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WHO'S INVOLVED
Wisconsin’s Partnership for a Stronger
Economy is a diverse group of job creators and representatives from
worker training hubs, economic development groups, educational
institutions and labor organizations. Rather than having a static,
pre-determined membership, participants will be encouraged to recommend
other individuals who can bring new ideas to the table.
Steve Baas
Jerry
Murphy
Rep. Peter Barca Phil Neuenfeldt
Dr. Bettsey Barhorst
Phillip Prange
Robert J. Bartlett
Bryan Renk
Zach Brandon
Vincent Ruffolo
James Buchen
Tom
Schmidt
Kevin Crawford
Doug
Scott
Jerry Franke
Paul Senty
Nickolas George, Jr.
Dr. Laura Strong
Gerald (Buddy) Julius
Barbara Swan
Steve Kennedy
Scott VanderSanden
Kim Kindschi
Russ Wanke
Carol Maria
Jack Waterman
Rep. Louis Molepske Jr.
James
C. Wenzler
Rep. Mary Williams
Steve Baas -
Director of Government Affairs, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of
Commerce
[Top]
Rep. Peter Barca -
Chair,
Wisconsin’s Partnership for a Stronger Economy
Representative Peter Barca returned to the state legislature in 2009,
representing the Kenosha district he had previously held from 1985 to
1993. In 1993, he won a special election to serve as a member of
Congress for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. Following that,
Representative Barca was appointed Midwest Regional Administrator of the
U.S. Small Business Administration, and served there for 5 and a half
years. In addition, he led the National Regulatory Fairness Program, an
initiative which included more than 50 company presidents throughout the
country. This program was aimed at making regulatory enforcement more
“small business-friendly.” For the past six years, Representative Barca
has served as vice president, and then president, of Aurora Associates
International, an global project management company.
As a legislator, Representative Barca has passed a series of important
bills related to economic development. He authored the bills creating One-Stop Job Centers
and the WisJobs Initiative, which provided
businesses financial subsidies for hiring new employees to
family-supporting jobs. In addition, he helped create an international trade support initiate to
provide businesses with financial help to enter new international
markets, and in this session, an Entrepreneurial Support Bill to create
linkages between businesses and colleges to hire interns. He has also
co-authored legislation creating business incubators and allowing
utilities to diversify, which led to the creation of the Lakeview
Industrial Park, and creating a Composites Center.
Representative Barca has a Joint Master’s Degree from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison in Public Policy and Administration. He has been very
involved in a wide range of business and civic boards as well as
commissions, both nationally and in the greater Kenosha area, including the Foundation Board for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside,
the International Society for Cardiovascular Translational Research, the
Junior Achievement Center, KenRail and the United Way. Representative Barca
also chaired a feasibility committee that led to the creation of the
Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha. He currently serves as the Majority
Caucus Chairman, Co-Chair of the Joint Audit Committee and is a member
of the Jobs, Economy and Small Business Committee.
[Top]
Dr. Bettsey Barhorst
- President, Madison Area Technical College
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Robert J. Bartlett
- Director of Public Affairs, Alliant Energy
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Zach Brandon
- Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce
[Top]
James Buchen
-
Vice President,
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
James Buchen is an attorney and serves as chief lobbyist for the
Association. In this position, he oversees the Association’s government
affairs programs, directing a team of lawyers, lobbyists and policy
experts. Together they work with legislators and agency officials to
advance the Association’s pro-business, pro-jobs policy agenda. He also
manages the Association’s political action and communications programs. Buchen
graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a degree in history and law.
Prior to coming to WMC, Buchen worked for the Wisconsin Realtors
Association and the Real Estate Securities and Syndication Institute in
Chicago. He currently serves as a management representative to the state
Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council and the Worker’s Compensation
Advisory Council, as treasurer for the Wisconsin Coalition for Civil
Justice and as a member of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Health Care
Quality and the Wisconsin Quality Initiative Steering Committee.
[Top]
Kevin Crawford
- Vice President of Business Development and Government Affairs,
Orion Energy Systems
[Top]
Jerry Franke -
President,
WISPARK, LLC
Since August 2000,
Jerold Franke has been president of WISPARK LLC, the real estate
development subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation. Franke
began his career with WISPARK in 1988 as the director of business
development. He was named vice president in 1989 and became senior
vice president in 1998.
WISPARK is a leader
in the development of innovative business settings and redevelopment
projects, primarily throughout southeastern Wisconsin. WISPARK has
developed over 4,000 acres of business parks and more than 11
million square feet of industrial, office and mixed-use buildings.
