Opponents say plant would turn Oak Creek into ‘Coal Creek’

The organizers of Responsible Energy for Southeastern Wisconsin’s Tomorrow (RESET) are lining up their arguments against Wisconsin Energy Corp.’s plans to build three new coal-burning plants in Oak Creek.

— Coal-burning power plants are the single largest source of industrial air pollution in the nation.

— Coal-burning power plants release more mercury into the environment than any other industry in Wisconsin. By contrast, natural gas plants emit no mercury, no sulfur dioxide and far less particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions.

— An expanded plant in Oak Creek would diminish property values, prohibit future development near Bender Park and the lakefront, damage agricultural crops, spew more mercury into Lake Michigan and scare businesses (and jobs) away from the region.

— The number of trains, "two miles long," carrying coal into the plant would double, disrupting the lifestyles and commerce of the community.

— The new plant would require two smokestacks, each 675 feet high (higher than the U.S. Bank Center in Milwaukee).

— "Superconcentrated" solid waste would need to be stored on the site.

— The cheaper costs of coal generation would be far outweighed by the added costs on the environment and the health of residents in the region.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Lori Jochem has been named corporate administration manager at Wauwatosa Savings Bank. Her previous position was manager of the HR department. The bank also has promoted Wendy Rice to IRA department supervisor.

Victor Baez has been named vice president of corporate program management at MGS Mfg. Group in Germantown. MGS is a provider to the plastics industry, with facilities located in Wisconsin, Illinois and Texas.
Amanda Robinson has been named marketing firector for the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association. Most recently, Robinson was marketing coordinator for Hunzinger Construction Co. Prior to Hunzinger, Robinson served as technical communication coordinator for Johnson Controls. She received a bachelor’s of science in communications from UW-La Crosse with an emphasis in journalism.
Lisa A. Olson has been named a personal trust administrator at Associated Trust Co., part of Associated Wealth Management. Throughout her more than 20 years in the financial services industry, Olson has served in a variety of investment capacities, most recently as a trust advisor with Bank One Private Client Services in Milwaukee. Michael D. Jerrett has joined Associated Trust Co. as an employee benefits administrator in the Milwaukee area. Throughout his more than 10 years in the financial services industry, Jerrett has served in a variety of investment capacities, most recently as a retirement services account manager with Wells Fargo Retirement Plan Services in Milwaukee. Jerrett earned a bachelor’s degree. in business administration from UW-Platteville.
Jim Goetz has been named director of corporate finance in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Wipfli Ullrich Bertelson. Goetz’s primary responsibility will be working with businesses in eastern Wisconsin (from Green Bay to Milwaukee. Goetz has more than 25 years of in-depth experience working with equity/debt placement, divestitures and acquisition assistance.
Patsy Lederer has joined KeyLink Solutions in Thiensville as human resources manager. Lederer has more than 25 years of experience in human resources/benefits management and is a current member of the Society for Human Resources Management. She has held positions of HR manager, senior HR manager, corporate HR manager, and vice president of human resources in the manufacturing industry. Patty Enders has been promoted to supervisor of Self Funded Administration at KeyLink Solutions. In addition to supervisory experience, Enders has had first hand experience as a senior administrative representative. Enders has been with KeyLink Solutions since August 2001.
James S. Swiderski has joined the Milwaukee law firm of Weiss Berzowski Brady as an associate in the Business Law practice group. Swiderski’s practice will include corporate law, securities law, international law and Indian law. Swiderski is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A., 1992) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (J.D., cum laude, 1999). He was previously with the law firm of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren.
R&R Insurance Services, Inc., one of Wisconsin’s largest and most diverse independent agencies, is pleased to announce the promotion of
Sue Voigt has been promoted to the position of account executive, personal lines, at the West Bend office of R&R Insurance Services. Voigt brings more than 17 years of insurance-related experience. She has been with R&R Insurance Services since July 2001. Elisabeth Wright has joined R&R with 13 years of claims handling and customer service and sales at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin. Wright is currently attending Marquette University in pursuit of her degree in law studies with a minor in business organization and leadership.
Kirk Thomas and Marcia Deckert have been named application support analysts at Virtual Care Provider in Milwaukee. The company, which serves the technology needs of the long-term-care profession, also has appointed John Wilson as its system engineer, Lisa Kutil as senior software QA specialist, and Melanie Fogt as business systems consultant. Sherry Cribb has joined the company as a call center operator while Peter Kiely and Kurt Knipper have been named sales representatives.
Elisa Mason has joined Extendicare Health Services in Milwaukee as a payroll specialist while Jessica Sengejo has joined the company as a senior file clerk.
Lance Capps has been named executive chef at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. Capps comes to The Pfister from the Grad Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, where he served as executive sous chef for seven years. He holds a degree in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., and is an American Culinary Foundation certified chef de cuisine. Capps will oversee menus and day-to-day culinary operations for The Pfister’s food-and-beverage outlets including Celia, Café Rouge and the Lobby Lounge. Meanwhile, The Pfister has named Peter Zellmer its director of sales and marketing. Zellmer spent the last six years as assistant director of sales at the Grand Geneva Resort, and earlier worked in sales with Hilton Hotels and Renaissance Hotels in Chicago. He is a 1990 graduate of UW-Stout with a degree in hotel and restaurant management.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

We Energies defends Oak Creek proposal

Commentary, by Bob Hall, for SBT

Editor’s note: This is Wisconsin Energy Corp. response to concerns over its Power the Future plan, which proposes building three new coal-fired electricity generating systems at its Oak Creek plant. This response was written for Small Business Times by Bob Hall, plant manager at the Oak Creek Power Plant operated by We Energies, a subsidiary of Wisconsin Corp.

When the topic of this area’s future energy needs is discussed, the response offered by critics of our Power the Future plan needs to recognize some powerful facts.

Here are three:

1. Energy use growth is reliably projected to be 3% to 4% per year. Our area is experiencing a growing energy shortage that is manageable if we act soon.

2. People and companies in this area are doing an excellent job of conserving energy, so very little additional reduction is possible from just a conservation approach. The growth in need is real.

3. There will be cost and availability uncertainties of fuel supplies for the foreseeable future.

This fundamental reality requires that any plan We Energies develops to address the growing electricity shortage take into account both the environmental impact of our decisions and the effect on the families and businesses of the region as they seek fuel for heating and other personal uses.

Power the Future is our company’s 10-year growth strategy, designed to address our region and Wisconsin’s growing energy needs. The plan involves building 2,800 megawatts of new, in-state generation, improving our existing generating facilities and upgrading our electric distribution system.

We have stressed a mixed fuel strategy that relies heavily on coal in Power the Future. We have proposed building both natural gas-fueled and coal-fueled power plants. We believe a diverse fuel mix strategy enables We Energies to deliver what the public expects in energy supplies, protects customers from fuel shortages and to some extent moderates the huge price spikes that occur when there is market uncertainty.

There are some other important realities. Power the Future will have a positive environmental impact. When our Power the Future plan and our agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are fully implemented, our system-wide emissions will be lower than they are today. For example, sulfur dioxide will be reduced more than 50%, nitrogen oxide more than 65% and mercury more than 25%, while we generate 50% more energy.

We Energies is currently investing $137,000 every day to cut emissions from our existing fossil-fueled power plants. Those investments will continue for at least the next 10 years. The three coal-fueled units that are proposed for Elm Road Generating Station in Oak Creek will benefit from the most advanced technology available and meet the toughest environmental regulations, and will remove 80 percent of mercury, 95 percent of sulfur dioxide and 85 percent of nitrogen oxide.

I have worked on and off at the Oak Creek Power Plant for the past 24 years and have lived in the area for just as long. The company has 537 employees and 160 retirees that live in Racine County and 190 employees and 29 retirees that live in Oak Creek. All of us, including our families, have to look at what our company proposes and does from the perspective of local residents, because that’s who we are.

Whatever impacts our proposal has on Oak Creek will be felt and experienced by all of us as well.

This issue is about resolving a growing energy shortfall, a situation being experienced virtually everywhere in America. Traditional simple solutions, like just buying excess energy elsewhere, will be increasingly difficult to accomplish as everyone seeks to respond to their local growing energy requirements.

We believe that when Power the Future is thoroughly examined by regulators, government officials and the public, together, the correct decision will be made and our area and the state will have an environmentally sensible, reliable, sustainable energy plan that will be affordable for customers.

To get there, we need to focus on the right question, which is "Where is the energy we know we’ll need going to come from?"

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Telfer named provost, academic vice chancellor at UW-W

Richard Telfer has been selected as the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s new provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, the top academic post at the university, Chancellor Jack Miller has announced.

Telfer, who has been an associate vice chancellor for academic affairs since 1997, has also served as interim provost since April 2002. He emerged as the top choice from a national pool of candidates and five finalists who interviewed on campus in December.

"Dr. Telfer has done an excellent job since he began the position nine months ago and I believe he will continue to function at a very high level in the future," said Miller. "He is greatly committed to helping this campus move forward."

Telfer, has been with UW-Whitewater since 1985 as a professor of curriculum and instruction.

Despite difficult financial issues facing the state, UW-Whitewater needs to stay focused on its areas of strength, Telfer said. "My hope is, by keeping a longer view, we will get past the tough financial times with our focus on our core values and our mission intact," Telfer said.

Many initiatives started in recent months have the potential to create a lasting impact on the university, Telfer said. One such example is the new Advisement Center, which will make six new advisors available to UW-Whitewater freshmen this spring. The project is supported by student tuition and has a goal of improving retention and graduation rates.

Diversity is another issue getting renewed attention, Telfer said. UW-Whitewater a state leader in recruiting and graduating students of color, but a campus committee recently suggested more work is needed to promote a diverse curriculum. The chancellor launched a campus-wide training program that will make up to $100,000 in funding available to faculty and staff, and Telfer will help steer that effort this spring.

Other works in progress include a core values campaign that is helping the university steer a long-term course for the campus. Telfer is also working with the faculty personnel rules committee on an effort to redefine faculty personnel rules to give young faculty a clearer picture of their expectations.

"I see a lot of our future progress being a continuation of these efforts," Telfer said. "We also have the potential for growth in the sciences, in technology programs and in online and blended curriculum."

On the facilities front, the current Upham Hall renovation and the upcoming business building project will greatly enhance science, business and technology instruction, he said. Strong demand is also pushing enrollment growth in technology programs such as the online MBA and management computer systems. On the other side of the coin, budget cuts will force the university to manage enrollment with the expectation of taking fewer students. Telfer said the university will also work to improve the academic profile of its freshman class, while remaining committed to being a campus of opportunity for students from disadvantaged or under-represented groups.

"One strong feeling across the university is that we would like to increase our quality as measured by class rankings and ACT scores," he said. "We are working with the Faculty Senate on this effort."

The position of provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs serves as the chief academic officer for the university, steering the planning, development and review of all academic programs. The position oversees a $48 million budget, more than 400 faculty and staff, and all academic and outreach programming.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Busines Times, Milwaukee

Saying no in negotiations
How to reject an offer without causing rancor

By Christine McMahon, for SBT

Question: I am having a difficult time rejecting the offer of the other party in a negotiation without causing rancor. What are some techniques I can use to be more effective?

Answer: Rejecting an offer can be a delicate balancing act. While most customers are forthright in communicating that an offer is unacceptable, there are situations where such an approach would be inappropriate. I find that to be especially true when negotiating with co-workers and supervisors. That arena is more politically charged and the consequences can be painful.

How you say "no" is critical to the response you are going to receive. You must be prepared. Not only must you have the right words, but you must also practice how you are going to deliver it. This is not the time to test how well you think on your feet.

A defensive attitude will trigger resistance. Anything that may come across as personal in your communication will be interpreted as a personal attack. There are no shortcuts. You must prepare. You must practice your delivery. And you must control your emotions or your outcomes will be compromised.

Here are six ideas that may help you in saying no gracefully:

1. Align and redirect – Give the appearance of agreeing, and then ask the other party if he or she has considered an alternative option that you think is a better solution. For example: "I hear what you are saying about the turbo-cylinder; have you considered the output potential of attaching a max-2B unit?" If the person says "yes" and walks you through the discovered results, then follow by asking a question that addresses your concern about the turbo-cylinder unit. That might sound like: "What was the impact to the turbo-cylinder when the override mechanism hesitated?" That will help you to create doubt in the solution without saying "no." You are merely asking neutral questions.

2. Create common ground by addressing the higher intent – When it feels like conflict is brewing and you need to release some of that negative energy, it’s always helpful to bring the conversation to a higher level of purpose that you all agree to. For instance, when people are on the verge or have already engaged in heated discussion, it’s helpful to say, for example: "We all agree that meeting the customer’s deadline is the most important outcome and in fact is non-negotiable. Is that correct? Then our effort is best invested by focusing on cost-effective solutions. We all agree that time is of the essence."

3. Be positive. Acknowledge the other person’s good intention even though you didn’t like the outcome. It’s like gracefully accepting a birthday present that you think is hideous. It’s the thought that counts. You might say something like: "I appreciate your offer. In other circumstances, I can see how this would work very well. I see several situations where it’s not a strategic fit. I do want you to know that I appreciate your time and effort."

4. Present an alternative and incorporate the other person’s idea if possible. When you turn something down, if possible present an alternative idea that incorporates some aspect from the original offer even if it’s just an acknowledgement about what the other person tried to accomplish. This sounds like: "Joe, I think you are on to something regarding taking X and adding it to Y to get Z. While that formula wouldn’t solve this situation, it leads me to think about another option."

5. Don’t refuse everything. If tempers are rising and it looks like a resolution is not going to happen, you might want to make a concession to show your desire to want to work with the other party. Most times showing some degree of flexibility and willingness to work with the other party can be a deal maker. Select something insignificant to you but possibly an ego-booster to the other party.

6. Offer a conditional "no." Couch your objection in the form of a conditional "no" rather than an outright rejection. In this case, you agree to accept the other party’s offer if he/she in turn accepts your proposal or counter-offer. You would say: "Jerry, I would be delighted to move forward with this project if you get Bill’s approval and signature."

Saying "no" is tough stuff. It’s difficult predicting how the other party will respond unless you have experience negotiating with that person. People take their ideas and solutions seriously. Some people take personal offense when other people take a different position than they anticipated.

When negotiating, you always want to build bridges with the other party, even if you disagree on the issue/solution. People can be disappointed and even angry you didn’t like their solution, but if they respect you and know you have integrity, you have an open door to continue building that relationship.

Christine McMahon is the owner of Christine McMahon & Associates, a training and coaching firm in Milwaukee. She can be reached at 414-290-3344. Small Business Times readers who would like a negotiating situation addressed in this column can send a fax to 414-290-3330, or e-mail her at: ccm@christinemcmahon.com. Her column appears in every other issue of SBT.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

New senior residential project will be ‘centerpiece’ for West Allis

By Mark Kass, for SBT

The City of West Allis has acquired 10 properties that will be sold to a Mequon real estate development firm that plans to build a $7 million residential and commercial development.

General Capital Group has proposed the West Allis development, which will be similar to a project the company has proposed in the Town of Waukesha.

The company plans to take advantage of the growing senior housing market in the Milwaukee area, while at the same time offering retail to the residents of the housing developments, said Michael Weiss, president of General Capital.

The West Allis development would be located on the southeast corner of South 65th Street and West Greenfield Avenue. The four-story project would include 80 units of housing, along with 9,000 square feet of retail development on the first floor that will front on Greenfield Avenue.

"There is so much happening in such a tight geographical area," said Sig Strautmanis, vice president of development for General Capital. "Our studies have found that West Allis is an attractive market for this type of development. There has been a very quick absorption of this type of housing in this area."

The firm was directed to the site by city officials, said John Stibal, director of planning and development for West Allis. He said the city required a "new urbanist" look for the building, with parking in the rear, a high amount of density and retail on the first floor of the development.

he city has granted the necessary approvals for the project.

Stibal said he has followed General Capital’s work in other Milwaukee-area communities and was pleased the company chose West Allis for the project.

"I have been impressed with the quality and the unique type of development they have done throughout the area," he said. "They don’t build junk."

In West Allis, the city’s requirements involving the appearance, density and quality probably added 15 percent to the cost of the project, Stibal said.

"We have a high benchmark for developers, and General Capital was willing to step up to the plate," he said. "This is going to be the centerpiece of our redevelopment efforts in that area."

In the town of Waukesha, General Capital has proposed a $7 million mixed-use development that would include 78 units of housing and 20,000 square feet of retail. The 6-acre site on West Sunset Avenue is located adjacent to a Kohl’s Food Store that General Capital developed about three years ago.

Strautmanis said General Capital is working to find a restaurant and about nine stores or service businesses that would cater to the apartment residents and larger community.

In both projects, General Capital has applied for state tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Corp., which will require the firm to set aside a number of apartments for households earning 60 percent or less of the county’s median income. The company expects to begin construction on both projects over the next several months.

General Capital has quietly built a long resume of projects since Weiss started the firm in 1996 after leaving Midland Development, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based retail developer. Weiss, who grew up in the Milwaukee area and attended Brown Deer High School, returned to Milwaukee in 1992 after six years as a real estate loan officer for Citibank in New York City, where he participated in loans totaling more than $3 billion.

After leaving Citibank, Weiss joined Midland Development and opened a Milwaukee office. In 1996, Weiss left Midland to start General Capital with his brother, David, who also worked for Citibank. The firm’s third partner is Steve Schnoll, a former Trammell Crow Co. executive.

In all, Weiss and his partners have developed about 20 projects in the Madison and Milwaukee areas.

General Capital’s two most prominent developments to date are the redevelopment of the former Brown Port Shopping Center near Interstate 43 in Fox Point and the redevelopment of the dilapidated Germantown Square Mall at North Pilgrim and West Mequon roads in Germantown.

The Germantown project was complex because of environmental contamination on the site from a former dry cleaner. The land was remediated, and the shopping center is now almost 100 percent leased with a Kohl’s Food Store as the anchor.

"Every deal presents unique challenges but we’ve been able to work through them and complete projects that have added value to the community," Weiss said.

General Capital is currently working on its largest development proposal in the City of Milwaukee. In October 2002, the firm proposed a major shopping center for Milwaukee’s northwest side, in partnership with Milwaukee developer August Urbanek. The $25 million, 380,000-square-foot development, called The Boardwalk, would be built on 43.5 acres just east of Highway 45 and south of West Good Hope Road.

If built, it would be the largest retail shopping center built in the Milwaukee area since the development of Northridge Mall and Southridge Mall in the early 1970s. Weiss said General Capital is working with the City of Milwaukee to rezone the land from office and hotel to retail. He is confident the rezoning will occur in the next few months.

"We have already had a host of retailers interested in the development," Strautmanis said. "I believe we will have a number of new retailers to the area that will have only one store in Milwaukee."

Over the years, General Capital, which had specialized in retail development, has moved into other areas of development, such as residential and office. Rather than following the lead of many other developers, who have specialized in working with large retailers and following them around the country, Weiss decided he wanted to limit the firm’s developments to Milwaukee and Madison.

"We are all young guys with families, and I didn’t want to spend three to four nights a week on the road," he said. "Milwaukee is a good market, but there are not unlimited deals to be done. We knew that we had to diversify our development plans."

Julie Penman, commissioner of the Milwaukee Department of City Development, said the city and General Capital have enjoyed a good working relationship for several years.

"They understand the value that lies in urban markets – on both retail and industrial development deals," she said.

Penman said the city partnered with General Capital in the late 1990s on the development of a 45-acre business park near North 68th Street and West Calumet Road. The project increased the property value of the site by $10 million and served as the city’s first joint effort to develop a business park.

"(General Capital) took the initiative to assemble the property in what was previously a fairly inaccessible location," she said.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Hurry up and wait
The gift of the new year: 8,760 time dollars to spend

By Jo Hawkins Donovan, for SBT

As we tack up the new calendars we might stop for a minute to acknowledge that we have a gift in front of us, a gift of a year full of hours — I call them time dollars — to spend as we choose.

More than 8,000 hours, brand spanking new, that we all hope to spend in 2003.

Looking at time this way makes it sound like a commodity, and we talk about it as if it were a commodity. We say, "When I have more time," or "I’m out of time", or I’m short of time" or, my favorite, "I’m going to make some time."

Actually time is more like a river in which we move, gracefully or frantically. The Mayans revered time and created a means to track it. They developed a 5000-year calendar that expires in 2012. Before that, people tracked time by looking at the changes in their own images in a pond, by following the cycles of the moon, notches on a stick, things like that. What a different context from the one we move around in today! It’s hard to go to Best Buy and find an appliance without a clock. Most rooms in our homes or offices have multiple clocks in addition to the ones we wear on our wrists every waking hour.

It is easy to get our adrenalin flow attached to that constant tick-tick-ticking. It is easy to get caught up in the hurried pace around us, to believe all those words about having more time, being behind time, wishing to someday "make" time to do what we want to do.

Looking at the year ahead, those 8,000-plus hours, we might pause and consider exercising more control over how we spend our time dollars. There is a chunk we’ll want to spend on sleep. For those of us who relish eight hours per night, we’ll spend almost 3,000 hours snoozing. Most of us will spend two to three thousand of the remaining hours earning our livelihoods, in whatever form that takes. So we’ll have a little more than 3,000 time dollars left to spend as we see fit.

In coaching leaders who recognize they are caught up in the hurried, harried lifestyle so prevalent in our culture, one of the first steps is giving attention to their relationships with time. Do they feel they are squandering it? What is the perception of who’s running the time show? Is time measured in the stacks of stuff that didn’t get done while they were putting out the daily fires?

Those questions eventually reveal the client’s relationship with time: what she thinks, feels, does and believes about time. This is a significant revelation for those hurried/harried clients. If we’re squandering our time or relinquishing choice about how we spend our time dollars, aren’t we squandering our lives and giving up control there as well? It’s possible to spend our lives sweeping leaves that are always falling, and never actually setting off on the path that the leaves keep covering.

The answer to feeling starved for time is not more time. When you decide to spend some — maybe most of those 3,000 hours this year in ways that have meaning to you — you’ve made a huge step.

I think the experience of meaning is where the soul and ego meet. Some clients want more clarity on how to get to that place, and may embark on a values clarification process. They choose to spend some time doing inner work identifying their top values, stuff they would go to the wall for. Then they begin to notice if there is anything close to a match between how they spend most of their time, and those values. They want to know if they are living their real intentions on the planet.

Guess what? Sometimes they are doing exactly that without giving themselves credit or pleasure in it. Some clients discover that they do the hurried, stressed-out act because they thought it went with the territory. Hoohah! Those are nice breakthroughs.

Others, having chiseled out their real identities, feel they’re throwing time dollars helter-skelter, perhaps trying to meet everyone else’s needs. That doesn’t work for anyone. Bringing what they do with their time into closer alignment with who they truly are, well that does wonders. They begin truly living their own lives at their own pace.

This is important work and a fresh new year is as good a time to do it as any. One of the most delicious discoveries is that the deep self within is never in a hurry.

May you be true to yourself as you spend your new time dollars in 2003.

Jo Hawkins Donovan has a coaching and psychotherapy firm in Whitefish Bay, and can be reached at 414-332-0300, or jo@hawkinsdonovan.com. The firm’s Web site is www.hawkinsdonovan.com. Hawkins Donovan will respond to your questions in this column. Her column appears in every other issue of SBT.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Industry titan will ‘go to mat’ to foil Oak Creek coal plant
Why Sam Johnson is battling Wisconsin Energy

When construction of any major power generation plant is being proposed, a utility company expects that the project will be opposed by environmentalists, health advocates and local residents who simply don’t want such a behemoth in their back yards.

However, Wisconsin Energy Corp.’s Power the Future plan is being attacked by an 800-pound corporate guerilla.

That force is Sam Johnson, chairman emeritus of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., Racine.

Not only is Johnson investing his personal devotion, time and energy to block Wisconsin Energy’s plan to expand its coal-burning electricity plant in Oak Creek, but he’s donated $150,000 to the Wisconsin Environmental Decade to rally opposition to the plan.

Wisconsin Energy and its We Energies subsidiary contend they need coal generation to add balance to their electricity portfolio. By building two pulverized coal plants and one gasified coal plant in Oak Creek, Wisconsin Energy says it can provide cheaper electricity to meet the region’s growing power needs.

Johnson acknowledges that coal-burning may be less expensive than natural gas generation of electricity, in terms of the simple costs to the utility. However, the flaws of coal-burning far outweigh the 5% to 10% cheaper electric rates that might be achieved in the region, Johnson says.

In a recent interview, Johnson was asked by Small Business Times why a large manufacturing company such as S.C. Johnson would oppose a cheaper source of electricity. Without hesitating, Johnson launched into an oratory against Wisconsin Energy’s plan that would make a lobbyist blush.

Johnson: "Our objection to it is basically on quality-of-life issues with our people. We want to make Racine as attractive as possible, not only for our new employees, but for those of us who have lived there all their lives, and my family and grandchildren live there in the shadow of the smokestacks of Oak Creek …. You can see them from my house. It’s only five miles away.

"This one is so close to home. Our company has been a leader in environmental practice as a company, and we want to continue that. It would be absolutely impossible for any of us in our company to agree to this plan, because of its adverse impact on our people and our company and our ability to grow and our ability to hire the best people from all over the world and have them live in this area.

"We are more determined than ever as we get more deeply into this that this is a very bad choice on the part of Wisconsin Energy, and we’re going to go down to the mat on it.

"We really are dead serious about this issue. We do need more energy as a company. We are growing. We don’t doubt that. We just think it’s a very bad choice to go backwards to coal as a raw material.

"The only rational, reasonable, short-term choice is gas for Wisconsin Energy. I just genuinely believe that coal is a bad choice for Wisconsin Energy, and it baffles me.

"This is right in our back yard, and I realize everybody says, ‘Not in my back yard.’ But this backyard doesn’t seem to me to be the ideal place. We don’t need the 10th-largest coal plant in the United States. Many of those coal plants are located out in the boonies all over the place.

"This is one of the most important industrial areas of potential growth and economic development in the country. And to put a coal plant right in the middle of that doesn’t make any sense to me at all. So, we’re going to work on this. I feel very strongly that we’ve got to see this one down and force them to make another choice."

SBT: Tell us how you really feel, Sam. With Sam’s money behind them, the organizers of Responsible Energy for Southeastern Wisconsin’s Tomorrow (RESET) are lining up their arguments against "turning Oak Creek into Coal Creek."

Skeptics might believe Johnson entered this fight because southeastern Wisconsin is in an air quality non-attainment zone, as designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That means that any pollution created by a utility would minimize the amount of allowable EPA emissions credits for a manufacturer such as S.C. Johnson in the area.

Is that your primary motivation, Sam?

Johnson: "Our necessary credits for emissions is really a small part of our present expansion, which really is a headquarters expansion, more than it is a manufacturing emission.

"We are reducing our own emissions within the company, so we don’t have to go out. We probably keep better score of our emissions than any company in the Midwest. It’s not limiting our growth, and it’s not the reason we’re going after Wisconsin Energy at all.

"The health of our people, and our families and my family is the most important thing. And if we have to grow, we’ll figure out other ways to grow. Even if has to be outside of Racine, we have nothing against that."

SBT: So, Sam, have you spoken to Richard Abdoo, chairman and chief executive officer of Wisconsin Energy, about how you feel about his plan?

Johnson: "Yeah, we talked to him early on, when he discovered we weren’t as friendly on this subject as he thought we might be. We had a good discussion with Dick, and I’ve known him for a long time.

"We asked some questions of him, like, ‘Have you costed out the alternatives?’ And all of that …. We never got really a comprehensive answer to any of those questions. They just went charging out with their plan, and they were going to sell this plan to the community, and I felt a little bit brushed aside on this whole thing.

"I didn’t expect that. I thought that he would be more objective about this. I don’t know what his agenda is, except a higher investment in coal for an equivalent amount of energy — maybe that works better for the Public Service Commission because they get a certain rate of return on their investment.

"I knew Charlie McNeer, his predecessor, for years. He was on the board of the Johnson Foundation and a wonderful man. But Charlie was always kind of favorable to coal, too.

"I don’t know really where they’re coming from, because I think coal is a loser in this thing. It’s a loser for the people. I haven’t had any businessmen call me up or write me letters and say, ‘You’re on the wrong track, Sam, because we’re going to be costed out of existence because of the increased cost of electricity.’ No one has said that to me. So, there’s not exactly a groundswell of people that share (Wisconsin Energy’s) position on this thing."

Next on the RESET members’ agenda will be leaning on Wisconsin’s new Gov. Jim Doyle and state legislators. And they’ll have an 800-pound guerilla peeling the bananas.

– By Steve Jagler, of SBT

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Federal Medicare shortfalls shackle Wisconsin’s competitiveness

Commentary, by Mark Cullen, for SBT

Because of Medicare formulas set long ago Wisconsin misses out on approximately $1 billion in Medicare, based on national averages. It seems the only groups that should care about this shortfall are the health-care providers.

But that’s far from the truth. Workers and employers who pay for health insurance and for direct costs of care make up the shortfalls. The costs are shifted to all of us.

Competitive Wisconsin, an organization of labor, business, education and agricultural leaders, facilitated the creation of the Medicare/Medicaid Equity Coalition to bring public attention to costs of the shortfall on our state’s residents and to engage our congressional delegation and other elected leaders in seeking methods to address the issue.

It is unfair that seniors in Louisiana receive Medicare benefits that are almost twice the level received by seniors in Wisconsin and Iowa. Wisconsin is at the bottom of the public payment program charts; inequitable formulas created long ago have created a large and growing payment gap that amounts to a "hidden tax" on Wisconsin employers in the form of higher health insurance premiums.

What can be done?

Our congressional delegation should be encouraged to actively champion proposals to fix historic Medicare payment equity issues. It isn’t easy, because the delegations from other states will be protecting what they’ve had for so long. But it’s a fight that Wisconsin needs. And we’re pleased to see the emergence of leaders within our delegation who are willing to take on this issue as a top priority.

In addition, since Medicare’s creation, there are special programs that were developed to handle specific and special situations. Our state needs to take better advantage of those programs as a means to access federal dollars that are available but currently have been "left on the table".

So why does a businessperson like me co-chair this effort?

JP Cullen & Sons is a fourth-generation family-owned business and a recognized leader in construction and renovation of some of Wisconsin’s greatest buildings. We are committed to a strong economic future in Wisconsin.

And once I saw the numbers that demonstrate that Wisconsin’s economy is $1 billion lighter because of a "broken" federal program, I was motivated to lend my voice to "fixing" a problem that affects every resident of the state.

In economic terms, Wisconsin businesses and workers cannot afford the costs of losing out on so much federal money — and in the process paying health insurance premiums that are inflated by this "hidden tax."

We lose competitively to other states if their workers and businesses are not having to ante up to cover a $1 billion shortchange. The state’s health-care providers lose if they have to shift the costs to the rest of us because they’re not being adequately compensated for services to Medicare recipients.

And, of course, it’s not the Medicare recipient’s fault if the federal government doesn’t meet its obligation to pay its fair share.

The coalition is a diverse group of business, labor, health providers and local governments that understand how important addressing the shortfall is to our economic future. If you’d like to add your name to the coalition, please contact Competitive Wisconsin executive director Sharon Cook at 414-227-1237 or scook@cf-law.com.

Mark Cullen, is president of JP Cullen & Sons Inc., Janesville, which has an office in Brookfield. Cullen is co-chairman of the Medicare/Medicaid Equity Coalition and president-elect of Competitive Wisconsin.

The most common sales hiring mistakes and how to avoid them – Part II

Note: I believe that a Vendor salesperson is born, not made. On the other hand, a Business Resource is made. But in order to "make" a Business Resource, you must first hire sales candidates with Business Resource potential. Last month, Peter Gilbert, CEO of Growth Partners Ltd., a Stapleton Resources’ Certified Implementation Partner in Johannesburg, South Africa, wrote the first half of an outstanding piece on hiring sales talent for the Dec. 20 issue of Small Business Times. Here’s the second half.

— Jerry Stapleton

Are your sales hiring procedures getting you the best people? Or are your procedures among common mistakes that many companies practice in hiring sales professionals?

In this column, we’ll look at the final five of nine common sales hiring mistakes. The first four, described in my previous column, include having too many criteria and relying only on interviews to evaluate job candidates.

Mistake 5: Using yourself as an example

Your own sales success might lead you to believe you can spot candidates with potential, but don’t count on it. A famous lawyer once said, "The attorney who would represent himself has a fool for a client" — a saying that also applies to managers hiring new salespeople. Many managers who reached their positions by virtue of their sales success, believe they can instinctively recognize a good candidate, when they are unconsciously just using themselves as a template. When you use yourself as a model, your ego often gets in the way, and that "bias" can skew your objectivity in judging others – a fatal hiring flaw.

Mistake 6: Failing to use statistically validated testing to predict job skills most critical to success

In some companies, committees use deductive reasoning or brainstorming to identify criteria for candidate selection. That technique may encourage team building and a spirit of cooperation and participation, and may even focus the organization on the importance of hiring the right people. Unfortunately, two main flaws make it less effective at pinpointing why candidates fail or succeed. First, the committees tend to focus on theories instead of facts — theories that suggest, for example, that high self-confidence guarantees a better employee. Second, they focus on attitude and experience instead of ability and skills. Skills are a much more significant and consistent indicator of success potential. Incentives can motivate a skilled person, but motivation and good intentions won’t improve an unskilled candidate.

Gauging skill levels often requires carefully developed tests or on-the-job trials many managers are unwilling or unable to conduct.

Mistake 7: Not researching why people have failed in a job

Research consistently shows that people fail in a job due to factors different from the criteria used to select them. Though most managers can list the most common reasons people have failed, they seldom make the information part of the process of choosing selection criteria for new candidates. Managers who identify these "failure points" and build them into the selection process can reduce hiring mistakes by as much as 25%. In most competitive sales situation, for example, the average prospect buys from a new salesperson only after six contacts. The average unsuccessful salesperson gives up after three contacts. While some of that salesperson’s techniques may be adequate, the tendency to give up after three rejections was never uncovered or evaluated.

Mistake 8: Relying on general "good guy" criteria

Everyone may want to hire good people, but being a good person does not ensure success on the job. Sales success skills are now so specialized that you need specialized hiring criteria as well. A coach filling a spot on a cricket team, for example, bases qualifications on the team’s skill. At the prep-school level, the selection criteria for a player — dexterity, confidence with the ball, desire to play — are broad. As we reach the high school or university level, the criteria are more specialized, focusing on the four general skills required for success: bowling, batting, catching and fielding. At the international level, different fielding positions require such highly specialized skills (e.g. Fielding at slip or short leg,) that no coach would rely on four general cricketing skills to choose a test player. In sales, too, reserve broad, "good guy" criteria for entry level hiring. When you need a more experienced salesperson, use more specialized criteria.

Mistake 9: Bypassing the reference check

Various recruiting and placement agencies report a fairly high percentage of false information presented in resumes and job applications. As many as 20% of job applicants try to hide some dark chapter in their lives. For some positions, one out of three resumes submitted may contain false information. To find out who’s pulling the wool over your eyes, make the extra effort to verify the information your applicants provide. An individual who twists the facts to get a job will probably bend the rules on the job. Checking references may seem tedious, but it beats the frustration and cost of hiring someone you need to fire after two months.

With the discovery of hiring mistakes comes the opportunity to make positive change. Even if you are content with most of the people you have hired so far, remember that ongoing improvement is key to success. When you are willing to revamp your standard hiring procedures, you open the door to a stronger sales team that can lead your company in a new and more profitable direction.

Peter Gilbert is CEO of Growth Partners, Johannesburg, South Africa, a Stapleton Resources certified implementation partner.

The nine most-common sales hiring mistakes

1: Relying only on interviews to evaluate a candidate

2: Using successful people as models

3: Having too many criteria

4: Evaluating "personality" instead of job skills

5: Using yourself as an example

6: Failing to use statistically validated testing to predict job skills most critical to success

7: Not researching why people have failed in a job

8: Relying on general "good guy" criteria

9: Bypassing the reference check

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

‘Ethics’ can have a variety of meaning in working with small business clients

By Sandy Swartzberg, for SBT

When we hear the term "ethics" today, it typically conjures up images of situations where there’s been a lack of ethics, for example, the fraud that’s brought down a number of large corporations in the past year.

But in working with today’s small business client, "ethics" can have a variety of meanings. And for those professionals who work with small businesses on a regular basis, it’s important to identify just what ethics can mean for small business owners.

There are five main areas to review and consider when working with small businesses: scope of representation, diligence, communication, conflict of interest and expertise.

When working with small businesses, a number of issues need to be addressed, such as: Who really is the client? What is the scope of representation and work? Do the client’s problems and demands exceed the ability to pay for services? Can these "problems and demands" be responded to in a prompt and diligent manner? What’s the most effective way to communicate with this client? Is there any potential for a conflict of interest that precludes working with this client? Do you have the expertise to handle the client’s problem?

Examine each of the following areas when considering working with small businesses:

When working with small businesses and their various service providers, it’s important to keep in mind that owners need to be regularly informed of all methods being used on their behalf as well as to abide by their decisions. It is after all, their business – literally.

The course and scope of the work can change during the working relationship based on the direction a small business takes, so services can change as well during the course of business. And as a result, service providers may wish to limit the scope of representation based on those changes. For example, while you have been retained to counsel a client regarding an employment issue, the client may be sued by another company on an unrelated matter, such as that your client’s name infringes on that company’s trademark. The client delivers the summons and complaint to your office. It is imperative that you define, or redefine, the scope of your representation, so both you and your client know whose responsibility it is to answer the complaint.

While service providers, including attorneys, should not engage in any activity in working with small businesses that is known to be criminal or fraudulent, attorneys can discuss legal consequence of a proposed course of conduct with a client and can counsel to make a good faith effort to determine the validity, scope, meaning or application of the law. Although a client’s communications with an attorney are generally considered confidential, there are exceptions. Additionally, an attorney cannot knowingly allow a client to commit perjury or any other unlawful act.

Diligence can have multiple meanings, such as "careful, thorough, conscientious, attentive." And when working with small businesses, being diligent in all aspects of the working relationship creates a win-win situation for both the small business and the service provider.

Keeping diligence in mind, communication is the foundation to creating and sustaining healthy working relationships. What’s key to communication is acting in a timely manner and that ensures helping the small business owner make informed decisions regarding the direction of their business. Both the client’s expectations of the manner and frequency of communication and the attorney’s expectations must be congruent.

Conflict of interest is one of the greatest challenges facing attorneys, and other service providers in working with small business clients. There are times when conflict of interest is apparent, such as the opportunity to represent an existing client’s competitor.

Conflicts of interest are likely to arise when representing small businesses, especially when there are multiple owners, or when the attorney is also engaged to represent employees in personal matters (such as a divorce).

Some of the issues that do arise with conflicts of interest can involve determining who exactly is the client at hand when there are organizational agreements, operating agreements, shareholder or buy-sell agreements. All parties involved are being represented collectively in the business arrangement, not individually. In addition, if the attorney, or service provider, has previously worked with one of the parties involved, it’s a good idea to get a waiver of the potential conflict in writing.

Typically with small businesses, all the parties involved can’t afford multiple representation and also fail to anticipate any problems that could lie ahead given the new opportunities for a fresh start with a new business arrangement. It’s up to the attorneys and other service providers to anticipate such problems and if nothing else, protect all parties involved.

Sandy Swartzberg is managing partner of the Swartzberg & Duggan law firm in Greenfield.

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Business leaders speak out on Doyle

Southeastern Wisconsin business executives seem to have a prevailing sense of "we’ll wait and see" as they ponder the notion of Democrat Jim Doyle as governor.

Reactions among a handful of members of the Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE) at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) range from outright pessimism to exuberant optimism about a Doyle administration.

"I just hope he keeps his campaign promise of no news taxes, but I just get the impression he’s going to just shift it around. I get the feeling we’re just going to shift the burden to the wealthy suburbs, instead of the city.

"We’re overtaxed as it is. It’s hard enough to do business in the state. I think he’s just going to shift the burden to somebody else. I just got a 47% property tax increase on my building here. I’m not optimistic."

– Steven Balistreri, president and owner, Sun Cleaning Systems, Milwaukee and Madison

"I think the big focus for the Milwaukee area is economic development, and that has so many manifestations, from creating jobs to getting monies to the municipalities from the state, and we need to look at the entire picture of development.

"Just because our economy is in a slump at the moment doesn’t mean we can’t be thinking of the future, because it isn’t going to be in a slump forever. The convention center, the hotels downtown …. We’ve got to worry as a community about the Marquette Interchange and what that is going to do to the immediate future of Milwaukee when they close the ramps down. So, I think those are huge issues.

"I think he’s in a very tough spot. I think if he’s a visionary leader, he’s going to see beyond the immediate problems and form some development task forces to look at these issues. I’m an architect, and I’m always optimistic, by nature. This recession can’t last too much longer. They never do, and the work of the world must go on."

– Charles Engberg, partner & president, Engberg Anderson Design Partnership, Milwaukee

"For me, so far in everything I’ve heard, I’m very optimistic. The issue of holding the line on taxes to make us competitive sounds very good. I don’t envy him in trying to keep that promise, because I’ve had to balance my own budget, and sometimes that means rethinking your model, and that’s something government’s not used to doing.

"God bless him. Talk about a cultural change, he’s got his hands full. That’s the first time I’ve heard those words from a Democrat, and being a strong Republican, I’ve got to support him. I think he resonates very well in the business community. With those cabinet appointments, he’s open. He’s put people around him to give him the full view."

– Peter Gottsacker, president, Wixon Fontarome, St. Francis

"Clearly, he’s walked into a difficult fiscal situation, and I hope he maintains his promises of not raising taxes, and therefore I think this only alternative is to cut spending. I’m encouraged by some of his cabinet appointments. I think there’s integrity and intelligence there, kind of outsiders, if you will, from business and the public sector. It’s the ability to make changes, to make recommendations and have those recommendations truly enacted that is the test. I remain guardedly optimistic. We’ll have to wait and see."

– Mike Mahoney, chairman & president, Park Bank, Milwaukee

"The school situation is exacerbated, you might say, by the bargaining units’ unwillingness to give up or modify more health benefits, and consequently, the non-represented employees are the ones who get their direct or indirect compensation reduced. How does he solve that problem?

"What we need to do is get the unions to agree, like everyone else, to cut their health care benefits. The fact of the matter is, the WEAC (Wisconsin Education Association Council) is supportive of him, and they have no plans to make any serious modifications, so consequently the non-bargaining units are paying the price.

"I am pessimistic. There are four heart hospitals under construction in Milwaukee as we speak. Not only do we not need new heart hospitals, we don’t need a new program. We don’t need them. I mean, think about it. Where are they going to get the nurses? I would like the state to establish an updated certificate of needs program."

– Arvid "Dick" Tilmar, chairman & CEO, T.E. Brennan Co., Milwaukee & Madison

"I don’t know if he has the courage to stay within his convictions. It seems to me, he’s talking about some significant tax cuts and not raising taxes. Then I heard right off the bat he gave his own cabinet guys a raise. I think, in order for him to be successful, he’s going to have to be real unpopular, and then he’ll be a one-term governor.

"With me, the jury’s still out. I’m being optimistic as I can, as a Republican. I guess I’m cautiously optimistic. If we as business people ran our businesses like the government does, we’d be broke in no time.

"It’s hard to fathom how that (budget deficit) happened. He has to either raise taxes or cut government spending in the budget. He has a deficit that leaves him only one thing to do if he’s going to have the courage to do what he promised."

– Gary Zimmerman, president, Creative Business Interiors, West Allis

By Steve Jagler, of SBT

Jan. 24, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee