When making decisions about the direction of the Wisconsin Center District, President and CEO Marty Brooks employs the shave test. “Every morning when I shave, I am forced to look myself in the mirror,” he said. “I use this time to run through the decisions we need to make to keep growing and making an impact in our community. If I can’t say I am making the right decision when staring myself in the face, I won’t say yes.”
Making decisions is a key part of his job, especially since the Wisconsin Center District owns and operates three entertainment and hospitality venues: The Baird Center, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is when Brooks’ entrepreneurial spirit and decision making shined the brightest. During this time of financial and social upheaval, he proposed a $420 million dollar expansion. “When most in the hospitality industry were focusing on contraction, Marty focused on building for the future and ensuring that Milwaukee was set to capitalize on the rebound in hospitality and entertainment he was convinced would take place after the pandemic,” said his colleagues.
With the Baird Center set to open in May 2024, this state-of-the-art venue will accommodate larger, simultaneous and overlapping events with the goal of entertaining an additional 100,000 out-of-state visitors to the city annually. In addition, the expansion will stimulate 12.6 billion dollars in total spending in Wisconsin over a 30-year period.
Brooks was already an accomplished entertainment, hospitality and event executive when he was chosen as the new CEO in 2018. He realized right away that Milwaukee was not fully capitalizing on the economic potential of the Wisconsin Center District’s venues. In addition, strong and decisive leadership was required to fix the culture and create a winning environment.
“Marty Brooks developed a CEO vision to be bold, be proud and be experience obsessed,” said his colleagues. “The vision charges his team to seize every opportunity to improve the client and guest experience.”
Brooks has used his 40 years of experience to make an impact and embrace the characteristics of a Titan. “A titan gets results even when facing the strongest headwinds,” he said. “I could point to the high-profile events and projects that have taken place over my career, but I think the true sign of a Titan is the impact they have had on the people who work with them.”
For embracing the role and responsibility as a change agent for the Wisconsin Center District, Brooks has been named a Titan.
