Mike Mayoras, the new chief executive officer of Town of Brookfield-based RedPrairie Corp., is bringing a different attitude to leading the high tech company than former CEO John Jazwiec.
For one thing, unlike Jazwiec, he is not threatening to the move the company out of state.
"We enjoy our Wisconsin home," Mayoras told SBT Monday.
In a sign of the company's renewed commitment to Wisconsin, RedPrairie recently initiated a scholarship program with UW-Milwaukee. The company is providing two scholarships valued at $5,000 each per year. Mayoras says it is imperative that a company establish itself within the community that it does business.
"I'm a big believer that organizations really have a responsibly to be, what I term as, responsible employers," he said. "Meaning you can't just be in a community and not be a part of that community especially when your main business is people."
The UWM scholarships are designed to support exceptional students who show potential to make a contribution to science and technology. According to Mayoras, RedPrairie faces the same challenges as a lot of IT companies when attempting to fill IT related positions in their work force.
"We need to participate in helping manufacture those types of skills in every way we possibly can," he said.
When he joined RedPrairie, which provides supply chain management software, Jazwiec shook up the company and pushed it through an aggressive growth period. Revenues soared and the company made several acquisitions.
But Jazwiec also shook up the community with harsh criticisms of the state's business climate. He threatened to move the firm out of state, but also considered moving it to downtown Milwaukee.
Mayoras says plans to move the company out of state have been put to rest. He applauded the work ethic and sense of loyalty of people in Wisconsin as strengths for Wisconsin businesses.
"This organization has done business in the state of Wisconsin long before I got here, and we will be doing business here I'm sure long after I'm gone," Mayoras said. "This is a good solid Wisconsin business. Southeast Wisconsin is part of our long-term plan. It will always be a material part of our business going forward."
In addition, he said the company has no immediate plans to move its headquarters to downtown Milwaukee.
"Our lease in (the Town of Brookfield) is up in 2010, so certainly we are not moving near-term," said Mayoras, who lives in Delafield.
Mayoras was named to replace Jazwiec, who resigned in October. Jazwiec resigned just four weeks after he attracted more controversy when he said his east side home was invaded, and his family was held hostage. Jazwiec did not initially call police to report the incident and instead he called the mayor's office to complain. Ald. Michael D'Amato questioned the "veracity" of Jazwiec's account of the incident. Jazwiec eventually filed a police report, but later he said wanted to have the investigation dropped. About four weeks after the incident he resigned as CEO of RedPrairie saying he wanted to move back to the Chicago area, where he grew up. He said his resignation had nothing to do with the alleged home invasion.
According to Mayoras, the company transition from Jazwiec to him was virtually seamless and despite some of the "negative press" generated from the former CEO's incidents, the company has recovered completely.
"I really have no comments regarding John's personal situation that was reported on," Mayoras said. "I saw it the same way you saw it. I wasn't involved nor was the business. What I can say is that this company is a very proud, strong group of local employees, and obviously you can't help but be affected by anything that is said about your company in the papers. What I can tell you is that this organization comes to work every day excited about what we are doing here and how we are growing our business and serving our clients."
Mayoras joined RedPrairie in March of 2004, and served as president of the Americas. He was responsible for over 50 percent of total company revenue, as well as leading product development efforts for the Americas. Prior to joining RedPrairie, he was President of DigTerra in Indianapolis from August 2001 until January 2004, as well as holding several other executive and senior management positions in sales and operations for various organizations.
Mayoras said he was influenced by Jazwiec's leadership style that created an environment of autonomy.
"John's style was really, 'I need this to happen, you have that background, come in here and make that happen.' His gift of autonomy to this company has allowed me to really form this business and set the direction that we are following today and will be following into the future," Mayoras said. "I like to empower the people around me, set clear direction on where we hope to go, and the things we'd like to achieve as a company, and surround myself with very talented and very capable executives and employees that are able to execute on those broad strategies."

Forbes magazine has named Milwaukee to its list of Top 10 Up-And Coming Tech Cities.
The magazine reports that, "globalization and poor training may have gutted America's manufacturing base, but stalwart metal-bender Milwaukee is not backing down. 'Some places believe that manufacturing is dead or dying. We don't,' says Jim Paetsch, director of corporate relocation, expansion and attraction at Milwaukee 7, an economic development organization. 'Manufacturing is certainly different today than it was even 10 years ago. Our strategy is to become the leading global center for the technology-intensive manufacturing enterprises of the future.' Rather than just crank out widgets, local companies are attacking bottlenecks in the manufacturing process itself. For example, Rockwell Automation makes snazzy sensors and controls that boost assembly-line productivity. Johnson Controls, inventor of the thermostat in 1883, has produced energy-efficient heating, air-conditioning and lighting systems running throughout 1 billion square feet of commercial real estate. Chief Executive Stephen Roell plans to expand Johnson's workforce 35 percent, to 190,000 employees, in the next three to four years."
The complete Forbes list of Top 10 Up-And-Coming Tech Cities:
1. Columbus, Ohio
2. Santa Fe, N.M.
3. Palm Beach County, Fla.
4. Houston
5. Milwaukee
6. Pittsburgh
7. Boise, Idaho
8. Iowa City, Iowa
9. Lake Charles, La.
10. Yuma, Ariz.

West Bend-based Gehl Company today announced that Thomas M. Rettler has resigned as vice president and chief financial officer to accept a position as senior vice president and CFO of Neenah-based Menasha Corp.
"The decision to accept the opportunity presented by Menasha Corporation and leave Gehl Company was a difficult one, as Gehl is a great company with a talented leadership team and a dedicated group of employees," Rettler said. "I have enjoyed my time at Gehl and I thank all of the employees for their support over the past three plus years."
Gehl president and chief operating officer, Malcolm F. Moore, will assume the additional duties of CFO until a successor is named.
"Tom Rettler has been an excellent CFO and has played an instrumental role in Gehl Company's growth since joining the company in 2004," said Gehl Company chairman and chief executive officer, William D. Gehl. "We are grateful for his leadership in building a strong finance team, and we wish him well in his new position."
Gehl Company said it will begin the search for a new CFO immediately.

Although the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) are supporting Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed hospital tax to leverage more federal money for state health care programs, the National Federation of Independent Business says it remains opposed to the tax.
"Health care costs in Wisconsin are spiraling upward for thousands of small business owners and their employees," said Bill G. Smith, Wisconsin state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. "Imposing a new tax on hospitals—that ultimately will be passed on to patients—will only make health care more expensive and less accessible for families all across Wisconsin."
Smith said small business owners are looking for solutions that make access to quality health care more affordable, and disputed the notion that the hospital tax will not be passed on to patients.
"Higher costs for hospitals means higher costs passed on to the insurance company—and higher costs for the insurance company means more expensive health care premiums for small business owners, their employees and their families," said Smith. "The fallacy that this tax will not ultimately be passed on to Main Street is just plain disingenuous, and those backing this scheme are trying to sweep that inconvenient truth under the rug. Taxing health care is never going to make it less expensive. Taxing health care will only make it more expensive, and inhibit the ability of employers and workers to access affordable coverage."
Doyle proposed the tax as a way to draw $700 million in federal money to Wisconsin over two years, according to the state's latest estimate. The money would be provided to hospitals that care for people in state health programs. Supporters of the proposal say the costs that hospitals currently absorb to treat people in state health programs are passed on to full paying health care consumers. They have created a web page, www.stoptheshift.org to explain how they say the proposed hospital tax would reduce that cost shift and benefit the state.

Menomonee Falls-based Kohl's Department Stores announced today that it is donating a $1 million to the Milwaukee Art Museum that will support a new youth art education initiative in the community.
It is the largest corporate gift to the museum for education and outreach and will be used to launch new art education programs and develop a new outreach campaign. The announcement falls during National Youth Art Month, an annual observance that emphasizes the value of children's art education and encourages support for quality school art programs.
"Kohl's is committed to giving back to each community we serve, but Milwaukee is especially significant because it's home to more than 6,500 Kohl's associates," said Julie Gardner, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Kohl's. "Through our philanthropic efforts, we work to enhance children's health and education and are thrilled to be creating a youth art education program with the nationally recognized Milwaukee Art Museum. The Museum is known for providing inspiration – the new Kohl's program will allow even more local children to have that experience."

Emory & Co., a Milwaukee investment banking firm, has closed three deals so far this year, and has another four under letter of intent.
"It's already a record quarter," said Victoria Fox, managing director. "It will be a record half if we close the rest (this half) and it will be a record year too."
Emory & Co. has six deals under letter of intent or in preliminary negotiations. The firm's closed deals and deals under letter of intent represent more than $150 million in transactions, Fox said.
Read more in the BizTimes Money Weekly report.

In today's Milwaukee Biz Blog, author Jack Cummens, who owns a cigar store, calls for the preservation of personal freedoms and the free market.

Nine insurance companies will have to pay costs assessed to the former Appleton Papers Inc. for the cleanup of the PCB contamination of the Lower Fox River, a Brown County jury decided Monday. The case is expected to be appealed. The insurance companies could be required to pay between $550 million to $730 million. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

U.S. Cellular helped Layton Boulevard West Neighbors senior citizens build a future at a recent check presentation at O.A.S.I.S. (Organization for Active Seniors in Society). U.S. Cellular presented a $15,000 grant to Layton Boulevard West Neighbors Inc. in support of its services that help provide resources for senior citizens to make repairs and do accessibility improvements so they can stay in their homes. View a photographic slideshow of the community event in the latest edition of SBT Around Town.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 270 points in early morning trading today as investors anticipated a massive interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Local stocks also had a strong showing in early morning trading today as local gainers far outnumbered local decliners. The BizTimes Stock Index fell 1.45 points Monday to 145.95 but showed big gains this morning. The largest local gainers this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $5.20 to $110.10), Joy Global Inc. (up $2.67 to $69.19) and Kohl's Corp. (up $2.16 to $42.13). The largest local decliners this morning were Weyco Group Inc. (down $1.75 to $29.35) and Koss Corp. (down $1.06 to $18.44). The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.