MADISON – Two new elements will mark the final
phases of the 2015 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan
Contest
at the 13th annual Wisconsin
Entrepreneurs’ Conference
, to be held June 2-3 at Madison’s Alliant
Energy Center.

Learn
more and register for the two-day event at www.WiTrepsConference.com. “Early bird” registration is open
through May 14 and special hotel rates apply through May 15.

  • The presentations by the contest’s
    “Diligent Dozen” will include an offer from Honkamp Krueger & Co. to
    provide a free tax analysis for entrepreneurs registered for the full
    conference. The analysis would cover 2014 tax returns for entrepreneurs
    regardless of incorporation status. The presentations will take place from 3:15-5:30
    p.m. Tuesday, June 2, and will
    represent the final 12 out of a field that began with about 240 entries in
    January.
  • The Governor’s Business Plan
    Contest awards ceremony the following day, June
    3
    , will kick off with a conversation with Jonathan Zuckerbrod, who is
    driving technology as a part of the marketing efforts of the Milwaukee Bucks. Zuckerbrod,
    who previously worked for Thrillist Media Group and GroupMe, will discuss the team’s
    statewide outreach plans in the wake of the Bucks’ turnaround 2014-2015 season.

The Business Plan Contest awards ceremony,
which will begin at noon, is sponsored by Ascendancy Advisors with support from
PowerBuy 4 You. Reed Hall, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic
Development Corp., will join in presenting the awards. In addition to the BPC
award announcements, the luncheon will also feature a presentation by the 2015
winner of the Wisconsin YES! youth
business plan contest, which is sponsored by WEA Trust and IBM. 

Produced
by the Tech Council, the conference is one of the largest events of its kind in
the Upper Midwest. More than 500 people are expected to attend the two-day
conference, to be held June 2-3 at the Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant
Energy Center Way, just off Madison’s South Beltline. Additional speakers and
features will be announced in coming weeks, all under the theme of “Nurturing
Entrepreneurial Roots.” Other highlights:

  • A
    keynote presentation by Jerry Jendusa,
    co-founder and former CEO of EMTEQ and now a principal with STUCK LLC
  • The
    2015 Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award recipient Jim Berbee, founder of Berbee
    Information Networks Corp.
  • Fifteen
    panel discussions for emerging
    companies on how to “Launch, Grow and Succeed,” including a special June 2 plenary
    session to be announced
  • Innovation Showcase featuring more than 45 companies
    from around the state
  • Plenty
    of chances to connect with seasoned
    entrepreneurs and investors over food and refreshments

Sponsors so far include: Aberdean Consulting; Alliant
Energy; American Family Insurance; American Transmission Co.; Ascendancy
Advisors; AT&T; Baird Capital; Baker Tilly; BDO; BloodCenter of Wisconsin;
BMO Harris Bank; City of Fitchburg; Concordia University; CORE Business
Consulting; Cresa Madison; Dedicated Computing; DeWitt Ross & Stevens; Exact
Sciences; Filament Games; Fine Point Consulting; First Business Bank; Godfrey
& Kahn; Google; Group Health Cooperative; HP Enterprise Services; Madison
College; Madison Gas & Electric; Makin’ HEY! Communications; Marquette
University; Marshfield Clinic Applied Sciences; Michael Best & Friedrich; Mid-West
Energy Research Consortium; Midwest Prototyping; MIOsoft; Murphy Desmond; Neider
& Boucher; Nelson Schmidt; NEW Capital Fund; New Horizons of Wisconsin;
Nordic; PowerBuy 4 You; Quarles & Brady; RDC National Inc.; Red Arrow
Productions; Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.; Rockwell Automation; Safenet
Consulting; The Business Journal; Tweedee Productions; University Research
Park; Uber; UW-Madison Discovery to Product (D2P); UW-Madison Office of
Corporate Relations; UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation; Venture Investors;
Whitewater University Technology Park; Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.; WIN-Lake
Superior; Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.; Wisconsin Technical College
System; and WTN Media.

For more
information, visit www.witrepsconference.com or call 608-442-7557.