Dennis Troha

Troha, 60, grew up in Kenosha's Lincoln Park neighborhood, married his high school sweetheart and studied at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater while his wife, Natalie, worked as a beautician. Armed with a business degree, Troha became a certified public accountant and took a job with Jupiter Corp., a Chicago conglomerate that developed real estate along N. Michigan Ave. and owned a Kenosha-based trucking company. Troha joined the trucking firm, Jupiter Transportation, in 1974 and became its president in 1986. That same year, Jupiter bought a 40% stake in a Louisville, Ky., trucking company owned by African-American businessmen Charlie W. Johnson and Wade Houston that landed minority business enterprise contracts with such customers as Ford Motor Co. Troha's jump from business executive to business owner appears to have come in 1994, when he, Johnson and Houston bought Jupiter Transportation. They combined the Louisville and Kenosha-based operations to form JHT Holdings Inc., with each man owning one third, Johnson said. Business grew, and sales hit $494 million in 1999. In 2001, Troha acquired 72% of JHT, buying out Johnson and Houston and bringing in two investment firms as minority shareholders. Then, over the next few years, Troha gradually sold his stake, completely divesting himself last summer, as he concentrated on the drive for a casino.