Milwaukee Biz Blog

The prevailing perception around these parts is that Milwaukee has no chance of being the home for the corporate headquarters when Miller Brewing Co. and Molson Coors Brewing Co. merge their U.S. forces.

After all, Molson Coors vice chairman Pete Coors, who will serve as chairman of MillerCoors, said the future headquarters will probably located in a "neutral" city other than Milwaukee or his hometown, Golden, Colo.
The Denver Post reported that the cities being considered for the new MillerCoors headquarters include Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, New York and Des Moines.

Still, that isn't stopping the folks at the Milwaukee 7, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle from continuing their efforts to convince the merged brewer to come to a town that has marketed itself as "Brew City" for decades.

The M7 is bringing the international site selection team of Deloitte LLP to our fair city this week to evaluate our region and provide insight about how it should market itself to companies that may be considering Milwaukee as an option for corporate headquarters.

Steve Baas, governmental affairs director of the MMAC, said the Deloitte team will be here today and Friday, sizing up the region's assets and making note of its weaknesses.

"We have them coming in to look at what we're pitching, to coach us up," Baas said. "You could call it due diligence, but it's much more than that. It's a great opportunity."

The M7 folks will use the feedback as they continue to make their case to MillerCoors and as they pitch Milwaukee to other corporations in the future, according to Pat O'Brien, executive director of the M7.

Deloitte had provided some consultant work related to the formation of the M7, which then invited the company's site selection team to hold its annual meeting here, O'Brien said. While they're here, the dozen-or-so members of the team are going to size up Milwaukee.

MillerCoors officials have been mum about their progress in determining the location of their combined headquarters, because they are awaiting the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust review of the corporate marriage, O'Brien said. He said the government's decision is expected in June.

Ultimately, Milwaukee might need to come up with a new identity to supplant the "Brew City" moniker. After all, if Miller goes the way of Pabst, Blatz and Schlitz, the only thing left will be a collection of nice local microbreweries.

Still, the M7 has not given up on the notion of convincing MillerCoors to put its headquarters here, Baas said. The Milwaukee team will "dot every i" and "cross every t" until a decision is made, he said.

Baas acknowledged that a pessimist may believe the cause is lost. He said an optimist may believe Milwaukee still has a chance. But a realist believes Milwaukee must make its best case and let the chips fall where they may, he said.

In other words, the M7 gang is going to swing hard, in case it hits something.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

Joe Pine, the co-author of "Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want," sent me an e-mail the other day, asking if I knew of any Wisconsin companies that are testaments to the main premise of his book.

Pine's book contends that in a world of fast food and "reality TV," consumers are growing tired of buying the fake from the phony, and they will pay more to get the real from the authentic.

Do your customers perceive your company as authentic? Do your customers' experiences with your company align with your intended brand and your own self-image? Do your employees understand your company's core values and mission?

Pine asked me to identify Wisconsin companies that demonstrate his five genres of authenticity. For what it's worth, I thought I'd share what I e-mailed back to Joe in advance of his appearance as the keynote speaker of the CEO Strategies Breakfast at the BizTech Expo on Wednesday.

Natural Authenticity ("People tend to perceive as authentic that which exists in its natural state in or of the earth, remaining untouched by human hands; not artificial or synthetic.")
That would be Fred Usinger Inc., the genuine Milwaukee sausage company that uses all natural ingredients and distinguishes its products by having no fillers or preservatives. We're talking Old World goodness here. Ya? Ya!

Original Authenticity ("People tend to perceive as authentic that which possesses originality in design, being the first of its kind, never before seen by human eyes; not a copy or imitation …What brand, advertising, slogan, material or memory from the past could provide a new source of inspiration?")
No brainer here. What could be more original than Harley-Davidson Inc.? The Milwaukee motorcycle company celebrates its originality with anniversary gatherings of its customers. This year, the company will celebrate its 105th anniversary in a big way with a two-day festival that will be capped off by a special custom concert by Bruce Springsteen. HOG riders from all over the world will come to Milwaukee to celebrate the Harley brand, which has become a lifestyle.

