Waukesha State Bank to open New Berlin branch
Waukesha State Bank will host a grand opening for its New Berlin branch during the week of June 24.

The 5,800-square-foot building was a Harris Bank when it closed in October 2012 and Waukesha State Bank purchased it from BMO Financial Group in December 2012.

It will offer retail banking, mortgages, investments, wealth management and trust, and commercial and small business lending. There is also a community room that will be available to nonprofits and civic groups in the area for free.

The branch, located at National Avenue and Sunnyslope Road, will host community activities, special events and promotions for new customers during the grand opening week.

Prize drawings will be held for electronics, a grill and a restaurant package. There will also be games for children and a prize wheel where guests can win giveaway items.

An official ribbon cutting will be held on Thursday, June 27 at 4 p.m. Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas and New Berlin Mayor Dave Ament will be in attendance.

Monica Fransen will serve as manager at the bank’s 14th location. She will be responsible for hiring a staff, hosting community events, developing customer relationships and daily operations.

Fransen has about 15 years of banking experience in Waukesha County, most recently as branch manager at Associated Bank in Brookfield Square. She also has experience opening a new branch, which she did for M&I Bank in New Berlin in 2007.

“We are pleased to be joining the New Berlin community with our newest office next month, and to welcome Monica to oversee this new office. Monica is not only a native of New Berlin, but has worked extensively in the New Berlin community throughout her banking career,” said Waukesha State Bank President Ty Taylor. “Over the years, we’ve received steady feedback from residents of New Berlin that they would like to see us—a locally owned community bank—in their community. We are confident that our one-on-one, personalized approach to banking, and our comprehensive list of products and services, will be a great fit for this community.”

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Johnson Bank hosting group service day
Racine-based Johnson Financial Group is hosting a group service day for its employees today.

More than 800 employees of the Johnson Bank and Johnson Insurance Services parent will donate their time to about 70 Wisconsin and Arizona organizations.

About 100 Milwaukee employees are volunteering at Above and Beyond Children’s Museum, Boy Scouts of America, Easter Seals, Wisconsin Humane Society and the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.

“This is a special day for our associates. Giving back to our communities is important to us,” said Peter Engel, Milwaukee President. “Volunteering is part of our culture, it’s the right thing to do and it makes our communities better.”

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Foundations Bank completes capital raise
The boards of directors of Generations Bancorp Inc. and Pewaukee-based Foundations Bank announced that they have raised new capital of more than $5 million.

The capital raised at the holding company was injected into the bank this month.

"The additional capital increases the bank's capital ratios well above the regulatory requirement and positions the company to move forward as an organization," said John Hazod, interim president.

Generations Bancorp plans to keep the stock offering open until July 1, 2013, which will enable other shareholders and new investors to augment the capital already raised. The bank has begun a new marketing campaign in the second quarter to attract new customers.

"This capital is another step in moving Foundations Bank in a positive direction. The board, management and the entire bank staff have concentrated its efforts on improving the bank's loan portfolio over the past couple years. The bank has made tremendous progress in reducing the level of nonperforming assets. The new capital will provide the support to begin building the asset base again through prudent underwriting of new loans," Hazod said.

Foundations Bank, which has total assets of $126 million, primarily serves the Lake Country and Waukesha County markets.

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Lifeway to rehire all Golden Guernsey workers
Leaders at Lifeway Foods Inc. plan to rehire all of the workers who were laid off from Golden Guernsey Dairy LLC to staff the Waukesha facility when it reopens this summer.

The Morton Grove, Ill.-based company won a bid to purchase Golden Guernsey out of bankruptcy for $7.4 million last week and plans to manufacture a cultured dairy drink called kefir at the plant.

Golden Guernsey was suddenly shuttered in January, leaving 112 employees out of work.

"Hopefully we'll bring them all back and then some," said Lifeway chief executive officer Julie Smolyansky. "Some folks I know have left and moved on to other jobs, but we would definitely try to bring back as many as we could."

The kefir products Lifeway makes have been growing in popularity with the health food movement, so the company has been expanding rapidly.

It has two Illinois production facilities totaling 80,000 square feet and 100,000 square feet of storage and refrigeration nearby. The company also recently acquired top competitors Helios Nutrition and Fresh Made Dairy, adding a 30,000-square-foot Minnesota dairy plant and a 30,000-square-foot Philadelphia dairy facility, she said.

The 170,000-square-foot Waukesha facility would more than double the company's production capacity.

"We've been growing at a 30 percent rate and we are basically at capacity in our existing facility," Smolyansky said. "This was a really great win for us and we've already been a customer of Golden Guernsey for at least a decade, buying their milk."

Lifeway reported net sales of $81.4 million in 2012, up 16 percent from a year prior.

