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Wayne Oldenburg’s advice for other entrepreneurs

Dec 14, 2022 1:26 pm

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Last updated Dec 20, 2022 12:58 pm

Listen to Wayne Oldenburg’s conversation with BizTimes publisher Dan Meyer on the BizTimes MKE Podcast Oldenburg Group Inc. founder Wayne Oldenburg has ample advice to share with local business leaders – ranging from establishing trust with banks to recruiting highly-skilled employees. For him, before building a business came building character. “Stay humble,” said Oldenburg, who

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Listen to Wayne Oldenburg's conversation with BizTimes publisher Dan Meyer on the BizTimes MKE Podcast Oldenburg Group Inc. founder Wayne Oldenburg has ample advice to share with local business leaders – ranging from establishing trust with banks to recruiting highly-skilled employees. For him, before building a business came building character. “Stay humble,” said Oldenburg, who spent nearly two decades as a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions prior to founding Oldenburg Group in 1981. “It’s better to assume humility than to have it thrust upon you.” Oldenburg received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BizTimes Media Innovation + Entrepreneurship Forum in December. He gives credit for both his personal and professional development to the Young President’s Organization, a global network of chief executives that holds leadership seminars and courses. “That was the biggest educational resource for me, and I encourage any entrepreneur to check it out,” Oldenburg said. Oldenburg Group was a manufacturer of mining equipment, commercial lighting and military products. At one point, the company made the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing companies in America for five consecutive years from 1987 to 1991. The company ranked 20th in 1989. To scale to full operations, Oldenburg needed money – and lots of it. What he quickly found out was that bank officials trust people before they trust faceless corporations. “An advantage I had back then was that my banks were local. You knew the people … so you were able to borrow money,” said Oldenburg, who remained the only shareholder in the business until bringing in his son in 2013. “Because of that, I never had to bring in outside shareholders or go to venture capital.” What he did need to bring in was fresh-faced talent. But Oldenburg says he made a mistake in trying to “keep the payroll as low as possible.” “It was wrong,” Oldenburg said. “The advice I would give to any entrepreneur is to pay as much as you need to get high-quality people. Bringing (talented) people in is the most important thing that can be done.” The reason why is simple: While he’s learned to teach employees new skills on the job, one skill that he can’t impart is self-motivation, because that must come from within, Oldenburg said. That’s where rigorous performance reviews come in – every six months. “We do 360-degree reviews, and they’re pretty brutal at times,” Oldenburg said. “We’ll take a retreat, ask a series of questions about each individual, and put the answers up on the whiteboard.” Reviews like this have been a part of the company since its inception, guiding future business decisions. In 2006, Oldenburg Group sold its coal mining equipment business to Joy Global Corp. (now Komatsu Mining) for $140 million, but it kept its division that made machines used in hard-rock underground mining. In 2016, it sold its underground mining equipment and defense businesses to a New York-based private equity firm. The company kept its commercial lighting equipment division, Glendale-based Visa Lighting. Oldenburg continues to serve as chief executive officer of the business, which supplies performance engineered products used in the architectural lighting industry. Throughout it all, innovation in Oldenburg’s businesses remained market-driven, not internally driven, he said. In other words, it was his goal to “stay close to the customer.” For example, Oldenburg holds discussion groups where customers offer feedback on products and direction of the business. “You should make what the customer wants,” Oldenburg said. “Our customers will even sketch out designs for the equipment that they’re looking for to communicate with us.” Oldenburg has also committed to serve the broader community. His past board service includes the board of trustees at University School of Milwaukee, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Junior Achievement, Lakeland College, The Milwaukee Ballet, United Performing Arts Fund and the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. For years, he has also provided rent-free space in Visa Lighting’s Glendale office building to three local nonprofits: Girls on the Run Southeastern Wisconsin, SHARP Literacy and, ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, which was founded by his late wife, Melodie Wilson, to provide one-on-one peer support to people affected by breast cancer, and where Oldenburg serves on the board as past-president. Those organizations are able to use the money they save on rent to further their mission. “The advice I would give to entrepreneurs is to start giving back as soon as you can,” Oldenburg said. “I give money, but it’s also important to give time.”