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Learn who’s growing, changing, moving and more! Stay on top of what’s new with your neighboring businesses. We share news releases and announcements from your peers in the Madison area. Want to toot your own horn? Use our Submit Member News form to share your own stories.

Photo by Richard Hurd

Andrew Buss Joins M3 as Account Executive

Andrew Buss recently joined M3 Insurance as an employee benefits account executive. Buss’s primary role is to advise on the design, implementation, and management of employer-sponsored benefit programs. He works with clients to manage their risk and maintain comfortable levels of coverage to meet their changing business needs.

Prior to joining M3, Buss gained experience through high-level sales and operational roles within insurance, healthcare, and IT. Most recently, Buss served as a senior program performance manager with WPS Health Insurance where he specialized in governmental business and working with federal contracts.

Buss is a skilled-communicator and thrives in dynamic work environments, making him a great addition to the M3 employee benefits team.

“I have had the fortune of meeting with Andrew several times during the hiring process. I am very excited at the experience and outlook he brings to M3. I believe that Andrew will be very successful as well as a great culture fit to our EB team.”
— Jeff Ireland, Director of Employee Benefits – Southcentral WI

Key Takeaways

M3 is a top insurance broker and risk management firm in America. We’re leaders in the products we represent and the industries we serve. M3’s people are an extension of your team, providing world-class resources to help you manage risk, purchase insurance, and provide employee benefits. And our focus on community builds better places to live and work.

Photo by Richard Hurd

Madison Ballet names Artistic Director from NY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jonathan Solari
920-728-6217
jonathan@madisonballet.org

Melanie Kranz Share
608-206-3647
melkranz@gmail.com

Madison Ballet names Artistic Director from NY
Ja’ Malik known for unique perspective in dance, choreography

MADISON, WIS. (March 21, 2022)—Madison Ballet announced today that Ja’ Malik, a nationally known dancer and choreographer based in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, will join the organization full-time as artistic director in July.

He is currently in Madison choreographing part of “Turning Pointe,” Madison Ballet’s coming performance at the Overture Center March 25 to April 3.

Ja’ Malik, an advocate for artists of color, brings to Madison his exceptional and diverse experience as dancer and choreographer. He is director and founder of the all-male Ballet Boy Productions. He worked with Tony-nominated Camille A. Brown on The Public Theater’s 2019 production of Ntozake Shange’s, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf”. In 2003 he graduated from the first class of Joffrey Ballet School, and New School University, BFA program.

“Madison Ballet offers a national platform for me to share my vision to create a company that reflects the diverse world we live in,” Ja’ Malik said.

Jonathan Solari, chief executive officer of Madison Ballet, said he urges Madison residents to attend Turning Pointe as a show of support for the new artistic director.

“As an arts organization, Madison Ballet helps define beauty through the art we present on this community’s stages. We take that role seriously and recognize our obligation to challenge what ballet is and who it is for,” said Solari. “Ja’ Malik’s clear and energizing vision will honor our 40-year history while bringing progress to this organization, this city, and this art form. It is apt that he is making his debut during Turning Pointe.”

Pamela Squires of The Washington Post said Ja’ Malik is “a choreographer who shows a fine eye.” Roslyn Sulcas of The New York Times named him a “Choreographer to Watch.” He has been featured in Dance magazine.

He is a former member of Cleveland Ballet, Oakland Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Nathan Trice Rituals, City Dance Ensemble, Ballet Hispanico, and Philadelphia’s BalletX.

“Turning Pointe” begins this Friday and runs through Sunday, April 3. Tickets are $18 to $32 and for sale at the Overture Center Ticket Office in person, by mail or online.

About Madison Ballet: Madison Ballet is a 40-year-old arts organization in Madison, Wis. It features the 150-student School of Madison Ballet.Since 1981, Madison Ballet has been an integral part of the vibrant Dane County arts community. It offers full-scale productions of inspiring traditional ballets, innovative contemporary performances, and the timeless holiday tradition of “The Nutcracker” in Madison’s renowned Overture Center for the Arts. The School of Madison Ballet empowers students of all ages and skill levels with the poise, confidence, discipline, and life skills intrinsic to the study of dance. Outreach programming, presented in partnership with dozens of local school and community groups, enriches thousands of young people’s lives by introducing them to the joy of dance.

For more information, go to madison ballet.org.

Photo by Richard Hurd

Strang’s First Female Board Member

STRANG, Inc. Names Erica Ostendorf Mullins to Firm’s Board of Directors
First Woman Board Member in The Firm’s 87 Year History

MADISON, WI. March 15, 2022 – – – Strang, Inc, proudly announces that Erica Ostendorf Mullins, NCIDQ, WRID, has been appointed to the firm’s highest level of leadership, the Board of Directors. This appointment is effective immediately. Ms. Ostendorf Mullins will continue in her responsibility as Senior Vice President, Director of Interior Design.

Since joining Strang in 2014, Erica has contributed to client success and satisfaction by sharing strikingly creative, cohesive designs which are remarkable to behold and engaging to occupy. Clients tell us that Erica’s award-winning designs inspire, empower, and excite those within. From healthcare to hospitality or corporate to cultural spaces, Erica applies her passion for design across a myriad number of sectors.

Additionally, Erica provides expert guidance, direction and mentorship throughout the Interior Design Group and the entire firm. For example, Erica is responsible for guiding Strang’s strategic business planning across all aspects of the firm. Her leadership style is pronounced by listening with respect, empowering confidence around her and responding with resolve.

According to Larry Barton, Strang’s President and CEO, “Our current Board of Directors unanimously believes that Erica will be a significant contributor to the next chapter of our continued growth and success. She possesses a natural talent for inspiring colleagues and clients alike through her imagination, leadership, rigor and accountability. Erica constantly delivers for our clients through design counsel that is creative, resourceful, respectful and on task. We are excited to have Erica join our Senior Leadership Team”.

Erica earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 2010. She is a Wisconsin Registered Interior Designer, a member of National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)

About Strang

Established in 1935, Strang is an award-winning architecture, engineering, and interior design firm with offices in Madison and Waukesha, Wisconsin.

We champion a highly collaborative, vertically integrated approach entitled, Design Synchronicity. This proven process galvanizes our ability to safeguard a client’s financial, human, and environmental resources. We most often apply this approach within the science and technology, commercial/corporate, higher education, performing arts, and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Strang has earned the Wisconsin State Journal Top Workplace Award for 2021 and 2022.

Strang has also been voted Number ONE Commercial Architectural Firm in Madison for nine consecutive years (2013-2021) by the readers of InBusiness Magazine!

Photo by Richard Hurd

WRTP | BIG STEP Hosts Women in the Trades Career Fair

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2022

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Stephanie Johnston, sjohnston@wrtp.org or 608-255-0155

WRTP | BIG STEP Hosts WOMEN IN THE TRADES Career Fair

WRTP | BIG STEP of South Central Wisconsin and the Building Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin are hosting its Women in the Trades Career Fair on March 22, 2022 between 3 PM – 7 PM at the Madison Labor Temple, 1602 South Park Street, Madison, WI. Our goal is to introduce women to the numerous career pathways within the union construction industry’s seventeen building trades. This is a free event and open to the public. 

COVID-19 highlighted the daily inequalities that women, especially women of color, face. Women disproportionately shouldered the “essential worker” status in low wage jobs like grocery store clerks and fast food cashiers (more than 65% are female)1, and while men comprise the lion’s share of “essential sectors” like public safety, transportation logistics, and public utilities, these are traditionally occupations and fields with family sustaining wages, benefits, and even pensions. In 2020, full time working women earned 82 cents2 for every dollar a man made. Over a lifetime, this amounts to over half a million dollars that women cannot access or use to move into the security that comes with real wealth attainment, through home ownership or a debt-free life. 

WRTP | BIG STEP coordinated the the Women in the Trades Career Fair to expose interested candidates to the apprenticeship model and the family-sustaining careers within the construction industry to help address the labor shortage expected due to retirements and the shrinking workforce pool.

During the career fair, attendees will explore the building trades through employer and union apprenticeship tables/booth with organization information, employment opportunities, and sign-up for interviews. (4) $100 gift card giveaways drawn for attendees who visit each booth and submit their completed participation forms. Pre-registration is recommended to receive employer information before and after the career fair. Pre-register online here:

https://bit.ly/3x1V8zm or Register in person during the event.

Women in the Trades Career Fair sponsors include; Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 13, Carpenters Local 314, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Local 18, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 159, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC 7, Iron Workers Local Union Local 383, Construction Laborers Local 464, Plumbers Local 75, Steamfitters Local 601, Harker Heating & Cooling Inc, Parisi Construction Co., Inc, H.J. Martin and Son, Walbec Group, MIDWEST DRILLED FOUNDATIONS & EGINEERING, INC., Fahrner Asphalt Sealers, LLC, RG Huston Co., Inc., All Comfort Services, InterCon Construction, and Vogel Bros Building Co.

ABOUT WRTP/BIG STEP

WRTP/BIG STEP is a 501(c)3 nonprofit workforce intermediary dedicated to connecting people to family-sustaining jobs. Our mission is to enhance the ability of public and private sector organizations to recruit, develop, and retain a more diverse, qualified workforce in construction, manufacturing and emerging sectors of the regional economy.

Photo by Richard Hurd

EUA Architects hired to design new Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County

DARLINGTON, Wis. – (March 2022) – The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors has hired the Madison office of EUA Architects to design Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County (MHLC), a new 75,000-square-foot facility that also will include space for behavioral health and mindfulness sessions. EUA is 115-year-old firm specializing in workplace, healthcare, learning livingscience + technologyindustrial and community environments.

As a critical access hospital, the current facility has served the greater community and provided a full range of acute care inpatient and outpatient services since 1952.  Easily accessible access to quality health care will be the core of the design for the replacement facility. The project’s cost and design details will be finalized in the coming weeks.

The construction manager is Kraus-Anderson, one of the nation’s premier commercial general contractors and construction managers  which has been leading the charge in sustainable design and construction for the last 25 years. With deep experience in healthcare construction, Kraus-Anderson is currently ranked 16th in the nation among the top health care general contractors in the U.S. by Modern Healthcare magazine.

Construction on the new facility is expected to begin in February of 2023 and completed by the summer of 2024. The current facility will be in operation during construction.

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Gail Shore
Shore to Shore Communications, Inc.
Public relations management and consulting since 1989
(612) 770-4106 cell
gshore@winternet.com