Stark named to Marcus board of directors
Brian Stark, founding principal, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Stark Investments in Milwaukee has been elected as a director of the Marcus Corporation.
“Brian brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our board. His expertise in the investment industry and financial markets will be especially valuable to our board and management team,” said Stephen Marcus, chairman of The Marcus Corporation.
Stark co-founded Stark Investments in 1992, and is currently responsible for the firm’s global portfolio construction and capital allocation. Stark Investments is a global alternative investment firm that invests primarily on behalf of qualified institutions, fund of funds and family offices. From 1986 to 1992, he operated Stark Capital Management, LLC in New York, N.Y. and Greenwich, Conn.
Chaltry retires from Centare
Ed Chaltry, partner and chief technology officer of Brookfield-based Centare Group has retired. He has spent 12 years with the company. Chaltry will remain in a consulting role with the company. He joined Centare in 1999.
“Ed has provided invaluable counsel over the years, and been our technology leader,” said Dave Glyzewski, chief executive officer of the company. “He has been a tremendous asset to Centare.”
In recent years, Chaltry has dealt with some health issues that led to his decision to step back from the partnership role. He will be honored at the company’s holiday party later this month.
Eppli is named director of Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
Professor Mark Eppli, Ph.D., of Marquette University, has been appointed to be an independent director at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.
Eppli is a professor of finance and the Robert B. Bell Sr. Chair in Real Estate at Marquette, where he also serves as director of the Center for Real Estate.
His term on the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago will expire Dec. 31, 2013.
The bank also announced that that Thomas Herlache will serve as chairman and Steven Rosenbaum will serve as vice chairman of the board for 2012-2013.
"The mix of new and returning professionals to the board is exciting as we build on our recent successes and plan for a profitable future focused on our members," said Matt Feldman, president and CEO of the bank.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago is a $73 billion wholesale bank serving the needs of member housing finance institutions located in Illinois and Wisconsin. The bank’s mission is to partner with member shareholders to provide them competitively priced funding, a reasonable return on their investments and support for community investment activities.
The U.S. Congress created the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which includes 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, in 1932 to promote housing finance, but the Banks are wholly owned by their member institutions.
Baird adds Harned to M&A team
Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., a Milwaukee-based international capital markets, private equity, wealth and asset management firm, recently announced that Chris Harned has joined its Investment Banking group in Milwaukee as a managing director on its M&A team.
With 27 years of experience, Harned will support Baird’s advisory practice across its global platform and help build the firm’s M&A practice in the food and beverage sector.
Most recently, Harned spent 10 years as a partner and head of the Consumer Products Group at the Cypress Group, a New York-based private equity firm. He also served as head of the Global Consumer Products M&A business at Lehman Brothers. During his 17 years at Lehman, Harned led the development of the firm’s European consumer franchise and served as a member of its Investment Banking Operating Committee.
He currently serves on the board of directors of BSwift, Freshpet, Philadelphia Media Group and Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc.
“We are very pleased that Chris has decided to continue his career at Baird,” said Steve Booth, director of Baird’s Investment Banking group. “His advisory and principal investment experience, together with his financial sponsor relationships, will be very valuable additions to our banking team.”
“As a former Baird client for more than a decade, I have witnessed the transformative growth of Baird’s global platform and celebrated the continued success the firm achieves on behalf of its clients. I am thrilled to be joining Baird and be a part of this vibrant, well managed, globally-oriented, client-centric organization,” Harned said.
Klappa is Utility CEO of the Year
Electric Light & Power magazine, the voice of the electric utility industry since 1922, has named Wisconsin Energy Corp.’s Gale Klappa and Dawson Public Power District’s Robert Heinz as its Utility CEOs of the Year.
“The people of Wisconsin and Nebraska are lucky to have Mr. Klappa and Mr. Heinz leading their electric utilities,” said Teresa Hansen, editor in chief of Electric Light & Power magazine. “Mr. Klappa helped Wisconsin Energy build more than 2,400 megawatts of efficient generation. The utility has 50 percent more generating capacity than it did 10 years ago, and — this is incredible — while building that new generation, it cut emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury by 70 percent. Mr. Heinz, on the other hand, runs one of the largest rural electric utilities in Nebraska, the only fully public power state. He’s constantly out in the community teaching how rural electrification, water supply and economic development are linked so the people there can make informed decisions about their electricity and water use. Both are big-picture leaders whose successes reach beyond their day jobs.”
Klappa won in the large utility division, open to North American electric utilities with 400,000 customers or more. Milwaukee-based We Energies has 1.1 million electric customers.
“I’m honored to receive this personal recognition from EL&P, but this award is truly a team accomplishment. Our strong, consistent focus on reliability and customer satisfaction is delivering true value for our customers and our stockholders,” Klappa said.
Heinz won in the small utility division, open to North American electric utilities with fewer than 400,000 customers.
Hansen will present the Utility CEO of the Year awards Jan. 22 in San Antonio during the third annual Electric Light & Power Executive Conference. A feature article on Klappa and Heinz will appear in the January-February issue of Electric Light & Power magazine and on the magazine’s website.
Richards joins Walny Legal Group
State Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) has joined the Walny Legal Group LLC in Fox Point as a business and estate planning attorney.
Richards brings nearly two decades of experience working with Wisconsin businesses and families to the boutique law firm. He worked most recently as a sole-practitioner and before that as an associate with the law offices of Emmanuel Mamalakis, S.C., Jeffrey S. Hynes & Associates S.C. and Adelman, Adelman & Murray S.C., all of Milwaukee.
Richards was first elected in 1998.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jon to our growing team of attorneys. Jon has a remarkable record of helping families and businesses plan for the future. He brings unique qualities that will improve the services that we can offer our clients as we build our boutique firm,” said Eido Walny, principal of the firm.
Richards said, “Walny Legal Group’s commitment to a quality client experience by providing thorough, individualized and timely counsel to the most complex legal challenges facing business owners and families gives the firm enormous potential for growth.”
Ditter is new CEO of PPC Partners Inc.
PPC Partners Inc., a Milwaukee-based electrical construction company, announced the appointment of Jim Ditter as chief executive officer.
His appointment became effective Jan. 1.
Ditter was hired by the company in August of 2010 as director of strategy and financial planning. He became chief operating officer of MP Systems, a PPC Inc. subsidiary, in January of 2011.
PPC Partners, which is employee-owned, has 1,321 employees providing building equipment and on-site electrical construction. The company has offices in Minnesota, South Carolina and Georgia, as well as Wisconsin.
PPC Partners does business as 23 different companies, including PieperPower and Pieper Electric Inc.
Ditter’s prior experience includes positions at Ernst & Young, Guaranty Title Service, Inc. in Fond du Lac and Norlight Telecommunications Inc. in Brookfield.
“I was attracted to PPC Partners initially because it is a well-capitalized company and I would be able to utilize what I like to do best in business-strategic development and implementation. Their traditional collaborative style of management also suits me. The company has tremendous talent with an entrepreneurial spirit at all levels. To that respect, any big decisions made I want input from all those potentially impacted,” Ditter said.
Richard R. Pieper Sr., founder and chairman of PPC Partners and servant leadership advocate, said, “Jim is an insightful, objective, values-based leader. He balances both short and long term issues as we attempt to serve employees, customers and stockholders.”
PPC Partners is based in Milwaukee at 5070 N. 35th St.
Lietz is new vice president of WEDC
Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) chief executive officer Paul Jadin announced that Kelly Lietz has been named vice president of marketing for the organization.
“Some of WEDC’s key strategies are to promote Wisconsin as a business-friendly state, and market our services and advantages to Wisconsin-based and out-of-state companies to boost business growth and job creation,” Jadin said. “Kelly Lietz will lead WEDC’s efforts to coordinate ongoing marketing programs to build a strong brand for Wisconsin’s business environment and promote our business support capabilities.”
Lietz has more than 15 years experience in marketing communications and public relations. Lietz most recently was the vice president of marketing for Park Bank in Madison and corporate communications manager for Wipfli LLP in Madison.
