|
Recently, former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker John
Gard and his wife former Wisconsin State Treasurer Cate Zeuske
became the new leaders at WIB.
John and Cate bring a multitude of professional experiences that
will make WIB an even more effectiveorganization working on behalf
of small, independent businesses in Wisconsin. They join a
talented group of staff to deliver meaningful results on your
behalf.
John’s experiences with state finance and legislative leadership will serve our members exceedingly well.
John served Northeastern Wisconsin in the State Assembly for 19
years from 1987-2006. He was Co-Chairman of the powerful Joint
Finance Committee for 5 years and was twice elected by his
colleagues to be Speaker of the Assembly from 2003-2006.
Cate was elected to the State Assembly in 1982 and served 4 terms.
She was then elected State Treasurer in 1990. Later, Cate was
appointed by Governor Thompson as President of Forward Wisconsin,
the state’s public- private economic development organization. She
then served for 5 years as Secretary of the Department of Revenue
for Governor Thompson. Cate led the effort for numerous tax reforms
that were advantageous to small businesses. John and Cate both
grew up in small business families. John was raised on his
parent’s dairy farm in Lena and Cate’s parents owned and operated a
very successful insurance agency in Shawano.
They both learned many indispensable lessons about the value of
small business from those experiences.
“We have long believed that the foundation of our state’s economy is
the strength and vitality of small business”, says Zeuske, “Small
business owners create the highest amount of new jobs and have the
most significant impact on Wisconsin families.”John and Cate have been tireless advocates of
working to make Wisconsin’s economy more competitive and responsive
to job creators, something they intend to continue with their
leadership of Wisconsin Independent Businesses.
“We fully understand the need for our government to
recognize what it takes to succeed in small business,” stated Gard,
“Small business owners risk everything they have to go into and then
stay in business. They need government policies that value risk,
support hard work and encourage growth. We will aggressively work to
enact those types of policies on behalf of our great members.” Gard
will serve as the new President of WIB.
“We have a terrific membership of small independent
business owners and job creators across Wisconsin that can be the
most effective voices for economic growth in Wisconsin- it’s our
responsibility to bring those voices together,” ~ noted Gard.
back to
top |
