Up to 185 companies would leave Madison – taking with them nearly $21 million in property tax revenues – if the city enacts a proposal requiring employers to give workers paid sick days, according to a study to be released today by business advocates.
With electric rates and natural gas prices in Wisconsin soaring, customers have lost one of the most outspoken critics of utility profits.
Nino Amato was removed Monday as president of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, a trade organization that represents large manufacturers and energy users. He had served 4 years in that position.
….Amato’s departure comes 1 1/2 years after he lost the presidency of the Wisconsin Technical College System board, which he maintains was due to his outspoken stances on the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.
Wisconsin lost $4.7 billion in household net worth over a five-year period as more highly paid and well-educated residents moved out of the state than came in, according to a study that also found high numbers of 20-somethings and seniors leaving.
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin lost $4.7 billion in household net worth over a five-year period as more highly paid and well-educated residents moved out of the state than came in, according to a study that also found high numbers of 20-somethings and seniors leaving.
It’s been nearly six months since Mithridion Inc., a Madison company developing drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, won the top prize in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest. And the impact of its victory continues.
“It has raised awareness. People know who we are and know something about what we’re trying to do, which is always very helpful,” said Trevor Twose, Mithridion’s chief executive officer.
Twose, who co-founded the company with UW-Madison associate professor Jeff Johnson, is in the midst of raising money from angel investors to help Mithridion take the technology from UW to the next stage: developing a drug candidate.
Madison may have no trouble tooting its own horn, but it hasn’t done much with its flag. Unbeknown to many, the city has had an official flag since 1962.
….John Taylor, local philanthropist and owner of J Taylor’s Rare Maps, Notable Books and Antiquities on North Carroll Street, said he had city flags made because he wanted to display one in front of his store, which he opened about eight months ago. The flags are now for sale at Taylor’s store…. Taylor said he donates a portion of all store proceeds to the History of Cartography project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Trotting out Madison’s official flag is but one of the ways the city intends to honor its 150th birthday.
….Looking back over 2005, there are some things I’ll take the liberty of commenting on.
For the first time since the late 1800s the number of dairy farms in Wisconsin fell below 15,000. Some will blame government, big business, county extension agents, UW-Madison researchers, chemical companies, milk processors, media and even other farmers.
I say baloney, balderdash and b.s. Farmers are like other business owners: they do the best they can given the resources available.
Kristin Kent, a second year UW-Madison student in the university’s Master of Business Adminstration program, would like to see businesses make more socially responsible choices.
“Right now it is very easy and cheap to waste – natural resources, people, ecosystems, land are all disposable,” Kent said.
….”We’re more party Badger fans than football Badger fans,” (Steve) Bartlett said of himself and his wife Linda. “They play exciting football, but we just wanted to get away from the clouds and the snow and the cold.”
That’s why the Bartletts didn’t hesitate to book their trip here. The same can’t be said for thousands of other UW fans, who decided against this bowl trip for various reasons.
UW-Madison and its technology transfer organization, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, received more than $47.5 million in 2004 in licensing revenues, or fees paid to use the patents the university holds for inventions and discoveries made by campus faculty and researchers. That’s the third highest in the nation, according to the Association of University Technology Managers, behind the University of California System and New York University. It’s also $10 million more than the $37.5 million in licensing revenues the university collected in 2003, when it ranked 6th in the nation.
TomoTherapy has an enviable problem: how to fill more than 50 job openings.
MADISON – University Research Park head Mark Bugher, a former Republican cabinet officer, is spreading the message that UW and its research assets are a treasure often unappreciated close to home.
After recent travels to Europe and Florida, Bugher is convinced that Wisconsin has an economic dynamo in the making — a fact sometimes seen clearer from afar than inside the state’s borders.
And he notes some of the hurdles to full exploitation of the economic engine that is UW.
The University of Michigan has suspended sales of Coca-Cola products on its three campuses over allegations that the company permits human rights and environmental abuses abroad.
