North Central Group, a 40+ Year Leader in the Hospitality Industry, Unveils New Company Name and Logo

MADISON, Wis. (August 25, 2022) — North Central Group, a leader in the ownership, development and operation of premier hospitality properties, has announced that they will debut a new company name and logo that solidifies their expertise in all aspects of the hospitality industry: real estate, development, asset management, hotels and more.

Renamed to “NCG Hospitality,” the Wisconsin-based, family-owned business looks to embrace a new identity that focuses on the full spectrum of hospitality development, operations and management. Established in 1981 by David Lenz, NCG Hospitality is credited with over 70 hospitality projects during its 40+ years and currently owns and operates more than 30 properties across multiple states and national brands.

“Our new name and logo perfectly encapsulate the depth and breadth of our passionate pursuit of our company mission of being ‘Premier’ — among the best of the best — at NCG Hospitality,” said Jonathan Bogatay, Chief Executive Officer of NCG Hospitality. “We are growing and proud to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work, and in our industry as a whole.”

Alongside their new company name, NCG Hospitality adopts a modernized logo that represents the core pillars of NCG Hospitality as an employer, real estate developer and property manager. NCG Hospitality aims to continue to build a diversified hospitality portfolio and relationships with its Team Members that allow everyone to work with, grow with and stay with NCG Hospitality for the long run. The three-dimensional square block represents a foundation and opportunities for teamwork as well as internal and external growth that NCG Hospitality is able to provide.

“This is a major milestone for our company, one which celebrates a family-owned business for not only reaching 40 years, but also setting the foundation for the future. Real estate is our trade… hospitality is our craft! We are excited to enter this next era with the most incredible, growth-minded craftspeople — our Team Members,” said Jeff Lenz, President and Chief Asset Officer.

To learn more about NCG Hospitality, visit ncghospitality.com or follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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About NCG Hospitality     

NCG Hospitality is a leader in the ownership, development, and operation of premier hospitality properties. Established in 1981 by David Lenz, NCG Hospitality is a family-owned business with over 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry. We own and operate more than 30 properties across multiple states and national brands. We leverage our unparalleled expertise to provide hotel management services, hotel development expertise, and real estate-focused services to property owners and investors throughout the U.S. Learn more at ncghospitality.com.

Contact:
Jake Leskovar
jleskovar@evokebrands.com
(608) 556-7470

Cap Times: Carl Bernstein with David Maraniss Coming to Idea Fest Sept. 15

Read Paul Fanlund’s full column here

Early in his memoir about his entrée into newspapering, Carl Bernstein recalled his first time a big story broke — an “eruption” he called it — at the now-defunct Washington Evening Star.

“A police call on the city desk squawk box reported the possible electrocution of at least two victims at one of the city’s public swimming pools,” Bernstein wrote. The supervising editor motioned over a team of reporters and gave them instructions. Bernstein watched as they tore out in separate directions — to the scene of the accident, to two local hospitals and to police headquarters. A 10-year-old boy and a lifeguard who tried to save him had been electrocuted. An electrician had been repairing wires on the pool and his 9-year-old son, who was with him, had tragically turned on a switch.

Seventy-five minutes or so after the police dispatcher’s first call, the last paragraph of an extensive story was reaching the newspaper’s composing room to be set into type.

“I felt, for the first time, the adrenaline rush of a newspaper rising to a story,” Bernstein wrote.

He was 16 at the time and barely paying enough attention to his formal education to finish high school, but he was getting his preferred education as a newspaper copy boy, the first rung on a ladder that would lead to immortality as co-author of the Washington Post’s reporting on Watergate, arguably the most consequential investigative journalism in U.S. history.

Next month, people in Madison will get the chance to hear Bernstein talk in person about his colorful early career, his Watergate recollections and the ongoing era of Donald Trump.

And it won’t be just any conversation with an ordinary interviewer.

Bernstein will be interviewed by his longtime friend and fellow Washington Post icon David Maraniss. Both are Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and acclaimed authors.

Any interview by Maraniss is special. He is perhaps Madison’s most accomplished author and journalist, a West High School graduate whose father, Elliott, was once editor of the Cap Times. A fixture of Cap Times Idea Fest since it began in 2017, Maraniss has invited many national figures to Madison, starting in the first year with Marty Baron, then the Post’s top editor.

Through the years, I have personally thanked Post notables such as Baron, Dan Balz, Amy Goldstein, Carol Leonnig, Alexandra Petri, Catherine Rampell and Phil Rucker, among others, for making the not-all-that-easy trip to Madison. They often cite their admiration of Maraniss as a colleague, friend and, in some cases, as a mentor.

The Bernstein-Maraniss conversation will be a limited-capacity weeknight session of Idea Fest, new for us, that requires a separate ticket to benefit the independent local journalism of The Capital Times.

The $125 price (discounted for Cap Times members and for those purchasing tables) includes drinks, appetizers and a copy of Bernstein’s latest book, which was quoted above: “Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom.” It’s not about Watergate, but about Bernstein’s 15-year apprenticeship in the newspaper business.

The event is at 7 p.m. on Thursday night, Sept. 15, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and you can purchase tickets here.

I am biased, of course, but I think this will be one of the most memorable, even historic, conversations we have hosted in what is now our sixth annual thought festival.

For me, that’s in part because Bernstein and reporting partner Bob Woodward (whom Maraniss interviewed for Idea Fest in 2020) inspired a generation of baby boomers to enter journalism after Watergate in the late 1970s. The romance and public service of what they did contributed to a glut of would-be journalists trying to elbow into the profession. Trust me, I recall that part all too well.

Bernstein’s account of big, breaking stories also struck a chord, reminding me of some of Madison’s biggest local stories in recent decades that I was part of as a reporter and editor at the Wisconsin State Journal. One was the tornado that terrorized tiny Barneveld in the overnight hours in June 1984, killing nine; another was a shattering double homicide at the City-County Building by a young man named Aaron Lindh in 1988; and a third the 1993 post-game stampede at Camp Randall Stadium after the Badgers defeated Michigan that injured and nearly killed scores of fans.

Those stories, like Bernstein’s many examples, involved all-hands-on-deck journalistic teams making sense of chaos and providing depth, breadth and context for next-day print newspaper readers before the internet changed the delivery of news.

Bernstein’s book describes his many early-career experiences on stories from the Kennedy administration to the civil rights movement, but he writes most colorfully about a spellbinding array of crimes and accidents and explains how he and more veteran reporters somehow managed to wrangle information.

Woodward, his Watergate-era partner, described Bernstein on the book’s jacket as “one of the great reporters of all time. He taught himself the genius of perpetual engagement that led us to Watergate: watching, looking, questioning and overwhelming the moment. His rules — go anywhere, listen hard, push and push some more — are, to this day, the touchstone of investigative reporting.”

Two months ago, to mark the 50th anniversary of the break-in at Democratic headquarters in the Watergate office building that culminated 26 months later in President Richard Nixon’s resignation, Bernstein and Woodward co-authored an opinion page reflection for the Post comparing the Nixon era to the years of Donald Trump.

“Both Nixon and Trump have been willing prisoners of their compulsions to dominate, and to gain and hold political power through virtually any means,” they wrote. “In leaning so heavily on these dark impulses, they defined two of the most dangerous and troubling eras in American history.

“As (George) Washington warned in his Farewell Address more than 225 years ago, unprincipled leaders could create ‘permanent despotism,’ ‘the ruins of public liberty,’ and ‘riot and insurrection.’ ”

So please join us for an evening with two of the country’s foremost observers and commentators. You will support a good cause, and it will almost certainly be a night you’ll remember.

The Curtain Rises on Madison Ballet’s 41st Season

MADISON, WI – The artists of Madison Ballet are back in the studio preparing for an unprecedentedly athletic and inspiring season under the artistic leadership of Ja’ Malik. The newly appointed Artistic Director has built a company of local and international dancers that has grown exponentially while providing more opportunities for audiences to be inspired.

Read more here

Suttle-Straus Holding Free Brunch Event on Paper and Packaging Ideas

JOIN US FOR AN EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR AND FREE BRUNCH!

When: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 9:00-10:30am

Where: Suttle-Straus 1050 Uniek Drive, Waunakee, WI 53597

Who: Limited to 40 marketers and/or creatives at this session

What: A hot breakfast buffet and the presentation on “The Idea Shop Packaging Collection.”

As buyers receive a purchase at their doorstep, they start to consider if it was a good investment or an item to soon be returned. The unboxing experience gives each buyer a moment to see how the brand values their own product, how the brand values the customer, and what they can expect from that brand moving forward. All this communication happens in the few moments after the tape is cut and item is revealed.

With a focus on sustainable solutions, The Idea Shop Packaging Collection takes a careful look at each moment in the unboxing experience. Through print demonstrations we explore how to maximize brand impact while utilizing materials that are responsibly made and recyclable. Primary and secondary boxes as well as wraps, labels, envelopes, and invites are featured.

Each attendee will receive a kit free of charge.

How: Register on the Eventbrite page to claim your ticket. RSVP before tickets run out!

Have questions? Email marketing@suttle-straus.com or call Maeghan Nicholson at 608-850-2967.

Wisconsin Union Theater Adds Three New Events to its 2022-23 Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 2, 2022

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

WISCONSIN UNION THEATER ADDS THREE NEW EVENTS TO ITS 2022-23 SEASON
2022-23 Wisconsin Union Theater season begins Sept. 15

MADISON – The Wisconsin Union Theater team will soon raise the curtain on its 2022-23 season of jazz, global music, folk music, classical music, and dance and has released three additions to its season: the Soweto Gospel Choir, American Patchwork Quartet, and PILOBOLUS “The Big Five-OH!”.

Discounted packages for its classical music series and jazz series were released in May and June, respectively, and, as of Aug. 1, patrons can purchase single tickets.

Planned in collaboration with student leaders in the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee (PAC), the season includes in-person performances along with an online attendance option for most events.

A consistent thread of extraordinary talent connects generations of performers across the genres the Theater will present in the lineup. Performances include the following:

• Jazz Series: DOMi & JD Beck, Sept. 15
• Concert Series: Emerson String Quartet, Sept. 24
• Concert Series: Manhattan Chamber Players, Sept. 29
• Soweto Gospel Choir, Oct. 8
• Jazz Series: Joel Ross Good Vibes, Oct. 16
• Jazz Series: Cory Henry, Nov. 3
• Concert Series: Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw, Nov. 5
• American Patchwork Quartet, Nov.17
• Concert Series: violinist Geneva Lewis with pianist Evren Ozel, Jan. 27, 2023
• PILOBOLUS “The Big Five-OH!”, Feb. 1, 2023
• Concert Series: Imani Winds, Feb. 5, 2023
• Jazz Series: Cécile McLorin Salvant, Feb. 7, 2023
• Jazz Series: Samara Joy, Feb. 16, 2023
• Jazz Series: Immanuel Wilkins, March 25, 2023
• Concert Series: clarinetist Anthony McGill with the UW–Madison Symphony Orchestra, April 4, 2023
• Concert Series: Danish String Quartet, April 18, 2023

Newly announced to the lineup are the Soweto Gospel Choir, American Patchwork Quartet, and PILOBOLUS “The Big Five-Oh!” performances.

The Soweto Gospel Choir celebrates African gospel music and brings more than 50 artists from churches in and around Soweto, South Africa, together on stages across the world.

The following month, the American Patchwork Quartet will take the Play Circle stage at Memorial Union for a performance of American root music. Not holding itself to one genre, the ensemble weaves together the fibers of songs from America’s past. 

Returning to the Wisconsin Union Theater, the clever and popular dance group PILOBOLUS will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a selection of pieces from its decades of awe-inspiring performances but with unexpected twists on traditions and witty surprises in its show aptly titled, “The Big Five-OH!”.

The Wisconsin Union Theater announced the 2022-23 Concert Series cutting-edge, contemporary and traditional classical performances in May and its Jazz Series of artists on the rise in June.

“This next season is part of our continued rise out of the pandemic, and it’s wonderful to offer both in-person and virtual options for our patrons once again. The classical and jazz music series are amazing this year, and we’ve sprinkled in three more special events with the return of dance to Shannon Hall with PILOBOLUS, some gorgeous singing and dancing by the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa, and a new folk and roots quartet, called American Patchwork Quartet, influenced by four different cultures,” Wisconsin Union Theater Director Elizabeth Snodgrass said. “And, of course, I’m super proud of last year’s Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee student leaders, who programmed this exciting season.”

Patrons can purchase tickets to season events online, by phone at (608) 265-2787, or in-person at the Memorial Union Box Office.

The Wisconsin Union Theater team offers a Jazz Series in-person ticket subscription to all six Series shows at a 20% discount through Sept. 15. Patrons can also purchase a Concert Series in-person ticket subscription to all Concert Series events at a 20% discount through Sept. 23.

In addition to subscription options, as of Aug. 1, patrons can purchase single tickets and, when available, virtual attendance tickets for announced 2022-23 Wisconsin Union Theater season shows. Wisconsin Union lifetime and annual members, patrons under the age of 18, and current University of Wisconsin–Madison students are eligible for discounted single tickets.

Prior to the start of the season, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYO Jazz) will perform a free concert on the Shannon Hall stage at Memorial Union on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. as part of Wisconsin Union Theater’s summer jazz offerings. Seating for this event is available on a first come, first served basis.

Before performances at Memorial Union, patrons can enjoy on-site dining options, including pub food in a historic space, called der Rathskeller; locally made ice cream at the Daily Scoop; or a beverage from the Shannon Sunset Lounge, which will be open on a limited basis before select shows across from Shannon Hall.

The Wisconsin Union Theater team presents arts programming that prioritizes diverse art forms, curates world-class performing arts, and works to foster inclusive spaces both on stage and behind the scenes. The Theater is part of the Wisconsin Union, a non-profit organization with a vision of serving as the social heart of UW–Madison, where all belong.

This season is made possible in part due to donations from generous supporters. The Emerson String Quartet’s and the Manhattan Chamber Players’ performances are part of the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music series supported by the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Fund. The entire season is presented with support from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

For more information about the 2022-23 Wisconsin Union Theater season, visit union.wisc.edu/wisconsin-union-theater.

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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 committed to social justice and continues to work towards creating an equitable, diverse, and inclusive place for all who engage with the Theater’s programming, events, and activities. The Wisconsin Union Theater is part of the Wisconsin Union, a membership organization that blends learning and leisure to create unique out-of-classroom opportunities. Learn more: union.wisc.edu/wisconsin-union-theater.

To read this release online, visit union.wisc.edu/about/news/season-2022-23.