The far northwest side of Milwaukee could soon become the next hot spot for automobile dealerships. Bergstrom Automotive is moving its Chevrolet dealership from Menomonee Falls to a new dealership under construction near the company’s Hummer dealership at 11330 W. Metro Blvd., Milwaukee.
The new, 60,475 square-foot Chevrolet dealership is expected to open in mid-April. It will be the second dealership built along Metro Boulevard.
In addition, Russ Darrow Group plans to develop seven acres it owns between the Bergstrom Hummer dealership and the new Bergstrom Chevrolet dealership site.
Russ Darrow will most likely build a 22,000-square-foot Nissan dealership on its property and another 16,000-square-foot dealership, said company president and chief operating officer Russ Darrow III.
The Nissan dealership would be relocated from the company’s Brown Deer Road dealership. However, Darrow said plans for the Metro Boulevard property are not set in stone and a different brand could be sold there. Also, Darrow has an option to purchase additional land on Metro Boulevard and could build more auto dealerships there.
"I do expect to develop a dealership or two on the seven acres," Darrow said. "And I may do more across the street."
For now, Darrow is watching to see how Bergstrom Chevrolet does at its new location. Darrow said the area, just east of Highway 45 and south of Fond du Lac Avenue, could become an ideal location for auto dealerships in metropolitan Milwaukee.
"I think it’s going to be one of the better auto retail locations," said Darrow.
Florida developer August Urbanek has owned the property along Metro Boulevard since the 1950s. Several years ago, the city approved plans for an office building and a hotel on the site, but Urbanek could not obtain tenants.
About two years ago, Urbanek unveiled plans for a 380,000-square-foot shopping center there, but the project was strongly opposed by Milwaukee Alderman Tom Nardelli, who lives nearby, and other residents in the neighborhood.
Nardelli, who bought his home site from Urbanek, said he and most other residents have embraced the development of the auto dealerships.
"As a resident who lives in the subdivision immediately to the south, the introduction of auto sales in that area has not had a negative impact on our properties," Nardelli said. "The people that lived there accepted it.
"It will probably be a new mecca for auto dealerships there. It’s better to have that land developed and paying taxes than vacant," said Nardelli, who is running for the Milwaukee mayoral seat.
Urbanek said he owns 38 acres on the south side of Metro Boulevard. Urbanek hopes to attract three more auto dealerships and two other retailers, possibly restaurants.
Traffic access to the area needs to be improved to maximize the area’s potential, Darrow said.
Urbanek said 107th Street should be widened to four lanes between Fond du Lac Avenue and Good Hope Road.
"I’m going to watch the Bergstrom opening," Darrow said. "I’m watching the traffic patterns out there. I think the ingress and egress needs to improve."
Urbanek paid for an off ramp from northbound Highway 45 to Metro Boulevard, but traffic leaving the area or coming in from southbound Highway 45 must use Good Hope Road ramps.
Urbanek sought assistance from the city to build an overpass for Metro Boulevard over Highway 45 and add more ramps, but city officials denied the request.
"That’s a very expensive proposition," Nardelli said. "I don’t see a nickel coming out of the city. There’s no money for that."
Bergstrom acquired the former Falls Chevrolet dealership at N70 W12900 Appleton Ave. in Menomonee Falls in October and renamed it Bergstrom Chevrolet of Milwaukee.
Bruce Behling, president of Heritage Reserve Holding LLC, said his firm hopes to acquire the Appleton Avenue dealership property in Menomonee Falls. Heritage Reserve, which was formed by Strong Financial Corp. founder Dick Strong and other Strong officials, is developing the 120-acre area surrounding the Strong headquarters.
Bergstrom Automotive is based in Neenah. The company has more than 20 dealerships in Wisconsin, most in the Fox Cities area. The company now has two dealerships in the Milwaukee area. The Hummer dealership opened in 2002.
Bergstrom officials could not be reached for comment.

Feb. 6, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Question: I’m having a really hard time getting along with one of my co-workers. She is really good at her job, she knows a lot about the work and can be a great help (when she feels like it). The problem is, if she’s not in a good mood, it’s like pulling teeth trying to talk to her. If she’s having a hard time on a project, I’ve learned to leave her alone. When I’ve brought this up to her, she’ll say something like, "You just don’t understand me." That may be true, but I don’t think she understands herself. Most of the time, I’m on pins and needles wondering if today is going to be a "good" day or a "bad" day. What do you think I should do to help her get a better handle on how she comes across to the rest of us?

