Johnson Controls Inc., Wisconsin Energy Corp., Rockwell Automation Inc. and ManpowerGroup are the Wisconsin-based companies represented in the 100 Best Corporate Citizens List compiled by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. For the list, every company in the Russell 1000 Index of publicly held U.S. companies is ranked according to more than 320 data points of information. The companies are ranked according to their performances in seven key areas: environment, climate change, human rights, philanthropy, employee relations, financial and governance. Glendale-based Johnson Controls ranked fifth on the list. Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp. ranked 73rd. Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation ranked 87th and Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup ranked 94th. The top-ranked company of the 2012 list is Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. IBM, Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. joined Johnson Controls in the top five.
Lake Geneva Country Meats, home of Leahy’s (pronounced Lay-he’s) Sausage, has earned nine awards including four grand champion honors in the Fresh Specialty Bratwurst, Fresh Dinner Sausage, Restructured Jerky and Smoked Polish Sausage categories in the 2012 Wisconsin Curd Meat Championship Contest. More than 1,000 products from meat processors around the state were entered into 36 categories, including summer sausage, bratwurst, ham, bacon and many more. The Wisconsin Meat Product Competition is the largest of its kind in the United States. More than 40 judges including food scientists, out of state meat processors and other food industry professionals evaluate the many products during a marathon session of the convention. Each product is scored for external appearance, eye appeal, internal appearance and aroma and taste, using a scale of 1,000 points. Leahy’s Sausage brought home nine honors for Lake Geneva Country Meats, including three grand champions for its BBQ Jerky Strips, Chorizo and Deluxe Pizza Bratwurst. Additionally, Leahy’s Sausages earned Reserve Grand Champions including Jalapeno Pepper & Cheddar Cheese Summer Sausage in the Flavored Summer Sausage Category and Boneless Ham. Leahy’s Smoked Polish Sausage was awarded Champion honors in the Smoked Kielbasa or Polish Sausage Category. Wrapping up Lake Geneva Country Meats success with Reserve Champion honors was Leahy’s Sausage Cooked Cheddar Cheese & Green Pepper Bratwurst in the Cooked Specialty Bratwurst Category. Bacon as well as Cured and Smoked Bratwurst earned Reserve Champion honors in the Smoked, Cooked and Cured Traditional Bratwurst Category.
Downtown Milwaukee’s East Town Association recently signed a new multi-year contract with New Berlin-based beer distributor Beechwood Sales and Service. This partnership will allow East Town’s summer events, Bastille Days and Jazz in the Park, to offer sales of popular Wisconsin Craft Beers including varieties from Milwaukee Brewing Company, Hinterland, and Central Waters, in addition to national craft brands like Fat Tire and Beechwood’s ales and lagers from over 80 breweries around the world. Beechwood has expanded dramatically in the last 19 years. In addition to a number of locally based specialty craft beers, Beechwood also distributes Anheuser-Busch beers, Goose Island from Chicago, and France’s popular Kronenbourg.
Wauwatosa-based Telkonet Inc., a developer of the EcoSmart energy management platform incorporating patented Recovery Time technology, announced that it has been contracted to provide its cloud-based EcoSmart energy management platform for three separate full-service, luxury hotels. The properties are all owned and managed by one of the nation’s leading property and construction management firms, whose portfolio consists of over 6,100 hotel rooms throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The first of the three hotels is located in the heart of the New York City Broadway Theatre District and has approximately 900 guest rooms and suites. This hotel’s in-house engineering staff will install the EcoSmart system consisting of an EcoInsight thermostat and occupancy sensor in each of the rooms. The second luxury hotel has over 1,200 guest rooms and suites, is located in downtown Chicago and the EcoSmart system will be installed by the property’s preferred electrical contractor. The third hotel, located in Puerto Rico, has close to 300 rooms and suites and the system will be installed with local installation crews. All three EcoSmart systems will be fully networked, allowing each property’s staff to manage, monitor and control the system from any web connected device, including the Apple iPad tablet, which is being provided as part of each of the upgrade projects. Telkonet’s EcoInsight intelligent energy management thermostat, featuring over 125 configurable settings and built-in occupancy sensor is used to control the efficiency of a room’s heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The EcoView component is a passive infra-red (PIR) detector, which senses both body heat and motion to ensure accurate occupancy detection. The implementation of the EcoSmart energy management system is projected to reduce energy consumption in the hotel rooms by approximately 30 percent. As part of its value-added energy management program, Telkonet worked with the utilities serving these properties to secure energy efficiency incentives approaching $200,000 to offset the cost of the energy management projects.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Milwaukee Downtown hotel was recently honored with three prestigious awards by Hilton Hotels Corporation for outstanding hotel performance in 2011: the Connie Award, named after hotel founder Conrad Hilton, the Pride Award and the Hospitality of Excellence Award. The Connie Award is presented to only two hotels in the DoubleTree Brand out of 295 other properties. The winning property is ranked number one in having over 225 rooms on the following three key components: brand consistency, guest loyalty, and the DoubleTree Brand Promise Report. The Pride Award, which the hotel has been awarded four years in a row, is presented to the top 10 hotel properties based on the same three criteria. The DoubleTree by Hilton Milwaukee Downtown was ranked the 8th best hotel out of 295 DoubleTree properties throughout the world by travelers. The Hospitality Award of Excellence, which the hotel has been awarded two years in a row, is presented to hotels that demonstrated the highest level of quality and excellence throughout the brand. This recognition celebrates outstanding accomplishments by hotels and individuals on their commitment to the guests, their fellow team members and the communities in which they serve.
