By Kerry Frank
We were finally picking up speed at the company.
After what felt like forever waiting for that first contract to land, they suddenly started rolling in one after another. I had just raised my first $1 million in angel investment and we were scaling quickly, adding team members, scrambling to keep up. I barely had time to think. It was one flight after another, juggling contracts, meetings, and strategy. Everything was in motion.
Then my landlord called.
“Kerry,” he said, “we just sold the building. You’ve got six weeks to move out.”
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. A friend had given me a great deal on our space, but it was a month-to-month lease, and I knew we would out grow it. Still the timing couldn’t have been worse. I didn’t want just any office this time. If we were going to move, I wanted it to be the move. Our international headquarters. A permanent home.
But I had no time to search.
I called a few mentors and told them the situation. One of them connected me to a property manager in Illinois who kindly started taking me on quick tours of buildings he owned. We walked through option after option but nothing felt right.
Then one morning, while heading to the airport, I saw a blocked number flash on my phone. I answered with hesitation.
“Is this Kerry Frank?” a woman asked.
“Yes?”
“Please hold for Governor Scott Walker.”
I thought someone was pranking me.
But then the Governor’s voice came on the line, calm and clear:
“Kerry, I heard you’re looking for your international headquarters, and we’d love to have you in Beloit, Wisconsin. I know you’re busy, so we want to make this as easy as possible. My team is willing to do all the legwork for you.”
He offered to set up a 30-minute call where his team could gather details about my company, our internet needs, current and projected square footage, access to highways. I agreed, but with hesitation. “You do know I only have 16 employees, not 60, right?” I asked.
He didn’t miss a beat. “Of course,” he said. Then he rattled off details about Comply365 that stunned me. He knew what we did, who we served, and where we were going. He told me small businesses like mine were the backbone of America, and that his state was committed to investing in growth at all levels.
I was impressed. But I was also skeptical.
A few years earlier, I’d placed second in the State of Illinois Fast Pitch competition. They’d told me they would support our growth. That support never came.
So I said what was on my mind. “Governor Walker, this sounds amazing. But I’ve been promised help before and nothing ever happened. If you’re serious, please have your team put together a tax incentive package and a proposal with potential locations. If that happens, then we’ll talk.”
He paused and said, “Sounds great. My team will be in touch later today.”
I hung up the phone in shock.
When I called Dude to tell him what happened, he just laughed and said, “Did you just give a governor homework?”
I guess I did.
A few days later, I was back in town and walked into a room in Beloit with representatives from the state, the county, and the city all sitting there waiting for me. They’d done exactly what they said they would do.
They presented six different locations that met all of my requirements. They had it all laid out—square footage, pricing, internet access, parking, and room to grow. At the end of the meeting, they said, “We have all the keys, and the landlords have given us permission to walk you through any property you’d like today.”
Two hours later, I’d found Comply365’s new home.
We moved in four weeks later.
I will never forget what it meant to be believed in at that moment.
When I didn’t have the time, the bandwidth, or the connections—Beloit showed up. Governor Scott Walker and his team showed up. They bet on me when I didn’t even have time to place a bet on myself.
And I’ll never forget it.
Thank you, Beloit. Thank you, Governor Walker.
You didn’t just offer me space, you offered me confidence, momentum, and a future.
You bet on me. And I built something that mattered.
#BettingOnBeloit #Buildingalegacy #GovernorScottWalker #Entrepreneurship