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Category: Business/Technology

Property Trax: Obama adviser Elizabeth Warren out, too busy to keynote UW-Madison real estate conference Thursday

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Wisconsin State Journal

Elizabeth Warren, the leader of President Barack Obama?s controversial new mortgage industry watchdog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will not speak at a UW-Madison conference on real estate and the economy this week. But she is sending an official from her agency, Patricia McCoy, to give a short presentation about the CFPB?s new mortgage disclosure program. Other speakers include Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan and Michael Knetter, former dean of UW-Madison?s School of Business and now president of the UW Foundation.

Two local companies get funding for medical isotope work

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Wisconsin State Journal

Two competing local companies, both working to produce a scarce radioactive isotope used in heart stress tests and cancer scans, have each brought in money from investors. And at least one is getting wooed by three communities to house the manufacturing plant it plans to build. SHINE Medical Technologies, Middleton, said Tuesday it is getting $11 million from investors led by Knox, a Las Vegas venture capital fund set up by UW-Madison alumnus Frederick Mancheski. SHINE?s collaborators include the UW-Madison and the private, nonprofit Morgridge Institute for Research.

Steve Kantrowitz: Privatized broadband access next with GOP

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Wisconsin State Journal

The news that Republican legislators plan to send back $37 million in funding for broadband access should come as no surprise, since Republicans have made it clear they want to replace everything from Medicare to public education with privatized voucher systems, while forbidding local governments to provide services available in the for-profit market.

Rob Harper: Don?t kill broadband effort in rural areas

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Wisconsin State Journal

The Joint Finance Committee slipped into the budget bill an attack on rural Internet access which will kill a federally funded UW-Extension program to expand broadband service in underserved areas and cripple WiscNet, a public-private partnership that helps school districts and libraries get online…The amendment saves no taxpayer dollars and prevents Wisconsin from using a major federal grant.The UW System was built on the notion that public universities should use their resources to benefit the public. I urge the Legislature to remove this provision.

State superintendent criticizes budget committee for threatening WiscNet

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Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin state Superintendent Tony Evers is blasting a decision by the Legislature?s budget-writing committee to reject about $39 million in federal money to extend broadband Internet access across the state. The Joint Finance Committee voted Friday to force the University of Wisconsin System to return the money and no longer support WiscNet, a non-profit cooperative that brings high-speed Internet services to about 75 percent of public schools in Wisconsin and nearly all public libraries. Evers said Tuesday that the move would likely mean WiscNet could no longer provide Internet services and if that happens schools and libraries will have to pay double or three times what they do now. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says the issue may be revisited before the budget is voted on next week.

Biz Beat: Local medical tech firm lands $11 million in funding

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Capital Times

If everything falls into place, Wisconsin could land a high-tech facility to manufacture a valuable medical isotope used to detect heart disease or cancer. SHINE Medical Technologies of Middleton announced Tuesday it has secured $11 million in venture capital funding as part of its effort to develop the plant, which could create up to 100 permanent jobs.

Tom Still column: More students taking the start-up path (Sheboygan Press)

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Noted: At the UW-Madison alone, more than 1,300 students were involved in entrepreneurship courses across the 42,000-student campus during the 2009-2010 academic year, according to a report to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. About 1,000 students took part in entrepreneurship events, such as the “100-Hour Challenge” and business plan competitions. One such competition is the G. Steven Burrill contest, which attracted 22 teams and 45 students in 2011 alone.

Thank Democrats, unions for revenue boost

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Capital Times

Gov. Scott Walker has yet to implement any of his major economic initiatives. Thankfully. Yet the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau announced May 11 that, because of improved tax collection projections, Wisconsin has an extra $636 million for budgeting purposes. That?s a 1.6 percent increase in tax revenue over the next two years.

On Topic: Walker budget cuts will lead to cervical cancer deaths, hygiene lab doctor predicts

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Capital Times

The medical director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene says women will likely die of cervical cancer if Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposal eliminating $266,400 for cervical cancer screening prevails.

“I see at least 1 – 2 high-grade lesions every day during cytologic evaluations,” Dr. Daniel Kurtycz says in prepared remarks to be given Wednesday to the Joint Finance Committee, which will consider Walker?s budget request.

Fitchburg development Nine Springs: ?A paradigm shift?

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Wisconsin State Journal

This story appeared first in the Sunday edition of the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper.

Fitchburg city officials say a 383-acre expanse now open for development could change the way people think of Dane County?s business hubs. They are ready to move forward with Nine Springs of Fitchburg ? a plan for a technology campus with housing, stores, restaurants and hotels that could be an express bus ride from Downtown and UW-Madison, built under terms of Fitchburg?s new SmartCode regulations.

Quoted: UW-Madison School of Business associate professor Morris Davis

Wis. Dems unveil job plan

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Madison.com

Senate Democrats have unveiled a package of tax credits they say are designed to create jobs. Their plan includes 15 health and bioscience positions at the the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Institutes for Discovery. The package has little chance of becoming law.

