Tech firm relocates to downtown Milwaukee

Things will be great when you’re downtown …
“No finer place, for sure,” Petula Clark sang in her hit “Downtown.”
Another business apparently agrees.
The city of Milwaukee scored another victory in its efforts to strengthen the downtown area when New Resources Corp. relocated there from a Waukesha County business park.
The firm left the Crossroads Corporate Center in Waukesha in favor of the 1000 Water building at 1000 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee.
The building is the most-recently-constructed Class A office tower in downtown Milwaukee and is home to some high-profile companies.
Mark R. Grosskopf, managing principal of the information management consulting firm, said the office relocated after five years in Waukesha to downtown Milwaukee to be closer to its clients, to a well-educated labor pool and to other management firms which New Resources works with.
“This is where we need to be,” Grosskopf said. “The environment downtown is much more conducive to achieving greater productivity.”
New Resources is leasing 10,400 square feet of space – more than twice the 4,500 it had in Waukesha.
The firm, based in Illinois, has 120 employees at the downtown Milwaukee site and expects to add 30 to 40 persons to its staff here.
The office tower, which is owned by Anthony Palermo, houses offices for such firms as Miller Brewing Co., Johnson Controls, and Northwestern Mutual Life.
Palermo and Mayor John Norquist was understandably happy that another firm has relocated downtown.
“The creative employees working at these firms naturally like the vitality and excitement that they can find downtown,” the mayor said. Palermo added, “this is where the action is.”
Hold the lawsuit, pass the estate plan
When you think of franchises, the McDonald’s restaurant chain probably comes to mind.
But what about law offices?
A firm with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto is taking that step, establishing First American Law as a franchise, similar in structure to Century 21 Real Estate.
“First American Law is a new paradigm for attorneys,” says Gary Swernik, president and CEO. “The brand-name concept is already applied with immense success by such companies as Merrill Lynch, American Express and Prudential.”
Seeing that the trade remains fragmented and competitive, Swernik figured America’s now-highly-mobile population will find a comfort level with First American Law, and that small law firms would take advantage of the chance for greater exposure.
No word on whether any southeastern Wisconsin firms have considered an affiliation with the franchise.
Just two wheels, but lots of opportunity
We can’t recall getting news releases from as many divergent sources as those that have arrived at Small Business Times regarding this month’s 95th Anniversary Reunion of Harley-Davidson.
And why not. The thousands of bikers who will roar into town for the June 8-13 event will spend plenty of money here – and not just in the hospitality industry. Even the Hartland-based Batteries Plus is hoping to reap some benefits. A news release from the firm says its outlets will have plenty of motorcycle batteries in stock.
The entire event has been keeping the people at Harley-Davidson pretty busy, including their work to protect their trademark – and to ensure that everybody uses their preferred usage of “Harley-Davidson’s 95th Anniversary.” With all the ethnic festivals here somehow using the word “fest” in their names, Harley is asking that everyone refrain from that vernacular for its big bash.
The company has a complete list of activities – many of them free – surrounding the anniversary on its Website. You can access it at http:// 95th.harley-davidson.com.
He went for broke … and scored big
This is one of those urban legends filed under “Too Young to Know Any Better.” The names are being withheld to protect the innocent, but, we have it on good information that this is a true story.
Rookie stockbrokers all start out in the same boat: they have no clients. They are therefore instructed to get on the phone and find somebody’s money to invest.
While dialing for dollars several months ago, a brash young stockbroker at a Milwaukee area securities firm decided he was going to go after Brett Favre as a client.
The young broker’s calls to Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, were not returned. Undaunted, the neophyte dialed information and asked for Favre’s boyhood home in Kiln, Miss. Once armed with the number, he called and Favre’s mother answered. She was so charmed by this “nice young man” that she gave him Cook’s special cell phone “back door” number.
Cook answered the rookie broker’s call and listened to the sales pitch. He was sufficiently impressed by the broker’s line that he subsequently wrote the broker’s firm a check for a reported $500,000.
Then, several weeks later, Cook called and told the broker that he and Favre were coming to town, with instructions to pick them up at the airport and show them a good time. The broker had to borrow his brother’s car, as his battered Honda Civic was not worthy of the task.
Apparently the broker hadn’t had time to spend his commission check.
June 1998 Small Business Times, Milwaukee