Mark Grosskopf
President, CEO and owner
New Resources Consulting
1000 N. Water St., Suite 950, Milwaukee
Industry: Technology and business consulting
Employees: 273
www.nrconsults.com
Mark Grosskopf is president, chief executive officer and owner of Milwaukee-based New Resources Consulting. Executives should take an active role in supporting Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial community to strengthen the workforce, he says.
“We’ve all heard the statistics of the ‘brain drain’ that occurs when companies leave the state of Wisconsin. Several factors certainly lie outside the bounds of our ability to impact them – mainly the climate. However, one of the things we can do to encourage an ongoing presence in Wisconsin is to support and actively engage with our local community of entrepreneurs.
“There are a few successful startup incubators that bring in and expose talented, driven and enterprising business people to our state. I’m most familiar with gener8tor, but there are others.
“The objective of these groups is to facilitate startup companies to hone their message, build a solid business plan and attract investment. This establishes a platform for the brightest and most creative professionals to experience our state, allows investment firms in Wisconsin to have an opportunity to inject capital locally, and for those of us who work and live here, creates an opportunity to mentor and further cultivate this environment.
“Twice a year, gener8tor scours the country for the best startup prospects and lures them to its incubator program. Upon graduation from the program, the businesses pitch their plan to investors and move to the next level of business evolution. Not all of the businesses remain here, but all have a better understanding of what Wisconsin can offer, several hire talented individuals from this area, and yes, many do create roots and local jobs for years to come.”
