WOW Distributing Co. Inc.
WOW Distributing Co. Inc., Sussex, now carries wheat beers by Capital Brewery, Middleton and The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls. Capital’s Island Wheat Ale was launched in February and Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat was launched in April. Sunset Wheat is the first new Leinenkugel beer that will be offered as a year-round brew since 2002. The wheat beers are distributed by WOW Distributing Co. in Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington and Dodge counties and delivered in Milwaukee by Beer Capitol and in Kenosha, Racine and Walworth by Triangle Wholesale.
DBA Marketing Communications LLC
DBA Marketing Communications LLC, Delafield, received Gold Honors from the national Zephyr Awards competition. DBA received three Gold Awards for its work on a company brochure for Spruce CPA, Waukesha, corporate identity for Signature Wealth Management and a direct mail marketing campaign for University Lake School, Hartland.
AT&T Wisconsin
AT&T Wisconsin, Milwaukee, pledged to support Children’s Hospital and Health System Foundation, Wauwatosa, with a $50,000 donation that would enhance Children’s Health Education Center’s Web-based learning initiative, BlueKids.org. The funding will help Children’s Health Education Center add a learning component to BlueKids.org that would include education on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, which will be pilot tested this fall.
Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges Inc.
The Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges Inc. (WFIC), Milwaukee, received a $25,000 unrestricted grant from the Kikkoman Foods Foundation Inc., Walworth. The grant supports WFIC’s goal of providing direct support and programming to expand educational opportunities at Wisconsin’s 20 independent higher education institutions.
Stueber Consulting LLC
Stueber Consulting LLC, West Bend, received professional employer organization (PEO) Workers’ Compensation Risk Management Certification from the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), Alexandria, Va. The certification verifies that the company’s risk management program is meeting insurance industry risk-management practices to reduce work-related accidents and health exposures and to control workers’ compensation costs. Stueber Consulting was initially certified in 2004 but the certification involves ongoing review. Stueber Consulting is the only company in Wisconsin with the certification.
Ellingsen Brady Advertising
Ellingsen Brady Advertising, Milwaukee, was selected as the public relations agency for the Rochester, Minn. division of Sunstone Hotel Investors, San Clemente, Calif. The properties include The Kahler Grand Hotel, Kahler Inn & Suites, Residence Inn Rochester at Mayo Clinic, Marriott Rochester at Mayo Clinic, Holiday Inn City Centre and the International Hotel. Ellingsen Brady will handle international, national and local public relations programs for the hotel group.
Roman Electric Co. Inc.
Gervase Rose, chief executive officer of Roman Electric Co. Inc., Milwaukee, received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award in the engineering and construction industry by the Construction Club of the UW Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Rose served as president of Roman Electric from 1963 to 2003. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University and was named Fellow of the Academy of Electrical Contracting in 1999.
Wisconsin Landscape Contractors Association
Wisconsin Landscape Contractors Association (WLCA), Milwaukee, recognized five Milwaukee area companies in their statewide residential landscape design competition. Flagstone Landscaping, Cedarburg, received the Silver Award in the $30,000 to $50,000 category; a Gold Award in the $50,000 to $80,000 category and a Silver Award in the $80,000 to $200,000 category. Hawks Nursery, Wauwatosa, received a silver award in the $50,000 to $80,000 category. Treetops Landscape Design, Grafton, received a Silver Award in the $50,000 to $80,000 category; a Gold Award in the $80,000 to $200,000 category and a Judge’s Choice Award for excellence in landscape design. Wandsnider Landscape, Menomonee Falls, received a Bronze Award in the $80,000 to $200,000 category. David J Frank Landscape Contracting, Germantown, received a Bronze Award in the Landscape Structures category.
KSK Design
Treetop Publishing, Sturtevant, selected KSK Design, Milwaukee, to create the company’s annual catalog, branding campaign and marketing collateral. Treetop Publishing is the creator of Bare Books. Their product line also includes blank puzzles, blank game boards and stickers.
