In December of each year, the editorial staff at BizTimes Milwaukee selects the “Best in Business,” recognizing the region’s top newsmakers of that calendar year in five categories: Corporation, CEO, Small Business, Family-Owned Business and Community Leader.
This year’s Corporation of the Year,
Microsoft, continues to make big news in southeastern Wisconsin. The tech giant is building a $3.3 billion artificial intelligence data center complex in Mount Pleasant, where Foxconn’s development, while significant, has fallen far short of its original plans for a massive manufacturing complex. Microsoft is building on land previously planned for the Foxconn development. Designed to support Microsoft’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure, the data center project is expected to create 2,000 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time.
Our Best in Business Community Leader of the Year is the
ThriveOn Collaboration (featured on the cover), which includes the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Medical College of Wisconsin and real estate developer Royal Capital Group. Led by Greg Wesley, Kevin Newell and Dr. John Raymond, the collaboration has spearheaded the $120 million redevelopment of the 470,000-square-foot former Gimbels-Schuster’s store building, located at 2153 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, into a community hub called ThriveOn King. The project, which includes residential, commercial space and community space, is a major boost to the King Drive corridor north of downtown Milwaukee and the city’s Halyard Park, Harambee and Brewers Hill neighborhoods. ThriveOn King seeks to improve social determinants of health in the neighborhood with the offerings of its tenants.
Other Best in Business honorees this year include: Versiti president and chief executive officer
Chris Miskel, who has led the Milwaukee-based nonprofit blood health organization through a period of significant growth with numerous acquisitions and a groundbreaking this year for a $79 million expansion at the Versiti Blood Research Institute at the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa; Milwaukee-based
Craft Beverage Warehouse, which specializes in direct-to-can digital printing and wholesale distribution of related products for beverage canning, and earlier this year doubled its printing capacity at its Milwaukee headquarters and recently unveiled plans to expand to Denver; and Brookfield-based material handling distribution company
Wolter, which received an investment from a New York-based private investment bank this year, enabling the company to ramp up its expansion efforts, including the acquisitions of Cincinnati-based and Atlanta-based businesses and the launch of a southeast region. Wolter now employs close to 700 people and plans to double in size in the next five years.
Read individual profiles here:
Corporation of the Year: Microsoft makes waves with $3.3 billion artificial intelligence data center project in Mount Pleasant
Community Leader of the Year: ThriveOn Collaboration aims to bring King Drive ‘back to life’ with $120 million redevelopment project
CEO of the year: Chris Miskel leads Versiti’s continued growth in efforts to advance blood health
Small Business of the Year: Speed and agility key to Craft Beverage Warehouse’s continued growth
Family-Owned Business of the Year: Wolter leans heavily on M&A to achieve fast, widespread growth
Past Honorees:
Corporation of the Year:
2023 Northwestern Mutual
2022 FPC Live
2021 Milwaukee Bucks
2020 Milwaukee Tool
2019 Fiserv
2018 Klement’s Sausage
2017 Foxconn
2016 Direct Supply
2015 WEC Energy Group
2014 Generac
2013 Northwestern Mutual
CEO of the Year:
2023 Dominic Ortiz, Potawatomi Casino Hotel
2022 Jim Kacmarcik, Kacmarcik Enterprises
2021 Aaron Jagdfeld, Generac
2020 Mark Irgens, Irgens Partners
2019 Michelle Gass, Kohl’s Corp.
2018 Peggy Troy, Children’s Wisconsin
2017 Nick Turkal, Advocate Aurora Health
2016 Tim Sullivan, REV Group
2015 Peter Feigin, Milwaukee Bucks
2014 Mark DiBlasi, Roadrunner Transportation
2013 Paul Grangaard, Allen Edmonds
Small Business of the Year:
2023 Sprecher Brewing
2022 Eagle Park Brewing & Distilling Co.
2021 New Land Enterprises
2020 Fiveable
2019 J. Jeffers & Co.
2018 Good City Brewing
2017 Access Healthnet
2016 Rinka Chung Architecture
2015 Gehl Foods
2014 Bartolotta Restaurant Group
2013 Colectivo Coffee Roasters
Family-Owned Business of the Year:
2023 The DeLong Co. Inc.
2022 Fromm Nieman Brands
2021 Kohler Co.
2020 Rite-Hite
2019 Bartolotta Restaurant Group
2018 Michels Corp.
2017 Coakley Brothers
2016 Milwaukee Blacksmith
2015 Steinhafels
2014 Uline
2013 Super Steel
Community Leader of the Year:
2023 Tim Sheehy, MMAC
2022 Peggy Williams-Smith, Visit Milwaukee
2021 Dana Guthrie, Gateway Capital
2020 Marty Brooks, Wisconsin Center District
2019 Alex Lasry, Democratic National Convention
2018 Mike and Amy Lovell, Marquette University
2017 Joanne Johnson-Sabir, Sherman Phoenix
2016 The Baumgartner Family, Paper Machinery Corp.
2015 The Ramirez Family, Husco International
2014 Tim Sheehy, MMAC
2013 Rich Meeusen, Badger Meter
