Join Login

Category: Member News

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

Just How Do You Wrap a Playground?

Please mark your calendar and plan to join us this Friday, Dec. 20, at The Playing Field early learning center, 3910 Mineral Point Road.

* Christmas Comes Early when “Attic Angels” bring their gift of a playground to children enrolled at The Playing Field early learning center in Madison

* Special Playground Equipment will serve emotional and developmental needs of children who have experienced trauma and other challenges such as autism

* Attic Angel Association’s “Angels” embraced a special fundraising project during their 130th birthday year in 2019 to honor their historic service to children

Click here for additional information about the day’s event schedule and additional background for this project.

Photo by Richard Hurd

Savant Capital Management CEO Named to Barron’s Advisor Hall of Fame

Brent Brodeski receives award for his commitment to excellence

Savant Capital Management, a nationally-recognized, fee-only wealth management firm headquartered in Rockford, IL, with locations in Madison and Park Falls, is pleased to announce that CEO Brent Brodeski is among an esteemed group of financial advisors to receive the Barron’s Advisor Hall of Fame award.

Barron’s, one of the world’s premier investing publications, established its Hall of Fame to shine a spotlight on the nation’s best financial advisors, with an eye toward raising standards in the finance industry. Each of the 145 Hall of Fame members, or one percent of all advisors in the industry, also have appeared in 10 or more of Barron’s annual Top 100 Advisor rankings.

Hall of Fame award recipients were selected based on a questionnaire of more than 100 questions about their practices, including assets under management and the revenue collected on those assets, industry designations possessed, regulatory records, length of time in the industry, charitable and philanthropic work, and more.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition from Barron’s,” said Brodeski. “This award, however, goes out to the entire team at Savant. Every day we put our clients’ best interests first by working together as a team, helping to ensure our clients are served well, not only today, but for the rest of their lives.”

The entire list of Hall of Fame recipients can be viewed here. For more information about Savant Capital Management, visit savantcapital.com.

About Savant Capital Management

Savant Capital Management is a leading independent, nationally recognized, fee-only firm serving clients for 30 years with more than $6 billion in assets under management. As a trusted advisor, Savant Capital Management offers investment management, financial planning, retirement plan and family office services to financially established individuals and institutions. Savant also offers corporate accounting, tax preparation, payroll and consulting through its affiliate, Savant Tax & Consulting.

Savant Capital Management is a Registered Investment Advisor. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk. Savant’s marketing material and/or rankings or recognitions by Barron’s should not be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that they will experience a certain level of results if Savant Capital Management is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services nor should it be construed as a current or past endorsement of Savant Capital Management by any of it clients. Recognitions published by Barron’s generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by an employee of the firm. Savant did not pay a fee to participate.

Photo by Richard Hurd

Solar for Good Program Helps Fund 13 Solar Energy Projects for Wisconsin Nonprofits

RENEW Wisconsin’s Solar for Good program will issue nearly $140,000 worth of solar panels to Wisconsin nonprofits as part of their fall 2019 funding cycle. These grants will go to 13 organizations across the state that together will install nearly 600 kilowatts of clean, renewable electricity. When completed, these solar projects will lead to over $1.2 million of solar investment in Wisconsin.

The following organizations have been offered Solar for Good grants to install new solar electric systems:

CAP Services, poverty alleviation, Stevens Point.

Camp Amnicon, outdoor retreat and spiritual worship, South Range.

Menīkānaehkem, Native American educational organization, Gresham.

Habitat for Humanity – La Crosse Area, affordable housing provider, La Crosse.

Jackson County Animal Shelter, safe haven for stray animals, Black River Falls.

Heartland Housing, affordable housing provider, Madison.

First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, house of worship, Milwaukee.

Boys & Girls Club of Greater La Crosse, youth education, La Crosse.

Bethel Lutheran Church, house of worship, Madison.

Movin’ Out, alternative housing provider, Madison.

Zwingli United Church of Christ, house of worship, Verona.

Kathy’s House, alternative housing provider, Wauwatosa.

One organization has asked to remain anonymous at this time.

This round of Solar for Good funding features a diverse group of awardees from across

Wisconsin. The Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse will use their solar installation to help educate members on renewable electricity and energy efficiency for their recently-renovated facility. Over 200 solar panels will be installed at Kathy’s House, a hospital guest-house in Wauwatosa. And the Indigenous-led organization Menīkānaehkem, will install solar to power several tiny homes being constructed on the Menominee Indian Reservation to house the community’s homeless population.

“We decided to go solar to reduce our energy bills and to focus more of our resources on programming,” said Guy Reiter of Menīkānaehkem. “We plan to use the array as a training center for community members interested in pursuing a career in solar. Thanks to the Solar for Good grant, we are moving closer to our goal of making the Menominee community energy-sovereign as a way to create jobs, restore hope, reduce carbon pollution, and mitigate climate change.”

This marks Solar for Good’s 5th funding cycle and the second-largest to date. Including the fall 2019 funding cycle, the program’s impact will total 74 Wisconsin nonprofits installing 88 new solar arrays throughout the state. The program will add 3.25 megawatts of clean, renewable power to Wisconsin’s electric mix, enough to power approximately 650 homes. In total, these 88 solar arrays will spur over $7 million in investments in renewable electricity.

About Solar for Good

RENEW Wisconsin’s Solar for Good initiative fosters the expansion of solar power among mission-based nonprofits and houses of worship in Wisconsin. Through a generous partnership with Couillard Solar Foundation, RENEW Wisconsin awards solar panels to nonprofit organizations, helping them switch to clean, renewable, solar energy.

About RENEW Wisconsin

RENEW Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization which promotes renewable energy in Wisconsin. We work on policies and programs that support solar power, wind power, biogas, local hydropower, geothermal energy, and electric vehicles. More information on RENEW’s website: www.renewwisconsin.org.

Photo by Richard Hurd

Social Justice Hub Accepting Action Teams Applications

Contact Information: Shauna Breneman, Communications Director
Office: (608) 262-8862
Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu

SOCIAL JUSTICE HUB ACCEPTING ACTION TEAMS APPLICATIONS

MADISON – The Wisconsin Union’s Social Justice Hub team is accepting applications for its campus Social Justice Action Teams now through Feb. 9, 2020.

Social Justice Action Teams are individual University of Wisconsin-Madison students or teams of UW-Madison students who build a collaborative group to achieve social justice goals.

During a seven-week period, team members work together with support from Hub staff to set their purpose statement, identify potential collaborators, identify actions to complete, and create momentum to further support their social justice goals.

Students can learn more about Social Justice Action Teams, such as how to apply, what creating an action team entails, available support and more, at an information session on Jan. 30, 2020.

Current Social Justice Action Teams include a voting team and a criminal justice team.

“We have such outstanding students at UW-Madison, who care so much about creating a better world,” Social Justice Hub Director Jim Rogers said. “We want to support students in the development of their transferrable skills as they work to improve the quality of life for all.”

The application is available at go.wisc.edu/SocialJusticeActionTeamsApplicationForm. Those with questions can contact Rogers at Jim.Rogers@wisc.edu.

-###-

About the Wisconsin Union

The Wisconsin Union enhances the lives of members and visitors through recreational, cultural, educational and social opportunities. Formed in 1907, the Wisconsin Union is a membership organization that blends study and leisure to create unique out-of-classroom opportunities. Learn more about the Union and its tradition of providing experiences for a lifetime: union.wisc.edu

[Note to the editor: Click here to download a photo of the Social Justice Hub’s voting team. Photo by Jim Rogers. Photo provided by the Wisconsin Union.]

To read this release online, visit union.wisc.edu/about/news/action-teams.

Photo by Richard Hurd

The Creative Company Wins International Video Award

MADISON, WI – The Creative Company won a Gold MarCom Award in the category of Nonprofit Video Production. The MarCom Awards are an international competition that honor excellence in the fields of marketing and communication. Each year, about 6,000 entries are submitted from dozens of countries around the globe.

Madison Lee, a publicist and producer at The Creative Company, produced the winning video for Midwest Environmental Advocates, a nonprofit environmental law center that defends public rights, protects natural resources and ensures transparency and accountability in government. As a former TV news producer, Madison has extensive experience producing compelling video content and created an impactful marketing tool for Midwest Environmental Advocates.

“It was truly an honor to help MEA tell their story for their 20th Anniversary,” said Madison Lee. “To have our video recognized by MarCom and win a Gold Award made the project even more gratifying. How exciting to receive this award for such a worthwhile project.”

To see the video, click the link HERE.

About The Creative Company, Inc. The Creative Company is a Public Relations, Web Development, Interactive Digital Media and Marketing Agency located in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1989, The Creative Company is an award-winning team of senior-level branding strategists, designers, artists, digital developers, and PR pros, led by company founder, 2019 SBA Women in Business Champion of the Year, and State of Wisconsin Trailblazer, Laura Gallagher.