2020 Business Week award top honors to Pokorny, Vanderhoef, Foth and C.A. Lawton

Each year personnel from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Cofrin School of Business and Career Services office organize a series of events over the course of a number of weeks that culminates with the annual Business Week Keynote and Networking Dinner.

Like many other events in 2020, Business Week events had to be transformed to meet the current environment and the needs of UW-Green Bay students. Thanks to the hard work of faculty and staff on campus along with the help of area business leaders, alumni and community members, Business Week 2020 was successful and transformational.

Weyenberg Prize for Excellence in Business
The prize for business excellence is named in recognition of Tim Weyenberg, former CEO and executive chair of the Board of Directors for Foth Companies, and first-ever executive-in-residence for the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business. The 2020 Weyenberg Prize is awarded to two deserving companies that demonstrate the three essential elements for business excellence—leadership transformation, strategy and execution. In addition, two separate scholarships of $2,500 each are awarded in the name of the winning companies. The awards go to the UW-Green Bay business students who best exemplify the spirit of the Weyenberg Prize.

Weyenberg Prize Winner, Foth
As a young electrical engineer, Herbert Foth organized a small engineering firm in Green Bay, Wisconsin with four employees and several area municipalities as clients. That modest beginning in 1938, coupled with an ongoing commitment to delivering personalized, client-centered service and being member-owned, created the foundation for today’s organization. With 26 locations and almost 600 members, Foth delivers technical solutions for public and private clients around the globe and prides itself on solving its clients’ toughest science and engineering challenges.

Foth Scholarship recipient, Dylon Pokorny
Dylon Pokorny is a junior from Waupun, Wis. studying Business Administration with a double emphasis in Supply Chain Management and General Management. He serves as the president of the UW-Green Bay APICS Chapter and interns with a local trucking company, Paper Transport, Inc. In his free time, he owns and manages his small business Pokorny’s Bees and takes an active role in the development of his community.

Weyenberg Prize Winner, C.A. Lawton
The C.A. Lawton Co., established in 1879, is an industry leading foundry located in De Pere, Wis. Lawton has produced castings and machined components for five generations. The company provides complete on-site pattern, casting, machining, testing and assembly capabilities. Lawton is a continuous improvement company, applying LEAN principles to remove waste from all processes and improve efficiency. Lawton is part of a specialty metals platform family of foundries operating under the umbrella of Oakland Standard to provide it’s customers comprehensive access to multiple cast materials. This specialty metals platform serves various industries including air handling, water utility, mining, energy, cement and heavy equipment.

C.A. Lawton Scholarship recipient, Kate Vanderhoef
Kate Vanderhoef is a junior from Waunakee, Wis. majoring in Accounting, Business Administration with a Finance emphasis, and minoring in Spanish. After graduation, her goal is to become a Certified Public Accountant and work at one of the Big Four accounting firms. She is the treasurer of the University’s Colleges Against Cancer Club and also a member of the UW-Green Bay swim team.

60-Second Elevator Pitch Competition
Savvy job seekers have a personal elevator pitch to use during quick encounters with hiring officials at job fairs, during networking events or a chance meeting someplace else. An elevator pitch is a carefully crafted message designed to explain strengths, abilities and goals to a professional or business executive. The catch — it must be given in the time that it takes to ride up an elevator—60 seconds or less! Students prepared and competed for top honors and prizes in the elevator pitch competition and network night. Congratulations to:

First place, Jada Taylor
Second place, Mackenzie Salta
Third place (tie) Jordan Ogren and Dylon Pokorny

Phoenix Trading Competition
The Phoenix Trader of the Year is a simulated trading competition organized by the Student Finance Association (SFA). The competition is open to all UW-Green Bay students. Traders started with initial capital of $1,000,000 on November 4, 2019. They were able to trade equities, futures, options, currencies, futures options and bonds on the StockTrak Trading Simulation software until February 28, 2020. The top three traders with the highest portfolio value at the end of the trading period were selected as winners. By the end of the competition period, the top three traders have generated a combined trading profit of $4,162,132 on their initial total capital of $3,000,000. That translates to a return of 138.74% over the trading period. Congratulations to:

First place, DeAndre Theisen
Second place, Adam Rakers
Third place, Juan Cortes

Thank you to these Business Week sponsors:

Gold Sponsor
Green Bay Packers

Silver Sponsors
Terry & Kris Fulwiler
Global Recognition

InitiativeOne
Schneider
WIPFLI

Bronze Sponsors
4imprint
AON
Baker Tilly
Dental City
Imperial Supplies
Johnson Financial Group