The suspension, which begins Jan. 1, will affect vending machines, residence halls, cafeterias and campus restaurants. Coke’s contracts with the university are worth about $1.4 million.
ââ?¬â? The controversial new power plant on the west side of the UW-Madison campus finally fired up in 2005 and began lighting and cooling area buildings in May.
ââ?¬â?Ã? Cellular Dynamics, the company formed by UW- Madison stem-cell pioneer James Thomson, received $2 million in grants and loans from the state.
Marching in the UW Band kept them in shape when they were in college. Eventually, they married two saxophone players who were brothers.
More recently Cathy and Joanne Gauthier were new moms looking for a fitness program that they could do with their young children.
So they decided to start a business called CJ Fitness and become licensed providers of Stroller Strides, a national workout program that combines power walking with intervals of body toning exercises.
….In the garment industry, Steve & Barry’s fits into an emerging category of “extreme-value retailers who go to off-the-beaten-track marketplaces like Madagascar where they can really get tremendous deals,” said Lois Huff of Retail Forward, a consulting firm in Columbus, Ohio.
They cater to tightfisted customers “looking for something that’s ‘good enough’ – decent quality at a great price,” Huff said. “There’s a huge shift in many consumers toward that kind of a mind-set.”
If lawsuits in state and federal courts against Madison taverns that sought to end some drink specials magically came to an end over the holiday season, tavern owners would still be out almost a half-million dollars in legal fees.
Campus area taverns had agreed to end the specials after they were pressured by the city and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But there is no chance that the legal actions, brought by the Minneapolis law firm of Lommen, Nelson, Cole & Stageberg on behalf of three UW students are going to end soon on either of two fronts.
Courtenay Sheffield, a University of Wisconsin-Madison marketing student, is leading a Swiss Colony campaign to stop fruitcake abuse and instead promote fruitcake whenever possible. Swiss Colony has even set up a Web site, ilovefruitcake.com.
Milio’s Sandwiches, the franchise formerly known as Big Mike’s Super Subs, is donating $100,000 to University of Wisconsin Children’s Hospital.
“Big Mike” Liautaud, founder and owner of company, presented a commitment check of $100,000 to the hospital today – along with a “sleigh full” of sandwiches for hospital staff – with a special holiday helper: Harlem Globetrotter guard Anthony Blake.
….In addition, for 2006, ’07 and ’08, Milio’s will partner with the hospital to raise funds and heighten awareness of the hospital and its programs.
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board has given preliminary approval to allocating up to $50 million to two new venture capital funds proposed by state firms Mason Wells and Venture Investors.
The Mason Wells Biomedical Fund II and Venture Investors Early Stage Fund IV are planned to focus on seed and early stage financing of life science opportunities coming out of Wisconsin universities and medical research facilities, said Monica Jaehnig, Wisconsin private equity portfolio manager. But the investments will not be limited to state firms.
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board would allocate up to $50 million to two Wisconsin venture funds that have made most of their investments in state companies, under a plan given preliminary approval Wednesday.
Students and anti-sweatshop activists celebrated University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley’s embrace of much of their plan to reduce sweatshop labor.
But they said they would proceed carefully to make sure the university and its 150 clothing licensees proceed in good faith to help the workers who make UW logo apparel receive better pay and working conditions.
Henry Sanders Jr. is a free man again, so to speak.
After two years of seemingly nonstop work as vice president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, he stepped down earlier this month, just as the chamber prepares for its fight against the proposed paid sick-leave law.
Three top executives of Milwaukee-area start-ups said Monday that southeastern Wisconsin has the potential but nowhere near the critical mass of companies needed for a vibrant biotech effort.
An educated work force, the relatively new master of science in biotechnology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison geared toward producing managers, and a desire to develop a biotech industry are all helping efforts in the region and the state, said Frank Langley, chief executive officer at PointOne Systems LLC in Wauwatosa.
