Sergenian’s CEO Garner to Receive Chamber’s Inaugural “Ground Floor Award” for Small Business Leadership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (November 30, 2016)

Contact: Erik Greenfield, Communications Manager, 608-443-1952 (office), 608-669-7884 (cell)

MADISON – The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce announced today that Jim Garner, CEO of Sergenian’s Floor Coverings, will receive the Chamber’s inaugural Ground Floor Award for small business leadership. The award, which recognizes true champions for small business both within their business and in the community, will be presented during a special nex7 event Dec. 14 at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMOCA).

“The Chamber’s motto is ‘Business. Community. Leadership.’ and that is Jim Garner personified,” said Chamber President Zach Brandon. “Throughout his career, Jim has been a mentor, an advocate and a major contributor in Greater Madison’s small business community. His hard work, innovation and leadership have made the Chamber, our businesses and our economy stronger.”

Jim Garner joined Sergenian’s in 1963 and today serves as the company’s CEO and a majority partner. Under Garner’s leadership, Sergenian’s has won numerous awards based on quality and service and is now one of the top 50 floor covering retailers in the country. Garner and Sergenian’s started Wisconsin’s first and only comprehensive carpet reclamation program, which has kept more than 11 million pounds of carpet and padding out of landfills.

Garner serves on the Chamber’s Executive Committee and has been a Chamber Board member for more than 20 years. As founding chairperson of the Chamber’s Small Business Advisory Council (SBAC), an advisory committee to the Chamber’s leadership and the Mayor of the City of Madison, he led several citywide initiatives to support small businesses, including development of the Madison Small Business Conference and implementation of process changes to improve road construction in addition to the creation of a nationally adopted road construction survival guide for small businesses.

Garner has also held leadership roles with the Metropolitan Neighborhood Business Council and South Metropolitan Business Association. He was inducted into the InBusiness Hall of Fame in 2012.

“It is a great honor to receive the Chamber’s first-ever Ground Floor Award,” said Garner. “It means a lot to be commended by an organization that serves as the voice of nearly 1,300 businesses in the Greater Madison area.”

In addition to the presentation of the Ground Floor Award, nex7 will also feature compelling pitches from the seven finalists for the Chamber’s inaugural Most Innovative Company (MIC) Award. The MIC finalists represent a diverse cross-section of industries, missions and locations across Greater Madison. The winner will be determined by audience vote.

To register for this free event, visit: www.greatermadisonchamber.com.

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,300 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 9,500 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, our members vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at greatermadisonchamber.com.

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Greater Madison Startups Meeting with Investors in Silicon Valley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 11, 2016)

Contact: Erik Greenfield, Communications Manager, 608-443-1952 (office), 608-669-7884 (cell)

MADISON – Some of Greater Madison’s most promising startups are in Silicon Valley this week to meet with prominent venture capital firms as part of an exclusive delegation led by the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. In addition to the five companies, the delegation features state economic development partners and Chamber leaders including Board Chair Beth Donley of Stemina Biomarker Discovery.

“The Chamber is proud to provide an opportunity for these growing companies to meet with top investors as we promote Greater Madison’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Chamber President Zach Brandon. “Our economic momentum is real, and it is important that we continue to tell Greater Madison’s story as a world-class place to build and invest. We are thrilled to be able to do that by showcasing an exciting group of companies and helping them make important connections in Silicon Valley.”

The Silicon Valley trip is the culmination of the Chamber’s popular Pressure Chamber startup pitch competition, which took place in August during the Forward Festival, an eight-day celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation in Madison. This year’s Pressure Chamber winner, the top vote-getter from both the audience and a panel of investor judges, is POLCO, a platform that improves civic engagement by connecting members of the community with their local representatives on active policy proposals.

It has been an exciting year for POLCO. In addition to their Pressure Chamber victory, they also won the best presentation award at the Madworks business accelerator pitch night and the “Peoples’ Choice” award at the Wisconsin Innovation Awards. They also won in the Information Technology category at the statewide Governor’s Business Plan Competition and are the first company-in-residence at Bunker Labs Wisconsin, a nonprofit that helps military veterans start and grow businesses.

Joining POLCO on the trip are four other exciting, emerging companies representing diverse industries driving Greater Madison’s economy. They include:

• AkitaBox (Madison) – A SaaS application for proactive building management that automates maintenance, planning and inspections, AkitaBox is a gener8tor company and 2016 Pressure Chamber finalist.
• GrocerKey (Madison) – Another gener8tor company, GrocerKey helps grocery and convenience stores leverage their brand through eCommerce by providing a mobile optimized online store, management dashboard and a back-end app for operational efficiency.
• Markable (Madison) – A fashion technology company and member of 100state that helps social network users shop using visual search technology to connect photos and products.
• Moxe (Madison) – A technology-driven, service-oriented group helping vendors and health systems navigate the challenges of interoperability.

The trip began with a tour of YouTube, led by the founder of Vidmaker, a Madison company acquired by YouTube in 2014. Later in the evening, an exclusive invite-only dinner provided an opportunity for investor interaction and private discussion with business partners. The second day includes company pitches with a dozen global investment firms, followed by a reception sponsored by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation with support from the Badger Entrepreneurship Forum, a Bay Area organization of UW-Madison alumni.

Pressure Chamber and the Silicon Valley trips are supported by Michael Best & Friedrich, with support from the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, American Family Ventures, Baird Capital, 4490 Ventures, HealthX Ventures, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs, Three Oaks Venture Capital and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,300 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 9,500 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, our members vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at greatermadisonchamber.com.

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Chamber Announces Finalists for Pressure Chamber

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (July 28, 2016)

Contact: Erik Greenfield, Communications Manager, 608-443-1952 (office), 608-669-7884 (cell)

MADISON – Today the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce announced the five finalists competing in this year’s Pressure Chamber startup pitch event, which will take place Aug. 23 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center during the Forward Festival, an eight-day celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation in Madison.

Pressure Chamber is a “Shark Tank”-style contest in which emerging companies will pitch in front of a panel of regional investors, business executives and a live audience. The winning company is decided based on a combination of judges’ scoring and audience votes.

The 2016 Pressure Chamber finalists are:

• Akitabox (Madison) – A SaaS application for proactive building management that automates maintenance, planning and inspections.
• Lynx Biosciences (Madison) – Developing technologies enabling the prediction of clinical treatment response for multiple myeloma and other blood cancer patients.
• Manifestly (Madison) – Mobile and web software that uses visual checklists and Slack integration to manage companies’ recurring workflows.
• POLCO (Madison) – A platform improving civic engagement by connecting members of the community with their local representatives on active policy proposals.
• Rigbot (Madison) – A product suite that uses telematics and big data analytics to improve revenue and reduce costs for the trucking industry.

“This year’s Pressure Chamber finalists are a diverse and exciting group of companies,” said Chamber President Zach Brandon. “Their work and their innovations are a reflection of some of the big problems being solved in our community, and they show how well-positioned Greater Madison is for success in the Third Wave of the economy.”

In addition to receiving the coveted “golden suitcase,” the winning company will also receive an all-expenses paid spot on the Chamber’s exclusive Madison-area startup delegation to Palo Alto in October for meetings with top Silicon Valley investment firms. Both the 2014 Pressure Chamber winner, Fishidy, and the 2015 winner, bluDiagnostics, closed successful funding rounds following their presentations at Pressure Chamber.

Pressure Chamber returns this year as part of a popular evening of programming, including neXXpo, Startup Showcase and the “Make it a Double” Happy Hour sponsored by Zendesk. To register for these events, visit http://greatermadisonchamber.com/programs-events/nexxpo/

Pressure Chamber is presented by Michael Best & Friedrich, with support from the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, American Family Ventures, Baird Capital, 4490 Ventures, HealthX Ventures, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs, Three Oaks Venture Capital and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Pressure Chamber finalists can be available for interviews upon request.

For more information about Forward Fest, please visit http://www.forwardfest.org/

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,300 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 9,500 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, our members vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at greatermadisonchamber.com.

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Chamber Launches HealthTech Capitol Website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (July 13, 2016)

Contact: Erik Greenfield, Communications Manager, 608-443-1952 (office), 608-669-7884 (cell)

MADISON – Today the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of the HealthTech Capitol website – healthtechcapitol.com – as part of an initiative dedicated to establishing Greater Madison as the world-class leader for health innovation by allowing companies to leverage a density of talent, capital and mentoring.

“With a robust ecosystem of world-class research, the market leader in electronic medical records, entrepreneurs and a strong network of payers and providers, Greater Madison is already a leader in health innovation,” said Chamber President Zach Brandon. “HealthTech Capitol will help build on these strengths by supporting companies and talent in our region and building an infrastructure that will amplify our health discoveries to the world.”

HealthTech Capitol represents a scaling of efforts begun in 2012 by entrepreneurs to make Greater Madison the best place to start and grow a health technology company. The effort brought together a group of emerging healthtech companies and providers from the Madison area, including HealthX Ventures, Moxe, Healthfinch, Forward Health Group and Wellbe, among others. HealthTech Capitol is sponsored by Godfrey and Kahn, with support from UW Health and CUNA Mutual Group.

“Having built a Madison-based healthtech business and venture capital fund focused on investing in making health care safer, more affordable and more effective, I know this region is in a unique position when it comes to health technology,” said Madison HealthTech Capitol Chair Mark Bakken, the founder of HealthX Ventures and co-founder and former CEO of Nordic Consulting. “With the right vision and resources, there is no limit to the impact our region can have in solving global health challenges.”

Membership in HealthTech Capitol is offered as an added benefit of Chamber membership. Members will benefit from collective marketing and branding, as well as event programming and exclusive networking opportunities. You can apply for Chamber membership here: http://member.greatermadisonchamber.com/member/newmemberapp

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,300 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 9,500 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, our members vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at greatermadisonchamber.com.

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Chamber Adds Five Members to Board of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (June 20, 2016)

Contact: Erik Greenfield, Communications Manager, 608-443-1952 (office), 608-669-7884 (cell)

MADISON – Today the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce announced five new members for its 2016 Board of Directors. The new members join the 43 current business and community leaders representing a broad cross-section of the greater Madison economy.

“Each of our new board members bring a wealth of business experience and represent important sectors in our local economy,” said Chamber President Zach Brandon. “The Chamber is well-positioned to take advantage of the economic momentum happening in Greater Madison. We look forward to working with these new board members and drawing upon their influence and expertise to build upon that momentum.”

New 2016 board members are:

Mindi Giftos, Office Managing Shareholder, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, S.C.

Jeff Lenz, President & Chief Development Officer, North Central Group

Arthur Nizza, President and Chief Executive Officer, Meriter-UnityPoint Health

Jon Rozenfeld, President, SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Madison

Pablo Sanchez, Vice President, Business Development Manager, Park Bank

Click here for the full roster of the Greater Madison Chamber Board of Directors.

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,300 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 9,500 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, our members vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at greatermadisonchamber.com.

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