Answer: Your question is one that I am sure many readers can identify with. Every workplace seems to have at least one employee who requires "kid gloves" treatment. The basic issue here is that your colleague sees herself differently than others see her. What needs to happen is that these differing perceptions need to be brought into alignment.
Each of us differs in the extent to which we are skillful in interpersonal exchanges. Just as some of us are gifted musicians and others of us are tone deaf, some of us are interpersonally graceful while others of us are all "knees and elbows." So, her existing interpersonal skills set and her desire to change will heavily influence how much she can improve.
Clearly, individual differences shape and affect our interpersonal interactions. Often, those differences are the basis for asking (or not asking) and answering (or not answering) the question, "Do you see me the same way I see myself?" Let’s be clear: This is a difficult question to ask and a difficult question to answer. That is true whether you are asking it of yourself or someone else. It is, by the way, the crux of the matter with regard to your colleague and her apparent unwillingness to look at herself through your eyes.
Because we tend to be so concerned with "face saving," we often interact with others in such a way that we do whatever we can to maintain our own self-image and help others to do the same. That means that we have a hard time letting others know what we really think about them. And we have a hard time opening up and soliciting candid feedback from those around us. So, we go about our business, engage in a lot of role-playing and pretend that everything is just fine. Meanwhile, tensions run high and camaraderie erodes.
One way this dynamic can be represented is through an information-processing model called the Johari Window. It consists of a 2×2 grid (i.e., a window) in which four regions are present. Whether information about a person is known or unknown to him/her and others determines the regions.
Here is a brief summary of each region of the Johari Window:
— Arena – This region contains information that is known to both you and others.
— Facade – This region contains elements you know about but that you hide from others.
— Blind Spot – This region contains all of those factors that others see in you but that you do not see in yourself.
— Unknown – This region contains those elements that neither you nor others see in you.

The Johari Window gives us a framework for evaluating the way that we posture toward others. Ideally, the gap between our public and private faces is very small. In the context of the model, that means that the Arena is large. But, to have a large Arena, we must trust ourselves as well as others. We must be attentive to our Blind Spots and to our Facades. When we do so, we operate with greater authenticity, sincerity and genuineness. We accept ourselves for who we really are. And, we accept others for who they really are.
Trust is foundational to expanding the Arena. To let others see who we really are, we must be at peace with ourselves. We must have confidence that in opening up and sharing, we will not be rejected or hurt. For many of us, after a lifetime of unsatisfying and frustrating work and social relationships, the ability to trust is low. In that sense, if we are going to trust, we must be willing to take a chance by opening up, to ourselves and to others.
In order to encourage your colleague to take a look at herself, she will need to work on becoming more self-aware. Self-awareness is one of the hallmarks of emotional intelligence. It means being comfortable in sharing with others (i.e., examining the Façade) and having others share with us (i.e., inviting feedback about Blind Spots). In order to help your colleague to become more self-aware, you will want to make it safe for her to do so. Perhaps you can encourage this by taking the target off of her and putting it on all of you in the work unit.
There are a number of ways to do this. You may want to take another crack at a one-on-one discussion with her. This time, selectively disclose some of your weaknesses (i.e., share your Facade) in order to minimize the extent to which you appear to be attacking. Then, encourage your colleague to do the same. Try to develop a better understanding of the way you see each other. Clarify expectations for future interactions.
Additionally, you may want to look into the use of a team survey or 360-degree survey. By using some formal instrumentation, you structure the nature of the feedback and also involve the rest of the team. This builds a sense of, "We’re doing this together."
Further, you may want to do some team building, perhaps exploring something "outside the box" like a ropes and challenges experience. Again, the thinking behind this approach is to build feelings of esprit de corps — "We all have strengths and weaknesses. We are here to support each another."
In the final analysis, if your colleague is going to change her ways, she will have to learn to trust herself and the rest of her colleagues. Your task, therefore, will be to do what you can to build a safe environment that allows her to look at herself more objectively. Safety and trust will help her to share her feelings with you. And, over time, safety and trust will help her to be more open and receptive in listening to what each of you has to say.

Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D., of Organization Development Consultants Inc. (ODC) in Brookfield provides "HR Connection." Small Business Times readers who would like to see an issue addressed in an article may reach him at 262-827-1901, via fax at 262-827-8383, via e-mail at schroeder@odcons.com or via the Internet at www.odcons.com.