ST. PAUL, Minn. ââ?¬â? The University of St. Thomas is trying to give the creator of the next Microsoft or Best Buy a leg up on competitors with its new Schulze School of Entrepreneurship.
The university’s $22 million school in downtown Minneapolis not only aims to lecture to students about entrepreneurship, but also to give them virtually all the tools they’ll need to start a business.
A landmark downtown Madison tavern has closed its doors after nearly 30 years in business. Stillwaters, which has anchored the high profile intersection of State Street and East Johnson since the 1970s, has not renewed its lease at 250 State St. and will not reopen.
….(Marsh) Shapiro, who owns the two Nitty Gritty taverns in Madison, said he didn’t think the city smoking ban had anything to do with the closing.
“I’d like to say that’s the reason but I don’t think it had much to do with it,” Shapiro said.
But Shapiro said all downtown tavern owners are feeling the pressure over the class action lawsuit filed by UW-Madison students over the end of campus area drink specials. The case is still pending.
A senior scientist at the Waisman Center on the UW campus was killed Friday morning when his car skidded out of control on a slippery rural road and was struck by a pickup truck.
Killed was Vladimir Budker, 64, who lived on Sunrise Ridge Trail in the town of Springfield. Along with his work at the Waisman Center, Budker was a co-founder of the Mirus Bio Corp., a gene therapy firm that has been exploring ways to combat such diseases as muscular dystrophy and anemia.
The Manager’s Workshop, created in the mid-1990s by University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business professor Randall Dunham, is used by numerous business schools across North America.
Dane County businesses that depend on local customers to buy their products are not as confident about adding to sales, profits and employees in 2006 as are companies that sell to a broader base, according to a new report.
The Dane County Economic Survey, released Wednesday, shows that 68.5 percent of companies with clients nationwide expect their earnings to rise next year. But among businesses that operate mainly in the Madison area, 51.8 percent are expecting higher profits in 2006.
Critical mass is important in building collaborations such as the one about which InvivoSciences is in preliminary discussions with Madison-based Gilson Inc.
Gilson is a privately held business started by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor in 1953 that makes lab equipment like the Gilson Pipetman, a range of pipettes, or glass tubes that lab workers use to suction fluids.
Nearly half of Dane County’s businesses say they are earning more money this year than in 2004, and 57 percent say they expect profits to rise again in 2006.
But projections for the coming year are down from the levels of a year ago, according to the third annual Dane County Economic Survey, scheduled for release today. That’s due, in part, to higher energy costs and increased prices for materials, following hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“I would call (the results) less optimistic,” said Corey Chambas, chief executive officer of First Business Bank, Madison. “People are still positive but not as positive as last year.”
Luther’s Blues may be reborn as a Latin dance club – with free salsa lessons on Saturdays – if brothers Javier and Martin Palacios can convince the city that their business plan is sound.
….The brothers say they have gotten positive feedback from meetings they’ve had with local officials. Javier Palacios joined the Dane County Tavern League in March to network and seek advice about the venture.
But two UW administrators who have influence with the alcohol license committee say they are taking a wait-and-see attitude. They both are concerned that the venue, no matter who runs it, is too large to operate in the middle of campus.
If only . . . one of the giant pharmaceutical companies would build in Wisconsin. That’s been the mantra of those who have tried to push the state forward as a national biotechnology center.
At a conference in the Madison area Monday, they got a glimmer of encouragement.
The University of Wisconsin has tied Harvard as the most common alma mater for top executives, according to Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm.
Madison, Wis. ââ?¬â? A report from the Association of University Technology Managers has ranked UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation third in the country in value of the inventions created by faculty members for 2004, behind only the University of California System, counted as a single entity in second place, and New York University.
