Orion Lighting and Energy Services of Plymouth has named Stephen Heins to the newly created position of director of marketing and communications. He had earlier been marketing director for NorthNet, an Internet service provider from Oshkosh. Heins is a member of the Governor’s Telecommunications Taskforce for Wisconsin.
Nancy Deptolla has been named to the newly created position of director of public relations at Charleston
Orwig, Inc., in Hartland. Deptolla was vice president of public relations at Milwaukee agency Hoffman York before joining Charleston
Orwig. She has also managed public relations for the power systems and plumbing product lines of Kohler Company and was manager of employee communications at Allis-Chalmers.
Patricia Schroeder, Covenant Healthcare’s senior vice president of clinical performance, has been named chief nursing officer for Covenant Healthcare. She has published six books on nursing and health care quality, the last of which was translated into German, Dutch and Korean. For the past 16 years she has served as editor of the Journal of Nursing Care Quality, by Aspen Publishers. She has also practiced for 10 years as a nursing and health-care quality consultant in the United States, Canada and Europe. Schroeder received her bachelor of science in nursing and her master of science in nursing from the Marquette University College of Nursing, and her master of business administration from the Marquette University College of Business.
Heather M. Barrie has been hired as director of marketing at the Milwaukee law firm of Godfrey & Kahn. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Ripon College and an MBA from UW-Milwaukee. She had earlier been director of client development and communications at the law firm of Quarles & Brady.
Beth McCleery has been named director of provider relations at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver.
Ken Evason has joined Jacobus Wealth Management of Wauwatosa as president and CEO. He had earlier been with Clarica U.S., Inc. (formerly Mutual Group U.S.). Concurrent with Evason’s assignment, Nicholas C. Wilson, who had served as president for the past five years, was appointed vice chairman.
John Donahue has been named a shareholder in the Milwaukee law firm of Quarles & Brady, working in the Employee Benefits Group. He had earlier been with Weiss Berzowski Brady & Donahue.
Mike Germain has been named vice president, Midwest, for Franchise Foodservice of Oak Creek. He will be based at the chain restaurant distributor’s Columbus, Ohio, facility.
Paul Roller has assumed the newly created position of chairman of Miller Brands in Wauwatosa, as part of the implementation of a management succession plan for the beverage distributor. Roller, majority owner of the firm, had been serving as chief executive officer. Steve Johnson, who has been serving as vice president for sales, has become president and chief executive officer. Mike Gallagher, formerly vice president for operations, is now executive vice president. Dave Neville, formerly division sales manager, has succeeded Johnson as vice president for sales. Roller will maintain a small portion of ownership in the business. Johnson and Gallagher’s current ownership will increase, while Neville has acquired an equity investment in the company. In addition, Miller Brewing Co. has purchased an equity position of approximately 5% in Miller Brands, at 1400 N. 113th St. Roller began his tenure as CEO in 1994 when a similar management succession plan was implemented involving previous majority owner Kirby Lewis. Johnson has 17 years of experience with Miller Brands. He has a bachelor of science degree in marketing from Arizona State University and is currently chairman of the Wisconsin Wholesale Beer Distributors Association. Gallagher has been with Miller Brands for 20 years and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master of business degree from Marquette University. Neville has been with Miller Brands for 13 years where, as the on-premise division manager, he has managed sales to taverns, restaurants and clubs. He holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Marquette University.
Jeri McClenaghan-Ihde has joined the Milwaukee-based architectural and interior design firm of Eppstein-Uhen Architects as senior project manager. The firm also announced that Bret Tushaus has been named director of information technology and a principal in the firm. He has been with the firm since 1995, having obtained a master’s degree in architecture from UW-Milwaukee.
Four Points by Sheraton Milwaukee Airport has named Susan Kainz as sales manager. She had previously been with the Radisson hotels.
Maysteel of Menomonee Falls has announced that Doug Parentice has joined the company as marketing manager while Bill Hurst has joined as engineering manager of the Electric Utility Products & Enclosures Group. Parentice had been with Leeson Electric, where he was marketing manager. Parentice earned his B.A. degree at Denison University and an MBA at Wake Forest University. Most recently, he was product development manager for switchgear products at Cooper Power Systems, where he had worked for 20 years. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from the University of South Carolina.
John L. Stearns has been named president of Ideal Financial Services. He joined the firm in 1993 as a loan officer. In 1996 he was promoted to the position of manager and vice president.
Marie Crockett will lead New School Development Consulting, a newly created consulting service providing support to charter school developers. The operation has been created by YW Community Education Center, a subsidiary of YWCA of Greater Milwaukee.
July 20, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

P. Lynn Balinas has been promoted to the position of executive vice president of Charleston
Orwig, Inc., in Hartland. He has been vice president and director of client services of the marketing communications agency. Balinas joined the firm in 1997.
Frederick R. Klug has joined Merchants and Manufacturers Bancorp of New Berlin as vice president of business development and finance. Klug holds an MBA, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Superior Services/Onyx Waste Services has promoted Paul R. Jenks to the position of president and chief operating officer of the Milwaukee company. Jenks joined Superior in 1998 as senior vice president and special assistant to the president. In February 2000 he was promoted to chief operating officer of Superior and senior vice president of Onyx North America, Superior’s corporate parent. He takes over from Bill Dietrich.
Tony Ingles has joined CG Schmidt, Inc., in Milwaukee as a senior project manager. Ingles is a graduate of Gateway Technical College with a degree in civil/structural engineering and brings more than 15 years of construction management experience to CG Schmidt.
Dean Devine has been named chief information officer at TriCast, a Milwaukee-based pharmaceutical data risk-analysis firm.
Becky Boese has joined Ledger Bank as business development banker in the bank’s Glendale office. She has been in the financial industry for 15 years.
Frank A. Nuck has joined Business Associates of Germantown as an associate of the consulting firm that deals with troubled companies. Nuck, a native of Milwaukee, graduated with honors from UW-Milwaukee in 1974 and from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1986, with a corporate and transaction-oriented law degree.
Jeffrey A. Olsen has been promoted to the position of senior vice president and chief lending officer at Delafield State Bank. He had been vice president of business banking at the bank, and had earlier been with Mitchell Bank and with M&I Bank.
Amanda Schauer has been named project manager at Voss Jorgensen Schueler construction firm in Waukesha.
Chadd M. Frank has been promoted to the position of assistant vice president and commercial banking officer at Waukesha State Bank, which he joined in 1998. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration-finance from Marquette University.
Roger Michelson has joined Lied’s Nursery in Sussex as vice president of landscape operations.
Joseph O’Grady Jr., M.D., has been named medical director of Phoenix Care Systems of Milwaukee, a national provider of individualized care for emotionally disturbed and developmentally delayed persons. O’Grady had been medical director for Willowglen Academy in Milwaukee, a subsidiary of Phoenix Care Systems.
David Anglehart has joined MSI General Corp. of Oconomowoc as construction superintendent. He had been with B&H Refrigeration of Yuma, Ariz.
Bill Budzien has joined Frank F. Haack & Associates of Wauwatosa as chief financial officer. He has been in financial management for 20 years, is a CPA and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. The firm has also named Christine Steeno has vice president for human resources. She joined the firm last summer as director of human resources.
John Lohre has joined Port Washington State Bank as director of wealth management services, a new position in the bank. He was most recently vice president and senior trust officer for U.S. Bank and had earlier been with the Milwaukee office of Biltmore Investors Trust, an office of Johnson Heritage Trust Co. Lohre is a graduate of Marquette University Law School and Marquette University Business School, and is a licensed real estate broker.
John Stricker has been named director of the Bureau of Business Development in the Division of Economic Development in the state Department of Commerce.
Rick Doerflinger has joined Bukacek Construction of Racine as project manager. He was most recently branch manager with Block Iron & Supply in Franklin.
Paul Lucey has joined the Milwaukee office of the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich as a partner. Lucey concentrates his practice on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights. Lucey received a B.A. with distinction in 1974, and a J.D., cum laude, in 1985, from the University of Wisconsin; and an A.M. from Harvard University in 1978.
The United Way in Waukesha County has hired Andrea Urban as its new director of communications and marketing. Urban had been with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as a graphic designer and special-event planner. She also worked recently with the Golf Foundation of Wisconsin as its director of administration.
July 6, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

