Speakers for this event

• Catherine Wilson

  Catherine Wilson

  Founder, Home Pro Digital

  Home Pro Digital is a full-service website and marketing agency that specializes in creating websites and marketing strategies specifically for contractors and service professionals. With over a decade in digital marketing, Catherine Wilson started Home Pro Digital after experiencing the unique needs contractors face working with her husband who is a plumber. Coming from a long line of independent contractors and a passion for the trades, she built a team of developers, designers, copywriters, and marketing pros that have decades of experience working with the construction and remodeling industry. 

  Founder, Home Pro Digital

• Charles Franklin

  Charles Franklin

  Director, Marquette Law School Poll

  Nationally recognized government scholar and pollster Charles Franklin has been director of the Marquette Law School Poll since its inception in 2012 and became a full-time member of the faculty in 2013. Under Franklin’s direction as a visiting professor at Marquette, the poll became the largest independent polling project in state history. Since joining Marquette as a professor of law and public policy in August 2013, Franklin has used the poll to continue tracking political races of interest to voters and explore additional public policy issues. Prior to joining the Marquette faculty, Franklin was a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison beginning in 1992.

  Director, Marquette Law School Poll

• Dan Parks

  Dan Parks

  Safety Manager, ABC of Wisconsin

  Dan Parks has more than 16 years of experience in safety with a degree in occupational safety and health from UW-Whitewater. He is an OSHA-authorized instructor for 10- and 30-hour construction programs, a certified instructor for NUCA Confined Space and Trenching and Excavation Competent Person Training Program and an authorized first aid/CPR and AED trainer.

  Safety Manager, ABC of Wisconsin

• Dave Schwallier

  Dave Schwallier

  Director of Consulting, Lift Consulting, LLC

  As Director of Consulting for Lift Consulting, LLC, Dave Schwallier works with several large and small construction organizations and contractors, training on sales, marketing, management, and leadership. Dave uses personal construction business and consulting experience, and research, to reinforce points and introduce practical tips and strategies. He holds a BBA and MBA from UW-Whitewater and as a lifelong learner himself, has earned numerous professional certifications.

  Director of Consulting, Lift Consulting, LLC

• Eagan Heath

  Eagan Heath

  Founder, Get Found Madison

  Eagan Heath is Founder of Get Found Madison, an online marketing firm that assists local businesses grow businesses using the latest online marketing techniques. He believes strongly in entreprenuership and the good it does for the world. He brings many years of experience in project management and implementation consulting from Epic to the many steps in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign.

  Founder, Get Found Madison

• Jeff Pigott

  Jeff Pigott

  Leadership Specialist, Pinnacle Development Group

  Jeff Pigott has been involved in the construction industry for more than 35 years. Jeff’s early years in construction involved working “on the tools” in a large family owned construction company that focused on self-perform concrete and formwork. His experience includes just about every role involved in construction from craft worker, to Foreman, Safety Director, Assistant Site Supervisor, Site Superintendent, Project Coordinator, Project Manager, Vice president, Senior Vice President, and President. He is a true veteran, developing and managing companies, utilizing the principles of operational excellence, with a guiding belief that great companies are led by great leaders; and supported by strong processes. In 2017, Jeff joined Brad Humphrey at Pinnacle Development Group as a Leadership Specialist. Jeff works with companies to grow and develop systems, processes and leaders from Foreman, to front line supervisors all the way up to Senior Executives.

  Leadership Specialist, Pinnacle Development Group

• Jessica Drexler

  Jessica Drexler

  Senior Advisor, FarWell

  Leveraging a diverse background in corporate, consulting and agency experience, Jessica Drexler helps to align business goals and go-to-market efforts to support organizational priorities. Whether based on profitability, revenue growth or a need to attract and retain great people, Jess designs targeted messaging and communications strategies to create buy-in, support and promotion of a company’s unique positioning and competitive advantage. Jess has worked in construction marketing and is currently a senior advisor for FarWell, a flexiblity advisory firm in Madison.

  Senior Advisor, FarWell

• Josh Klemons

  Josh Klemons

  Founder, Reverbal Communications

  Josh Klemons is a Digital Storyteller/Strategist and the founder of Reverbal Communications, helping brands of all shapes and sizes find, hone and tell their stories online. He has done digital work with local, statewide and national political campaigns, tiny non-profits, Fortune 500 companies and everything in between. He sits on the board of Social Media Breakfast Madison, Grow Madison and the Marketing Committee for the United Way of Dane County.

  Founder, Reverbal Communications

• Laura Monagle

  Laura Monagle

  AFFIRM

  Laura Monagle has more than 25 years of successful strategic marketing, public relations, crisis communications, and employee communications experience; the last 13 with AFFIRM. Her client work includes both private and public sector organizations such as Godfrey & Kahn S.C., ManpowerGroup, Charter Manufacturing, ESI Group USA, the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Business Health Care Group. She is one of only 5,000 members of the Public Relations Society of America nationally to be Accredited in Public Relations (APR).

  AFFIRM

• Marty Wilberding

  Marty Wilberding

  Owner, Wilberding Mechanical

  Plumbing and heating contractor Marty Wilberding of Cuba City will recount his story of surviving a near-fatal trench collapse on June 20, 2017 in Lafayette County. He broke his neck, eye socket, hip and 16 ribs after being buried up to his head in the accident. Wilberding has been in the business for about 30 years and a firefighter with the Cuba City Volunteer Fire Department since 1987.

  Owner, Wilberding Mechanical

• Matthew Pletzer

  Matthew Pletzer

  CEO, Lift Consulting

  Matthew Pletzer is the founder and CEO of Lift Consulting, a Sandler Training Organization. Lift is a Business Generation firm that works with modern companies on business generation challenges such as: digital lead generation, professional skill development, to boutique employee staffing and recruiting. Matthew has demonstrated throughout his career his success with sales, leadership and strategy development, and his passion is helping small to mid-size companies grow.

  CEO, Lift Consulting

• Randy Goruk

  Randy Goruk

  Founder, LeadersEdge360

  Over his 26-year career with Trus Joist Corporation (now a Weyerhaeuser business), Randy Goruk was part of a dynamic senior management team whose change initiatives increased annual revenues from $60 million to $1 billion. Today, as a leadership development expert and employee engagement specialist in the construction industry, Randy draws from his experience of taking multimillion-dollar companies through tough times while delivering practical insight into today’s business challenges..

  Founder, LeadersEdge360

• Rebecca Kleefisch

  Rebecca Kleefisch

  Jobs Ambassador

  Rebecca Kleefisch is ABC of Wisconsin’s “Jobs Ambassador” and the former executive director of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, where she led the country’s efforts to commemorate and educate America about the 100th anniversary of women earning the right to vote. She served as lieutenant governor of Wisconsin from 2011-2019, where she championed workforce and economic development. She is well known for her efforts fighting poverty and focusing on prison re-entry reform, among many other efforts.

  Jobs Ambassador

• Ron Wirtz

  Ron Wirtz

  Regional Outreach Director, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

  Ron Wirtz is a Regional Outreach Director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Ron’s primary responsibilities involve tracking current business conditions across the six-state Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, northwest Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Montana. Ron tracks activity in employment and wages – which are central to the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate of promoting stable prices and maximum employment – along with construction, real estate, tourism and consumer spending. Previous to this position, Ron was the editor of the fedgazette, a regional business and economics journal published by the Minneapolis Fed.

  Regional Outreach Director, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

• Spencer X. Smith

  Spencer X. Smith

  Founder, AmpliPhi

  Spencer X. Smith is the founder of social media marketing company AmpliPhi and an instructor at the University of Wisconsin and Rutgers University. He was formerly a vice president of sales for two Fortune 100 companies. He’s been called a “Social Media Expert” by Forbes, and AmpliPhi is the winner of the 2016, 2017, and 2018 InBusiness Magazine Executive Choice Award for Social Media Consulting Company.

  Founder, AmpliPhi