UW-Madison and its technology transfer organization — the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation — received more than $47.5 million last year in licensing revenues, or fees paid to use the patents the university holds for inventions and discoveries made by campus faculty and researchers. That’s the third highest in the nation, according to the Association of University Technology Managers, behind only the University of California System and New York University.
The Fitchburg Technology Campus has broken ground on a second building to house early-stage companies that will have Imago Scientific Instruments as its anchor tenant – the second local nanotechnology company to move onto the campus.
The fast-growing Imago Scientific ââ?¬â? a UW-Madison spinoff company ââ?¬â?Ã? has won national attention for a microscope that can provide 3-D images of samples down to the level of individual atoms.
There will be more space for young technology companies at the MGE Innovation Center at University Research Park. A $1 million remodeling project will add 20 suites to the center, at 510 Charmany Drive, in space being vacated by Epic Systems. The Innovation Center currently houses 34 companies and demand for incubator space continues to grow.
A search engine for presentations recorded and archived on Sonic’s technology, Mediasite.com debuted Thursday, featuring talks on a range of subjects. They include UW-Madison Medical School professor Dennis Maki discussing infectious diseases such as avian flu and former presidential candidate John Kerry speaking to a rally in Madison last year.
Twenty suites for early-stage companies will be added at University Research Park in a $1 million renovation of space being vacated by Epic Health Systems with its move to its new Verona headquarters.
The “incubator” space will feature suites ranging from 700 square feet to nearly twice that size on the east side of the MGE Innovation Center, 510 Charmany Drive. Construction is set to begin Monday.
The Innovation Center currently houses 34 companies, mostly start-ups, and Research Park director Mark Bugher said the demand for incubator space continues to grow as tech firms spin out of the UW-Madison or young companies with UW ties look for ways to relocate in Madison.
MADISON – Demand for ââ?¬Å?incubatorââ?¬Â space for early-stage technology companies will lead to a $1 million renovation at the MGE Innovation Center in University Research Park, director Mark Bugher announced Wednesday.
Twenty suites ranging from about 700 square feet to nearly double that size will be added on the east side of the Innovation Center, 510 Charmany Drive, in space being vacated by the move of Epic Health Systems to its new headquarters in Verona. Construction begins Monday.
The Recording Industry Association of America today filed a new round of lawsuits against 754 people, including at least one person in Madison, for illegal music sharing using the Internet.
….Despite a suit being filed in Madison, in its list of 12 colleges where network users are targeted, it did not include students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A top UW-Madison researcher who has worked for the Pfizer drug company said Tuesday that firms using stem cells to test and create new drugs could generate more than $3.6 billion in revenues by 2020.
And Wisconsin could be home to new companies doing doing that work, thanks to a wealth of scientific experts here, said Dr. Gabriela Cezar, who spoke at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon.
Madison’s rapidly growing University Research Park is expanding again, providing additional space for young companies that spin out of research discoveries at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The University of California on Monday unveiled its next big thing in innovation: a huge new institute that partners academia and industry, with the goal of speeding products to patients.
Craig January, who comfortably wears the hats of both scientist and heart doctor at UW-Madison, has had numerous chances to go into business.
But January, who developed a novel method to test drugs for heart toxicity in the late 1990s, resisted them ââ?¬â?? until recently.
NimbleGen Systems Inc., a 6-year-old company spun out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, developed a gene chip that is used to identify how genes work. Management and the company’s investors say these gene chips have the potential to revolutionize genetic research.
….The Bolz Center (for Arts Administration), founded in 1969, helps prepare students for negotiating the rocky terrain of managing arts programs in the post-boom period. Even as Madison upgrades its arts facilities, these are difficult times for arts organizations, said Andrew Taylor, the director of the program.
“It’s a very different economy than we’re used to,” said Taylor, who noted that many community arts programs were born in the 1970s and grew in the next two decades. “The wealth isn’t there anymore.”
Business School Dean Michael Knetter changed the program from a master of arts to a master of business administration two years ago. It was in keeping with the school’s overall decision to offer specialized MBA programs, which Knetter believes make students more marketable once they graduate.
Colleges created a record number of start-up companies based on the inventions of their professors and students in the 2004 fiscal year, and they collected more than $1-billion in revenues from licenses on a host of new drugs, agricultural products, high-tech components, and other breakthrough technologies, according to a report released in November.
During Wednesday’s PSC meeting, Commissioner Mark Meyer praised MGE for keeping operational costs down. Almost all of the rate increase will go to pay for fuel and the new power plant on the UW-Madison campus.
Santa is a Badger fan. Why else would he wear all that red and white? And so it is entirely appropriate to give Badger-booster gifts to Grinches everywhere.
Fan obsession has many outlets – just look at “Star Trek.” And yet my Spock ears are not socially acceptable, but my official UW marching band mesh shorts – with “Eat a Rock” printed on the rump – are. For some reason, taste takes a holiday when it comes to school loyalty. (As one unnamed source told me while researching this article, “You’re telling me! I gotta sell this stuff.”) Still, some Badger booster items are fun, and a lot of it is downright neat.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded BellBrook Labs a $250,000 Phase I SBIR grant that will aid development of a microscale mammary tissue model to accelerate the understanding and treatment of breast cancer.
The work originates in the laboratory of Dr. David Beebe of the UW-Madison Department of Biomedical Engineering.
American Family Mutual Insurance Co. has been hit with a nearly $3 million verdict in a case involving a former University of Colorado professor and UW-Madison graduate who was seriously injured in a car crash.
A jury in Boulder, Colo., granted the award to Dominic Peressini. It’s believed to be the largest bad-faith verdict ever against an auto insurer over lost wages in Colorado.
It’s nice to see the Republican-run state Legislature focusing on the economy with the same fervor it so often wastes on the divisive issues of “God, guns and gays.”
Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, along with top Republicans in both houses, last week unveiled a wide- ranging “Invest Wisconsin” plan that deserves close attention.
Colleges created a record number of start-up companies based on the inventions of their professors and students in the 2004 fiscal year, and they collected more than $1-billion in revenues from licenses on a host of new drugs, agricultural products, high-tech components, and other breakthrough technologies, according to a survey scheduled for release today.
When Winslow Sargeant’s term ended at the National Science Foundation this year, he could have gone anywhere.
He chose Madison. And that says a lot, said John Neis, managing partner at Venture Investors LLC, where Sargeant is becoming the fifth partner.
Sargeant, who earned his doctorate in computer and electrical engineering at UW-Madison, is a Dot-Com Bubble survivor with a wealth of hard-earned entrepreneurial experience and a Rolodex bulging with prime contacts from three years with the NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research program.
When he moves to Madison from Washington, D.C., next May, Winslow Sargeant will become a big fish in a relatively small pond.
As a well-to-do African-American with a prestigious and influential position, the newest partner at Venture Investors LLC inevitably will be looked upon to take a leadership role in the community.
New, bigger companies and the jobs they bring to Wisconsin won’t ever materialize without wholesale changes in the state’s policies toward business, lawmakers said on Wednesday.
With that in mind, Republican statehouse leaders renewed their support for a series of proposals that would steer nearly $55 million in taxpayer funding to both startup entrepreneurs and major industries alike.
A bill that would make it easier for University of Wisconsin professors to cash in on their research is part of a package of “Invest Wisconsin” legislation announced by Republican legislators today.
Other laws – some already introduced and others to come – would create wide-ranging tax credits and exemptions aimed at promoting investments in high-technology projects and businesses.
MatriLab, a biotech start-up company with one foot in Madison and the other in Milwaukee, is part of the new “tech corridor” taking shape between the two cities.
Basic scientific research is being done at UW-Madison, while clinical work is taking place in Milwaukee.
The company, which makes an innovative drug delivery product for wounds, stems from a partnership that includes scientists, clinicians and management consultants.