Before joining
WISPARK LLC., Franke was vice president for economic development of
Forward Wisconsin, Inc., the state's economic development marketing
organization from 1987 to 1988. Previously, he was director of
community development for the city of Janesville from 1980 to 1987
and also served as acting city manager for seven months. Prior to
that he served in city planning positions in both Des Moines and
Waterloo, Iowa.
Franke graduated in
1973 from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville with degrees in
urban geography and economics. He presently is a member of the board
of directors for WISPARK, LLC; Johnson Bank; Kenosha Area Business
Alliance (past chairman); Forward Wisconsin; CenterPoint WISPARK
Land Company and the National Association of Industrial and Office
Properties (NAIOP).
Franke also serves
on the national board of directors and executive committee of NAIOP
and currently chairs its Urban Redevelopment Forum. He is the past
president of NAIOP’s Wisconsin Chapter and previously chaired the
organization’s Business Park Development Forum
Franke also is a
member of the Urban Land Institute and the Wisconsin Economic
Development Association. He is past president of the board of
directors of the United Way of Kenosha County and was campaign chair
in 1992. He is the past chairman of the board of directors of
Downtown Racine Corp., past president of the Wisconsin Economic
Development Association and past chairman of the Racine County
Economic Development Corp.
[Top]
Nickolas George, Jr.
- President, Midwest Food Processors Association
[Top]
Gerald (Buddy) Julius
- Director of Government Affairs, AT&T
[Top]
Steve Kennedy
- Owner, Rock Roads, Inc.
[Top]
Kim Kindschi -
Executive Director,
University of Wisconsin
Extension's Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development
As executive director of the University
of Wisconsin Extension’s Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic
Development, Kim is responsible for fostering effective, broad-based
relationships throughout the state between the UW Extension/UW
System and governmental entities, educational institutions,
non-profit organizations and the business community. He is directly
involved in planning, coordinating and implementing a wide variety
of strategic initiatives that strengthen and enhance the economic
climate in the state. In addition, Kim is actively involved in
articulating and promoting programs that utilize the vast resources
of the University of Wisconsin System to support statewide economic
growth and development.
Prior to his
current position, Kim was the executive vice president of Wisconsin
Business Development Finance Corporation and and executive vice
president of the Wisconsin Bankers Association. He currently
serves on the Board of Directors for Economics Wisconsin and
Community Health Charities of Wisconsin; the Advisory Boards of the
Partnership for Wisconsin's Economic Success and Wisconsin Business
Development Finance Corporation; as well as the Wisconsin
International Trade Council, Wisconsin Technology Council and the
Governor's Council on Workforce Investment.
[Top]
Carol Maria -
Counsel,
Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corporation
Carol Maria is a small business advocate. Maria focuses her efforts on
creation of capital that supports the ability of Wisconsin’s businesses
to create jobs. Her most passionate work is focused in Wisconsin’s areas
of greatest economic need because of demographic or geographic barriers.
Her stewardship seeks to find solutions that
provide smart subsidy or can offer new tools to finance business growth
or stabilization.
Maria started her own business at the age of 16, grew a statewide
microloan fund and provided leadership for 80 members of a community
development finance trade association before joining WBD Finance
Corporation. Carol is now leading WBD’s economic development expansion
plans and is responsible for its reach into targeted low-income
communities as it deploys US Department of Treasury New Markets Tax
Credits.
She is a graduate of Creighton University and Creighton Law School JD
’90. She formerly worked for Mutual of Omaha’s law division before
returning home to Wisconsin. Leaving private practice after working for
Brennan Steil Basting MacDougall, she found her passion in the field of
community development finance. Her expertise has helped certify multiple
CDFI’s, and she assisted in applications attracting more than $200
million in CDFI awards to this state. She counsels CDFI’s on their use
of grants or tax allocations and assists those seeking equity
equivalent investments to further leverage their investment. Knowing
that her work yields a private benefit to investors and workers, she
most enjoys the public pride of small business people as they access
community assets she helped facilitate.
[Top]
Rep. Louis Molepske, Jr.
-
Chair,
Assembly Committee on Jobs, the Economy and Small Business
In his 7th year as representative of the 71st Assembly District, Louis
J. Molepske, Jr. assumed Chairmanship of the Assembly Committee on Jobs,
the Economy and Small Business in January 2009.
A Stevens Point native, Rep. Molepske graduated from Stevens Point Area
Senior High School, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political
science with an emphasis in journalism from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and subsequently obtained his Juris Doctorate from
Marquette University in 2001. Prior to his election, Rep. Molepske
served as a special prosecutor in Portage County’s District Attorney’s
Office and was an Assistant City Attorney and Mayoral Assistant for the
City of Stevens Point.
Current committee assignments include the Committee on Jobs, Economy
and Small Business (Chair), Committee on Agriculture, Committee on
Natural Resources, Committee on Fish and Wildlife and Committee on
Insurance.
The 71st Assembly District in central Wisconsin includes parts of
Portage and Waushara counties.
[Top]
Jerry Murphy -
Executive Director,
New North, Inc.
Jerry Murphy is the Executive Director of New North, Inc., an economic
development organization charged with coordination and implementation of
an 18-county regional development strategy. This includes
workforce initiatives, business development and attraction initiatives
as well as a
unique branding and marketing initiative for northeast Wisconsin. Murphy
comes to New North, Inc. from his role as Executive Vice President at
Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, a publicly/privately-funded economic development
organization charged with marketing and managing business development
projects in western New York.
Previously, Murphy worked for Michigan State University and the Gogebic
County (Michigan) Economic Development Commission as an Economic
Development Resource Specialist and Executive Director. For 14 years, he
combined management of regional revolving loan funds, regional
marketing, technical support to resident industry, financial
packaging/planning, and university extension and community college
faculty responsibilities in teaching and community planning around
development initiatives. Murphy began his 23-year career in economic
development in Milwaukee following completion of an
MBA from UW-Parkside.
[Top]
Phil Neuenfeldt -
Secretary-Treasurer and Legislative
Director,
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
Phil Neuenfeldt has participated in labor, community and political
action throughout his life.
Neuenfeldt worked in manufacturing for 14 years and was an active
member of the Machinists Union. For most of those years, he held various
posts in his local union, which included President of the steward body
and Chair of the bargaining committee. After that time, he held various
positions with the state AFL-CIO, which included Director of the HIRE
Milwaukee Center and the Wisconsin Regional
Training Partnership. He is currently the Executive Co-Chair of the
Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership. He worked with various unions
to develop strategies and programs to upgrade workplace skills and
address changes in technology and the economy. Some of these programs
became national models. He worked with the Human Resource and
Development Institute of the national AFL-CIO to provide assistance to
unions in the U.S. and Canada.
His community activities includes developing and directing a large nonprofit
housing organization in Milwaukee. He is a veteran and father of
three children.
[Top]
Phillip Prange -
President and CEO, Wisconsin Business
Council
Phillip Prange comes to the Wisconsin Business Council with a quarter
century of distinguished service in both the public and private
sectors.
Since 1998, Prange has been president of Gateway Ventures, Inc. a
business development and public affairs consulting firm whose clients
have included Fortune 100 companies and national trade associations. He
established Wisconsin's premier political news service, WisPolitics
Publishing, Inc., the most widely circulated political news publication
in Wisconsin and has served as its publisher for the past 10 years.
Prange’s service in the public sector included serving as a legislative
assistant to former Secretary of the Department of Administration, James
R. Klauser, and was appointed by Gov. Thompson as a federal liaison for the
Governor’s Office.
Prange also has extensive experience in campaign management and
fundraising, including decades of campaign finance, management,
grassroots and coalition activities for presidential, senate,
congressional, state and local campaigns. He served as finance director
for Gov. Thompson’s campaign organizations from 1992 to 2000.
He serves on the boards of the charitable Hamilton Roddis Foundation of
Marshfield, Camp 5 Museum Foundation and Development Committee
for Gilda’s Club Madison. He is also an active volunteer for the
American Cancer Society of Wisconsin.
Prange’s broad experience, knowledge and
extensive relationships with leaders at all levels of state and federal
government and within the Wisconsin business community is a perfect fit
for the Wisconsin Business Council.
Prange and his wife, Alison, have one daughter and live in Madison.
[Top]
Bryan Renk -
Executive Director, BioForward
Bryan joined BioForward, the biotechnology association for the state of
Wisconsin, as Executive Director in October. Prior to joining
the organization, he was president and director at aOvaTechnologies. aOva
branded products are naturally-produced feed additives that when added
to the animal's diet, result in enhanced gut health and nutritional
performance.
Over the previous 20 years, Bryan held a variety of
positions in progressively responsible management roles. He was Director
of Licensing for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and
also held positions at WARF as Director of Patents and Licensing and
Licensing Manager. Prior to WARF, he was a director and did product
development for Wm. F. Renk and Sons. He currently sits on the Board of
Directors for Maple Leaf Farms, the largest vertically-integrated duck
producer in the United States; the UW-Madison College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences Alumni Association; and FluGen, an emerging leader
in the development, production and delivery of influenza vaccines and
related infectious disease products.
Mr. Renk holds MS and BS degrees in
Meat and Animal Science and Muscle Biology from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
[Top]
Vincent Ruffolo
- President and CEO, Superior
Industrial Coating
[Top]
Tom Schmidt
- Executive Chairman of the Board,
U.S. Oil
[Top]
Doug Scott -
President, Wisconsin Builders Association
Doug Scott is a homebuilder in the
Janesville area who, in addition to being President of the Wisconsin
Builders Association, is President of Advantage Homes, Inc.; CEO of
Amwood Homes, Inc.; and CEO of Windsor Building Systems, LLC. Presently,
he serves as the President of the Wisconsin Builders Association, a
trade association with more than 6,500 builder and associate members in
Wisconsin.
Advantage Homes has been building from five
to 20 new homes each year in the Janesville area for more than 20 years.
Amwood has been the family business for 50 years and since 1973, has
been building components, including floor systems, wall panels and roof
trusses for builders in the Midwest. At the present time, Amwood
has operating plants in Madison, Wisc. and Toledo, Iowa and does
business with builders in five other states.
Scott has an undergraduate Business degree
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MBA from the University
of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
[Top]
Paul Senty
- Executive Vice President and Counsel,
The Park Bank
[Top]
Dr. Laura Strong -
President and COO,
Quintessence Biosciences
Dr. Strong is the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Quintessence
Biosciences, a clinical stage cancer drug development company.
Quintessence’s first product candidate, QBI‐ 139, is currently in a
Phase 1 clinical trial at the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
Dr. Strong serves as President of the Board of Directors for the
biotechnology association for Wisconsin, BioForward. In addition, she
serves as co-chair of the review committee for the Madison Entrepreneur
Resource, Learning and Innovation Network. As a National Institutes of
Health fellow,
Dr. Strong earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the UW–Madison. She is
co-author of 12 publications and co-inventor on three issued patents.
[Top]
Barbara Swan
- President, Alliant Energy
[Top]
Scott VanderSanden -
President,
AT&T Wisconsin
A 20-year veteran of AT&T, VanderSanden was appointed president in November 2006. As
president, he worked closely with the
Wisconsin Legislature on Act 42 (Video Competition), which accelerated
AT&T’s entry into the Wisconsin video market. Under his leadership, AT&T
has expanded its video and wireless networks within Wisconsin. He is a
member of Board of Directors for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association
of Commerce and Competitive Wisconsin.
VanderSanden started his AT&T career after an 18-month stint with United
Equitable, a Chicago-based insurance company. A suburb of Chicago
native, he began his career at AT&T, then known as Ameritech, in the
finance and central regulatory departments. His duties included lobbying
the Federal Communications Commission on several major issues, including
implementation of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
After accepting the position of Wholesale Director – Regulatory Affairs
for Wisconsin in 1997, VanderSanden worked with the PSC on issues
related to the development of a competitive local marketplace. He has
also worked very closely with the competing carriers operating in
Wisconsin.
In 2001, VanderSanden accepted the position of Vice President –
Regulatory Affairs for Wisconsin. In that capacity, he led the team
responsible for PSC contacts on all issues affecting the company; for
issue resolution at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection (DATCP); and for providing expert advice on telecom issues at
the state legislature.
VanderSanden holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an undergraduate degree in
Finance from the University Wisconsin–Eau Claire. A married father of
three, he relaxes by cooking
and spending time with his family. He enjoys competing and has been
active in many sports, including baseball, volleyball, golf, hockey and
bicycle racing, focusing these days on golf and hockey.
[Top]
Russ Wanke -
Vice President and General Manager,
Thilmany, LLC
Russ Wanke is Vice President and General Manager of Thilmany, LLC,
where he is responsible for Thilmany’s $400 million specialty paper
business at the company’s Kaukauna and DePere paper mills, as well as a
paper machine in Jay, Maine. Mr. Wanke joined Thilmany following 23 years
of experience with NewPage Corporation and its predecessors, including Stora Enso North American and Consolidated Papers.
Most recently, Mr. Wanke was Vice President
of Publication Paper Operations at NewPage with
responsibility for six North American mills with several million tons of
pulp and paper capacity. Previously, he led Stora Enso North America’s
graphic papers division. Wanke started his career in the paper industry
at Willamette Industries in 1983. Mr. Wanke currently serves on the
Executive Board and is a past chairperson for the Wisconsin Paper
Council. He has a Paper Science and Engineering degree from the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
[Top]
Jack Waterman -
Wisconsin Dells Businessman
[Top]
James C. Wenzler
- Manager, Patrick Cudahy Incorporated
[Top]
Rep. Mary Williams
- State Representative
[Top]
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