WPS Health Solutions adds two new Board members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-512-5754
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

WPS Health Solutions adds two new Board members
New members expand federal contracting expertise

MADISON, Wis.—Oct. 4, 2023—In September, the WPS Health Solutions Board of Directors voted to add two new members to its roster. Joining the WPS Board are Karen Jackson and Larry Kocot.

Jackson retired from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in March of this year, where she served as Deputy Chief of Operations. At CMS, she was responsible for directing operational support for more than $1 trillion in health care spending with an annual budget of $7 billion, which included information technology, human capital, physical and systems security, risk management, and more.

Kocot retired at the end of September from KPMG LLP, a global professional services firm, where he has been a Principal and National Leader for the firm’s Center for Healthcare Regulatory Insight. Prior to KPMG, Kocot was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Senior Counsel at Epstein Becker Green, PC. He was also Senior Advisor to the Administrator and a key member of the management and operations team at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the implementation of Medicare Part D.

“These two individuals are highly experienced with extraordinary backgrounds that will help take WPS to the next level,” WPS Board Chair Steve Skoronski said. “I’m grateful they have agreed to join us as we move forward with our growth strategy.”

The terms for each new member run through the company’s annual meeting in 2026. Other WPS Board members can be found online at wpshealthsolutions.com/about/board-of-directors.shtml.

About WPS Health Solutions®

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions), founded in 1946, is a nationally regarded benefits administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. WPS Health Solutions serves active-duty and retired military personnel, seniors, individuals, and families in Wisconsin, across the U.S., and around the world. WPS Health Solutions, headquartered in Madison, Wis., has more than 2,800 employees. Within the enterprise, there are three divisions: WPS Government Health Administrators, WPS Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health Insurance. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

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Mike Shea joins Lake Ridge Bank as Vice President-Senior Executive Banker

October 2, 2023 (MADISON, Wis.) – Mike Shea has joined Lake Ridge Bank as Vice President- Senior Executive Banker as of September 18. With more than 30 years as a local banker in the Madison market, Shea brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in building the types of connections that enable collaboration and ensure a client experience that exceeds expectations. He has spent the last 10 years serving high-net-worth clients in a private banking or executive banking capacity.  

Lake Ridge Bank’s Executive Banking Team provides concierge-style service to qualified customers who require a big-picture approach to managing sophisticated or complex banking needs. By providing a single point of contact, an executive banker offers the necessary expertise to simplify banking and seamlessly manage financial activities across a wide range of departments, encompassing a full spectrum of business and personal financial strategies. 

With a degree in Business Management, Shea has earned multiple awards of excellence throughout his career. He is a Certified Wealth Specialist through the Cannon Financial Institute and brings insights from a wide range of banking perspectives, including consumer lending, residential mortgage lending, private wealth management, and executive banking. Shea is also an active volunteer throughout the community, including serving as Vice President on the Badger Men’s Basketball Booster Club Board of Directors and participating in organizations such as the American Heart Association Go Red for Women Board, the Middleton High School Reality Day, and the Sertoma Club of Middleton. 

For more information about Executive Banking services at Lake Ridge Bank, contact Mike Shea at mshea@lakeridge.bank today.

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Lake Ridge Bank’s mission is to “create extraordinary banking experiences where everyone prospers.” For more than 100 years, this has meant getting to know each of our clients to offer personalized services to meet their specific financial goals. Lake Ridge Bank offers a full line of financial products and services. We focus on offering products and services to make your banking easy. Our business banking and mortgage lenders are trusted leaders in their field with the expertise to provide the right loan at the best rate possible for our clients. As a community bank, we are dedicated to reinvesting in, and making our communities great places to live, work and raise a family. Visit lakeridge.bank to learn more about how we can help you. Member FDIC 

Lake Ridge Bank. Go Far. Go Together! 

For additional information, please contact Mark Schellpfeffer at mschellpfeffer@lakeridge.bank.  

Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County: Looking for Volunteer Mentors for Next Step Fridays

Next Step Fridays is a partnership between MMSD GED Option #2 Program and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, that engages high school students with community partners to develop a College, Career, and Community Ready (CCCR) portfolio that will help students identify what their next steps will be after they graduate. The main goals of the portfolio will be to:

• Develop soft skills, with a focus on being college, career, and community ready
• Connect with a mentor that enables the student to go deeper into their CCCR interests, answering “where am I going?” and “how will I get there?”
• Create an post-graduation action plan with specific goals for the next step of their life plan, including financial plan and housing plan

We are looking for volunteers to mentor and coach our high school students so that they can reach their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring adults.  

Dates:   Fridays, October 13 – November 17

Time:     11 AM – 2 PM

Location: 3rd Floor, Lapham Elementary School, 1045 E Dayton St.

Schedule

Week 1: Speed mentoring

Wks 2-6: Create CCCR Portfolio with mentor

– Where am I going? – Goal setting

– Resume/cover letter

– Professional email address, sending professional emails, setting up

your phone and voicemail

– How will I get there?

– How to get specific job training, job skills, certificates, etc

– Job search workshop/Interview skills/mock interviews

– Job shadows

– Credit score, financial plan and housing plan

Week 7: CCCR Portfolio mentor speed feedback round

Week 8: Finalize Next Step Action Plan

If you are interest in becoming a mentor, please complete this short interest form: https://bgcdc.formstack.com/forms/next_step_fridays_mentor_interest

Wegner CPAs Announces Two New Partners

Wegner CPAs is pleased to announce the appointment of Dan Bergs, CPA and Mitch Davis, CPA as the newest partners of the firm effective October 1, 2023 

Bergs joined Wegner CPAs as an intern in 2008 and started full-time after graduation in 2010. Since then, Bergs has grown in the Firm’s tax and business services department. He specializes in working individual and business clients providing them with a variety of tax and accounting services. Dan annually attends educational seminars to continue his professional development. 

Davis received his Master of Accountancy in 2011 and his CPA license in 2012. He has over ten years of experience working with a number of different tax-exempt organizations and specializes in performing financial statement and compliance audits and preparing tax returns for a variety of non-profit organizations. He is also a technical reviewer for nonprofit tax returns for the Wegner office in Milwaukee. 

“Both Dan and Mitch have demonstrated a commitment to our Firm, our staff, and our clients over their tenure with Wegner… I know they will continue to do great things for many years to come!” stated Glenn Miller, CPA, CGMA, Managing Partner. 

Please join us in welcoming Dan and Mitch as our newest partners and congratulating them on their accomplishments. 

About Wegner CPAs 

With offices in Baraboo, Janesville, Madison, Milwaukee, Reedsburg, New York, NY, and Washington, D.C., Wegner CPAs brings a unique perspective to the practice of accounting and business consulting. The firm specializes in closely held businesses, contractors, cooperatives, manufacturers, nonprofit organizations, and pharmacies with a complete range of accounting, audit, tax, and consulting services across the lifecycle of the organization. For more information, visit http://www.wegnercpas.com.

Dane Buy Local Announces New Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2023

Contact:
Curt Fuszard, Dane Buy Local Board President, (608) 345-5147, curt.fuszard@reachachild.org

DANE BUY LOCAL ANNOUNCES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dane Buy Local is pleased to announce that Paula Severson will begin serving the association and its members in the role of Executive Director commencing October 1, 2023. Dane Buy Local is extremely fortunate to have Paula fill the role vacancy after learning that Colin Murray, an integral part of Dane Buy Local since the association’s inception in 2004, and Executive Director since 2013, shared that he would retire on September 30, 2023.

Paula brings a wealth of experience to the Executive Director position, having previously served as Executive Director of the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce and in a variety of roles for a major trade organization. “Paula’s skill set is perfectly aligned with our commitment to serving independent businesses in Dane and contiguous counties,” says Curt Fuszard, President of the Dane Buy Local board. “In serving our membership, Paula will continue to focus on our core principles of collaboration, education, and advocacy. She is a passionate, inspiring leader.”

In anticipation of her new role, Paula Severson shares, “I’m humbled to lead such an amazing organization. The local businesses Dane Buy Local serves are owned by our friends and neighbors. They work hard and give back to their employees and community. I can’t wait to tell their stories and share the value of buying local. I will strive to ensure Dane Buy Local’s business members have access to the association’s tools and resources to help the businesses be successful.”

Curt adds, “Dane Buy Local embarks on this new chapter with gratitude—for Colin Murray’s contributions, and enthusiasm for our future under Paula Severson’s capable leadership.”

About Dane Buy Local:

Dane Buy Local is a local business association dedicated to supporting and promoting locally owned and operated businesses in Dane and contiguous counties. Since its inception in 2004, the organization has grown to serve over 580 business members, making it a leading force in promoting the benefits of buying local to foster a thriving local economy. For more information, visit danebuylocal.com.