Two Milwaukee women recently launched Write Hook, an online company that enables people to create custom greeting cards.

Lori Palay and Seraya Amirthalingam created the company to allow people to create greeting cards for some of the "less typical" moments in life.

Readers can browse hundreds of images and sentiments, and choose elements that express their exact thoughts at the company website (www.writehook.com). The custom cards can then be mailed to recipients.

"I am a cancer survivor, and when I was sick, people were incredibly generous," Palay said. "I was too sick to write thank you notes, and I kept thinking there has to be a better way to do this. There has to be other people who are in my position."

According to Palay, inspiration for the cards also came from the lack of already available cards to express what people really want to say.

Shortly after her radiation therapy, Palay met Amirthalingam, and they "just clicked."

"The concept of the way our company works came from both of us. I do more of the creative side of things, and she is definitely more of the infrastructure," Palay said.

The site was launched Nov. 11, and in addition to the traditional birthday, love, friendship and holiday greetings, Write Hook also carries cards for occurrences such as divorce, cancer and even menopause.

The site is designed to be user-friendly and allows users the ability to upload and create a personal address book, calendar, set alarms for reminder dates, and the ability to create cards one year prior to mailing.

Write Hook cards are sold for between $2.25 and $4 and are printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Write Hook also donates five cents from every card sale to designated charities that customers can specify from a list of selected charities.

"The website is designed specifically so consumers can find the right card for the right occasion, or just send something off quickly," Palay said. "It was our goal to create a company that could create old world communication with new world technology."

The Italian Community Center recently elected attorney Henry Piano as president of the nonprofit, ethnic organization for the 2008-2009 term. Piano previously served as vice president of the organization and acquired the duties of the presidency last January when incumbent president Dominic Frinzi died. Piano has been a member of the organization since its inception in 1978. Members also elected these officers: Gina Spang, vice president; Casper Balistreri, treasurer; Rose Anne Ceraso-Fritchie, secretary; and Anthony M. Zingale, sergeant-at-arms. Elected as directors-at-large were: Pietro Tarantino, Michael Palmisano, Susan DeSanctis-Christiansen, and Thomas Balistreri. Each of the newly-elected officers serves a one-year term.  The new directors-at-large serve for the next two years. The term for all those elected began on November 1st.

After Eric Lalor crashed his motorcycle on his way to work July 13, 2007, you might think that his biking days would be over. However, the associate attorney at Boyle Fredrickson in Milwaukee decided instead to redesign his wreck into a diesel-powered motorcycle and begin racing it.

"I have been riding since I was about 12 years old," Lalor said. "My wife didn't want me to rebuild my street bike, but I had enough parts lying around to do it. The only thing I was missing was an engine."

According to Lalor, his father had a couple three-cylinder diesel engines from an old lawn mower that he decided to take apart and fit to work on his bike.

Lalor entered into his first race, held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

"We were working on the bike all the way up until the day we left; we had some mechanical problems where I blew up the turbo about two weeks before the race," Lalor said.

Lalor had to re-enter his bike into a lower division due to the mechanical failure and was only able to race the bike in third gear, he said.

The race is one against the clock, Lalor said. "The course is a straight five miles, two miles to get up to speed, then a full mile where they time you at your fastest speed, and then a two-mile slow down."

According to Lalor, racers are timed going in one direction to develop an average speed over the one mile timed track, and then timed again going the other way to account for wind factor and other resistances.

Despite his setbacks, Lalor set the national land speed record of 75.38 mph in his division, and is waiting on the approval notice of the world record.

"It's a unique experience; racing on that kind of surface is unlike anything any driver has ever experienced," Lalor said.  "I took this year to really get a feel for it, and was able to set a record racing only in third gear, so that's exciting for the future."

Lalor has already started building his bike for next year and is turning his former bike into a street friendly model.

Lalor plans to continue racing his bikes for as long as he can.

"At first my wife (Amie) was really worried, but I named the racing company (El-Conn Racing) after my kids, Ellie and Connor, and got them really involved in the whole process," he said. "They had a lot of fun traveling with me out to Utah, and after the event she was the one already trying to make reservations for next year's race."

Name: Colin Hutt

Title: President

Company: Primum Marketing Communications

Company address: 400 E. Wisconsin Ave., 2A

Company web site: www.primumagency.com

Industry: Marketing communications, including advertising, public relations, social media, Web sites, strategic planning, and video for B2B, consumer and health care.

Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame; master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Family:  Wife, Colleen, and five kids, ages five months through 10 years.

Hobbies and Interests: "I'd like to skydive, but right now I'm more of a golfer and hiker."

Favorite book and/or movie: Books - "The Inferno" by Dante and "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoyevsky; movies – "This is Spinal Tap" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Favorite musician/band: "Johnny Cash. My wife has a tradition of closing out all wedding receptions by singing 'Folsom Prison Blues.'"

Favorite place to visit/vacation: "I've only been there twice - most recently this past summer in an RV - but I think the Black Hills of South Dakota is just about perfect. It's so American: scenic mountains, canyons and lakes, great roads for driving, free roaming buffaloes, caves, poker and whiskey saloons in Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore, the smell of pine and campfires everywhere, Harleys, horses, kitsch. It has it all."

