After nine tumultuous months, Mark Mone formally installed as UWM chancellor
In an inauguration ceremony nine months in the making, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee formally installed Mark Mone as chancellor Friday afternoon. The pomp-and-circumstance proceeds months of bruising debate over state budget cuts to UWM. Mone reassured the campus Friday it will evolve to meet the challenges of what it describes as the university’s “fourth turning point.” “Each turning point in our history came because the region or the state needed something more, and we needed to transform,” he said. “So, just as UWM has met past needs, there is no doubt that we will change again.” UWM named Mone chancellor last December, building on the role of interim chancellor he took on following Mike Lovell‘s departure in March 2014. Mone has been with the university since 1989. He outlined plans to understand challenges, identify priorities and “take decisive action to achieve them.” This is needed to address funding challenges in Wisconsin and nationally, which Mone characterized as more comprehensive and deeply rooted than in the past. “It’s in this context that we have to draw on both our history of transformation and the ingenuity, savviness and scrappiness that is part of UWM’s DNA,” he said. WEC Energy Group Inc. chairman and CEO Gale Klappa served as master of ceremony for the event. Early in his comments, Klappa touched on one of the afternoon’s recurring themes. “There’s no doubt that over the years, UWM has become a major economic driver for the state,” he said. To maintain its relevancy and assert its value, Mone said the university is working to enhance its visibility, brand and image. “There’s a greatness in a shared vocabulary,” he said. Speakers honoring Mone and UWM included state Department of Workforce Development secretary Reggie Newson, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Harley-Davidson Inc.’s Tonit Calaway, Northwestern Mutual‘s Chris Fiasca and numerous academic leaders. Many of those speakers drew on that “shared vocabulary,” emphasizing a focus on student success, research excellence, community engagement and relevance to the workforce and civil society in Milwaukee and across the state.
Oct 2nd, 2015 by Jeramey Jannene
Longtime AFSCME Council 24 leader Marty Beil dead at 68
Longtime Wisconsin State Employees Union director Marty Beil died at his home Thursday night, closing a chapter in the labor history of the state and nation. He was 68. In his more than 40-year career, Beil embodied the rise and fall of public employee unions in Wisconsin and played a foil to Scott Walker in the historic confrontation between labor and the Republican governor during the 2011 protests and the recall elections in 2011 and 2012. A bear of a man with a thick beard and belly, Beil began his career in 1969 as a Wisconsin probation and parole agent, helped organize his area in the early 1970s and became a member of his statewide local council starting in 1973. Five years later, Beil was elected president of his union and held that position until he became its executive director in 1985. “He was a giant of a man…in physical size, determination, personality,” said former Gov. Tommy Thompson. The Republican governor negotiated labor contracts with Beil during his 14 years in office. The two would have heated discussions — with one or both of them needing a break with a cabinet secretary to cool down — but always reached agreements that satisfied both sides, Thompson said. “Once you got by the bluster, he was fair,” he said. The Wisconsin State Employees Union is a unit of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union that was founded in Madison in 1932 as a way to protect the state’s civil service system. Beil was a part of AFSCME in 1972, when the union won the right to reach so-called “fair share” agreements with the state that required workers to pay labor fees even if they didn’t belong to the union. He led the union in 2011 when that power was wiped out by Act 10, the Walker legislation that repealed most collective bargaining in Wisconsin for most public workers. “I was one of the fortunate, whose job was really my passion,” Beil told union members when he announced his retirement in June. Passion over unions caught both supporters and opponents in recent years as Act 10 drew tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol in February and March 2011, surprising both Beil and Walker, and triggered a series of events that made Walker the first governor in American history to survive a recall election. The notoriety helped Walker launch a presidential bid but not enough to make it successful. “I think we did what we had to. The recall was going to happen whether we wanted it or not,” Beil said in August. Former Sen. Mike Ellis, a Menasha Republican who was Senate president during the Act 10 fight, praised Beil as someone he was able to work with for years even though they often disagreed. “His job was to represent organized labor and as head of AFSCME he did a great job on behalf of his client,” Ellis said. “He never threw down the gauntlet. He […]
