In any business climate, context is everything and in the current disruptive environment, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce believes it has what executives need to grow their businesses.
WMC, the combined state chamber and manufacturers’ association, unveiled Tuesday its new Wisconsin Executive Forum program, a peer community for top executives and other senior business leaders.
Wade Goodsell, vice president and chief executive officer of WMC, believes the business disruptions of today require navigational help.
“When you look at the acceleration of disruption, we think it’s an imperative to put together a confidential and curated peer-to-peer network of executives from across this state that can come together to discuss how to minimize challenges, identify and maximize opportunities and also jointly share best practices in how to scale their business,” Goodsell said.
When it comes to disruptions, the list is long and challenging — tariffs, workforce shortages and a digital transformation represented by artificial intelligence among them.
The Wisconsin Executive Forum has established four pillars — leadership development, organizational strategy, company culture and strategic ability — that Goodsell believes are important to growth in any climate.
“The macro thread that connects all four is scaling an organization,” Goodsell said. “We believe everybody wins when the leader gets better, and often the ceiling of the leader dictates the ceiling of the organization.
“So when we zoom out and think, what are the four things within the walls of your business you need to be successful, it’s strategy, alignment, growth and leadership.”
Geographic coverage
The program will have a cohort in the state’s largest metro areas — Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay/Fox Cities. Set to begin in January, it will combine monthly sessions, expert speakers and peer connection to equip executives to lead.
Each cohort will have 12-14 executives and will be led by a facilitator who guides discussions around strategic planning, company growth, change management and executive leadership.
In Madison, the facilitator will be Larry McManis, former global strategist at Kraft Foods and the founder and CEO of ThinkWay Strategies. He will lead the program on the first Tuesday of each month, from 8 a.m. to noon, beginning Jan. 13, 2026.
“Each of the cohort leaders brings an extensive background and executive bona fides working across different industries on a national scale,” Goodsell said. “Larry’s experience as a strategist, facilitator, global corporate executives as well as a small business owner as the founder and CEO of Thinkway Strategies is second to none.”
In Milwaukee, a face familiar to business people throughout the state, First Business Financial Services’ retiring CEO Corey Chambas, will facilitate on the third Tuesday of each month, from 8 a.m. to noon, starting Jan. 22, 2026. Chambas, who has served in the First Business executive suite for 30 years, announced his retirement, effective May 2026.
Goodsell said Chambas’ ability to grow First Business makes him an ideal choice to lead the Milwaukee program.
“He has scaled First Business Bank dramatically over three decades, and we are thankful to have Corey’s leadership (in) our Milwaukee cohort,” Goodsell said.
In Green Bay and the Fox Cities, the program will be facilitated by Barb LaMue, former CEO of New North, an 18-county regional economic development corporation in northeast Wisconsin, on the second Wednesday of each month, from 8 a.m. to noon, starting Jan. 14, 2026.
“Barbara LaMue is a renowned economic development executive who’s been nationally recognized and has an ability to convene people, facilitate conversation and garner trust,” Goodsell said.
For members, the investment in time is about four hours per month, but the financial investment for membership is $13,000.
In addition to monthly executive roundtables, member benefits will include access to an exclusive, on-demand speaker video library featuring lectures from industry experts.
“There’s curated, customized, on-demand video content just for executives who are part of the executive forum,” Goodsell said. “Additionally, there’s a monthly in person meeting for each of those cohorts based upon their geography.
“The venues will be within the (cohort) geography and they’ll be hosted at the site of the executives that are part of the group,” he said. “So if you have 12 executives in a cohort, one executive will host at their site per year, so it’s kind of a round robin.”
Disruptive routine
The member executives will gather at a time of heightened domestic and continuing international disruption, but Goodsell knows experienced executives have had experience operating in both.
“We view disruption in four macro categories — there’s geopolitical, political, economic and technological, and each of those four categories connects,” he said. “But on the macro side, it comes down to: how do you identify and minimize risks? And how do you identify and maximize opportunities?
“Those are the two themes as we hear from member executives,” he said. “When they think about scaling their business, it’s really risk mitigation and opportunity identification and maximization.”
