BizTimes MKE: Milwaukee Business Insights

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss business news of the week in southeastern Wisconsin, including new details on the Iron Horse Hotel, the delayed shutdown of coal-fired power plants in Oak Creek and a pessimistic outlook on the economy from Wisconsin bank CEOs.  Stories in this episode: Here’s a look inside the budget for the Iron Horse Hotel Milwaukee Bo...

This week’s episode features a recent program from our partners at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee with David Haynes, a Rotarian and editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Ideas Lab, interviewing Joel Brennan, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. Brennan discusses his vision for how GMC fits in the larger community of civic groups that includes MMAC, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, United...

On the latest episode of Leadership Lens, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce president Tim Sheehy joins BizTimes Media managing editor Arthur Thomas and Marquette University Michael Lovell to how sports and entertainment districts help a city grow, how remote work is changing economic development, short and long-term ideas for addressing crime and safety, making tough decisions and bui...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media discuss the news of the week, including an announcement that the men’s and women’s basketball teams from the University of Wisconsin will play games at American Family Field next year. The Badger men will play against Stanford and the women will play Kansas State in the Aurora Health Care Brew City Battle on Nov. 11.  Insider Spotlight Stories R...

Maredithe Meyer and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the week's news, including an announcement from Kohl's Corp. that it will enter a three-week exclusive negotiating period with Franchise Group Inc., the parent company of The Vitamin Shoppe, Pet Supplies Plus and other brands.  Insider Story Spotlight: Briggs & Stratton names new CFO Helen Johnson-Leipold t...

Entrepreneur Jerry Jendusa shared insights from his career building business during a recent presentation to the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, a podcast partner of BizTimes Media.  During his remarks, Jendusa discussed why some businesses succeed and why some fail. He also addressed some key approaches to being successful, including the need for hope, a willingness to be vulnerable, having a purpose o...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas of BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including Don Smiley's plans to retire from Milwaukee World Festival, the organization that operates Summerfest. Andrew and Arthur discuss how the annual music festival has evolved under Smiley's leadership and how he has taken it in a different direction from his predecessor.  Insider Story...

Andrew Weiland, Maredithe Meyer and Arthur Thomas of BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including the announcement that FPC Live will build a $50 million indoor concert venue on the former site of the Bradley Center after dropping plans for a similar project near the Summerfest grounds. The group discusses the details of the plan and how they will complicate or compete wi...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas of BizTimes Media get together to discuss the week's news, including five key things to watch as the newly announced mixed-use sports and entertainment district planned just to the northeast of the Marquette Interchange. The project includes an 8,000-seat soccer stadium, indoor concert venue, a hotel, retail and multi-family housing.  Insider Spotlight Stories...

This week’s episode features a presentation by Teig Whaley-Smith to the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, our podcast partner. Whaley-Smith is chief alliance executive at the Community Development Alliance, a group that led the development of an affordable housing plan for Milwaukee. His presentation details the path toward more affordable housing in the city while also addressing the connection of housin...

Andrew Weiland, Maredithe Meyer, Ashely Smart, Cara Spoto and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including a planned $100 million renovation at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Advocate Aurora merging with North Carolina-based Atrium, state funding kickstarting a community center on the near west side of Milwaukee, the current Kohl's board winning ou...

Palermo’s Pizza has seen a lot of change over the years, from serving hungry customers at the bar to making and distributing pizzas around the country.  Nicholas Fallucca, chief product and innovation officer at Palermo’s, shared insights on those changes along with lessons learned from trying to match innovative ideas with market and customer demands during a recent presentation to the Rotary Clu...

Marquette University president Michael Lovell joins BizTimes Media managing editor Arthur Thomas on the first episode of Leadership Lens, a new monthly podcast featuring Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin business leaders discussing how they lead their organization and offering insights to help listeners improve their own businesses. In this episode, Lovell discusses leading Marquette amid the u...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media discuss the news of the week, including the arrival of the first Viking cruise ship in Milwaukee. Great Lakes cruises were growing in popularity prior to the pandemic and are now rebounding with 33 ships expected to call on the city's port this year, up from 10 in 2019.  Insider Story Spotlight: Sargento to acquire one of the nation’s top s...

Andrew Weiland, Maredithe Meyer and Arthur Thomas of BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including a vote by Starbucks workers in Oak Creek to unionize. The vote is the latest in a series of victories for the labor movement in southeastern Wisconsin, which has particularly seen success in the hospitality sector. The group discusses if the trend is a sign of life for labor,...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including Milwaukee Tool opening a new office in Chicago. While it is hard to fault one of southeastern Wisconsin's fastest growing companies for doing what it needs to to keep growing, Andrew says it should serve as a warning sign for the region that attracting more people will be important for...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas of BizTimes Media discuss the news of the week, including a closer look at the inaugural address from Cavalier Johnson, the new mayor of Milwaukee. Johnson's address touched on public safety, the need for more development in Milwaukee's neighborhoods, fostering more cooperation on important issues and much more. Arthur and Andrew share their thoughts on t...

Lauren Anderson, Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including Milwaukee's designation as having the lowest per capita unsheltered homeless population in the country. City and county leaders highlight the milestone, the result of collaborative by a number of stakeholders over the better part of a decade, during a press conference...

This week’s episode features a recent presentation at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, a BizTimes Media podcast partner, by David Reeves. Reeves is a Milwaukee-native, the former president of OpenGov and now an executive in residence at Marquette. In this episode, he discusses the decision to open an OpenGov office in the city and why his criteria for any future operational leadership role includes a...

This episode is a little different from many of our others. We’re sharing a recent conversation with Andre Ghelfi Thomas from The Boldt Company, an Appleton-based construction firm. Andre, a project manager at Boldt, spoke with BizTimes for our annual STUFF publications, which highlight career opportunities in manufacturing, construction and the trades. In the interview, Andre discusses what inter...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media discuss the news of the week, including a strong jobs report for the state of Wisconsin in February and the continuation of slow to no population growth in the state.  Insider Spotlight Stories: A ‘classic entrepreneur’: How James Kyle grew Delavan-based Millennium into one of America’s fastest-growing companies Haribo hiring 100 employees to wo...

This week's episode features former BizTimes executive editor Steve Jagler's 2013 interview with businessman and philanthropist Michael Cudahy. Recorded when Cudahy received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BizTimes Bravo/IQ Awards, the interview features stories of how Marquette Electronics was started and negotiating with Jack Welch and GE. It also features a long discussion on Cu...

Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media discuss the news of the week, including the passing of entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Cudahy, who died March 11 at the age of 97. A 2013 BizTimes Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Cudahy started Marquette Electronics and grew it to a business with nearly $600 million in revenue before selling it to GE in the late 1990s. He also was a m...

This week's episode of the BizTimes MKE Podcast features a conversation between Kendra Whitlock Ingram, the president and CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center, and former Green Bay Packer Donald Driver, the Marcus Center’s first cultural ambassador.  Their conversation took place at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, a BizTimes podcast partner. Kendra and Donald discuss how their partnership c...

Maredithe Meyer, Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including an investor presentation from Kohl's Corp. that outlined the company's growth plans and securities filings that detailed executive pay and talks about a potential sale. All this comes as an activist investor group continues to push for the election of a new board...