Exceptional Authenticity ("People tend to perceive as authentic that which is done exceptionally well, executed individually and extraordinarily by someone demonstrating human care … Shape your offerings around unique tastes or unusual preferences of customers")
The first thing that comes to mind here is "The Bold Look" of Kohler Co., which designs and manufactures the world's best plumbing fixtures in the world. We're talking exceptional toilets, royal thrones. But the company doesn't stop there. It has become a destination gold resort company, with its Whistling Straits Golf Course hosting the PGA Championship tournaments in 2010 and 2015. Kohler also recently opened The Craverie, a shop that features some of the world's most exceptional chocolates. Everything Herb Kohler does, he does in an exceptional way.

Referential Authenticity ("People tend to perceive as authentic that which refers to some other context, drawing inspiration from human history, and tapping into our shared memories and longings; not derivative or trivial … What person could you referentially honor?")
When I think of Wisconsin companies that are monuments to one person, I think of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., in the image of the late Sam Johnson, whose children still oversee his companies, and Quad/Graphics Inc., the world's largest privately held printing company that was formed by the late Harry Quadracci. Harry's son, Joel, is Quad's new CEO. Harry will be commemorated posthumously with the Small Business Times Bravo! Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award on the second day of the BizTech Expo, Thursday, May 1. Johnson and Quadracci were Wisconsin originals.

Influential Authenticity: ("People tend to perceive as authentic that which exerts influence on other entities, calling human beings to a higher goal and providing a foretaste of a better way; non inconsequential or without meaning.")
A uniquely Milwaukee company that is founded on the premise of social justice is Outpost Natural Foods, a co-op that is owned by its shoppers/members. We're talking organic foods, fair-trade coffees. If ever there was a utopian, "we're all in this together" kind of business, it's this one. We can all be hippies again.

Today is the last day to register to hear Pine speak about his theories of reaching more customers through corporate "Authenticity," which was recently hailed in a Time magazine cover story as one of the "Ten Ideas That Are Changing The World." Registration will include breakfast and a copy of Pine's book.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

Do you have any grandiose business ideas you'd like to bounce off of some of southeastern Wisconsin's brightest and most innovative company leaders?

Maybe you'd like to bend your state legislator's ear about an issue that has been gnawing away at you for some time now?

Do you have any suggestions for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett?

Perhaps you'd like to learn more from some dynamic authors, speakers and consultants?

Or maybe you'd just like to share your comments - good, bad or indifferent - with the staff of about Small Business Times?

This year, we've compiled the "BizTech Expo A List" of some of the prominent business and civic leaders who will be stopping by the Small Business Times exhibit booth over the two days of the event. This is only the first draft of the list, with more names to be added, but it's an impressive start:

Wednesday, April 30

• Joe Pine, author of "Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want."
• Dave Logan, author of "Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization."
• Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker
• Steve Jagler, Small Business Times executive editor
• Eric Decker, Small Business Times reporter
• Dean Amhaus, president of Spirit of Milwaukee
• Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman
• T.J. Fox, president of the Wisconsin/Illinois region for Verizon Wireless
• Ruben Hopkins, president of the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce
• State Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin)
• Susan Marshall, executive consultant
• Chip Martin and ventriloquist/PR consultant Dale Brown
• Phil Mydlach, SBT columnist and consultant on executive performance
• Eric Ness, director of the Wisconsin District of the U.S. Small Business Administration
• Carlos Santiago, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Dan Schroeder, SBT columnist and human resources expert
• Cary Silverstein, SBT columnist and business consultant
• John Steinmiller, vice president of Milwaukee Bucks
• Kirk Strong, web site expert and CEO of Smart Interactive
• Andy Tarnoff, publisher of OnMilwaukee.com
• State Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee)
• State Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa)
• Evan Zeppos, president of Zeppos & Associates Inc.

