WHAT
would be better than the SBDC helping us out?
That was what Shawn Woldt, co-founder and principal of Thunderbird Engineering, was thinking when he and his business partner, Jim Mickowski, needed immediate help in starting their consulting firm in 2013. Woldt was born in Eau Claire but raised in Oshkosh. As a boy, his grandmother called him Mr. Professor because he was constantly tinkering and fixing things. He was the only one in the household that could figure out how to change the clocks for daylight savings time, and he even once built a fan out of a small motor from Radio Shack, a 9-volt battery and a Lego piece. Woldt also began working at a young age, with jobs including mowing lawns and shoveling driveways for neighbors.
Shawn Woldt (right) was under a time crunch when he contacted the SBDC.
“I’ve always been fascinated with how electrical and mechanical things operated,” Woldt said. “But I’ve also been an entrepreneur since an early age.” To no one’s surprise, Woldt attended the Wisconsin School of Electronics (now Herzing University), taking classes year round until he amassed a whopping 119 credits en route to graduating with an associate’s degree in electrical/mechanical design. During the time he was in school, Woldt also held a co-op position at Johnson Controls, which hired him full-time after he graduated. Though initially they worked for competing companies, Woldt and Mickowski eventually became coworkers at PSJ Engineering, located in Milwaukee, where the latter had worked for 18 years. Soon the two had discussions about making an offer to purchase PSJ, since the owner was considering retirement. But then they were thrown a curve ball, as PSJ’s owner decided to retire much sooner than expected. According to Woldt, he and Mickowski had to accelerate their takeover plans and incorporate a company quickly. A well-timed postcard from the SBDC alerted them to the organization’s services, and shortly thereafter, the two began working with Linda Davis and Neil Lerner of the SBDC of UW-Madison in mid-2013 to obtain advice on business structure and assistance on writing a business plan. The business plan, which was written in “record time,” according to Woldt, included a thorough analysis of target customer segments and detailed sales forecast assumptions. Even after the plan was finished, the relationship with the SBDC didn’t end. Davis still consults with Thunderbird Engineering periodically, even reporting to the owners on how they are faring compared to others in their industry.
THUNDERBIRD ENGINEERING Accomplishments with the SBDC of UW-Madison: • Set up business structure • Developed business plan • Created sales forecast assumptions “We greatly appreciate all the help that SBDC has offered. As with a lot of startups, funding is always a big issue, so the SBDC providing these services at no cost is a tremendous benefit.” - Shawn Woldt
“We greatly appreciate all the help that SBDC has offered,” Woldt said. “As with a lot of startups, funding is always a big issue, so the SBDC providing these services at no cost is a tremendous benefit.” Today, Woldt manages the company and offers project support, while Mickowski manages operations and quality control. The name Thunderbird, by the way, is a nod to Woldt’s Native American heritage. The firm, which has offices in Madison and Milwaukee, specializes in fire protection, plumbing, HVAC and electrical partnerships, and some of its main clients are the state agencies (e.g. universities and correctional institutions), counties and municipalities (transit centers and libraries) and healthcare providers (e.g. clinics and nursing homes). Over the past few years, Thunderbird Engineering has won awards for projects including Lambeau Field, the Brown Deer School District and the Milwaukee east branch library. Plus, the SBDC selected the company as a winner at the 2015 Dane County Small Business Awards Breakfast; Davis attended the ceremony with Woldt and Mickowski.
