NOVA electrical engineers continue their train
When Sara Miller hires an employee, she expects to have that employee’s brain for eight hours a day. She also wants her employees to challenge themselves.
Because her business is an electrical engineering firm, Miller knows her employees must be involved in a continuous process of learning about emerging technologies in order for the business to survive. All of which is why education is a top priority at Miller’s business, NOVA Systems, Inc., in Wauwatosa.
No matter what type of business you are in, change is inevitable. Whether it be change in technology or change in management styles, both employers and employees must keep up if their businesses are to last. College and university continuing education programs can serve as a way in which business people can keep themselves and their employees up to date with current technologies and trends, and businesses often provide tuition reimbursement for courses relative to an employee’s work.
Silver Lake College in Manitowoc offers two major off-campus continuing education programs, according to Dr. Alan Heffner, chair of Silver Lake College’s business programs. The Career Directed Program, a degree completion program, is open to individuals who have acquired 45 hours of college credit, at Silver Lake or elsewhere. Most students come in with an associate’s degree or equivalent and are working toward a bachelor’s degree, Heffner says.
The other program is a master’s degree program in Management and Organizational Behavior. With both programs, classes typically meet for four hours, usually 6 to 10 p.m., once a week for eight weeks.
“The courses are designed for working people,” Heffner says. “For people who work and have families, the courses are fairly convenient in that they only meet once a week.”
Although Silver Lake is based in Manitowoc, both programs are offered in several Wisconsin locations including Appleton, Fond du Lac, Madison and Milwaukee. Courses for the Milwaukee program are held at Brookfield Central High School.
“The business environment has changed dramatically over the last 20 years,” Heffner says. “Businesses recognize the need for
“The principles and requirements of
what is necessary to succeed in business
are the same no matter what size
company you have.”
– Ed Koster, Marquette University
people who are comfortable with change, and if you’re continually learning, you will be prepared for change.”
For businesses which may not be fiscally able to implement tuition reimbursement programs, Marquette University offers a service in which instructors from the university go in-house to businesses and facilitate customized training programs to meet the needs of the individual business.
“Small businesses need to continue educating their employees just like larger businesses,” says Ed Koster, assistant director of Marquette’s Continuing Education program. “The principles and requirements of what is necessary to succeed in business are the same no matter what size company you have.”
In addition to the in-house training program, Marquette offers degree completion and certificate programs with classes meeting on weekdays, weekends, and at nights.
Heffner cites two recurring reasons business people have for continuing their education: the need for strong interpersonal skills and the drive to stay competitive.
“Businesses tell us they need managers who can truly deal with people, so in our courses we emphasize communication skills, interpersonal skills, team work and oral presentations,” Heffner says. “We try to build good leaders.”
Miller views continuing education as the vital tool to remaining competitive.
“In this field, the things you learned back when you were an undergraduate or early on in your career may be obsolete today,” Miller says. “Technology changes so quickly that you can never be content with what you know right now.”
NOVA Systems offers full tuition reimbursement to full-time employees enrolled at a public university. For employees wishing to enroll in a private college or university, NOVA will reimburse the employee at the public school cost. Employees must earn at least a “B” grade in their courses in order to qualify for reimbursement. NOVA also pays for the purchase of text books and then keeps them at NOVA for reference.
“A small business may not be able to afford hiring as many people as large businesses can, but you can be just as competitive with a small group of well-educated and talented employees,” Miller says.
Currently, one NOVA employee participates in the company’s tuition reimbursement program. Jason Katch, a design technician, is working toward an electrical engineer associate’s degree at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
“Going to school has made me much more knowledgeable beyond my hands-on experience, and that benefits both NOVA and me careerwise,” Katch says.
Maggie Wieland, NOVA Operations Manager, notes that tuition reimbursement is not the only way to further your employees’ education. NOVA keeps training manuals and CD-ROMs in-house and pays the enrollment costs for job-related seminars and workshops for employees.
“Even though only full-time employees are eligible for tuition reimbursement, any employee can have a work-related seminar paid for,” Wieland says.
While some small businesses may not be able to afford a tuition reimbursement program, sometimes in-house training sessions work just as well as a college course, Wieland says.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Business partners with WCTC to develop skills
by john campbell
Omni Resources requires mainframe computer programers for its computer consultancy business. But the skills needed for the work weren’t being taught to a sufficient degree by educational institutions.
So Omni decided to train its own programers, with some help from the Wisconsin Technical College system.
“Mainframe programers with seven or eight years’ experience are demanding $50 to $60 an hour,” Larry Litwin says, explaining why his employer, Omni Resources, Inc., is engaged in hiring and training mainframe computer programers.
“With so few people available who know these skills, it’s a bidding war to hire someone who knows how to program an IBM mainframe,” Litwin says. “Colleges and universities stopped teaching COBOL skills years ago, when predictions were made that personal computers and client server systems would eventually take over; and that hasn’t happened.”
Litwin, branch manager for Omni Resources in Brookfield, called upon the Business and Industry Development group at Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) to put together a customized training program to teach mainframe programming.
Students become Omni employees, paid to attend classes. Their placement in the class determines their hourly pay rate. The first class graduated early in March.
Omni Resources is a data processing consultancy owned by Roger and Veronica Mueller, who founded the company 14 years ago. With headquarters in Brookfield, the company has branch offices in Madison, Green Bay, Minneapolis and Chicago – which serve as bases for more than 400 of its data processing consultants.
A number of those consultants are working with clients on the Year 2000 problem. (See cover story.)
“Many of our customers, like Firstar Bank, M&I Data Services, Case Corp., Kohl’s Department Stores and a dozen more mainframe owners, either have to fix what they’ve got or install new computer systems,” Litwin says.
Ninety percent of these mainframe computers use COBOL language. There are thousands of companies just like them, Litwin says, and it will take a team of programers a year to screen their records. The cost will be measured in tens of millions of dollars, he says.
To accommodate the need for mainframe programers, as well as to reduce the costs for their mainframe customers, Omni contacted the Business and Industry Development Center of WCTC. Together, they developed a curriculum designed around Omni’s needs. Classes were limited to 10 students who would attend class eight hours a day for eight weeks at Omni’s branch office in Brookfield.
Access to mainframes was contracted for with M&I Data Services.
“We had no trouble getting applicants for this program,” Litwin says. “First of all, we looked for people who had some prior familiarity with computers. I was amazed at how many people we got who wanted to change careers. In our first class, ages ranged from 22 to 52. We had a molecular biologist, a CPA, an aircraft mechanic, just to name a few, as well as an employee from one of our customers, whom they wanted us to train. We encourage our customers to send their personnel. If they hire one of our trainees, we give them a rebate.” Not one person dropped out and all 10 completed the course with A and B grades.
David Demitras, one of the graduates in the first class, had been working part-time with Federal Express and attending UW-Milwaukee.
“We had a lot of reading to do at nights,” Demitras recalls.
Laurie Pettit, the former molecular biologist at Wisconsin Medical College, admitted the course was tough, eight hours a day, five days a week. Class members were united in a common goal, as everyone helped each other.
The program developed by WCTC has some unique incentives added by Omni Resources, which wanted to get the most out of its $9,600 per student investment.
“We pay the students $10 an hour to attend, and pay their medical benefits. They must agree to stay with us for one year after their training,” Litwin explains. “Those students who finish with an A in the overall program start out at $17 an hour; B-students, $16 an hour. C-students, $15. However, we did not have any C-students in this first group.” Litwin attributed their success to the thorough screening by Omni recruiters and aptitude testing done by WCTC.
The eight weeks’ schooling, worth 12 college credits at WCTC toward an associate degree, involves five separate courses. A course like COBOL accounts for four credits and a course entitled Information Technology Consulting Skills is worth only one credit.
“The consulting skills course is typically a soft skill,” Litwin admitted, “But we insisted that this training be added. It’s vitally important that our employees relate to our customers and their problems. I’ve never had to replace one of our consultants on a job for poor computer skills. Failure to get along with other people is more often the reason for pulling an employee off a job. People are our products.”
Ron Fischer, associate dean from WCTC, reviewed student evaluations with the four-member faculty after the completion of the first eight weeks. Based on student suggestions, they met to discuss possible changes. Larry Litwin would like to conduct five eight-week classes a year, if the holidays in the last quarter permit such scheduling.
The partnership of Omni Resources and WCTC is an example of academia working to solve problems in business and industry.
“I don’t know of another state, except perhaps Arizona, where state-owned schools work with business and industry as closely as we do in Wisconsin,” Fischer stated. “The Wisconsin system, where the colleges and universities work to solve industry problems, is a model other states are following.”
April 1998, Small Business Times, Milwaukee

How to tell whether your training programs have an impact
Question:
I read your article on management development in the March issue of Small Business Times and enjoyed it. We’re struggling with some of the issues you discussed. For example, how can we evaluate the effectiveness of the training that we do offer?
Answer:
It has been my experience that most people don’t get very excited about designing training programs, let alone evaluating them. When people think of training evaluation, they often think of a questionnaire about how well the learners liked the instruction.
It’s not easy to work up much enthusiasm for an activity in which someone administers a hastily prepared questionnaire to learners, tabulates the results and discovers that different learners have different opinions, so the best thing to do is muddle on pretty much as before.
There’s more to evaluation than asking, “Did they like it?”
Other areas worth probing include, “Do they need it?” “Is it well designed?” “Did it work?” “Did they learn it?” “Did they use it?” “Did using it do any good?” And so on.
There are several ways that training programs can be evaluated. Let’s consider four:
Need – Is the instruction needed? Is there a performance deficiency? What’s it costing? What would it be worth to “fix it”? Is it a system problem, a management problem, a motivation problem, a knowledge problem, or a skill problem? Who, if anyone, needs training? What, exactly, do they need to learn and why?
Design – Is the instruction well-designed? Does the content match the identified learning need? Does the instruction match the prior knowledge and skill levels of the learners? Do instructional methods simulate the key aspects of the environment in which the new material will be used? Does it have the necessary parts (e.g., overview, learning objectives, performance criteria, etc.)? Does the instruction match the conditions for demonstrating mastery of the material?
Implementation – Does it work? What parts went according to plan? What part of the knowledge, skill, and behavioral objectives were met? What percentage of the learners achieved each objective? Were there unexpected problems? What parts of it did the learners like? What parts did they dislike? What parts produced errors and confusion?
Impact – Did they use it? Did using it do any good? Was the post-instruction performance better? Did the work environment support or interfere with the performance desired? What percentage of the learners used their new knowledge, skills, or behaviors? Did the changed performance produce better organizational results? Was the problem identified in the needs assessment ultimately solved by the learning programming?
Having pointed out some areas of training which can be evaluated, I should also mention that actually performing this kind of thorough evaluation is often more difficult than simply identifying what you can measure. Some research that I recently completed in conjunction with the Human Resource Management Association (HRMA) bears upon this last point.
In 1997 more than 800 southeastern Wisconsin companies were surveyed regarding the manner in which they evaluate the training programming which they offer. Of the surveys which were returned (approximately 300), 94% of the organizations indicated that they offer some sort of training. Many organizations indicated a strong mix of technical and “soft skills” training. And, interestingly, 88% of the organizations indicated that they were measuring the effectiveness of their training.
However, with respect to this last figure, while most of the organizations indicated they were evaluating their employees? reactions (e.g., “Did you like it?”) to the training, less than half indicated they were evaluating the effectiveness (e.g., “Does it work?”) or impact (e.g., “Did you use it?”) of the training.
Why weren’t the organizations doing a better job in evaluating their training programming? My impression is that many organizations are not doing as strong a job as they could in identifying how the learning objectives relate to the strategic objectives of the organization and the specific expectations of the position the individual occupies. In simple terms, too much training is done on a “drive-by” basis, isolated and separate from what really counts – performance back on-the-job.
How to remedy this? Forge stronger connections between those responsible for the strategic objectives of the organization (i.e., top management), on-the-job performance (i.e., line management), and learning programming (i.e., HR and training staff). This is consistent with what Peter Senge (author of The Fifth Discipline) and others describe as a “learning organization,” an organization in which there is a clear integration between strategic objectives, management of on-the-job performance, and employee learning.
In order for this to take place, HR must be seen as a “player” in terms of organization adaptation and improvement. As we all know, HR has long suffered from an “identity crisis” in which it is not viewed as being as bottom-line-impacting as sales/marketing or operations/production. In some organizations, HR must continually “justify its existence.” This skepticism is only heightened given the heavy cost of many training initiatives.
Where training is concerned, the establishment of objective criteria is necessary to gather the evidence that such programming can indeed “make a difference.” And, as we have discussed in this article, attending to questions other than “Did they like it?” will help you to develop a fuller picture of the effectiveness of your organization’s learning programming.
HR Connection is provided by Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D., of Organization Development Consultants in Brookfield. Small Business Times readers who would like an HR issue discussed in this column can contact Schroeder at 287-8383 or via e-mail at odc@execpc.com.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

In order to meet an increased demand for its coating and laminating machinery, Faustel, Inc., of Germantown recently completed an addition of 15,000 square feet, giving it a total of 85,000 square feet.
The 300-foot-long high-bay assembly area provides additional space for the assembly of complete lines which are run-tested with customer web materials before shipment. The new space also frees up room for production of rewinds, coaters, laminators, dryers and other components and products made by the company.
The added space, already in use, reflects the company’s rapid growth during the 1990s as a supplier of industrial coating and laminating equipment, company officials said.
Oconomowoc-based Bryant Products will build a 16,000-square-foot corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility in the Ixonia Industrial Park.
The new facility, which will more than double the firm’s production capacity, will be completed and on line in August, said company president Fred Thimmel.
The company is a manufacturer and supplier of material handling components.
Bryant noted that the firm’s sales have doubled in the last two years and tripled in the last five.
“The new facility will permit us to add new state-of-the-art machining equipment, expand our production and assembly operations, and provide quick order turnaround to our customers,” Thimmel said. “Also, when the new plant is on line, we will meet all ISO 9000 certification requirements.”
The new facility will have 10,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 6,000 square feet of space for engineering, research and development, and administrative offices.
The building design includes provisions for an anticipated expansion of up to 14,000 square feet of space.
Venture Development of Waukesha has completed construction of the Priedman Business Center in Waukesha. The 30,000-square-foot building will house the new offices of JSE Electric and Standard Lamp.
T-3 Group of Milwaukee has built a 9,000-square-foot facility at the Manchester Mall in Grafton for Realty Management Consultants to house Wisconsin Health and Fitness Center.
– T-3 is also handling design and a two-phase interior remodeling project for Consolidated Electric Co. for its Lappin Lighting facility at 1348 N. 4th St. in Milwaukee.
– T-3 has been selected to build a new Arby’s franchise restaurant at 1922 W. Ryan Rd. in Oak Creek. The 3,400-square-foot freestanding building was designed by Architrend. The project is scheduled for a June completion.
McCloud Construction of Brookfield is working on a building at 5204 W. Fond du Lac Ave. in Milwaukee for Dial/Gabaldon Realty to be used by Blockbuster Video and other tenants.
Anderson-Ashton of New Berlin has been awarded the contract to design and build a new ready-mix plant for Schmitz Ready Mix at 3131 W. Elm Rd. in Franklin. The project includes a 4,800-square-foot mix plant and a 6,030-square-foot concrete recycling building.
– Anderson-Ashton is designing and building a new facility for CenterPoint Properties of Chicago. The 124,000-square-foot building, at 4700 W. Ironwood Dr. in Franklin, will be the new home of General Thermodynamics, currently of Oak Creek. A July completion is planned.
A new building for ebix.inc, formerly Econo Billing, Inc., will give the company room for future growth and expansion. For the past 10 years the company had leased space in a building at 3555 S. 27th St. in Milwaukee. With financing of a Small Business Administration loan guarantee via The Money Store, ebix.inc moved to 6400 Industrial Loop in Greendale, about four miles from its previous location. The company, which handles medical billing and accounts receivable management, has grown and needed more space, said owner Brian Nelson. Staff size will be increased and computerization will be boosted.
West Bend Clinic, now part of Advanced Healthcare, will build a 15,000-square-foot addition to the clinic on Paradise Drive to house surgery suites for one-day surgery services.
Selzer-Ornst Co. of Wauwatosa has completed the 62,000-square-foot expansion and remodeling at the Congregational Home in Brookfield. The addition included 26 new assisted-living units, administrative offices, a conference room and underground parking.
Welman Architects of Waukesha has completed design of store No. 16 for Warehouse Shoes on Oakland Avenue and Locust Street in Milwaukee. Briohn Building of Milwaukee was the general contractor.
– Welman has also completed renovation plans for 40,000 square feet of space for Waukesha manufacturer Wildeck, Inc. The firm makes pre-engineered mezzanines. Itasca Construction was the general contractor.
Groth and Smies Architects of Cedarburg and Sheboygan has completed renovation work for one wing of the Assisted Living Center of The Christian League for the Handicapped in Walworth. Residents were involved in planning of the reconfiguration of the 6,800 square feet of space.
Colby Construction of Hartland has been selected to build Meadowbrook Apartment Homes in Waterloo. The 72-unit complex will consist of nine apartment homes with detached garages. St. Francis Bank is the lender for the project
The Milwaukee division of Fleming Companies will be renovating the Supersaver grocery store at N81 W15182 Appleton Ave. in Menomonee Falls. The store will be renovated by the design/build contractor MSI General of Oconomowoc.
The renovation consists of a complete make-over of the interior and the conversion of the façade to match other newly-constructed or remodeled Supersavers. The 46,611-square-foot store will remain open during the project.
Beyer Construction of New Berlin is renovating a former warehouse for a new facility for Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin at 200 W. Vogel Ave. in Milwaukee. The project involves the two-phased renovation of a former warehouse with more than 200,000 square feet. The building will house Goodwill’s new industrial, human services and support facility.
– Beyer is working on the RiverWalk Plaza Condominiums on North Water Street in Milwaukee. Firstar Community Investment Corp. and Wisconsin Preservation Fund are developing the project. The adaptive reuse project involves conversion of two warehouse buildings of 140,400 square feet in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. The result will be 79 residential loft condominium units and two first-floor commercial condominium units. The project includes interior renovations, exterior improvements, extension of the RiverWalk, and construction of a new plaza area. Eppstein Uhen Architects is handling design.
Leases
Grubb & Ellis/The Boerke Co. of Milwaukee has announced the following leases:
– 3,600 square feet of retail space at Capitol Plaza at 15740 W. Capitol Dr. in Brookfield for G&K Dance, Inc.;
– 1,590 square feet of office space for Amresco Residential at 2515 N. 124th St. in Brookfield;
– 14.101 square feet of retail space in the Factory Outlet Centre of Kenosha in the Town of Bristol for Crafters Showcase III.
Boerke also announced that commercial and retail space at N51 W729 Keup Rd. has been sold for $405,000 to Larson’s Paint.
Mooney LeSage & Associates has announced the following leases:
11,478 square feet of space for Waltco Truck Equipment Co. at 701 Blackhawk Dr. in Burlington;
2,100 square feet of space for Lors Medical at 11717-11727 W. Dearbourn Ave. in Wauwatosa;
2,625 square feet of space at 2600 S. 162nd St. in New Berlin for Abler Data Systems;
11,400 square feet of space at 1551 S. 38th St. in Milwaukee for Master-Halco, Inc.;
20,544 square feet of space at 5814 W. North Ave. in Milwaukee for Parts America;
1,181 square feet of space at 1159 Summit Ave. in Oconomowoc for Lightning PC;
3,144 square feet of space at 3585 N. 124th St. in Brookfield for Kraft Keyboards;
14,000 square feet of space at 145 Progress Rd. in West Bend for Saturn Corp.
137,000 square feet of space at 3350 N.124th St. in Wauwatosa for Joppe Logistics;
31,970 square feet of space at 2899 Buell Dr. in East Troy for Buell Motorcycle Co.;
1,592 square feet of space at 2400 N. Farewell Ave. in Milwaukee for Milwaukee PC;
3,440 square feet of space at the Silvernail Shopping Center in Waukesha for Rocky Rococo, Inc.;
13,280 square feet of space at 2004 Beulah Ave. in East Troy for Contract Comestibles.
Moves
The Brookfield location of HQ Business Centers has moved from 400 N. Executive Dr. to 200 S. Executive Dr. The new site contains 18,616 square feet of space with conference space and videoconferencing capabilities. The former site offered the operation 12,357 square feet of space.
HQ offers office space on a short- or long-term basis, as well as administrative and communications support.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

Computer network security is critical to you firm’s survival
When the administrative assistant for a small Milwaukee law firm got wind of the fact that she was about to be let go by her employer, she decided to get even.
On her last day, the disgruntled woman went in and deleted five years’ of the company’s history, including its backup records. Then she changed the password needed to enter the firm’s computer network, effectively locking everyone else out.
The damage was done.
The firm’s failure to build the proper security into its computer system cost it dearly, and it could cost your business as well, warns Kelly Hansen, principal of Sun Tzu Security, Ltd., a Milwaukee network solutions provider.
Not convinced? Take the case of Citibank, which lost $400,000 when a computer hacker got access to the bank’s network, and acquired the credit card numbers of Citibank cardholders and committed credit card fraud.
OK, so Citibank is a big national bank, and those kinds of things just don’t happen here, right? Guess again.
Hansen says Wisconsin banks are especially behind the times when it comes to network security, using only a password to protect unwarranted entry into their system. Consider that password systems can be broken 80% or more of the time, according to Ernst & Young.
And it’s not just the banks which are leaving themselves open. According to Hansen, 95% of Wisconsin companies have no network security in place, leaving them open for security breaches which can put them out of business.
“Basically, without some sort of network management tools in place, you’re inviting someone to come in and take your information,” says Hansen, who got her master’s degree in comparative literature at Harvard University before starting the business in 1996.
“You can’t trace what people are doing on your system, because there is no recorded evidence. It’s very sad. In terms of sophistication, I would say we’re about three years behind the coasts.”
According to Hansen, who makes it her business to know such things, 80% of all computer hacking attempts are internal – they come from your own employees during off hours.
Installing network security, otherwise known as building a firewall, will set off an internal alarm when someone goes where they are not supposed to go, such as an unauthorized trip into the company’s proprietary financial information. This is called intrusion detection.
You can install a network firewall that maintains a log and tracks all activity on your computer network. Essentially, logging records the comings and goings of people on a computer system.
Even after they have incurred serious breaches, local companies are often reluctant to spend on network security. They place a cap on what they are willing to spend, not willing to go as low as $1,500.
Hansen says what she is offering is like another form of insurance. Therefore, you need to place a monetary value on what your company’s information is worth. Say it’s $6 million. Also consider that you might get sued by your customers if the breach affects them. Now weigh that cost against the money it would cost to get the necessary security in place, Hansen says.
“You don’t want to go out and get insurance after your beach house has been swept away by a storm,” Hansen says. “You want to have it beforehand. Once a breach has occurred, it takes four times as much effort. Consulting hours go way up because we have to go through everything to find out where the breach has occurred.”
Computer espionage has replaced the old man in the trench coat meeting his contact out on the corner as the preferred method of spying. Last year, there were more than 250,000 attempted computer hacks on the U.S. Department of Defense, and 60% were successful.
“Hacking is not hard,” Hansen says. “Everyone thinks you’ve got to be an evil genius. There are tons of software tools available on the Internet, anything from a packet sniffer to a war dialer, to help these people get in.”
Year 2000:
The gates swing open
Computer spies are everywhere, as the phenomenon trickles down to the level of small business. What is particularly insidious these days is the Year 2000 computer bug, which requires that businesses bring in outside consultants to go over their systems to detect the bug.
The problem, Hansen says, is that most of the qualified engineers and programers are long gone, sucked up by the big corporations, and leaving a dearth of talent in their absence. What
“Without network
management tools in place, you’re inviting someone
to come in and take
your information.”
– Kelly Hansen, Sun Tzu Security
small to medium-sized businesses who are coming late to the party are left with are people who are not qualified to perform this kind of work, Hansen says.
“Here we’ve got people who are really worried about the Year 2000, and they want to make the necessary changes, but they’re not a major player, so they can’t afford a Big Six consultant, so they go for a local firm. But they are finding that the good local firms are booked up, so they are probably going to start picking up individual consultants.”
This is where the trouble begins, as the majority of small businesses will throw open the keys to the kingdom to a complete outsider .
“It’s a great opportunity for corporate espionage to pick up proprietary information,” Hansen says. “You know, send them a would-be Y2K consultant.
“And virtually all businesses will throw open the keys to the kingdom,” she says. “They will say, ‘Here, fix this,’ and no one will watch because they are probably short-staffed and not concerned about security issues. And you don’t know who he is or where he’s going.”
Essentially, under this scenario, a firm is giving carte blanche to go through their entire network and take anything they want. This can be accomplished by building in a so-called “back door” to the computer network through the Internet, which allows them to come back in and download proprietary information.
At the very least, get references from other businesses for whom your Year 2000 consultant has worked, Hansen says. And ideally you should have your firewall in place before the consultant comes in, so you can trace his movements, if need be.
“Without network management tools in place, you’ll never know where they went or what they did,” Hansen says.
Online danger
Hansen says her firm gets calls from big companies which have T-1 lines coming in, asking her if they need to get firewall protection. The answer is yes. Because, with Internet access, it’s like a two-way connection, which means people can come in as easily as your own employees can go out onto the Internet. Hansen says it’s like walking out the door at the end of the day and leaving it unlocked.
Simply by linking all of your computers through a local area network and then connecting through the Internet, you could be giving anyone on the Internet access to your company information.
“If you don’t connect to the Internet through a firewall, then you shouldn’t really be connecting to the Internet at all,” says James O’Brien, vice president of information technology for Sun Tzu. “This is called ‘open door,’ because it’s like saying ‘Come on in.'”
As a growing number of firms seek to engage in electronic commerce, what Hansen and O’Brien see is that the vast majority of these firms are not implementing any form of network security. Not only are most of these firms unaware that they need to allow for encryption to make these online transactions safe, but they also need to put a firewall in place to protect that financial information once they receive it.
“It will sit there in a database, and if someone can break into the server, they can get not just one credit card, but the credit card number of everyone who has ever ordered,” O’Brien says.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

ISDN: (Integrated Services Digital Network) A switched digital phone line used for dedicated Internet access up to 128 Kbps. (Switched phone lines use the public telephone network in the same way that voice calls are connected, and are not dedicated/point-to-point circuits.)
DS-0 (64 K): Point-to-point digital telco line used for dedicated Internet access at 56 or 64 Kbps.
T-1 (DS-1): Point-to-point digital telco line used for dedicated Internet access at speeds up to 1.544 Mbps.
T-3 (DS-3): Point-to-point digital telco line used for dedicated Internet access at speeds up to 45 Mbps.
OC-3: Point-to-point digital telco line used for dedicated Internet access at speeds up to 155 Mbps.
Fractional service: a type of Internet access where only part of telco circuit (T-1 or T-3) is activated for use. For example, there are 24 64K channels on a T-1. Service providers offer pricing which is reduced from full T-1 rates for customers who anticipate that their usage will grow over time.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

This issue marks the beginning of our fourth year of publishing Small Business Times. We fondly recall those first few months in business, confident that southeastern Wisconsin would accept a publication such as this, but at the same time, feeling a bit of the anxiety common to any entrepreneurial venture.
The anxieties soon abated as you, our fellow business owners, welcomed each month’s package of small business success stories, advice from business professionals, opportunities listings and other information which we hope helps make your business more profitable.
The formula for Small Business Times proved so successful that as a business, the paper grew rapidly and faced the same growth issues and challenges faced by many of the businesses we feature each month.
One of those challenges has been establishing our place in the market and identifying the audience we serve. We often hear comments from people afraid of the term “small business.” We, on the other hand, embrace the term. To us, small business represents the dynamism of the American economy.
Small business means innovation, job creation, flexibility, determination, vision and an understanding of the power of the individual.
Each day as we go about our business in southeastern Wisconsin, we see those attributes among the 97% of all companies which bear the title “small business.”
We’re glad to be among the legion which is carrying America into the next millennium.
And we feel fortunate to be in southeastern Wisconsin – an area written off back in the ’70s as part of the Rust Belt, but today an area boasting of such a strong economy that there is virtual total employment. It’s also an area with a bright future thanks to such projects as Miller Park, the Midwest Express Center convention center, the Milwaukee War Memorial/Art Museum addition, and revitalized downtowns throughout the area.
The power of small business has been a major factor in making the picture so bright. We at Small Business Times, in this anniversary issue, renew our commitment to bringing you the best information to help your business maintain its momentum into the next millennium.
At this time, we offer a special thanks to our advertisers who have placed their trust in Small Business Times and who have thus made this business viable. And we say “thanks” to the nearly 100,000 people who read the paper each month, and to all the business owners who have allowed us to share their stories with others.
— The publishers of Small Business Times
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

The following loan guarantees have been approved through the Milwaukee office of the U.S. Small Business Administration during February:
All Metal, 102 North St., Sharon 53585, $56,500;
A’Loire Salon, 730 E. Washington St., Slinger 53086, $30,000, First Bank of Oconomowoc;
Artword Advertising, Inc., 933 N. Mayfair Rd., Wauwatosa 53226, $100,000, Ridgestone Bank;
Culver’s of Muskego, $150,000, Firstar Bank Wisconsin;
Culver’s of Hales Corners, 6101A. S. 108th St., Hales Corners 53130, $400,000, Firstar Bank Wisconsin;
Damage Control & Restoration, 3303 W. National Ave., Milwaukee 53215, $80,700, Layton State Bank;
Diacar Products Co., 6814 S. 112th St., Franklin 53132, $70,000, Firstar Bank Milwaukee;
Doucette Donegan & Russell Insurance, 159 W. Garland St., Jefferson 53549, $137,000, Jefferson County Bank;
Imme Transport, Inc., 7132 Peterson Ct., Waterford 53185, $300,000, Bank One Wisconsin;
Interstate Cryogenics, Inc., 3502 66th St., Kenosha 53142, $72,500, State Bank of St. Cloud;
Marshall’s Gas-N-Goods, Inc., 209 Madison Ave., Cascade 53011, $375,000, Firstar Bank Wisconsin;
Nelson Transfer, Inc., 7769 105th Ave., Kenosha 53142, $100,000, M&I Bank of Racine;
Novels Country Inn, 229 E. Main St., Eagle 53156, $170,000, Waukesha State Bank;
Tinder Box, 479 Main St., Saukville 53080, $268,900, Grafton State Bank;
Whitewater Subway, 1185 W. Main St., Whitewater 53190, $182,250, The First Citizens State Bank of Whitewater.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

More and more organizations are discovering that while their current accounting system has served them well, it’s time to put their old system out to pasture.
They hope to extend the boundaries of their financial systems, integrating the accounting department with other critical operational areas.
With the advent of Windows-based open architecture accounting, that can finally become a reality.
Many organizations prefer the reliability of DOS-based accounting products simply because the maturity of those systems means they have relatively few bugs.
The market for DOS-based products is shrinking as software manufacturers focus on Windows-based multi-user, or “open architecture system,” products now.
Hardware capabilities have outpaced the limitations of DOS-based financial software, while new Windows-based multi-user products are harnessing this extra power, exceeding the accounting functionality of their DOS predecessors.
It’s time for change.
The most natural progression your company can take in meeting the demand for change is upgrading to a new financial software package, allowing you the same mobility as your continually progressing corporate mission.
If you want to continue the “built-in” quality of your accounting department and enjoy its effect on your bottom line, you cannot afford to lose the years you already have invested in a staff which knows your operations and can assist in reaching those corporate goals.
If the employees are going to buy into the new system, it is of high importance to get them involved at ground level. Actively present the idea that this is their system, not just yours.
The following outline is helpful in stepping through the search and evaluation process.
? Define the business requirements. This critical first step is often overlooked or under-scrutinized. Decide what the system should accomplish. In surveying all system users, analyze the old system and decide what operational elements should be retained, such as data entry and profile information screens, reports and lists.
A good financial package will allow you the ability to customize the out-of-the-box software to fit your basic needs.
? Determine the data you would like transferred to the new system, such as vendor data, customer files and account history. Many companies are frightened at the thought of switching to a new system because they think it means the loss of historical information. Not true for a quality financial software application.
? Review your business processes to determine if they can be made more efficient. Part of the planning process involves gathering information from the correct internal sources, including all levels of staff and perhaps even customers.
Requesting input from these people will not only provide key information, but will heighten their interest in the project and, ultimately, assist in acceptance.
? Locate potential vendors in accounting and financial management journals. Attend industry trade shows and seminars. Talk to nondirect competitors and consultants who specialize in accounting and financial system solutions. Check out Web sites and use online software search services that can be found on most national bulletin boards or the Internet.
?Issue a Request for Information (RFI). An RFI is a document you prepare that states the basic requirements of your desired system and solicits information from vendors. This document is a derivative of information gathered in Step 1.
Send an RFI to different vendors, asking them to respond by a specified date. This is a relatively quick method of identifying which vendors might meet your needs, as well as identifying unresponsive vendors.
? Evaluate potential systems. Review the information gathered from the RFI to narrow the field of potential vendors. This would be a good time to schedule system demonstrations with the potential vendors.
? Check references. Before you actually view a demonstration, request references from vendors. References should include organizations of similar size that have similar needs to yours. Those organizations should be receiving vendor support and service from the same office where your support and service will be provided. It also helps to have a list of all users in your area. When you contact references, have a checklist of questions.
? When possible, visit the site of current software installations. You’ll gain lots of good information to factor into your decision.
? Check the vendor’s stability. Dun & Bradstreet may provide you with some answer to the vendor’s financial situation. Make it clear to the vendor that you seek a long-term relationship with them and regard this information as critical to your decision-making process.
? View the system demonstrations. Structure the demonstration so that you see the features you are most interested in. Do not let the sales representative control the demonstration by only showing you the bells and whistles. Include staff at the demonstrations.
One of the most beneficial elements in a smooth transition is to have your staff behind the change.
? Request a proposal from the vendor. This document from the vendor outlines what services and products they will provide at what cost. Make sure it is an all-inclusive quote; insist on having an acceptance time period. Do not pay in advance.
Jeffrey Morin is a financial software consultant with SVA Consulting, Inc., an information systems solution provider with offices in Milwaukee, Madison and Rockford.
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

In a recent column I pointed out the need for salespeople to constantly ask themselves three basic questions about any opportunity:

Should I pursue it? Can I win it? Will it be good business for my company? The criteria I offered focused more on the first two questions.

This month’s topic – whether or not a particular large account prospect will, in the end, be a good customer – falls under the framework of “philosophical alignment.”

If you think the term is just academic fluff, consider the story of Matthew, a salesman for a technology-based company and client of my firm. Matthew suggested he had an account that would be perfect for a “partnership” relationship with his firm: “Alpha Corp.,” a major manufacturer of hand tools and hardware, that had been a prospect of his for more than a year.

Matthew had an excellent contact at Alpha, a true “coach” named Sean, on whom the two of us made a Knowledge Call. But when Sean greeted us in the lobby and took us to a nearby vendor-meeting room rather than to his office, I became a little suspicious.

Meanwhile, Matthew positioned our Knowledge Call with all the right sound bites: “Sean, it’s our philosophy that the better we understand your business, the more value we can bring to you,” he said. “We’re on a homework mission here.”

“That sounds fine,” Sean replied.

One of my first steps in a Knowledge Call is to get a thorough understanding of both the formal and informal organizational structure of the customer. As I often do, I put a copy of our hand-drawn organization chart in front of Sean and solicited his help in filling it in.

Sean froze up. Rather than dodge the issue, I asked him if he was comfortable with the direction in which we were going.

“Well, I guess I’d be comfortable with it,” he replied. “But we have a corporate policy against sharing information about our company with suppliers, including information about who reports to whom.”

This call lasted all of 15 minutes, including 10 minutes of warm-up. In the car after the call, Matthew looked at me both embarrassed and puzzled. “What the heck was that all about?” he asked.

Welcome to the world of philosophical alignment. It was an especially useful lesson for Matthew. When I introduced the term at our kick-off seminar with this client’s sales force, it was Matthew who responded, “It sounds like you’re saying that if our customer’s building is brown, we should be saying to the customer, ‘Gosh, your building is brown Mr. Customer, and so is ours, therefore, our two companies should do business together and have a partnership.'”

Of course, that’s not what it is at all. Philosophical alignment is a way of measuring the quality of a potential relationship between two companies – in short, whether this opportunity is going to be good business.

To establish how philosophically aligned a particular prospect is with your own company, consider the following characteristics:

Information Sharing: How openly does this company share strategic information about itself with suppliers? This, of course, was at the heart of the philosophical misalignment between Alpha and Matthew’s company. You’d be surprised at how many companies talk about partnerships with suppliers, yet refuse to share information. For them “partnership” is just a euphemism for getting the lowest price.

Core Competency Focus: Is this company attempting to focus only on what it does best, or does it try to do everything internally? How much is it currently outsourcing? One very large and successful Wisconsin company – a favorite target for salespeople – is philosophically misaligned for partnerships with almost any prospective supplier. It has a “company store” mentality. This manufacturer has its own doctors and nurses and pharmacists, even its own interior design department for designing office layouts. Those aren’t the trademarks of a company looking for true supplier partnerships.

Purchasing Philosophy: Does the company focus on unit price or total value? A unit price company simply compares the cost of Red Widgets from several suppliers, figuring that all Red Widgets are created equal. At the other end of the spectrum are companies that measure the total value of supplier relationships. They understand that the purchasing process itself costs money. So does maintaining relationships with several suppliers. Thus, I also look at whether the prospect is attempting to reduce its supplier base – an increasingly popular trend in corporate America. On a Knowledge Call a client and I learned that a very large corporation was cutting down from more than 30,000 suppliers to a stunning 1,900. That’s a pretty partnerable company.

Senior Management Involvement: If a target account’s senior executives never meet with suppliers, they probably view them simply as vendors – not partners. Companies whose senior executives take the time to meet with suppliers send a message that they value supplier relationships.

Centralized Structure: Partnering with suppliers is a relatively new concept, yet the practice is most successful when the customer company has a more traditional, centralized structure instead of one of those newfangled “matrix” organizations – most likely because it takes clear lines of authority to transmit the cultural change that partnering requires.

Technology Leadership: Companies that attempt to be leaders in adopting new technology seem to be more interested in partnerships. Evidently they’ve developed a greater willingness to trust suppliers. So look among your prospects for companies that adopt new technology quickly.

Customer Philosophy: A prospective customer that’s a prime candidate for partnership with suppliers is attempting and successfully establishing partnerships with its own customers. If it isn’t, that’s a red flag.

One word of caution: As you try to assess philosophical alignment, make sure you’re getting the perspective of the company and its senior management – not just that of your own contact.

Chasing bad relationships is just too expensive. Ask your salespeople to explain the philosophical alignment between your own company and the target. If you get a blank stare, explain these criteria and ask them to assess how the account measures up. It’s a quick test that could save your company a fortune in money and time.

Jerry Stapleton is president of The IBS Group, based in Brookfield.

April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

One of the factors driving growth in Kenosha County has been the availability of high-quality industrial parks for businesses to locate in the area. Jerry Franke, vice president of WISPARK Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corp., sees a strong market for developers in the Kenosha area.
WISPARK recently completed development of the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center with an attached Chancery Restaurant. Until its opening in January, Kenosha did not have a full-service, business-class hotel. It is a 120-room hotel that can accommodate meetings of up to 500 people.
WISPARK is also the developer of LakeView Corporate Park, a 1,500-acre mixed-use real estate development located in Pleasant Prairie, west of Kenosha. It is on Interstate 94 within one mile of the Illinois/Wisconsin border. The development includes a 1,344-acre business park, a 170-acre office park and a 425-acre nature conservancy area on the Des Plaines River floodplain. Its transportation linkages include two railways and proximity to the interstate highway system.
Of the 54 companies in the park so far, more than half of them are from Illinois.
“Our attraction to Illinois businesses is that we have lower priced land – less than half the cost of competitors in Illinois,” Franke says.
LakeView still has approximately 600 more acres to develop, and is geared toward manufacturing, unlike some industrial parks that want offices and light industry.
“We insist on quality buildings, which appreciate in value,” Franke says. “When businesses are located in a positive setting, with green space and pleasant surroundings, it helps them sell their products and services to their customers. The building speaks volumes about a business, and LakeView speaks high quality.”
LakeView Corporate Park received an outstanding compliment when the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks gave it the Award of Excellence for commercial real estate in 1996.
“This was an award to the Chicago chapter honoring a Kenosha industrial park,” Franke says. “It was the ultimate compliment that we were recognized for our positive attributes.”
WISPARK is also the developer of the Business Park of Kenosha, a 140-acre municipal industrial park on state Highway 158, less than one mile east of I-94. Those 2- to 15-acre lots are zoned for heavy industry, with full service utilities. The Business Park of Kenosha is developed as a public/private partnership between WISPARK, Kenosha Area Business Alliance and the City of Kenosha.
“We work closely with industrial brokers in Chicago and Milwaukee to attract people to our locations,” Franke says. “Our great location, good working relationship with the community, and low costs are attracting businesses from all over to locate in Kenosha.”
April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

It’s been referred to as the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” for the Internet.

And Randall Hoth hopes it catches on.

It’s BBBOnLine, a program aimed at helping assure consumers of the reliability of commercial Websites.

“The marketing volume on the Internet increases each day, yet no one had developed a method of separating the legitimate online offers from the dubious ones,” says Hoth, president of the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin, based in Milwaukee.

BBBOnLine is the solution, he believes.

“Our new service will provide online marketers with the means to inform consumers about their commitment to ethical business and advertising practices.”

Companies that commit to the BBBOnLine program standards will be authorized to display a BBBOnLine seal on their Website and in the Website advertising.

Included in the review process is an onsite visit to the company.

“This onsite visit to the company’s physical premises is designed to ascertain that the Web site is supported by a functioning business and is not simply a façade,” Hoth said. “Furthermore, BBB will be monitoring advertising and use of the seal by BBBOnLine participants in our service area.”

A click on the BBBOnLine seal will take the Web browser to a confirmation page demonstrating that the company is an authorized participant in the program. For the business, the seal offers a mark of reliability, Hoth says.

“BBBOnLine also benefits businesses seeking to portray reliability and promote consumer confidence in the Web shopping venue,” he says, noting that the BBB name is well-known and respected among consumers.

Hoth sees the service as a way that businesses can self-regulate their Web-based operations.

“All companies should share an interest in demonstrating to consumers, regulatory authorities and the public that the business community can effectively self-regulate this new marketplace,” Hoth says. “If honest competitors do not quickly demonstrate that the online market is reliable, many consumers could be reluctant to try this new technology and the lost business opportunities could be staggering.”

Additional information on BBBOnLine is available at the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin online site at www.wisconsin.bbb.org.

April 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee