John Schlifske joined Northwestern Mutual in 1987 as an investment specialist, rising through the company’s ranks to become president in 2009. Today, Northwestern Mutual is among the largest employers in the state and ranks No. 97 on the Fortune 500.

Under Jack Salzwedel’s leadership as CEO of American Family Insurance, the company’s assets nearly doubled from about $17 billion to $31 billion, active policies grew from 8.3 million to 12 million, and its employee count increased from 7,900 to 13,500.

Ben Salzmann has led Sheboygan-based property and casualty insurer Acuity since 1999, growing it from under $250 million to nearly $2 billion in written premium (revenue) during his tenure.

Ken Riesch co-founded R&R Insurance with his father in 1975 and has helped grow it into one of the state’s largest independently owned insurance agencies, with about 200 employees.

Angela Walters, the owner of Walters Realty Group at EXP Realty, has been named the new chair of the board of directors for the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.

Richard Poirier is prepared to close out his career in 2024 after eight years at the helm of Church Mutual Insurance Co., credited as the largest insurer of religious organizations in the country.

Gerry Behan has worked for over 35 years for Kerry Group, an Ireland-based international food corporation with operations in Beloit.

Fourth-generation cheesemaker Errico Auricchio founded BelGioioso Cheese Inc. in Brown County in 1979 after having moved from Italy.

John Schmidt has led Appleton-based U.S. Venture as its president and chief executive officer since 2007. Previously, Schmidt was president of CMD Corp.

Mike Rowe joined Pewaukee-based American Transmission Co. in 2006. In 2015, he took over leadership of the company.

Serial entrepreneur Jeremy Fojut, the co-founder and chief executive officer of The Like|Minded Company; Justin Nicols, the founder and CEO of Milwaukee-based Sift Healthcare; and Glenn Reid, funder of Milwaukee-based Marathon Machines Inc., will be recognized for excellence in entrepreneurship at the BizTimes Media Innovation + Entrepreneurship Forum, to be held at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee on Dec. 8.

John Larsen was named president of Alliant Energy Corp. in 2018 and its CEO and chair the following year.