International Institute of Wisconsin
International Institute of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, recognized Peter Beitzel, Wolfgang Schmidt and Celine Wong with 2006 World Citizen Awards. Beitzel serves as vice president of business development for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and executive director of the Milwaukee World Trade Association. Schmidt serves as chair of the advisory board of the Institute of World Affairs at UW-Milwaukee and the Governor’s Commission of the U.S. Wong was honored for her volunteer work focusing on sharing Chinese culture with Wisconsin area residents, including her involvement with Asian Moon Festival, volunteering with Holiday Folk Fair and serving in various capacities with Chinese groups.
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), Milwaukee, received first place in the commercial category competition and placed in the top three in the design-build category competition at the AGC/ASC National Competition. The competition is put on annually by Associated General Contractors (AGC) and Associated Schools of Construction (ASC). MSOE has received first place in the construction category for the last three years and placed in the top three for the design build competition for the last four years. Each team member received a trophy, and MSOE’s construction management program received $4,000.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Analysts foresee more Brady Corp., a Milwaukee-based provider of identification solutions and precision die-cut components, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tradex Converting AB, headquartered in Kungalv, Sweden.
Tradex is a leading manufacturer and supplier of pressure sensitive, die-cut adhesive components for the mobile handset and electronics industries. Founded in 1965, Tradex had fiscal 2005 sales of about $90 million and employs about 1,000 people around the world.
Tradex has manufacturing operations in Sweden, China, South Korea and Brazil, and an extensive sales, engineering, prototyping and service network with offices in eight countries to support mobile handset manufacturers’ design centers.bank mergers in Midwest
Lehman Brothers Inc. expects mergers and acquisitions activity to accelerate in the Midwest banking sector in 2006.
The New York firm recently issued a report declaring that the banking industry serving the Chicago area is particularly fragmented. National City Corp., Fifth Third Bancorp and TCF Financial Corp. each has a significant presence in Chicago, and each also has a chairman age 60 or older.
"We also believe the Midwest may consolidate, given the competitive and growth characteristics of that market. However, given the market dynamics, we believe Midwest banks need to merge with each other as we do not expect new entrants," the report said.
"While the number of banks has halved over the past 20 years, we expect it to halve again over the next 20 years. We continue to view consolidation in the banking industry as a secular trend that has cyclical ups and downs," the analysts wrote. "Still, our view has been and continues to be that consolidation should accelerate in 2006."
Competition is increasing in the banking industry, but interest rates remain relatively low, making it more difficult for banks to attract new deposits, the report stated.
"The number of commercial banks in the U.S. fell by 103 to 7,527 in 2005. However, the number of branches increased by 2,767 to 71,716, the largest one-year increase on record, thus there are a lot more mouths to feed," the report stated.
In figuring out which banks may be set to do deals, the analysts suggested the age of a bank’s chief executive officer may be a determining factor.
"More CEOs are expected to reach the critical age of 59 without established succession plans. Of the 13 $1 billion-plus transactions completed since the third quarter of 2004, 10 sellers had a chairman 59 or older," the report stated, noting that such executives are more inclined to cash in on their "golden parachutes."
Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp., the parent company of M&I Bank, recently completed its acquisitions of Trust Financial Inc., which is the parent company of Missouri State Bank & Trust Co., and Gold Banc Corp. Inc. of Leawood, Kan.
Dennis Kuester, chairman and CEO of Marshall & Ilsley, is 64 years old. Mark Furlong, 49, is president of Marshall & Ilsley.
Marshall & Ilsley, which has not announced a formal CEO succession plan, is listed in the Lehman Brothers report as the 34th-largest U.S. bank holding company, with $24.7 billion in U.S. deposits.
Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp., the parent company of Associated Bank, acquired State Financial Services Corp. last year. Robert Gallagher, chairman of Associated Banc-Corp., is 66 years old, and Paul Biedeman, president and CEO, is 55.
