Executives Make their Choices

The 565-member IB Executive Register Class of 2009 is a collection of business executives with discriminating tastes, and their business-to-business preferences were once again tapped to reveal our annual Executive Consumer Choice Awards.

The top three vote-getters in 29 business-related categories are presented on the following pages, and they represent a virtual Who’s Who and What’s What in Greater Madison advertising, banking, insurance, and management training, to name a few.

Their performance is something for area businesses to strive for, particularly since the survey featured a fill-in-the-bank style that makes it more difficult to tally votes but, in our view, provides a truer and unbiased picture of area business excellence.

As always, there are several newcomers mixed in with perennial winners. The seven new, first-place winners include Brownhouse Designs (Architecture), First Weber Realtors, Glowac+Harris+Madison, Foley & Lardner, Harbor Athletic Club, Interactive Media Solutions, and SupraNet.

Yet there is something to be said for the companies that top their respective categories year after year. Two companies — Baker Tilly (formerly Virchow Krause) and Core BTS (formerly Inacom Information Systems) — even changed their identities and maintained their leading status.

In all, 22 of 29 winners repeated, including: American Family Insurance, Brownhouse Designs (Interior Design), Core BTS, Dale Carnegie Training, Econoprint, Eno Vino, First Business Bank, Group Health Cooperative, Hausmann-Johnson, Hilton Madison Monona Terrace, JBM, J.H. Findorff & Son, Lerdahl Business Interiors, Madison Club, Marigold Restaurant, QTI Group, Smith & Gesteland, TDS Telecom, U.S. Cellular, UW Credit Union, and UW-Madison.

Brownhouse Designs has the distinction of being No. 1 in two categories: preferred commercial interior design firm and preferred local architectural firm.

For a complete list of winners, IB invites you to take a peek inside.

Want to vote next year? Visit the Executive Directory to apply for the ER.

[*=Tie]

Preferred Commercial Builder

1. JH Findorff & Son
2. Bachmann Construction
3. Ideal Builders

Preferred Accounting Firm

1. Smith & Gesteland
2. Baker Tilly Virchow Krause

   Meicher & Associates*

3. SVA Cert. Public Acctnts

Preferred Local Bank

1. First Business Bank
2. Capitol Bank
3. M&I Bank,

   Johnson Bank*

Preferred Credit Union

1. UW Credit Union
2. Summit Credit Union
3. Heritage Credit Union

Preferred Health Insurance Company

1. Group Health Cooperative
2. Dean Care
3. WPS

Preferred Advertising Agency

1. Glowac+Harris+Madison
2. Knupp & Watson
3. Hiebing

Preferred Commercial Interior Design Firm

1. Brownhouse Designs LLC
2. InteriorLogic
3. Target Commercial Interiors

Preferred Office Furniture Company

1. Lerdahl Office Interiors
2. Target Commercial Interiors
3. Emmons Business Interiors

Preferred Web site Development Company

1. Interactive Media Solutions
2. Econoprint
3. Glowac+Harris+Madison

Preferred Local IT Consultant

1. SupraNet Communications
2. Aberdean Consulting LLC
3. Core BTS (formerly Inacom)

   CDW*

Preferred Management Training Company

1. Dale Carnegie Training
2. UW-Madison SBDC
3. ActionCOACH

Preferred Higher Education Training Institute

1. UW-Madison
2. Madison Area Tech. College
3. Edgewood College

Preferred IT Training Company/Facility

1. Core BTS (formerly Inacom)
2. Herzing University
3. Madison Area Technical College

Preferred Real Estate Company

1. First Weber Group
2. Stark Company Realtors
3. Restaino & Associates

Preferred Cell Phone Provider

1. US Cellular
2. Verizon
3. AT&T

Preferred Telephone Company

1. TDS
2. AT&T
3. Verizon

Preferred Local Hotel for Business Function

1. Hilton Madison
2. Madison Concourse
3. Marriott Madison West

Preferred Local Printing Company

1. Econoprint, Inc.
2. Suttle-Straus, Inc.
3. Kramer Printing

   American Printing*

Preferred Local Security Company

1. JBM Patrol & Protection
2. Per Mar Security Svcs
3. MPI Services

Preferred Local Staffing Firm

1. QTI Group
2. Drake & Company
3. Celerity Staffing Solutions

Preferred Restaurant for Breakfast

1. Marigold Kitchen
2. Panera Bread
3. The Madison Club

Preferred Restaurant for Lunch

1. The Madison Club
2. Biaggi’s Ristorante
3. Great Dane Brew Pub

Preferred Restaurant for Dinner

1. The Madison Club
2. Johnny Delmonico’s
3. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Preferred Establishment for Business Cocktails

1. Eno Vino Wine Bar/Bistro
2. The Madison Club
3. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Preferred Health and Fitness Center

1. Harbor Athletic Club
2. The Princeton Club
3. Pinnacle Health/Fitness

Preferred Commercial Architecture Firm

1. Brownhouse Designs LLC
2. Strang, Inc.
3. Potter Lawson, Inc.

Preferred Law Firm

1. Foley & Lardner
2. Michael Best & Friedrich
3. Murphy Desmond

Preferred Insurance Company

1. American Family Insurance
2. General Casualty (QBE)
3. State Farm Insurance

Preferred Independent Insurance Agency

1. Hausmann-Johnson
2. Neckerman Insurance
3. M3

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