Come and Celebrate Our Success on October 6 and honor BizStarts Legacy Entrepreneur Ted Kellner
Please join BizStarts Milwaukee at our 2nd Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday, October 6th at the University Club from 4:30 to 6:30.
We will be awarding the first BizStarts Legacy Entrepreneur Award to Ted Kellner. The Legacy Entrepreneur award honors individuals whose vision and hard work have resulted in the creation of new companies and new jobs which have contributed to the Milwaukee region’s prosperity.
Kellner is the Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Fiduciary Management, Inc. The firm currently manages more than $8 billion in assets. Kellner also founded and serves as a director and treasurer of Fiduciary Real Estate Development, Inc., which owns more than 5,000 multi-family units in the state of Wisconsin. Kellner serves on several for profit boards and has served on the board of numerous nonprofit Milwaukee-area organizations, including the Children's Hospital System, the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Lakeview Equity Partners LLC, Mason Wells, Inc., the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., and the United Way of Greater Milwaukee. Kellner is a graduate of UW-Madison, and he and his wife, Mary, also a UW-Madison grad, have been generous contributors to UW-Madison.
In the Spotlight
WISN Radio talk show host Diane Chamness, who hosts a weekly business talk show News Talk 1130 on Saturdays, interviewed Gary Miller, president of Hands-On Garage, for a segment on veteran-owned businesses. Hands-on Garage focuses on assisting the do-it-yourself auto maintainer with everything needed to perform light and medium duty repairs, potentially saving a customer hundreds of dollars and allowing the customer to conveniently recycle automotive hazardous waste.
Miller recently announced that Hands-On captured 200-plus gallons of used motor oil and hundreds of used auto parts during its four-month ramp-up. The business is positioned to capture thousands of gallons of used oil before the oil becomes a costly clean-up issue for water treatment facilities, Miller said.
Venture Track Director Chelsea Krause will be participating in a panel discussion, Renewing Innovation and Creativity, on Oct. 19 from 7:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m. at Manpower 100 Manpower Place, Milwaukee, WI 53212. The panel is part of Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year program. This year, Krause is also serving on the Steering Committee of the annual Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, to be held Nov. 10-11 at Monona Terrace in Madison, WI. Register for both events on www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com under Events & Classes
Meet BizStarts Venture Track Advisor Christopher McConville
Christopher McConville joined BizStarts Venture Track program as an advisor last February with an interest in giving back to the community.
McConville, 49, is president and chief executive officer of Lorence Manufacturing Co., which manufactures hydraulic rotary manifolds for the OEM market. Since the lawyer-turned-businessman acquired the manufacturer in 2003, the company has grown by 200%, McConville said.
“As mentors we have a wonderful opportunity to share our experience and background with those who might not have the bandwidth...it’s my small way of trying to grow the community in hopes of growing jobs and feeding entrepreneurs. The big picture, is to keep jobs in the Milwaukee area,” he said.Venture Track director Chelsea Krause paired McConville with SpeechTails, an online speech therapy start-up, and McConville began helping the new venture refine its business plan.SpeechTails co-founder Todd Reno said his then-business plan was “pretty bare bones.”
McConville helped Reno to identify areas of weakness in the plan and fine-tune the model to better address the market need for SpeechTails services.
“His input helped us gain a better understanding of the size of the market, and that led me to apply for, and receive, a state grant for some additional market research, which we are in the process of getting started on,” Reno said.McConville said that a common stumbling block for many entrepreneurs is being unaware of
potential risks. Due diligence is key for helping new businesses avoid costly mistakes.
“An entrepreneur must make sure all the rocks are unturned and there are few surprises. They must be well- prepared to answer all questions,” McConville said. “Risk management and due diligence are required...entrepreneurs’ skill sets may not be well suited for that, which is why they can come to BizStarts.”To read more about SpeechTails, see the August issue of the BizStarts Catalyst.
BizStarts Buzz
 BizStarts Milwaukee was featured on the cover of BizTimes Milwaukee last week.
This very comprehensive story included quotes from Ray Leach, CEO of Cleveland’s JumpStart, Inc., which BizStarts considers its operations model. In the story, Leach gave BizStarts his stamp of approval.
“BizStarts has been able to generate a lot of outcomes with a lot less resources (than JumpStart). They’ve made a heck of a lot of progress. They’ve got the right vision and the right approach. It’s a model that’s going to work,” he told reporter Eric Decker.
The article also highlighted several companies that have received outside financing since we began tracking these events, including Helios USA LLC, Hands-On Garage, Harden LLC, Innovative Sports Strategies and Spaulding Clinical Research. To read the entire story, visit bizstartsmilwaukee.com In related news, BizStarts co-founder Dan Steininger now has his own column in BizTimes Milwaukee, “Innovate or Die.” In his debut, Dan described the long-term goal of the column is to “incorporate the tools of creativity into the culture of your company. This will help avoid having to react in a crisis mode to changing market conditions. This increases the chances that your company will stay ahead of the curve.” Congrats Dan! Read his debut article.
Mark Your Calendars!
Bring your ideas to Startup Accelerator 3 this Saturday, September 25, 10 a.m.-- 4 p.m. at WCTC, 800 Main Street, Pewaukee, WI 53072 See Startup Accelerator. The next Venture Track Advisors Meeting is September 27, 4:00 - 5:30 at the Technology Innovation Center, 10437 Innovation Drive, 1st floor conference room. This is open to all Venture Track Advisors. The next Ugly Baby Panel will be held October 12, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m., Technology Innovation Center, 10437 Innovation Drive, 1st floor conference room. This is open to Venture Track Advisors and 2 selected entrepreneurs. BizStarts Inspirational Entrepreneur event will be held on October 26 at WE Energies Auditorium at 7:30am. Featured speakers include Bill Nasgovitz, founder and president of Heartland Funds, and Jim Lindenberg, founder of World Class Wire and Cable and owner of the Milwaukee Wave.
Meet new staff member Giuseppe Pappalardo
 
Giuseppe is the new outreach coordinator for BizStarts Milwaukee. He is working closely with the Venture Track team to improve communications with sponsors and help maximize the BizStarts website. He will also be outreaching to service providers throughout the region. Giuseppe is a graduate of Marquette University with a double major in Political Science and Philosophy. He recently completed a congressional internship with the Les Aspin Center for Government in Washington D.C. and has extensive leadership experience in student government at Marquette. contact him at (414) 301-1645 or email at gwp@bizstartsmilwaukee.com
BizStarts Milwaukee in the news! Read all about us in the following stories:
http://www.biztimes.com/news/2010/9/17/new-companies-create-new-jobs
http://www.biztimes.com/news/2010/8/6/10-people-who-are-changing-milwaukee
http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-100707-bizstarts,0,7484694.story
For up-to-date information on BizStarts Milwaukee, be sure to visit the website:
http://www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com
Follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/MyBizStartsNow
Join the BizStarts Milwaukee LinkedIn group!
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1766387
Classes and events relating to business can be found on the BizStarts calendar at:
http://www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com/Calendar.htm
Pass The Catalyst newsletter on to your friend and associates! They can subscribe to our free newsletter on BizStarts Milwaukee’s Home Page under BizStarts Catalyst.
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