BizTimes Notable Alumni – Excel Legacy Group

It’s Nice to be Notable!

“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”Tony Robbins

How many of us, back in our secondary education days, had a tangible idea of what we would be doing many years hence?

Take Patti Plough, President of Excel Legacy Group. She graduated from Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wis., with a nursing degree.

Back then, if asked “What is an ESOP?” she might have asked the questioner if they had eaten a lemon.

Four decades later, she transformed Healics Inc., the highly successful health care organization she headed, into an ESOP company. Today, as an ESOP expert, she partners with organizations on their ESOP planning.

Patti’s career has traveled long and far since Gateway Technical College. But the school has not forgotten her.

A Notable Inclusion

Patti was recently included among “Notable Alumni” of Gateway in the 25th anniversary edition of BizTimes, a semimonthly Milwaukee-based business publication. The magazine profiled three graduates each from a dozen schools. Following a call for nominations, all were selected by the BizTimes editorial staff.

“The leaders profiled on the following pages were nominated by their peers and showcase the diversity of talent in our market. The leadership shown by the individuals profiled here is setting an example to shape a better future for our region,” states an introduction to the special section.

Patti was, of course, thrilled to be included with a group of such esteemed colleagues. We encourage you to read about her for yourself. One note of caution, however.

Oops …

While the profile mentions Patti’s spearheading Excel Legacy Group “most recently,” and cites other businesses she founded, it incorrectly lists her current title as “President/CEO of Operations, Healics Inc.” The first sentence of the article repeats the mistake.

So, we’ll clarify Patti left Healics Inc. in 2020 after significantly growing the company, organically and through acquisitions. Perhaps her proudest achievement was its transition to an ESOP organization prior to her exit. The experience fired her passion for ESOPs, leading to her nickname as “The ESOP Evangelist.”

Patti is fully engaged in Excel Legacy Group, and guiding other organizations to understand, and implement, the innumerable benefits of employee stock ownership plans. Every evangelist needs a platform, right? Patti has found hers.

Even if the facts were a bit scrambled, Patti’s inclusion in BizTimes’ “Notable Alumni” is an honor indeed. Many years have passed since she walked the halls of Gateway Technical College. She has found a new pulpit from which to preach and promises to continue to make her alma mater proud.

Notable Alumni in BizTimes - April 2021