— Kelmann Restoration President Tom Kelly aims to expand the company’s footprint statewide, building on a legacy established over five decades of doing business in Wisconsin.
The Wauwatosa-based company this week is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It was founded in 1973 by Tom’s father, Jerry Kelly, and business partner Dick Niggemann as a property management and maintenance firm, but later turned to its current core business of disaster cleanup and property restoration.
“This year specifically will be bittersweet, because it also marks the five-year anniversary of my father’s death,” Kelly told WisBusiness.com yesterday in an interview. “In the last five years, our company has doubled. And it was on a lot of the foundation, and the morals, and the principles and the lessons he instilled in all of us.”
According to Kelly, the company has always sought to treat its customers like family, with a focus on respect, understanding and hard work.
The business has now grown to nearly 100 employees, with two locations in Wauwatosa, one in New Berlin and another facility that opened recently in Sheboygan. It currently services the area between Madison and the shore of Lake Michigan, down to Kenosha and Racine and up to Green Bay.
“Our stated goal is to be able to cover the whole state, so we’re heading northward,” Kelly said.
Kelmann Restoration has served about 41,000 customers since it launched, and currently sees between 2,000 and 3,000 customers per year, most of which hear about the company by word-of-mouth. Its clients include owners of properties hit by fire, flood, wind or other natural disasters, as well as those looking to remodel or needing assistance with an insurance claim.
While the company’s revenue is split fairly evenly between residential and commercial customers, Kelly said, most of the jobs it takes are for homeowners.
“We’ve seen immense growth over the last 10 years in that commercial space as we’ve grown as a company,” he said, noting school districts represent another growing customer base for the business.
Kelly expects much of the company’s future growth will be in this area. As the business continues to expand in the state, Kelly aims to provide more community-level support through the Kelmann Cares Foundation, a nonprofit entity launched in 2020.
“We support a lot of local and statewide initiatives, and I’m really proud of the team for that,” he said, adding he expects to see a lot of growth in both the foundation and the business overall.
The company is hosting an open house event tomorrow evening in Wauwatosa to celebrate its 50th anniversary, featuring food, drinks and live music.
See event details: https://www.wisbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Kelmann-Restoration-50th-Anniversary-Press-Release.pdf
See more on the company here: https://www.kelmann.com/
— August home sales in the Milwaukee metro area were 18 percent lower over the year, according to the latest figures from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
The GMAR report shows 1,697 homes were sold in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties last month, compared to 2,069 in August 2022.
And while new home construction permits through July “were an abysmal 870 units” in the four county area — compared to 1,189 at that point last year — new listings in August were actually 7 percent higher than the previous August. That’s the first growth seen in that figure for 17 months, the report shows.
“We will have to see if that is an anomaly or the beginning of a trend,” the group wrote in its analysis.
As in previous reports, GMAR notes the lack of new home construction in the region and an over-reliance on apartments represents a “systemic problem” with the local market.
“In the near future it does not appear that the market will achieve any kind of balance to benefit buyers,” GMAR wrote.
See the full report:
— Assembly Children and Families Committee Chair Pat Snyder said he knows a GOP child care package that cleared his committee is “not the silver bullet to take care of this situation.”
The Schofield Republican made the comments yesterday responding to Committee member Rep. Jill Billings’ concerns the bills were rushed. Billings said she wants to work across the aisle to solve the child care crisis, but a quality solution needs more time.
“I know this is a huge issue in Wisconsin, and I wish we could’ve been more deliberate and had more time to work together on these bills,” the La Crosse Dem said. “I don’t think this solves our child care crises in Wisconsin.”
The bills intend to increase child care availability for families and make it easier for child care providers to build their organizations.
Snyder replied he plans to work with businesses on more legislative proposals, adding he is hopeful both parties will work to solve the child care crises.
“It’s a start, I think, but when it comes down to it, I think the final solution on this is going to have to be a workforce development or economic development issue because businesses have to get involved,” he said.
See more coverage at WisPolitics: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/tue-pm-update-dems-skeptical-of-vos-redistricting-proposal/
— MKE 2024 Host Committee Chair Reince Priebus and DNC National Committeeman Alex Lasry say bipartisan convention cooperation is a win for heavily Dem host city Milwaukee, though which party will see a bigger boost in the polls is up for debate.
The two at a WisPolitics luncheon in Washington, D.C., yesterday said the 2024 Republican National Convention is a chance for candidates to draw distinctions between each party. Priebus, who previously served as Republican National Committee chair, argued the convention city is important because the event “can turn a purple state where only 20,000 people will decide who those electoral votes will go to.”
“You can fly in and fly out, and whatever happens, happens; raise your money nationally and get in and get out,” he added. “That’s not gonna make a difference. You play it right, you do the right thing, you promote the city, and you take to heart what the job is, I think it will make a huge difference.”
Lasry countered the convention is a chance for Dems to draw a distinction between their policies and Republicans’.
“I think this is a time where we can say, ‘Look, this is what Republicans are advocating, for
this is what we’re advocating for,’ and leave it up to voters to make that decision,” Lasry said.
Regardless of who gets a boost at the polls in 2024, Lasry and Priebus said the event will draw tens of thousands to Milwaukee and provide a roughly $200 million economic boost to the state’s most populous city.
Lasry said the organizers and city leaders are working together in a bipartisan effort to show the rest of the country Milwaukee is open for convention and other major event business.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the pitch materials that we used for 2020 were just changing the D to the R and tried to do that,” he said. “But I think most importantly, what we showed in 2020 was that we can host this — and whether COVID took away our ability to actually have the big convention — the fact that we were awarded it showed that we could do it.”
Priebus added without bipartisan help from Milwaukee government and business leaders, the convention would not be a success. He also credited Lasry and the Democratic National Committee for paving the way for the RNC.
“Without the work that Alex and the DNC folks in Wisconsin did to bring the convention to Milwaukee in 2020, I’m not sure whether 2024 would have happened,” he said.
Priebus added all that convention work will help bring more major events to the city, which would increase revenue even more for the city that’s long struggled with finances. The Milwaukee Bucks submitted a bid earlier this year to host the 2025 or 2026 NBA All-Star Game at Fiserv Forum. Lasry and his dad are former Bucks execs.
— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is urging the FDA to stop makers of “synthetic imitation” dairy goods from using terms like milk and cheese to market their products.
In a letter sent recently to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, the Madison Dem and a bipartisan group of senators argue these companies are violating FDA “standards of identity” regulations, as their products don’t come from dairy animals. They specify “cell-based dairy imitation products” as an emerging class of products that should be barred from using dairy terms.
“These are synthetically created options posing as natural foods, many of which are nutritionally inferior to the dairy products they imitate … It is critical that FDA intervene to prevent this new violation committed by cell-based foods from compounding the harm Americans are already experiencing from FDA’s decades of inaction on plant-based mislabeling,” they wrote.
Earlier this year, Baldwin and other lawmakers sent a letter to Califf arguing against the FDA’s draft guidance that would allow makers of plant-based products to use dairy terms like milk in labeling products.
See yesterday’s letter: https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/baldwin_letter_to_fda_on_cell-based_imitation_products.pdf
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/u-s-sen-baldwin-pushes-fda-to-crack-down-on-lab-grown-imitation-dairy-products/
— StartingBlock and Summit Credit Union have partnered to form the Summit Credit Union Fellowship for Women Entrepreneurs.
The fellowship will offer mentorship, workspace, workshops and training for four female entrepreneurs, according to a recent blog post.
“We are thrilled to join hands with Summit Credit Union in this endeavor,” StartingBlock Madison Executive Director Scott Mosley said in a statement. “The fellowship signifies our commitment to fostering inclusivity and diversity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. By providing essential resources and mentorship to women entrepreneurs, we aim to level the playing field and drive meaningful change.”
Applicants need to reside in South Central Wisconsin and be able to attend in-person programming at StartingBlock, a co-working space in Madison.
Applications are being accepted through Oct. 8.
See program details: https://www.startingblockmadison.org/programs
See more at Madison Startups:
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— Emergency medical services providers are responding to an increasing number of falls in Wisconsin, with most of those occurring in private residences.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Wisconsin’s elder care facilities face staffing, financial challenges that threaten care
# When workers unionized, screenprint shop said it closed – then rebranded
# American Family insuretech subsidiary enters second big-league sponsorship with NFL deal
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin Cranberry Board elects 2 new members
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=838&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– Illinois-based Heyday starts construction of 130 single-family apartments in Oak Creek
– Historic Preservation Committee rejects developer request to demolish former Third Ward tavern
# ECONOMY
– Moonshot, a new Milwaukee-based venture studio, aims to foster early-stage companies
# EDUCATION
– Madison schools’ bus provider 30 drivers short, has 16 in training
# HEALTH CARE
– Wisconsin EMS calls related to falls are up 24% in three years
– Here’s why Neenah doesn’t have a senior center, despite talks about creating one
# MANUFACTURING
– Menomonee Falls manufacturer says acquisition by out-of-state firm won’t affect Wisconsin workforce
– Milwaukee-area manufacturer introduces $15,000 retention bonus to combat turnover
# MEDIA
– Professional eater returns home to Wisconsin after global food tour
# POLITICS
– Wisconsin Assembly passes nearly $3 billion income tax cut that Evers vows to veto
# REAL ESTATE
– Home prices still spiking as Milwaukee-area listings remain far short of balanced market
# REGULATION
– Dairy supporters call on FDA to stop lab-grown dairy alternatives from using words like ‘milk’, ‘cheese’
# RETAIL
– Nonfiction Natural Wines named one of country’s best wine shops
# SPORTS
– Madison man, 51, ID’d as Ironman Wisconsin athlete who died
# TECHNOLOGY
– BAYCOM’s security ecosystem leverages AI to offer proactive monitoring approach
– Patients can use MyPrevea, MyChart for first time since cyberattack
# TOURISM
– Will the fate of the Domes be decided by Milwaukee County residents?
– What’s the future of the Domes and how much will it cost?
# UTILITIES
– Indigenous tribes urge federal officials to deny loan request for Superior natural gas plant
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Wisconsin’s Premier Women’s Leadership Conference: Marks 5 years of empowerment and inspiration
