Staff Biographies

James S. Haney, President/CEO

A native of Amery, Wisconsin, Jim Haney has a background in both the public and private sectors. He was an aide to Wisconsin’s Governor Warren Knowles, and served as assistant to the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations, and as Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue under Governor Lee Dreyfus.

With a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he practiced law and then served as Public Affairs Director of the Bergstrom Paper Company in Neenah. Jim was also District Manager of Public Affairs for Wisconsin Bell before he joined Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

In June of 1985, Jim Haney became President of WMC, which is often referred to as "the state’s largest and most influential business and industrial organization, representing approximately 4,000 members statewide."

Jim is a member of the Wisconsin Council on Workforce Investment, International Trade Council, International Education Council, Project Lead the Way Executive Council, Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership Board and the UW-Extension Board of Visitors. Jim also serves on the board of Kikkoman Foods, Inc., the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts and is past President of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. Jim is also a past Chairman of the Conference of State Manufacturing Associations.

Prior to coming to WMC, Buchen worked for the Wisconsin Realtors Association and the Real Estate Securities and Syndication Institute in Chicago. He currently serves as a management representative to the state Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council and the Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council, as Treasurer for the Wisconsin Coalition for Civil Justice, and as a member of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Health Care Quality and the Wisconsin Quality Initiative Steering Committee.

James R. Morgan, Vice President

Jim Morgan is the vice president for WMC and has been with the organization since 1987. He is responsible for the Association’s education activities and oversees the WMC Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to a better Wisconsin by providing information on the state, promoting the value of the free enterprise system, and advancing efforts that ensure a high quality of life for our citizens. Jim directs the activities of the Foundation in the areas of economics education, business education, workforce development, safety programs, and corporate best practices.

Jim also serves as WMC’s resource person to businesses and schools by collecting information on the most innovative programs in Wisconsin education. These programs focus on issues such as workforce development, parental involvement, business involvement, school management, assessment, and training. He frequently speaks on business and education issues.

Jim is involved in assisting local chambers of commerce by providing training and conducting strategic planning sessions, and serves as secretary-treasurer for the Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Executives association.

Jim has both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining WMC, he taught in Madison and served as the Public Relations Director for the Wisconsin Association of Nursing Homes.

He serves or has served on the following:

• University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Educational Administration Advisory Committee
• Commission on Personal Financial Literacy
• Wisconsin Technical Education Association
• Task Force on Entrepreneurship
• Wisconsin Charter Schools Association Board
• Wisconsin Workplace Training Program
• School-to-Work Transition Planning Group
• Superintendent’s Business/Education Advisory Council
• Wisconsin School Counseling Implementation Group
• Task Force for Youth Employment
• Governor’s Commission on Schools for the 21st Century
• Wisconsin High School Graduation Test Advisory Committee
• Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges, Inc.
  
  

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Michael R. Shoys, Vice President

Michael Shoys joined Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce as Vice President of the WMC Service Corporation in March, 1995. Through the WMC Service Corporation, members and other companies have access to unique products and services including group insurance products and accurate Wisconsin Business profiles (Blue Book Directories).

Prior to joining WMC, Shoys served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Wisconsin Hospital Association Shared Services Program, Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wisconsin Hospital Association. The Shared Services Program specialized in group benefits, retirement and property and casualty insurance.

Shoys received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and is also a professional engineer.

Shoys serves as Chairperson of the Department of Commerce Commercial Building Code Council and represents WMC on the UW Consortium for Global Economic Commerce.

Russ Cain, Director of Employee Benefits/Group Insurance

Russ joined WMC in July 1993. Prior to joining WMC, he worked in the Madison area as an insurance broker specializing in employee benefits for four years. He developed his employee benefit knowledge over ten years with The Travelers Insurance Company. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with a major in finance.

Russ assists members and their insurance agents/brokers in tailoring employee benefit plans. He holds a WI Life and Health Insurance license. He also assists the WMC government relations team on employee benefit and human resource issues.

Russ serves on the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) Life and Disability Advisory Council.

Scott Manley joined WMC in 2005 after serving more than ten years as a policy advisor in the Wisconsin State Senate, where he focused his policy work in the areas of environment, natural resources, taxation and the judiciary. While serving as Chief of Staff to Senator Cathy Stepp, Manley assisted in WMC’s effort to draft and negotiate the Job Creation Act (Act 118). Scott also had the opportunity to draft and help guide through the legislative process important reforms like Single Sales Factor Apportionment, and a comprehensive reform of Wisconsin’s Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) law.

Manley represents WMC on environmental and policy regulations, including representing business interests before the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Legislature. He serves as Director of the Wisconsin Environmental Working Group^® (WEWG), a WMC affiliate organization that proactively advances business interests in environmental policy.

In addition to serving as Director of WEWG, Manley serves on the Clean Air Task Force, the DNR Air Permit Improvement Initiative, the Brownfields Study Group, and the Industry Workgroup of the Governor’s Global Warming Task Force. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with an emphasis on American Government and International Relations, and serves as an alderman on the Verona City Council.

John Metcalf, Director of Human Resource Policy

John Metcalf joined WMC in May of 1988. He received his law degree from UW-Madison Law School in 1981, his B.A. in history, and an M.A. in political science, also from the UW-Madison in 1976 and 1978 respectively. Previously, Metcalf served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, working in policy development and handling the agency’s legislative relations. He also served as Chief of Staff for State Senator James E. Harsdorf in the Wisconsin State Senate prior to that.

Metcalf represents WMC on the following issues: employer/employee relations, with special emphasis on unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation matters.

He currently serves on the Department of Health & Family Services Advisory Council on Workplace Substance Abuse, Rating Committee of the Worker’s Compensation Rating Bureau, WI Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council Safety Commission, WI Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Initiative Executive Committee, Wisconsin Apprenticeship Council, Wisconsin Child Care Council, Board of Directors - Wisconsin Sports Authority (Badger State Games) and Board of Directors - Mental Health Center of Dane County. He previously served on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health.

R.J. Pirlot, Director of Legislative Relations

Raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, R.J. Pirlot, an attorney, joined WMC in January of 2003. He received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1994 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from St. Norbert College in 1987. Prior to joining WMC, Pirlot worked as a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Medical Society. Previously, he served as policy director for and legal counsel to the Office of the Wisconsin Assembly Speaker, where Pirlot oversaw research, analysis and preparation of marquee policy initiatives for both then-Speaker Jensen and other Assembly Republican legislators; during Assembly floor debate, he provided the presiding officer with advice and recommendations regarding parliamentary law and procedure.

Pirlot represents WMC on the following issues: health care, transportation, energy policy and telecommunications.

Pirlot is an active member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, serves on both the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute’s Board of Directors and the Transportation Development Association’s Board of Directors, and is a member of the Wisconsin Highway Users Conference and the Wisconsin Healthcare Purchasers for Quality Steering Committee. He and his wife, Anne, have two sons, Augustus, born in 2001, and Gabriel, born in 2004. R.J. and Anne are members of Geneva Campus Church in Madison, Wisconsin, a congregation of the Christian Reformed Church of North America.

Jim Pugh, Director of Public Relations & Issues Management

Pugh oversees WMC’s public relations and media activities. He has worked in managing litigation public relations strategies; crisis management; political and issues campaigns; grassroots initiatives; and general public relations counseling. Pugh served as lead public relations counselor during the nationally reported WMC issue advertising censorship case that WMC won at the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1999.

While working in the Wisconsin Legislature, Pugh developed the public relations strategy used to advance and pass Wisconsin’s Sexual Predator Law. Pugh worked in the Wisconsin Legislature as a media counselor to the Assembly leadership and political candidates from 1990 to 1994. Pugh served as communications director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin from 1994 to 1996.

Pugh has successfully placed stories in Wisconsin and national media. Story placements include: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Washington Times, Newsweek magazine, The National Journal and others.

A 1985 graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism, Pugh worked as an award-winning newspaper reporter before entering public relations in 1990. Pugh won the Oklahoma Human Rights Award in 1988 for a series of articles on voting rights violations that led to the restructuring of Tulsa city government.

Pugh, a father of three, served as president of the Madison Public Relations Society of America board of directors from 2001 through 2002. Pugh, a Kenosha native, has been active in promoting education reform in Milwaukee and Madison. He is active in youth athletics in Madison, serving as a soccer and baseball coach.

Bryan Roessler, Director of Wisconsin Safety Council/Products & Training

Bryan joined WMC in January 1996. As Director of Wisconsin Safety Council, Bryan serves as the administrator of the Wisconsin Safety Council a not-for-profit, non-governmental, public education affiliate of the WMC Foundation, Inc., and the state chapter of the National Safety Council. With expertise in program and curriculum development, strategic planning, public relations, marketing, network management, and customer service, Bryan is accountable for overall management and supervision of the Product and Training Department’s staff, 200 volunteers and over 100 instructors teaching for the Organization in the areas of Education, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Human Resources, Mining, Regulation, Safety, Security, Transportation, and Worker’s Compensation. Bryan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Platteville with a B.S. Degree - Business Administration.

Bryan serves on over 25 Committees and / or Boards: National Safety Council (Board), Wisconsin School Safety Coordinators Association (Executive Director and Board), Wisconsin Highway Safety Partners, Uniform Traffic Citation Council, National Safety Council Chapter Division Executive Committee, Wisconsin Citizens Corps (Appointed by Governor Jim Doyle) and Wisconsin Work Zone Safety Partnership.

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