FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Tommy Stanek, Graceful Management Systems; Kaul, other AGs suing over DEI executive order for fed contractors

June 12, 2026

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Tommy Stanek, co-founder and CEO of Graceful Management Systems.

The Madison-based company has an enterprise resource planning system for the construction industry that also wraps in applications for estimating, scheduling, accounting, human resources and other business functions.

After launching in 2021, company leaders began with market research and built the platform over about a year, then developed their business plan and began pitching to investors. The company got initial funding in late 2022 and started full-scale platform development soon after.

Stanek discusses ongoing beta testing for the platform as well as how GMS is using AI to improve its functions.

“It builds machine-learned estimates for our subscribers, so it’s actually using historical data to build out more accurate estimates for their customers,” he said. “Additionally, when the customers sign the contract and begin work with that contractor, the GMS autonomously manages … schedules of all the projects that they’re actively producing, regardless of what state it’s in.”

The company’s been in the “beta phase” for about 18 months and plans to start selling subscriptions by the end of the quarter.

The conversation also explores potential pitfalls of AI as well as emerging opportunities with the technology. The GMS software team built its own code, and Stanek says that sets it apart from the “traditional models” that are more widely used.

“We need to continue to feed it new information, and that’s ultimately what Graceful Management Systems does,” he said. “It captures real-time data, it’s identified the gaps that these artificial intelligent models are lacking. It’s also bringing a standardization and consistency across the network … less assumptions, more consistency, better outputs.”

Looking ahead, Stanek said he’s focused on growing a client base of single-trade contractors to develop the GMS data platform before eventually entering the general contracting market.

“General contractors are producing 10-30% of the actual work, which means that 70-90% of these buildings that we’re all utilizing were in fact built by the subcontractors that they hired,” he said. “Therein lies the data that is our focus.”

Listen to the podcast here and see the full list of WisBusiness podcasts.

— AG Josh Kaul and a largely Democratic group of attorneys general are suing the Trump administration over an executive order barring federal contractors from engaging in DEI policies.

The executive order, issued March 26, bars federal contractors from engaging in “racially discriminatory DEI activities” and threatens to suspend or cancel any contracts with vendors who do not comply.

Dem AGs from 17 states and the District of Columbia and Hawaii’s nonpartisan AG filed the complaint this week in the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

Kaul and the other AGs argue the executive order doesn’t explain or justify its ban and that its implementation violates the Administrative Procedure Act and federal procurement law.

“The definition of ‘racially discriminatory DEI activities’ echoes existing prohibitions of discrimination based on race or ethnicity, but neither the Executive Order nor agency actions implementing it have provided any useful explanation of whether or how the contract term imposes requirements different from existing provisions of law,” the lawsuit reads.

Kaul in a statement called the changes “slapdash and unlawful.”

“The Trump administration cannot simply ignore the law in order to advance an ideological agenda,” he said.

See the release.

— Clean energy and environmental advocacy groups are slamming WEC Energy Group and the developers of a Port Washington data center for seeking to reopen the PSC case dictating how data centers buy power.

Power Wisconsin Forward yesterday issued a statement criticizing the utility, Vantage Data Centers and Cloverleaf Infrastructure for seeking to “transfer financial risks around data center development back to Wisconsin families” and small businesses.

After the Public Service Commission in April approved financial security requirements for “very large customers” within We Energies’ service area, the developers and utility this week argued in a filing against credit and collateral requirements included in the framework. They say these requirements will drive away investors in Wisconsin data centers and drive up costs for tech companies.

In response, Power Wisconsin Forward is urging the PSC to stand by its decision to protect customers in the state.

Meanwhile, environmental advocacy group Evergreen Action argues the latest move by developers and the utility would push costs onto state residents if the project fails.

“The PSC must stand up for ratepayers and hold firm,” Evergreen Action State Advocacy Director Courtney Brady said in a statement. “The pressure to weaken these protections will only grow, and state regulators must resist it.”

See more coverage.

— A researcher at Marquette University is getting $570,000 in federal grant funding over three years to explore cellular processes that can lead to cancer and other diseases.

The university announced Emily Sontag, an assistant professor of biological sciences, was selected by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences for the grant.

In addition to better understanding cancer, the work aims to shed light on neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. The research effort is focused on how cells process abnormal “misfolded” proteins that haven’t formed into the typical shape.

Sontag’s project will explore how the processes for dealing with these proteins can fail, as well as potential treatments for those affected by related diseases. She notes cells have developed various methods for managing the proteins that form “toxic shapes,” but those processes can break down over time.

“This results in the buildup of protein aggregates that are a hallmark of protein misfolding diseases,” she said in a statement. “Identifying novel mechanisms for how cells sort misfolded proteins into quality control compartments will create numerous new therapeutic strategies to treat these devastating disorders.”

See the release.

— Health consulting firm Nordic has named Alicia Harkness as its new CEO starting next week.

The Madison company yesterday announced the appointment, touting her experience as the founding partner of Virginia-based Guidehouse and her role in expanding the company’s global health segment.

“Nordic stands apart as an organization being solely focused on healthcare, but it’s the team and their commitment to the communities they serve that sets it apart,” Harkness said in a statement. “I’m excited to be joining at a time when there is a clear opportunity ahead.”

See the release.

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— Wolf River Community Bank CEO Joe Peikert has been named board chair for the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

The group announced Peikert will serve in the role for this year and the next. He joined the Hortonville-based bank in 2007 and became president and CEO in 2013.

WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels says Peikert brings “thoughtful leadership and a deep understanding” of the banking industry to the role.

“His commitment to the banking industry will help guide the Association as we continue to strengthen and support Wisconsin banks,” she said in a statement.

See the release.

Housing cost proposals from Wisconsin candidates for governor

Generac signs deal with hyperscale data center company, will add jobs

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– USDA announces new meat processing grants for rural Wisconsin

CONSTRUCTION

– Big crowd demands answers about data center at Midtown Walmart redevelopment

EDUCATION

– Former MSOE President John Walz takes on new leadership role

FOOD & BEVERAGE

– Nadi Plates scraps former Crossroads space, shifts to new location