Several smaller community banks in the Milwaukee area also have been active, as Port Washington State Bank recently announced it has purchased the deposit accounts and real estate of the Marine Bank of Wauwatosa office at 1650 Ninth Ave. in Grafton. Marine Bank said it is consolidating its branches to achieve more efficiencies.
The Lehman Brothers report does not refer specifically to any Wisconsin banks as being the likely targets of acquisitions.
SBA Loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration approved the following loan guarantees during March:
A-1 Lift Truck LLC, 1949 S. 53rd St., West Allis, $150,000, First Bank Financial Centre;
Advanced Landspeed LLC, N5584 Luey Lane, Plymouth, $35,000, Wells Fargo Bank;
Air Cav Freight Inc., 6510 S. 116th St., Franklin, $100,000, Layton State Bank;
Armsup Damper Development, W3383 Sunset Road, Sheboygan, $150,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Armsup Properties LLC, W3383 Sunset Road, Sheboygan, $357,500, Community Bank & Trust;
Art’s Camera Plus, 4981 S. 76th St., Greenfield, $478,000, Milw. Economic Development Commission;
Auto Magic, 1818 N. 12th St., Sheboygan, $10,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Bascom Budish Ceman S.C., 2600 Mayfair Road, Milwaukee, $50,000, U.S. Bank;
Baymont Inn & Suites, 1415 Port Washington Road, Grafton, $1.422 million, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corp.;
Best Western, 600 N. Main St., Sheboygan, $35,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Boulder Junction-Greenfield, 4395 S. 76th St., Greenfield, $590,000, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corp.;
Boyd LLC, 11518 N. Port Washington Road, Thiensville, $10,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank;
Caster Corp., 8301 Calumet Road, Milwaukee, $75,000, U.S. Bank;
Chris W. Korinek, 6466 W. Pioneer Road, Cedarburg, $50,000, U.S. Bank;
Custom Service Plastics Inc., 1101 S. Wells St., Lake Geneva, $250,000, First Banking Center;
Dave & Brenda’s Idlewile Inn, 1306 Main St., St. Cloud, $368,000, Hometown Bank;
David J. Griffin DDS MS Ltd., 11327 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis, $539,000, Waukesha State Bank;
Dog-Gone-Lovely LLC, 11076 W. National Ave., West Allis, $85,000, Waukesha State Bank;
EDM Sales and Supplies LLC, 605 103rd St., Milwaukee, $50,000, U.S. Bank;
FACS Company, 715 Center St., Union Grove, $50,000, First Banking Center;
Fox Valley Wellness Center Inc., 15 S. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac, $15,000, Associated Bank;
Fox Valley Wellness Center Inc., 15 S. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac, $35,000, Associated Bank;
Fredon Holdings LLC, W2945 Sunset Dr., Campbellsport, $330,000, Hometown Bank;
Grand Slam USA LLC, 405 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, $112,500, Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Green Horizon Nursery, N9914 Town Hall Road, Malone, $390,000, National Exchange Bank & Trust;
H.A.P. Enterprises Inc.,
22230 45th St., Bristol, U.S. Bank;
Hafemeister Funeral Home LLC, 611 E. Main St., Watertown, $360,200, JPMorgan Chase Bank;
Hara A. Holistic Haven, 5446 S. 11th St., Hales Corners, $60,000, Bank Mutual;
Herriges Machining LLC, 2730 E. Progress Dr., West Bend, $560,000, Layton State Bank;
Hillside Dental Associates, 644 W. Oshkosh St., Ripon, $150,000, Associated Bank;
Hubacek Electric Motor Service, 110 Rustic St., Plymouth, $277,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Inspired Artisans Ltd., 816 National Ave., Milwaukee, $50,000, U.S. Bank;
