The Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship is thrilled to welcome Bill Krugler to the WAVE Advisory Board!
Bill has an established history with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with his BBA in Accounting and more recently being on the advisory board for the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. Bill has many years of finance and accounting experience and is very excited to bring his knowledge of social entrepreneurship to the Weinert Center.
Bill began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co., where he specialized in providing financial advisory and business consulting services to growth-oriented, middle market companies. He next moved to the Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) Corporation’s private equity arm where he spent ten years before he was part of a team that spun-out of M&I in 1998 to form Mason Wells, the largest private equity firm in Wisconsin. Serving as Managing Director at Mason Wells, Bill was responsible for initiating investment opportunities, structuring and negotiating transactions, serving on the Board of Directors of portfolio companies, working with portfolio company management teams to develop strategic plans & create shareholder value and arranging for the disposition of investments.
Since 2011, however, Bill has focused his time and energy on solving social issues in his community of Milwaukee and the Midwest. In 2013, he founded Milwaukee JobsWork with a goal of helping motivated individuals living in poverty in Milwaukee achieve economic self-sufficiency through sustainable employment. Within this capacity, Bill also works to promote the start-up and growth of social enterprises in Milwaukee. With the realization that Milwaukee ranks as the fourth poorest city in the United States, he thought “can I bring my business background to improve this situation in Milwaukee?” His innovative strategy brings the Milwaukee business community closer together and keeps the flow of expenditures more local to central Milwaukee. This way, burgeoning small businesses have capacity to hire from the area. Through Milwaukee JobsWork, Bill has gotten some of the biggest names in Milwaukee business to commit to supporting local small business partners by directing some of their spending power toward these entrepreneurs. This is a win-win-win situation for the “anchor institutions,” as they gain access to motivated, hard-working employees, the small businesses who benefit from business counseling and support with appropriate capital, and the employees of the small businesses who now have access to employment opportunities.
Bill also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Community Reinvestment Fund, a leading Community Development Financial Institution that develops products and services aimed at increasing the flow of capital to historically underinvested communities. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Serenity Inns, a non-profit organization serving the needs of residents in Milwaukee’s central city.
Bill brings an exciting new perspective to the WAVE Advisory Board. His skill sets can help entrepreneurs from the Weinert Center and StartUp Learning Community turn their ideas into professionally managed businesses. He sees the University as fertile ground for social entrepreneurship to grow, and the next generation as eager participants in the cause.
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