Thursday, May 1

• Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett
• Tim Sheehy, president of Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
• Andrew Weiland, Small Business Times managing editor
• Alysha Schertz, Small Business Times reporter
• David Bohl, lifestyle mentor
• Tom Bolger, president of Harris Bank Wisconsin
• Maria Monreal-Cameron, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• George Dalton, CEO of Novo 1 Inc.
• State Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend)
• John Heppner, president of Master Lock Co. LLC
• State Rep. Mark Honadel (R-South Milwaukee)
• Jerry Jendusa, CEO of Emteq
• Linda Kiedrowski, consultant and president of The Paranet Group Inc.
• Jim Lindenberg, CEO of World Class Wire & Cable Inc.
• David Lubar, president of Lubar & Co. and co-chairman of United Way
• Dester Martin, chairman, African American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Milwaukee
• Mark Readinger, CEO of P&H Mining Equipment
• State Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee)
• Carl Sheeley, CEO of Fontarome Chemical Inc.
• Jeff Sherman, president/co-owner of OnMilwaukee.com
• Jerry Stapleton, SBT columnist and sales consultant
• State Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale)
• Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor
• Patti Wallner, president of the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce

The SBT booth is just one of more than 200 booths with special attractions at the BizTech Expo.

For instance, TDS Metrocom always has something cool going on at its booth. This year, the TDS booth lineup includes:
* The D-List cast (Drew Olson and Dan Needles) of 540 AM ESPN radio will broadcast live from 9 a.m. to noon on both days of the Expo.
* Steve "The Homer" True of 540 AM ESPN radio will broadcast live on Wednesday, April 30, from 2 to 6 p.m.
Green Bay Packer offensive lineman Mark Tauscher will appear at the TDS booth on Wednesday, April 30, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
* Brent "Buzz" Williams, the new men's basketball coach at Marquette University, will appear at the TDS booth on Thursday, May 1, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Then again, maybe just hanging out with more than 5,000 business people is reason enough to attend the BizTech Expo on Wednesday, April 30, and Thursday, May 1, in the Exposition Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Admission to the BizTech Expo is free at www.biztimes.com/expo by pre-registering. And as "The Homer" is fond of saying, "Free is good."

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

In our most recent reader survey, Small Business Times asked its loyal readers to identify the topics they are most interested in reading about. Two of the top answers were "Business Growth" and "Leadership."

Well, here's a great chance to gain more insight on each of those two topics. Just attend the fourth annual BizTech Expo, which will take place at Wisconsin State Fair Park on Wednesday, April 30, and Thursday, May 1.
Do you want some red meat when it comes to growing your business? Allow me to suggest you send members of your leadership and your sales or marketing teams to the April 30 BizTech Expo CEO Strategies Breakfast, which will feature author and consultant Joe Pine.

Pine is the co-author of "Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want" (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), which recognizes that in a world of increasingly paid-for experiences, people no longer accept the fake from the phony, but want the real from the genuine.

Pine's premise of "Authenticity" was recently heralded as one of the "Ten Ideas That Are Changing The World" in a cover story in Time magazine.

The Time story stated, "The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet. We have reached the beginning of the century with 6.6 billion people living in an interconnected global economy producing an astounding $60 trillion of output each year. Human beings fill every ecological niche on the planet, from the icy tundra to the tropical rain forests to the deserts."
The Time story noted that the book written by Pine and co-author Jim Gilmore cites the growing consumer need for authenticity.

"America has 'toxic levels of inauthenticity,' Gilmore and Pine argue: most of the e-mail we get is fake. It's so difficult to reach a real person via an 800 number that we had to invent a heretofore unnecessary locution - real person - to describe the entity we are trying to reach. People live fake lives in Second Life. Corporate deceit reached epidemic levels after the dotcom bust," Time wrote.

Pine is frequently quoted as a business expert by Forbes, The New York Times, Wired, Business 2.0, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, ABC News, Good Morning America, Fortune, Business Week and Industry Week.

The fee to attend the CEO Strategies Breakfast is $65, but that includes Pine's keynote presentation, a meal, a copy of the book and admission to the BizTech Expo, where more than 200 organizations will present exhibit booths and more than 30 seminars will provide advice on operational strategies.

Try finding a cheaper way to upgrade your company's leadership and sales or marketing teams.

If an early breakfast isn't your style, but you still want to improve your leadership skills, I encourage you to attend the IQ Awards Luncheon on April 30 at the BizTechExpo. There, you'll find keynote speaker Dave Logan, Ph.D., who is the co-author of "Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization."
"Tribal Leadership" (published by Harpercollins) debuted at 1-800-CEO-READ as the No. 1-selling business book in February.

Logan is the co-founder and senior partner of the management-consulting firm CultureSync, which specializes in strategy, cultural design and high performance. He is a professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

"Tribal Leadership" was the product of an eight-year study of the "tribal" corporate cultures at more than two dozen successful corporations.

According to Logan, small businesses are "tribes," and large corporations are "tribes of tribes."

In addition to Logan's keynote address, the IQ Awards Luncheon will feature an update on Wisconsin's IQ Corridor by Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

You also will meet the winners of the IQ (Innovation Quotient) Awards, which salute some of the most innovative companies in southeastern Wisconsin.

The fee to attend the IQ Awards Luncheon is $65. Once again, that will include Logan's keynote speech, the meal and a copy of his book.

To register for the BizTech Expo and the special events, visit www.biztimes.com/expo.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

David Wittwer, president and chief executive officer of TDS Telecom, the Madison-based parent company of TDS Metrocom, has resigned from the board of directors of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the state's largest business lobbying group.

Wittwer and other members of the WMC board have been feeling pressure because of the partisan political stances and expenditures by the organization.

Critics say the WMC has bought the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The WMC spent an estimated $2.2 million on television commercials that criticized former Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Linda Clifford last summer. Clifford ultimately was defeated by the WMC-backed candidate, Annette Ziegler, who was then reprimanded for failing to recuse herself from cases involving companies with whom she had financial ties.

On Tuesday, challenger Mike Gableman won a narrow victory over Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, who was the first African-American to serve on the court. The WMC spent more than $2 million for commercials that criticized Butler in a race that featured television commercials that drew national attention from news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The Associated Press.

The ads supporting Gableman and criticizing Butler were denounced as being misleading by several organizations, including the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Common Cause Wisconsin.

Wittwer had been criticized by Waukesha resident Jim Bouman, a TDS customer who wrote a letter to Wittwer, threatening to cancel his service because of Wittwer's affiliation with the WMC.

Bouman, who writes a blog titled, "Water Blogged in Waukesha," called Gableman an "utterly cluesess waterboy for the fat cats."

Wittwer responded with a letter to Bouman, telling him, "From your letter it is abundantly clear you hold sharp differences in opinion to some of those espoused by the WMC. Without question, you are entitled to share those viewpoints with me. TDS is the company you have entrusted to be your communications solution provider and we do our level best to maintain that level of trust in everything we do. Further, TDS takes our customers' viewpoints and expressions of dissatisfaction seriously. With that in mind, I believe it important to share with you that, for personal and philosophical reasons, I have resigned my seat as a member of the WMC board of directors. It would be untrue for me to suggest that your letter was the catalyst for my departure form the leadership of this statewide trade association, but I wanted to personally make you aware of my decision."

Bouman then shared Wittwer's letter in his blog and responded with the following comments: "I am sticking with TDS. Wittwer's resignation and plea to retain my business speak eloquently of the influence we have with our consumer choices. I'm really happy to remain a customer, in touch with the TDS staff and professionals who have provided great service over the years. And my opinion of Wittwer is up more than a few notches -he operates a good business that provides really good service and he is personally pragmatic."

SBT received e-mails from several business leaders and some labor officials this morning, applauding Wittwer's decision to resign from the WMC board.

However, Drew Peterson, director of legislative and public relations for TDS Telecom, told SBT that Wittwer's decision to resign from the WMC board was not based on political heat generated by the criticism of the WMC's tactics.

"It was purely a person decision on behalf of David Wittwer. It did not have anything to do with political issues," said Peterson, who acknowledged the national attention generated by the Supreme Court race.

The race continued to raise eyebrows when the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported that out-of-state interests poured in $50,000 to Gableman campaign on March 17, just two weeks before the election. The five $10,000 contributions came from Paul Singer, Gordon and Jenny Singer, Bonnie Loeb and Jay Newman with Elliot Management Corp., a New York hedge firm, according to the WDC.

In another Milwaukee Biz Blog entry today, Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which has been critical of the impact of large campaign donations by both right-leaning corporations and left-leaning groups such as the Wisconsin Education Association Council, says big money is soiling the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

A lot of words might come to mind when you think of Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. Depending upon your perspective, those words might include: trendy; cool; hip; artsy; creative class; urban revival; snooty; pretentious; and overpriced.

