Some of the top entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders in southeastern Wisconsin will be honored at the annual BizExpo conference, presented by BizTimes Media, on Thursday, May 18, at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee.
George and Julie Mosher, who founded Milwaukee-based National Business Furniture and later became major venture investors, will receive the 2016 BizTimes Lifetime Achievement Award.
George Mosher grew up in the Boston area. He moved to Milwaukee to become the president of Business and Institutional Furniture Company, a small catalog specializing in the church and school market. He held that position for 10 years.
George and Julie were married in 1965. In 1975, they founded National Business Furniture, a catalog distributor of office furniture. Julie was responsible for the company’s catalog. They subsequently purchased Alfax Wholesale Furniture, a distributor of church and school furniture; Office Furniture Center, located in Boston and Chicago; Factory Direct Furniture in Milwaukee; and OfficeFurniture.com, an Internet office furniture company, among others.
The Moshers sold National Business Furniture and the related companies in 2006 to German company Takkt. The company’s annual sales were $130 million when the Moshers sold it.
Since selling the company, the Moshers have focused on venture investments and making philanthropic contributions. Julie has focused her philanthropic efforts on pulmonary lung research.
In 2013, George was inducted into the Wisconsin Investor Hall of Fame. The Moshers have invested millions of dollars into dozens of young companies.
The Moshers will be presented with the BizTimes Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Bravo! Entrepreneur/I.Q. (Innovation Quotient) Awards luncheon at BizExpo.
The Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards will be presented to:
Dale Helgeson, DP Electronic Recycling
Mark Irgens, Irgens Partners LLC
Juli Kaufmann, Fix Development
William Mortimore, Keystone Insights Inc.
Tom & Jim Palzewicz, ActionCOACH
Cory Passineau, C&D Automated Systems
Andrew Seter, Sensia Wellness
John West, BomBoard LLC
The I.Q. Awards for innovation in business will be presented to:
Agro Biosciences Inc.
Astronautics Corp. of America
Brew City Brand
Briggs & Stratton Corp.
Connected Technology Solutions
Fiserv Inc.
Millennium Forms LLC
PKWARE
Seiva Technologies
Wellntel Inc.
Also at the Bravo/I.Q. Awards lunch, Milwaukee-based Gener8tor LLC will be presented with the Regional Spirit Award. Gener8tor co-founder Joe Kirgues will be part of a panel discussion at the luncheon with leaders of young, rapidly-growing area companies. Those panelists will also include: Dominic Anzalone, founder and chief executive officer of RentCollegePads.com, Joe Scanlin, co-founder and CEO of Scanalytics and Richard Yau, CEO and co-founder of Bright Cellars.
The BizExpo conference begins with the Women in Business breakfast. At the breakfast, Paula Penebaker, president and CEO of YWCA of Southeast Wisconsin, will receive the 2016 BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year Award. Penebaker began her career at YWCA in 1999 as the chief human resources and facilities officer. She advanced at the agency and was appointed executive director in 2005 and later, president and CEO. In addition, she has served as chair of the YWCA USA board of directors.
The Women in Business breakfast will also include a panel discussion moderated by Kimberly Kane, president and founder of Kane Communications Group. The panelists will include: Kathryn Campbell, director of investor relations at Johnson Controls Inc.; Linda Gorens-Levey, partner at General Capital Group; Debra Kessler, chief financial officer at TJ Hale and Impact 100; Shontra Powell, chief operating officer at ASQ; and Mary Lou Young, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County.
For more information, or to register for BizExpo, visit www.biztimes.com/bizexpo.