Oct 2nd, 2015 by Dave Reid
Violations prompted little change at Badger Guns, owner testifies
Badger Guns was cited for 130 violations of federal gun regulations in the nearly two years before it sold a handgun used to wound two Milwaukee police officers, but the shop owner testified Friday he made no major changes as a result of the violations. Adam Allan said some of the violations cited by inspectors from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were serious, while he called others paperwork errors. Allan took over the West Milwaukee gun-selling operation in September 2007 and was inspected eight months later. Regulators uncovered 70 violations, according to records presented Friday in a trial pitting wounded Milwaukee police officers against the gun store and its owners. The ATF issued a warning letter in May 2008 to Allan, saying if he continued to violate federal regulations, his federal license may be revoked. The ATF ultimately did revoke Allan’s license in 2011. Allan testified Friday he went over the violations with the inspector in 2008 and promised to do a better job. When pressed by the officers’ attorney, Patrick Dunphy, about what he did specifically, Allan paused. He then asked for the question to be repeated. “I believe we were a bit more thorough, yes,” Allan said finally. He did not give examples. A year after the warning letter was issued, Badger Guns sold a gun that was used to shoot two Milwaukee police officers. The gun was sold in May 2009 and the officers were shot a month later. Officer Bryan Norberg and former Officer Graham Kunisch sued Badger Guns, its predecessor Badger Outdoors and the owners, alleging they were negligent in sales practices. Jacob Collins purchased the gun used to shoot the officers and gave it to Julius Burton, in exchange for cash. Burton, at age 18, could not buy a handgun from the store. He later was convicted of shooting the officers and received 80 years in prison. Collins got two years for being the gun straw buyer. Allan testified Friday the sale of the gun used to wound the officers was the only straw sale he was aware of in his store over four years. He said he did not review the video of the sale or discuss it with the clerk who made the sale. The clerk testified earlier this week he did not recall the sale, even after watching the surveillance video and saying there were several unusual things about it. Dunphy highlighted several “red flags” during the sale, including Burton being present for the sale and looking over Collins’ shoulder repeatedly as Collins struggled to fill out the two pages required to buy a gun. It took him 40 minutes. When Collins didn’t have enough money to pay for the handgun, he and Burton left the store and Collins came back with the money. Additionally, Collins initially answered on the form that he was not buying the gun for himself but was allowed to change that notation. Burton also pointed to the gun and said, “that is […]
Oct 2nd, 2015 by Dave Reid
Former WEDC official fired as Nebraska’s top economic development official
A woman who played a key role in Wisconsin’s economic development agency, including overseeing a $500,000 taxpayer loan to a failing construction company, has lost her job as the top economic leader in Nebraska. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts’ office announced Thursday that Brenda Hicks-Sorensen is no longer that state’s economic development director. She had been on the job a little more than eight months. She was previously the vice president for economic and community development for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. In that role she oversaw the agency’s economic development programs, which came under scrutiny by auditors and news reports. In May, a State Journal investigation revealed the unsecured $500,000 loan in 2011 to Building Committee Inc. The loan failed to generate jobs and was not repaid. The Lincoln Journal-Star reported that the statement from Ricketts’ office Thursday came hours after ConAgra Foods announced it was moving its headquarters out of Nebraska. Taylor Gage, a spokesman for Ricketts, said the decision to change leadership was made by the governor and that ConAgra didn’t play a role in the decision, according to the newspaper. Ricketts said in a statement that it became clear to him that Nebraska needs to do more to market the state nationally and globally. An interim director will be named shortly, and a search will start right away. “Over the past two years, I have traveled the state more than anyone else and led two international trade missions. During these travels, it became clear to me that Nebraska needs to do more to market our state both nationally and globally,” Ricketts said. Ricketts appointed Hicks-Sorensen in January.