And you know what? Maybe it's a little of all those things.

However, Fortune magazine has added another word, a curious word, to that list: "seedy."
The April print edition of Fortune includes a piece on "Cool-Spotting: How entrepreneurs turn bad neighborhoods into great business locations."

The article tells the story of how budding entrepreneur Jamie Wilke opened his Jamie Wilke Interiors furniture store in Oconomowoc before Lake Country became such a prestigious destination.

The article explains that Wilke's wife, when told of her husband's plan to open a hip new furniture gallery in Oconomowoc's then-struggling old downtown, remarked, "Are you crazy?"

According to the article, people such as Wilke have a "sixth sense" about spotting cool locations before other people do.

The article then states, "In October, Wilke opened a new store in Milwaukee's seedy Third Ward. His wife's reaction to his newest venture: 'There are rats bigger than our children!' This time, Wilke sees her skepticism as a good omen."

Hmmm. That article was brought to the attention of Dean Amhaus, president of The Spirit of Milwaukee. Amhaus has become a de facto defender of the City of Milwaukee. Amhaus sent the following letter, which he shared with me:

"Dear Fortune Small Business Editor:
A friend just called me and read me a sidebar story entitled 'Cool Spotting,' which appeared as part of the 'Best Places to Live and Launch' article in your April 2008 issue. I literally laughed out loud in the office (my officemates can attest to it) when she read me the statement 'Milwaukee's seedy Third Ward.' The piece goes on to quote someone who states that 'there are rats bigger than our children' in the Third Ward. Of course, it being April 1st, I thought that my friend was pulling an April Fool's joke on me. She faxed me the story as proof. Whoops, my surprise - no April Fool's joke.
Seedy??? Actually the word should have been 'trendy.' Not sure about the rats thing - all I have seen is continuous growth and development in the Third Ward.
In fact the Historic Third Ward boasts the highest concentration of art galleries in the city, numerous restaurants, unique specialty stores, architects, advertising agencies, graphic designers, artists, the Milwaukee Public Market, the Broadway Theatre Center, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design as well as condominiums, office buildings and industrial space.
I can appreciate a good laugh, but please, come visit Milwaukee's Third Ward and discover a very 'hot' neighborhood.
P.S.  While you are in town I would enjoy taking you to see our neighbors in Oconomowoc which is just a short distance west of Milwaukee and which is also mentioned in the sidebar. You will be in for another great surprise that reaffirms that the Milwaukee region is TRULY COOL. Trust me - no April's Fool joke."

Good job covering our backs again, Dean!

Now, here's an asterisk to the story. A few months ago, Small Business Times moved our offices to the Historic Third Ward. It quickly became obvious to us that the Third Ward is a great recruiting tool for job candidates, customers and new sources. In the first week in our new digs, we did not yet have janitorial service. So, I needed to take my trash can down to the building's dumpster. No big deal, right?

As I dumped the trash in the dumpster, the load landed upon … a very, very large rat, which apparently was just as startled as I was. That thing jumped into the air and seemed to hang there, in suspension, like Michael Jordan, as my heart pounded and I fell onto by butt in the snow.

Truth be told. There are rats in the Third Ward. Large, athletic rats. I don't know if they're as big as the Wilkes' children, but they are obviously well-fed. In fact, many properties along the Milwaukee River in the Third Ward have rat traps in their basements.

Now, here's the epilogue of the story … The online version of the Fortune magazine article has been edited. The paragraph with the "seedy" reference now says, "In October, Wilke opened a new store in the Third Ward, a long-neglected commercial district in Milwaukee. Mirroring a shift that's happening all over the U.S., suburban empty nesters are selling their four-bedroom homes and snapping up condos in the city."

Well, I guess that's an upgrade. I'd rather be known as "long-neglected" than "seedy."

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

My staff thinks it's funny when I come back to the office grumbling about those stupid new "Luke" digital parking meters in downtown Milwaukee.

Aside from the facts that the digital meters can't be read when the sun is shining, they often reject perfectly good coins, they require twice as much time as the regular meters, they waste paper and they do not account for the extra time the guy ahead of you already paid for, they're perfectly fine.

