Clifton Gunderson, one of the nation's largest certified public accounting and consulting firms, today announced it has named Krista McMasters as chief executive officer, and the company plans to relocate its headquarters to Milwaukee from Peoria, Ill.
McMasters becomes the fourth CEO in Clifton Gunderson's nearly 50-year history. She also becomes the first and only female to serve as CEO among the nation's top 25 certified public accounting firms in the history of the profession.
Clifton Gunderson spokeswoman Jennifer Dirks told SBT this morning that because McMasters is based in the company's offices at 10001 Innovation Drive in the Milwaukee County Research Park, the firm plans to effectively move its headquarters to Milwaukee. The decision will not result in the move of any additional jobs to Milwaukee, she said.
"That's where the leadership team will be. We're really excited about this announcement," Dirks said.
McMasters succeeds Carl George, who is retiring after 16 years as CEO of the firm. McMasters will begin the transition into her new role, effective immediately, until she officially takes office on June 1, 2009.
"Since joining our firm, Krista has played an instrumental role in key business initiatives at Clifton Gunderson - from ensuring our firm provides the best quality service to our clients, to providing strategic oversight to the firm's human resource and business development areas to grow our firm," George said. "The appointment of Krista as CEO is an exciting and significant step forward for our firm and we are excited about the passion and commitment Krista brings to her new role as CEO."
McMasters becomes the fourth CEO in Clifton Gunderson's nearly 50-year history. She also becomes the first and only female to serve as CEO among the nation's top 25 certified public accounting firms in the history of the profession.
"Clifton Gunderson is the largest accounting firm to appoint a woman to its top leadership position," said Barry Melancon, president and CEO of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. "Krista's achievement is an important signal that old barriers are falling. Today, women make up more than half of new accounting graduates and account for 20 percent of firm partners nationwide. The CPA profession and accounting firms have long been leaders in flexible work schedules and balancing different life demands, regardless of gender."
McMasters has a 30 year history with the firm, having joined as an associate accountant in 1978. She was admitted as a partner in 1985, became director of assurance services in 1989 and most recently serves as chief practice officer.
George will continue to play a strategic role with Clifton Gunderson until his retirement in 2012.
"For nearly two decades, Carl George has led our firm as a caring, charismatic and forward-thinking CEO, and I am very fortunate to have been provided with many amazing opportunities and experiences. Carl's leadership and commitment to Clifton Gunderson are characteristics to be admired and ones I will carry over in my new role as CEO," McMasters said. "I look forward to continuing to promote the unique and progressive Clifton Gunderson culture and I am excited about what the future holds for our firm and for our clients."

Racine-based Modine Manufacturing Co. announced today it will move forward with its restructuring plan that will include the closures of its plants in Camdenton, Mo.; Pemberville, Ohio; and Logansport, Ind.
Modine also intends to close its facility in Tubingen, Germany.
The closures will take place over the next 18 to 24 months, with production to be consolidated primarily to Modine's other North American facilities.
"The decision to close these plants was extremely difficult and was made only after a thorough evaluation of our global manufacturing capabilities, our business portfolio and our competitive position in the markets we serve," said Thomas Burke, Modine's new president and chief executive officer. "We believe the restructuring will allow us to achieve the scale we need in our manufacturing operations and create a more improved cost structure than exists today. As a result of our global restructuring plan, we expect to achieve $20 million to $25 million in annualized savings. At the same time, we remain focused on treating the affected employees with respect and fairness, ensuring a seamless flow of leading-edge thermal solutions to our customers and maintaining our commitment to provide value for our shareholders."
Modine announced the restructuring plan in early February as part of its third quarter fiscal 2008 operating results.

