If you have ever wondered what it takes to be selected, or even nominated, for the IB Executive Hall of Fame, the stories of five new inductees in the class of 2010 will paint a very complete picture. In the following pages, you will learn about the Class of 2010, which includes: David Anderson, CEO, American Family Insurance; David Walsh, partner, Foley & Lardner; Bill Bathke, CEO, WPS Insurance; Tom Still, president, Wisconsin Technology Network; and Kathleen Woit, executive director, Madison Community Foundation. We know they are true executive Hall of Famers because they were selected by the sterling 2009 Hall of Fame class, which features Mark Bugher of University Research Park, Marsha Lindsay of Lindsay Stone & Briggs, Richard Lynch of JH Findorff & Son, James Riordan of WPS Insurance, and Tom Zimbrick of Zimbrick, Inc. As we stressed during the nomination process, the honor is not a lifetime achievement award; it is given to people who have reached a level of performance beyond their industry and direct circle of influence, and who also have demonstrated leadership in building Madison — both the business community and the community at large.
David Anderson
American Family Insurance
“One of the realities, when you’re involved in the organization that I am, is that it’s not just one person. I’ve never been a ‘great-man’ theorist because it takes a village. American Family’s success, and my success, depends a lot on the people I work with.”
David Anderson, president and CEO of American Family Insurance, is a reluctant inductee. He tends to avoid the spotlight, and he insisted on sharing credit for this honor with his American Family colleagues. But even though he rejects the “great man” theory, he also was the top vote-getter, so he at least has to accept the reality that prominent people view him as a “very good man.”
That status is illustrated both inside the business and in charity. Inside, American Family management now conducts Town Halls with employees and agents nationwide to explain the company’s direction and how they can contribute to it.
Outside, Anderson serves on boards for Meriter Hospital, US Bank, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, and the UW School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board. His community affiliations include the United Way and Camp WIKIDAS, a week-long summer camp in Wisconsin Dells for children ages 8 through 13 with moderate-to-severe asthma.
Anderson said it’s important for him to be involved in the community because American Family has more than 3,000 employees in Greater Madison.
“It’s important that Madison become a great community for our employees to work in,” Anderson noted, “and that doesn’t happen by accident.”
ÃÂÂ
Kathleen Woit
Madison Community Foundation
“I always look to see who the [Hall of Fame] honorees are because I usually know them. It’s a delight to see people who have done a lot in their careers and in the community be honored. When I was chosen, I was absolutely thrilled to be among that group.”
When Kathleen Woit took over the Madison Community Foundation, many people assumed she was wealthy. That’s not an unreasonable assumption, given the history of community foundations, but Woit grew up in a middle class home; her father was a grade school teacher and her mother was a homemaker. She’s surrounded by millions in greenbacks, alright, but they are the Foundation’s, not her own. Her tenure is about proving a very important point: anyone can be a philanthropist.
The Foundation distributes more than $15 million in grants to local and national organizations. At the Foundation, Woit has built upon established innovations like proactive grant-making. Three years ago, she proposed the Foundation take 60% of its unrestricted dollars and put those aside for proactive grants — grants that are specifically for emerging community needs.
The approach has worked very well, especially during the recession. In 2008, as it became apparent that hard times were on the way, Woit convinced her board to focus the Foundation’s grant-making process on partners that served in the areas of food, shelter, and energy.
As a result, $600,000 in MCF funds leveraged $2 million more from other sources. “We would not have been able to do that so quickly,” she noted, “if we had not been working with proactive grants.”
ÃÂÂ
Bill Bathke
WPS Insurance
“I’m surprised but very honored to be selected for the new Hall of Fame class. There are so many people that give so much within the Greater Madison community that I would not have expected to be singled out.”
In his nomination, Bathke was characterized as an outstanding representative of the insurance agency who gives “above and beyond” his time to his community and alma mater, Lakeland College. His contributions to a strong ethical and employee-friendly business culture include years of successful labor contract negotiations, with success defined as new contracts where everybody wins. Bathke laughed when it was suggested there was a Donald Trump-like “art of the deal” with contract negotiations, but his comments suggest that the avoidance of a blood letting is top-of-mind. In fact, while many labor negotiations are marred by an adversarial relationship, Bathke says the key is to go into the talks with the opposite mindset.
“I think going into a negotiation, there are opportunities to meet objectives on both sides,” he said. “The collective-bargaining process certainly affords that and provides the opportunity to hear what’s important to all the people at the table. The success of the negotiations are determined more by what happens during the life of the contract than what happens at the negotiating table.”
Like the entire 2010 Hall of Fame class, Bathke’s community involvement is extensive. He was the first recipient of the Salvation Army “Volunteer of the Year” award. He serves on the Monona Chamber of Commerce Board and as president of the Monona Police and Fire Commission, and he has encouraged employee involvement in philanthropic causes like the Susan Komen Race for cancer research and the Alzheimer’s Walk.
ÃÂÂ
Tom Still
Wisconsin Technology Council
“I’m honored. The past classes have really represented a cross-section of leadership in business in this community, and to be part of that for the 2010 class is tremendous. It’s great company to be in.”
For former print journalist Tom Still, the transition from newspaper man to technology-based advocacy was pretty seamless. Still, a former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, now heads an organization that serves as a nonprofit science and technology advisor to the Governor and the Wisconsin Legislature. The Tech Council puts on several events, including an Entrepreneurs’ Conference and an Early-Stage Symposium to link entrepreneurs with potential investors.
A surprising number of journalistic skills — the ability to communicate, research and process information, and simply meet a deadline — translate to other walks of life. “It was much more seamless than anyone could imagine,” Still said. “For me, it was an opportunity to move to what was essentially a start-up business that was all about helping other start-up businesses in a lot of ways.”
Still, who pens a weekly column titled “Inside Wisconsin,” has written about why it’s important for newspapers to survive this economy. Very simply, it’s because Google, however valuable, is not going to cover your city council meeting. “The largest newsrooms in any community are likely to be at newspapers and other print operations, and it’s also where you’re going to find the most institutional memory about how a community works,” he noted. “You’re also going to find people who are dedicated to helping readers understand what’s going on.”
With “Inside Wisconsin,” Still chronicles the advancement of technology, biotechnology, and venture capital development. The column touches on everything from stem cell research to renewable energy development, always with a spotlight on Wisconsin’s contributions to the “Knowledge Economy.”
Still has co-authored a book titled Hands-On Environmentalism, which touts the concept of private conservation. Still asserts that it’s the most efficient way to protect land, water, and wildlife. In the removal of the last dam from the Baraboo River, he noted that an alliance brought landowners and governmental agencies together to promote change without lawsuits and administrative mandates. “When land owners and others have incentives to do good, versus being compelled out of a regulatory framework, they are going to accomplish a lot more,” he said.
He serves the WiSys Technology Foundation, the UW-Madison College of Engineering, and We the People/Wisconsin. “I think it’s important for people in the business community to be part of the broader civic life,” he said. “It’s good business to be in touch with the community. It’s also a way of being a part of decisions that affect the quality of life in this county and this region.”
ÃÂÂ
David Walsh
Foley & Lardner
“I’m surprised but honored. I’m touched that those guys would vote for me for anything.”
David Walsh, a partner in Foley & Lardner, shouldn’t be too surprised by his selection. From his role in building Wisconsin’s cable television industry in the 1970s, to helping preserve Major League Baseball here amid dire economic circumstances, to his advocacy for UW-Madison, particularly research at UW Hospital and Clinics, his life’s work earned Hall of Fame votes.
At one point, working with former Milwaukee Bucks owner Jim Fitzgerald, Walsh operated 40 cable television systems in Wisconsin. In addition to building the state’s cable television industry, he was a part owner of the Milwaukee Brewers before the team’s sale to current owner Mark Attanasio. He truly took one for the team because the Brewers’ old ownership group lost $90 million, turning down a generous offer from Charlotte, before selling the team to Attanasio in 2004.
“We did it just to keep the team in Wisconsin,” Walsh said. “It was an interesting experience, but it was a question of competing in a small television market.”
A 1965 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is a past winner of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UW School of Business. “That meant a lot in the sense that I care about the university, and I was very involved,” he said. “Both of my parents have been distinguished alumni. It’s part of our culture here in Madison, and I’ve been part of it. There wasn’t a night at the dinner table that we didn’t talk about the university.”
His interest in medical research has led to the chairmanship of UW Hospitals and Clinics. For Walsh, it’s not a passing interest because his wife, Nancy, has progressive Multiple Sclerosis, and he has two children with Usher Syndrome. Both were born hearing-impaired and both suffer from retinitis pigmentosa, the deterioration of the retina.
For personal and communal reasons, he has thrown his support behind a regenerative medicine project in which Dr. David Gamm, a researcher at the UW Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, is trying to develop induced pluripotent stem cells into photo receptor cells, which are nerve cells found in the eye’s retina.
Walsh estimates the research program has attracted $4 million in grants, which is another reason why supporting the university is so important to him.
“The one fact that stands out to me is the university is in the top three in merit-based research grants every year,” Walsh said. “That is an unbelievable reality for the state of Wisconsin and a community such as Madison.”
Sign up for the free IB Update — your weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices and the names you need to know. Click here.