But I digress. Again.

The City of Milwaukee is seeking your input on more important measures as it prepares to update its Downtown Master Plan, which was first devised in 1999. You can tell the city all about your downtown priorities and your dreams by taking the 2008 Downtown Plan Community Survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gGvCdWeR_2fS0V2J3ryekk2Q_3d_3d.

The 57-question survey asks you about your usage of downtown amenities, your transportation preferences, your shopping habits and the like. It asks if you think there's enough parking downtown. It asks you to rank your priorities for future improvements. It asks whether or not you approve of using public subsidies for various things.

But there's one very important thing that is missing from the city's survey. The words "Bradley Center" do not appear anywhere in the survey.

Furthermore, and maybe even more disturbing, the Bradley Center also has no mention in the Milwaukee Department of City Development's Downtown Plan Update Report (http://www.mkedcd.org/planning/plans/downtown/Update08/DT_Update%20Report_FINAL.pdf) that was presented to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee of the Milwaukee Common Council in January.

Go ahead and search that document for the word "Bradley." You won't find it. Zilch. Bupkus. No mention whatsoever.

The Bradley Center is a glaring omission on the city's radar.

Milwaukee, we've got a problem. As I'm sure you've heard by now, only three NBA facilities are older than the Bradley Center. Within the next 10 years - at the most - the Bradley Center will need to be replaced with a new arena, or the Milwaukee Bucks will leave town.

The time to talk about this issue is now.

Of course, at a time when our federal, our state, our county and our city governments are broke, who wants to discuss the notion of asking taxpayers to fork over $400 million or so to build a new arena for the Bucks?

So, psychologically, we allow ourselves to put a Band Aid on the problem with the news that Bradley Center Board will try to find some company somewhere that is willing to pay $40 million or so to put its name on an arena that is outdated and will soon be inadequate. Good luck, fellas.

Seattle has been facing a similar situation. Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett bought the Seattle Supersonics and threatened to move the team to Oklahoma if Seattle didn't build him a new arena.

Earlier this month, at the 11th hour, a group of investors, including real estate developer Matt Griffin, Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer, Costco Wholesale Corp. president and CEO Jim Sinegal and wireless entrepreneur John Stanton, came forward with an offer to pay for $150 million of the $300 million needed to upgrade the KeyArena in Seattle and another $75 million to buy the team.

Look around. It's doubtful you'll find that kind of firepower around here. And even if we do, would building a new basketball arena be the best use of that money for Milwaukee?

After all, our school system is a mess, we have terrible unemployment, poverty and crime in the inner city and we have no regional transportation system.

There's one other problem in the Milwaukee equation. The Bradley Center Board exists in its own silo, with its own budget, its own mission and its own administration. The Wisconsin Center District Board, which oversees the Midwest Airlines Center, the U.S. Cellular Arena and the Milwaukee Theatre, exists in its own silo, with its own budget, its own mission and its own administration.

And ne'er the two shall meet. You even mention the word "merger" to people on the Bradley Board and the Wisconsin Center District Board, and you will get scolded by the parties. Trust me, I have done it.
I recently had lunch with one business executive who does business with both the Bradley Center and the Wisconsin Center District. He expressed frustrations about the lack of cooperation and the redundancies between the two legal entities.

"If this was Chicago, (Mayor Richard) Daley would lock them in a room and wouldn't let them out until they had a mutually beneficial working agreement that made more efficient use of the downtown entertainment resources. He wouldn't even let them out to (go to the bathroom) until they figured it out," said the executive.

The clock is ticking on the Bradley Center. If Milwaukee is to somehow replace it, the new building needs to not only be the home of the Bucks and a premier concert venue, but it also need to directly serve the convention center.

The Downtown Master Plan that ignores the future of the downtown entertainment district is woefully incomplete.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

Wisconsin will be among a handful of "purple" states that will decide the presidential election in November.

That prediction was among several observations made by a panel of political experts at a Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon Wednesday.

"I think it (Wisconsin) will be one of the four or five states that decides who wins the White House," said Mike Tate, a Democratic consultant who oversaw Howard Dean's Wisconsin campaign in 2004 and has done work for Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle.

