In June, more than 150 business people from around the state — all finalists in the Best of Wisconsin Business Award voting — were on hand at this year during a gourmet luncheon at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.  Although there could only be one top winner in each of this year’s 28 different categories, the entire room was filled with top-level nominees.

This year marked the sixth year of the annual Best of Wisconsin Business Awards, and more than 2,600 individuals cast their votes online during a two-month period.

Congratulations to all the winners and their employees for a job well done. To get votes from our readers — truly Wisconsin’s executive-level audience — is an accomplishment, whether your company received the top platinum award for its category or was simply in the top three.

Thank you to our readers statewide for taking such an active part in the voting and to our winners for joining us in this statewide celebration. We also would like to thank the Kalahari Resort for once again hosting our luncheon and our co-sponsor Charter Business, for its support. Watch for balloting to open early next year for the 2011 Best of Wisconsin Business Awards.
But until then, join us in celebrating with the 2010 winners.

Best Accounting Firm
• Schenck Business Solutions, Appleton HQ
• Baker Tilly, Madison HQ
• Clifton Gunderson LLP, Milwaukee HQ

Schenck is a full-service CPA and business consulting firm with 64 shareholders, more than 500 employees and eight locations throughout Wisconsin. Founded in 1930 as a sole proprietorship, Schenck is an independent firm associated with AGN International Ltd, giving Wisconsin clients the world at their fingertips.

Best Advertising Agency
• Glowac+Harris+Madison Inc., Madison
• Stephan & Brady, Madison
• SotaVenture

Partners Wayne Glowac and Wayne Harris started Glowac+Harris+Madison Inc. in 2004. The advertising agency’s four principals, including Doug Voegtle and Mary Romolino, privately own the company. This Midwest message strategy firm helps brands gain a higher return on marketing investment by getting the right message to the right target via the right media — from Web to radio and whatever is next on the horizon.

Best Air Charter Company
• Wisconsin Aviation, Watertown
• Heartland Aviation, Eau Claire
• Morey Airplane Co., Middleton

Wisconsin Aviation Inc., is the state’s largest general aviation services provider with locations at the Dane County Regional Airport, Watertown Municipal Airport and Dodge County Airport. Its full-service offerings include air charter, air ambulance, FAA- and VA-approved flight schools, aircraft rental, major and minor aircraft maintenance, avionics installation and repairs, aircraft management, aircraft sales and aircraft fueling, detailing and storage services.

Best Architectural/Design Firm
• Mead & Hunt Inc., Madison
• Plunkett Raysich Architects, Milwaukee
• Keller Inc., Kaukauna

Mead & Hunt provides professional services in architecture, historic preservation, transportation, infrastructure and water resources engineering to clients throughout the United States. Mead & Hunt was recognized as one of the fastest growing architectural and engineering firms by the Zweig Letter Hot Firm list; the corporation remains strong on Engineering News Record’s Top 500 design firm list with a current rank of 171. Mead & Hunt, named by CE News as one of the top 10 engineering companies to work for in the nation, is employee-owned with more than 425 people in offices nationwide.

Best Commercial Interior and Design Firm
• Plunkett Raysich Architects, LLP, Milwaukee
• Building Services Inc., Milwaukee
• Emmons Business Interiors, Madison

With offices in Milwaukee and Madison, Plunkett Raysich Architects provides planning, architectural and design services. The firm’s latest offerings include land planning and facility maintenance. PRA’s buildings are inviting, inspire the people who use them, and have a sense of place in the community they serve. This year, PRA is celebrating 75 years in business — touching the lives of more than 1,000,000 people each day within the hospitals, schools, senior care facilities, churches, municipal buildings and offices it has designed throughout the Midwest.

Best Business Bank
• Associated Bank, Green Bay HQ
• M & I Bank, Milwaukee HQ
• U.S. Bank, Milwaukee

At Associated Banc-Corp, we’re proud of our long and rich tradition of providing superior financial services to our communities, combined with exceptional customer service. Personal service is our guiding principle. Associated banks are known for strong relationships with their communities, with many offices tracing their roots to the 1880s and 1890s. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1970 and employs more than 5,000 colleagues.

