THRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Economic and Workforce Development Business Representative Moraine Park Technical College.
Job Titles:
- Director of Supply Chain and Environmental Services
- Watertown Regional
Bill Kehl is the Director of Supply Chain and Environmental Services at Watertown Regional Medical Center. His background is centered around data analytics, process improvement and process modeling. Bill has his BBA in Supply Chain and Economics from UW Oshkosh and will soon obtain his MBA in Data Analytics from UW Whitewater.
AutoPets founder and CEO Brad Baxter speaks at the company's ribbon cutting in Juneau on July 15, 2020
Job Titles:
- President of W.D. Hoard & Sons in Fort Atkinson
Brian Knox is the President of W.D. Hoard & Sons in Fort Atkinson, WI, a role he has been in since 1985. With the exception of four years at the University of Wisconsin (1969 -1973), Knox has lived in Jefferson County his entire life. The Hoard Company is a 146 year old company concentrating primarily in agricultural magazines (Hoard's Dairyman magazine is the flagship magazine) and books, as well as publishing through itself, and an affiliate, 13 community newspapers in Wisconsin. It has been active in the printing industry and has a dairy farm just north of Fort Atkinson area. In 1976 Knox became the youngest Daily Newspaper publisher in Wisconsin when he named publisher of the Daily Jefferson County Union. He still holds that title as well as publisher of various agricultural magazines and 12 other community papers, including The Lake Mills Leader and The Waterloo Courier in Jefferson County. He has served on various industry panels, including being President of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, serving the American Newspaper Publishers Association Postal Committee and so on. He has been very active in the community, from founding the Fort Atkinson Vocational and Technical Scholarship fund, to serving on the Fort Atkinson school board for 6 years in various offices.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Owner and President of Thermo - Tech Mechanical Insulation
David Schroeder is the owner and president of Thermo-Tech Mechanical Insulation. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from UW-Madison and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. His first ten years out of school, David worked in the petrochemicals and plastics industry in various production, engineering, tech support, and business roles in both Illinois and Ohio. In addition to serving on the board of Thrive Economic Development, he also volunteers his time and serves on the boards of the Watertown Area YMCA, YES! Watertown, the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation, the Watertown Regional Medical Center board of trustees and the Tech Ed Partnership Team at Watertown High School. David formerly owned Watertown-based Baker-Rullman.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director of Business Development
Deb joined ThriveED in June of 2020 as Managing Director of Business Development. Prior to this, Deb served as Director of Business Development for American Companies, a West Bend-based construction management firm. Before that, she was a Business Solutions Specialist for Economic Development Washington County (EDWC). Notable projects during her time at EDWC include Briggs & Stratton, where she worked to secure anchor tenant with a 700,000sf warehouse in newly developed industrial park in Germantown, WI; JW Speaker, where she assisted with $46 million expansion resulting in the creation of 100+ jobs within 3 years; and EH Wolf, where she negotiated incentives between business and village to allow for redevelopment of their brownfield site.
Dr. John Chenoweth is the Dean of the College of Business and Economics for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Job Titles:
- Mayor of the City of Watertown
Emily McFarland is the Mayor of the City of Watertown. She is also a current member of the Executive Committee of the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium.* Previously, she was a Policy Initiatives Advisor for the state of Wisconsin. She holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Carthage College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Dodge County Board of Supervisors
Jeff Caine is a member of the Dodge County Board of Supervisors. He represents District 18.
Jim Falco has been with Madison College since 2016 and is the Associate Vice President for Regional Campuses. Prior to coming to Madison College, Falco was the Executive Dean for Career and Technical Education at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL for 8 years. He began work at McHenry County College as the Director and faculty member for McHenry's Education programs for 4 years. Falco came to McHenry after Serving as Vice President for Campus Administration for National-Louis University in Chicago. He started his education career as a high school teacher in Fond du Lac, WI.
