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Your honorCMA of Milwaukee Inc., a division of Milwaukee-based The Jansen Group Inc., won a Design Award from the Association of Licensed Architects for the firm’s design of the Concours Motors BMW dealership in Milwaukee. … The Milwaukee Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry named several winners of the organization’s annual President’s Award for their commitment to community, education and support of the association’s goals. Milwaukee/NARI honored Ron Ziglinski of Around Your House, Milwaukee; Mike Heuser of Kelmann Corp. Inc., Wauwatosa; Kevin Anundson of The OAR Group Inc., Brookfield; Howard Rowell of Royal Chimney Service, Wauwatosa; Dave Amoroso of Ron Sonntag Public Relations Inc., Milwaukee; and David Feldner, Milwaukee/NARI’s executive director. … The Spancrete Group Inc., Waukesha, won the Harry H. Edwards Industry Advancement Award from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute for the company’s work on the Interstate 90 bridge over Door Creek in Madison. The PPCI also recognized Jeff Davis and Josh Mory, two architectural students enrolled in The Spancrete Studio at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, for their first place finish in the 2006 PCI Student Architectural Competition. Faculty advisors Gil Snyder and Matt Jarosz also were honored. In memoriamFloyd F. Schraufnagel, New Berlin, died Dec. 6 of undisclosed causes. Schraufnagel, 72, worked as a construction superintendent for James Luterbach Construction Co. Inc., New Berlin, from 1972 to 1997, when he left the company to enter early retirement. … Robert W. Schmidt, New Berlin, died Dec. 5 of undisclosed causes. Schmidt, 79, was a member of Operating Engineers Local 139 from 1967 until his death. Let’s make a deal
Walsh thrives in a ‘man’s field’A man once told Jackie Walsh she’d never succeed. Walsh, a founding principal of Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC, proved him wrong. When she first returned to the Milwaukee area after getting her feet wet in the Los Angeles brokerage scene, Walsh found it difficult to get those feet in a door. She said some potential clients refused to deal with her, partly because of her lack of experience in the area but also because of her gender. “Even when I was interviewing with people, I had someone tell me that I was never going to make it because brokerage was a man’s field,” she said. “He said, ‘Milwaukee is different than L.A., and men smoking in a back room is how deals get done.’ “Now, I get a kick out of it when there are 20 people in the room, and I’m the only woman.” After failing to latch on with more narrow-minded employers, she was hired in 1991 by Mark Irgens, president of what was then Boldt Development Co. In 1998, Boldt Development sold its assets to Irgens, Walsh and Kris O’ Meara, and the three renamed their company Irgens Development Partners LLC. After nearly 10 years of successful developments, Walsh and O’Meara now count themselves among the few powerful female brokers in the state. By next year, Walsh’s firm will have developed more than 1 million square feet of property in the Milwaukee County Research Park, including the GE Healthcare headquarters. The firm of approximately 70 employees is also responsible for redeveloping Bradley Tech High School and the former Marshall Field’s building in downtown Milwaukee. And Irgens recently opened new offices in Chicago and Phoenix. “It’s really hard work, but if it was easy, everybody would be doing it,” Walsh said. “We’re working harder now than we did when we formed the company.” Walsh was born in New Berlin but moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., when she was in third grade. Her family lived there for a short time in the early 1970s before moving back to the Milwaukee area, but those years were invaluable to Walsh. “It was quite a difference but a great life experience,” she said. “To move to a very multicultural college town, it makes you much more aware of the world around you than suburban New Berlin, which was pretty plain vanilla in those years.” Walsh graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 with an economics degree. That’s when her father, who worked for American Appraisal Associates, helped her get an appraising job in that company’s Pasadena, Calif., office. Two years later, she went to work for Arthur Andersen LLP in Los Angeles. It was at Arthur Andersen that Walsh made the change from appraising to brokering. “I liked brokerage; it was much more dynamic and glamorous,” she said. “These are the people who are the dealmakers, and they tend to be a little bit more flamboyant [than appraisers].” Following a lunch with her high-school sweetheart and eventual husband, who was in California on a business trip, Walsh started to miss the Midwest. “You get a reality check that nobody [in Los Angeles] is living in reality, or it’s some demented form of reality that just lost its appeal to me,” she said. “I didn’t realize it until I was 28 that ‘this is great, but can you really do this forever?’” So she moved back to Wisconsin and began the fruitful, ongoing business relationship with Irgens and O’Meara. “I’ve always worked with and for really good people who challenged me and pushed me,” said Walsh. “So I always had confirmation along the way that I was doing the right thing. “I wouldn’t change a single thing I did.” Dotted line
C.D. Smith Construction Co., Fond du Lac, secured a $2 million contract to construct a tenant build-out at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. C.D. Smith also won a $2.82 million contract to improve a well-treatment facility in Waukesha. … Pieper Electric Inc., Milwaukee, won a $3.67 million contract to remodel an electric-power feed at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. … CMA of Milwaukee Inc., Milwaukee, took home a $3.01 million contract to construct a new police station in Fox Point. … H&H Industries Inc., Madison, won a $2.86 million plumbing and HVAC contract for the Chadbourne Residence Hall renovation on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., Madison, landed a $2.30 million general contract for the Chadbourne project. … Mechanical Technologies Inc., Green Bay, won a $1.87 million contract to construct improvements to a water-treatment facility in Freedom. … Ellis Stone Construction Co., Stevens Point, secured a $1.64 million contract to expand and remodel the Mid-State Technical College in Marshfield. … Reichl Construction Inc., Hales Corners, won a $1.44 million contract to construct a new surface parking lot for the Milwaukee County Courthouse in Milwaukee. … Oscar J. Boldt Construction Co., Appleton, will construct the new Marquette County Health and Human Service facility in Montello after winning a $1.43 million contract for the job. … Speedway Sand & Gravel Inc., Middleton, secured a $1.14 million contract to construct improvements at the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. … MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, was selected to design and build a 27,300-square-foot manufacturing plant and offices for Badger Railing of Milwaukee. MSI also was selected to design and build a 17,000-square-foot, multitenant building in Grafton. Top DollarJ.P. Cullen & Sons Inc., Janesville, landed a $12.01 million general-work contract to remodel and expand the student union on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus in Kenosha. Martin Petersen Co. Inc., Kenosha, won a $2.47 million HVAC contract, and Magaw Electric Co., New Berlin, won a $3.11 million electrical contract for the Kenosha job.
A burning question with ...Patrick Jones - Project manager with The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc., Cedarburg What is your greatest fear? “My greatest fear is apocalypse now or apocalypse tomorrow such that all of our efforts toward some sort of continuity are lost and pointless — any effort toward sustaining life or legacy or improving the long-term aspects of our future is wasted.” On the horizonCenterre Healthcare Corp., St. Louis, and Pro-Health Care Inc., Waukesha, are planning construction of the estimated $13 million, 40-bed Rehabilitation Hospital of Wisconsin in Waukesha County. … Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP, Milwaukee, is designing an estimated $37 million heart center for All Saints Healthcare Systems in Racine. … Waste Management of Wisconsin Inc., Menomonee Falls, is working through the approval process for an estimated $18 million recycling center in the Germantown Business Park. … Uihlein Wilson Architects Inc., Milwaukee, is partnering with the city of Fort Atkinson on an estimated $3.80 million expansion and renovation of the Hoard Historical Museum. … Environmental Structures Inc., Hartland, is designing an expansion for the Jones Dairy Farm in Fort Atkinson. … AG Architecture, Wauwatosa, is working with the Illinois Saint Andrews Society and Sawgrass Partners to develop a master plan and reposition The Scottish Home in North Riverside, Ill. … Melchert Walkky Inc., Hudson, is designing an estimated $1.80 million worth of expansions and new construction at several campgrounds around Wisconsin. … Lang Associates Inc., Green Bay, is providing architectural and engineering services for an estimated $1.06 million elevator renovation and replacement project in several buildings on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus. … Rettler Corp., Stevens Point, is designing the estimated $2.02 million exterior development of a multisport athletic facility in Whitewater. … Isthmus Architecture Inc., Madison, is working with the Wisconsin Historical Society on an estimated $1.32 million train shed rehabilitation for the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. … TDI Associates Inc., Waukesha, is helping the town of Lisbon plan construction of an estimated $1.50 million fire station. … Berners-Schober Associates Inc. in association with VOA Associates Inc., Green Bay, is consulting on the construction of an estimated $36.24 million academic building on the UW-Oshkosh campus. … The Ozaukee County Administration Center, Port Washington, is planning construction of an estimated $1.90 million bicycle bridge in Grafton. … Ener-Con Builders Inc., Oak Creek, is putting together plans for an estimated $53 million housing development on 72 acres in Pleasant Prairie. Off the clockSlippery slope
Gregg Thompson hit the jump, did a sort of half flip and landed, more or less, on his face. He woke up in the snow with the Steamboat Springs, Colo., ski patrol working on him and trying to get him to say something. They loaded him on a toboggan, pulled him down the hill and sent him to the hospital. Thompson, who was 13 at the time, walked away from the accident with a broken collarbone, a mild concussion and a newfound respect for the people who patrol ski hills and act as a first response whenever there’s an accident. “It left a lasting impression,” said Thompson, the CEO of Bukacek Construction, Racine. There’s no way to say for sure what went through the mind of the skier when he first opened his eyes at the bottom of a ski run at Wilmot Mountain in Kenosha County last year. But it’s a safe bet the first person he saw was Thompson working on the skier and trying to get him to say something. “As I was waiting for some support, he started to come to, but he was somewhat incoherent,” Thompson said. “After a few minutes, he told us his name. Finally, we discovered that he was epileptic, and he had a seizure.”
Thompson walked away from that accident with a slightly different feeling. “It’s really gratifying when you help someone out,” he said. “When somebody gets hurt, you feel bad for them — a lot of times, it’s kids — and it’s just a good feeling turning a negative experience into a positive one.” Those two accidents show why Thompson joined the National Ski Patrol in 1994. He got the help he needed 25 years earlier, and he never forgot how it felt to open his eyes and know someone was there for him. “I was always impressed with ski patrollers after my accident, and I wanted to find a way get out and ski once or twice a week,” he said. “I always thought it would be good to learn first aid and CPR, especially with five kids.” So Thompson took the three-month Outdoor Emergency Care course, showed his skills on the ski hill and volunteered for the Wilmot Mountain ski patrol. He stayed there for more than a decade and then switched to the Norway Mountain ski patrol in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this year. “My son is a ski racer there,” he said. “Now, every weekend, we drive up to the UP unless we’re in Colorado.” But no matter where he’s skiing, Thompson said, he’s just happy to be on the slopes. And it’s a bonus if he can make it safer while he’s out there. “Obviously, there’s a love for skiing and a great satisfaction being able to help people,” he said.
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