SEPTEMBER 2012

KAPENGA:OBAMA OR ROMNEY?

VANDERSANDEN:SPECTRUM IS CRUCIAL

POSTON: JUST THE FACTS

IT’S TOMMY...AT IBA

PHOTO CREDIT GOOGLE IMAGES

INSID

E

THIS

ISSU

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Featured Speaker: Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE:!• Mr. John Disharoon, Sustainable Development Director from Caterpillar Mining Division giving an overview on the economic benefits of returning good mining to Wisconsin and the facts on the environmental impact of the recently proposed iron mine operations.

• Candidates for the Wisconsin State Senate, Pam Stevens-Racine, Kenosha, Rick Gudex Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Bill Feehan La Crosse, all of who are expected to be in favor of smart mine legislation.! Meet each candidate!

Businesses for Wisconsin Jobs (BWJ) and The Independent Business Association of Wisconsin (IBAW) has been a strong proponent of passing a sensible Mining Bill in Wisconsin to bring safe Mining operations back into the state.! There are thousands of direct jobs and billions of dollars available to Wisconsin if we pass intelligent legislation.

Wednesday, September 12th11:00 AM - 1:30 PMLunch will be served

Milwaukee Athletic Club

Main Ballroom758 North Broadway

Seating Limited!

$250 for tables of 10

$30 for individuals !After Sept. 7 - $40 each

space permitting

Deadline for reservations is September 7 - 4:00 pm. !All reservations must be paid in advance.!

Email reservations to JLeef@ITU-AT.com.

Make checks payable to Milwaukee Athletic Club.Send checks to:

Jim LeefITU, Inc.

2700 S 160th StNew Berlin WI 53151

A major step in accomplishing a new law and getting that money and those jobs flowing is to replace anti-mine Wisconsin State Senators with people who are pro-business and pro-mining. CRG Network will be accepting PAC donations for these candidates. If you are a!supporter of the bill that will help bring mining back to Wisconsin, please consider making a donation that will go to these pro-mining candidates. Donations must be in the form of a personal check made out to:

CRG Network PACP.O. Box 371086Milwaukee, WI 53237We will also accept donations at the event.

Businesses for Wisconsin Jobs Presents

“MINING WISCONSIN”

BUSINESSES FOR WISCONSIN JOBS

BWJCRG NETWORK

VIDEO: Governor Walker at Evinrude Ribbon Cutting

Click here to watch.

IBA MEDIA LINKIBA CONTACTSPresident......................................................Steve Kohlmann

Secretary......................................................John Weber

Treasurer.....................................................Casey Malek

Programing, State & National Issues...........Jeff Hoffman

Membership / Sponsorship........................Heather Baylor

Tommy ThompsonCandidate For Senate

Ms. Karen Karrigan, Executive Director Small Business Entrepreneurship Council

is scheduled to Skype in live from Washington DC for a legislative business update.

Friday, September 21st, 7:00 – 9:00amThe Wisconsin Club, 900 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 

IBA Member - $30  • Future Members - $40

To register click here.

2012 Business Presentation Series

IBA Wisconsin September 21st

PLUS:

October 19thTim Nerenz

November 16thBrian Sikma - Media Trackers

Save the Date!

BUSINESS DRIVES THE AMERICAN ECONOMY!

Many high level politicians and the national media have vilified business, large and small, for being those “Lucky Rich People.”! They minimize and mock business owners even though you are the ones that worked hard, risked everything, and sacrificed personally & financially to build your business. Government lives off of the profits of our efforts.!

Business - and small business in particular - is the economic engine driving our economy keeping hundreds of millions of hard working Americans employed -providing an opportunity to live a lifestyle unequaled throughout the world.

As concerned business owners, you will not have to speak out alone at this rally. This is your opportunity to band together with other business owners, their employees, and friends to reject their narrative that! “If You Have A Business, You Didn’t Build That…..Someone Else Made That Happen.”

Show America business is not the enemy, business is the partner that will lead us out of our economic troubles.!!!

For registration, program & detailed event information: www.CRGNETWORK.com

BUSINESSES FOR WISCONSIN JOBS

BWJ

CRG NETWORK

Keynote Speaker U.S. Senator

& Business Owner Ron Johnson

Special SpeakerEconomist & Policy Analyst

Stephen Moore

Join Us! Reject The Notion That “Someone Else” Made

Your Business “Happen”

WE BUILT IT!September 22nd

1:00 - 3:00 PM

Waukesha County Expo

Hear stories from other

hard working business owners...

and their employees!

For

ALL

Business

Owners

& Their Employees!

Rally

CORPORATE & PRIVATE FUNDING SPONSORSHIP NEEDED!To help, contact Ken Dragotta: kend@syeng.com

Rally Emcee Charlie Sykes

“What the heck is going on in Wisconsin?” my buddy from California said over the phone, “we’re even talking about you out here!”

The ‘what the heck’ he is referring to of course is the huge amounts of Wisconsin political star power that is

taking place on the national stage.

Wisconsin has been a bee hive of political activities starting a few years ago with Senator Johnson who came in with a business attitude and has been challenging governmental waste non stop along with questioning President Obama’s health care plan. He’s not shy about it and you can’t turn on cable TV without seeing our Senator talking about these issues.

Scott Walker became our Governor and took care of Wisconsin’s financial house in very short order. Controversial for some - or dedicated for others - he got the job done. I can’t but help look at the headlines in the Illinois newspapers at the hopelessness their budget situation is in. He also eliminated a low speed train from Madison to Milwaukee, handily survived a recall effort becoming a national star by standing up to the union and protestors and keeping his cool. I believe we’ll be seeing education reform as his next topic and it’s about time.

Rebecca Kleefisch has brought a refreshing role to the Lt. Governor’s office. Once thought of as a ‘do nothing’ position, Kleefisch has worked hard to reach out to the business community and get a handle on what that community needs to create jobs and get Wisconsin on solid footing when it comes to jobs. I attended one of her early feedback sessions last year. She came with a large spiral note book and was taking notes like a banshee. I think we’re just beginning to see the start of her political career.

Of course the big news is Congressman Paul Ryan as Romney’s vice presidential pick. Once rumored to be Vice

Presidential material but something he would quickly deflect when asked he’s now part of the ticket and a welcome addition to it. For the past few months (before his VP pick) we’ve been attempting to get Ryan as a speaker to IBAW to no avail, his camp strangely quiet and a bit elusive in getting back to us on firming up a date. I guess we know why now. Ryan is a great pick for VP. He knows his material up & down, left & right as well as sides ways. He is able to speak about budget & health care issues easily when challenged by the talking heads because he DOES know his material.

Republican Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is from Wisconsin and is doing a great job getting the message out for the Republican Party. The convention in Tampa went off without a hitch (with the exception of the wondering Clint Eastwood) and the party’s message is clear and on track.

Of course there are other rising stars from Wisconsin that don’t have a political component. Laura Kaeppeler from Kenosha was crowned Miss America, former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan is doing well as Archbishop of New York and challenging the White House on birth control policies and Aaron Rogers continues to astound as quarterback for the Packers .

But there are others from Wisconsin that are in the political pipeline waiting in the wings and I’m sure you’ll be noticing them in the next months & years as they come into their own, ensuring Wisconsin voters have a voice both locally and nationally in the future. We have leadership.

Wisconsin is definitely “ON”.

On: WisconsinSteve Kohlmann, IBAW President

If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t paid too much attention to the recent discussion around the subject of spectrum in the news. You probably are even asking yourself: what is spectrum and why should I care?

You should care -- a lot. Because spectrum is actually all of the radio waves that power our

favorite gadgets, including our smartphones – and there is an increasingly limited supply of spectrum.

In fact, according to the Federal Communications Commission, the demand for spectrum will exceed supply by 2013.

Today’s powerful smartphones use 30 times more data than the old cellphones they replaced. Yet, the government has allocated only 10% of the available spectrum to mobile devices, while 90% is used by the government and TV and radio broadcasters.

Just think of what you can do with your smartphone today that you couldn’t do even a few years ago. Buy a plane ticket. Watch a movie. Refill a prescription at your local pharmacy. Pay your mortgage.

That convenience at your fingertips that we’ve all come to expect depends on spectrum. And while the demand for mobile data has exploded, the government-allocated supply of spectrum supporting mobile devices has remained the same since 2008.

We all know that the demand for wireless will continue to grow. And without enough spectrum allocated to mobile devices by the government, it’s not hard to figure out what will happen: increasing prices, download times and consumer frustration.

So what can be done?

In short, the U.S. government needs to reallocate spectrum to reflect the changing market and consumer needs. Spectrum must be put to better use, so the

amazing innovations and technological advancements that have revolutionized our world can continue. And the government must move at the speed of innovation, not expect innovation to slow to the speed of government.

Spectrum and the wireless revolution

The demand for mobile data is doubling every year. The U.S. needs policy changes to keep up.

By Randall StephensonChairman, Chief Executive Officer and PresidentAT&T Appeared in the Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2012

The latest mobile devices give us the power to summon maps in distant cities, watch the news under a shady tree, or adjust our home thermostats from the airport lounge. This power at our fingertips is provided by major advances in our networks and increasingly powerful smartphones and tablets. But it equally depends on an unseen scarce resource: the radio waves, or spectrum, that transmit mobile data.

The demand for mobile data is now roughly doubling every year. Smartphones use 30 times more data than the cellphones they replaced. Meanwhile, the supply of spectrum supporting mobile devices has remained the same since 2008.

That means we're in a race against time. The demand for spectrum will exceed supply by 2013, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates. If that happens, the speed of the mobile revolution will slow down. Prices, download times and consumer frustration will all increase. And at a societal level we risk jeopardizing the future of our nation's vital mobile Internet infrastructure, which is generating jobs and investment on a scale well beyond the first Internet boom of the 1990s.

Congress recently approved the FCC's plans to auction spectrum held by TV broadcasters, an important, long-term step in the right direction. But it will take six to eight years to put that spectrum to use. Our country and our

Why Spectrum is so crucial to Continuing the Wireless RevolutionAT&T President, Scott VanderSanden

consumers can't wait that long. We need to work together to find immediate solutions.

Some people believe that new technology—such as smaller, more sophisticated antennas and wider deployment of Wi-Fi—can solve our near-term spectrum shortage. These network innovations can help, and at AT&T we're evaluating or investing in all of them. But they are not enough to solve wireless capacity problems—not when nearly half the American adult population owns a smartphone and data usage continues to explode. For example, AT&T's 30,000 Wi-Fi hotspot network is the largest provided by any U.S. wireless carrier, but it offloads a mere 1% of all the mobile data traffic we carry.

If we are to meet our government's expressed goal of providing high-speed wireless services to 98% of all Americans by 2016, we need to better align national policies with national priorities.

Three things need to happen:

• Require spectrum holders to put the airwaves to work. Many spectrum holders are speculators seeking an investment gain, with no intent to build a mobile network. We should discourage speculation and do more to ensure that spectrum goes to companies with the experience and means to put it to work. If a buyer hasn't used the spectrum within a reasonable time period—which could vary depending on the spectrum's technical properties or use restrictions—they would either have to put it up for sale, lease it or find a partner who can build it out.

It's encouraging to see that in recent actions the FCC has required much more robust build schedules. This sends a strong signal to the industry that those holding spectrum must be prepared to put it to full and effective use, and serves to discourage speculators from buying up spectrum and keeping it dormant for years. Mobile device usage is growing too fast and spectrum is too precious to keep it on the shelf.

• Quickly get spectrum where consumers need it most. Large amounts of spectrum actually sit unused in the marketplace today. It's held by companies that are not using it, but would be willing to sell their stakes if they were certain the transaction would be approved in short order. A buyer could put compatible spectrum to work in as little as 60 days. Here, too, we've recently seen some encouraging signs that the FCC recognizes the importance of expedited spectrum sale reviews. Consumers and businesses who

depend on their mobile devices every waking hour will benefit if speed continues to be a priority.

• Establish a national model for the local approval process that's required when wireless carriers need to build new mobile infrastructure. The process needs to balance community concerns with the significant public benefit of adding new antennas and improving wireless coverage in local markets. Building our nation's railroads and interstate highway system was made easier because Congress declared their construction a national priority and provided the policy framework to build them quickly. Our wireless infrastructure is every bit as critical to economic expansion.

Billions of dollars of investment in spectrum deployment will lead to tens of thousands of jobs. It will also multiply the many innovations and high-tech jobs we see today in the development of mobile Internet applications. But when the industry is unable to obtain and deploy spectrum efficiently, we miss the opportunity to create good jobs—and consumers pay the price. That's already happening as nearly all wireless providers have dropped unlimited data plans, raised prices, and slowed the speeds of the heaviest users.

It's worth remembering that in 2006 European companies led the wireless world, set the standards and generated innovation. The center of gravity shifted to the U.S. when the iPhone debuted on AT&T's network in 2007. That propelled our nation into the lead, spurred billions of dollars in investment, and gave birth to the mobile Internet industry and the devices, apps and services that have changed the way we live and work.

To continue this robust pace of innovation—to support the next generation of Apples, Googles and Facebooks—our nation must put precious spectrum to work.

There are times in life when you feel like everything is a struggle and nothing goes your way. We have all been there as our business goes through its natural cycles, whether it is tight cash flow or problem employees. Then there are times when everything seems to just fall into place. Most of us also have had the fortune of experiencing this as well. It could be landing that big customer we have been working on for years or finally having our first year in the black.

So how does that relate to me writing this article? Let’s just say if you likened it to playing the slots, I would have just hit the proverbial jackpot. Read on!

On November 6 of this year another Presidential election will take place. With this in mind I thought it would be good to analyze how the two presidential candidates view business. This seems logical since we are all in business and the view of the winner will have a direct impact on the ability to be successful in that endeavor. I had an idea of how I was going to approach this, but then an event took place with each candidate and the stars aligned for this article.

First, our President clearly laid out his opinion of business in a speech, ironically on Friday the 13th, to a crowd in Roanoke, Virginia. It is the famous “You didn’t build that!” comment that we all are aware of. Then Governor Romney made a choice in a Vice-Presidential candidate who is what I consider to be one of the most pro-free market thinkers in the country, our very own Congressman Paul Ryan. I feel these two events give us keen insight into where each candidate stands on business.

Before I discuss these events further I feel it is important to first discuss at a high level each candidate’s work history. Let’s start with President Obama. He graduated from college in 1983 and became a community organizer (one who identifies a specific aggrieved population and agitates them to take collective action) for four years. Following this he received his law degree from Harvard Law School and

spent 12 years teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. During that time he ran for the State Senate. He took the seat and was State Senator from 1997 to 2004. In 2004 State Senator Obama ran for US Senate and won. He ended his first term in the US Senate to run for President in 2008 under the auspice of “Hope and Change”. We know that throughout these years he surrounded himself with people and philosophies with communist ties, such as Frank Marshall Davis to Saul Alinsky.

Now let’s look at Governor Romney. Similar to Barack Obama, he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1975 with his law degree. The similarities stop there. Shortly thereafter he began his career with the Boston Consulting Group and after two years moved to Bain & Company. During this time he worked with businesses in improving their bottom line. In 1984 Romney was a co-founder of the private equity firm, Bain Capital. The firm invested in various business opportunities, which included successes and failures. He took a leave of absence in 1999 to run the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. He then left Bain and successfully ran for the Governor of Massachusetts, keeping the office from 2003 to 2007. Romney failed in his 2008 Presidential bid but is now the successful 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate.

If you look at these two very different work histories, it is not surprising to see where each candidate comes out on their view towards business. We know that a person’s paradigm, or view of life, is shaped through their experiences. So how does this tie back to the two events I described above, and what does it mean for business owners?

The experiences of President Obama have built into him a belief that government is the center of the universe, or the source of our rights. His entire belief system revolves around how government can make life better by equalizing outcomes. To put the comment he

LEGISLATIVE OPINIONPresidential OutlookState Representative Chris Kapenga

made in context, his point was that businesses are successful not because of an individual’s hard work, whether it be the business owner or the workers in a business; they are successful because of government programs and services. His agenda reflects this philosophy. If elected to a second term we can expect to see an even more aggressive campaign to further insert government into our businesses.

Governor Romney’s actions indicate that he feels the heart of any business is the individual, or individuals behind it. In his work experience he experienced the freedom of an individual, or individuals, to make a decision that is independent of government intervention, is what leads to the success or failure of a business. That is the definition of the American Dream. When he chose Paul Ryan to be his running mate, he chose someone who not only talks about protecting this dream, but who has outlined a plan on how to do that. If Governor Romney is elected as President, we can expect to see less government involvement in our businesses.

To summarize I will use an analogy that Paul Ryan often uses. This country is at a fork in the road. We as Americans have a decision to make, and that decision is do we believe our rights come from nature and God, or do they come from government. The two options haven’t been this clear since Reagan vs. Carter. The choice will not only impact our businesses, but all aspects of our lives.

We will find out the answer in November, but until then it is incumbent upon us all to engage and fight for what we believe in. Do you believe in the American Dream, or are you willing to settle for the American Government Dream?

IBAW Around the state...

Rep. Jeff Stone gives IBAW members an update on the voter ID Bill.

Dennis Barthenheier gets a photo with Jeff Fitzgerald at the Romney /

Ryan event in Waukesha.

<< Wendy Baumann of WWBIC celebrates 25 years of serving the community at the

Governor's mansion.

Tom Rave of Gateway to Milwaukee at August’s IBAW meeting.

The Kohlmann’s wish Lt. Gov. Kleefisch a Happy Birthday.

TMI! Too much information!

We live in a digital world where everyone and everything is connected 24/7. With all this connectivity we often have difficulty identifying the difference between conjecture, beliefs and facts. Facts are the basis for making the best business decisions. Not data. Not conjecture. Just the facts.

One might fairly say that the information revolution didn’t exist until the latter half of the 20th Century. From the time of Jesus’ birth until the time of Leonardo di Vinci – 1500 years – information is said to have doubled. But it took just 250 years to double again. It doubled again in 150 years, then again in just 50 years. Information doubled yet again between 1950 and 1960. Two years ago it was every 18 months and that time frame continues to decrease!

Want perspective? Researchers determine the amount of information by estimating the number of bytes of data contained in storage media throughout the world. We are generally familiar with the measurement terms “gigabytes” (one billion bytes) and “terabytes” (one trillion bytes). Webster’s 1989 edition didn’t even include words to describe higher volumes of information; we now have petabytes (1,000 terabytes), exabytes (1,000 petabytes), zettabytes (1,000 exabytes) and yottabytes (1,000 zettabytes). Information is now thought to be measured in zettabytes.

Three concepts are often used interchangeably in the context of the information revolution: data, information, and knowledge. The lowest form is data. Data means nothing without interpretation; they are simply measurements. For instance, “Today’s sports scores are 8 to 5, 9 to 4, and in a tight game, 7 to 6,” doesn’t tell you much.

Only after data is processed, analyzed and used in context does it become information. We acquire knowledge when told the aforementioned sports scores are the day’s baseball games outcomes. Information has structure. It forms patterns. It then creates questions. Which leads to more data. Which is analyzed and leads to more information. But, does all

this information equal facts? Information may come to be accepted as true, but, a fact is “something that has actual existence.”

Most of us are familiar with the notion of “rule of thumb.” According to Webster’s it’s defined as “1) a method or procedure based on experience and common sense, and 2) a general principle regarded as roughly correct but not intended to be scientifically accurate.”

A businessperson using “rule of thumb” that says one employee can handle $500,000 of volume might estimate they should hire 20 people to handle an increase in sales of $10 million. But, what if that rule of thumb is based on one employee per $500,000 of raw product cost (as opposed to sales)? The answer will be dependent upon margins, but with all else equal, the number of people needed would then be 16.

What if that “rule of thumb” estimate was made 15 years ago? Allowing for inflation, the “thumb” just got substantially larger and the number of people needed could now be 15! Further, with increases in productivity in those same 15 years (e.g., better equipment, better processes) that “thumb” got larger yet again. Rule of thumb has no basis in scientific accuracy. So we can make no assumptions concerning precisely how much it represents. This is conjecture, not facts.

Regardless of the decision maker, bad data used in conjunction with bad thinking will probably result in a sub-optimal business outcome. Fortunately, many entrepreneurs have a knack for knowing good data, then applying their business savvy to make sound business decisions.

As business has evolved, the stakes have increased. In times past, profit margins were sufficient to allow businesses to make mistakes, yet still recover. The cost of errors coupled with slimmer margins has increased the risk that a mistake could cause significant financial

Driving fact - based business decisionsby Todd Poston

loss. Businesses with multiple owners may be unwilling to take that risk – at least not without having empirical data to support a decision. The entrepreneurial business owner may simply be more willing to take a risk; after all, they may be in business for that very reason – to take risks.

Nevertheless, when the stakes are high and to improve the odds of making the best possible business decision, follow this process:

1) Seek statistically accurate and relevant data. Employ scientifically sound measurement processes.

2) Process and analyze the data to glean useful information using external as well as internal resources to shed light on your data (e.g., Department of Labor statistics, etc.).

3) Employ data-reliant and fact-based individuals to understand the workings of your business and then create a model that mimics your business. Test the data to predict outcomes and correlate those with actual observations.

4) Avoid “rule of thumb” conjectures. They may be meaningless.

5) Remember, “Just the facts.”

Mr. Poston has an Economics degree from the University of Minnesota and has performed finance and accounting roles in both privately held and Fortune 500 companies. He may be reached at tpposton@att.net.

New Member Spotlight!

We are pleased to welcome one of our newest members, Mary Caye Smith.  Mary Caye and Matt Smith are owners of SalesSmith, Inc., a promotional products, apparel and corporate awards supplier located in Elm Grove.  Established in July of 2000, SalesSmith works with organizations of all sizes, from Fortune 500 companies, leading sole proprietors, schools and non-profit associations. SalesSmith, a certified Women Owned Business by WBENC, is proud that over 95% of their clients from year one are still with them today.

Mary Caye is looking forward to meeting fellow business owners and learning from them, as well as learning more about IBA.

SalesSmith

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                               1    5                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          $215    

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                               16    25                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  $375    

                               26    49                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  $470    

                             50  or  more                                                                                                                                                                                                                      $600    

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________________________________________________________________________    The  Independent  Business  Association  of  Wisconsin  is  a  not-­for-­profit  entity  filed  with  the  IRS  under  501(c)(6)  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Code.  As  a  not-­for-­profit  association,  the  members  of  The  Independent  Business  Association,  Inc.  are  allowed  to  deduct  a  percentage  of  dues  that  are  not  used  for  lobbying  purposes.  For  the  year  2012  based  on  the  total  income  of  the  association  and  the  lobbying  expenses  as  reported  on  the  Wisconsin  State  Ethics  Board  Lobbying  reports  for  2011  the  percent  of  dues  that  were  used  for  lobbing  purposes  is  15%.  Therefore,  the  percent  of  dues  that  would  be  tax  deductible  is  85%.  

IBAW  960  Timber  Pass  

Brookfield,  WI  53045    

Office:  262-­‐844-­‐0333  WWW.IBAW.COM