Ideas

More than 1,000 associates at Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. will volunteer their time to nonprofit organizations this from May 13 to 18 as part of the company’s Baird Gives Back Week.

Johnson Investment Services, a division of Racine-based Johnson Bank, has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management.

Kenosha-based tool manufacturer Snap-on Inc. has acquired Challenger Lifts Inc. for about $38 million in cash.

Norcross, Ga.-based Rock-Tenn Company will close its facility at 2800 W. Custer Ave. in Milwaukee by July 5 and lay off about 69 workers there.

Aside from city founders Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn and George Walker, few people, if any, have had more impact on Milwaukee than entrepreneur, community advocate and philanthropist Michael J. Cudahy.

You've dug out your spring clothes, cleaned the inside of your car, and swept off the patio to welcome spring. But when you go into work, you are buried under winter clutter…a snow pile of emails and an ice flow of meetings.

Have you seen any dinosaurs lately? They were giants that dominated the Earth. They are, of course, long gone. But oddly enough, small sea mollusks have survived for 545 million years!

As Sonny and Cher once sang, “And the beat goes on,” and so do the needs of our customers. Whether your business is product, customer or service driven, you need to be able to spot trends and feel the “pulse” of your customer.

Years ago, Clark Hull, a famous psychologist who taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1916-29, developed a profound theory about what motivates people.

Michael J. Cudahy was known for an open, enlightened and progressive corporate culture at his former company, Marquette Medical. In his autobiography, “Joyworks: The Story of Marquette Electronics,” Cudahy outlined his “10 Golden Rules On How To Run An Organization,” which he also refers to as “How Not To Screw Up An Organization.”