Feb. 6, 2004 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

For the southeastern Milwaukee retail industry, 2004 will be a watershed year in which many familiar store brands fade away and newer nameplates light up the neon.
Gone are many Kohl’s Foods, Sentry Foods, Rainbow Foods, Kmarts, Drug Emporium, Steinmart and Kids R Us stores.
In are Pick ‘n Save, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Kohl’s Department Stores, Petco, Linens-N-Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, Ashley Furniture, AJ Wright, Gordman’s, Michael’s Pier 1, Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Office Depot, all of which have announced expansion plans in southeastern Wisconsin.
The transformation of The Grand Avenue Mall into The Shops of Grand Avenue will be completed this year in downtown Milwaukee.
The former Capitol Court Mall in Milwaukee continues to be transformed into Midtown Center, and Bayshore Mall in Glendale will become Bayshore Town Center with $150 million in new development.
Old standbys, such as Southridge Mall in Greendale, will be upgraded, and the former Northridge Mall area on Milwaukee’s northwest side is being redeveloped into Granville Station.
"The unprecedented number of existing shopping centers being redeveloped over the past year has dominated Milwaukee’s retail market," noted NAI MLG Commercial, Brookfield, in its 2004 Wisconsin Market Overview, which has yet to be published. "Examples include the razing of the former Capitol Court Mall to make room for the 300,000-square-foot Midtown Center anchored by Wal-Mart. Mayfair Mall has benefited from the addition of over 80,000 square feet of second-level retail dominated by fashion-oriented stores such as Delias and the addition of P.F. Changs."
Meanwhile, the groundwork is being laid for the massive Pabst Farms project in Oconomowoc to attract up-scale retailers who in the past had ignored southeastern Wisconsin, and the Pabst City project on Milwaukee’s west side is recruiting trendy entertainment chains to revive the city’s night life.
In its 2004 Market Review and Forecast, The Polacheck Co., highlights the following trends in the region:

— Major retailers will have opportunities to enter underserved, densely populated markets, such as the Village Market of Hales Corners.

— New construction in suburban areas will be located near the Interstate freeways, with new retail construction projects at I-94 and Highway 83 in Delafield; County Line Road and Appleton Avenue in Germantown and Menomonee Falls; South 27th Street in Franklin and Oak Creek; I-43 and Moorland Road in New Berlin and I-43 and Highway 60 in Grafton.

— Strip center development will be driven by "fast casual" restaurants, such as the Pickermann’s soup café in Oak Creek.

— Small tenants, often franchised businesses occupying less than 10,000 square feet, will flourish.

— "Dollar stores," such as Nothing Over a Dollar, Always 99 Cents, Dollar Tree, Dollar discount, Family Dollar and Dollar General, will continue to open new locations in the market.

— Niche grocery stores, such as Sendik’s, will open new locations.

— Restaurant concepts actively pursuing sites in strip centers throughout the market include: Baja Fresh, Chipotle, Qdoba, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Panera Bread, Bear Rock Café, Atlanta Bread, Noodles & Co., Chin’s Asia Fresh, Cold Stone Creamery, Starbucks and Caribou Coffee.

— Landlords will continue to scramble to find occupants for retail space now vacant after the closings of Kmart, Drug Emporium and Kohl’s Food stores.

Another trend that may be emerging is the introduction of the Wal-Mart Super Center concept into the Milwaukee-area market. The mega-chain has proposed building its first Super Center store in the market in Franklin.
However, the Franklin proposal is meeting resistance from citizens, aldermen and other businesses, who criticize Wal-Mart for destroying downtowns and local merchants, importing mass amounts of merchandise from China, paying low wages and providing few benefits for employees and creating traffic congestion.
Max Rasansky, president and chief executive officer of The Polacheck Co., says retail landlords stuck with vacant storefronts should be more willing to give local entrepreneurs a chance to break through in the market. Although they often don’t have much collateral to put up front to secure financing, those local storeowners are ideal tenants, because they work long hours and have more of a personal, vested interest in the success of the overall strip center, Rasansky says.
"Change is good. Change is inevitable," Rasansky said. "I’m very bullish on Milwaukee."

Feb. 6, 2004 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Company address: N69 W5269 Columbia Road, Cedarburg

Company Web site: www.ozaukeebank.com
Industry: Banking
Number of employees: 220
Company’s assets under management: $1.15 billion
Family: Wife Francine; son Ryan; daughter Angie; dog Chelsea

What’s new at your company?: "Last year, Ozaukee Bank reached the $1 billion mark in total assets under management. That was a milestone that caused me to stop and reflect on changes leading to our growth. One recent change was the opening of the first Ozaukee Bank Business Center in downtown Milwaukee. Our goal was to bring the community bank strengths of Ozaukee Bank to downtown Milwaukee. Another initiative that was recently brought to market is our new wealth management model."

