Magazines
Read the latest issues of BizTimes magazine for in-depth coverage of Milwaukee business news.
Event business booms at Best Place
Since opening a new event space at Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery last August, owner Jim Haertel and his team have hosted close to 150 weddings on its grounds, on top of 150 other events.
The new venue, known as The Great Hall, joined Blue Ribbon Hall, a separate 2,000-square-foot event space at Best Place, that also caters to public and private events.
Steep demand for Blue Ribbon Hall drove Haertel to open another event space at Best Place. With help from five contractors, renovation of The Great Hall, which is about 4,000 square feet, was completed from April to August last year, in time for Haertel’s son’s summer wedding.
Haertel poured nearly $1 million into the renovation project, partially financed with $400,000 in state and federal historic tax credits.
Best Place, located at 901 W. Juneau Ave. in Milwaukee, formerly housed Pabst Brewing Co.’s corporate offices, and the segment that now holds The Great Hall encompasses Capt. Frederick Pabst’s former office.
The new venue, known as The Great Hall, joined Blue Ribbon Hall, a separate 2,000-square-foot event space at Best Place, that also caters to public and private events.
Steep demand for Blue Ribbon Hall drove Haertel to open another event space at Best Place. With help from five contractors, renovation of The Great Hall, which is about 4,000 square feet, was completed from April to August last year, in time for Haertel’s son’s summer wedding.
Haertel poured nearly $1 million into the renovation project, partially financed with $400,000 in state and federal historic tax credits.
Best Place, located at 901 W. Juneau Ave. in Milwaukee, formerly housed Pabst Brewing Co.’s corporate offices, and the segment that now holds The Great Hall encompasses Capt. Frederick Pabst’s former office.
Local food on the rise at corporate events
While the local food movement is not a new trend, it has recently started to trickle into the corporate event space.
Pieces falling into place for Drexel Town Square
Seven years after the Delphi plant in Oak Creek closed and five years after that plant was demolished, the puzzle pieces are coming together for the mixed-use Drexel Town Square development project on the 85-acre site the plant once occupied southwest of Drexel and Howell avenues.
City officials have worked for years with a development team led by Wispark LLC to create a mixed-use development at the site that would form a downtown for a community that has never had one.
Now, some parts of the project are opening, others have made significant progress and still others have started construction recently.
“We’re very happy with the way it’s coming together,” said Doug Seymour, director of community development for Oak Creek. “There was a lot of upfront planning. It is a very complicated project. Complicated projects take time.”
The eastern half of the project is more of a typical suburban style development and will be anchored by a big box store and surrounded by smaller retail and restaurant buildings.
City officials have worked for years with a development team led by Wispark LLC to create a mixed-use development at the site that would form a downtown for a community that has never had one.
Now, some parts of the project are opening, others have made significant progress and still others have started construction recently.
“We’re very happy with the way it’s coming together,” said Doug Seymour, director of community development for Oak Creek. “There was a lot of upfront planning. It is a very complicated project. Complicated projects take time.”
The eastern half of the project is more of a typical suburban style development and will be anchored by a big box store and surrounded by smaller retail and restaurant buildings.
BizTimes calls for Nonprofit Excellence Awards nominations
BizTimes Media is looking to southeastern Wisconsin's business and nonprofit communities to nominate deserving individuals, companies and organizations for the second annual Nonprofit Excellence Awards program.
The awards call attention to the philanthropic accomplishments of area business leaders and strides made by nonprofits. Last year's inaugural awards program recognized honorees during a November breakfast held at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. The event drew more than 400 attendees from the region's business and nonprofit communities.
The 2015 awards program, presented in partnership with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter and the Wisconsin Philanthropy Network, features nine award categories.
The awards call attention to the philanthropic accomplishments of area business leaders and strides made by nonprofits. Last year's inaugural awards program recognized honorees during a November breakfast held at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. The event drew more than 400 attendees from the region's business and nonprofit communities.
The 2015 awards program, presented in partnership with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter and the Wisconsin Philanthropy Network, features nine award categories.
Paper-Less improves manufacturing efficiency with MV2 software
Paper-Less LLC
Innovation: MV2 software
1331 Capitol Drive, Oconomowoc
www.paperlessllc.com
Oconomowoc-based Paper-Less LLC is working to make manufacturing more efficient and competitive with...
Bray appointed executive director of LISC Milwaukee
Ten years of leading revitalization efforts in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley has prepared Laura Bray to take charge of redevelopment efforts in central city neighborhoods as executive director of LISC Milwaukee.
Bray, whose first official day heading LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corp.) is Monday, Aug. 10, succeeds Leo Ries, who in April transitioned out of the organization after 15 years to head in a new personal and professional direction.
Prior to LISC, Bray herself had been exploring a new direction as chief executive officer of BioForward Inc., the member-driven Wisconsin affiliate of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association.
Bray, whose first official day heading LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corp.) is Monday, Aug. 10, succeeds Leo Ries, who in April transitioned out of the organization after 15 years to head in a new personal and professional direction.
Prior to LISC, Bray herself had been exploring a new direction as chief executive officer of BioForward Inc., the member-driven Wisconsin affiliate of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association.
- Advertisement -
Till brings industry, academic expertise to MU business school
Marquette University president Michael Lovell, Ph.D., has a new running buddy on campus as Brian Till, Ph.D., settles into his post at the head of the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management.
Till, also a regular runner, joined the college in mid-July as the new James H. Keyes Dean, after serving as dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University in Cincinnati since 2012.
Till's interest in migrating to Marquette stemmed from his desire to stay in the Midwest – he identifies himself as a “Midwest guy” – as well as his respect for the university's reputation, he said.
Till, also a regular runner, joined the college in mid-July as the new James H. Keyes Dean, after serving as dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University in Cincinnati since 2012.
Till's interest in migrating to Marquette stemmed from his desire to stay in the Midwest – he identifies himself as a “Midwest guy” – as well as his respect for the university's reputation, he said.
The return of Pabst
Pabst Brewing Co. will return to where it began, with plans to open a small brewery, tasting room, restaurant and bar at the former Pabst Brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee. Blue Ribbon Management LLC will redevelop the former First German Methodist Church building, located at the southeast corner of West Juneau Avenue and North 11th Street, for Pabst Brewing Co. After Pabst closed its Milwaukee operation in 1996, the brewery remained vacant until Zilber Ltd. founder Joseph Zilber acquired it in 2006 and began a redevelopment project to transform the former brewery into a mixed-use neighborhood. Several of the buildings in the complex have been sold to other developers.
Business owners: preparing for life after you sell
Entrepreneurs who poured their hearts and souls into their businesses eventually find themselves near retirement, realizing they should sell before health problems or other matters force the issue. Although many are well-prepared for the sale itself, few are ready for the next step: managing a large sum of money from the proceeds. Most don’t want to “jinx” the deal before it’s final or are still are too busy running the business. But the reality is, this will be one of the owner’s most critical – and emotional – business decisions.
Putting Milwaukee on the marathon map
Milwaukee is the largest city in the country that does not play host to a major urban marathon, according to Chris Ponteri, founder of the nonprofit Milwaukee Marathon Inc. and head of a movement to organize a large-scale marathon in the city.
While the annual Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon is “a nice race,” Ponteri said, it does not draw enough runners to be considered a major marathon and it is not set exclusively in Milwaukee.
While the annual Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon is “a nice race,” Ponteri said, it does not draw enough runners to be considered a major marathon and it is not set exclusively in Milwaukee.