Oct 2nd, 2015 by Dave Reid
Bobby Kraft-led World Marketing files for Chapter 11, closes
Less than one year after Milwaukee entrepreneur Bobby Kraft led a group that bought World Marketing Inc. from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., World Marketing’s operating companies have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization and idled about 400 employees. Bobby Kraft’s father, Milwaukee investor Bob Kraft, is listed in bankruptcy documents as the president of World Marketing Holdings LLC in Milwaukee. However, Bobby Kraft is the company’s CEO and majority owner, a spokesman said. Three World Marketing limited liability companies on Monday filed separate Chapter 11 petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. Other than the corporate headquarters, the company’s operations are in other states where nearly all the employees worked. In a related matter, the Chapter 11 filings scuttle plans for a Milwaukee investment group that was described in August as “an affiliate of World Marketing Inc.” to buy Bobby Kraft’s First Edge Solutions out of receivership, said First Edge and World Marketing spokesman Josh Morby. The shutdown of World Color created headaches for customers including the state of Georgia, which contracted with the company to send license plate tag renewal notifications but stopped sending the notices, according to Fox 5 news in Atlanta. Bobby Kraft’s investor group on Oct. 28, 2014, announced they bought the marketing and direct mail unit of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway for an undisclosed amount. World Marketing’s headquarters relocated to Milwaukee but the company maintained locations across five states with 450 employees, Bobby Kraft said at the time. The three Chapter 11 filings are filed for World Marketing in Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. Each entity listed debts of between $1 million and $10 million, and liabilities in the same dollar range. The largest unsecured creditor is RR Donnelly Logistics at $602,000 total for the three cases. Associated Bank financed the Milwaukee group’s acquisition of World Marketing. The Green Bay-based bank has hired attorneys to represent Associated’s interests in the three cases. World Color president and chief operating officer Tyrone Jeffcoat released a statement via a spokesman. “The group of investors who purchased World Marketing from Berkshire Hathaway almost a year ago had great expectations but was never able to achieve the momentum necessary to sustain the operation,” Jeffcoat said. “The investment needed to operate the business fell short and the company ran out of money.” The Chapter 11 filing “is the first step in what will likely be the end of the company,” Jeffcoat said. World Marketing is a provider of direct mail, fulfillment, and critical document products and services and has the same headquarters address at 1301 W. Canal St. as First Edge. Bobby Kraft is the president and CEO of First Edge Solutions. First Edge Solutions is a multi-channel communication, printing and document management company. The company filed for receivership on July 9 and listed assets of $3.96 million and liabilities of $12.3 million. First Edge Solutions’ largest creditor at $2.43 million is RCI Firstpathway Citizen Investment Fund LLC, a private investment firm led by Bob Kraft.
Oct 2nd, 2015 by Dave Reid
People on the Move spotlight
Laurie Bigsby, a veteran bankruptcy attorney, has joined Horizons Law Group LLC, Brookfield, to work in the firm’s new student loan defense practice area. She answered a few questions for the Milwaukee Business Journal. New position: Consumer attorney at Horizons Law Group, specializing in student loan defense Hometown: Fond du Lac Education: J.D., Valparaiso University School of Law; bachelor of arts degrees in business administration, personnel and labor relations, Indiana University-South Bend What attracted you to this new opportunity:“The burden of student loan debt looms over tens of thousands of households and the American economy as a whole, and in many ways resembles the mortgage crisis. Few attorneys are addressing the related issues, where people who have played by the rules find themselves in trouble and need help. I’m thrilled to practice in a new, emerging area of law.” Career advice:“Find a way to make money doing something you like.” Personal hero:“R. Lavinia Goodell, the first woman admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1879” Person you would most like to meet: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Family: Husband, Larry Bigsby, and two sons Favorite vacation spot:“Sailing in the British Virgin Islands” Most meaningful accomplishment:“Representing new parents in adoption proceedings” Favorite film:“Old Western movies” Favorite Milwaukee restaurants: Water Street Brewery, Mo’s Irish Pub Likes about Milwaukee: Summerfest and the lakefront What you most like doing in your free time:“Relaxing by the swimming pool, and gardening”