JBS Furniture LLC, 8075 N. 76th St., Milwaukee, $25,000, Wells Fargo Bank;
Jeffrey Stroebel, 2456 57th St., Milwaukee, $20,000, U.S. Bank;
KS Concrete, 3421 33rd St., Milwaukee,
$31,000, U.S. Bank;
KL Ice I Inc., 1010 W. Armour Ave., Milwaukee, $40,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank;
Lake Breeze Dairy, W2651 Kiel Road, Malone, $782,000, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corporation;
Landmark Bars Inc., 2462 Murray Ave., Milwaukee, $675,000, Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Laura A. Gruber, 4916B, Cal Dr., West Bend, $25,000, U.S. Bank;
Malone Chiropractic and Wellness, 2305 30th Ave. Suite 2, Kenosha, $100,000, Mound City Bank;
Marlow & Sons Machining Inc., N114 W18548 Clinton Dr., Germantown, $100,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank;
Metro Petro LLC, 4301 Washington Ave., Racine, $585,700, State Bank of Chilton;
Microtrend Inc., 6729 Bottsford Ave., Milwaukee, $50,000, U.S. Bank;
Miller Equipment Inc., N7667 County Highway P, Watertown, $300,000, Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Moreusenet LLC, 12110 W. Luther Ct., Hales Corners, $33,000, U.S. Bank;
Mulligan & Associates Inc., 6130 W. Donges Bay Road, Mequon, $50,000, Capital One Federal Savings Bank;
MWLB Restaurants Inc., Highway 67 and Highway 31, Kenosha, $300,000, Marshall & Ilsley Bank;
Net Connect Inc., 324 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, $80,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank;
New Mill Inc., 531 S. Water St., Milwaukee, $199,600, U.S. Bank;
New Vision Signs & Decals, 32 4th St., Fond du Lac, $20,000, Hometown Bank;
Overland Real Estate & Development, 5454 Nicholson Ave., Cudahy, $15,000, U.S. Bank;
PDGDPS Inc., 4711 S. 108th St., Milwaukee, $100,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank;
Pilon Adjustment Service Inc., 10 Sheboygan St., Fond du Lac, $155,700, Associated Bank;
Pilon Adjustment Service Inc., 10 Sheboygan St., Fond du Lac, $63,000, Associated Bank;
Plasticraft Molds Inc., N114 W18621 Clinton Dr., Germantown, $58,500, First Bank Financial Centre;
Precision Metals and Hardware, 5265 N. 124th St., Milwaukee, $500,000, M&I Bank;
Punit & Amit LLC, 7222 N. Teutonia Ave., Milwaukee, $145,000, State Bank of Chilton;
Real Wood Floors Inc., 1929 S. 91st St., West Allis, $25,000, Capital One Federal Savings Bank;
Ridgestone Terrace, Highway 12, Elkhorn, $1.528 million, WI Business Development Financial Corporation;
Roof Doctors, 4021 Kelly Road, Lake Geneva, $25,000, U.S. Bank;
Schieble’s Automotive, 5091 Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee, $40,000, U.S. Bank;
Stinger Paintball LLC, 7865 Sandy Ridge Road, Kewaskum, $1.031 million, Wisconsin Business Development Financial Corporation;
TDS Management Group Inc., 6737 W. Washington St., West Allis, $50,000, Business Loan Center LLC;
The Epicure LLC, 1135 Michigan Ave., Sheboygan, $5,000, Community Bank & Trust;
The Feed Bag Pet Supply Company, 220 Oak St., Grafton, $360,000, Port Washington State Bank;
Trischad Development LLC, 1232 Castle Ave., Sheboygan, $220,000, Community Bank & Trust;
Urban Foot Care Center, 3915 W. Capitol Dr., Milwaukee, $135,000, U.S. Bank;
Urban Foot Care Center, 3915 W. Capitol Dr., Milwaukee, $50,000, U.S. Bank;
Venetian Nails, 1422 E. Brady St., Milwaukee, $20,000, U.S. Bank;
Wayside Concrete Construction, 5831 Meadows Dr., Racine, $20,000, U.S. Bank;
Wisconsin Alarm Systems LLC, W3110 Thiesen Lane, Helenville, $15,000, U.S. Bank;