Tate said the Democratic presidential nomination has a "50/50" chance of going all the way down to being decided at the party's convention Aug. 25-28 in Denver. The longer the race drags on between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, the greater the disadvantage for the Democrats against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, Tate said.

"As someone who works in this, I really want to end this race," Tate said. "It'll be a battle royale for the super delegates, I guess."

Mark Graul, a Republican consultant who served as executive director of President George W. Bush's Wisconsin campaign in 2004, not-so-jokingly acknowledged that he would like to see the Democrats continue to beat each other up for as long as possible.

"Absolutely … Why stop it now?" Graul said with a smile.

Tate said Obama will be politically wounded by the Clinton machine.

"There's no one better at bloodying you up than the Clintons," Tate said, adding that he believes the Democratic nominee, whomever that may be, will be a strong candidate in the general election. "I think this is a great year for us to take back the White House. Four years ago, we go out-hustled by people like Mark Graul."

The panelists on Wednesday were uncertain about whether they believe the Democrats will run late primaries or caucuses in Florida and Michigan. Tate said one compromise that may be in the works is to seat the delegates of those two states, which violated the national party's rules by moving up their primaries, but deny them any votes at the convention.

However, Tate said he does not believe the Democratic super delegates will overrule the votes of the people in the primaries and caucuses.

Panelist Greg Borowski, political reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said he was impressed with how Obama discussed the issue of race relations in America Tuesday, but the verdict is out on whether that speech will translate into more votes.

As for winning Wisconsin in November, Graul said McCain was the best candidate in the GOP field, even though McCain has alienated some of the more hard-core conservatives who disagree with him on issues such as illegal immigrants, tax cuts and campaign finance reforms.

"McCain's got that maverick spirit that people like about him … McCain give us a chance (in Wisconsin)," Graul said.

"I think John is a great candidate for Wisconsin," Tate said. "We love personalities here … We like our Russ Feingolds and Tommy Thompsons."

Wednesday's discussion was moderated by WisPolitics.com president Jeff Mayers.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

Even with the best of intentions, no business can survive without a successful bottom line. Successful workers, managers, divisions and entire companies must be empowered, evaluated and held accountable for the results they achieve.

And in the ideal world, their rewards are commensurate with their success.

That business-like approach increasingly is becoming part of the lexicon in the nonprofit world, as well.

I know this first-hand. Back in 2002, I was fortunate enough to be asked to serve on an executive planning committee devoted to the creation of a nonprofit program to help potentially at-risk teenagers stay on the academic path and enter college.

That committee formed by the Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges (WFIC) included some of the region's most forward-looking and wise people, such as former Alverno College president Sister Joel Read and Tom Rave, who is now vice president at Tri City Bank. When the committee was formed, it was assigned the task of creating a program that would, among other things:
(1) Identify some high school freshmen in Milwaukee who are struggling to get by in school.
(2) Give them academic resources and tutoring to thrive in college preparatory classes.
(3) Take them on weekend trips to Wisconsin's private colleges and shadow real college students.
(4) Help them apply for college admissions.
(5) Award them scholarships to attend college.

Sounds great, right? But would it work in the real world?

Six years later, I am thrilled to report that yes, it is working in the real world. The program is the WFIC College Readiness 21 Program, which is "Building a Pipeline of Talent for Wisconsin."

In the past two years, 102 Milwaukee students in the CR21 program graduated from high school. To date, 90 of those students remain in college, including 27 in Wisconsin private schools, 28 in the University of Wisconsin system, 20 in Wisconsin technical colleges and 15 in colleges out of state.

Fifty-one students will graduate from high school and the CR21 program in Milwaukee this year, and 95 percent of them will be college-bound.

CR21 has grown to serve 227 students in Milwaukee. All of those Milwaukee students are young people of color, and 94 percent will be the first in their families to go to college. Seventy-seven percent of the Milwaukee students are from low-income backgrounds.

The CR21 program is so successful, that the WFIC has added chapters in Racine/Kenosha and northeastern Wisconsin. CR21 now serves 445 students in the state.

The beauty if this program is beheld in the eyes of the students. So many of them did not grow up with an internal image of themselves attending college. In their minds, college was for others.

However, when those students are actually taken out of the city to a college, where they walk among college students, eat in college cafeterias and sleep in college dorms, they are transformed. For the first time, they can project that dream of college upon themselves.

In short, they drink the Kool-Aid of their own potential.

Just as people are the greatest assets of any thriving business, the CR21 program is driven by a highly executive effective team, led by WFIC president Mark Torinus, vice president David Wolfson and their devoted staff.

One of the smartest things they did was to hire JonRae Stowers to direct the statewide program and manage the Milwaukee program. Stowers simply has a way with the students she oversees. They respond to her. Heck, they even get up at 8 o'clock on Saturday mornings to attend CR21 activities.

To be sure, CR21 faces challenges. Teen pregnancies, violence, relocations, family turmoil and a lack of transportation options quickly come to mind.

However, with a strong record of documented success, the WFIC is launching a new campaign to raise $80,000 for the College Readiness 21 Scholarship Fund by May 2. If you are looking for an emerging, worthy cause with real-world impact, I can proudly endorse this charity. For additional information, visit www.wficweb.org/43.html.

And if you want to shop for other noble causes, I encourage you to peruse the new Small Business Times Nonprofit Directory at www.biztimes.com/nonprofit.

Is the Video Competition Act that was recently signed into law in Wisconsin good public policy that will generate true competition for cable television in the state, resulting in lower prices for consumers?

Or was the bill pushed through the state government to accommodate AT&T Inc., and will it become a burden for the state's consumers?

For now, the answers to those questions, of course, depend upon whom you are asking.

Five Wisconsin video service providers - AT&T, Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, CenturyTel and Comcast Cable - have applied for statewide video franchises as a result of the Video Competition Act (VCA).

The Video Competition Act was approved by the State Senate and Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle in December.

"Three months ago, Wisconsin consumers had about as many choices for cable service as they had thumbs on their right hand," said Thad Nation, executive director of TV4US Wisconsin, which bills itself as a "grassroots" organization. Its members include AT&T. "But with the passage of the Video Competition Act, it's looking more and more likely that cable subscribers will have a real choice as to who they get their service from in the near future."

AT&T received approval for its franchise from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions last week. It should be noted that Charter, Time Warner, Century Tel and Comcast are not members of TV4US Wisconsin.

The new law allows companies to apply for statewide video franchises, "eliminating the monopoly" the cable companies enjoyed, Nation said.

If the other applications are approved, Charter, Time Warner, Comcast, and CenturyTel will join AT&T in being able to provide their video services to any municipality in the state, "creating a system of real competition that will lower prices, improve customer service, and lead to new and better technologies for consumers," Nation said.

"It looks like the monopolistic reign of the state's cable companies is finally coming to an end, and that news couldn't some soon enough for Wisconsin consumers," Nation said. "With cable prices continuing to rise, Wisconsin residents are due for some much-needed relief. We look forward to additional franchise applications so consumers can take full advantage of the benefits that competition provides."

That's what Nation said.

Robert Chernow, a Milwaukee businessman who is the retired chairman of the Regional Telecommunication Commission (RTC) and the North Suburban Communication Commission, is a long-time advocate for Wisconsin municipalities in their negotiations with large communication corporations.

Chernow has a very different opinion about the impact of the Video Competition Act.

"AT&T and cable have always had the ability to do business in every Wisconsin community. They only needed to apply for a franchise that would not redline and would protect the public's safety. A single model contract could have been negotiated for much of the state. So, to say that the Video Competition Act initiates real competition is false. To state that that there was a monopoly is a lie. It appears as if AT&T and others now believe their own manipulated and phony advertisements. Wisconsin consumers will end up paying more, not less, as prices go up. Local communities will no longer have oversight. Even issues like AT&T's dangerous exploding cabinets will be ignored, in my opinion, because the state will allow firms like AT&T to do what they wish. In essence, AT&T bought this legislation through expensive lobbying, false advertising, significant campaign contributions and other manipulation of Wisconsin's legislature. This is bad public policy."

Thank you gentlemen. Both sides are now on the record. We'll check back a year from now and see how we're all doing.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.