Green Bay Reporter

The Green Bay Packers Mentor-Protégé Program has announced the participants for its 15th session. This year, 19 emerging businesses from Wisconsin have been paired with established mentor companies. The program, which spans a year, is designed to provide guidance in technical, managerial, financial, or other areas to help these businesses grow.

The initiative focuses on businesses across Wisconsin, with an emphasis on northeastern regions but also includes those from southeastern, southwestern, and central parts of the state. A significant portion of this year's protégés are minority-owned, veteran-owned, or woman-owned businesses, comprising 84 percent of the participants.

The program aims to stimulate business growth and economic development in Wisconsin by engaging small businesses. Since its inception, it has facilitated the creation of over 422 jobs across more than 140 protégé companies in 46 communities throughout Wisconsin. Participants have collectively increased their annual revenue by $105.9 million.

This session's partnerships include Ron Franklin mentoring Rotiesha Nelson from Milwaukee's 2Sisters Cleaning & Carpet Cleaning Services; Myesha Thompson guiding Doug Wierzba from Secure ID in Madison; and Rick Allcox assisting Nicole Boyington from Elm Grove's Dyslexia Achievement Center.

Other notable mentorships involve Rudy Gutierrez working with Doris Jones from D'VAXAVSs Portable Parties and Tiffany Rooker from Out & About Transportation in Milwaukee; Jan Botz supporting Elzie Flenard III with Podcast Town in Brookfield; and Jamie Veeser advising Shawn Skenandore from Shawn's Pro Wash Solutions in Green Bay.

Further pairings include Patrick Murphy mentoring Brittany Berkovitz at The ATT Center in Green Bay; Michael Foley with Eileen Winslow at Madison's Dapper Cadaver; Refilwe Goll and Tonya Fourté-Lyles assisting Vince Carey at Triple Double Logistics and Yaw Asare at Gold Coast Candy.

Additional mentors such as Mike McKay will guide Pradeep Jain at Ictect in Burlington; Jim Filter will support Maria Perl at Spark Ops Metalworks in Fond du Lac; John Bozec will aid Joe Terrien at ITAD Logic in Neenah; Gary Vaughan will mentor Carrie Nellis at Sturgeon Bay’s 57 Farm Store.

Julie Stadtmueller is set to assist Rebecca Pease at Aqua Therapups in Brookfield while Barb LaMue will mentor Julia Borges at A-Level Athletics in La Crosse. Lastly, Garrick Roby will guide Jory Hawthorne from Out the Mud Hauling based in Milwaukee.

For more details about the Packers Mentor-Protégé Program, visit packers.com/community/mentor-protege.