TRICOR Insurance CEO gifts UW-Platteville $3 million, marks 2nd-largest donation in university history

On the first day of business law class at UW-Platteville, instructor Jim Leitl promised his students they would remember his next lesson for the rest of their lives.  

He wrote a simple phrase on the chalkboard: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Almost 50 years later, alumnus Dave Fritz still remembers.

“What he was saying was, work hard and good things will come,” Fritz said.

That lesson helped shape Fritz into one of the most influential business leaders and philanthropists in southwestern Wisconsin. Now the CEO of TRICOR Insurance and founder of the Potosi Beverage Company, a contract beverage manufacturing company, Fritz and his wife, Lois, are helping create new opportunities for the next generation of UW-Platteville students with a $3 million donation. It’s the second-largest gift in the university’s history, behind only a $10 million donation in 2021.  

“This extraordinary $3 million gift is a powerful investment in the future of UW-Platteville and, most importantly, in our students,” Chancellor Tammy Evetovich said. “The flexibility this gift provides allows us to respond to the needs of our students and university in meaningful ways, from expanding scholarship support to investing in the spaces and facilities that define the student experience.

“We are incredibly grateful for this gift from one of UW-Platteville’s most generous donors and the confidence it demonstrates in the university.”

Fritz grew up on a beef farm in Potosi, working for a father who did double duty as a farmer and an independent insurance agent. Attending UW-Platteville was “just kind of expected,” he said. Following in the footsteps of his two older brothers, Fritz enrolled in the fall of 1977 and graduated with an accounting degree in 1981. He still remembers mentors like Leitl and Steve Becker, who led the accounting department during that era.

Fritz’s father rolled his grandfather’s insurance business into his own agency in the 1960s and later sold the business to Fritz and his older brother, Bruce, in 1982. Dave was six months out of college, but suddenly found himself running the show with Bruce. When his brother retired in 2019, Dave became CEO. 

Now known as TRICOR Insurance, the agency has offices in multiple states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Fritz said he expects revenue to top out around $84 million this year, a far cry from the $123,000 the agency generated the year his father sold it. 

In 2005, Fritz joined an effort to reopen the Potosi Brewery. Established in 1852, the brewery was a regional landmark and operated for more than 100 years, shifting to dairy production during the Prohibition, before it eventually closed in 1972. 

Another UW-Platteville alumnus, Gary David, bought the building in 1997 in hopes of restoring it. Seeing an opportunity to help the region by creating jobs and bolstering tourism, Fritz joined the board of the foundation David’s group formed to preserve the building. The foundation spent $7.5 million restoring the building and eventually reopened it in 2008, with portions of the profits going to support historical and educational initiatives and other charities.

“We’re all challenged while we’re here during our short time on Earth with how to make things better,” Fritz said. “How do you create opportunities for people? There’s many ways you can give of your time, your talent, and give of your treasure. Early on, learning how important it was to give back in many ways, I think I built a life of knowing what a difference you can make for people by doing that.”

The Fritz Family Foundation’s gift to UW-Platteville will be split between scholarships and building projects, with a total of $2 million for the Pioneer Scholarship Fund and $1 million for the Pioneer Capital Fund over the next five years. 

Fritz said he wanted to give back to his alma mater because he’s been so impressed with UW-Platteville graduates moving into management and ownership positions, noting that Pioneer alumni have performed well in jobs at the Potosi Beverage Company and TRICOR. 

Meanwhile, the Fritz family's UW-Platteville tradition continues, with both his younger sister and his daughter earning degrees here. 

 “UW-Platteville has really been the economic engine of southwestern Wisconsin for decades. It’s critical to the region,” Fritz said. “The more opportunities that can be put in place for students, that whole process will continue.”