Property Trax: Obama assistant Elizabeth Warren invited to keynote UW-Madison conference on housing, economy in June

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Wisconsin State Journal

Elizabeth Warren, the creator and presumptive head of President Barack Obama?s controversial new consumer finance protection agency, has been invited to headline UW-Madison?s annual spring conference on housing and the economy. If she can make it — she?s been invited, and by now must be expected, but hasn?t yet formally agreed — Warren will discuss how her agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will affect the housing industry, according to the agenda for the June 9 event, dubbed “New Partnerships: Government and Real Estate.”

Doug Moe: Next-generation travel books keep John Bradley on the go

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Wisconsin State Journal

John Bradley gets around. Bradley, a UW-Madison graduate, is researching what will be the second in a series of next-generation travel books published by Madison-based Modern Overland, a company founded by Bradley in 2009. Bradley decided to turn his passion for travel into a business, and Modern Overland?s first title, “South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland,” has just been published.

St. Francis House wants to sell some land for 12-story redevelopment

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Wisconsin State Journal

Another faith-based student center at UW-Madison has plans for a major redevelopment project, although this time the result would be less square footage for the student center, not more.

St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center wants to redevelop its property near UW-Madison?s Grainger Hall by selling off part of the site and downsizing itself to make way for a privately owned, 12-story student apartment building. The apartment building would be unconnected to the student center and have no religious orientation, said attorney Bill White, who is representing developer LZ Ventures of Madison.

Campus Connection: Did Florida State sell academic soul for Koch money?

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Capital Times

Public universities across the nation continue to be hit hard by budget woes. And in an effort to retain quality, many institutions are focusing more time and energy on partnering with the private sector and wealthy philanthropists. But as desperate as some are to land these additional dollars, doesn?t a university owe it to its faculty, staff and students to say “no thanks” if too many strings are attached to these funds?

Quoted: Brad Barham, UW-Madison professor of agricultural and applied economics and incoming chair of the University Committee; Ananth Seshadri, chair of UW-Madison’s economics department; Dean of Letters and Science Gary Sandefur. Also mentioned: Richard Avramenko, an assistant professor of political science.

Plain Talk: Walker needs national economy to soar

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Capital Times

Scott Walker promised to create 250,000 jobs during his four years as governor providing he makes it that far and so he?s got his staff trumpeting every small sign that he may be on his way to that goal. Trouble is, in his zealousness to pat himself on the back at every uptick in the economy, he?s making himself look foolish ? even more so than he?s already done in just four months in office.

Mentioned: Professor emeritus of economics Don Nichols

Madison looks to expand green initiatives with wide-ranging sustainability plan

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Wisconsin State Journal

The city of Madison is considering an ambitious blueprint on how to spread the green movement deeper into the community and broaden its goals.The draft, 73-page Madison Sustainability Plan offers dozens of ideas. They range from the easily-embraced ? implementing clean-up plans to remove all city beaches from the state?s impaired waters list ? to the controversial ? exploring electronically monitored Downtown toll zones with the goal of reducing traffic and emissions. The effort has involved developers, architects, engineers, utilities, the Madison schools, UW-Madison, city officials and others.

?Buy Local? state grants are on the chopping block

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Capital Times

….The Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grant program was part of former Gov. Jim Doyle?s 2008 budget and was designed to connect local food producers with local buyers. It has awarded about $220,000 annually in development grants over the past three years. Recipients in 2010 included the Bayfield Apple Co., Perfect Pasture in Ashland, the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition and Green & Green Distribution in Mineral Point.

Quoted: Steve Deller, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison

But the grant program is on Gov. Scott Walker?s budget chopping block and was not included in his proposed 2011-2013 budget ? a development that some are calling short-sighted and contrary to Walker?s goal of growing the private-sector economy.

Editorial: Tech colleges shouldn’t be immune from cuts

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Appleton Post-Crescent

Wisconsin?s technical colleges help keep the economy humming. They are responsive to business leaders? needs and provide students with bang for their buck. They?re so popular, in fact, that enrollment is up 40 percent statewide in the last decade.

There?s only one problem. The state is in a budget crisis, and technical colleges are facing cuts just like many other state agencies, communities and schools.

Cross Country: Dairy consultants give farmers needed information

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Capital Times

….Jim Barmore of Verona has been providing technical service and management consulting to dairies for more than 25 years. He has a master?s degree in dairy nutrition from UW-Madison and spent a dozen years with Madison-based Vita Plus, a major livestock nutrition provider, and Monsanto before opening his Five-Star Dairy Consulting in 2003. Barmore explains his role as an independent dairy consultant as one of offering the dairy producer information and understanding of the many factors affecting the dairy operation: feed management, monitoring herd records, herd health, manager development, systems development, facilities and cow comfort, and risk management among them.

Biz Beat: Republicans slash Wisconsin bicycle funding

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Capital Times

No big surprise here given the state?s hard turn right …. but the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee has eliminated $5 million in bicycle funding from the 2011-2013 state budget. Siding with Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposal, the Republican-dominated panel voted 12-4 Wednesday to remove state support for bicycle and pedestrian paths from the $6.4 billion transportation budget.