Oct 2nd, 2015 by Dave Reid
Inside Brass Alley before the opening
Old World Third Street’s newest opening is a twofer. Upstairs, Evolution Gastro Pong serves up small plates, drinks and pingpong. Downstairs, The Brass Alley strives to recreate the tastes and sights of New Orleans. Click through the slideshow to take a behind-the-scenes peek at Brass Alley before the grand opening Friday. From lunch onward, Brass Alley will be serving up Crescent City classics with “a splash of Wisconsin.” On Sunday, the restaurant’s Jazz Brunch makes its brassy debut. The menu comes courtesy of chef Jeff Beale, executive chef for all seven restaurants under newly formed Wild Planet Hospitality Group’s umbrella. You can read more about the inspiration behind the menu in this week’s print edition of the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Oct 1st, 2015 by Jeramey Jannene
Johnson Controls and Harley-Davidson invest in historic Milwaukee facilities
Old brick industrial facilities provide character and history to a company headquarters. They also come with extensive maintenance bills. Two Milwaukee companies — Johnson Controls Inc. and Harley-Davidson Inc. — are investing in their iconic older facilities to make sure they remain usable and efficient and part of the city’s architectural charm. Glendale-based Johnson Controls hired Holton Brothers Inc., Grafton, for a facade project on its downtown Milwaukee building at 507 E. Michigan St. That masonry repair project will finish in December, said spokeswoman Sarah Zwicky. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) has roughly 170,000 employees around the world, including 3,400 in the Milwaukee area. The company provides products and services for the automotive, building and energy storage industries. Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has been investing in improvements at its Juneau Avenue headquarters buildings. The company hired Brookfield-based Hunzinger Construction Co. to repair and replace exterior bricks on the 2800, 3700 and 3900 buildings at the more than 100-year-old facility. Harley-Davidson has about 2,700 Milwaukee-area employees and 6,400 companywide, according to a Business Journal manufacturers list in May. “The restoration effort helps bring an historic building into the next century and is also an important investment in the Milwaukee community where we live and work,” said Tony Macrito, spokesman for Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG).
Oct 1st, 2015 by Jeramey Jannene
Miller Park roof aces inspection; no major repairs needed
The retractable roof at Miller Park — which suffered major mechanical problems after the stadium opened in 2001 — continues running smoothly and passed its latest inspection with flying colors. A recent inspection report on the roof structure from Fish & Associates Inc. of Middleton listed only minor problems, Mike Duckett, executive director of the Miller Park stadium district, said Thursday. “They tell us everything is in excellent shape,” Duckett said. The roof looks to be in such solid shape that the engineering firm recommended the Miller Park district take a three-year hiatus from inspections, Duckett said. Until now, the Miller Park district has conducted an inspection on one half of the roof one year and the other half a second year, so the structure of the entire roof has been getting a close check every two years, he said. The contractor inspects every bolt and every connection on the massive roof, Duckett said. Burgess & Niple of Columbus, Ohio, performed the arm’s-length inspection that requires engineers to use adapted rock climbing and industrial rope techniques to detect and document subtle deficiencies that would not be apparent to someone in a mechanical bucket, according to the firm’s website. The biggest finding this year was the need to paint some sections of the roof that are showing rust, Duckett said. The Miller Park board also has approved spending $50,000 to replace buffers attached to each side of the five moveable panels on the roof, Duckett said. The funds will come from a $2.5 million annual reserve account for stadium maintenance projects that is funded 70 percent by the Miller Park district and 30 percent by the Milwaukee Brewers, he said. The buffers are designed as shock absorbers for the roof sections, but never have had to be activated, Duckett said. The buffers have reached the end of their useful life and need to be replaced, he said. The most recent major repair to the roof was at the end of the 2006 season when the roof’s bogie system was replaced for about $13 million.
