Karen Widmar,
CAS
President & CEO
Karen brings more than 20 years of practical and educational expertise to the agency she co-founded in 1995. A Wisconsin native, Karen began her career in marketing and retail management, first working for a national chain of specialty retailers in their Appleton, Wisconsin stores. She moved quickly from individual store responsibilities to supervising the marketing and management functions for a group of stores. Her district covered Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin including stores in the Chicago area, Madison, Janesville and LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Shortly after moving to the Upper Peninsula in 1990, Karen began working in the healthcare field where she held positions as the Director of Marketing and Business Development for a rehabilitation firm and as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for a community hospital. In addition to her work experience Karen volunteered her talents for many community organizations and nonprofit groups and was instrumental in the marketing success of many events - both in terms of attendance and securing financial sponsors.
Karen now uses her expertise to assist clients in developing their MarCom and branding strategies, advertising budgets and ROI analysis for both b-to-b and b-to-c clients. She is committed to the marketing and advertising disciplines and shows that commitment through continued lifelong learning through attendance at numerous conferences and tradeshow. In 2006 Karen earned her Certified Advertising Specialist designation, and is a member of the American Marketing Association