Brookfield-based
Laacke & Joys Design and Manufacturing Company has named
George Konstantakis as president. Konstantakis will succeed Dean Pecard, who has been promoted to the board of the company.
“George’s background as a part company owner and president of a new product development and engineering company fits perfectly with our vision and direction of Laacke & Joys. George’s background as a leader and his desire to grow our company by innovation and overcoming the challenges that we will all be facing in the next decade are both assuring and exciting,” said Marsha Mather, chief executive officer.
Konstantakis co-founded Ingenium Product Development in 1997 and helped broker the merger with the Brooks Stevens Company in 2007. He served as president of Brooks Stevens from 2010 through 2020. He joined Laacke & Joys Company in 2021 as director of new product development.
“I have a passion for brands with longevity, purpose and breadth,” Konstantakis said. “Laacke & Joys is an organization with such a brand. I believe that creativity, product development and manufacturing are the USA's core competencies and competitive advantage on a world scale.”
Founded in 1844, Laacke & Joys Company is the oldest company to originally open in Milwaukee. Its two divisions include LJ Design and Manufacturing and Concept Seating. The Design and Manufacturing division offers clients in the medical and industrial markets sewing, design and manufacturing services. The Concept Seating division designs officer chairs.
In October of 2012, Laacke & Joys
announced plans to close its stores in Mequon and downtown Milwaukee and its manufacturing operations in downtown Milwaukee. That’s when the company moved into its current Brookfield location. It closed its Brookfield store in 2019, ending its retail business.