Study Quantifies Economic Impact of UW Athletics (Athletic Business)

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Fans attending a University of Wisconsin men?s basketball game spend an average of $98.25 while in Madison, and that doesn?t include the purchase price of the tickets. The typical Badger football fan drops $232.53 (excluding tickets) during his or her stay (nearly 76 percent of fans eat in local restaurants, and 11 percent book lodging). Even when not attending games, fans on average purchase $156.27 worth of UW merchandise annually. All told, UW athletics contributes $970 million to the state?s economy, according to a study conducted by NorthStar Economics Inc.

Ed Clarke: Biddy Martin?s bold vision for UW-Madison needed now more than ever

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Wisconsin State Journal

Downtown Madison Inc. has a keen interest in the current debate over the future of UW-Madison. The urban center of the city and the university at its heart have been intimately linked since the founding of Wisconsin. At a recent meeting, DMI?s board of directors expressed unanimous support for Chancellor Biddy Martin?s New Badger Partnership.

Food software plan wins Burrill business plan contest

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Wisconsin State Journal

BadgerBites, a proposed online food order software system, won the $10,000 top price in the UW-Madison School of Business? G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition on Friday. The product, developed by Alex Wyler, Eric Martell and Matt Howard, would streamline and improve the online food order processing, according to their business plan.

Biz Beat: Milwaukee 2nd in U.S. for job growth; Madison 76th

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Capital Times

….the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area — which includes Dane, Iowa and Columbia counties — added just 400 jobs in the past 12 months for a 0.1 percent increase, 76th out of the 100 largest metro areas. The jobs report received little coverage in the Madison media, not surprising given that job creation has been flat here.

Noel Radomski, who heads a UW-Madison think tank, says the region hasn?t had to aggressively pursue a pro-growth strategy because of all the public-sector jobs here. That has allowed policymakers to focus on other issues like social safety nets and environmental regulations, he says.

What It Really Takes To Succeed In Business (San Francisco Chronicle)

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San Francisco Chronicle

Noted: At an undergraduate level, less than 20% of Fortune 500 CEOs get their degrees from Ivy League schools (including Ivy League-caliber schools like Stanford). While those numbers go up when graduate degrees are added into the mix (roughly 12% of CEOs have some degree from Harvard alone), the reality is that the University of Wisconsin produces just as many CEOs at the undergraduate level as Harvard.

The missing link in job growth chain

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Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin families may wonder how the state can afford to create programs to boost business growth when the governor and lawmakers argue it is imperative to cut back on almost everything else. The answer is because we can?t afford not to invest in business growth, not only to create the jobs we need but also to bring in the tax revenue to support the government services we want. Wisconsin has come far in creating hotbeds for new-business formation. Atop the list is Dane County, where UW-Madison is spinning off the talent and ideas that are creating one of the Midwest?s largest collections of young biomedical businesses and other technology-related companies.

Trading the corporate world for the classroom

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Capital Times

Physicist, neuroscience entrepreneur and businessman Jon Joseph traded the money and prestige of a flourishing career in corporate America for the opportunity to teach high level calculus, computer science and physics to high school kids. He?s doing his thing in the northern Green County community of New Glarus, teaching at a high school where there were exactly zero Advanced Placement courses less than 15 years ago.

Finalists named for Governor?s Business Plan Contest

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Wisconsin State Journal

Nine Madison area applicants are among 21 finalists in the Wisconsin Governor?s Business Plan Contest, and their business proposals range from a new diabetes treatment to wireless Internet access on buses. The 21 finalists, and winners of the UW-Madison Burrill competition, Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest, Marquette University Kohler competition and the BizStarts collegiate competition will all vie for a total of $150,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.

Biz Beat: Green jobs success story

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Capital Times

It?s taken a bit longer than planned but a fast-growing Madison-based solar energy company is finally settling into new digs. On Wednesday, Full Spectrum Solar will celebrate its move to 1240 E. Washington Ave., the former Quality Collision auto body repair shop.

….Founded in 2002, Full Spectrum Solar is owned and operated by Madison natives and UW-Madison engineering alumni, brothers Burke and Mark O’Neal.

Biz Beat: State on pace to hit Walker jobs target

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Capital Times

If you think Gov. Scott Walker is the devil incarnate, read no further. But Wisconsin is on pace to reach the governor?s goal of 250,000 more jobs in the state over the next four years — not that Walker is doing some magic tricks. The gains are most likely the result of the economic recovery that began in 2010.

Madison drug company Cellectar to merge with Boston’s Novelos

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With the merger, Novelos will shift its official headquarters from Newton, Mass., to Madison.There, a team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison radiology professor Jamey Weichert will continue research into three cancer-targeted compounds dubbed Cold, Hot and Light. Administrative offices will be in Massachusetts.

Is Wisconsin ‘broke’? Answer is in the eye of the beholder, experts say

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Wisconsin State Journal

In his inaugural budget address, Gov. Scott Walker stood before a joint session of the Legislature and delivered the somber news: We?re broke.”

Too many politicians have failed to tell the truth about our financial crisis,” he said. “The facts are clear: Wisconsin is broke and it?s time to start paying our bills today so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorrow.”

Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of public affairs and applied economics at UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs