot of their energies on Milwaukee.
"In Milwaukee, the larger corporations, we need them to embrace diversity, if they haven’t, to understand that diversity is a good business strategy. We need them to embrace the National Minority Suppliers Development Council. We need the purchasing functions at all levels within Milwaukee’s corporations to be more strategic and not so much functioning as commodity brokers. We need purchasing people to understand that they can get good execution in a partnership. I think, if we can get purchasing agents to do that, that would be extremely helpful."
SBT: What about recruitment of minority-owned businesses?
Bathrick: "We need to identify talented MBEs. There’s an interest in identifying high-level and upper-management minorities and women and linking them with mentor investors. At the same time, we have to make sure that we don’t neglect the existing MBEs in town that have skills, and they may not be of scale and may not have a lot of financial resources and may need some mentoring in order to get to the next level. We just need to identify capacity and skills. And I think we’ve figured out how to do that."
SBT: Would there be any governmental role in this?
Bathrick: "We’re talking to the state. We’re talking to the city. The governmental role involves potential financing for some of these businesses. The Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation has an interest in helping fund and grow central city businesses."
SBT: Part of this is patterned after the Boston Business Collaborative, isn’t it?
Bathrick: "Thirty major companies in Boston are actually mentoring minority businesses there. The model, in my opinion, has one flaw in that they can only mentor one company at a time. And I’m convinced, that in some cases, the medium-sized company that is still in touch with its entrepreneurial roots is a better mentor than some of the larger corporations. We’ve tried to take models from all over the country and refine them and make them better, and it’s interesting that the Business Roundtable has now included us as their 21st coalition member. What we have to do now is make the model work. We’re going to have some successes, and we’re going to have some failures."
SBT: In the long run, this project won’t just be limited to The Hide House, will it?
Bathrick: "Once we get our feet on the ground and things are going, we’d like to be a model for other parts of Milwaukee. We happen to be on the south side, and we’d like to find someone that might like to duplicate what we’re doing on the north side. All of contacts, all of our resources, all of our experience will be made available."
SBT: What is the role of Alton Enterprises LLC, the company led by your son, Gib Bathrick?
Bathrick: "In our model, Alton Enterprises takes a small fee for developing strategy, for developing connections. We might administer it as a not-for-profit. If it’s a 1 percent fee, those dollars all will be dedicated to making the neighborhood smaller, continuing to revitalize the buildings. If there’s an opportunity to help fund daycare, to help fund charter schools … Those revenues will be dedicated to helping the neighborhood. This is the first national strategy where there’s a funding mechanism in it, so when a corporation supports our minority businesses, they’re actually helping to rebuild neighborhoods."
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

Although Avicom Marketing Communications was created just three years ago, president and creative director Jeff McCulloch brings 17 years of experience to his company. Avicom is the successor to his original firm, the McCulloch Design Group.
McCulloch has overseen his company’s growth of more than 300 percent since it first opened its doors in 2001.
"We’re our own marketing client and have established key messaging for each of our targeted audiences," he said. "We’ve developed a strategic communications plan and established branding guidelines for our organization. And we’ve been aggressive in doing our own PR."
McCulloch said he has an extremely talented and dedicated staff to serve his agency’s clientele.
"Many of our people have been with me and my past firm for over a decade and many others worked for larger agencies," he said. "We’ve recruited and retained the best people. I believe our strategic approach, experience and quality of work truly sets us apart. We’re a small but a visionary company for our clients."
Avicom’s clients include Harley-Davidson Inc., Marquette University, GE Healthcare, Northwestern Mutual, Waukesha Area Technical College and The Bank of New York.
"We offer unique assets to them, compared to traditional ad agencies," McCulloch said. "Along with strategy, consulting, PR and nationally award-winning creative services, we also have in-house warehousing, promotional products and distribution facilities. This is supported by our print/promotional management and custom Web application team to provide online ordering and inventory management for our clients’ marketing campaigns."
McCulloch’s approach to business involves continuously keeping his clients’ best interests in mind and striving to be a valued partner to them-not just a commodity.
"We always look for new opportunities that fit our core competencies," he said. "As a business owner, you start out offering a product or service, but as you grow, you offer leadership, vision and enthusiasm. As you grow, these elements become the most important part of your job. That’s been happening here at Avicom."

June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

In seven years, Brookfield-based Amerihome Mortgage Co. has grown from being a small retail mortgage origination company trying to establish itself to the 15th-largest mortgage banker in the nation last year.
To achieve that status, the company generated just under $1 billion in mortgage loans in 2003.
Amerihome president and chief executive officer Nicholas J.Del Torto and senior vice presidents Jeff Cummisford, Peter Georgitsis and Kerry Pastore created the firm in 1997. They intended to develop long-term relationships with their customers based on integrity and innovative, quality services. They also wanted to attract and retain employees with strong work ethics and solid experience.
The company has been successful because it has achieved those goals, Cummisford said.
"Also, consumers today are interested in selecting a mortgage from a wide variety of choices," he said. "We provide them with more quality opportunities to get the best deal for them, because we shop among 60 different lenders."
Another factor in Amerihome’s success is an employee benefits program they developed for their client companies.
"We provide home financing services to their employees," Cummisford said.
Amerihome also offers a pro loan program through the Wisconsin Carpenters Union, where the company provides fixed-rate construction financing.
"That’s been a big success story for us," said Cummisford.
Another key to the company’s success, according to Cummisford, is the company’s high-tech orientation.
"When we started from scratch seven years ago, we were determined to be technologically advanced," he said. "Technology today has changed our business for the better. We can now offer more products and offer them faster. Today, all of our loan officers have laptops that connect to the Internet. To get our loans approved today, we go to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and it only takes from 30 seconds to one minute to get the answer.
"We also have a Web site that attracts up to 20,000 inquiries each month. About 10 to 20 percent of our applications come from customers who are interested in getting the convenience of the Internet. Amerihome is all about people, technologies and products."
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

Chief executive officer of Tushaus Computer Services
Company address: 10400 Innovation Drive, Milwaukee
Company Web site: http://www.tushaus.com
Industry: Computer services
Number of employees: 75
Company’s annual revenues: $18 million
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Family: Wife, Laura; daughter, Miranda; and son, Derek
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
"Tushaus is improving productivity by focusing improvements on information management. In order to accomplish this, we created a new position, information manager. The information manager is responsible for gathering, organizing, filtering, developing and publishing information through the use of technology for the company. We want to take advantage of all the information we have and really utilize it to our best competitive advantage."
What’s new at your company?
"Tushaus was just listed as a 2004 VARBusiness 500 company. I am really excited about making the list. It is just another indicator that we have great people doing great things at Tushaus."
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
"Our business is growing. Since the beginning of the year, we have already added eight people to our team. That translates to over a 10 percent increase in staff. We intend to hire additional staff in the later half of the year, and we are investing in our data center operations to offer innovative solutions in response to our customers’ business needs."
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
"Information management is going to be key challenge for us, but I am confident we are taking the right proactive steps. If our company maintains its focus in the growing economy, we will succeed."
What is the hottest trend in the computer industry?
"Businesses are creating and capturing more information than ever, and they want to ensure that their information is protected. Businesses also want to have access to their information wherever they are, so they can make informed business decisions. So, the hot trends in the computer industry are storage, security and mobility. The hottest trends always mimic the true needs of businesses."
Do you have a business mantra?
"Tushaus wants to be your technology partner! Unfortunately, I think the word or term ‘partner’ has become convoluted these days. A true partnership is based on a genuine give-and-take relationship. There is an open dialogue between real partners that helps them both succeed. We want to align ourselves with our customers’ business needs. If we do that successfully, our customers will be successful, and as a result we will be successful."
From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?
"Wow, Milwaukee has so many business success stories. I think it is important to continue learning by observing other businesses and understanding their success factors."
What was the best advice you ever received?
"It is better to get there tomorrow with 80 percent, than never get there with 100. That came from Dennis Kuester of Marshall & Ilsley Corp."
What do you do like to do in your free time?
"Running a business takes so much focus and energy, that when I have a free moment, I want to spend it with my family. My children will only grow up once, and I don’t want to miss it."
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

A Fortune 500 company in Milwaukee needs 10,000 monogrammed polo shirts. In the past, the company simply put the project out to bid or placed the order with a familiar vendor.
A local, small, minority-owned business that specializes in monogrammed stitching normally would not have any chance of landing that lucrative contract. After all, the minority-owned business generally would not have access to the capital needed to expand its capacity to fill such a large order.
However, what would happen if the minority-owned business was able to partner with an established medium-sized company in a joint venture? What if that joint venture moved into an economically distressed neighborhood?
Together, the minority-owned business and the medium-sized company could land that contract with the large corporation.
