WCBA

Meet our newest Leadership Waukesha County class! This is the 29th class.

The Waukesha County Business Alliance has announced five new additions to its board of directors: Neal Glaeser, president of Denali Ingredients; Dr. Cindy Gnadinger, president of Carroll University; Wendy Harris, general manager of customer education and training for GE Healthcare; Kim Hastings, president of CJ & Associates, Inc.; and Charles (Chuck) Palmer, managing partner of Michael Best’s Waukesha office. The Alliance’s 2017-2018 board chair is Tom Fotsch, chief operating officer for EmbedTek LLC.

Robyn Ludtke, talent and education manager for the Waukesha County Business Alliance and the Waukesha County Center for Growth, recently participated in the first of three classes facilitated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Talent Pipeline Management Academy in Washington D.C. The Academy cohort included participants from chambers of commerce and economic development organizations from around the country.

The Alliance sent a letter to all Waukesha County legislators stating our support for the proposed legislation which authorizes an incentive package for Foxconn Technology Group’s investment in Wisconsin.

The waiting was worth it—Foxconn has announced it will have a fully-functional manufacturing plant in Wisconsin as soon as 2020. So what does that mean for Waukesha County and the rest of the region?

Entrepreneur Patrick McDonough from Mukwonago had tried his hand at developing a business plan and approaching a bank to raise capital for his proposed septic pumping business. When he encountered problems dealing with the bank, and his accountant of 7 years was unable to help him develop the necessary financial projections for an SBA loan, he decided to seek the help of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Waukesha. The Waukesha SBDC was established in partnership with the new Waukesha County Center for Growth to jointly serve as the central point of contact for businesses looking to grow in Waukesha County.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently published a discouraging article titled “If Foxconn builds a manufacturing plant in Wisconsin, it won’t be what many expect.” From the standpoint of someone working in that manufacturing plant, we would do well to remember that that’s not a bad thing.

The Alliance joined Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) and the Department of Workforce Development/Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards (DWD) on Monday, June 19 to celebrate the launch of a new Mechatronics Registered Apprenticeship program.

The below letter was sent to members of the Wisconsin state legislature regarding enumeration of the I-94 east-west project. The letter was co-signed by Suzanne Kelley, president & CEO of the Waukesha County Business Alliance and Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow.