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
Savant Named a Top 15 Firm in the Nation
Savant Wealth Management among top U.S. firms by number of advisors
Savant Wealth Management has been named a top 15 firm by number of advisors, according to business information company Financial Planning. Savant has locations in Madison and Park Falls.
A nationally recognized, fee-only wealth management firm headquartered in Rockford, IL, Savant Wealth Management (formerly Savant Capital Management) was ranked No. 4 by number of advisors. At the time of the ranking, the firm had 79 advisors and managed $6.69 billion in assets.
Financial Planning named Savant to its top 15 list, which only included firms that specifically provide financial planning services to retail clients on a fee-only basis. Firms were required to serve at least 50 percent individual or high-net-worth clients, and could not take commissions or retain broker-dealer affiliations. Rankings also were based on the number of investment advisor representatives listed on SEC Form ADV as of May 1, 2020.
Through digital, print, social media, and live event platforms, Financial Planning is an industry resource for more than 460,000 financial planning professionals. Click here to view the complete top 15 list.
About Savant Wealth Management
Savant Wealth Management, formerly known as Savant Capital Management, is a leading independent, fee-only firm serving clients for 30 years with more than $8.3 billion in assets under management. Savant Wealth 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 is headquartered in Rockford, with locations in Bloomington, Chicago, Downers Grove, Freeport, Hoffman Estates, Lincolnshire, Naperville, Peoria, St. Charles, Sterling, and Wilmette, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Santa Fe, NM; Madison and Park Falls, WI; and McLean, VA. Please see Important Disclosures at savantwealth.com.
Neither rankings and/or recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, nor the achievement of any professional designation, certification, degree, or license, or any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Savant Wealth Management is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Rankings published by magazines, and others, generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the recognized adviser. Rankings are generally limited to participating advisers. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, Savant Wealth Management did not pay a fee to be included on any such ranking. No ranking or recognition should be construed as a current or past endorsement of Savant Wealth Management by any of its clients. ANY QUESTIONS: Savant Wealth Management’s Chief Compliance Officer remains available to address any questions regarding rankings and/or recognitions, including the criteria used for any reflected ranking.
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Michelle Behnke Elected to Capitol Bank’s Board of Directors
Madison, WI: Ken Thompson, President and CEO of Capitol Bank, is pleased to announce the election of Michelle Behnke to the Board of Directors of Capitol Bank. Michelle accepted the position in September and will serve a three-year term. She serves as Principal of Michelle Behnke & Associates in Madison, a legal firm specializing in business law, real estate law and estate planning services since 1998. UW–Madison and University of Wisconsin Law School are where Michelle obtained her undergraduate and law degrees, respectively.
“Michelle’s experience as a business owner and 30 years of practicing law, along with her active leadership in our community, will provide invaluable insight to future strategic initiatives,” said Thompson.
Michelle has spent her career giving back to the community through board positions and volunteerism. She most recently served as treasurer of the American Bar Association and on its Board of Governors, and also recently served on the SSM Healthcare of Wisconsin, Inc. Board. Since 2005, Michelle has consistently been named to the list of Best Lawyers in America.

About Capitol Bank: Capitol Bank, locally owned and operated, is committed to serving the communities in which we live, work and do business. We are proud of the partnerships we have established with organizations, businesses and individuals in the Madison and Verona communities. Our philosophy of community support is demonstrated at the corporate level, as well as in the time and energy our employees devote to our community each year. Capitol Bank is Member FDIC.
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Suttle-Straus Announces Webinar on Converting Website Visitors Into Leads
Suttle-Straus, a commercial printing and marketing services provider in Waunakee, is hosting a complimentary webinar titled “Convert Website Visitors Into Leads and Revenue.”
Did you know you can create a list of leads from your website WITHOUT having visitors complete a single form field?
According to Google Analytics, 96% of the people visiting your website leave without taking any action. If all of your marketing channels are driving traffic to your website but only convert 4% of the visitors, how can you find out who these visitors are and send them relevant offers quickly?
In this webinar you can learn how to grab anonymous website visitors, retarget them with direct mail, and return them to convert on abandoned shopping carts, non-profit donation campaigns, or repeat loyalty purchases.
This webinar will cover:
- How to capture visitors to your website and get their address, without the use of a single form
- How you can use time, date and pages visited by the individual to create an urgent call to action
- What retargeted direct mail is
- How retargeted direct mail can help increase average order size, decrease abandoned shopping carts and drive a 9-18% response rate
Convert Your Website Visitors Into Leads and Revenue
Speaker: The Suttle-Straus Direct Mail Team
Date/Time: November 12, 2020 Noon Central Time
Cost: Complimentary
Register here: https://www.suttle-straus.com/getleads
About Suttle-Straus (www.suttle-straus.com)
Suttle-Straus provides comprehensive marketing solutions including creative design, mailing, fulfillment, distribution, displays, signage, promotional products, conventional and digital printing. Our S4 Marketing Resource Center print-on-demand technology advances the execution speed of local marketing for distributed networks. Through long-term, collaborative client partnerships, Suttle-Straus delivers marketing solutions that help our customers win.
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Virtual 2nd Black Arts Matter Festival Will Raise Up Black Voices and Art Around the Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 26, 2020
Contact Information:
Shauna Breneman, Communications Director
Phone: (608) 262-8862
Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu
VIRTUAL 2ND BLACK ARTS MATTER FESTIVAL WILL RAISE UP BLACK VOICES AND ART AROUND THE COUNTRY
MADISON – The Black Arts Matter (BAM) Festival will return to raise up Black voices and art virtually Nov. 5, 12 and 19 with three events curated and co-produced by interdisciplinary artist, slam poet and UW-Madison alumna Shasparay Irvin ‘20 and the Wisconsin Union Theater.
During the first event on Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. CDT, spoken word and performance artist Ebony Stewart will perform her critically acclaimed one-woman show, called “Ocean.” The award-winning play includes themes of maternal love, motherhood and womanhood. Stewart will take part in a live question-and-answer session immediately following her performance.
Then, on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. CDT, saxophonist and singer Braxton Cook will perform a live concert, participate in a Q&A, and hold a workshop about looping, which is a short segment of music played seamlessly on repeat. Some may refer to Cook’s music as jazz, but his sound has also been heralded as all its own, combining jazz, soul, R&B, and alternative music.
The Festival will continue on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. CDT with a poetry slam during which eight artists from around the country will compete for cash prizes and the honor of being named the winner of the 2nd Annual Black Arts Matter Festival poetry slam.
Irvin created the Black Arts Matter Festival as a UW-Madison student and debuted the first Festival in March 2019 to hundreds of attendees. She founded the BAM Festival with the mission of building a community around Black artistry by uplifting Black art and Black voices in white-dominated spaces. The idea arose as she observed a lack of diversity in Madison area arts performances.
“I decided to create this festival to prioritize Black voices in a predominantly white space, especially a white-centric arts space,” Irvin said.
The Wisconsin Union Theater joins Irvin in the planning and implementing of this year’s festival in a collaborative effort to raise up Black voices around the country.
“I have such high respect for Shasparay who, when she saw a need for something, created it herself. When I learned about her work in 2019, I knew immediately that I wanted to find a way to support her artistry and her vision even before joining the Wisconsin Union Theater,” Wisconsin Union Theater Director Elizabeth Snodgrass said. “I’m thrilled to be working with her on the Festival, because it is so aligned with the Theater’s programming goals. We are working to create space for what has been too often absent on stages, including Black art.”
The team aims for all of its spaces, including online ones, to be accessible. Those that need accommodations can reach out to the Wisconsin Union Theater team at wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu.
The Wisconsin Union Theater has provided a variety of arts events, from music to dance to plays in its more than 75 years on the UW-Madison campus. The student organization, called the Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee participates in the planning of many Theater events, including the BAM Festival.
Presenting programming like the BAM Festival reflects part of a lived promise by the Wisconsin Union Theater to take action in standing against racial inequities and in decentering whiteness. For a full statement on the Theater’s stance and efforts, click here.
This series is made possible with financial support from Dane Arts, the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Joel Skornica Fund, the Frautschi Fund, and the Hodgin Fund as well as in-kind support from The Capital City Hues.
For more information about the Festival and to sign-up to receive Festival updates, click here.
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About the Wisconsin Union Theater
For more than 75 years, the Wisconsin Union Theater has served as a center for cultural activity in the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The Theater hosts performances in multiple locations, including Memorial Union, and has an expansive history of remarkable performances. The Wisconsin Union Theater is part of the Wisconsin Union, a membership organization that blends study and leisure to create unique out-of-classroom opportunities. Learn more about the Theater: union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater.
About the Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee
The Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee plans and promotes events for the historic Wisconsin Union Theater stages. The student-led committee programs a variety of events to provide a diverse and cultural experience for students, faculty, alumni, community members and visitors. Learn more: union.wisc.edu/get-involved/wud/performing-arts.
To read this release online, visit union.wisc.edu/black-arts-matter.
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Madison College: Senior Digital Marketing Strategist, DEADLINE EXTENDED
Madison College is excited to introduce a Sr. Digital Marketing Strategist to our Marketing and Public Relations department. We are seeking a candidate with strong email campaign, digital analytics and assessment, and SEO experience. This work can be done on campus or from a remote location. If you are looking for a fulfilling career that can display all of these skills, apply now!
Madison College’s dedication to promoting equity, inclusion and diversity is reflected in our Mission, Vision, and Values. Hiring an inclusive workforce that mirrors our student population is more than just a commitment at Madison College—it is the foundation of what we are striving to do. Come be part of our great team!