BizTimes Media celebrated the successes of startups from across southeastern Wisconsin during its Innovation + Entrepreneurship Forum and Awards program at the Italian Community Center Friday.
At the event, BizTimes recognized Jon Hammes, founder and partner of Milwaukee-based Hammes Co., with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Hammes founded his company in 1991 and has grown it into the nation’s top developer of health care facilities.
Reflecting on his professional journey, Hammes said it takes hard work to build an organization that is seen as innovative.
“They’re not natural activities and they’re a lot of work, a lot of teamwork,” he said. “But when you can execute on these fronts, it allows you to be a leader in your industry as opposed to being obliged to be a follower to the competition.”
Good City Brewing co-founder Dan Katt received the annual BizTimes Media Regional Spirit Award, largely in recognition of the company’s role in filling the Century City 1 building in Milwaukee’s Century City Business Park and working to attract more businesses there.
BizTimes’ Entrepreneurship Award winners included:
- James Kyle, CEO and founder of Delavan-based Millennium
- Ryan Povlick, founder of Scratch Ice Cream
- Dr. Indrajit Choudhuri, founder of MediCardia Health Inc.
Innovation Award winners included:
- Renaissant, the Milwaukee-based developer of the Dock C2 platform, which focuses on streamlining communication between warehouses and truckers using digital kiosks.
- Hug Sleep, the Brookfield-based maker of the Sleep Pod
In addition to the awards, the program included a panel discussion with entrepreneurs Kyle Weatherly, co-founder and CEO of Frontdesk; Roy Dietsch, co-founder and CEO of PartsBadger; and Jackie Hermes, founder and CEO of Accelity. The discussion was moderated by BizTimes editor Andrew Weiland.
