Made in MKE: Tom Florsheim Jr.

Leading by example to make Milwaukee a city for all.

Tom Florsheim Jr. ’76 is a busy man. As the chairman and CEO of Weyco Group, he co-leads the company’s portfolio of footwear brands including Florsheim, Nunn Bush, and BOGS with his brother, John Florsheim ’81, who is president. In addition, Tom serves on the boards of Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Milwaukee College Prep, as well as USM’s Endowment Board, following his nine-year term as a USM trustee. He’s also passionate about protecting democracy in Wisconsin.

He has a 30,000-foot view of the issues facing Milwaukee—a city that he loves—and the curiosity and passion to address them. One of Milwaukee’s most pressing challenges, Tom believes, is its lack of economic mobility when benchmarked against other similarly-sized cities. “This is a terrific city, but one that faces significant challenges,” he said. He believes that improving housing and access to quality early-childhood education are necessary to making Milwaukee a city for all. “If 15% or 20% of our population can’t share in everything this city has to offer, it holds us all back.”

Tom is also passionate about issues like election interference and tariffs. “I love the democracy that we all benefit from in this country. As a business person, I believe our democratic system provides the rule of law and certainty that businesses need to thrive. It became necessary for me to speak out against tariffs because they created tremendous uncertainty and are bad for our economy. I believe it is extremely important for people to voice their opinions.” 

In 2021, he and eight others founded Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy, a bipartisan group that supports free, fair, and regular elections. Members meet biweekly to stay informed and provide free resources to businesses, like a civic engagement toolkit, to encourage voter registration and election participation.

“I really like Milwaukee,” he said. “This city has been very good to me and my family, and has been a great place to raise our children and grow our business. So it’s more than an obligation, it’s something I want to do. I want to give back and do what I can to make the city a better place.”