What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?: "To be successful, you must train yourself to look beyond what you see. In community banking, many times that requires us to think like entrepreneurs. After the outstanding mortgage refinance boom of the past two years, we will return our focus to balancing growth."

If interest rates rise in late 2004, what kind of impact will that have on your bank? "Should interest rates rise, it would be the result of an improving economy, rising employment levels and increased retail and manufacturing activity. This should be positive for the bank’s clients and result in additional opportunities for Ozaukee Bank. Of course, as a bank, we would always prefer to see rates rise slowly."

Do you have a business mantra?: "Making a difference. For all Ozaukee Bank associates, this phrase has become our business mantra, as we continually look for ways to make a difference in the lives of the people and businesses in the communities
we serve."

From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?: "Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines. He was an entrepreneur who took a start-up airline and turned it into the most successful airline in America with a simple formula – engage the hearts and minds of all employees."

What was the best advice you ever received?: "It’s not only advice, but has become my favorite saying: ‘See the world through the eyes of a child.’"

What do you do like to do in your free time? "My interests include reading, youth soccer, volleyball, skiing and travel."

Feb. 6, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Question: We are considering holding our sales staff accountable for demonstrating performance in certain sales-related skill areas. How should we determine the skills to measure?

Answer: There are two main areas that you need to consider. The first is whether or not the salespeople know what they need to know about the skills required to do their jobs. The other is to measure whether or not a salesperson actually uses those skills. You may consider measuring and rewarding both.
The first step is to look at the specific job requirements. Then, identify the skills that directly relate. For instance, the skills required for inside or outside salespeople may vary. It doesn’t make much sense to hold someone accountable for skills that he or she is not trained in or doesn’t have knowledge of.
Once you have identified the skills, craft a knowledge assessment. If a salesperson fails any given segment of the assessment, he or she will require remedial training before you can expect accountability in terms of performance.
Lastly, ask salespeople to demonstrate how they use the skills to affect sales outcomes. But don’t measure whether or not they can demonstrate the skills in a role play. It doesn’t prove that they are actually using their skills. Instead, look at specific examples of how they have used their skills to impact sales success. Anecdotal examples work quite well for that type of measurement.
Then, make sure you reward sales performance. Use a carrot, not a stick.
Following are some of the most typical skills to measure for sales roles.

Adjusting to customers
— Utilizes a consultative sales approach to outsell the competition.
— Identifies their sales style and how it effects interactions with customers.
— Identifies the dominant behavioral style of customers.
— Adjusts sales approach with customers based on their dominant style.
— Identifies the preferred language of customers.
— Adjusts sales approach with customers based on their preferred language.

Prospecting
— Analyzes most profitable sales efforts.
— Demonstrates telephone-prospecting skills.
— Assesses potential in existing accounts.
— Creates sales call objectives.
— Identifies and develop strategy for key influencers.
— Utilizes customer profiling to develop account strategy including planning meetings with the customer.
— Develops, prioritizes and maintains a market and territory plan.

Building relationships
— Builds trust and rapport.
— Utilizes profile information to build long-term relationships.
— Develops a strategy for building relationships with key influencers.
— Improves customer satisfaction by addressing individual customer needs.
— Utilizes customer profiling information to increase customer satisfaction.
— Utilizes creative problem solving to develop long-term customer strategies.
— Identifies issues and solutions specific to each customer’s business goals.
— Handles stalls and objections
— Clarifies stalls to the sale.
— Categorizes and develops answers to most common objections.
— Overcomes stalls to most common objections.
— Turns price objections into total cost opportunities.
— Demonstrates value for each customer.

Consultative selling
— Assesses individual needs and wants of customers.
— Applies benefits and features appropriately in order to emphasize value for the customer.
— Utilizes questioning skills appropriately in customer interactions.
— Utilizes the consultative sales approach on sales calls.

Closing andgaining commitments
— Recognizes opportunities to gain commitments.
— Utilizes closing techniques to gain commitments and shorten the sales cycle.
— Recognizes and acts on buying signs.
— Applies convincer strategies where appropriate.