James R. Mueller has been named president of Frank F. Haack & Associates in Wauwatosa. Mueller, president of the insurance brokerage’s Employee Benefits Group, has been with the firm for 16 years. William R. Haack, who became president and CEO of the firm in 1987, now serves as chairman and CEO of the 126-person firm.
Dan Chovanec has joined CG Schmidt, Inc., in Milwaukee as an assistant project manager. He graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering.
The Milwaukee office of Michael Best & Friedrich has admitted eight associates to the firm’s partnership.
Alexander P. Fraser practices in the areas of corporate finance, securities, and franchise and distribution law, with emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, commercial lending and venture capital. Fraser is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UW-Madison, where he earned both his undergraduate degree and his M.B.A. in finance, investments and banking. He received his law degree from New York University. Gordon P. Giampietro’s practice includes commercial litigation, product liability defense, and federal constitutional issues. He served as law clerk to Judge Rudolph T. Randa of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1992-1995. Giampietro is listed in Who’s Who in American Law. He received a B.A. in 1988 and a J.D. in 1992 from Catholic University. Judith M. Hecker is a member of the tax group. She received a B.A., cum laude, in 1970 from Vassar College, a J.D. in 1973 from Cornell Law School and an LL.M. in taxation in 1988 from the University of Bridgeport Law School. Linda S. Moroney provides tax and corporate advice to health-care institutions and tax-exempt organizations. She is admitted to practice law in Wisconsin and Iowa. She received a B.A., summa cum laude, in 1991 from Buena Vista College and a J.D. with honors in 1994 from the University of Iowa College of Law.
Kathleen A. Rinehart focuses her practice primarily on higher education law. She entered the legal profession following a career as a teacher in Illinois, where she served as a master teacher, advisor and president of the New Trier Education Association. Following law school, Rinehart served two terms as the law clerk for Judge Janine P. Geske of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Currently, she serves as general counsel on several campuses and as an advisor on human resource issues and in strategic planning to other higher education institutions. Rinehart received a B.A. from Marquette University, an M.A.T. from University of Chicago and a J.D. from Marquette University Law School. Katherine W. Schill’s practice is devoted to commercial and intellectual property litigation. Schill clerked for Judge Willis P. Whichard on the North Carolina Supreme Court for one year before joining Michael Best & Friedrich. She received a J.D., cum laude, from Duke University School of Law in 1994 and a B.A., cum laude, from Duke University in 1990.
Derek C. Stettner focuses his practice on intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on securing patent, copyright, and other intellectual property protection for software, business method, electrical and electro-mechanical inventions. Stettner worked as a law clerk for the Office of Unfair Import Investigations for the U.S. International Trade Commission. He has also worked as an engineering technician for the U.S. Army Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command, where he modified military specifications and analyzed the safety of military systems. Stettner is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1990 from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center, where he was a member of the Intellectual Property Law Association. James Patrick Thomas focuses his practice on civil litigation with a concentration in business disputes and real estate actions. He was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1993. He received a B.A., summa cum laude, in 1989 from the University of North Dakota, and a J.D., cum laude, in 1993 from the University of Minnesota.
The Hays Group of Wisconsin has added the services of Cherif Hafez as vice president. His prior industry experience includes production and servicing of property/casualty accounts at AON in Milwaukee for five years, as well as new business production and claim management responsibilities at Wausau Insurance Company for eight years. Hafez has a bachelor’s degree in economics from UW-Madison and a master’s in business administration from Marquette University.
Tim O’Connell has joined Poblocki Paving Corp. of Wauwatosa as a project manager. He holds a civil engineering degree from UW-Plattville with an emphasis on construction and transportation.
Mark S. Diestelmeier has been appointed as the recruiting shareholder of the Milwaukee law firm of von Briesen, Purtell & Roper. He has been with the firm since 1991 and has been a shareholder since 1998. He will now develop and direct the Law School Recruiting Program for the firm.
Kathleen Meulmans has been named as the new executive director of Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful. She had been with the Volunteer Center of Waukesha County, where she had been executive director for four years.
Lori Syverson has been named membership services director for the Western Raquet Club, Elm Grove. Prior to joining the organization, she had developed the retail food division of Albanese’s Originale.
William G. Piernot has been named president and CEO of Wiscraft, Quality Production By The Blind, in Milwaukee. Piernot, who replaces John Baumgart, had been vice president of operations for a privately held manufacturer of lighting products. Baumgart is serving as president of Associated Industries for the Blind. Piernot holds an MBA from UW-Whitewater in 1984 and an undergraduate degree in economics from UW-Madison in 1977.
Jim Utech has joined Marx
McClellan Thrun in Milwaukee
as associate creative director. He
was senior art director at Blue Horse, also in Milwaukee.
David A. Banmiller has been named president and COO of Sun Country Airlines, based in the Twin Cities. Bill La Machia Jr., who had held the title of president, will serve on the board of directors as well as the executive committee and will remain as CEO. La Machia will focus on other La Machia family business holdings, including the Mark Travel Corp. of Milwaukee.
Home Care Medical, of New Berlin, has hired Terrilynne Koepke as contracting manager. She has 16 years’ experience in health-care administration, including the last four at Blue Cross and Blue Shield United of Wisconsin. She replaces Kathleen Kuchler, who is retiring.
Gary Losey has been hired as human resources manager at Raabe Corp., in Menomonee Falls. He had previously been with Warren Industries in Racine, where he was also director of human resources. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
STS Consultants, of Milwaukee, has hired Dennis R. Lawton as senior hydrologist and environmental department manager. Lawton, who has been in the industry for 25 years, holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from Valparaiso University and a master’s in geology from UW-Milwaukee.
Jeff Faralli has joined Celtic Advertising in Brookfield as art director. He had previously been with Bader Rutter & Associates, where he also served as art director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from UW-Stout.
Thomas R. Gerdes has joined Ozaukee Bank as vice president representing Raymond James Financing Services. He has 22 years’ experience in the investment industry, including consulting with B.C. Ziegler & Co. and Bank One Trust.
Jocelyn Ertel has been named to the newly created position of communications coordinator at DuFour Advertising in Sheboygan. She has been with the firm since 1996.
April 27, 2001 Small Business Times

Connie Christensen has been named director of sales and marketing at Lakeside Staffing Services/Covenant Clerical in Milwaukee. She has been president of C.C. and Company, a consulting firm focusing on employee motivation.
Carl Sheeley has been named president of Fontarome Chemical in St. Francis. Michel Combe, who had been company president since 1993, exchanged his administrative role to concentrate on Fontarome’s synthetic organic chemical laboratory and international sales and marketing. The French-born Combe is the founder of Fontarome-USA. Fontarome Chemical is the sister facility of Fontarome, S.A., with headquarters near Paris. Sheeley received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1985 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and attended the MBA program at the University of Connecticut. He joined Fontarome Chemical in 1991 as plant manager and was named vice president in 1997.
T-3 Group, a Milwaukee contracting firm, has added Tad E. Bulin as a project manager for its multi-family division. He has been in the construction field for 17 years, and holds degrees in construction administration from UW-Madison and light building construction from UW-Platteville.
Bottomless Closet Milwaukee, a non-profit organization that provides used career clothing to low-income women entering the job market, has hired Nichole Gladney as its first full-time executive director. She had previously been development coordinator for the 9to5 National Association of Working Women.
The Zimmerman Design Group, Wauwatosa, has announced the following promotions: Douglas Barnes and John Sabinash, both vice presidents, to shareholders; Lisa Jansen, John Klett, Joseph Pepitone, Ralph Ruder and Joseph Schultz, to vice president; Stuart LaRose, Al Lotter, Kurt Zimmerman, to senior associate; and Mark Flasch, Mark Hauschel, Michael Herriges, David Kornitz, Roger Kuick, Jeffrey Mathews, Jon Molkentin, Kevin O’Donnell, James Olson and Robert Whitmarsh, to associate.
Visual Systems of Milwaukee has hired Sara Lindsey as marketing coordinator. She had previously been at the Bradley Corp. in Milwaukee, where she coordinated trade show activities and corporate promotions and special events. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Ind.
Art Josetti has been appointed corporate secretary at the New Berlin insurance agency HNI. He has been with the company for 14 years and is currently a vice president in its commercial insurance division. The firm also named Jim Natalizio to its executive committee. He joined the firm in 1988 and currently serves as its CFO.
Raabe Corp. of Menomonee Falls has hired Mathew Piette as production manager and has appointed Kevin James as sales service representative. Piette had been with Summit Packaging in Racine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from UW-Madison and a master’s degree in engineering management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Dean P. Delforge has been elected as a shareholder with The Schroeder Group Attorneys At Law, a Waukesha-based business law firm.
Matthew L. Kiefert has been named vice president of McClure Engineering Associates in Milwaukee. He is the division manager of the Milwaukee office of the firm. The company has also added Carl Rowlands as a project manager.
The Milwaukee law firm of Boyle Fredrickson Newholm Stein & Gratz has brought on Peter C. Stomma as a shareholder. He is a 1991 graduate of Drake and was previously with Jansson, Shupe, Munger & Stomma in Racine.
Margaret Skocir has been named administrator of The Lutheran Home’s Harwood Place campus in Wauwatosa while Michele Grall has been named marketing and promotions director, effective June 1. Harwood Place is a retirement living community. Skocir has served as director of nursing at The Lutheran Home for the past five years. She is a registered nurse with a master’s degree in nursing from Marquette University.
April 13, 2001 SBT

