April 2025 Chapter Meeting & Academic Achievement Awards

DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
TIME: 1:00 PM – 6:30 PM
LOCATION:  Blue Harbor Conference Center | Sheboygan

Join us at our April Event & 2025 Academic Achievement Awards!

Event Timeline

• 12:30 - 12:55 PM
  Event registration
  
  
• 1:00 - 2:00 PM
  Godfrey & Kahn Professional Development Presentation
  
  
• 2:00 - 2:15 PM
  Break / Networking
  
  
• 2:15 - 3:15 PM
  Grant Thornton Professional Development Presentation
  
  
• 3:15 - 3:45 PM
  Networking, 2025 Academic Achievement Awards, & Business Announcements
  
  
• 3:45 - 4:45 PM
  Louie Gentine Keynote Presentation
  
  
• 4:45 - 6:30 PM
  Social / Dinner
   

Location

Blue Harbor Conference Center
725 Blue Harbor Drive
Sheboygan, WI 53081

Keynote Presentation Time
3:45 - 4:45 PM

Keynote Topic
Sargento: Growth Through Innovation

Summary & Learning Objectives
The story of Sargento is a study in entrepreneurship and visionary thinking from founder Leonard A. Gentine. His winning spirit made innovation an integral part of Sargento and its culture. Innovation – in all aspects of the family-owned business vision has driven the growth and success of America’s leading natural cheese brand since 1953. Key takeaways are as follows:

1.    The Sargento Vision: to be the most innovative, best-loved real food company has guided
      our success
2.   Innovation can happen in all areas of business
3.  How to create an environment where innovation can thrive

Keynote Presenter & Biography

Louie Gentine
Chairman & CEO | Sargento Foods

As a third-generation family owner, Louie has worked at the cheese company in many capacities - from washing trucks in high school to working on the production lines, in accounts receivable and retail sales during college. Each of these roles, as well as his role today, are crucial to the vision at Sargento to be the most innovative, best-loved real food company. Following family succession rules, Louie worked outside of the company as a commercial lender at American National Bank in Chicago for three years following his graduation from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in Finance. He completed his MBA at Loyola and returned to Sargento in 2000.

Louie is an experienced executive with over 20 years of experience at his family’s nearly $1.8 billion company. He has held leadership roles in marketing, production, and procurement where he was able to learn and experience multiple functions at the company. He had the opportunity to lead the company’s largest business unit – Consumer Products Division where he directed the efforts of sales, marketing, and innovation. In this role he had numerous interactions with customers in the retail channel. Prior to becoming CEO in 2013, Louie led all three Sargento business units which along with the retail divisions included its ingredients division and food service division. In this role the company entrusted Louie with the creation of a robust three-year strategic planning process, which has evolved but continues today. Building the Sargento brand and driving new product innovation have been key enablers to the success of Sargento and Louie plays a critical role in continuing to build and evolve that capability. 

In 2024, Sargento celebrated 71 years of being a family-owned company, 11 of which Louie has led as CEO. Louie has guided the family business to substantial growth during his tenure, building off of the success of his father and grandfather. Louie’s leadership was recognized by Ernst & Young as a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year in 2024. This prestigious honor is granted to the foremost leaders in key business sectors across the country. Louie’s broad base of experience and leadership has allowed him to earn the trust and respect of more than 2,500 employees, which he refers to as the Sargento Family. In addition to developing the broader Sargento Family, Louie has created an educational program for the family’s 4th generation family members.

Louie is married to Paula and they live in Plymouth, Wisconsin. They have four children and welcomed their first grandchild in 2024. In his free time, he enjoys doing outdoor activities such as hiking, hunting, golfing, biking, running, downhill skiing and working on projects on his property.

In addition to being involved in many community activities, Louie is chairman of the board of Road America – one of the premiere motorsport tracks in the world located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. He also serves on the board of directors for the International Dairy Foods Association, the Consumer Brands Association, Lakeside Foods, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, and is the President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul store in Plymouth. Additionally, Louie has kept his grandfather’s commitment to community outreach alive through maintaining partnerships to provide hunger relief, affordable housing, and accessible education.

Godfrey & Kahn Professional Development Presentation
Topic: Key Updates in Labor & Employment Law: Essential Takeaways for Employers
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM

Presented By:

Summary & Learning Objectives

Stay ahead of the curve and navigate the complex landscape of employment law with confidence. We'll highlight the most impactful developments from the past year, ranging from federal agency initiatives to landmark court rulings and emerging state law trends. Key takeaways are as follows:

• The current state of the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule and essential tips for moving forward.
• A summary of SCOTUS decisions and cases to watch along with recaps of significant state law updates in Wisconsin and its neighboring states.
• Learn what has shaped the world of labor and employment law over the past hear and what our predictions are for expectations in the coming months.

Presenter & Biography

Annie L. Eiden
Shareholder | Godfrey & Kahn

Annie Eiden is a shareholder serving the Green Bay and Appleton offices. She is a member of both the Labor & Employment and Litigation practices. Annie’s practice focuses on employment litigation and she serves as market leader for the Firm’s employment litigation practice group. Annie regularly represents employers in employment disputes before federal and state courts, arbitrators, and administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, and Wisconsin Equal Rights Division. She has significant experience defending employers against wage and hour class and collective action lawsuits, as well as other multi-plaintiff discrimination and retaliation claims. Annie also maintains an active advising practice, counseling employers through discipline and termination decisions, reductions in force, employment policies, employment and separation agreements, and wage and hour issues.

Grant Thornton Professional
Development Presentation
Topic: Optimizing Finance: Aligning Transformation Goals with Software Solutions
Time: 2:15 - 3:15 PM

Presented By:

Summary

Transforming your finance department can have significant benefits for the entire organization, including greater business insight, faster information, and increased revenue.  We’ll discuss different ways to transform a team, as well as take a deeper dive into identifying when software systems may need to evolve and how to map the right software solution.   Join us as we walk through success stories and strategies as businesses have navigated the evolving changes in workforce and technology. 

Learning Objectives & Overall Outcomes

• Grasp the key drivers and trends in finance transformation
• Identify the benefits of adopting new finance processes and technologies
• Understand software solution, including how to elevate the key features and functionalities relevant to finance operations
• Participants will be equipped with the knowledge to drive finance transformation
  initiatives effectively
• Attendees will be able to make informed decisions regarding software selection and implementation
• Enhanced collaboration and communication skills will lead to smoother transitions and stakeholder buy-in

Presenters & Biographies

Ronald Gothelf
Managing Director, Financial Management | Grant Thornton

Ron is a Managing Director in the Grant Thornton Financial Management Practice leading the U.S. Finance Transformation Capability and Financial Management Advisory in the Midwest. He has more than 20 years of domestic and international experience leading Finance Transformations of all sizes across multiple industries.

Ron’s projects have resulted in: greater business insight, faster information, increased revenue, right sized functions, lower operating costs, and regulatory compliance. He has experience in Portfolio Management, Program and Project Management, Process Reengineering, Finance Operations, Change Management, Benchmarking, Data Governance, Testing, Software Selection and Organizational Design.

Jason Kamp
Director, Technology Modernization | Grant Thornton

Jason is a Director with Grant Thornton’s Technology Modernization Practice and plays a key role supporting all the practice areas. Jason complements his Supply Chain Management background with industry knowledge of Oracle applications. He has more than 26 years of consulting experience in a range of industries where he has provided clients with business solutions in the areas such as enterprise resource planning, human capital management, business intelligence and enterprise performance management.

Prior to joining Grant Thornton, he was in consulting sales management roles with Oracle Consulting. Jason started his career as a Procurement and Operations lead with Motorola in Chicago where he was responsible for a $20M spend related to printed circuit boards that were components of Public and Government communications devices.

CPE Credit

Godfrey & Kahn Professional Development Presentation
from 1:00 - 2:00 PM = 1 credit
Grant Thornton Professional Development Presentation
from 2:15 - 3:15 PM = 1 credit
Keynote Presentation = 1 credit

Registrations, Cancellations, or Questions?

Michelle Weiss
920.750.9110
michelle@mwcommunications.org
Register and send cancellations by noon on 4/15/25.

Register Now