Kate Burgess embarked on her entrepreneurial journey in 1997 armed with a marketing arsenal on a cross-country trip to show off her commercial food client’s brand and get face-to-face with customers. And in 1997, a garage became home to a fulfillment and direct-mail company, FulfillNet. Six acquisitions, one rebrand, and 27 years later, Elevate97 now operates out of two facilities in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with over 300,000 square feet of facility space and 110 employees.
Elevate97 offers a wide range of integrated or independent services and multi-disciplines – full-service print, fulfillment, technology, experiential graphic design and commercial signage, all in one place.
Under Burgess’ leadership, the focus in the past three years has been offering customized, agile, and full-turnkey solutions while investing in print capabilities to deliver more personalized solutions. Burgess has led her team to increase annual revenue to $20 million while putting people and processes in place to double growth over the next five years, with a goal of $40 million in revenue by 2029.
“Because of Kate, everyone at Elevate97 believes in aspiring to great heights, challenging themselves and each other to be stretched and accountable, committing to the common good of partners over selves, and investing in the perpetual improvement of the team, the company, their partners and the community,” said her staff.
She is committed to the community and serves on the Green Bay Packers board and is the advocacy committee chair for the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. She and her company have been recognized with the ATHENA award and business person of the year award from the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and recognition from the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
At Elevate97, Burgess asks her employees to focus not just on their professional goals, but on their personal goals as well. She believes it is the responsibility of the leadership team to help bring this forth in the people they manage and lead.
“At Elevate97, culture is at the heart of everything we do, and that has been a central factor in our resilience and success,” said Burgess. “We’ve cultivated an environment where our people are empowered to take ownership, innovate and deliver exceptional client experiences.”
Connecting with her team is how Burgess reignites her passion, she said. She hosts monthly “Coffee with Kate” sessions where she meets with small cross-functional groups of employees.
“These informal gatherings bring together people who don’t typically interact with each other, allowing them to share their strengths, talk about their roles and engage in meaningful conversation,” said Burgess. “It’s one of my favorite ways to learn more about the team and hear firsthand the incredible things they’re doing across the company.”