Get to know: Hope Voigt

President & Chief Operating Officer, Tweet Garot

Hope Voigt never envisioned being in construction, much less the president of a construction company. Out of college she worked as a CPA for Baker Tilly, where Tweet Garot was one of her clients.

Looking for a change in 2008, she got an accounting job with the De Pere-based mechanical contracting firm. “I wanted to get away from the public accounting world of working Saturdays and busy seasons,” she says. “I thought Tweet Garot was a really unique culture.”

By “unique culture” she refers to the multi-generation, family-owned company and its forward-looking perspective. In addition to accounting, Voigt began working on projects and found a love for the operations of the business. After a few years she left accounting and went into operations full time.

While she does enjoy opening a financial statement, Voigt loves “the people, the teams, the projects and schedule of construction.”

Voigt has served as COO since 2016, but evolving into the president role, which she assumed in February, has been humbling. She acknowledges the executive team, which continues to run strategic initiatives that make it possible for her to focus on growing the business forward. Voigt says she looks forward to helping develop the next leadership generation with the unique challenges it has to face.

As a female in construction Voigt knows her role is a crucial presence being filled — especially with no trades background, which makes her stick out even more.

Throughout the years, Voigt has attended a lot of presentations about how to increase women in construction, and one of her favorite phrases has become “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”

Hear more: Hope Voigt was featured on the March 20 episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights, a weekly podcast of Insight and the NEW Manufacturing Alliance. Listen to the full episode at insightonbusiness.com/podcasts or search “NEW Manufacturing Insights” anywhere you listen to podcasts.

— Chris Rugowski

Million-dollar play

TitletownTech, a venture capital firm backed by the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft, has launched the first-ever TitletownTech Startup Draft, a nationwide pitch competition. Hosted in collaboration with the Packers and Microsoft, and in conjunction with the 2025 NFL draft later this month, the TitletownTech Startup Draft is expected to draw thousands of entries from startup founders in industries aligned with Wisconsin’s core strengths: advanced manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, agriculture, water, energy, digital health and sports. The competition will culminate with Startup Draft Day, a live-streamed event April 24 ahead of the first round of the draft. During the event, finalists will pitch their ideas and compete for a $1 million investment and $350,000 in credits from Microsoft. More details at TitletownTech.com/TitletownTechStartupDraft.

Appleton’s next chapter

Galloway Company, the number one supplier of cream liqueur bases and sweetened condensed milk in the U.S., debuted its expanded Neenah production facility in January. Galloway specializes in producing unique formulations of condensed dairy blends and beverage bases. The $70 million, 41,000-square-foot expansion includes a second evaporator and nearly doubles the U.S. industrial sweetened condensed milk capacity. It will also allow the company to take on new customers for the first time in four years. The new system will enable greater customization of products, allowing the company to meet the needs of clients of all sizes — from full tanker trucks to smaller batches packaged in totes and 5-gallon pails. The company expects to add about 20 jobs over the next year to meet demand as a result of the expansion.

A rooted collaboration

Consolidated Construction Company in Appleton was awarded the 2024 Project of the Year by Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin. The North Dakota-based project is the Midwest’s first store to feature Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology. Designed and built by Consolidated Construction, the facility boasts 233 precision-placed cameras, a multi-payment entry system, modern restrooms, staff offices, storage, and temperature-controlled coolers and freezers. In the past, employees were hired to stand behind a checkout counter, but the new Minot store features technology to perform those mundane tasks. In addition to Project of the Year, the store also took home ABC Wisconsin’s Projects of Distinction Gold award.