Oct 1st, 2015 by Jeramey Jannene
Bunzel’s Old-Fashioned Meat Market expanding into former Artist and Display
In news enough to get local carnivores licking their chops, Bunzel’s Old-Fashioned Meat Market is expanding its footprint, stepping into the former Artist and Display building at 9015 W. Burleigh St., Milwaukee, by early next year. Artist and Display closed its iconic shop last winter after 36 years when its longtime owners decided to retire. When the building went up for sale, a customer brought it to Bunzel’s owners’ attention. “Obviously, this was an opportunity that I didn’t think I could pass up,” co-owner Chip Bunzel said. Buying the building allows Bunzel’s to consolidate its kitchen, catering operations and market under one roof. The family-owned meat market started as a small south side Milwaukee shop, which closed in 1949 following the death of Chip’s grandfather. In 1976, Chip’s father and co-owner, Larry, reopened the meat market. The shop later moved to its current location at 8415 W. Burleigh St. on Milwaukee’s northwest side. Larry Bunzel, now 81, still helps out at the shop daily. The market employs a handful of other family members and also gets the occasional assist from Chip Bunzel‘s daughters, Chip said. He means to keep that atmosphere alive, even with wider aisles and more parking. “I don’t want to get too big,” Chip Bunzel said. “I want to keep the homey, ‘old-fashioned butcher’ image.” There’s plenty to do at the former arts shop before reopening. Plumbing, counters, coolers and general work on the building will begin soon. All told, Bunzel’s likely will move into the new,17,600-square-foot grocery in February or March of 2016.
Oct 1st, 2015 by Jeramey Jannene
Three buildings evacuated in downtown Milwaukee after gas line is hit
Three buildings were evacuated Thursday morning after a gas line was struck during construction work in downtown Milwaukee. The three buildings were evacuated as a precaution around 875 E. Michigan St., said Milwaukee Fire Department Batallion Chief Dewayne Smoots. He said the line was hit when concrete shifted during construction work. People were allowed to return to the buildings, but the building the line is at the rear of is currently without gas.
Oct 1st, 2015 by Jeramey Jannene
Badger Guns clerk says he doesn’t recall suspicious sale
The Badger Guns employee who sold a handgun used to wound two Milwaukee police officers testified Thursday that he had no memory of the 2009 sale, even after watching a 40-minute video played in court where the buyer struggled to complete two pages of paperwork. The video also showed that Julius Burton, the man who later shot the officers, was in the store the whole time and is seen looking over Jacob Collins‘ shoulder several times as Collins labored with the forms, which usually take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Donald Flora testified that he had received no training when he started working at Badger Outdoors in 1995, but rather learned on the job how to spot suspected straw buyers — people who legally buy a gun for someone who is barred from purchasing one. Adam Allan, who took over the operation in 2007 and changed the name to Badger Guns, testified that he did not have a training program, did employee performance reviews only from “time to time” and did not recall reviewing Collins’ transaction with Flora after the officers were shot. Allan also said he did not implement the recommendations from a firearms industry group designed to prevent straw purchases. Allan said Badger Guns sold about 3,000 guns a year when he owned the business, about half of them handguns. Allan’s license was revoked in 2011 for breaking federal rules. His brother now runs a gun shop in the same building. Flora and Allan were the first witnesses in a long-anticipated negligence trial against Badger Guns, its predecessor Badger Outdoors and the owners. It is only the second such trial in the nation since a federal law passed a decade ago limiting liability of gun stores. The lawsuit here was filed five years ago by Milwaukee Police Officer Bryan Norberg and former Officer Graham Kunisch. They were shot by Burton in June 2009 during a routine stop, a month after Collins purchased the gun. Collins made several errors on the gun sale forms. On one form, he said he was buying the gun for himself but on another he marked that he was not buying it for himself. According to court documents, Flora said the answers had to match and allowed Collins to change his answer. Collins, who was later prosecuted in federal court for the straw buy and sentenced to two years in prison, has an IQ of 62 and reads at a first-grade level, court records show. The officers’ attorney, Patrick Dunphy, said the discrepancy on the form along with Burton’s presence in the store during the sale and other red flags should have led Flora to deny the sale. Another indicator that the sale was suspicious was that when Flora was ringing up the transaction, Collins did not have enough money to pay for the handgun, he said. Collins and Burton left the store and Collins returned with the rest of the money, the video showed. Flora said someone leaving the store and returning […]
Oct 1st, 2015 by Dave Reid
