Marcus Hotels & Resorts
Fifteen properties owned and managed by Marcus Hotels & Resorts, a division of Milwaukee-based The Marcus Corp., have earned the TripAdvisor 2014 Certificate of Excellence. Awarded properties include Hilton Milwaukee City Center, InterContinental Milwaukee, The Pfister Hotel and Grand Geneva Resort & Spa.
Twelve restaurants and lounges operated by Marcus Hotels & Resorts have also been awarded the 2014 Certificate of Excellence, including Blu, Café at the Pfister, Kil@wat, Mason Street Grill, Milwaukee ChopHouse, Geneva Chophouse, Grand Café and Ristoranté Brissago. The Certificate of Excellence designation honors establishments that consistently receive exceptional traveler reviews on TripAdvisor. Award winners are selected through an algorithm that considers review ratings, volume, time of reviews, business’ tenure and business’ popularity ranking. In its fourth year, the certificate program acknowledged about 58,000 hospitality businesses nationwide.
Rotary Club of Milwaukee
Rotary Club of Milwaukee honored Nanette Gardetto as its Person of the Year 2014 earlier this month. The vocational award highlights individuals who have used their profession to make their community a better place to live and work. Gardetto, who was also named the 2014 BizTimes Milwaukee Woman Executive of the Year, is the owner and chief executive officer of Franklin-based Baptista’s Bakery. The company has 375 employees. Snyder’s-Lance, a snack manufacturer that produces Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels, recently entered into a letter of intent to acquire the company for $195 million. Prior to launching Baptista’s Bakery, Gardetto was executive vice president of her family’s business, Gardetto’s Bakery Inc., for more than 20 years. When Gardetto’s Bakery was sold to General Mills in 1998, Gardetto started Baptista’s Bakery in the former Gardetto’s Franklin facility. In 2012, the company expanded its Franklin production facility with a $75 million investment.
UPAF
The United Performing Arts Fund set a new record with its 2014 campaign, raising more than $11.7 million and exceeding its 2013 campaign by more than $700,000. This year’s campaign ran from March 4 through June 5 and collected funding from workplace giving campaigns, corporations and foundations, individual donors, fundraising initiatives organized by UPAF’s member groups and affiliates, and the nonprofit’s signature Ride for the Arts fundraiser. More than 220 companies completed workplace giving campaigns this year, including 31 new campaigns. Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual was the largest donor and achieved the largest workplace giving campaign, raising more than $800,000. UPAF’s 2014 campaign was chaired by Bob Arzbaecher, chairman of Menomonee Falls-based Actuant Corp.; Therese Burkhart, a community volunteer; and Glen Hackmann, vice chairman of Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. While the organization succeeded with its overall campaign, it did not meet its goal in Waukesha County, where it hoped to raise $1.5 million. UPAF collected about $1.4 million toward the Waukesha goal and will continue fundraising with an aim to reach it by the end of the month.
