Brookfield/Elm Grove Monthly

Freeman Brookfield & Elm Grove • Page 3A NOVEMBER 2016 252731001 Proud Sponsors of Horse Drawn Wagon Rides 262.789.2500 info@wolleranger.com www.wolleranger.com Your Elm Grove Insurance Agency since 1984 930 Elm Grove Road knowing that your assets are protected Peace of mind ... GET READY FOR A BUSY SPRING REAL ESTATE MARKET Happy Holidays www.m3realty.com 890 Elm Grove Rd. Elm Grove Pat, Ben & Martin Mullikin 262-787-8995 Pat@M3Realty 252596003 Complimentary consultation on the value of your home and staging/preparation suggestions. NOW 2 5 2 6 0 9 0 0 2 2016 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE Music by DJ "A Personal Touch" Friday, Nov. 11 Christmas in the Grove 4:00-8:00pm Art Show at Elm Grove Woman's Club (Children under 12 FREE) Fazio's Chocolate Challenge 4:00-8:00pm Come and guess for chocolate! Santa & Mrs. Claus will fly in for a visit! 5:00pm - Woman's Club 5:30pm - Sendik's 6:00pm - Penelope's Restaurant Saturday, Nov. 12 Christmas in the Grove 10:00am-4:00pm Art Show at Elm Grove Woman's Club (Children under 12 FREE) Craft Sale at Notre Dame Convent 10:00am-4:00pm Holiday Book Sale at the Library 10:00am-4:00pm Kids Crafts, Fun & More 10:00am-4:00pm - Cards for our troops At Snapdragon Flowers & RJ's Ice Cream Horse Drawn Wagon Rides 10:00am-3:00pm Throughout the village with stops at Park & Shop, Notre Dame Convent, Village Hall and Woman's Club Fazio's Chocolate Challenge 10:00am-4:00pm Come and guess for chocolate! Balloon Magic & Giveaways 11:00am-3:00pm At Thrivent Financial - celebrating 6 years in the village Santa & Mrs. Claus will fly in for a visit! 11:00am-2:30pm - At the Park & Shop 13330 Watertown Plank Rd • Elm Grove, WI 53122 262.786.1523 www.patchedworks.com Serving the Elm Grove Community Since 1978! 252609001 Shop Local in Elm Grove! IN BRIEF Firm aims to help those running small businesses By Chris Bennett Special to The Freeman BROOKFIELD — Your local auto mechanic opened a garage and started a small business out of a dream that perhaps took root in a high school shop class, or while wrenching away on a Satur- day afternoon with his dad. Your local salon owner bought shop space and start- ed a small business out of a dream to make men and women beautiful, and per- haps discovered that desire while playing dress-up in the care-free days of their youth. Payroll taxes and Quick Books and paying FICA and potentially dealing with the ramifications of the Afford- able Care Act likely never crossed their minds. But those financial mat- ters and countless dozens more are a daily fact of life for most who are engaged in running a small business — both for their livelihood and as a matter of satisfying the passion in their soul. And ignorance of those issues is anything but bliss. Small Business Account- ing Solutions at 1025 S. Moorland Road in Brook- field was started by some- one who once ran a small business and now services small businesses. It is also a small business. The definition of a small business is wide-ranging and, at times, complicated. The Small Business Admin- istration publishes lists of tables and data that define a small business by employ- ees and dollar figures. But most of us know a small business when we see one. It is our barber, our tai- lor, our seamstress, our dry cleaner, our day care provider or our handyman. That's who Small Business Accounting Solutions serves. Owner Dan Milos owned a small business before becoming a CPA. "He was an engineer," said Linda Gruichich, Client Relations director at Small Business Accounting Solutions. "He owned his own small business for years and was very success- ful. He really did not like working with accountants." Milos feared talking to accountants because it always resulted in a bill, and he never felt like anyone addressed his problems. Then tax time would arrive, and he'd learn he owed a lot more than he thought. If properly counseled, Milos could have potentially avoided such extensive tax liability. Living proof Gruichich was a client of Small Business Accounting Solutions before she went to work for the firm. Her hus- band owns Redi-Quick Dry Cleaners, 9508 W. Greenfield Ave. in West Allis "You couldn't picture a better walking testament than me," Gruichich said. "I know what he did for me." Gruichich said Milos and Small Business Accounting Solutions gave her family peace of mind. The counsel and services provided by Small Business Accounting Solutions meant no one sat up trying to square the ledger after working a 16- hour day. "For exam- ple, it isn't just payroll and simple a c c o u n t i n g , " G r u i c h i c h said. "When my husband would get a letter from the city he could- n't deal with at the time, it was peace of mind to have an accounting firm say what it is and what to do." Gruichich said most small business owners have a rotating pile of stuff on their desk they will either get to eventually or ignore because they don't know where or how to start han- dling the issue. "What would surprise someone is the government and tax laws and red tape and penalties, and how much it all costs a small- business owner," Gruichich said. "I don't think, any- more, there is an average person who could run the business and do their own books and deal with the Affordable Care Act and all those other things that come in." Proper accounting prac- tices give the small business owner a commodity they sorely lack and desperately need. Small Business Accounting Solutions gives the small-business owner time. "The hardest thing, from our angle, is to try getting in touch with them," Gruichich said. "These peo- ple work 12 or 16 hours a day. "When you're dealing with a small-business owner, you have to under- stand this isn't a job for them. This is their life. Everything is riding on this business." Ex-accountant offers advice from one who's been there Gruichich Brookfield resident honored as distinguished educator BROOKFIELD — Long- time educator and Brook- field resident Rafael L. Fer- nandez was recently hon- ored by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for his dedication to educa- tion. Fer nandez was recog- nized on Oct. 14 with the Distinguished Educator Award from the university after being nominated by the laureate professor Charles Elsworth Hood. Fer nandez has been a resident of Waukesha County since 1992. Born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, he moved to Wisconsin to attend UW-Platteville where he received his bachelor's degree in phi- losophy and Spanish with a concentration in existen- tialism in 1972. In 1976 he received his master's degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and worked for the Milwaukee Public School System for 36 years before retiring in 2013. During the summers of 1974 and 1975, he worked in the department of Indus- try, Labor and Human R e l a t i o n s with the labor icons P h i l l i p L e h r m a n , Alan Dale and Alcario S a m u d i o . Fer nandez became an advocate for fair labor laws, human rights and equal opportunities for women. He worked in 1976 as associate director of the Council For The Spanish Speaking Incorporated, where he gathered resources to implement a three-year pilot program for the Council's Guadalupe Centers. The program served more than 45 low-income children in a series of enriching artis- tic hands-on experiences including pottery, photog- raphy, jewelry, and piano and guitar lessons. Fer nandez served in a volunteer capacity for more than 30 years includ- ing two terms on the Coun- cil's board of directors. In 2003, he was awarded the Council's Lifetime Accom- plishments Award. For more than 25 years he collaborated with Linda Huang of the UW-Milwau- kee Diversity Program, for mer assistant to the director of the Council For The Spanish Gloria Vil- lanueva, and school social workers Janis Shogren and Mariadelina Lopez to produce the programs Can- tos De Las Americas/A Tribute To Education and Education/A Family Affair. He is married to Emily Fernandez, a school speech pathologist. Their daugh- ters Kira and Rebecca graduated from Waukesha South High School and both received degrees from Wisconsin universities. Their son Joshua graduat- ed from Brookfield Central and is now attending a Wisconsin university. He is one of two Brook- field residents to have received the Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Wisconsin- Platteville. — Freeman Staff Fernandez Sensenbrenner receives national merit shop award BROOKFIELD — Wiscon- sin U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R- Menomonee Falls, was pre- sented with the National Champion of Merit Shop Award at the congressman's Brookfield office Oct. 13. The award is given to con- gressmen whose voting records advocate for the merit shop philosophy. Sensenbrenner is the only Wisconsin congressman running for re-election this year to receive this award. Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin is a commercial construction trade association with near- ly 900 members and 1,000 apprentices across 12 trades. Submitted photo BROOKFIELD — From left to right: Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin members Jay Zahn, R&R Insurance in Menomonee Falls; and Cheryl and Jeff Sment, Interstate Sealant and Concrete in Waukesha, present Wisconsin U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, with the National Champion of Merit Shop Award at the congressman's Brookfield office on Oct. 13. Attorney Barrock celebrates 30th year BROOKFIELD — Attor- ney Mitchell Barrock is cel- ebrating 30 years in busi- ness as an attorney at The Law Offices of Barrock and Barrock. Barrock is a third- generation attorney at the firm, which has been in Mil- waukee and Waukesha since 1939. The practice focuses on personal injury, family law and estate plan- ning. "Since its inception, Bar- rock and Barrock has been committed to providing legal counsel and represen- tation tailored to satisfy the needs of each client," Mitchell Barrock said. Golf outing raised money for charities BROOKFIELD — The Grounds Maintenance Ser- vices and Action Coach Golf Outing raised $14,000 for the Leukemia & Lym- phoma Society and Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin. The GMAC Golf Outing held their 11th annual event on Aug. 19 in which each charity received $7,000. Over 150 attendees golfed, socialized, and competed at Ironwood Golf Course. "We are, yet again, appre- ciative and humbled by the tremendous generosity and support for this annual out- ing," said Todd Ruedt, owner of Grounds Maintenance Services. The 12th annual GMAC outing is planned for Aug. 18, 2017. For more informa- tion visit groundsmainte- nancewi.com

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