UW-Green Bay honors Wipfli with inaugural Weyenberg Prize for Business Excellence
Left to right: Rick Dreher (Wipfli), Justin Krizenesky (UW-Green Bay student), Maryanne and Tim Weyenberg and Dan Pichler (Wipfli).
Award was presented at 2017 Business Week dinner
Green Bay, Wis. (March 27, 2017) — Wipfli LLP (Wipfli), one of the top 25 CPA and consulting firms in the United States, has been recognized by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UW-Green Bay) with its inaugural Weyenberg Prize for Business Excellence. The award recognizes a company that demonstrates business excellence through its leadership transformation, strategy and execution. Wipfli received the award at UW-Green Bay’s annual Business Week Dinner on Tuesday, March 28.
In addition, UW-Green Bay Business Administration student Justin Krizenesky, a freshman from Kimberly, Wis., received a $5,000 scholarship in the name of Wipfli, for best exemplifying the spirit of the Weyenberg Prize. Krizenesky’s goal is to be a high-level executive in marketing. He serves his community by participating in events to raise money to fight Cystic Fibrosis and increase public awareness of the disease.
“While we are impressed by the caliber of all the companies that were nominated for this award, after much consideration the selection committee chose Wipfli for the inaugural Weyenberg Prize for Business Excellence,” said David Radosevich, Ph.D, Austin E. Cofrin Endowed Chair of Business at the UW-Green Bay. “The selection committee was impressed with the efforts Wipfli has made to build an intentional culture that nurtures excellence in leadership among all their associates.”
Wipfli has more than 1,800 associates in 44 offices across the United States and India, including an office in Green Bay that has been serving local businesses for over 100 years. The professional services firm provides a wide range of services to help businesses face challenges from audit and tax services to IT consulting and strategic business planning.
“Wipfli is honored to be selected by UW-Green Bay for this prestigious award, which is an affirmation of our journey to formally create a caring and servant leadership-based business model about 10 years ago,” said Rick Dreher, Wipfli’s managing partner who is based in the firm’s Green Bay office. “Tim Weyenberg is an icon of business in the Green Bay community. To be associated with him through this recognition is extremely meaningful to the firm.”
The award was created to honor Weyenberg and his personal, business and community impact. Weyenberg spent 28 years with Foth Companies, 16 years as CEO, during which time Foth Companies grew from a business with $27 million in revenue, four offices, 270 members, and 40 owners, to a business with $125 million in revenue, 18 offices, over 600 members and 140 owners.
Throughout his career, Weyenberg has been active in the community and with the University, serving as its inaugural Executive in Residence since February of 2015. In that role, he works to promote the critical connections between the University and community. The award was named after Weyenberg for his many career accomplishments and for his exemplary leadership. His unrelenting focus on building an intentional culture at Foth through core strategies of investing in leadership development, ensuring customer value and driving profitable growth, have resulted in business excellence.
The Weyenberg Prize is the result of the collaboration between UW-Green Bay’s Cofrin School of Business and InitiativeOne and their combined efforts to positively influence the greater Green Bay business community.
About Wipfli LLP
With more than 1,800 associates in 44 offices across the United States and India (including one office in Green Bay, Wisconsin), Wipfli ranks among the top 25 CPA and business consulting firms in the nation. The firm provides private and publicly held companies with industry-focused assurance, accounting, tax and consulting services to help clients overcome their business challenges today and plan for tomorrow. Through the firm’s membership in Allinial Global, Wipfli can draw upon the resources of firms from around the world, helping businesses whenever and wherever they need it. For more information, visit wipfli.com.
About the Sponsors
The Weyenberg Prize is the most recent partnership between UW-Green Bay’s Cofrin School of Business and InitiativeOne to positively influence the greater Green Bay business community. InitiativeOne guided the creation of the criteria and co-sponsored, along with the School of Business, the student scholarship associated with Weyenberg Prize. The Cofrin School of Business prepares tomorrow’s business and organizational leaders for success through coursework, internships and profession development — providing undergraduate instruction in business administration and accounting, and a graduate degree in management. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.
About Business Week
In its seventh year, Business Week has proven valuable to both business leaders and students in the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business. Students enhance their classroom learning by participating in a variety of events, all of which include community business leaders. Events such as Learning to Dine Like a Professional, Elevator Pitch Competition, Etiquette Lunch and Mock Interview Day, help students to develop the interpersonal and professional acumen expected of business professionals. The annual Job and Internship Fair provides key networking opportunities for both community business and organizations and UW-Green Bay students.
In the photo above, left to right: Rick Dreher (Wipfli), Justin Krizenesky (UW-Green Bay student), Maryanne and Tim Weyenberg and Dan Pichler (Wipfli). Photo by Marketing and University Communication photographer Dan Moore.
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