Best Credit Union
• UW Credit Union, Madison
• Summit Credit Union, Madison
• Community First Credit Union, Appleton

UW Credit Union is a growing, federally insured financial institution that provides customized financial products and services to meet the money management goals of its members. It was founded in 1931 by university faculty and now has more than 149,000 members and assets of $1.2 billion. There are 17 full-service branches serving the Madison, Milwaukee, Whitewater, Green Bay and Stevens Point areas along with six campus locations throughout the state.

Best Financial Services Firm
• Baker Tilly, Madison
• Clifton Gunderson, LLP, Milwaukee 
• Robert W. Baird, Milwaukee

With staff totaling more than 1,350, Baker Tilly is the full-service accounting and advisory firm whose specialized professionals connect with clients through refreshing candor and clear industry insight. We speak your language and identify with your goals to consistently deliver solutions that are just right for you. Recruiting, interviewing, and hiring financial and accounting staff is time-consuming and challenging.

Best Insurance Firm or Agency
• The Murphy Insurance Group, Waunakee
• American Family Insurance, Madison 
• M3 Insurance Solutions Inc., Madison

Founded in 1990, The Murphy Insurance Group is headquartered just outside of Madison and is a leading independent insurance agency specializing in insuring individuals and small-to-midsized businesses. Its guiding philosophy is to offer fanatical customer service, industry leading insurance expertise and a can-do approach to solving our clients’ most challenging risk management issues. Murphy Insurance is managed by veteran search funders John Fowler and Josh Greenberg, insurance industry veteran and search fund partner August Felker and company founder Steve Murphy.  This is the second consecutive year The Murphy Insurance Group has earned the platinum BOWBA award.

Best Commercial Real Estate Firm
• T. Wall Properties, Madison
• First Weber Group Commercial Realtors, Madison
• CB Richard Ellis, Milwaukee

T. Wall Properties is a Madison-based, award winning commercial real estate development firm that owns more than 2.4 million square feet of space and more than 750 acres of land making the company one of the largest developers in the state of Wisconsin. The company has created and developed some of Madison’s most prominent master planned business communities. The company is a privately held partnership with more than 200 individuals, most of whom are residents of Wisconsin. T. Wall Properties acquired its first large institutional investor in 2007.

Best Law Firm
• DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C., Madison HQ
• Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee HQ
• Foley & Lardner LLP, Milwaukee HQ

Founded in 1903, DeWitt Ross & Stevens, S.C., is one of the top Wisconsin-based law firms with more than 85 attorneys. The firm has offices in Madison and in metro Milwaukee. Nominated by peers as top lawyers nationally and locally, its attorneys offer numerous services including environment, corporate and family-owned businesses, employment, government relations, litigation, real estate, tax, estate planning, family law, personal injury, patents, trademarks and copyright law. For information visit the firm online at www.dewittross.com.

Best Engineering Firm
• Strang Inc., Madison
• Mead & Hunt Inc., Madison
• Arnold & O’Sheridan, Madison

Established in Madison in 1935, Strang has evolved into an interdisciplinary and  award-winning architectural, engineering and interior design firm. The firm is characterized by an emphasis on innovative design, uncompromising professional ethics, commitment to client service and a thoughtful leadership style. Strang’s heritage includes a longstanding commitment to providing excellent design services for diverse clients throughout the Madison area. The firm provides comprehensive programming, design and facility management services for commercial, research and development, higher education and governmental projects. Its forward-thinking design approach tackles clients’ current facility needs, while anticipating tomorrow’s.

Best General Contractor
• JH Findorff & Son Inc., Madison
• Keller Inc., Kaukauna
• Bayland Building Inc., Green Bay

J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. is one of Wisconsin’s leading builders. With offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Findorff currently employs an average of 600 construction professionals and tradespeople, and completes more than $300 million in construction annually. For more than 100 years, Findorff employees have demonstrated leadership, integrity and innovation on thousands of projects throughout Southern Wisconsin. Findorff also prides itself on remaining at the forefront of cutting-edge construction processes, equipment and technology.

Best Staffing Firm
• CFS Baker Tilly, Madison
• The QTI Group, Madison
• Tegron Staffing, Appleton

CFS Baker Tilly provides timely, flexible staffing solutions that help you accelerate the process, attract more qualified candidates, and reduce your risk in hiring. We recruit direct hire and temporary personnel from bookkeepers to CFOs, and assist individuals seeking finance or accounting positions.

Best Janitorial Service
• ServiceMaster Building Maintenance, Madison
• K-tech Kleening Systems, Schofield
• CleanPower, Milwaukee

ServiceMaster Building Maintenance is a locally owned full-service commercial cleaning company. Servicing businesses from Madison to Green Bay since 1983, the firm now cleans more than 6,500,000 sq. ft. daily. The firm is proud to be the only Green Seal GS-42 Certified Wisconsin commercial cleaning provider. ServiceMaster’s clients include property management firms, contractors, professional building owners, financial and insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, science & technology, educational, retail and parochial facilities. With offices in Madison and Appleton, ServiceMaster is available to serve its clients 24/7/365. The foundation of the firm’s success is its people, its principles, its performance and client satisfaction.

Best Business Telecommunications Firm
• TDS Telecom, Madison
• AT&T
• U.S. Cellular

TDS Telecommunications Corp. provides leading-edge business technology, managed VoIP communications solutions, local and long-distance phone service, high-speed Internet services and digital TV to more than one million customers around the country. TDS Telecommunications Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc., a Fortune 500 company founded in 1969.

Best Information Technology Firm
• Clifton Gunderson Information Technology Services, Milwaukee
• Heartland Business Systems, Neenah
• CDW, Madison

Clifton Gunderson Technology Solutions provides business software, communications, networking and infrastructure, content management and storage, application delivery and security to businesses in Wisconsin, Arizona and Illinois.

Best School for On-Line Education
• University of Wisconsin – Platteville, Platteville
• University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, Whitewater
• Lakeland College, Sheboygan

University of Wisconsin-Platteville is an accredited, public university founded in 1886. Today, more than 6,000 students are enrolled on campus and another 3,000 in distance learning programs.  UWP has offered distance education since 1978 when it began offering an extended, or distance, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for Wisconsin residents.
Due to the growth of the Internet, UWP launched its first degree entirely online in 1999. To UW-Platteville, students are not just a number. They have a name, a family, goals, and a career. The university is proud and happy to have been voted as a winner in Corporate Report Wisconsin’s “Best of Wisconsin Business” competition for Best School for Online Education.   
DistanceEd@uwplatt.edu (800) 362-5460 or (608) 342-1468

Best School for Continuing Education
• UW-Madison Executive Education, Madison
• UW-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education, Milwaukee
• Madison Area Technical College, Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s executive education programs meet today’s ever-changing business demands while enhancing organizational effectiveness and leadership capacity. Held in the Fluno Center for Executive Education, the program’s 200+ open-enrollment courses expand participants’ knowledge, delivering intelligent decision making and innovative problem solving tools to help them implement viable changes within their workplace. Understandably, it’s difficult for busy professionals to leave the office for long training sessions, and companies may not be able to afford lengthy, expensive classes. That’s why the school offers two- and three-day budget-friendly courses to accommodate demanding work schedules.  Visit exed.wisc.edu/ for program overviews, planning calendars, lodging information and online registration.

Best Conference Center
• Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, Madison
• Kalahari Resort & Convention Center, Wisconsin Dells
• Fluno Center for Executive Education, Madison

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center is located in the heart of Madison’s vibrant downtown on the shore of Lake Monona, two blocks from the Capitol.  Monona Terrace has a well-earned reputation among convention and meeting professionals as one of the finest venues in the United States. Exceptional atmosphere, award winning catering and leading edge technology make Monona Terrace a favorite of attendees and planners alike. Adding to its appeal, in 2007 Monona Terrace became the first LEED silver-certified U.S. convention center. Meeting space includes a 40,000-sq. ft. exhibit hall, 14,000-sq. ft. ballroom, 320-seat multimedia lecture hall and 20 additional meeting rooms totaling more than 28,000 square feet as well as a number of special amenities. Monona Terrace is where business and inspiration meet! http://mononaterrace.com/

Best Hotel for Business Meetings and Travel
• Tie: Kalahari Resort & Convention Center, Wisconsin Dells
• Hilton Madison Monona Terrace, Madison
• The Pfister, Milwaukee

Garnering the platinum award for the fifth year, the Kalahari offers the most meeting space of any hotel plus the many diversions of the Dells. Built in 2000 and expanded in several phases over the years, Kalahari’s Wisconsin Dells property brings “a world away” experience to travelers throughout the Midwest. With everything-under-one-roof convenience, Kalahari features 750 African-themed guest rooms and suites, a 100,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art convention center and Wisconsin’s largest indoor waterpark at 125,000 square feet.

On the shimmering shores of Lake Monona is the heart of downtown and just one block from the State Capitol, the Hilton Madison Monona Terrace boasts spectacular views of the city and surrounding lakes. Located within walking distance of State Street, including many dining options, art galleries, theatre and other entertainment options; just minutes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Adjacent to Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center and connected via enclosed skywalk, there is no better location to access rooftop concerts, lakeside cultural events and art than at the Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center.

Best Health Insurance Plan
• Dean Health Plan, Madison
• Group Health Cooperative, Madison
• Tie: Physicians Plus, Madison
• Unity Health Insurance, Sauk City

Dean Health Plan offers an entire range of fully insured and self-insured products that are offered to the commercial, Medicare and Medicaid markets. Dean Health Plan has a combined member enrollment of 265,000 members and is the largest HMO in Wisconsin, operating since 1983.

Best Dental Insurance Plan
• Delta Dental of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
• Ameritas Group, Madison
• Humana Inc., Milwaukee

Delta Dental of Wisconsin is a not-for-profit dental service corporation offering benefit services, claims processing, and plan administration to employers throughout Wisconsin since 1962. The company is headquartered in Stevens Point, with sales offices in Milwaukee and Madison. Delta Dental administers dental benefits for more Wisconsin companies than any other insurance carrier. As a member of the nationwide Delta Dental Plans Association, the company is able to offer the same dental benefits to all employees of Wisconsin-based companies wherever they are located in the United States. The Delta Dental Plans Association is the largest dental benefits system in the nation.

Best Hospital/Medical Center
• UW Health, Madison
• Dean/St. Mary’s Hospital, Madison
• Meriter Health Services, Madison

Based in Madison with strong ties to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW Health includes: UW Hospital and Clinics, a regional academic medical center nationally recognized for outstanding care and service and American Family Children’s Hospital; UW Medical Foundation, a large group practice with approximately 1,100 world-class physicians in 98 specialties; and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health with its core missions of education and basic, translational clinical and population research.

Best Golf Course for Business Outings
• University Ridge, Madison
• Trappers Turn Golf Club, Wisconsin Dells
• Sentry World Golf Course, Stevens Point

University Ridge, a world-renowned Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course, plays to all skill levels and builds great desire and challenge in its players. In 2008 University Ridge was rated the No. 28 Top Public Golf Course in America by the Readers Choice Awards for GolfWorld magazine. It has also been rated the Best Golf Course in Madison an astounding nine times by Madison Magazine.

Best Economic Development Agency
• Thrive, Madison
• Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp., Fond du Lac
• WHEDA, Madison

Thrive is the regional economic development enterprise for the eight-county Madison Region of Wisconsin. Thrive works to grow the region’s economy while preserving and enhancing quality of
life in the region. Its strategic initiatives span four broad categories: Access to capital, sector development, policy and research and regional promotion and collaboration. 
http://www.thrivehere.org; Twitter @thrivehere; Facebook: thrivehere

Best Company for Philanthropy or Community Service
• American Family Insurance, Madison
• Madison Community Foundation, Madison
• U.S. Venture, Appleton

Based in Madison, American Family Insurance offers auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, health insurance,  business and farm/ranch insurance in 19 states. American Family insurance is the nation’s third-largest mutual property/casualty insurance company and ranks 388th on the Fortune 500 list. The company has a long tradition of giving back to communities where it does business, by supporting charitable organizations and events that provide quality of life for those communities and its residents, as well as ongoing charitable efforts by employees in its corporate headquarters.
Web:www.amfam.com; Facebook:  www.facebook.com/amfam; Twitter:  www.twitter.com/amfam

Most Admired Company in Wisconsin
• Plunkett Raysich Architects, LLP, Milwaukee
• Clifton Gunderson, LLP, Milwaukee
• Baker Tilly, Madison

With offices in Milwaukee and Madison, Plunkett Raysich Architects provides planning, architectural and design services. The firm’s latest offerings include land planning and facility maintenance. PRA’s buildings are inviting, inspire the people who use them, and have a sense of place in the community they serve.  This year, PRA is celebrating 75 years in business – touching the lives of over 1,000,000 people each day within the hospitals, schools, senior care facilities, churches, municipal buildings and offices it has designed throughout the Midwest.

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