Personnel file

Michael L. Hennen has been named corporate executive vice president – operations and controller at Call_Solutions in Brookfield, while Stephen T. Zollo has been appointed corporate executive vice president-operations and technology. Hennen joined Call_Solutions in March 2002 as vice president, controller. With this new appointment, Hennen will also oversee multiple, specialized business units of Call_Solutions. Prior to joining Call_Solutions, he was previously vice president and controller for Sensient Technologies. Prior to Sensient, Hennen’s experience included 16 years with Deloitte & Touche providing accounting, auditing and business consulting services to clients in the manufacturing and financial services industries. Zollo came to Call_Solutions in May of 2001 with the company’s acquisition of the OnPoint division, where he served as president and general manager. He has more than 20 years of technology-enabled customer service experience and extensive senior management responsibilities with public and privately held companies. Prior to joining OnPoint, Zollo was a senior executive with AMR Corp. Zollo’s notable achievements included the product launch of Travelocity, one of today’s most successful Internet travel sites. Zollo was also founder and president of Innovative Business Solutions, a management consulting firm specializing in organizational re-engineering engagements and emerging electronic distribution channels.

Jaime Klemp has joined the IT division of Brown & Martin in Waukesha as a designer and Web developer. Klemp is a UW-Stevens Point graduate and previously was the Web designer at Gateway Technical College.
Mary Kidney has joined the art department of Epic of Wisconsin in West Bend. She had been a production assistant at The Gessert Group.
Barb Gamez has been named marketing manager while David Landis has been named copywriter at the new marketing division of the National Funeral Directors Association in Brookfield. Prior to joining the association, Gamez was a marketing specialist at a local manufacturing firm. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW-Milwaukee. Landis had worked as a copywriter at Curro, Rankin & Williams and at Carson Pirie Scott. He is a Cardinal Stritch University graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
Eric Weishaar has joined the landscape design/build team at The Hawks Nursery Co. in Wauwatosa. A landscape design graduate of the Milwaukee Area Technical College, Weishaar has experience in landscaping in Colorado.
Kevin Cavanaugh and Ralph Lapp have joined the sales staff at Quality Concrete Products in Sussex. Cavanaugh, who is an architectural consultant, has 16 years of experience in concrete masonry and the construction markets. Lapp has more than 28 years of experience in concrete masonry and the construction markets.
Dean Webb has been promoted from reimbursement analyst II to reimbursement specialist in the reimbursement department of Extendicare in Milwaukee. Chris Osterberg has been named director of behavioral services in Extendicare’s clinical services department; she had been a clinical business systems analyst with the company. Katie Kallies has been promoted from a purchasing assistant in the company’s purchasing department to a secretary in its facilities management department. Christine Wedemayer has joined Extendicare’s accounts payable department as a customer service representative. Amy Suggest has joined the firm’s clinical services department as a secretary. Richard Lord joined the firm’s purchasing department as purchasing director. Tamara Harris joined Extendicare’s accounts payable department as an accounts payable processor. And Doreen Karass has joined the company’s accounts receivable department as the collections supervisor.
Gregg Prossen has assumed the leadership position of the Industrial/Distribution Center of the Zimmerman Design Group in Wauwatosa. He has more than 20 years of design and project management experience. Meanwhile, Thomas Schroeder, Cletus Hasslinger and Michael Haessly have joined the firm as project architects. Thomas Witte is the firm’s new project manager while Kristy Sands was hired as a job captain. Jennifer Drake joined the firm’s interior design and space planning staff while Eric Stevens was hired onto the firm’s information technology staff.
Melanie Buellesbach has been named editor of Dollhouse Miniatures, a publication of Kalmbach Publishing Co. in Waukesha. She replaces Candice St. Jaques, who was named editor-in-chief of the Book Department of Kalmbach. Buellesbach joined the company seven years ago as a copy editor of Model Railroader magazine. Most recently, she served as Model Railroader’s managing editor.
Marianne Andritsch has been named marketing director for St. Michael Hospital in Milwaukee. Andritsch has more than 25 years of experience in health care and public relations. For the past 17 years, she has been a consultant to Milwaukee businesses, non-profit organizations and health-care organizations. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison.
Linda Freese has joined Marcus Promotions as an account executive. She had been at Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Milwaukee and before that, at Milwaukee Magazine.
Wolter Hydraulics & Power Systems has announced the appointment of Pablo Serrato as a sales engineer. He will work with engineering firms providing inside sales and project management for power generation systems from Generac Power Systems. Serrato has more than 15 years of experience with power systems. He most recently was engineering account manager with Cummins NPower. He previously held several positions with Caterpillar Inc., most recently as marketing sales manager. He is a 1988 graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and has a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering.
Adam Keller and Frank Jendusa have been named financial representatives with the Stamm Financial Group, New Berlin, part of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.
Brenden Vierk and Paul Zahour have been named financial representatives with the James A. Schwertfeger Financial Group, part of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.
Rich Beeson has become the president of New Berlin-based The Printery, a commercial sheet-fed printing company. Beeson was formerly the vice president of operations for another Consolidated Graphics company, Rush Press, a commercial sheet-fed printing company headquartered in San Diego.
Creative Constructors in Menomonee Falls has added Julianne Boerner as administrative assistant to the project managers. Boerner’s 32 years of experience includes administrative, sales, clerical and volunteer work.
Jane Reilly has joined Bank Mutual as manager at the Mequon office at 11249 N. Port Washington Rd. Reilly received her bachelor of arts degree in speech communication. She also has a master of science degree in business management.
Jeff Wertz has been appointed sales director of the Cedarburg/Grafton office of Shorewest Realtors. Wertz started in real estate in 1981 and in 1990 joined Shorewest as sales director of the Menomonee Falls office, later becoming sales director of the Mequon Office. In 1997, Wertz left Shorewest to manage another real estate office.
Conrad Garvey, Eric Lien and Susan Ruedinger have joined the senior management team at AQS Inc. in Hartland. Garvey joined AQS as vice president of sales. Prior to AQS, Garvey built a sales organization at IVANS, a supplier of managed-data network and application products and services to the P&C, life and healthcare marketplaces. He is a graduate of The University of Findlay. Lien is AQS’s director of marketing. He worked at Allen Bradley/Rockwell Automation in various engineering and sales positions and with two different divisions of General Electric in product management, technology, and marketing. He also held the top marketing position with InfoRay, a Massachusetts-based start-up company; and was vice president for global marketing with SilverStream Software, now a division of Novell, another Massachusetts-based company that provides standards-based enterprise software for creating advanced web services and e-business applications. Lien earned his MBA from RPI in New York and a BSEE from Milwaukee School of Engineering. Ruedinger has been appointed vice president of finance at AQS. A graduate of Marquette University and a CPA, Ruedinger has experience in financial reporting and improving operational performance in service and technology industries. She joins AQS from Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, a software development company serving the P&C industry, where she was senior director of operations and corporate controller. She also has served in management positions with Affinity Corp., Manpower International and Metavante.
Jodi Hanna has been named loan operations officer at Waukesha State Bank. Hanna has worked for the bank since 1982, starting her career in data processing and moving to the loan department in 1992.
Lyle Ruble has joined management at Gammex RMI as director of customer service. Ruble brings more than 25 years of experience in global business development with a focus on manufacturing. Ruble did his undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Utah.
Adam Berger has joined the Doering Leasing Co., Milwaukee, as fleet executive. He had been at a Big-4 accounting firm redesigning heavy equipment and car rental companies’ leasing programs. Berger received his bachelor of science degree in business management and law from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.
Mike Parnon has joined The Redmond Co. as design services director. He has more than 20 years of architectural experience. Parnon comes to Redmond from a design/build background and his portfolio includes work in the financial, commercial, hospitality, and residential markets. He earned a B.A. in fine arts from Tulane University and is a graduate of the Tulane University School of Architecture.
Lisa Reynders has joined Teuteberg Inc. as an account executive. She has more than 12 years of experience in the printing industry. Reynders received a degree in graphics and printing from Madison Area Technical College.
The Wisconsin Heart Hospital, Wauwatosa, has named three new members of its management team. Jeff Hauswirth will serve as the director of finance. Mary Beth May has been named director of information services. Michael A. Montwill joins as vice president-business development and operations. Hauswirth has 10 years of experience in healthcare finances. Previously, he worked as the financial planning and development supervisor at Froedtert Hospital and as the manager of corporate cost accounting at Family Health Systems. Hauswirth earned his master’s degree in business administration at UW-Milwaukee. May brings 16 years of business experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining The Wisconsin Heart Hospital, May was a member of the Information Services Division at Ascension Health in Evansville, Ind., and was a manager of information stems at Columbia St. Mary’s Health System in Milwaukee. She received a bachelor’s of business administration degree from UW-Milwaukee. Montwill, prior to joining The Wisconsin Heart Hospital, was the president of Montwill Consulting Group and chief operating officer for HCA, The Healthcare Co., at the Olympia Fields Regional Osteopathic Medical Center, Olympia Fields, Ill. He holds an undergraduate degree and doctorate in pharmacy from Creighton University in Omaha. He also holds a MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management in Oak Brook, Ill.
Orion Energy Systems, Plymouth, has appointed Eric von Estorff to the newly created position of general counsel. Von Estorff most recently worked at Quad/Graphics, Pewaukee. At Orion, von Estorff will be responsible for managing the company’s legal affairs, with emphasis in such areas as development of a national sales and distribution network, commercial transactions, intellectual property, financing and securities issues and corporate governance. Von Estorff received his undergraduate degree from Williams College (Massachusetts) in 1987 and his law degree at Marquette University Law School. He earlier practiced with Godfrey & Kahn.
Peggy Schneider has joined Creative Constructors in Menomonee Falls as accounting manager. Schneider brings 16 years of real estate development and manufacturing experience. Schneider has passed her Certified Public Accountant exam and obtained a bachelor’s degree in history from UW-Whitewater and completed accounting courses at UW-LaCrosse.

Former ESPN VP helping Milwaukee design firm get most of team structure
A year after the Milwaukee design firm Hanson, Dodge + Sutter restructured to create workplace teams, a survey of clients showed a marked increase in satisfaction with customer service.
“I think everybody here sees team structures as a positive,” says Rusty Borkin, who joined the firm in February to help the 60-person firm as vice president of operations and organizational development.
Teams aren’t the answer to everything, notes Borkin, who was born in Chicago but reared on Milwaukee’s North Shore. “But there’s a lot to suggest that they can play a positive role in a firm’s success.”
Borkin was director of human resources for ESPN, the Connecticut-based sports information media company, when a dinner meeting with the visiting Ken Hanson in New York led to a job offer.
Growth at Hanson, Dodge + Sutter had prompted Hanson and co-owner Tim Dodge to look at new ways of doing business – of managing people. Or, rather, of not managing them. It abandoned the command-and-control method of operation, repositioning itself as a company of self-directed work groups.
The teams, which each has a name such as “High Rollers” and “Mission Control” and which have leaders, are given a breadth of responsibility. Within certain parameters, the teams determine what resources they need to service an account, what budget they need and what the design plan will be. Still, they work under company-wide goals and have restrictions. They can’t, for example, go out and hire as many people as they want to, Borkin notes.
But the team is seen as an integral factor in the continued growth and success of the design firm, says Hanson, who serves as the firm’s CEO and executive creative director. “We have incredible talent, but to continue our growth, Hanson, Dodge + Sutter needs to be the place for highly creative people to work,” he says, adding that programs being developed by Borkin will enforce that position.
It’s all client-related, Borkin says, stressing that teams can only be successful if they are formed and maintained with the customer in mind. “The main thing that keeps the team together is the customer,” advises Borkin. “We’re a studio, not just a group of teams. You can’t be locked into teams; customer needs are continually changing, and thus teams must be continually changing.”
The ability to accept and deal with that change, Borkin believes, will be the hallmark of successful companies in the coming years. “Flexibility in organizational structure will be the future, not locking onto one method or another.”
Even the team-based system at Hanson, Dodge + Sutter has changed since its inception a year and a half ago. “We’re realizing that we need to be incredibly flexible,” Borkin says. “The whole goal always is, what’s best for the client?”
Borkin sees team structure as more customer friendly on a number of fronts. Beside fostering a feeling of ownership among the team for the client’s project and offering the client a group of people who become experts on the account, the system increases the number of contact points with the customer. Those contacts, which formerly were primarily between the client and an account executive, “are the real key to success.”
Not to say that multiple points of contact can’t happen otherwise. “But this makes it easier for it to happen,” Borkin says.
How do you develop and decide upon a team structure? There’s no cookie-cutter approach. At Hanson, Dodge + Sutter, the partners looked at how other firms were handling teams and benchmarked against the successful ones. “But it’s a lot like talking about bread,” Borkin adds; “there are a lot of different kinds and each has a different ingredient.”
Teams must be customized to each firm’s needs and the needs of its clients.

Roadblock:
The atmosphere in the department was decidedly different on the rare days when Jean wasn’t at work. People were in a better mood, customers seemed easier to deal with, and more work was accomplished.
On the other hand, Jean’s very presence seemed to invite conflict. She complained about management, about the customers and the other employees, and about the amount of work she had to do. Often she completely ignored the presence of those working near her. She concerned herself only with her own assigned responsibilities and prided herself on her attendance record and “work ethic.” When a change in procedure or job responsibilities was called for, Jean’s reaction was predictable: negative. When group problem solving was called for, her response was predictable as well: uncooperative.
While no one would complain about Jean’s work, everyone in the department resented her demeanor and lack of teamwork. Two of the employees were actively looking for other positions because of the constant tension in the department.
Problem – Company management is focusing only on the quantity and quality of Jean’s work. Because both are above “satisfactory,” her manager has failed to address her behavior. What is not being recognized is the negative effect of Jean’s actions. Department productivity, employee job satisfaction and ultimately customer satisfaction, are being sacrificed because of her behavior.
Solution:
The focus is solely on performance and productivity; behaviors are being overlooked. The mission statement hanging on the wall in the reception area of Jean’s company incorporates values the company believes in: mutual respect, teamwork and positive “can do” attitudes. But in practice, those values are being ignored.
This company must clearly identify and reinforce its values – because values drive behavior. The value statement is the basis for establishing company behavioral standards. Those standards must then become part of each person’s job description and performance appraisal.
Even with a written value statement, senior management is communicating the company’s true values through the managers’ own behaviors and their responses to the behaviors of their people.
Nowhere is the truism “actions speak louder than words” more pertinent.
If standards for behavior are not established throughout the company, an effective approach may be for Jean and her coworkers to meet with a facilitator and agree on their “code of conduct” – a list of what they expect from each other. You can be sure this list will include such behaviors as “professional courtesy,” “positive attitudes,” “taking complaints directly to the person involved,” “mutual respect” and “willingness to help each other.”
Ideally, department members will hold themselves and each other accountable to that agreed-upon code. If not, the manager or supervisor must monitor individual and department behaviors. Coaching and counseling Jean to meet these behavioral expectations will create a more positive work environment for everyone and improve productivity as well.
Solutions to Roadblocks is provided by Performance Consulting, a Brookfield training and consulting firm. Small Business Times readers who would like a “roadblock” addressed in this column can contact the author, Lois Patton, at 781-7823 or via e-mail at lorapat@aol.com.

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