With the large order for 10,000 shirts in hand from the large corporation, the new joint venture could grow its capacity. With the additional capacity and work, new jobs would be created, and a neighborhood would be revitalized.
In this equation, everyone wins:
* The large corporation adds a new partner to its minority vendor program and gets the shirts it needs, in addition to helping to revitalize a neighborhood in the corporation’s hometown.
* The medium-sized company gains more work with the large corporation and grows its revenues.
* The minority-owned business, now partnering with an established medium-sized company that already may have a supplier relationship with the large corporation, suddenly has access to capital to expand its capacity and take on additional large projects.
Such is the essence of The Milwaukee Collaborative, a new way of doing business. Alton Bathrick, a retired former vice president of Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., has been quietly, but diligently, pulling together the pieces of The Milwaukee Collaborative project behind the scenes for the past two years.
Bathrick says minority entrepreneurs often do not have access to capital to start or grow their businesses. He believes The Milwaukee Collaborative can change that equation and produce the added benefit of revitalizing distressed neighborhoods.
He is an investor with his son, Gib Bathrick, who is chief executive of Alton Enterprises LLC. In 2001, their company bought the vacant Greenebaum tannery at 2625 S. Greeley St. in Bay View for $950,000. The Bathricks have transformed the former eyesore into The Hide House, which is now home to several small businesses and art studios.
If the Bathricks have their way, The Hide House will one day be filled with joint-venture businesses formed through The Milwaukee Collaborative.
The senior Bathrick is using his connections in the corporate finance world to pull the project together. He convinced the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and Boston to bring their Small Business Investment and Development Conference to Milwaukee in March. Bathrick also convinced Don Graves Jr., director of strategic partnerships of the Business Roundtable, to attend the conference.
The Business Roundtable is a Washington, D.C.-based association of chief executive officers of America’s largest corporations, with a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees in the United States and $3.7 trillion in annual revenues.
Graves says The Milwaukee Collaborative is the Business Roundtable BusinessLink project’s 21st local coalition member and could become a national model as a new way to conduct business.
"I think that Al’s coalition really is a unique model that I hope will be successful and replicated around the country," Graves said. "Our role generally is to help local coalitions, as well as make contacts with large corporations. Our members are very interested in making sure the coalitions are successful."
Graves has had some preliminary discussions with representatives of some of Wisconsin’s largest corporations, including Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc., about The Milwaukee Collaborative.
"I think they’re generally excited about it. It’s my expectation that in the very near future, we’ll have Al meet with the companies," Graves said.
Graves said it is "perfectly clear" to the large corporations that they benefit when their hometown communities are thriving.
"It all just seems to make such great sense to everyone," Graves said. "It fits in with the business model of large corporations. They recognize it helps them improve their bottom line."
Bathrick also has enlisted the help of Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren S.C., which operates its own Minority Business Initiative.
"From a Reinhart standpoint, to get more involved is of interest to our firm," said Anne Hlavacka, an attorney at the Milwaukee law firm. "There is an opportunity here, with the New Market Tax Credits and changes that have occurred from a (community) leadership perspective. The Milwaukee Collaborative is a little bit of an experiment to connect businesses. One of the things Milwaukee could benefit from is to have new ideas come in and work with established people. That will benefit the community."
Think Innovative Media is the first minority-owned business to join The Milwaukee Collaborative (see accompanying story). Bathrick is working to secure established medium-sized "mentor" partners to join with Think Innovative Media.
Minority entrepreneurs, medium-sized companies interested in being mentors or partners and larger corporations interested in joining The Milwaukee Collaborative can obtain further information by contacting Bathrick at (262) 569-1234.
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

Olaitan Olapo, co-founder of Toki and Associates Inc., says there is an all-too-common stigma that minority-owned businesses provide inferior services or goods.
However, that stigma hasn’t hindered Toki and Associates.
"We’ve used that disadvantage to our own advantage," Olapo said.
Toki and Associates, a professional architectural and engineering firm, graduated June 8 from the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, which provides assistance to socially disadvantaged small businesses.
Through starting smaller projects and teaming up with larger companies, Olapo said his company has found ways to succeed and is ready to stand on its own, without the SBA program’s assistance.
"Most small businesses fail," said Joseph Tucker, chairman of the Business Council, an organization that helps businesses owned by African-Americans. "It’s frustrating to know you’re facing barriers simply because you’re a different color."
Despite the multiple obstacles a minority firm is forced to confront, a successful firm can overcome them, Theophilus Iyasele, co-founder and chief executive officer of Toki and Associates said.
"Once you perform, the rest is history," Iyasele said.
The SBA’s nine-year-old 8(a) program assists small, socially disadvantaged firms in becoming competitive players in the marketplace. Through sole source contracting, in which businesses can obtain a contract without competition, training sessions and leadership courses, the program helps level the playing field for racial minorities, women and other people deemed to be at a disadvantage in the business world, according to Linda Krysiak, acting director for business development at the SBA’s Milwaukee office.
However, she said the program can only help so much before a business thrives on its own or fails.
"Toki adapted the program for their business, they used it the way their business needed it," Krysiak said. "Toki has really understood federal contracting."
Toki and Associates took advantage of matchmaking events where the company gave marketing presentations to large businesses and federal agencies.
Iyasele and Olapo, originally from Nigeria, moved to Milwaukee in 1977. They attended college at the Milwaukee School of Engineering and received their graduate degrees from Marquette University.
Olapo had been working at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and Iyasele was working as a consulting engineering firm when they founded Toki and Associates in 1987.
Since then, Toki and Associates has been contracted for several high-profile projects including Miller Park, the Midwest Airlines Center and the Marquette Interchange.
According to Iyasele and Olapo, their company’s ability to acknowledge and fix their mistakes has driven their success.
"If you look inwards and be aware of where your shortcomings are, then you will have a team that will interest a contractor," Iyasele said.
"Try and try and try," is the company’s philosophy, Olapo said.
"When they needed additional resources, they went out and contracted more experienced firms," said Mike Young, project manager for the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "They also utilized their own staff to give us the benefit of a highly professional service."
Young has worked with Toki and Associates on a couple of major hospital renovations for nursing home projects and said they followed up with strong quality control.
Toki and Associates also is planning to work beyond Milwaukee in the near future, with hopes to open an additional office in Madison.
"Without the SBA backing us, we will go out and get projects on our own," Olapo said. "Toki is here to stay".
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

As a 30-year veteran of the industry, Robert Eastman knows the formula for a successful financial institution.
When he decided in 1997 that it was time to start his own business, Eastman turned to the people of Waukesha for advice on how to build a better community bank.
In his Top 10 Small Businesses in Waukesha County award nomination letter sent to the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce, Eastman said he asked members of the Waukesha community what they liked and disliked about their banks.
"A few were pleased, but the vast majority complained about problems with service," Eastman said. "They complained about the changing faces and long lines. They complained about excessive fees and unusual charges. I knew these complaints existed, but not to what extent. When I started to tell people of our plans to open a new bank in Waukesha, the response was overwhelmingly favorable."
When the bank opened for business in 1999 at 521 W. Sunset Drive in Waukesha, Eastman said, Sunset had opportunities for customers that the competition did not. Sunset was the first bank in the local market to offer telephone banking and one of the first to provide Internet banking.
Since 2000, Sunset has grown from 12 employees to 30, and its annual revenue grew to more than $4.6 million in 2003.
Eastman said the key to his success is to take care of his employees who, in turn, give the customers what he calls personal attention banking.
"Service is how it is presented," Eastman said. "Good service with warm, friendly people administering it."
Eastman knows that treating employees on an individual basis keeps the quality of service high, and the bank has had little turnover as a result because the employees are happy with their jobs. He offers incentives such as three weeks of vacations for all employees, a 15-minute massage for each employee every other Friday and a company luncheon once a month planned by a selected group of employees.
"The success of any business is dependent on the employees," Eastman said. "You need to motivate them, make them part of the team and (give them incentive) not only with money, but with small, appreciated perks."
Sunset Bank wants to emit a warm, fuzzy feeling to the customer, Eastman said. In addition to service, new account holders receive a Gund stuffed bear as a free gift.
"My office is right across from the customer service desk on purpose," Eastman said. "I try to get up and shake every customer’s hand that I see. I thank customers for their business, but I also think it is just a decent courtesy to introduce yourself."
Six months ago, Sunset unveiled Global ATM to better serve its customers by reimbursing them for ATM charges from other banks.
"Global ATM enhances the value of the banking relationship," Eastman said. "Prior to that, we did offer an ATM access network where customers could go to 400 banks in Wisconsin for free. Now, we have it everywhere."
Sunset stresses value and convenience on the mortgage and commercial lending side of the bank, as well.