Olver oversees the brand and marketing management and communications efforts. With more than 15 years of experience in the field, she leads special initiatives for the organization. She joined the program after serving as Marketing Manager for the Watertown Economic Development Organization. Olver received her Masters and Bachelor Degrees from…
Job Titles:
- CEO of Marquardt Management Services
Matt Mauthe is the CEO of Marquardt Management Services in Watertown, WI. Prior to that, he was the Nursing Home Administrator for Oakwood Lutheran Homes and for Red Haven Christian Services. His professional associations and community involvement include Leading Age Wisconsin, the American College of Health Care Administrators and Rotary International. Mauthe also served as the chairman of the board of directors for the Watertown Economic Development Organization. Mauthe has a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Job Titles:
- Fort HealthCare As President & Chief Executive Officer
Mike Wallace joined Fort HealthCare as President & Chief Executive Officer in June 2006. Mike came to Fort HealthCare from Trinity Regional Health System, Rock Island, Illinois and Bettendorf, Iowa. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer at Lucas County Hospital, Chariton, Iowa. He also held similar positions while employed with HealthSouth Corporation, serving as Chief Executive Officer of two hospitals in Phoenix, Arizona. Mike is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he received a Master of Health Administration degree. He received his Bachelor's degree from DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana. Mike has achieved Fellow status with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and is Board certified in HealthCare management. He is a two time winner of the ACHE, and a recipient of WELCOAS "Light of Wellness" Award. He serves as a board member on the Wisconsin Hospital Association Board (Chairman 2016), Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Board, Wisconsin Public Health Council and Criminal Justice Collaboration Council. He is also a member of the Fort Atkinson Rotary Club.
Mo Hansen is the Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Waterloo.
*ThriveED bylaws allow for 2 JCEDC representatives and an alternate.
Job Titles:
- Vice President at Horicon Bank in Beaver Dam
Witte, with the JCEDC since 2003, is the department's Program Specialist. In her work, she focuses on continuing to grow the various homebuyer down payment assistance and counseling programs for Jefferson County. She also works with the Jefferson County Revolving Loan Fund, which is administered by the Jefferson County Economic…
Job Titles:
- City Manager for Lake Mills
Steve Wilke is the City Manager for Lake Mills.
*ThriveED bylaws allow for 2 JCEDC representatives and an alternate.
Job Titles:
- Chairman / CEO and Founder of Wangard Partners, Inc
Stewart Wangard is the Chairman / CEO and founder of Wangard Partners, Inc., a full-service real estate company. With more than four decades in the commercial real estate industry, Stewart has been involved in more than one billion dollars in real estate sales and has leased/managed nearly five million square feet of office property. As a leading developer in the Midwest, Stewart is affiliated with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), is on the National NAIOP Board of Directors and is on the national mixed-use forum for NAIOP, where he is part of round tables that discuss national trending and research within the industry.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO of the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation
Tina Crave is the foundation president and CEO of the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, Crave spent 19+ years in healthcare, most recently Vice President and Chief Experience Officer at Watertown Regional Medical Center, where she had responsibilities over patient experience, marketing/public relations and community health assessment and planning. Crave holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy from UW-La Crosse and a master's degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University. She serves on the boards of Dodge Jefferson Healthier Community Partnership, Rainbow Hospice and on the City of Watertown Branding Commission. She is a member of Grantmakers in Health, Exponent Philanthropy and the Wisconsin Active Communities Alliance.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO at the Bank of Lake Mills
Ty Neupert is the President and CEO at the Bank of Lake Mills. He has been with the bank for more than 28 years in various capacities and also serves on the bank's Board of Directors. Ty received his Bachelor of Science Degree from U.W. Madison prior to joining the bank.
In September 2016, Ms. Pratt took the position of Executive Director of the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium and President of Thrive Economic Development. An accomplished economic development professional, Pratt has led five public/private economic development organizations across the country, including the Cornerstone Alliance in Benton Harbor, Michigan; the Warren…