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Brady to sell Asia die-cut business, Q1 sales rise
Milwaukee-based Brady Corp. said that it plans to sell its Asia-based Die-Cut business.

"Our Die-Cut business has shown many signs of improvement and has recently secured several meaningful new orders," said president and chief executive officer, Frank M. Jaehnert. "However, we no longer consider this business core to our strategy and believe that our Die-Cut customers and our employees will be better served by being with a company where Die-Cut is a core product offering."

The company also reported that its third quarter sales were up 11 percent to $305.73 million.

Net income for the quarter fell from $27.65 million, or 53 cents per share, in 2012 to $4.23 million, or 42 cents per share. But this year's third quarter results included a $17.6 million loss from discontinued operations.

"In the face of a challenging economy, we continue to position Brady for long-term success by optimizing our portfolio of businesses, aligning our organization with growth opportunities and reducing our infrastructure costs," Jaehnert said. "(The company) will continue the process of portfolio realignment as we have already divested three businesses and acquired Precision Dynamics Corporation, a business serving the health care space. We are changing our organizational structure from geographically-based to an organization structured around global business platforms. We are also targeting expansion in faster-growing geographies such as Central Europe, the Middle East, Africa and selected markets in Asia; and focusing on industries such as food and beverage, chemical, oil, and gas and health care."

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Baird client assets top $100 billion
Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. has reached a new milestone with client assets exceeding $100 billion for the first time.

The milestone comes with Baird having posted record net revenues of $961 million in 2012, the international financial services firm's third consecutive year of record revenues.

"That our clients entrust us with more than $100 billion in assets says a lot about the strong relationships we've created with them," said Paul Purcell, Baird chairman, president and chief executive officer. "It tells us that our clients are confident we can help them protect and grow their assets and help them reach their financial goals."

Being employee-owned and privately held has enabled Baird to make substantial investments in its business in order to best serve clients' needs, the company said.

At the close of the first quarter of 2013, Baird recorded its 133rd consecutive quarter of operating profit.

"From our founding in Milwaukee more than 90 years ago, achieving $100 billion in client assets is compelling evidence of our ability to meet clients' needs," said Steve Booth, Baird chief operating officer and director of investment banking. "Our clients and Baird associates understand that continued success comes from building trusted relationships. This achievement is a clear indication of the trust clients have placed in Baird over time."

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Green Bay company acquires Milwaukee 2-Way Inc.
Green Bay-based Baycom Inc., a provider of wireless voice, video and data solutions, announced it has completed the acquisition of Milwaukee 2-Way Inc., a Motorola Solutions Radio Channel partner based in West Allis.

The acquisition of Milwaukee 2-Way will complement and expand Baycom and Motorola Solutions' strategy to provide public safety and commercial organizations in southeastern Wisconsin with best-in-class products and unmatched customer service and support.

The acquired business, which serves public safety and commercial customers in southeastern Wisconsin, will operate as Baycom Inc. and will continue to run as a full sales, service, rental and support operation.

"We see this acquisition as an opportunity to best serve our existing and new customers," said Steve Elias, president of Baycom. "This was a strategic decision that supports our company's mission and vision to be dedicated to total customer satisfaction and provide best-in-class products and services as a trusted partner. In our decision to acquire Milwaukee 2-Way, we saw an opportunity to, not only provide a local service location to our existing customers, but also provide new customers in the area with continued service and extended product lines of mission critical technologies for public safety and commercial organizations."

"We take mission critical communications very seriously," said Elias. "Our team has made it our highest priority to ensure that our public safety and commercial customers are covered with our best-in-class service and support during this transition and moving forward."

The acquisition and transition plans are effective immediately. Baycom plans to employ a majority of the current Milwaukee 2-Way staff and start Baycom employee training this week.

"We are excited about joining forces with such a growing and progressive company like Baycom," said David Brooks, a former Milwaukee 2-Way vice president who will be assuming a position at Baycom as vice president of business development. "With our two companies merging, we can best deliver the utmost service and support to our customers."

Baycom will maintain headquarters in Green Bay, with certified service centers in Marinette, Green Bay, Neenah and West Allis.

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SCORE to host financial statements workshop
SCORE Southeast Wisconsin Chapter and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority will host a workshop called “Understanding Basic Financial Statements” on Tuesday, May 28, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Port Washington Police Department Community Room, 365 N. Wisconsin St., Port Washington.

The workshop is aimed at small business owners or those planning to start a small business who do not have extensive financial experience. The session will cover a review of basic financial statements, pricing and the importance of costs and breakeven analysis.

Jeneen Perkins, a certified SCORE mentor and accountant, will host the workshop. Cost is $35 per person and $20 for each colleague from the same company. For more information or to register, visit www.scorewisconsin.org.

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