Milwaukee, WI – “My Hometown Milwaukee” Day returns on May 9, 2025, to celebrate Jerry Grillo, an award-winning local jazz musician, and his iconic song, “My Hometown Milwaukee.” First honored with an official proclamation by Mayor Cavalier Johnson on May 9, 2022, this anthem of civic pride will once again take center stage with a live performance by Grillo at The Jazz Estate, uniting the community in a tribute to Milwaukee’s vibrant cultural heritage.
A Milwaukee native, Jerry Grillo has captivated audiences for decades with his soulful jazz compositions. His song “My Hometown Milwaukee” embodies the city’s spirit, earning widespread acclaim and a cherished place in its legacy. “With My Hometown Milwaukee, Jerry Grillo expresses his passion for our city, and I join him in praising our community,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “I honor and commend the artistry and sentiment Jerry has shared and encourage him to keep on singing this celebratory tribute.”
On May 9, 2025, Grillo will perform the song live at The Jazz Estate, joined by fellow musicians to honor his remarkable career. Tickets for this special performance are available for purchase at The Estate
Tix – Ticket Sales
Local businesses are invited to join the celebration by showcasing the official “My Hometown Milwaukee” Day event badge on their social media and posting about the event with #MyHometownMilwaukee. In the weeks leading up to May 9, a digital campaign will rally support from restaurants, retailers, and cultural hubs—such as Milwaukee Ale House, Colectivo Coffee, and The Jazz Estate. Businesses can also feature the song in playlists or offer themed specials, gaining digital exposure and recognition at the live show while connecting to a celebration of community spirit and heritage.
The celebration begins with a digital push in April, encouraging Milwaukeeans to stream “My Hometown Milwaukee” and share their city pride online. On May 9, the main event at The Jazz Estate will feature live jazz, community tributes, and surprises to make it a memorable day. Local media and sponsors are encouraged to participate early to amplify the excitement.
For more details, visit myhometownmilwaukee.com . Let’s make May 9, 2025, a standout moment for Milwaukee’s jazz legacy!
About Jerry Grillo: A Milwaukee native, Jerry Grillo has earned numerous awards for his contributions to jazz. His song “My Hometown Milwaukee” was officially recognized with a mayoral proclamation in 2022, solidifying his status as a local legend.
My Hometown Milwaukee by Jerry Grillo
About the Event: “My Hometown Milwaukee” Day is a community-driven initiative to celebrate cultural heritage, support local talent, and unite businesses and residents through music and pride.
Since opening our doors, Debra Lopez Public Relations (DLPR) has been ahead of the curve. We’ve stayed on top of the countless changes in technology, taking many of our clients (and sister company) into the digital world. We continued to follow the latest in search engine optimization and social media platforms, implementing the newest requirements for algorithms and content. Another thing we’ve done before the world caught on? Working from home.
Recently, work from home jobs, or working remotely, has gained momentum out of necessity. For our company structure, having a physical office was essential early on. Working collaboratively as a team meant coming into work daily, brainstorming in meetings, consulting with clients, and developing our staff. However, as the digital era emerged and continued to grow, we knew the times were changing. And, while some of these things are still required, we noticed that we didn’t need to physically be together every day.
So, in typical DLPR tradition, we slowly went remote, although we maintained our home base. What we found was far more astonishing than we could have ever imagined. The benefits of working from home just kept surfacing. Now that the rest of the world has been forced to do the same, we’re here to tell you not to worry. Here’s why:
How Your Company Benefits
Employees are more productive. Yes, you read that right. In fact, according to a study by Stanford University showed that employees who work remotely are 13 percent more productive than those working in-office daily. That translates into almost an entire extra workday per week! Time-saving extends to other areas. If you work in an office, I’m sure you’ve said or heard, “that meeting could have been an email”. We’d never completely give up the personal touch of in-office meetings, but technology allows our smaller meetings to take place virtually.
Staff morale is higher. Maybe it’s because working from home improves the desired work-life balance we all seek, or because their colleagues from office-based jobs are jealous of the opportunity, but employees that work from home even one day a week are just happier. This all leads to extreme loyalty to your company and less turnover.
Time is money. It’s the truth! Working from home, even partially, saves on costs in a multitude of ways. Your company savings include the expected things such as decreased utility costs from using less electricity, but there are things we didn’t even think of. Higher productivity for the same salary means lower payroll overall. Employees take less sick time and vacation time. These savings extend to your staff as well. They spend less money commuting and ordering lunch.
Is Working from Home Right for Your Company?
Working from home may be the new norm, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Each business owner can determine what works best for them. Some may decide to go remote completely, while others choose a day or two per week. But, allowing some flexibility is easier than ever thanks to the internet. And, best of all, you’ll get fantastic PR. Work from home incentives has led to feel-good stories all over the news. As a PR company, we couldn’t be happier about that!
The Google search algorithm is a mystery to most small businesses. Since Google doesn’t publish the criteria for its search rankings, many small business owners are left in the dark regarding how to make sure their company ranks high in customer searches. Adding to this problem is the fact that Local Searches are given such a high position in the search results, and there is, most likely, a different algorithm just for these results. Just recently, Google has changed their algorithm with an emphasis on local search results, and Milwaukee small businesses might see a drastic change in their rankings.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts have dubbed this new update, “Possum.” The Possum update changes the way that Google presents its local search results to users, and many businesses will either see their rankings change drastically. To understand this better, business owners need to learn about how local searches are shown to users.
What are local search results?
Local searches show up when most users search for businesses near their location. Maybe you want to know what restaurants are near you. Perhaps you need a good plumber, and you have no idea which plumbers to trust. Google presents these results, with reviews, phone numbers, store hours, and other useful bits of info to the user so they can make a smart choice on who to contact, or what store to go to.
What has changed?
With Possum, Google is attempting to refine their search so that users aren’t flooded with information that is deemed “spam” or businesses that are further away than they need to go. The first major update is with filtering spam results. You may have noticed that when you search for lawyers or doctors in your area, you are given a list with multiple lawyers or doctors that are all in the same building and work for the same office. This is great for the office featured, but those other small businesses that get left out are hurt because of it. Possum attempts to clear that up by eliminating those duplicate listings so that more businesses are featured and those duplicates are further down the list.
The second major update is with location. If a user searched for “restaurants in Milwaukee,” they would be given a list of eateries that are in the Milwaukee city limits. Unfortunately, if this user is in Wauwatosa, they may drive by your restaurant to get to the ones in the downtown area. Now, with the update, if that user types in that same search, they are given results that are much more personalized. They may want to search Milwaukee and the surrounding area because they’re actually in Wauwatosa. So, Google has decided to start showing those businesses closest to where the user actually is located.
How does this affect my small business?
Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just have a business profile on Google. You need to make sure it’s optimized and updated consistently to ensure that Google understands that your business is the best in the area.
So, how does your small business make sure you are located at the top of these lists? With the help of a smart, qualified SEO expert. Your small business can’t afford to be left behind when Google updates their search engine. However, as a business owner, your focus should be on making sure your business is running at its full potential, and you may not have time to read all the blogs and learn all the details. That’s where your SEO expert comes in. That expert can look at your website, and your social media profiles, and optimize them so that you’re not left behind.
If you have more questions about this topic, or you’re interested in speaking to qualified SEO experts who can help your business, call Debra Lopez Public Relations today. We are a Milwaukee-based PR company that understands digital marketing. So, let’s work together to grow your small business!
What are local search results?