RedPrairie Corp. of the Town of Brookfield today announced a partnership with Telogis, a provider of location based services and software.
RedPrairie will integrate the Telogis GeoBase software into its transportation and fleet applications. The embedded solution will provide RedPrairie customers on a global basis with more robust map rendering capabilities for more efficient routing and transportation management. The capabilities will streamline driving routes and decrease time and gas-wasting practices such as left-hand turns and traffic-clogged routes.
Telogis is based in Irvine, Calif.
"The Telogis partnership is another step in our strategy to help our customers create more efficient routing and mapping strategies, helping them be more efficient and reduce the environmental impact of their supply chain. Together, we will help companies reduce distance traveled in their fleet, resulting in time and fuel savings and reduced CO2 emissions," said Mike Mayoras, chief executive officer for RedPrairie.
"Telogis is a leader in its field and is recognized as one of the fastest growing software companies in America. We are proud to offer our customers this powerful software that is so complementary to our transportation and fleet offerings. Our customers will benefit with improved productivity through more efficient management of their remote and mobile workers, assets and their goods and services," said Gary Morgan, vice president of technology services for RedPrairie.
"We are excited to announce the relationship with RedPrairie," said Newth Morris, president of Telogis' GeoBase Group. "RedPrairie's sophisticated solutions will make a great showcase for the power and flexibility of the GeoBase platform."

The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee will conduct a public hearing on Thursday, April 17, on the proposed sale of city land in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Park to Charter Wire.
As SBT first reported exclusively in January, Charter Wire, a division of Charter Manufacturing Co. in Mequon, plans to purchase 7.8 acres of land east of Miller Park. Charter plans to build $20 million, 160,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that will retain 115 full-time jobs in Milwaukee and position the company to expand its operations in the future. The company will move from its current plant in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.
The project will be financed by JPMorgan Chase through the New Markets Tax Credit program. The New Markets Tax Credit is a federal tax incentive program designed to encourage private investment in low-income communities. The federal program, through a variety of lenders, has helped several other Menomonee Valley business expansions, including Badger Railing.
"Without the help of JPMorgan Chase and the New Markets Tax Credit, this project would not be possible," said John Mellowes, vice president and general manager of Charter Wire. "Competing in a global economy requires a manufacturing company to be very competitive on cost and quality. A modern manufacturing facility will help us reach our goals."
"Were using available land strategically to grow businesses and are proud to work with one of Milwaukee's longtime employers to position the company for future success in the global economy," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said. "It's just as crucial for Milwaukee to grow current businesses as it seeks to attract new industries."
The city has about 25 acres of land available for development in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Park. Companies interested in obtaining additional information about the site can visit www.RenewtheValley.org.

Good to Go, which bills itself as the nation's "first ecologically friendly convenience store, car wash and alternate fuel station," will open its first location in Grand Chute on May 1.
The store will be built to specifications of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, which is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders.
The company plans to bring Good to Go to at least 150 more neighborhoods in Wisconsin, Iowa and northern Illinois by 2010.
"When it comes to our customers, we haven't set out to change the direction the wind blows. Rather, we have adjusted our sails," said Angie Nikolas, vice president of neighborhood relations for Good to Go. "We're very proud to bring 24-hour convenience that minimizes the impact we make on our environment."
The car wash will use a water cleaning and reclamation system that will save more than 2 million gallons of fresh water each year. In addition to saving fresh water, the car wash uses bio-friendly detergents, efficient LED lighting and natural sunlight to cut down on electricity use.
The Good to Go ECOnvenience Center features a green roof with plants and sod that minimize absorption of sunlight that could heat the building and force overuse of its HVAC system; energy savings during the summer cooling season can be as much as 25 percent. The soil also acts like a sponge to absorb rain and reduce storm water runoff by as much as 95 percent after a one-inch downpour.

Construction starts for office buildings in the Madison area have hit their highest level since 2000, according to a report by the Grubb & Ellis/Oakbrook real estate firm. More than 760,000 square feet of office space is being built now in the Madison area. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at http://www.biztimes.com/#news.

The Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin (CARW) hosted the 2008 Commercial Real Estate Roundtable Forum at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee this week. To view a photographic slideshow of the event, visit the latest edition of SBT Around Town.

David Wittwer, the chief executive officer of TDS Telecom, which is the parent company of TDS Metrocom, has resigned from the board of directors of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC). The WMC drew national attention over its tactics in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Read more in today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index gained 1.06 points to close at 156.72 Wednesday, and local stocks struggled to hold on to those gains in early morning trading today. The largest local advancers this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $3.99 to $110.26) and Joy Global Inc. (up $2.04 to $68.57). The largest local decliners this morning were Johnson Outdoors Inc. (down $1.03 to $16.00) and Kohl's Corp. (down 77 cents to $44.67). 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.