Insight on Business

w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m J u n e 2 0 1 6 • I NSIGH T | 23 Kanzelberger would scan the Wall Street Journal want ads and daydream about making a big leap, one day noticing an ad for the Ministry of Housing and Resettlement in Trinidad and Tobago. He and his wife, Kay, had spent some time in the Caribbean, and he went for it. e job involved building public housing and schools in Trinidad, where the average annual income is $400 or less. Kanzelberger watched families occupy buildings where it might be the first time they experienced running water or clean surroundings. "at's when the light went on," Kanzelberger recalls. "I said, it's not buildings, per se, it's what buildings can do for people." Kanzelberger, whose family is from Manitowoc, eventually came back to Wisconsin and became St. Norbert College's director of facilities. It was the beginning of a relationship that lasts today. "I got to see how the whole place works," Kanzelberger says. "at was as much the genesis for our business because you could see how the institution functioned from the back room, and it was just a great way to understand how all the pieces go together." Laying a foundation anzelberger first encountered Page and Netzel while working at St. Norbert College. Page, then a young architect with the engineering firm CPR Associates of De Pere, brought a proposal that Kanzelberger didn't think much of. "To put it in a nice way, he beat the hell out of me," says Page, president and COO of Performa. "I went back and did a rewrite of the proposal, and kind of went toe-to-toe with him, and I think he respected that." Page won the contract and worked with Kanzelberger for about five years before leaving CPR. en Kanzelberger was hired by CPR, and asked Page to come back. ey worked together there from 1991 to 1995, and purchased a portion of CPR's buildings group in November 1995. at became Performa. e early years were tough, Kanzelberger says, partially because of occasionally talking clients out of building — "Frankly, we just couldn't do it when there was another way to solve the problem" — and because the company had built a particularly expensive model, he says. "Meaning we have architects, interior designers, mechanical, electrical, structural engineering all on staff. Plumbing. at is very unusual," Kanzelberger says. "But basically, a client will come to us and we can do all of it." "If they can develop an understanding of the depth of care that we have for our clients, they begin to trust us implicitly," Page says. "at's just one piece of evidence that demonstrates the level of care we have about the clients we serve. I'll be honest, it's not all that common in our profession. It's hard to tell people that you care about them, and have them believe you without actually experiencing it." [ c o n t i n u e d ] » ONLINE: Click to hear Performa CEO Jeff Kanzelberger talk about how his company helps clients figure out what they really need in a building or workspace. Gathering in a collaborative spot at Performa's newly-remodeled office in downtown De Pere are, from left, Jeff Kanzelberger, CEO; Theresa Schroeder, vice president of organizational development; Brian Netzel, principal, lead designer; and Doug Page, president and COO.

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