"Last year, we had over $100 million in mortgage lending because the trade is fast and quick," Eastman said. "We try to accomplish the goal around the customer needs. Most can be done in a week, depending on the appraisal."
Sunset Bank’s commitment to the community is also notable. In addition to donating money, Sunset Bank owns a Hummer H2 for promotional and fundraising purposes. The Hummer is loaned to charities holding fundraising events.
"We are involved because the bank is composed of local people who want to see us help improve the life of this community," Eastman said. "The Hummercraft is a way to boost the amount of money the charity takes in at the event."
Eastman said the bank has grown rapidly in part because of its commitment to the community and the wide variety of quality offerings available to the customers.
"We plan on expanding throughout the area and continuing to provide good service through friendly delivery mechanisms and by keeping employees happy," Eastman said. "I believe we will accomplish that goal."
Sunset also plans to introduce a new profit-oriented retail opportunity for customers, but the product is still in the research and development phases, Eastman said.
In the meantime, two new locations of Sunset Bank will open by the end of the year to better serve the company’s growing customer base in Waukesha County.
A drive-through and ATM location is scheduled to open Aug. 1 at 2500 N. Grandview Blvd., Waukesha, with three employees. Sunset will begin construction this fall for its new corporate headquarters and branch at 2017 Meadow Lane, Waukesha.
A mobile branch will open around Nov.1 on the Meadow Lane site to service customers until the new building opens for business. The Sunset Drive location will remain a full-service branch.
Eastman said a fourth Sunset Bank location is also in the works along Highway 67 near Interstate 94 in Oconomowoc, across from the Pabst Farms site. Eastman said the land has been purchased.
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI

Two years ago. Phyllis Mensh Brostoff and Valerie Stefanich, the co-owners of Shorewood-based Stowell Associates SelectStaff Inc., decided to open an office in Waukesha.
"We were getting more requests for services in Waukesha County, and we wanted to expand our services to serve Waukesha County," Brostoff said. "That was part of our plan, to increase our numbers in Waukesha."
So far, that plan has worked. Revenue from clients in Waukesha County has since doubled to about 13 percent of the company’s overall revenue.
Stowell Associates SelectStaff Inc. provides professional care management and caregiving services for elderly and disabled adults. The company helps family members, legal guardians and others responsible for the welfare of elderly people determine services available for their care.
The business provides services primarily for elderly people who are middle- to upper-class and do not qualify for government assistance to pay for their care or they decline the government assistance.
Waukesha County is a strong market of potential clients.
"Lake County is full of well-to-do elderly people," Brostoff said.
"Now they know we have a presence there," Stefanich said. "They thought we were just (serving) Milwaukee and the north shore, but we’re not."
Brostoff and Stefanich, both social workers, started the company in 1983. Two years later, they decided to add caregivers to their staff to provide the services for their clients.
"In order to do a very good job, we needed to have our own caregivers, people we could train, supervise and oversee," Brostoff said.
Over the years, the company has expanded its staff and today has about 200 employees, including 170 caregivers. The company has about 25 employees in Waukesha County.
The caregivers provide a wide array of services to clients, including shopping, meal preparation, housekeeping, laundry, landscaping, funeral planning, bathing and dressing. Some clients receive around-the-clock care, while others just need help with running errands or other activities.
"It really is a full-service agency," Stefanich said. "We tailor our services to whatever is needed in the situation."
Some of the clients live in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. Their Stowell Associates SelectStaff caregiver provides them additional services so they do not have to always wait for help from an employee at the assisted living facility or nursing home.
The company has been around long enough that it is now tending to some second-generation clients, children of parents who received services from Stowell caregivers.
Stefanich and Brostoff said their company has low employee turnover. The first caregiver they hired in 1985 still works for them.
"We’ve got great employees," Stefanich said. "That’s why we’ve been so successful. We really believe in putting our energies into nurturing our staff. We have a whole reward and recognition program. I think for that reason, we have really high retention rates."
As the baby boom population continues to age, the market of potential clients for Stowell Associates SelectStaff Inc. will only increase.
The company has had a 12 percent growth rate the last few years, and last year’s revenue was about $4 million.
"Our business has steadily increased every year," Stefanich said. "It’s just gone up and up and up and up."
Brostoff, the president of the company, and Stefanich, the company’s clinical director, still work as caregivers themselves for some of their clients.
"Our model is like a law firm where the law partners do work," Brostoff said. "It’s very rewarding work, and that’s why we continue to do it."
June 25, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI