JOHNSON CONTROLS' $3M PLEDGE TO DISCOVERY WORLD

By Michael Horne

Johnson Controls, Inc., Milwaukee’s largest publicly traded corporation, announced Monday June 12^th 2006 that it would sponsor Johnson Controls’ TechnoJungle: The Hunt for the Next Great Idea in Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, the new science and technology museum on the lakefront.

The $3 million gift, to be funded over the next five years, “will use personalized interactivity and forward-looking technology to give young people and their parents a sense of the possibilities for their future,” said John Barth, Johnson Controls chairman and CEO in prepared remarks.

The announcement was made at the monthly meeting of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, held in the Pilot House of the new facility. About twenty tables of eight persons each were filled for the noon luncheon. GMC members dined on Chicken Caesar Salad and seasonal fruit served by Bartolotta Catering Company, under the watchful eye of Joe Bartolotta himself, surveying the operations of the building. Bartolotta said the service portion of the building needs to be tweaked here and there, as would any foodservice operation, adding, “we’ll make it work.” His firm has the exclusive catering contract for Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin.

The luncheon was only the second official function held at Pier Wisconsin, with the first being a homecoming for the S/V Denis Sullivan Saturday. [See related post.]

Attendees included Governor Jim Doyle, Mayor Tom Barrett (who said his rosy complexion is due to hours spent at Little League games, not to mention a sail on the Sullivan); James D. Ericson, former Chairman of Northwestern Mutual; Ted D. Kellner, CFA (that’s what his name tag said); Fred Luber; Dennis Kuester; John Mellowes; Sheila Cochran; newly-goateed David V. Uihlein, Jr. (seated next to Peter Mahler, who had his name tag on upside down); Bev Greenberg; Daniel J. Steininger, JD, CLU (that’s what his business card said); and others too numerous to mention, including Jack McKeithan and Paul Purcell, the head of Robert W. Baird & Co., who doesn’t hang out in Milwaukee much.

Discovery World director Paul Krajniak, who is equal parts Crazy Professor and Mr. Wizard, narrated a visual presentation about the museum, explaining its attributes, which are multifarious. He said the museum was “built for one reason – to shape the future” of the city, state and region. Museum-goers will be able to design and produce items in the facility that they can take with them, including such things as a handbag or a corrugated fiberboard chair. Governor Doyle paid rapt attention throughout Krajniak’s presentation.

Krajniak was credited by Michael Cudahy with coming up with many of the ideas for the TechnoJungle, designed to reveal “the role that innovation and creativity play in engineering and design.”

The Portable Expeditionary Curriculum “allows participants to download activities that turn the real world into a TechnoJungle with riddles, puzzles, experiments and creativity exercises designed to recognize and inspire innovation.”

Tours would be led by a “virtual Lynde Bradley,” Krajniak said, bringing a smile to the face of David Uihlein, Bradley’s great-grandnephew.

Krajniak says a website “for innovators, only,” has been established at www.TechnoJungle.org for more information. [A card handed out at the event read, “Your Access Code: Join the Hunt.” I tried the access code, and it does get you to the site.]

Michael Cudahy also addressed the crowd, likening the Pilot House to a “Parisian nightclub.” This is very likely firsthand observation on the part of Cudahy who has been known to fly friends to New York City simply for dinner and a show.

He said, “I had 1,200 of my nearest and dearest friends here Saturday night.” Only one thing bugged him, he said, and that was that certain of his friends would say, “’That Mike Cudahy. He’s amazing – for 82.’”

This message of mortality is about the only thing that could humble Cudahy, who thinks he’s amazing -- for anything. He said Discovery World “is not for profit, but is also not for loss. At 82 I know I might croak. This building is designed to last 200 years, and, by God, I’ll see it does, ruling from the grave.”