Favorite local restaurant: "Sobelman's - best burger, hands down."

Words to live by: "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs."

What is your core philosophy for doing business?: "Three things: 1) Go where others aren't. 2) Have a sense of curiosity and urgency. 3) Treat everybody with dignity."

Who is your role model and why? "I admire anybody who is creative and works hard. It's quite rare. I'm thankful to know a few and to be the son of two."

What was the funniest thing that has ever happened to you? "We went to the basilica dedication of Holy Hill a couple years ago. I chased one of my unruly toddlers around the back of church the entire Mass and was totally exasperated by the end. When we walked out, a TV reporter shoved a camera and mic in my face. She asked me what the event meant to me and - for reasons I cannot fully explain to this day - I just burst into uncontrollable laughter and could not get a word out. For someone who does media training, it was pretty humiliating. It added a new rule to the training manual though: 'Don't wrestle a toddler right before an interview - you'll likely be insane and your hair will be messed up.'"

Nashotah company names Dyer as new CEO
Dickten Masch Plastics LLC of Nashotah has appointed Steven Dyer as the company's new president and chief executive officer.

Dickten Masch provides advanced technical solutions in thermoplastic and thermoset molding, engineering, analytical lab and tooling services.

Dyer brings more than 17 years of experience in plastic injection molding, operations management and world-class manufacturing processes to the position. He is a certified "Green Belt" with extensive experience in lean pull systems and brings a focus on waste elimination from all facets of the business. Dyer is also a certified quality engineer and brings a holistic approach to quality as a cornerstone of the overall customer experience, the company said.

"We're extremely fortunate to have Steve on board to lead Dickten Masch and build upon synergies within the organization to provide our growing customer base with best-in-class service," said J. Douglas Gray, CEO of Everett Smith Group, a privately held investment firm with a majority ownership interest in Dickten Masch. "We're focused on a long-term commitment to a top management team for Dickten Masch and Steve fits the bill."

Dickten Masch's client base includes companies such as Cooper Power Systems, Cummins, GE Water & Process Technologies, Kohler Company, Milwaukee Electric Tool, Rockwell Automation Inc. and Square D.

"Our on-site materials lab is truly world class, and the technical competency of the Dickten Masch engineers rates as high or higher than anyone in the industry," Dyer said. "And collectively, Dickten Masch has 250 years of experience in tooling services. This company is rich with talent and advanced technical resources that put us in an excellent position to grow and expand our service offerings. It's an exciting time and I'm glad to be part of the Dickten Masch team."

Most recently, Dyer was senior vice president of operations with ClearEdge Power Inc., North America's first commercialized hydrogen based micro-stationary power generation provider.

Advertising & Public Relations

Creatonomy, Milwaukee, recently added Brad Schultz as associate creative director on its staff. 

Zizzo Group Advertising and Public Relations, Milwaukee, recently welcomed Kristin Settle to its public relations team. She brings ten years of industry experience to the position.  

Building & Construction

Berghammer Construction Corporation, Butler, recently added Michael Wallace as vice president of business development. 

Child Care Services

Ebenezer Child Care Centers recently named Yvette Stamper center coordinator for their Wauwatosa Center. Stamper was previously employed with the John C. Cudahy YMCA as the early childhood program coordinator for over 6 years.

Education

Tom VanHimbergen was recently named executive vice president for administration/chief financial officer at Cardinal Stritch University. VanHimbergen is a retired chief financial officer and certified public accountant who has more than 35 years of strategic and financial planning experience with both corporations and nonprofit boards.

Engineering                            

Mared Mechanical Contractor Corporation, Milwaukee, recently announced the addition of four new members to its team. They include: Kenneth Bade, controller; John Engler, industrial sheet metal and piping manager; Josh Pasher, fire protection division manager; and Mark Temple, plumbing division manager.

Health Care

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin recently appointed Dr. Michael Meyer, program director of transport. He previously served as assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services Meyer, University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.

"'Early stage entrepreneurship and startups are incredibly difficult to do. If you stand back and analyze it, you would probably have to be crazy to start a high-tech company because there's probably 90 ways to get killed doing it, but entrepreneurs do very important work, for this nation and for Wisconsin. So, we can all be glad they are a little crazy.'"

~Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, quoting Eric Apfelbachs, a former president and CEO of an alternative energy company.

Read the full Milwaukee Biz Blog: All Hail the Entrepreneur!

Tuesday, Nov. 25 from 7:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 2, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: "Sick Leave Ordinance: Next Steps" hosted at the MMAC's offices, 756 N. Milwaukee St. Seating at the conferences will be limited, and pre-registration is required. For additional information, contact the MMAC.

Thursday, Dec. 11, the BizTimes Milwaukee Health Care Heroes Awards Breakfast at the Italian Community Center 7:30. to 9:30 a.m. Mike Gousha will be the emcee for the event. Click here to register for the event

Vote in Today's BizTimes Milwaukee Poll: Do you believe the mandated sick leave ordinance would be good for the City of Milwaukee?

The Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) recently hosted a forum on Building Community Support for Economic Development at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee.

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