Negotiation
— Utilizes a collaborative approach to negotiation.
— Plans for successful negotiations, including evaluating powers and making concessions.
— Identifies tactics utilized by buyers.
— Applies the rules of successful winning negotiations.
— Uses win-win negotiation techniques, so both seller & buyer win.
— Plans for the different reasons that people negotiate.
— Recognizes their negotiation style and the negotiation style of the buyer.
— Makes successful concessions to improve profitability.
— Recognize powers and strengths in negotiation.
— Handles buyer tactics.

Marcia Gauger is the president of Impact Sales, a performance improvement and training company with offices in Wisconsin, Florida and Arkansas. You can contact her at 262-642-9610 or marciag@makinganimpact.com. Her column appears in every other issue of SBT.

Feb. 6, 2004 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

More women filling bank management roles

By Katherine Michalets, of SBT

When customers walk into the new St. Francis Bank branch office in Oak Creek, they will notice eight smiling faces, all of which belong to women.
As one of seven all-female branches in the St. Francis Bank system, the Oak Creek office at 125 E. Puetz Rd. offers its employees many opportunities, according to Kim Jankowski, the Oak Creek branch manager and assistant vice president.
Jankowski is one of 17 female branch managers employed at St. Francis Bank. With 23 branches, female branch managers are the majority at St. Francis Bank.
Indeed, the banking industry, long the denizen of men in business suits, has increasingly become more receptive to women.
"There has not been so much an increase of women in banking. I would say women in management positions, I’ve seen a definite increase in that," said Judith Gauvin, executive vice president-human resources at St. Francis Bank.
Women at St. Francis Bank hold 32 of 70 (44%) of the company’s officer positions. Of the 590 employees at the Brookfield-based corporation, 440 employees are women.
Lisa Wolf, senior vice president of marketing at St. Francis Bank, believes opportunities such as training and the support of tenure attract female employees and help retain them.
St. Francis Bank does not discourage the hiring of male employees, Jankowski said, but instead hires "the best candidate at the time."
Cynthia Loew, executive director-community relations for the Milwaukee-based Merchants & Manufacturers Bancorporation (MMBC), has seen a change in the roles that women play in banking.
"In my opinion, the last 10 years have seen a change, and women are finding themselves in leadership positions in banking," Loew said.
In fact, Lincoln State Bank and Franklin State Bank, subsidiaries of MMBC, both have female presidents.
Cheryl McCollum, director of communications for the Wisconsin Bankers Association, said that for the first time, two women are on the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s board of directors. "We are noticing more and more women joining the association and committees," said McCollum.
Women also are becoming more involved in the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s Leadership Development Program, a training program for future bank leaders. According to McCollum, four of the 20 participants were women this year.
Amelia Macareno, senior vice president and commercial lender at Lincoln State Bank in Milwaukee at 1000 N. Water St., also sees an increase of women in banking.
"We are starting to see more and more women in key leadership positions," she Macareno said. "I am proud of our organization because there are quite a few women in key leadership positions."
Macareno believes women tend to have skills that make them good bank employees. "Women bring a lot to banking. They are very customer service orientated, and they have good management skills. They also have good analytical skills," she said.
"From an employer perspective, I know that women are good listeners, and they are very dedicated. They are very empathetic and work hard to resolve any kind of customer situations that might come up," Jankowski said.
"Banking is orientated towards women, especially teller positions and retail bankers," said Donna Sweet, president of Franklin State Bank.
At the two branches of Franklin Sate Bank, 19 out of 20 employees are women, and the only male works part-time.
MMBC currently employs 303 women and 108 men.
Carla Breunig, executive vice president of MMBC subsidiary Layton State Bank, said that 80% of retail banking positions are held by women. However, at the bank’s executive level, that number is reversed, with 80% of positions held by men.
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (M&I Bank) has the largest banking presence in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Milwaukee, M&I has 12,128 employees in 251 branches in seven states. Female employees are in the majority with 7,863 women at M&I.
Women also hold about 48% of the company’s officer positions.
M&I has a long history of supporting women in banking, according to Patty Cadorin, vice president and corporate communications director.
"M&I appointed Wisconsin’s first female bank officer in 1926 and through its history has continued to value the contributions of female officers and executives throughout the company," Cadorin said.
The number of women officers at M&I tend to increase every year, Cadorin said.
Although more women are attaining higher positions in banks, Macareno sees room for improvement.
"Women don’t have as much access to mentoring as men do," said Macareno. "I think that it is a dynamic time for women to be in banking. I would encourage anyone in college to consider a career in banking."

Oct. 17, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee