Bill Panter has joined the Milwaukee advertising agency Octane as business development director. He previously held roles with Xerox, Dunn & Bradstreet, Johnson Controls and Kohnke Hanneken. Panter holds a bachelor of arts degree from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. The firm has also hired Jennifer Kuhn as its new art director. Kuhn, who holds a bachelor of arts degree from Concordia University of Wisconsin, in Mequon, had been art director and production artist at Core Creative.
Firstar Bank has made a number of promotions in its private client and trust services group, and in its mutual fund services group, as follows: in the private client and trust services group, Dale R. Smith, trust technical and support services manager, to executive vice president; trust account executives Elizabeth Boemer and Thomas Kender, to vice president; accountant Paul Jagielski and systems analyst Connie Michalski, to assistant vice president; and trust support service managers Jeremy Erikson, Donna Glidden, Scott Kosidowski and Scott Olson, to officer; in the mutual fund services group, Doug Hess, mutual funds compliance administrator, and Gail Zess, mutual fund relationship manager, to vice president; Thomas Gaudynski, quality and training manager, Andy Pottinger, project manager, Suzanne Riley, mutual funds compliance administrator, and Brian Smith, accounting manager, to assistant vice president; and
promoted to officer were compliance administrators Jessica Albrecht, Andrew Chica, Jason Hanson and Silviya Jordanove, and accounting manager Scott Stuempfig.
Gerry Edwards joined the staff of Spectrum Digital Services as vice president – sales and marketing. He will assume responsibility for all aspects of sales and marketing for the Hartland based manufacturer. Spectrum Digital Services is a full-service provider of quick turn CD-R and DVD-R screen printing, duplication, and multimedia development services. Edwards has more than 26 years of experience in sales and marketing for a variety of companies including Brady Corporation and Cutler-Hammer. He received a BSEE degree from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from Mercer University in Atlanta.
Jerry Arndy has been named director of sales for The Fish, 105.3 FM-radio, and The Word, 540 AM-Radio. He has held a similar position at Clear Channel Milwaukee radio and the Milwaukee Radio Alliance.
Jack Moneypenney has been promoted to the position of vice president of sales at the Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau. With 12 years of experience in the hotel industry, Moneypenney most recently was director of convention sales for the GMCVB, a position he held since 1997.
Natalie Scholberg has been named manager of the public relations division of Seroka & Associates in Waukesha. Scholberg, with more than 20 years of experience in PR, marketing and sales management, holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations and promotion from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. She is pursuing a graduate degree in integrated marketing communications from Roosevelt University in Schaumburg, Ill.
Sharon Wilcox has been hired as director of personnel services at SelectStaff, Inc., a geriatric care management firm based in Shorewood. She most recently was with Hatch Plus.
Joseph D. Bansemer has joined the firm of Fitzgerald, Clayton, James & Kasten in Milwaukee as loss control manager.
Paul G. Starkey has joined Amerihome Mortgage, of Brookfield, as national operations manager, a new position at the firm. He had been a vice president of underwriting, quality control and secondary marketing in mortgage and consumer lending at another firm in the Milwaukee area, and has 26 years of experience in the banking industry. The firm has also hired Tara M. Pfeifer as corporate operations coordinator. She is a recent graduate of Carroll College in Waukesha.
Dean Smith has been named vice president of sales at Metal Forms Corp., based in Milwaukee. Smith, who moved here from Minneapolis, has experience in building distributor networks within the construction industry.
Jan. 4, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

The following loan guarantees for ventures in southeastern Wisconsin have been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration during November:

Automated Circuit Technology I, N90 W14739 Commerce Dr., Menomonee Falls 53051, $412,000, InvestorsBank;
Butzen/Durbe, Welding & Fabrication, 3838 Enterprise Dr., Sheboygan 53083, $415,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Camelot Shores, 3101 Eagle Rd., Union Grove 53182, $293,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Casey Chiropractic Clinic, 147000 W. National Ave., New Berlin 53151, $389,000, Citizens Bank of Mukwonago;
Lana L. Cernicka and Larry’s Auto, N56 W13920 Silver Spring Dr., Menomonee Falls 53051, $630,000, Wisconsin Community Bank;
Clerc’s Pine Street Café, 150 W. Pine St., Burlington 53105, $30,000, First Banking Center;
EPM, 1213 N. Glenwood Circle,
West Bend 53090, $76,688, St. Francis Capital Corp.;
Falls Pit Stop Pizza, 1000 Fond du Lac Ave., Sheboygan Falls 53085, $31,000 Community Bank & Trust;
Johnny’s, 1129 S. 8th St.,
Sheboygan 53081, $217,000,
Community Bank & Trust;
Johnson Wood Products, W2795 Hwy. N. Plymouth 53073, $50,000, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Kaps Siding Service, 710 Union Ave., Sheboygan 53081, $80,000,
Associated Bank;
Kirkwood Holdings, 616 W.
Oakwood Rd., Oak Creek 53154, $300,000, Milwaukee Western Bank;
Quizno’s-Moorland, Moorland Commons, New Berlin 53151, $150,000, Community Bank & Trust;
RILC, 1400 S. Grand Ave., Waukesha 53186, $600,000, Waukesha State Bank;
Serpro of Milwaukee North, N114 W18605 Clinton Dr.,
Germantown 53022, $150,000, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Seven Stones Center for Wellness, 1910 & 1924 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee 53202, $90,000, Park Bank;
Sheila’s Town Fryer Restaurant, 116 N. Main St., Burlington 53105, $150,000, First Banking Center;
Roger Stevens Corp., 428 E.
Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee 53202, $138,500, Bank One;
Stockade Restaurant & Pub,
I-94, Delafield 53018, $538,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Sussex General Rental Center, N70 W25156 Indian Grass Ln.,
Sussex 53089, $70,000, First Bank
Financial Centre;
TNS Transmissions, 4004 S.
Kinnickinnic Ave., St. Francis 53225, $65,000, State Financial Bank;
Triumph Transport, 5005 S. 6th St., Milwaukee 53221, $150,000, Citizens Bank of Mukwonago;
Williamson Family Dentistry, 119 S. Silver Lake St., Oconomowoc 53066, $402,865, Fist Bank
Financial Centre;
Wisconsin Towing And Auto Service, 223 W. Grand Ave., Port Washington 53080, $22,000, Port
Washington State Bank;
Wood By Design, 5139 W. Clinton Ave., Milwaukee 53233, $162,000,
Wells Fargo Bank.
Industrial Revenue Bonding
Three southeastern Wisconsin companies are planning expansions that will partly
be financed through Industrial Revenue Bonding, according to the state Department of Commerce. The expansions are expected to lead to the creation of 59
new jobs. The projects are:
Badger Color Concentrates, Inc., Mukwonago, $2.3 million –
The company produces color concentrates for the plastics industry. It will construct and equip a 49,960-square-foot manufacturing facility. The project is expected to retain 25 jobs and create 42 jobs over the next three years at an average wage of $13.71/hour. The total project cost is $4.1 million.
Cost of Wisconsin, Inc., Town of Polk, Washington County, $3.5 million – This design/builder specializes in the fabrication, manufacturing and field installation of a variety of simulated environments in venues such as casinos, zoos, and museums. The company will acquire and equip a vacant 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The project is expected to retain 51 jobs and create 10 jobs over the next three years at an average wage of $16.38/hour. The total project cost is $4,025,000.
Rytec Corp., Jackson, $1. 5 million – Rytec Corp. manufactures high-speed rolling and folding doors for the industrial, commercial and cold storage markets. Made of a flexible, durable fabric, these doors are available in a variety of roll-up or folding styles. The company will construct and equip a 29,000-square-foot addition to its existing plant. The project will retain 67 jobs and create seven jobs over the next three years at an average wage of $15.00/hour. The total project cost is $2,558,000.

Jan. 4, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Brad Fierst has been promoted from project engineer to assistant project manager at CG Schmidt in Milwaukee. Fierst is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a bachelor’s degree in construction management and a minor in occupational safety. He has been with the company for three years.
Ron Luskin has been promoted to the position of senior associate, business development, at HGA Architects & Engineers in Milwaukee. He has been with the firm since 1999. The firm has also promoted David Janous to the position of senior associate.
Mary Denis has been promoted to the newly created position of vice president of marketing for the Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau, where she had been vice president of tourism sales & marketing. The new position will focus on leisure travel, cultural tourism, Web site and e-commerce marketing, and visitor information services. Denis has been with the bureau for more than 10 years, having been hired as tourism promotion manager in February 1991.
Jeff White has been hired as regional sales manager for Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota for St. Francis-based Wixon Fontarome. He has been in the food industry for six years, and was previously employed by another large ingredients company.
The Rev. Christopher Irelan has been named director of planned giving at Concordia University of Wisconsin, in Mequon. The university has also hired Brian Prochnow as financial analyst.
Veronica Mone and James J. Povlich have been promoted to the position of senior vice president in the Milwaukee office of Marsh, a risk and insurance services firm. Mone has been with Marsh for 14 years. Povlich joined Marsch in 1985. The firm has also named Steven J. Kolter as a senior vice president. He joined Marsh in 1989.
Renee Dudley has been appointed president and chief executive officer of the Walker’s Point Development Corp. Since August 2000, he had been the organization’s senior vice president of finance.
Tracy Nolan has been named president of the Wisconsin/Illinois region, Midwest area, for Verizon Wireless. She had been president of the Upstate New York region, assuming that position in 2000 when Frontier Cellular in Rochester, N.Y., joined Verizon. Nolan holds a degree in market research/management from Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y.
Robert L. Sowinski has joined the management team at Diversified Insurance Services, an independent agency in Waukesha. Sowinski has assumed the role of president of the firm. Jim McCormick, meanwhile, becomes chairman and CEO of Diversified., and will remain as president of the LLC. Sowinski, a graduate of Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy, has started and built a number of Milwaukee-area companies during his career. Those include Vision Insurance Plan of America, and Stein Optical Centers. Most recently, Sowinski served as president of Milwaukee-based Substance Abuse Management, Inc.
Laurie Maduscha has been named the new vice president-support, of the corporate banking division of North Shore Bank, based in Brookfield, while Jim Andritsch has been named assistant vice president-business banking officer. Maduscha joined North Shore with more than 12 years’ of banking experience, including positions at Firstar, Bank One and Associated Bank. Andritsch has been with North Shore for nearly two years.
Audra Levy has been named assistant news director at Today’s TMJ4 television station. Levy joined the WTMJ TV in 1998.
Paula Carlo has been hired as director of sales and business development at Home Care Medical in New Berlin. With six years in health-care-related management and sales, she most recently worked for VCM/Gateway.
December 7, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

New products, new services new locations, new businesses
Link Community Financial Services, a cooperative venture of Community BANCGROUP and a leading local investment firm, has opened a new office on the premises of Lincoln State Bank at 14000 W. National Ave. at the corner of Sunnyslope Road in New Berlin. Link opened its first office in the Franklin State Bank building at 7000 S. 76th St. in Franklin, earlier this year.
According to Edward H. Cichurski, president of Community BANCGROUP Financial Services, “Link Community Financial Services has been so successful in assisting investors during these volatile times that we have opened an additional office in New Berlin, an area vital to the expansion of our services. Our customers can come to us for something as simple as a single stock transaction or as complex as a multi-faceted retirement program. As opposed to many brokerage houses or other investment firms, we partner with a variety of providers with a demonstrated capability in offering such services as brokerage transactions, mutual funds, advanced investment tools, insurance and individualized financial strategies.”
Richard Finco, a Link representative, will be located at the New Berlin office. He holds an MBA and is a Certified Long-Term Care Consultant (CLTC.
In addition to the Franklin and New Berlin offices, Link is planning to open several more centers in the next two years.
Andrew Automotive Group has enhanced its technology and has added square footage at its facility at 1500 W. Silver Spring Dr. in Glendale. The upgrade includes auto robots that computerize measurements for repairs within a new 14,000-square-foot collision-repair facility.
“The computerized system allows us to measure within two millimeters of factory specs for extensive repairs, which ultimately saves time and money while enhancing accuracy,” said body shop director Steve Marek.
The auto group includes Chevrolet, Nissan and Toyota dealerships. The collision-repair center accommodates all makes and models of vehicles, said president and owner Andy Schlesinger. The addition of the facility makes the company a full-service operation. Previously, the business sent its body work to other companies.
Big Systems has moved to a new location, purchasing a building of approximately 6,000 square feet at 12599 W. Lancaster Ave. in Butler. Company President Dave Thornton said the new facility provides expanded warehouse and shipping facilities. It previously rented space in Brookfield.
Big Systems was founded in 1994 as a dealer of digital printing equipment.
The business service firm Schenck & Associates has changed its name to Schenck Business Solutions – introducing a new brand identity, and has consolidated its Milwaukee facilities in a 16,000-square-foot office space at 11414 W. Park Pl. on Milwaukee’s far northwest side. Schenck consolidated offices in Brookfield and Fox Point at the Liberty One at Park Place location, in a move handled by Wangard Partners of Wauwatosa.
The name change “better represents who we are and all of the services we offer,” said Kermit Ellefson, president of Schenck Business Solutions, which has its headquarters in Appleton. The firm, founded more than 70 years ago, now has 12 offices in Wisconsin and more than 550 employees.
Along with the name change, the company has introduced a new, elliptical-shaped logo that Ellefson says “illustrates the firm’s business direction – forward, it’s range of services – sweeping, and its innovative solutions – unbound.” The logo features a contemporary “person” with arching limbs “that personifies the fluid and constant flow of unique ideas the firm produces in this ever-changing world,” he added. The logo goes along with a new tag line, “Better People. Better Results.”
Menomonee Falls-based Cousins Subs has opened a new store at 3815 N. Brookfield Rd. in the Towne Centre shopping center in Brookfield. The new location will be operated by Bill Specht Jr., son of Cousins co-founders Bill and Sandy Specht, and by Nick and Kim Gierach, friends of the Specht family. The new operators have extensive experience within the Cousins system, Specht Jr. with 14 years and Nick Gierach with nine years of sandwich making and store managing, and Kim Gierach with experience in the corporate office.
Cousins William Specht and James Sheppard started the sandwich restaurant in Milwaukee in 1972; there are now 38 company stores. In addition, the company has 128 franchise locations in 10 states. The company has three company stores and 200 franchise stores under development. Its newest markets are Los Angeles and San Diego.
With the promotion of Mark Widmann, the CPA firm Sitzberger & Co. is now known as Sitzberger, Widmann & Co. Widmann has been a shareholder with the firm since last year, and has more than 20 years’ of public accounting experience.
A business featuring upscale cat and dog beds – The Barking Cat — has opened in Wauwatosa. Brothers John and Chad Reimer have founded the business, which is currently being operated out of John’s home but which will eventually be expanded to store-front operation with a variety of upscale pet products, John said. Manufacturing is being contracted out to area woodcrafting firms.
Business has been good so far, John said, with publicity generated at a July show in Los Angeles, and with mention in the current issue of Dog Fancy magazine as one of the most innovative pet products of the year, the Barking Cat is also marketing products off its Web site, www.thebarkingcat.net. Products are being shipped throughout the US, John said.
Along with the beds, the firm is also offering the Kitty Kabinet – a litter box is enclosed in a cat-accessible cabinet. The firm also has feeding stations as well as fish tank stands and hoods.
Wireless telephone industry veteran Tim Dunne has returned to the industry with the opening of Dunne’s Digital City, with locations at 3815 N. Brookfield Rd. in Brookfield and at 6734 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa. The stores offer telephone services and products from a variety of digital companies, such as VoiceStream, Nextel and SunCom.
Dunne intends to open two or three more stores in the coming year.
He was a former owner of Carphones Plus.
The certified public accounting firm of Bray & Co. has moved to 11707 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa, 10 blocks west of its former location.
KeleMarie Lyons, formerly a principal of H2D, a Milwaukee-based corporate image management firm, has launched Pinnacle XL. The firm is a full-service consultancy offering strategy and implementation planning for sales, marketing, operations and finance areas.
Pinnacle XL is located at 1915 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in Milwaukee.
Beamee and Creative Media Works have formed a partnership.
Beamee is an interactive new-media company that offers Web design and development, e-commerce, CD-ROM, corporate identification, and print-material services. Most recently, the company added mobile Internet services for cell phones, pagers and PDAs.
Creative Media Works is a marketing communications firm specializing in brand building, public relations, Internet strategy, promotions, copywriting and collateral design.
“We feel the partnership is unique for this market where few local Web companies combine traditional marketing strategies with these evolving technologies,” said Todd Dunsirn, president of Beamee.
The two companies share office space at 301 N. Water St. in Milwaukee.
Dec. 7, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

HIPAA requirements concern small health-plan CEO
By Charles Rathmann, SBT Reporter
Large and small HMOs alike are preparing for the regulatory onslaught represented by the privacy and security provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Small HMOs, however, just may feel more of a hit than larger ones — at least that is the suspicion of Pat Jerominski, president and CEO of Independent Care, Inc. (iCare) — a Milwaukee-based health plan for the disabled.
“I am surprised that there hasn’t been more reaction by the insurance community related to these new requirements,” Jerominski said. “A lot of them are right now kind of stunned and evaluating the impact. The idea behind it is probably a positive one. But I am not quite sure that there was a lot of thought given to the economic impact of this and the civil rights impact with confidentiality.”
iCare is a comprehensive Medicaid health care and social services program for Milwaukee County residents who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The organization provides medical, behavioral health, dental, vision and prescription drug insurance coverage to its 4,500 members through a care coordination model. Case management and intervention on the part of iCare helps Medicaid helps eliminate problems associated with duplication of or conflicting medical treatments — and hopefully achieves some cost savings as well.
The HMO was initiated as the result of a 1994 research project that suggested that the disabled poor would do well under managed care. At that point iCare — unique in the nation according to Jerominski — could be formed only by jumping through several legal and regulatory hoops. Partnerships had to be formed with both a nonprofit — Milwaukee Center for Independent Living — and a for-profit licensed HMO — in this case, Humana.
“We started out as shared risk,” Jerominski said. “If we had 2% profit, anything above that would be shared with the state — same thing for losses. This was in effect since 1997.”
Shared risk refers to a system of insurance where the administrator of a plan receives compensation based on reduced cost and usage of services by patients. Part of the money not used goes into a shared risk pool.
However, over time, iCare demonstrated stable-enough fiscal returns to convince the state to allow it to operate as a more traditional HMO.
“We now receive a per-member per-month fee for all state-provided services excluding chiropractic,” Jerominski said. “We are the only one with full-risk capitation.”
Ensuring quality care and black-ink fiscal results has been a challenge, Jerominski said, because of the nature of the population served.
“The population is different than we supposed,” Jerominski said. “In addition to physical problems, 42% have chronic mental illness. There are also co-morbid illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and musculo-skeletal issues. Of our premium revenue, over 25% goes to pharmacy costs. In traditional settings, pharmacy costs are rising but of premium revenue, it is still only 10% to 15%.”
So Jerominski has enough on her hands even before she starts worrying about the privacy and security provisions of HIPAA.
HIPAA headaches
Jerominski said iCare hired a consultant to analyze the impact the privacy and security requirements of HIPAA would have on our operations.
“We will be bearing significant administrative loads,” Jerominski said. “This will significantly affect all our internal systems — including our network infrastructure — one of our core assets. The security and the documentation standards that need to be developed and followed are significant. We are beginning the process of the cost analysis. We need to identify the budget impact.”
To complicate matters further, iCare used to outsource many of the functions that would be regulated under the HIPAA security rule, but recently opted to take on those functions themselves.
“We made a system conversion as of March 1 — we had subcontracted with the Humana network — but pulled it in-house,” Jerominski said. “We now have more control, but we only have 15 employees. In the meantime, we have the same standards as a Humana, which has thousands of employees.”
But there is an upside, according to Jerominski. HIPAA will also require health-care organizations — providers, insurance carriers and others — to utilize a standard format for information interchange. Jerominski said iCare will probably benefit from this requirement.
“Up front, there will be a lot of cost,” Jerominski said. “But because we are in the regulatory environment and we deal with Medicare and Medicaid … Medicare has different requirements than Medicaid. Right now, the identifiers for services rendered can be different and the documentation can be different. One reason the feds did this was to bring these two programs together. But still, consultants will have a field day with this.”
While efficiencies should be gained by streamlining documentation between Medicare and Medicaid, substantial work must be done on the federal and state levels to make those efficiencies a reality.
I called the Department of Health and Human Services, and when we ask them about this — that say ‘we don’t know yet.’ They are not even preparing for it yet,” Jerominski said. “Provider files and codes are not up to date yet for Medicaid.”
Apart from the IT and aspects of the privacy and security rules that affect hardware and software, another challenge will be re-educating iCare’s wetware — the people.
“We have situations — because of the clients we serve — where we have care coordinators and case managers that talk in the hallways about a certain case,” Jerominski said. “How do we train people to understand you can not talk in an elevator or outside your cubicle? People with this privacy act might focus on the systems side — but they also have to concentrate on their personnel issues.”
Nov. 9, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Employee needs to be self-disciplined; manager needs to offer constant feedback
By Daniel Schroeder, for SBT
Question: We are a recruiting firm for computer professionals. About four years ago, one of our employees, a man in his 30s, decided he wanted to operate out of his home. Part of his reasoning was that his productivity would increase if he saved time commuting and avoided all of the distractions in the office. After four years of this, he has decided he wants to come back inside. He tells us that he’s gotten tired of ducking into the laundry room to field phone calls while his babies are screaming in the background. Wasn’t telecommuting going to solve his productivity problems? What are the keys to productivity that he evidently is missing?
Answer: While some people adapt well to working from home, telecommuting isn’t for everyone. Still, more and more people are working from home – the Bureau of National Affairs tells us that at least 15 million Americans do so everyday. Being self-starting and self-disciplined is the foundation for being successful working from home. Absent these attributes, people can really struggle with the lack of structure offered by a home-based office. Additionally, as your question points out, home is not always the most professional setting. Conducting telephone conversations or interviews with crying babies in the background simply does not send the right message.
How could this employee have been more successful? Five suggestions come to mind:
Act as if you work in a traditional office: Establish a regular work routine in terms of starting time, break time, lunch time, quitting time, etc. Get dressed and establish a part of your home as your workspace.
Stay in touch with your traditional office: Maintain communication with your colleagues and attend meetings on-site, as needed. Don’t wait for the phone to ring – initiate contact with your teammates.
Separate your personal life from your professional life: Babysitting, watching Oprah, visiting with neighbors, etc., should be done outside of work hours. Make time for your personal life – it’s very important- but recognize that it normally doesn’t lend to staying productive.
Take regular breaks: One of the traps of working at home is to simply be “on” from morning until evening. Unless you’re careful, you can become a prisoner of your home office. Schedule times to get up and get away from the task at-hand.
Use information technology to stay in the loop: You can make use of software programs and Internet search skills to access and use a variety of information. Working at home does not mean that you have to be isolated.
All employees, whether they work at home or in the office, can benefit from reflecting on the techniques they are (and are not) employing to be productive. Think about it. What if you could get even 15 minutes more productive work done each day of the week? Simple math tells us that would bring a gain of 75 minutes each week and five hours each month. That’s a significant improvement. What if each of your colleagues realized the same gains?
Undoubtedly, you’d be setting performance standards for the rest of the company.
To become more productive, here are some factors for employees to consider:
Begin each day with a distinct sense of purpose: Each day when you enter the office, decide what must be accomplished. What’s the goal for today? How does it impact tomorrow? The next day?
Work as efficiently as possible: Rather than simply plunging into your work, spend a few minutes planning the approach you will use and making sure that you have the necessary tools and resources.
Keep your workspace clean: At the risk of stating the obvious, clutter is unproductive. Time spent looking for misplaced items is simply wasted time. At the end of each workday, clean up your workspace. You’ll feel better in the morning confronting “clean” rather than “chaos.”
Be on time: Another simple truth – you cannot be productive if you are not present. Joining the meeting after it has started slows everyone down and beginning your day late means that you have less time to accomplish the day’s work. Rule number one for personal productivity should be, “Be on time.”
Avoid procrastination: This is an obvious suggestion. You can’t be productive if you don’t get started. To avoid falling into this trap, start with the worst task first. In this way, subsequent tasks will serve as rewards.
Avoid workaholism: Just as obvious is the suggestion to avoid having work become the focus of your life. While some workaholics can be high achieving, productive, and healthy, over time, for most people the outcome of a steady diet of work and more work will be stress and burnout. Learn to balance your personal and professional lives.
Prioritize: Focus on what’s important by attaching a level of significance to each task with which you are confronted. Is it important? How important is it compared with what else is on my desk? Must I take care of this now? What happens if I wait until later? Learn to realize that not everything that comes across your desk needs to be attended to now.
Stay in control of your desk: Check your mail box/in-basket twice per day. Handle each document only one time – take action on it, file it, or pitch it. Do not create stacks (remember the suggestion to keep your desk clean?). Same thing for e-mail. Check it twice per day and scan what requires action and what can be put in the trash. Permanently delete messages that you will not refer to in the future – they are nothing more than clutter-the electronic equivalent of stacks of paper on your desk.
In order for your employee to become as productive as possible, he will need to incorporate these (and other) strategies into his behavioral repertoire. To do so, will require him to receive feedback and coaching about how he is doing. That is an important role that you can play. From my way of thinking, this is one of the most important things a manager can do: Offer feedback about the processes employees are using, as well as the outcomes they are achieving. By focusing on both the how and the what of their functions, employees can become more productive regardless of where they carry out their work.
Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D. of Organization Development Consultants, Inc. (ODC), in Brookfield provides HR Connection. Small Business Times readers who would like to see an issue addressed in a future column may reach him at 262-827-1901, via fax at 262-827-8383, or via e-mail at schroeder@odcons.com.
November 9, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

HIPAA requirements concern small health-plan CEO
By Charles Rathmann, SBT Reporter
Large and small HMOs alike are preparing for the regulatory onslaught represented by the privacy and security provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Small HMOs, however, just may feel more of a hit than larger ones — at least that is the suspicion of Pat Jerominski, president and CEO of Independent Care, Inc. (iCare) — a Milwaukee-based health plan for the disabled.
“I am surprised that there hasn’t been more reaction by the insurance community related to these new requirements,” Jerominski said. “A lot of them are right now kind of stunned and evaluating the impact. The idea behind it is probably a positive one. But I am not quite sure that there was a lot of thought given to the economic impact of this and the civil rights impact with confidentiality.”
iCare is a comprehensive Medicaid health care and social services program for Milwaukee County residents who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The organization provides medical, behavioral health, dental, vision and prescription drug insurance coverage to its 4,500 members through a care coordination model. Case management and intervention on the part of iCare helps Medicaid helps eliminate problems associated with duplication of or conflicting medical treatments — and hopefully achieves some cost savings as well.
The HMO was initiated as the result of a 1994 research project that suggested that the disabled poor would do well under managed care. At that point iCare — unique in the nation according to Jerominski — could be formed only by jumping through several legal and regulatory hoops. Partnerships had to be formed with both a nonprofit — Milwaukee Center for Independent Living — and a for-profit licensed HMO — in this case, Humana.
“We started out as shared risk,” Jerominski said. “If we had 2% profit, anything above that would be shared with the state — same thing for losses. This was in effect since 1997.”
Shared risk refers to a system of insurance where the administrator of a plan receives compensation based on reduced cost and usage of services by patients. Part of the money not used goes into a shared risk pool.
However, over time, iCare demonstrated stable-enough fiscal returns to convince the state to allow it to operate as a more traditional HMO.
“We now receive a per-member per-month fee for all state-provided services excluding chiropractic,” Jerominski said. “We are the only one with full-risk capitation.”
Ensuring quality care and black-ink fiscal results has been a challenge, Jerominski said, because of the nature of the population served.
“The population is different than we supposed,” Jerominski said. “In addition to physical problems, 42% have chronic mental illness. There are also co-morbid illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and musculo-skeletal issues. Of our premium revenue, over 25% goes to pharmacy costs. In traditional settings, pharmacy costs are rising but of premium revenue, it is still only 10% to 15%.”
So Jerominski has enough on her hands even before she starts worrying about the privacy and security provisions of HIPAA.
HIPAA headaches
Jerominski said iCare hired a consultant to analyze the impact the privacy and security requirements of HIPAA would have on our operations.
“We will be bearing significant administrative loads,” Jerominski said. “This will significantly affect all our internal systems — including our network infrastructure — one of our core assets. The security and the documentation standards that need to be developed and followed are significant. We are beginning the process of the cost analysis. We need to identify the budget impact.”
To complicate matters further, iCare used to outsource many of the functions that would be regulated under the HIPAA security rule, but recently opted to take on those functions themselves.
“We made a system conversion as of March 1 — we had subcontracted with the Humana network — but pulled it in-house,” Jerominski said. “We now have more control, but we only have 15 employees. In the meantime, we have the same standards as a Humana, which has thousands of employees.”
But there is an upside, according to Jerominski. HIPAA will also require health-care organizations — providers, insurance carriers and others — to utilize a standard format for information interchange. Jerominski said iCare will probably benefit from this requirement.
“Up front, there will be a lot of cost,” Jerominski said. “But because we are in the regulatory environment and we deal with Medicare and Medicaid … Medicare has different requirements than Medicaid. Right now, the identifiers for services rendered can be different and the documentation can be different. One reason the feds did this was to bring these two programs together. But still, consultants will have a field day with this.”
While efficiencies should be gained by streamlining documentation between Medicare and Medicaid, substantial work must be done on the federal and state levels to make those efficiencies a reality.
I called the Department of Health and Human Services, and when we ask them about this — that say ‘we don’t know yet.’ They are not even preparing for it yet,” Jerominski said. “Provider files and codes are not up to date yet for Medicaid.”
Apart from the IT and aspects of the privacy and security rules that affect hardware and software, another challenge will be re-educating iCare’s wetware — the people.
“We have situations — because of the clients we serve — where we have care coordinators and case managers that talk in the hallways about a certain case,” Jerominski said. “How do we train people to understand you can not talk in an elevator or outside your cubicle? People with this privacy act might focus on the systems side — but they also have to concentrate on their personnel issues.”
Nov. 9, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

SBA loans
The following loan guarantees have been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration during September:
Advanced Business Methods, 3433 N. 38th St., Milwaukee 53216; $130,900, Wells Fargo Bank;
Advanced Metal Treating-Butler, 4501 N. 127th St., Butler 53007, $150,000, Waukesha State Bank;
Bechler Trucking, W6889 Cemetery Rd., Van Dyne 54979, $118,300, Bank One;
CL&D Digital, 1101 W. Second St., Oconomowoc 53066, $227,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Complete Animal Care Center, Highway 164, Waukesha 53186, $1.3 million, CIT Small Business Lending Corp.;
E&M Citgo, 3708 W. North Ave., Milwaukee 53208, $459,400, Legacy Bank;
Faber Building Center, $425,000, N3280 Oak Center Rd., Oakfield 53065, $425,000, Hometown Bank;
Family Options Funeral and Cremation, 4305 S. Green Bay Rd., Racine 53403, $51,300, Bank One;
Frank’s Diner, 508 58th St., Kenosha 53143, $90,000, Bank of Kenosha;
Gabrielse Enterprises, 2724 Kohler Memorial Dr., Sheboygan 53081, $29,000, Community Bank & Trust;
G and B Auto Sales, 3630 S. Chase Ave., Milwaukee 53225, $150,000, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Homan Auto Sales, H240 Gateway Dr., Waupun 53963, $424,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Jamie K. Marchi, DDS, 5326 Quail Rd., Sheboygan 53083, $125,000, Associated Bank;
John M. Ellsworth Co., 7301 W. Dean Rd., Milwaukee 53223, $150,000, Investors Bank;
Lathrop Pantry, 1933 Lathrop Ave., Racine 53405, $750,000, Community State Bank;
Mobil, 1127 E. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee 53207, $560,000, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Nelson Fuels, Highway 60, Hartford 53027, $181,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Neubauer Fabrications, 19401 W. Mequon Rd., Germantown 53022, $266,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Elahe Parajon, DDS, 7155 N. Port Washington Rd., Milwaukee 53217, $135,000, Newcourt Small Business Lending Corp.;
Peebles Auto Center, Highway 23, Fond du Lac 54935, $60,000, Investors Community Bank;
Prosperity Mortgage, 8701 W. Capitol Dr., Milwaukee 53222, $30,000, State Financial Bank;
RPS Corp. and Mid Centra, 1711 S. Central, Racine 53404, $756,000, Racine County Business Development Corp,;
Subway, 6733 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa 53213, $120,000, Wells Fargo Bank;
Tan Lines & Fingertips, 2719 18th St., Kenosha 53144, $85,000, Bank of Kenosha;
The Dollar Store, 102C, 102B Village Walk Ln., Oconomowoc 53066, $85,000, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Therm Tech of Waukesha, 301 Travis Ln., Waukesha 53189, $271,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
United Fitness Center, N85 W15960 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls 53050, $425,000, Milwaukee Western Bank.
William Matthews, CPA, 14040 W. Capitol Dr., $221,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.
November 9, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukeex

Employee needs to be self-disciplined; manager needs to offer constant feedback
By Daniel Schroeder, for For SBT
Question: We are a recruiting firm for computer professionals. About four years ago, one of our employees, a man in his 30s, decided he wanted to operate out of his home. Part of his reasoning was that his productivity would increase if he saved time commuting and avoided all of the distractions in the office. After four years of this, he has decided he wants to come back inside. He tells us that he’s gotten tired of ducking into the laundry room to field phone calls while his babies are screaming in the background. Wasn’t telecommuting going to solve his productivity problems? What are the keys to productivity that he evidently is missing?
Answer: While some people adapt well to working from home, telecommuting isn’t for everyone. Still, more and more people are working from home – the Bureau of National Affairs tells us that at least 15 million Americans do so everyday. Being self-starting and self-disciplined is the foundation for being successful working from home. Absent these attributes, people can really struggle with the lack of structure offered by a home-based office. Additionally, as your question points out, home is not always the most professional setting. Conducting telephone conversations or interviews with crying babies in the background simply does not send the right message.
How could this employee have been more successful? Five suggestions come to mind:
Act as if you work in a traditional office: Establish a regular work routine in terms of starting time, break time, lunch time, quitting time, etc. Get dressed and establish a part of your home as your workspace.
Stay in touch with your traditional office: Maintain communication with your colleagues and attend meetings on-site, as needed. Don’t wait for the phone to ring – initiate contact with your teammates.
Separate your personal life from your professional life: Babysitting, watching Oprah, visiting with neighbors, etc., should be done outside of work hours. Make time for your personal life – it’s very important- but recognize that it normally doesn’t lend to staying productive.
Take regular breaks: One of the traps of working at home is to simply be “on” from morning until evening. Unless you’re careful, you can become a prisoner of your home office. Schedule times to get up and get away from the task at-hand.
Use information technology to stay in the loop: You can make use of software programs and Internet search skills to access and use a variety of information. Working at home does not mean that you have to be isolated.
All employees, whether they work at home or in the office, can benefit from reflecting on the techniques they are (and are not) employing to be productive. Think about it. What if you could get even 15 minutes more productive work done each day of the week? Simple math tells us that would bring a gain of 75 minutes each week and five hours each month. That’s a significant improvement. What if each of your colleagues realized the same gains?
Undoubtedly, you’d be setting performance standards for the rest of the company.
To become more productive, here are some factors for employees to consider:
Begin each day with a distinct sense of purpose: Each day when you enter the office, decide what must be accomplished. What’s the goal for today? How does it impact tomorrow? The next day?
Work as efficiently as possible: Rather than simply plunging into your work, spend a few minutes planning the approach you will use and making sure that you have the necessary tools and resources.
Keep your workspace clean: At the risk of stating the obvious, clutter is unproductive. Time spent looking for misplaced items is simply wasted time. At the end of each workday, clean up your workspace. You’ll feel better in the morning confronting “clean” rather than “chaos.”
Be on time: Another simple truth – you cannot be productive if you are not present. Joining the meeting after it has started slows everyone down and beginning your day late means that you have less time to accomplish the day’s work. Rule number one for personal productivity should be, “Be on time.”
Avoid procrastination: This is an obvious suggestion. You can’t be productive if you don’t get started. To avoid falling into this trap, start with the worst task first. In this way, subsequent tasks will serve as rewards.
Avoid workaholism: Just as obvious is the suggestion to avoid having work become the focus of your life. While some workaholics can be high achieving, productive, and healthy, over time, for most people the outcome of a steady diet of work and more work will be stress and burnout. Learn to balance your personal and professional lives.
Prioritize: Focus on what’s important by attaching a level of significance to each task with which you are confronted. Is it important? How important is it compared with what else is on my desk? Must I take care of this now? What happens if I wait until later? Learn to realize that not everything that comes across your desk needs to be attended to now.
Stay in control of your desk: Check your mail box/in-basket twice per day. Handle each document only one time — take action on it, file it, or pitch it. Do not create stacks (remember the suggestion to keep your desk clean?). Same thing for e-mail. Check it twice per day and scan what requires action and what can be put in the trash. Permanently delete messages that you will not refer to in the future — they are nothing more than clutter-the electronic equivalent of stacks of paper on your desk.
In order for your employee to become as productive as possible, he will need to incorporate these (and other) strategies into his behavioral repertoire. To do so, will require him to receive feedback and coaching about how he is doing. That is an important role that you can play. From my way of thinking, this is one of the most important things a manager can do: Offer feedback about the processes employees are using, as well as the outcomes they are achieving. By focusing on both the how and the what of their functions, employees can become more productive regardless of where they carry out their work.
Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D. of Organization Development Consultants, Inc. (ODC), in Brookfield provides HR Connection. Small Business Times readers who would like to see an issue addressed in a future column may reach him at 262-827-1901, via fax at 262-827-8383, or via e-mail at schroeder@odcons.com.
November 9, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Attorney Phillip R. Maples has been elected a shareholder in the law firm of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek in Milwaukee. He is a member of the firm’s Trusts and Estates and Business Practice Groups. Maples joined WHD in 1996. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison earning a B.A., with honors, in 1988 and a J.D. in 1992.
Betty Brinn Children’s Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of
Michael Brey has been named development director at Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee. He is a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee graduate with a bachelor of science degree in education. Most recently, Brey spent three years as the executive director for the Wisconsin branch of the American Diabetes Association.
Frank Yaeger has been named associate creative director at Charleston
Orwig, Inc., in Hartland. Yaeger had been a senior art director at the agency since 1997. Yaeger began his career as an illustrator with Holoubek Studios, Waukesha, and has also worked for two other Milwaukee-area advertising agencies.
Mike Archie has joined Delafield State Bank as senior vice president on the organization’s Business Banking team. He had been a senior vice president at M&I Lake Country Bank. Archie, a Delafield native, began his banking career after graduating from UW-Milwaukee in 1972.
Brad E. Hallmark has been hired as director of client services for the recently-launched risk management and insurance brokerage firm Integrated Risk Solutions, in Delafield. Hallmark was most recently a liability case manager at Wausau Insurance Companies, where he had worked since 1992. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and business management from Beloit College.
Greg Zastrow has been named studio director in the senior living and residential studio at Eppstein Uhen Architects of Milwaukee. He will remain active in project work as well as client contact. He has been with the firm for 14 years and was named a principal in 1998.
Brenda Thompson has been promoted to the position of assistant front office manager at Four Points by Sheraton Milwaukee Airport. The hotel also promoted Jenny Zajaczowski from the position of reservationist to group rooms coordinator, and hired Laura Symmonds as convention services sales manager. She had previously been with the Radisson Milwaukee Airport.
Steven C. Johnson and Wade T. Balson have been promoted to the position of managers of audit and accounting at the Lake Michigan Client Service Center of Clifton Gunderson. Johnson, a UW-Eau Claire graduate, has been with the firm for seven years. Balson, a UW-Milwaukee graduate, has been with the firm since 1997.
Hatch Staffing Services has promoted Rebecca Davis to the position of office manager at its Mayfair office in Wauwatosa. She had been a senior staffing consultant with the firm, and is a UW-Oshkosh graduate.
Frank Kopecky has been appointed senior vice president at Frank F. Haack & Associates in Wauwatosa. He has been with the insurance services firm for more than 10 years.
Patty Andree has been hired as business development coordinator with the Milwaukee insurance services firm Fitzgerald, Clayton & James.
Anne Catalane has joined the Milwaukee Catholic Home as director of leisure activities. She had earlier been a lead traffic reporter for WISN-Channel 12.
Tim Brouillette has been named information technology project manager at Roman TechNet, a division of Roman Electric Co. He had been an IT consultant with Tek Systems since 1999 and had earlier been with Case Corp. in Racine.
Ben Sherman has joined Sun Tzu Security in Milwaukee as its new executive vice president of business development. Sherman previously served at EDS as theaArea director of sales for Wisconsin. While at EDS, he was responsible for opening the Wisconsin sales office and implementing e-business projects in the areas of e-commerce, supply chain management, customer relationship management, and business intelligence. Prior to EDS, Sherman was the national account executive for Inacom. Sherman is best known to Wisconsinites as the host of Wisconsin Sports Weekend on WTMJ-AM 620 Radio. Sherman is a graduate of Loyola University.
John Berg has been named director of sales and business development at The Olson Co. of Waukesha. He brings 17 years’ experience in transportation, logistics and supply-chain management to Olson. He had previously been with United Parcel Service.
Kathryn M. Kant has been named marketing director of human resource services for StaffOne in Milwaukee.
August 31, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

www.stritch.edu
Full-time MBA
Location: Milwaukee/Brookfield, Kenosha/Racine, Manitowoc/Sheboygan/Lake Geneva, Green Bay/Appleton
Focus: General management, health care
Program length: 2.5
Classes offered: One night per week
Start Dates: Rolling
Accreditation: North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs
Total cost: Part-time tuition $390 per credit
Application fee/deadline: $25; Rolling
Typical class size: 14-22
Year program began: 1986
Unique attributes: Students provided with notebook computers; some of the classes offered online; first non-traditional program in the nation to receive accreditation under ACBSP’s acceditation under its Option B (Baldrige Quality Criteria.)
Carthage College
www.carthage.edu
Executive MBA from Loyola University
Location: Kenosha
Focus: General management with international and ethics components
Program length: 18 months
Classes offered: Every other Friday and Saturday, three one-week in-residence classroom sessions and eight-day international study trip
Start Dates: August
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $43,450
Application fee/deadline: $100/June 30
Typical class size: 27
Year program began: 1997
Unique attributes: Consistently among the top 10% of all MBA programs in the country; listed as the “16th Best Part-Time MBA program” by U.S. News and World Report. Resources and reputation of a large university with the personal attention of a small liberal arts college.
Concordia University
www.cuw.edu
Full-time or Part-time MBA
Location: Mequon
Focus: Health care, finance, church administration, global business, human resources management, managerial communication, management information systems, public administration, risk management, marketing, general management
Program length: 26 months
Classes offered: Evenings, one night per week
Start Dates: 8 times per year
Accreditation: North Central Accreditation
Total cost: $375 per credit
Application fee/deadline: $35; None
Typical class size: 12:1 student ratio
Year program began: 1991
Unique attributes: Christian institution; flexible class schedule; distance learning classes always an option; no thesis required for graduation
Concordia’s Distance-learning MBA:
Focus: Health care, finance, church administration, global business, human resources management, managerial communication, management information systems, public administration, risk management, marketing, feneral management
Program length: 26 months
Start Dates: Every 8 weeks
Accreditation: North Central Accreditation
Total cost: $375 per credit
Application fee/deadline: $35; None
Year program began: 1998
Keller Graduate School of Management
www.keller.edu
Full-time, Part-time, Distance/Online MBA
Location: Milwaukee, Waukesha
Focus: Accounting, electronic commerce management, general management, human resources, finance project management, information systems management, international business, marketing, public administration, telecommunication management, health services
Program length: 1.5 to 3 years
Classes offered: Evenings one night per week, Saturdays, Online
Start Dates: 5 times per year
Accreditation: North Central Association
Total cost: $1,350 per course
Application fee/deadline: No fee; Rolling
Typical class size: 15-20
Year program began: 1973
Unique attributes: Online program ranked in the Top 5 by Computer World Magazine; most courses don’t have prerequisites; after graduation, students can come back and take enhancement courses for $150 per course
Lakeland College
Part-time MBA with distance-learning option
Location: Sheboygan, Green Bay
Focus: Accounting, international business
Program length: 3 to 4 years
Classes offered: Evenings, one night per week
Start Dates: 3 times per year
Accreditation: North Central Association
Total cost: $780 per 3-credit course; $825 per 3-credit online course
Application fee/deadline: $25; by the end of the third course taken
Typical class size: 20
Year program began: 1993;
online courses: 1999
Unique attributes: Students can take courses to try program before going through the admission process
Marquette University
www.mu.edu
MU’s part-time MBA
Location: Milwaukee, Kohler, Waukesha
Focus: Marketing, economics, accounting, leadership, quality management, finance, international business
Program length: 36 months
Classes offered: Evenings and/or Saturdays
Start Dates: Sept., Jan., May
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $585 per credit hour (overall cost $22,00 to $27,500)
Application fee/deadline: $40; Rolling
Typical class size: 26; off-site 35-40
Year program began: 1952
Unique attributes: Regular tenured faculty teach at off-campus sites; small class sizes; believe personal attention is important
MU’s full-time MBA
Location: Milwaukee
Focus: Marketing, economics, accounting, leadership, quality management, finance, international business
Program length: 18 months
Classes offered: Evenings and/or Saturdays
Start Dates: Sept., Jan., May
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $585 per credit hour (overall cost $22,000 to $27,500)
Application fee/deadline: $40; Rolling
Typical class size: 26; off-site 35-40
Year program began: 1952
MU’s full-time, part-time Executive MBA
Location: Milwaukee
Focus: International business
Program length: 17 months
Classes offered: All day Friday and Saturday every other week
Start Dates: August
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $35,000 all encompassing
Application fee/deadline: $40; Rolling
Typical class size: 30
Year program began: 1996
Unique attributes: Tuition includes books, food, laptop computer, and 9-day international trip
University of Phoenix – Milwaukee
www.phoenix.edu
Part-time MBA
Location: Brookfield
Focus: Technology management, general management, e-business, health care management, accounting
Program length: 3 years
Classes offered: One night per week
Start Dates: Once a month
Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission
Total cost: $365 per credit hour
Application fee/deadline: $110; Rolling
Typical class size: 15-17
Year program began: 2001
Unique attributes: Students must be working adults and be able to apply what they do for a living in the classroom
Phoenix’s distance/Online MBA
Focus: General management, accounting, e-business, global management, health care management, technology management
Program length: 3 years
Start Dates: Once a month
Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission
Total cost: $495 per credit hour
Application fee/deadline: $110; Rolling
Year program began: 1989
Unique attributes: One of the most recognized online programs in the country, very easy to complete courses from anywhere.
Upper Iowa University
www.uiu.edu
Distance/Online MBA
Focus: Accounting, quality management, management, organizational development
Program length: 2 years
Start Dates: Rolling
Accreditation: The Higher Learning Commission
Total cost: $870 per 3-credit course
Application fee/deadline: $50; Rolling
Year program began: 1999
Unique attributes: Do most of work offline and then log into site to post assignments so as not to tie up phone lines
UW-Madison
www.wisc.edu
Madison’s full-time MBA
Location: Madison
Focus: Accounting and information systems; agribusiness; applied security analysis; applied corporate finance; entrepreneurship; finance, investment and banking; general management; information systems analysis and design; international business; management and human resources; manufacturing and technology management; operations and information management; marketing; marketing research; real estate and urban land economics; risk management and insurance; supply chain management
Program length: 4 semesters
Classes offered: Monday-Thursday during the day
Start Dates: Sept.
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: Per semester, Wisconsin resident: $3,854.55; Non-resident: $11,001.75; Minnesota resident: $7,268.55
Application fee/deadline: $45; Apr. 15
Typical class size: 30
Year program began: 1945
Unique attributes: Ability to choose a functional major; real hands-on experience in class projects
Madison’s part-time MBA
Location: Madison
Focus: General management
Program length: 3 years
Classes offered: Monday and Thursday evenings
Start Dates: Sept.
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $11,940 per year
Application fee/deadline: $45; Apr. 1
Typical class size: 40
Year program began: 1998
Unique attributes: Lock-step program allows students to start and stay with the same people and build network relations
Madison’s Executive MBA location: Madison
Focus: General management
Program length: 2 years
Classes offered: One week then Friday and Saturday every other week
Start Dates: Aug.
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $21,000 per year, all encompassing
Application fee/deadline: $50; June 1
Typical class size: 32
Year program began: 1993
Unique attributes: Small size, virtually no attrition, optional international trip second year
UW-Milwaukee
www.uwm.edu
UWM’s full-time or part-time MBA
Location: Milwaukee
Focus: Cost management and ERP, entrepreneurship, financial strategy, global strategy, Information technology management, investment management, leadership, management of human resources, managing Innovations and new products, marketing strategies, non-profit management
Program length: 16 months; 4 years
Classes offered: Evenings
Start Dates: Sept.
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: Resident tuition: $1,507 per 3-credit course
Application fee/deadline: $45; rolling
Typical class size: 30
Year program began: 1971
Unique attributes: Consolidated foundation courses;state of the art technology; study abroad opportunities;
UWM’s full-time Executive MBA
Location: Milwaukee
Focus: Senior general management
Program length: 22 months
Classes offered: One day alternate Fridays or Saturdays
Start Dates: Aug.
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $34,000
Application fee/deadline: $45; prefer applications by May1
Typical class size: 35-40
Year program began: 1974
Unique attributes: One of the oldest programs in the country, required international residency trip
UW-Parkside
www.uwp.edu
Full-time or part-time MBA with distance-learning option
Location: Kenosha
Focus: Accounting, general business, human resource management, finance, marketing, management information systems
Program length: 4 semesters
Classes offered: Evenings, Online
Start Dates: Sept., Jan., May
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: Part-time tuition: $263.85 per credit (resident), $809.85 per credit (non-resident)
Application fee/deadline: $45; Aug., Dec. Apr.
Typical class size: 15-20
Year program began: 1981
Unique attributes: New 8-week courses should allow students to accumulate more credits per semester and finish program sooner
UW-Whitewater
www.uww.edu
UW-W’s full-time or part-time MBA
Location: Whitewater
Focus: Management, marketing, finance, human resources management, international business
Program length: Full-time 2 years; Part-time 3-4 years
Classes offered: Evenings, one night per week
Start Dates: Aug., Jan.
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $261.60 (resident), $758.60 per credit (non-resident)
Application fee/deadline: None
Typical class size: 28
Year program began: 1975
Unique attributes: The program is endorsed online so a student is not required to come to campus; highly interactive
UW-W’s distance/Online MBA
Focus: Management, marketing, finance, human resources management, international business
Program length: Varies
Classes offered: Online
Start Dates: Rolling
Accreditation: AACSB
Total cost: $550 per credit
Application fee/deadline: None
Typical class size: 36
Year program began: 1997
– Data compiled by Bridget Dorrycott of SBT
– Small Business Times, Milwaukee, August 31, 2001

All for Paws and Watertown Can, 740 N. Cburch St., Watertown 53098, $55,000, Ixonia State Bank;
Amerihost Inn & Suites, 1355 W. Main St., Whitewater 53190, $712,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Badger State Lighting, 1701 Pearl St., Waukesha 53186, $487,212, Sunset Bank & Savings;
The Bath Junkie, 2024 Northview, Waukesha 53188, $50,000, Milwaukee Western Bank;
Culver’s of Kenosha, 1407 W. Grand Ave., Port Washington 53074, $415,000, Wisconsin Community Bank;
D’Amato Bakery, 5040 S. 18th St., Milwaukee 53221, $20,600 and $58,000, Bank One;
Dollar Delight, N29 W6291 Lincoln Blvd., Cedarburg 53012, $150,000, St. Francis Bank;
Ethan D. Meyer, DPM, 1177 Quail Ct., Pewaukee 53072, $45,000, First Financial Bank Centre;
Farrell’s Fine Furnishings, 214 Watson St., Ripon 54971, $50,000, Horicon State Bank;
Follicle Hair Studio, 817 S. 5th St., Milwaukee 53204, $115,000, Lincoln Community Bank;
Four Lakes Athletic Club, 351 E. Morrissey Dr., Elkhorn 53121, $1.3 million, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Framers Corner & Gallery, 5407 Spring St., Racine 53406, $94,000, Community State Bank;
Geneva Pie Co., 647 W. Main St., Lake Geneva 53147, $140,300, Bank One;
Guy & O’Neill, Inc., 617 Tower Dr., Fredonia 53021, $1,027,000, Investors Bank;
Jacks or Better, 125 Milwaukee St., Johnson Creek 53035, $131,700, Bank One;
JR’s Exvacating, N6000 County Road PS, Hartford 53027, $80,300, Bank One;
Koskinen Eye Clinic, 3266 W. Main St., Ste. B, East Troy 53120, $95,000, Citizens Bank of Mukwonago;
Kresken Concrete, 532 E. Jefferson St., Burlington 53105, $74,000, First Banking Center;
LMT-Maritime, 832 Niagara Ave., Sheboygan 53081, $1,703,000, Community Bak & Trust;
Meyers Westside Lanes, 1515 New Jersey Ave., Sheboygan 53081, $205,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Midwest Powder Coaters, 3090 Polk St., Richfield 53076, $83,900, National Exchange Bank & Trust;
Modular Exteriors, 2884 North St., East Troy 53120, $112,000, Citizens Bank of Mukwonago;
Mother Knows Best,162 W. Main St., Whitewater 53190, $60,000, 1st Citizens State Bank of Whitewater;
Mystical Concepts, 303 E. Monroe Ave., Hartford 53027, $49,000, First Financial Bank Centre;
Palate Pleasers, 1005 Richards Rd., Ste. C, Hartland 53029, $90,000, First Financial Bank Centre;
Papa Murphy’s Take N’ Bake Pizza, 605 Lilac Ln., West Bend 53095, $125,000, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Ruvin Bros. Artisans and Trades, 7127 N. Green Bay Rd., Glendale, 53209, $219,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Smart Card Solutions, 229 E. Capitol Dr., Hartland 53029, $172,000, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp.;
Snap-On Tools, 3411 Fischer Dr., Burlington 53105, $78,650, Community State Bank;
Thomas A. Mason Co., 1501 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Milwaukee 53212, $821,566 and $613,811, Investors Bank;
The Train Store, 129 W. Sunset Dr., Waukesha 53189, $85,000, Citizens Bank of Mukwonago.
August 31, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee