Brendan Wall Thumbnail

Brendan Wall

CEO, Director
Wall Family Enterprise
Brendan is a second-generation owner, together with eight siblings. He was elected to the Wall Family Enterprise board in 2017. He currently serves as CEO and on the Governance, Audit, and Business Advisory Committees, and previously on the Wall Family Charitable Contributions Committee. He is also a Director on the Board of Irwin Seating Co. of Grand Rapids, MI, a 4th Gen. family business. He is the past president and owner with his Wife LeAnna of Hatch Building Supply, a wholesale distributor and rebar fabricator to concrete and masonry contractors throughout Wisconsin, with revenues over $10 million annually. He and his wife sold the business in 2018. Brendan has more than 30 years of experience managing and growing multimillion-dollar businesses. After starting his career in business banking, he spent 15 years growing Demco Media, a WFE company, from a $3 million product line to a $15 million sister company. As President and COO, he later sold the business at a profit for his family in 2006. His background includes business operations, strategic organic growth, acquisitions, divestitures, expansions, relocations, and three business turnarounds. Brendan is known for building strong teams founded on Midwestern family values. Brendan is a longtime member of the Loyola Family Business Center, the UW Family Business Center, and Family Business International. Through numerous courses and international programs, he has developed a strong understanding of multi-generational family business ownership and governance. He has contributed to many organizations over his career, including speaking at various university family business centers. He serves as past Patrol Director at Cascade Mountain in Portage Wisconsin with 40-plus years on the National Ski Patrol. He is past President of the Madison Chapter of Legatus, and past president of Madison East Rotary Club and Chair of their Foundation. He was past Scout Master of Boy Scouts of America Troop 5. Married to LeAnna, a civil engineer with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, they have two children: Grace, a 2019 graduate of Seattle University and Exec. Ast. at TASC Corp in Madison; and Zachary, a 2021 graduate of Notre Dame University in Mechanical Engineering, now a project engineer with Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, MI on their FGC Rotational Management Training Program. Together they enjoy skiing, sailing, and golf.

SESSIONS

Defining Risk Management Tolerance For Each Generation Speaker

In most families, each new generation is a larger and more diverse group than the previous one. That means individual risk tolerance will likely vary. What’s the best way of assessing and discussing everyone’s appetite for risk? How do you accommodate diverse opinions and needs of a larger generational cohort? How do you teach them to prepare for black swan events?