H2D of Milwaukee has hired Terry Lutz as art director. She has held graphic-design positions at Strong Capital Management, Marshall & Ilsley Corp., and Marshfield Clinic. She is graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Brian W. Ballweg has joined The Hays Group of Wisconsin as director of Property Loss Control. Ballweg’s previous experience includes four years at the Milwaukee office of Willis, where he was a property loss control account engineer. Prior to Willis, Ballweg was with FM Global for 11 years where he served as a property loss control engineer. He has a bachelor of science degree, with a major in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He earned his Professional Engineer designation in November 1992.
Timothy Richman has been promoted to regional vice president – Oncology and Rehabilitation Services for Covenant Healthcare System. He has served as the vice president for Covenant Rehabilitation Services since 1994. In his new role, Richman will be working with each of the Covenant hospitals – St. Francis, St. Joseph’s, St. Michael and Elmbrook Memorial – and the Covenant ambulatory programs in continuing to build cancer care services throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
David Golladay has been named vice president and director of client services at Sprecher Bertalot & Co. in Milwaukee. His background includes responsibilities as national brand manager for both Airguide Instruments and Minn Kota Marine accessories, and as account mananager for agencies in Atlanta and in Michigan. Sprecher Bertalot has also named Michael Vojvodich as senior art director. He had previously been with Brady Marketing Group and Grey Sunder Prescher. He holds a degree in graphic design from UW-Milwaukee.
John Regent-Smith has been promoted to the position of vice president of operations at Coakley Bros. in Milwaukee. The firm also named Jerry Le Sage as vice president of household goods, and Darwin Lauterbach as manager of the modular furniture installation division.
Eve K. Romersi has been promoted to the position of manager at Scribner, Cohen and Co., a CPA and advisory firm in downtown Milwaukee. Romersi, who holds CPA and MST designations, has been with the firm for six years. She is a graduate of Duke University and received a master’s degree in taxation from UW-Milwaukee. She is a member of TEMPO, the AICPA and the WICPA, and serves on the board of directors for the Task Force on Family Violence.
Raabe Corp. of Menomonee Falls has hired Dave Bobeck as inventory control manager and has promoted Dana Jazdzewski to the position of sales coordinator of the manufacturer of exact-match touch-up paints and custom packaging services. Bobeck is a certified purchasing manager and is also certified in production and inventory management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Maryland. He is an active member of the Association of Production and Inventory Control. He had previously been a buyer at Harley-Davidson Motor Co. in Milwaukee. Jazdzewski has been a member of Raabe’s sales team for the past two years. Before that, she was with Liberman Printing in Milwaukee, serving as inside sales manager.
Robert Medved has been appointed president of Cannella Response Television in Burlington. Medved will continue to head the firm’s media department. He joined the firm in 1994. Company founder Frank Cannella will continue with the firm, working with new business opportunity manager Kent Strong. The company provides consulting, management and media-buying for the informercial industry.
John Buteyn has joined the staff of Fontarome Chemical in St. Francis as manager of the company’s Quality Assurance/Quality Control department. He had previously been with Aldrich Chemical in Sheboygan Falls, Abbott Laboratories in Chicago, and Lubrizol Corp. and BO America, both in Ohio. Buteyn, a 1976 graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., received a doctorate in analytical chemistry in 1984 from UW-Milwaukee.
Equitable Bank, based in Wauwatosa, has announced the following promotions: Jenny Foglia to vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; Denise Kalina to corporate secretary; Mary Jasinski to assistant vice president-controller; Helen Kidd to investment center manager; and Christine Shehow to customer service manager.
WAGO Corp. has promoted Robert Mehalick to the position of marketing manager. He had previously served as zone manager for the eastern United States for the German-based firm, which has its US headquarters in Germantown. The firm also has named James J. Bachle to the position of electrical products manager. He had previously served as zone manager for the western US.
Batteries Plus has appointed Michael Lehman as vice president for information technology. He has been with the Hartland-based company since January 2000, serving as director of MIS. He holds a bachelors’ degree from Carroll College in Waukesha and an MBA from Marquette University.
Greg Cottone has been appointed construction support manager at Roman Electric Co. in Milwaukee. He had been a project manager for another electrical contractor, but had been with Roman in the early 1990s.
T-3 Group of Milwaukee has promoted Raymond V. Zukauskas to the position of vice president of Tenant Improvements and Public Projects. He has been in the construction industry since 1982, and holds an MS in engineering management and a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Jeff DeSpears has joined Voss Jorgensen Schueler, a general contracting and construction manageement firm in Waukesha, as project manager. He has more than 23 years of construction experience in facilities management. He had previously been facilities director for the Shorewood School District, and had earlier held that position at Alverno College in Milwaukee and the University School of Milwaukee. He holds a master’s degree in management and a bachelor’s degree in industrial management.
MLG Management has announced the following promotions: Gary Knowski, senior vice president – Wisconsin; Mary Binder, director of property management – accounting; Ray Balfanz, vice president; and Sean Sciurba, assistant property manager.
MLG Commercial has announced the following promotions: Jim Hartung, vice president, industrial brokerage; Sean Osborne, vice president, retail brokerage; Wayne Rappold, vice president, office brokerage; Mike Fox, vice president, development; and Pat Connor, senior vice president, Appleton.
Reilly Hage has joined Advance Hydraulics of St. Francis as marketing coordinator. Hage holds a degree in marketing from UW-Milwaukee.

Wauwatosa-based Delta Communications has acquired the Technical Services Group of EXCELtech of Waukesha.

"We are now able to offer, in addition to our traditional wide-area offerings, technical support for Microsoft, Citrix and other application software, plus physical installation of cable plants, computer-room equipment and telephone systems," said Spencer A. Thomason, owner of Delta Communications.
The acquisition gives Delta considerable growth opportunity, Thomason said. While Delta has offered services have primarily focused on linking facilities, the company can now offer services for communications within facilities. "We’ll be able to offer services from the network all the way down to the desktop," he said.
Delta Communications, founded in 1973, offers communications products and systems, and related support for businesses, such as local and wide-area networking, voice data integration, and fiber optics. It employs seven people at its offices at 11617 W. Blue Mound Rd.
EXCELtech has been in business for more than 12 years, with its prime focus on CAD/CAM software. The Technical Services Group handles repair and technical support for computer and communications systems. Located at Waukesha at highways JJ and 164, the Technical Services Group has five people.
Both locations and staffs will be maintained, Thomason said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

– Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates of Milwaukee has formed a strategic alliance with Arc Design Resources of Rockford, Ill. Through the alliance, the firms will jointly pursue civil engineering projects in targeted regions of Illinois.
Arc Design, established in 1993, has 19 employees and has public and private clients of its civil engineering services. It has about $2 million in annual revenue.
Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates is a multi-disciplined engineering firm with offices in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison and Chicago.

– UltraServe Corp., a computer consulting firm based in Menomonee Falls, and Integra Systems of West Allis will merge. UltraServe, founded in 1995, has primarily provided mainframe operating systems installation, maintenance and upgrades. Integra Systems is a six-year-old firm specializing in small systems network design, connectivity and applications development.
The two companies have had a longstanding partnering relationship, according to James A. Erdahl, president of UltraServe. "We’ve referred business to each other for several years as our customers have required solutions outside of our areas of expertise."
Patrick McHugh, president of Integra Systems, noted the merger would eliminate duplicated costs of sales, marketing and office functions.

– Trinity Employment Services of Brown Deer has formed a new ownership group based on a succession plan initiated by the firm’s founder, Robert E. Holton, who will remain an advisor to the firm.
Steven J. O’Brien, formerly vice president for operations, is now president. David L. Burmeister, formerly branch manager, is now vice president. James T. English, formerly controller, is now CFO. Kenneth Wisniewski is now branch manager. The firm focuses on industrial, clerical and white-collar job candidates. It plans to expand into new staffing and HR market segments.
Trinity has offices in Waukesha, South Milwaukee, Brookfield and Brown Deer.

While Pabst Farms will be the big one, plenty of other development is under way

While the city of Milwaukee boasts of the information technology capabilities of its redeveloped downtown office structures, developers in Waukesha County are outfitting their new spec buildings from the ground up to be Internet-ready. But one of the hottest projects bears the name of one of the men that made Milwaukee famous.
"Probably the most exciting thing we’ve got going now is the Pabst Farms development in Oconomowoc," Bill Mitchell, executive director of the Waukesha County Economic Development Corp., said. "There will be a residential component to that, but most of it will be commercial."
Wispark Corp. is the developer of the Pabst Farms property. About half of the project area is part of a new Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) district, which will allow property taxes from users to be earmarked for infrastructure improvements to the sites. When the TIF is closed in 20 years, Pabst Farms would include retail stores, office buildings, suburban-style industrial parks and about 1,000 homes.
Another Waukesha County hot spot is the Moorland Road exchange with I-43 in New Berlin. The interchange is the site of the Westridge Business Park and the Towne Business Park. It is there that Luterbach Construction of New Berlin is erecting several speculative office/light industrial buildings, and GMR Marketing, a major-event marketing firm, is building its 70,000-square-foot headquarters building.
In the nearby Moorland Commons development, a new Target store is atypical in that, due to the city’s architectural requirements, it uses brick as a major architectural feature, according to development director Steven Hoese.
"The developer is creating a Target store unlike any other in the nation because we asked them to. There is room for three outbuildings and several additional businesses in the same strip as the Target," Hoese said. The area is also the site of a new Baymont Inn & Suites and, according to Hoese, may also see a Holiday Inn Express.
A number of developers have projects either slated or under way in the county.
Inland Companies is working on a 35,000-square-foot build-to-suit in Hartland. It hopes to break ground this spring. Inland also has slated a 32,000-square-foot project in the Gateway West Business Park in Brookfield. The Brookfield property will be built to suit with spec space attached to it. According to Scott Welsh of Inland, "We’ll start if the economy holds in. If the economy slips a little we’ll hold off on that. I personally think we’ll be OK."
According to company president Kevin Wahlgren, the development firm Wahlgren-Schwenn is involved in a 130,000-square-foot distribution center in Hartland for Lang Companies, a large locally-based producer and marketer of early American-theme memorabilia.
Wangard Partners has recently completed the first phase of a three-phase development at Eastgate Business Center in Brookfield at 131st Street and Lisbon Road.
According to Dan Jessup of Wangard, the development is "basically a three-phase 200,000-square-foot tech building development. Phase One is completed at 51,000 square feet, and available immediately. Phase Two is under construction at 68,000 square feet and scheduled for availability in spring of 2001. Phase Three will be started on a schedule to be determined. Features include redundant fiber-optic capability, the potential for two different electrical grids and a parking ratio of five spaces per thousand square feet of space. This development is high-end office and warehouse space. For this type of product you typically have two parking stalls per thousand square feet. We figure that it’s single story and it has an image element to it, so there’s likely to be more office build-out than warehouse. A typical percentage of office to warehouse space is 20% office and 80% warehouse. The ratio on this product might even be the inverse of that. This property is geared toward people who rely on image, and look for that in a facility. We’re going for technology users, and also distributors looking for image and requiring some warehouse capabilities."
Recent infrastructure improvements will also benefit the development.
"They just did a lot of revamping of 124th and Capitol," Jessup notes. "There were hundreds of thousands of dollars of road improvements, and we’ll benefit from that."
Ned Burtell of Inland is the agent for a three-story, 96,000-square-foot Class A office development in Riverwood Park, near Highway J and Riverwood Drive, Pewaukee. The project started entirely as a spec job, but as the steel is going up this month, a lease is almost signed for 64,000 square feet on two floors.
"This building features executive underground parking, two fiber providers – Ameritech and Time-Warner – a common conference room and five parking spaces per thousand square feet," Burtell said. "The development was started by Wisconsin Bell and Ameritech, when Ameritech bought land for a call center/corporate operations center in the late ’80s. Since then, they sold their remaining property to developers. We’re targeting tech companies like Sysco Systems, Compaq Computers and Smith Barney."
Burke Properties is developing the new Westbrook Corporate Center in Menomonee Falls. The development will take place in two phases, with a total of 125 acres in a TIF district.
"We’ve actually had two buildings under construction that are pretty interesting," said Paul Votto of Burke. "There is a 17.3-acre site that was sold to Kelch Corp., which is based in Cedarburg. This is a replacement for an existing facility they have in Mequon. The first building is 150,000 square feet. Another deal is for a 5.5-acre site for MERO Structures. They are based in Germantown, and this 40,000-square-foot building will be a replacement for their headquarters and manufacturing facility. We just started marketing this park in the middle of 2000. Of course we are also in negotiation with a number of other clients at this point."
Unlike some other developments in the area, Votto said the company is not specifically targeting Internet-dependent businesses with Westbrook Corporate Center. "We’re not specifically installing high-speed Internet, but it is certainly available. We’ve been assured by Ameritech that high-access lines are available as needed," he said.
MLG Commercial’s Waukesha County activities include a 76-acre development in Sussex – The Sussex Business Park and the 200-acre Sussex Corporate Center.
"We already have a number of committed companies," Andy Bruce of MLG said. "These include a large distribution facility. Multiple sites are available and appropriate for manufacturing and light industrial users. This business park includes the typical quality protective covenants found in most MLG projects with specific attention paid to protecting trees. We have just recently broken ground and installed roads in the park."
Telecommunications vendors to the project are putting in state-of-the-art Web connections, according to Bruce.
"It’s been our experience that in a location like this there are a number of vendors providing high-quality telecommunications. We generally facilitate that as opposed to getting involved in providing telecommunications ourselves," Bruce said.
Meanwhile, MLG has been busy elsewhere in Sussex with a light industrial manufacturing park development.
An MLG Commercial development in Hartford, the Cottonwood Commerce Center, is filling up, mostly with local companies. According to Sam Dickman of Dickman Co., one of the 45,000-square-foot Spancrete buildings has 9,000 square feet left. The buildings have docks and drive-ins with 20-foot clearance.

Reuse remains king in the city; urban areas remain active development spots

Downtown Milwaukee has seen significant investment in housing and high-tech office space as well as retail and commercial developments, Department of City Development spokesman John Bratina notes.
"Milwaukee has been successful in reusing its built environment. Many older buildings, warehouses and factories are highly conducive for high-tech business development. Over the past year, several buildings have attracted technology-based companies and investment," he said.
Notable developments include:
– The Blatz Warehouse on Market Street that now houses TCG Group, a subsidiary of AT&T.
– The Wells Building, located on East Wisconsin Avenue, houses numerous high-tech companies such as Colo.com, a California-based telecom company.
– The Dye House on East Buffalo Street has recently been sold to a Los Angeles real estate investor who specializes in leasing to data service providers and other high-tech firms.
– The C. Coakley Relocation System Building on South 2nd Street recently became home to Williams Communications.
While many new developments feature information infrastructure like redundant fiber optic suppliers, Bratina said that Milwaukee’s old-style architecture lends itself just as easily to high-tech uses.
"Milwaukee’s classic structures offer advantages to high-tech companies that aren’t available in new modern office towers and business parks," Bratina said. "These structures offer high ceilings that better accommodate telecom equipment, floors that can support more weight per square foot to handle switching equipment and, since these high-tech companies can ill-afford downtime during power failures, space for backup power supply systems.
"These physical characteristics are complemented by the fact that they are strategically located along underground fiber optic lines. Since most of these lines have originated in the downtown area, they provide the connectivity that is critical to high-tech companies."
The $170 million investment in the Midwest Express Center is also paying off for the city, Bratina said, as redevelopment spurred by the promise of increased convention traffic is revitalizing West Wisconsin Avenue, and has led to a 40% increase in hotel rooms in the area.
Riverworks works
Another redevelopment hotspot cited by Bratina is the Riverworks industrial corridor located along East Capitol Drive between the Humboldt Boulevard and I-43.
"The redevelopment of Riverworks began in 1993 when the Northeast Milwaukee Industrial Development Corp., in partnership with the City of Milwaukee and developer Wispark Corp., purchased the former AMC/Chrysler site and created a 33-acre business park," Bratina said. "To date, this public/private partnership has seen 31 of these 33 acres fully redeveloped, representing more than $25 million in new investment and creating or retaining nearly 900 jobs. Riverworks has landed new developments such as Production Stamping and Milwaukee Protective Covering. This year, the City of Milwaukee is expanding the TID to cover four additional parcels that have been targeted for redevelopment. It is expected that these four parcels will attract at least four companies and create more than 100 jobs in the near future."
And in Milwaukee’s industrial valley, redevelopment is taking on a mixed-use flair thanks, in part, to convenient T-1 Internet access.
The intersection of 6th and Canal streets in the Menomonee Valley sits between three emerging areas of Milwaukee, the Third Ward and the emerging neighborhood of Walker’s Point.
Once home to junkyards, bulk storage and other such uses, the east end of the Menomonee Valley promises to be a prime location for business expansion and development.
"In recent decades, the valley has been filled with degrading land uses and proven difficult to navigate," Bratina said. "The current reconstruction of the 6th Street viaduct will slope to the valley floor to form an at-grade intersection with Canal Street, the valley’s main thoroughfare. With this improved access, new development opportunities will be created. Zoning from the I-94 ‘high rise’ bridge to the ‘river’s end’ area to the east has been changed from manufacturing to mixed use. The valley’s land use plan envisions a mix of commercial and residential uses, with supporting retail along the 6th Street Viaduct."
Atlas Development Corp., which was responsible for The Tannery redevelopment at 6th and Virginia streets, recently purchased the vacant 17-acre Reed Street Yards on the other side of the viaduct. That, according to Bratina, will enable high-end development.
"Residential units could be coupled nicely with live-work opportunities, service businesses, ‘back office’ space and even high-tech manufacturing that could make use of T-1 lines buried along the adjacent railroad right-of-way," Bratina said.

Downtown Cudahy set for development
Just south of Milwaukee in Cudahy, spring construction is expected on a $9 million downtown redevelopment project. In addition to a new $3.2 million library in the 3500 block of Barnard Avenue and condominiums, the developer is examining the feasibility of several commercial buildings. The Lakeside Commons project will be designed to create not only a commercial redevelopment district, but also an area of residential development that can support the business base.
"In addition to residential condominiums, we’re building a library connected to condos by a winter garden – a 4,500-square-foot enclosed glass lobby," Paul Votto of Burke Properties said.
"It will connect the two buildings with a meeting/lobby area," Votto said. "That is all in the first phase, which encompasses the 72-unit condo, library and a series of for-sale town houses. On the commercial side, we are doing a feasibility market analysis for the development. We want to determine the marketability of two buildings that would be retail on the first floor and two or three stories of residential above on Packard Avenue. We are the ones doing the feasibility study. But first we are working with our architectural consultant, Engberg-Anderson Design Partnership, to prepare a conceptual plan for the building and the floor space.
"Then we’ll use that plan to do outreach to businesses – starting with those in the area including those who are already affected by the redevelopment. We’ll test the waters in the Cudahy business community itself to determine if there is sufficient demand to go forward with the first building.
"If there is sufficient demand, we would move forward with the first building. Our schedule has us beginning the outreach marketing in April of this year. Hopefully, we will determine the feasibility by the end of summer and determine if we’re going forward. Obviously if we get a strong indication of feasibility, we will move forward even more quickly."
Burke Properties is also involved in the new Cygnet Airport Center building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Mitchell International Business Park -on the east side of the airport.
"We just finished a 70,000-square-foot flex building – multi-tenant industrial building," Votto said. "We entered into a long-term lease for 58,000 square feet with a printing company – Wetzel Brothers, which is currently located in the Third Ward. They will be vacating that space and moving into this facility. There are just over 12,000 square feet remaining. The beauty of these flex buildings is that they are flexible. They could be a warehouse/distribution facility, office space or light industrial. The marketplace is driven by the airport, so naturally we’re talking to small delivery companies."
Design elements in the flex buildings include loading docks at the back, but also a high amount of glass and arch features, Votto said.
"This space can serve as an office, but can also be subdivided," Votto said. "The front can be office space and the back can be manufacturing or distribution. They are built with bays – typically 40 feet wide between columns. That means the space can be divided along those columns. Each section is about 6,000 square feet. That’s what makes it flexible. We can size the space to the needs of the customer."
Speculative coming to West Milwaukee
According to Scott Welsh of Inland Companies, Inland is also involved in a project just off of Miller Park Way and Mitchell Street in the village of West Milwaukee. The 45,000-square-foot office/warehouse/showroom is all speculative, and is being built for Real Estate Recycling, based in Minneapolis.
"We’re not necessarily going for the IT business on this project, but the neighborhood is a little more industrial, and we might get a more industrial type of user," Welsh said. "We hope to break ground in spring."
Inland is also working with Real Estate Recycling on a project near Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. The build-to-suit facility on the north side of the Airport Spur near 6th and Grange would be a 100,000-square-foot distribution facility. Start of construction will be market-driven, according to Welsh, and could be as early as fall of this year or as late as early 2002.
Dickman Company is involved in a 30,000-square-foot building in St. Francis, which is also driven by ready access to the airport.
"We’ve got industrial/office space – divisible down to 5,000 square feet," Sam Dickman said. "We’re going for people who service the airport – next to the Airport Spur and the Lake Park Arterial. Construction will start in March, and we’re expecting completion in July.
"We are providing parking for two cars per thousand square feet. That’s a lot for a building of this type. The building is tall enough to accommodate a crane in the building if necessary. One tenant we’re looking at needs it, so we may include one."
Dickman is also involved in a development in Oak Creek at the dead-end of Forest Hill Avenue.
"The building is now being constructed at Bell Court in Oak Creek – the project was undertaken on behalf of local investors. There are 6,000 square feet remaining out of 24,000 square feet. So far as tenants, we have Rehab Technologies and Hellmann Worldwide Distributors, Inc. This would be a good home for service-type guys who need warehouse/office space with a dock and a drive-in. We are currently pouring floor for Hellmann – the remaining space is not finished yet."

Franklin park does well
In the city of Franklin, the Franklin Business Park is about 80% sold out, according to Barry Chavin of MLG commercial. But there is still plenty of interesting development activity taking place there.
While a project under way in Franklin by Gleischman-Sumner Co. is not tremendously large, it should be of great interest to small businesses interested in having their own facility. According to Mark Sumner, Gleischman-Sumner created a division called GSSB, LLC, in order to help small business owners get into their own building.
"The idea behind the company is to make available to small business owners the ability to own their own building at a cost to them where their debt service for the project would be comparable to what they’d have to pay in rent," Sumner said.
The company acquired six acres in the Franklin Business Park and subdivided it into four parcels with a total of four buildings. One building is completed as a model and, according to Sumner, a company is already interested in purchasing that model. Construction will be initiated on the remaining buildings this spring.
"We built a city street called Airways Court that serves this four-building campus. We want to give small business owners the chance to build some equity, get some appreciation and enjoy the pride of ownership. Each lot will allow for future expansion space. Based on the people we’ve talked to, there’s nobody that doesn’t like it. We’re targeting anyone who currently is an office user who wants a full office buildout or a mixed-use partial office/partial warehouse or full warehouse. One potential user wants a showroom, a conference room and a warehouse.
"These are quality masonry buildings in any one of a number of material styles, atrium styles, and a choice of different entrances. We offer a full-service building program and arrange financing up to 100% for qualified credit. These buildings will run between 6,000-11,000 square feet. We did market research and no one else is doing it. We had an Internet search done, along with market research in several areas of the country and Wisconsin. Most real estate developers aren’t interested in this segment – they say they can’t make any money doing it. But this is a segment of the market that needs to be served – a segment that includes most of our office tenant companies."
GSSB is undertaking a similar project in Colorado, just south of Denver, Sumner said.
"In Colorado, they have a very cumbersome approval process," Sumner said. "We found it harder to get projects approved there. Something in Wisconsin that might take you 90-120 days could take a year there."
Gleischman-Sumner is also involved in more than 2.5 million square feet of tenant improvements, as well as other projects regionally.
"At the moment we’re working on a couple of build-to-suits that will roll out in the spring – in the city of Milwaukee and in Brookfield," Sumner said.
West Allis eyes big redevelopment
In West Allis, construction of a new village square, grocery store and hundreds of parking spaces in the Six Points/Farmers Market area could begin this year. The conceptual plan is aimed at spawning new retail business in a 44-acre TIF district along Greenfield and National avenues from about 62nd Street to 66th Street.
"The driving factors behind this project were lack of adequate parking and blighted buildings," John Stipl of the City of West Allis said. "The area was built in the 1900s before the automobile was a major factor in everybody’s lives. We need to revitalize all the deteriorated buildings, and also address the issue of inadequate parking."
Stipl said the city will purchase 38 properties, including some vacant lots, some older industrial buildings and some residences.
"This is the first phase of a four-phase project," Stipl said. "In order for the first phase of the project to begin, we need to wait for Pressed Steel to vacate its property, which should happen by early summer. The demolition of the building and environmental cleanup will commence. Jewel-Osco would then open by summer of 2002. The city is now acquiring additional land needed for this phase. This process will take 12 to 18 months."
The resulting development will be mixed-use in nature.
"To the south will be residential, condominiums," Stipl said. "To the east will be commercial and right at the Six Points intersection, we will acquire parking for the back of the commercial areas."
The project is bounded on the west by the Chicago and North Western railroad spur, on the north by Greenfield Avenue, on the east by 62nd Street a block north of National Avenue, on the south by Mitchell Street and West Lapham.
"The neighborhood needs revitalization. It has gone too long without new development. This is an opportunity to clean it up and bring new life to the commercial and retail businesses in the Six Points/Farmers Market neighborhood," Stipl said. "We have looked at commercial projects, we have looked at residential projects, and now this one. Of all the projects we looked at, this one gives us the most tax base."

Northwest side will get high-tech center
Inland Companies is acting as general contractor or construction manager on a number of projects in Milwaukee County, including a high-tech structure south of Milwaukee’s downtown. Just north of Park Place on the city’s far northwest side, Inland will start construction this spring on a building for Park Place Technology Company. The 186,000-square-foot office/showroom/warehouse project will take place in phases, according to Inland’s Welsh.
"The first phase, which will start construction this spring, will be a 67,600-square-foot building. The project is very close to the Park Place development, and is located off of Bradley and I-45," Welsh said. "We are technically not in the Park Place development – this will be its own little high-tech business park. The other two buildings will encompass the remaining space at 59,000 square feet each, with the construction timeline initiated by demand."
The high-tech business development is a category Welsh thinks will see increasing demand.
"We certainly think that there is a high-tech need. Our client is targeting firms like Time-Warner, GE Medical, M&I Data and Brady Corp. These types of companies are looking for that image, location and flexibility," Welsh said. "All have some relation to the Internet and the related technical component that’s important to today’s business. The project is not completely dependent on this sector, but the design of the building will appeal to these high-tech companies. People coming out of school with technical backgrounds want to be in decent buildings, and this desire is an important factor in building choice. The building is a tool to attract qualified job candidates."
Connectivity is a proven attractor for business, according to Welsh.
"One of our developments landed Time-Warner as a client in a very similar fashion," Welsh said. "Their facility is located a quarter mile away from a hub fireline. Being close to that fiberpoint was very important to them."

Capitol Court will completely change
One of the more interesting projects pending in Milwaukee County is the de-malling of Capitol Court. The shopping center opened in 1955, but had fallen on hard times recently. De-malling is a process used elsewhere in the country where mall developments are essentially turned inside out, creating outside frontages for stores.
The City of Milwaukee will contribute $4.5 million in improvements, including landscaping and the extension of West Hope Avenue, West Ely Place and North 56th Street into the de-malled center.
Mark Brickman, president of Polacheck Company, said work could start in the fall of this year on demolition and re-construction of Capitol Court.
"There will be quite a bit of additional retail space, which could be a supermarket and possibly a home improvement center, a number of outparcels and satellite retail," Brickman said. "The outparcels would be good for restaurants, maybe automotive or financial institutions. Satellite retail would be service stores, and maybe some of the retailers currently in Capitol Court would want to stay in the area."
Brickman said Polacheck is "talking with people right now. Some of the space will be committed before construction gets under way, but not all of it."
The most notable tenant of the de-malled development will be Wal-Mart.
Brickman said Polacheck is also involved in the rejuvenation of another older mall development – Point Loomis, at the juncture of South 27th Street and Loomis Road on Milwaukee’s south side.
"Renovation of the Point Loomis shopping center is expected to include a teardown of part of the shopping center and the addition of a new supermarket in its place. We can’t reveal who will be in there," Brickman said.
Just north of Point Loomis, a Wal-Mart store is under construction at the former site of another aging mall, Southgate. The store is expected to be open by press time.

Industrial parks, West Bend downtown mix new and renewed development

According to Hartford Area Development Corp. (HADC) Executive Director Werner Wolpert, expansions in the Dodge Industrial Park lead the development news in that area.
In the Dodge Industrial Park, Hartford’s major corporate citizen, Quad/Graphics, is adding 217,000 square feet to its existing facility, bringing the firm’s total facilities in the park to 1.3 million square feet. The expansion is expected to result in the hiring of an additional 180 employees.
Another Dodge park tenant, Signicast, is adding on to the tune of 21,315 square feet for additional office space, 74,364 square feet for a machine shop and an additional production facility of 77,618 square feet.
In the Hartford and Western industrial parks, according to Wolpert, three other companies are expanding their facilities. Menasha Corp. is adding a 9,000-square-foot warehouse, Triton Corp. has added 10,000 square feet and Fire Line Creations has increased its facility by 30,000 square feet.
The HADC markets space in the Dodge park, and has recently closed eight land sales totaling 90 acres. Several of the sales will be associated with expansions of existing local industries, including Helgesen Industries, Automating Peripherals and Kendall Shoemake.
Companies HADC has brought into the park include USPL Auto Accessories of Colgate, and Advance Bag, Inc., which has relocated from nearby Jackson. The Advance Bag facility is expected to open this month and will initially employ 12 people. USPL manufactures spoilers and wings for late-model cars.

Jackson leverages TIFs
In Jackson, the fruits of years of disciplined TIF development are heavy on the vine. TIF development is responsible, according to village administrator Del Beaver, for an increase in the village’s statement of assessments from $50.5 million to $210 million between 1990 and 2000.
"We have just added a new part to TID No. 3, as the original TID No. 3 has been built out," Beaver said. "There are still about 20 acres available on the northeast corner of highways 60 and 45 that we expect activity will soon proceed on. Tilly Lake Business Park, part of TID No. 3 has been approved for build-out for low-impact retail and light industrial uses.
"Approximately 130 acres are still available in the Jackson Northwest Business Park. We have constructed a retention basin for the remaining undeveloped parcels. Quincy Container will have a certificate of occupancy this year. Universal Strap, Superior Stainless, Quincy Container and a multi-tenant building are all slated for construction in 2001. The construction firm Design to Construct – which worked on many of these buildings – will start construction on its own headquarters in Jackson Northwest in 2001."
In the more intermediate future, there are tentative plans for developing the southern end of the former Northland Cranberry property, Beaver said.

Germantown activity
According to village planner/zoning administrator Jason Gallo, the Village of Germantown is seeing less commercial development than in previous years, but industrial development activity is going strong. Commercial projects include a potential Home Depot location on Appleton Avenue and Highway Q and a 160,000-square-foot Menard’s location approved for Appleton Avenue and County Line Road.
Building activity has been brisk in the Germantown Industrial Park and Germantown Business Park, according to Gallo. In the industrial park, D&G Transportation has completed a 23,000-square-foot addition to its facility. Construction Concepts of Wisconsin is new to the development with a 12,040-square-foot building. Also new are Custom Pack Products at 25,000 square feet, Atwater-General Corp. at 22,620 square feet and Basic Metals at 43,000 square feet. Gallo added that there are still a few lots open in the industrial park.
In the Germantown Business Park, in an M1-zoned development with higher standards for construction and landscaping than the industrial development, Precision Woodwork is the newcomer, with a 41,300-square-foot project.

West Bend TIF-heavy
"We have eight active TIFs," Betty Pearson of the West Bend Chamber of Commerce said. "Some of them are just about done, others are just starting."
According to Pearson, the two most active are the West End Corporate Center, owned by Jim Schloemer of Continental Properties, and Wingate Creek Business Center, brokered by Ziegler-Bence.
The West End development has currently almost filled its commercial development allotment, according to Pearson, and will begin the light industrial and office development components of the project.
The city’s downtown is also part of a TIF district.
"The downtown is supposed to be a vital center for recreation and culture, as well as business activity," Pearson said. "We are currently working with consultants HNTB on plans for redeveloping the downtown."
Redevelopment opportunity is being driven by the removal of railroad tracks from the downtown area, making room for a trail, and by industrial properties being vacated by the appliance manufacturer, West Bend Company.

Downtown Racine, western villages sharing in business development

Development patterns in the eastern portion of Racine County are affected by a sewer moratorium while the City of Racine and its neighbors hammer out an agreement on cost sharing for a wastewater treatment plant expansion.
Negotiations between the city and the Town of Mount Pleasant have hit an impasse, extending a hold on new connections to the metropolitan sanitary sewer system, which is currently at capacity. The deal would also encompass the Town of Caledonia and the Village of Sturtevant.
Despite that fly in the ointment, commercial and industrial development activity has been relatively brisk in the eastern portion of the county and is accelerating in the more rural setting west of I-94.
"Racine’s downtown is seeing significant growth with the new Johnson Bank Building and a new M&I banking center. We continue to work on projects where we expect to see continuous growth as a result of the involvement of Racine Downtown along with our own organization," said Gordie Kacala of Racine County Economic Development Corp. (RCEDC).
Growth in the retail and service sectors have been strong, Kacala said. "As you make your way west of highways 31 and 20 near the Kohl’s and Jewel-Osco, you see a lot of outlot development around the Regency Mall."
The sewer moratorium would have minimal impact on retail and office development, as they are not major dischargers of wastewater.
"I don’t think it’s going to affect retail service development," he said. "We will see a long-term effect on industry because there is the need to develop new industrial parklands."
Moratorium not immediate problem
Although the debate over the wastewater treatment plant expansion has been going on for more than four years, Kacala said the immediate prognosis is not all that bad.
"For the next five years, we can continue to have an adequate supply of sewered lots within the city of Racine," Kacala said. "Outside of a four- to five-year timeframe, however, we will not. In context with the fact that we are seeing a national economic slowdown that will affect manufacturing, I don’t know what kind of manufacturing growth we will see in the next year regardless of a sewer moratorium."
Activity in The Renaissance, a 400-acre business park in Sturtevant, has been slowed as issues regarding a potential power plant in the development were addressed. Park tenant Golden Book’s option on additional property expired recently as well, opening up that land for additional industries.
The Washington Avenue Business Park has seen a recent sale of 30 acres, leaving two 20-acre sites remaining.
The sewer moratorium is also affecting on the Caledonia Business Park. The park is owned by Majestic North Development, Inc., a joint entity of Nielsen Building Systems and Ray Leffler of Newport Realty.
"We do have recent sales of 2.5 acres and pending sales of 16.5 acres, leaving us with about 15 available acres with sewer," Bruce Nielsen of Nielson Building said. "Until the moratorium is resolved, we’re in trouble. We have all kinds of acreage available, up to 430 acres, assuming we get sewer to it. We currently have Unico, Midland Container, Badger Electronics, AW Company, Mamco and Toledo Scale, which is leaving in March, Pavetech, Quick Cable, Rite Engineering and Drewco. The development is aimed at machine shops, warehouses, light manufacturing – anything that fits into M2 zoning."
Leffler said the Caledonia park is a good choice for smaller businesses as "our protective covenants are much looser than The Renaissance and Lakeview."
As the moratorium is resolved, the potential size of park extends from Dunklow Road to 4 Mile Road. "Obviously, we won’t be purchasing any more until the sewer moratorium is over with," Nielsen said. "We do have real access to 50 acres we don’t own, but don’t have sewer to it. We also have 14 acres in the Nordic Business Park at 6 Mile Road and Highway 31. It’s zoned M2 like the Caledonia Park."
Heading west
Further west, Poclain Hydraulics recently bought the building vacated by Greene Manufacturing in the Town of Yorkville’s Grandview Business Park.
In Union Grove, development activity is being focused on a newly formed TIF district on the northwest side of town. Formation of the new TIF was fast-tracked. "It usually takes five to six months to put a TIF into place," Bursek said. "We did it in 59 days."
A key concern was that proposed revisions to the rules governing TIFs would not allow the village to include recently annexed land from the Town of Yorkville in the TIF district.
The TIF encompasses a 33-acre annex to the village’s existing industrial park, along with blighted areas, in an attempt to put them back to their best use. Blighted areas include a former Stokely canning facility site. The sauerkraut factory burned down in 1987 and, according to Bursek, the site presents mild environmental concerns.
"The TIF funding, along with a brownfields development grant, should make development more attractive," Bursek said, adding that location would be a primary selling point for land in the TIF.
"Location is No. 1," Bursek said. "Union Grove is ideally located relatively close to I-94, and is centrally located between the Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine and Chicago markets."
Protective covenants would be loose enough to attract smaller companies, including the construction, warehousing and electrical supply businesses Bursek feels are ideal for the sites.
"In the industrial park annex, covenants are fairly restrictive, and cover outdoor storage and landscaping, masonry facing the street. Covenants are less stringent for the Stokely property," Bursek said.
Companies interested in locating in the TIF include Coleman Tool & Manufacturing, a short-run machining company with locations in Bristol, Somers and Kenosha. The company would build a $3.2 million facility and employ 120, according to Bursek. A yet unnamed company has expressed interest in 20 acres west of the Stokely property, and Bursek said that should they come on board, they would provide 200-500 jobs within five years.
Burlington redeveloping riverfront
The big development news in Burlington is obviously the riverfront redevelopment project. The project will ease traffic stoppages at the city’s rail crossings and create a recreational corridor along the river.
"Burlington has nearly completed the acquisition phase of the downtown redevelopment project," Kacala said. "We also expect to see a lot going on with the downtown and Highway 36 corridor."
"The riverfront project will have a tremendous positive benefit on our downtown businesses," City of Burlington administrator David Torgler said. "The project includes a four-lane railroad overpass, a new riverfront park, a bike/pedestrian path, downtown parking improvements, a pedestrian link to the new Burlington Area High School, a new 188-unit apartment building, and aesthetic improvements to our downtown. The railroad overpass will allow for traffic to move expeditiously through our downtown. With so much of the traffic in our city merely passing through, the overpass will eliminate the need to wait for a train. By allowing for an easier path through our city for the commuter traffic, our downtown streets will be more accessible to the consumers looking to get to one of our downtown businesses.
"The upgraded amenities will provide people working in or visiting our downtown with a new place to go. We intend to promote the use of this space for the enjoyment of our residents, businesses and visitors. The new bike path will link up with the existing bike path leading east along Highway 36 to Waterford, eventually linking directly to that village, and will hopefully one day link the city to Elkhorn."
The redevelopment push is coming at a real cost to the city, according to Torgler.
"The city continues to update its infrastructure to meet the growing area demands for service," Torgler said. "This year we improved more then $1.4 million dollars worth of roads, and we adopted a five-year street improvement program to ensure that we are able to keep up with our streets. We are also replacing thousands of linear feet of water and sanitary sewer lines along our riverfront project area. Many of our trunk lines run through this area and were in need of upsizing and updating.
"The city also has formed an economic development committee to work with the RCEDC, the Workforce Development program, Polacheck, and local businesses to address service needs, growing businesses’ needs and new business needs. We intend to be pro-active and work with our local businesses to create an environment that is business-friendly, while at the same time maintaining our ‘rural’ characteristics that make the city of Burlington attractive to residents."
According to Jenny Trick, senior economic development manager with the RCEDC, planned commercial uses for some riverfront properties cannot yet be announced, including a site vacated by Highlighter Graphics.
"The proposed use of the Hi-Liter building has not been confirmed," Trick said. "There is a commercial development proposed at that site. A lot of the parcels along the riverfront have been identified as redevelopment opportunities. When you have redevelopment in a certain area of the community, there is a trickle-down effect. Real estate developers see that there are great things going on down the street and think, ‘Maybe I should improve my property as well.’"
Another property that will see redevelopment activity is located at the intersection of Dodge and State streets, according to Trick.
"The property at Dodge and State street was acquired by the city to accommodate a railway underpass. The underpass option was rejected. We sent out a request for proposals and have been directed to pursue one of the proposals for an office-type structure."
Waterford gears up for Runzheimer
The biggest development push in the village of Waterford is the result of Runzheimer International’s consolidation of its Rochester and Burlington offices with existing facilities in Waterford. Runzheimer will be located on the northeast portion of Waterford in a 70-acre TIF district north of Highway 164 – the Waterford Centre.
Runzheimer will be selling property adjacent to new facility for 50% commercial and 50% light industrial development. The area will be set up with fiber optic capabilities. "Businesses that rely heavily on the Internet might want to locate in this park," Waterford village administrator Diane Schliecher said.
Runzheimer will occupy seven acres. Rex Runzheimer, the company’s president and CEO, is one of the partners in the park.
Schliecher said Runzheimer chose to consolidate in Waterford for a number of reasons.
"They wanted to control their environment," she said. "I don’t think they wanted a Culver’s in front of them. Even though I think they had their heart in working with Burlington, Waterford won because of location. Many of Runzhiemer’s newer employees are driving in from Waukesha and Milwaukee."
Torgler is philosophical about the loss of Runzheimer.
"As regards Runzheimer International, we are obviously disappointed about their decision to move their facilities to Waterford," Torgler said. "Runzheimer is a high-quality business and employer. However, as an area employer, our residents who are employed by them will still be within a short drive of their new facilities. We wish them nothing but the best of luck."
In the meantime, Waterford is gearing up for increased development in the area of the new Runzheimer site.
"From what I understand, they’re going to immediately develop south of (Runzheimer)," Schliecher said. "Runzheimer doesn’t abut Highway 164, so there is the potential for commercial development along the highway. It’s a planned development – we can work with users based on intended use, parking, setbacks and structure. We will still be restrictive on architecture and landscaping, but we can be more flexible than straightforward commercial industrial zoning."
Development of other portions of the village are also imminent, according to Schiecher.
"I think it will happen because of our visibility to the market," she said. "There is still some land available between the TIF area and McDonald’s. The land is fully improved with water and sewer. There is also some commercial on Highway 36 ready for development. One lot is owned by Jay Henrics from Peter Schwabe, Inc., out of Big Bend. The other is owned by Dave Allessee of Waterford. Both have land up and down Highway 36, and also south of East Main Street and west of 36 just north of the Burger King on Highway 36. They will build to suit or sell the land. This property does not have water and sewer yet, but they can be provided if needed."
Commercial activity has been brisk, according to Schiecher. She cites the addition of a new fully automatic laundry center on Highway 36 near McDonald’s, with additional retail spots open next door.
"In that same complex, Merry Maids will be opening, as well as an investment firm," Schliecher said.
Waterford’s downtown has been very solid, according to Schliecher.
"We had a beauty shop in business for 15 years move out of the downtown recently. It was just replaced by another beauty shop," she said. "We have minimal vacancies downtown – and are seeing a trend toward more owner-occupants."
Additional development potential is present on the west side of the village.
"We have some commercial property west of the village – owned by Matt Schulte with MSC of Waterford," Schliecher said. "The intersection at highways 20 and 83 needs work before this can be developed, but we expect this to be resolved in the next few months. The Department of Transportation wants extra turn lanes, and once the signal and lanes are in, it will be fantastic. The light should be done this fall. In the future, this will be the next nice area for small businesses like convenience stores. Currently there is only one gas station west of the river."

Rogers Memorial Hospital has named Harold Harsch, M.D., as medical director of the Medical College of Wisconsin’s psychiatric services at RMH-Milwaukee.
Tracy Bain has joined Frank F. Haack & Associates in Wauwatosa as manager of markets and operations in its property and casualty business. Her most recent work in commercial lines of insurance was with Muirfield Underwriters and Crum & Forster in Brookfield.
Sara Stanton has been named vice president of Seroka Healthcare Marketing, the new division of Seroka Public Relations in Waukesha. Stanton has been in the health-care industry for more than 20 years and has held such management positions as senior vice president of an area hospital and director of operations for a health-care-related organization. She holds a bachelor’s degree in medical records administration from Illinois State University at Normal-Bloomington, and a graduate degree in health services from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. Stanton is also a graduate of the Keller Graduate School of Management in Milwaukee.
Don Bobo has been promoted to the position of president and chief executive officer of Jefferson Wells International, a Milwaukee-based provider of professional services to firms throughout North America. He was formerly president and chief operating officer of the firm. Bobo joined the firm in January 1998 as executive vice president, chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors, and was promoted to president in late 1999. Under Bobo’s leadership, the firm’s annual sales have grown from $8 million to more than $160 million.
“Don has done a great job building and leading our sales and operations organization and has proven his capabilities to take over executive responsibility for the entire firm,” said Michael Harris, chairman and founder of Jefferson Wells. Prior to joining Jefferson Wells, Bobo served as president of MetSource, a $60 million benefits administration subsidiary of MetLife. From 1992 through 1996, Bobo was senior vice president and general manager of Kelly Services, where he led an $800 million division. Previously, he held domestic and international general management and human resource positions with John Labatt, Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical and Armstrong Worldwide.
The firm also named Rob Wilson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, as a member of its board of directors. Wilson joined the firm as EVP and CFO in early 2000. The firm, which previously operated under the name “AuditForce,” has 1,600 employees and 24 offices.
Bryant and Stratton College has announced the following changes. Jim Palmer has been appointed director of admissions. He is responsible for the enrollment of new students and all marketing activities for the college. His past experience includes stints at Bader Rutter & Associates, plus Waddell & Reed Financial Services. Brian Sporleder has recently been named dean of instruction. He had recently served as director of Career Services since joining the organization in 1997. Kathy Bornheimer has also joined the college as director of Career Services. Bornheimer has more than 15 years experience in employment consulting in the private sector.

Demand strong for East Troy project; Elkhorn sees land availability tighten

Andy Bruce of MLG Commercial said the company is involved in a multi-use business park in East Troy at I-43 and Highway 219.
"The park encompasses 240 acres in two phases," Bruce said. "There are 160 acres involved in the first phase, with about 80 acres combined business park land and commercial land. The second phase will be 80 acres, and will follow in a few years.
"We’ve already closed two sales in the park. Modern Fence, a manufacturer and distributor of fencing and decorative fencing moved from another community. There is also a multi-tenant building built by CDI Construction. The users for this building have not yet been announced – but they will be light industrial."
The space in the first phase should go fast, according to Bruce.
"We’ve got interest in the park from a number of other light industrial and professional companies," he said. "We also have 40 acres of commercially developable land in that park. We have sites that would be appropriate for fast food and hotel."
Work has already begun in the park, as roads and utilities have been extended to the site, and Bruce said some of the commercial properties will be developed in the very near term.
George Martin, a consultant to the Elkhorn Development Corp., said that while things are slowing in the city’s industrial park, commercial development is picking up on Highway 67 on the city’s north side.
"We are running out of land – the supply of land is diminishing," Martin said. "We’re taking a good hard look at how we’re going to develop the balance of the vacant property. We’ve been pretty strong in use of TIF funds as incentives for business to come in. We will still use that, but may use different logic on how the funds should be used. We’ll be looking for professional skill level jobs and develop a little more commercial on Highway 67."
Covenants tightening
The industrial park, which started with 262 acres, has 77.7 acres remaining. The protective covenants in place are loose enough to allow metal buildings given brick construction facing the street, but enforcement has been lax in past years.
"Our covenants are pretty darn tight regarding the type of building, the amount of brick and landscaping," Martin said. "They could be tightened further. Short of redoing all the covenants, we’re going to be enforcing the covenants much more tightly than in the past. Buildings constructed in the last three years have met covenant requirements. In the past, we might have overlooked some of the details."
Martin said the development organization is creating a committee to target specific industries.
"We know the parameters under which we want to approach businesses," he said. "We know what we want for our commercial sector, and that would be professional offices. We can develop commercially along Highway 67 to a depth of two lots in."
Martin said he also expects new development along Highway 11 on the east side of town.
Tourism king
in Lake Geneva
In Lake Geneva, development activity is leaning hard in the direction of the tourism industry that drives the local economy. According to George Hennerly of the Lake Geneva Area Chamber of Commerce, the tourism industry has a measurable, beneficial effect on the community.
"Lake Geneva and Walworth County generate $275 million in retail sales annually," Hennerly said. "One fourth of our workforce is employed in the service industry.
"Approximately 40% of our total assessed value is attributable to tourism. Tourism has a minimal impact on infrastructure and schools, and all of the amenities available to our visitors are available to us on a yearlong basis. Tourism is the third leg on our Wisconsin – and particularly Walworth County – economy stool, along with manufacturing and agriculture. They’re all important."
Major Lake Geneva activity includes a Home Depot at Highway 50 on the east side of town. The new store should be ready to open this summer, according to Hennerly. Many other developments are directly related to the tourism economy.
Mill Creek, a hotel development of 100 units, will soon open next to the downtown, one block from the lake, Hennerly said.
In the nearby Town of Lyons, Geneva Crossings, a large condo hotel with 220 units, is under construction, and should be ready for visitors in the fall of 2001.
At the Grand Geneva resort at Highways 50 and I-43, construction is under way on additional time-share units and a 200-unit condo-resort with an indoor waterpark recreation area.
At the juncture of highways 120 and 12, Hennerly said a previous strip mall has been redeveloped and is "now quite quickly filling it up. Aurora Health Care consolidated a number of operations in part of the strip mall. The potential expansion may include a grocery store and a number of other retailers."
The existing retail hub at Highway 50 and I-43 are also seeing growth.