A study released Monday says the University Research Park in Madison contributes more than $825 million to the state?s economy each year.
Study pegs University Research Park impact at $825M
Milwaukee Business Journal
Category: Business/Technology
New effort can put Wisconsin on path to prosperity
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Academic research and development is another economic asset. Led by the UW-Madison, academic R&D is a $1.2 billion sector, translating into thousands of direct and indirect jobs. UW-Madison is perennially in the top three universities in the nation for R&D, topping $1 billion in total research in 2009.
Anne Morgan Giroux and Colleen Penwell: Hard hats, soft hearts are in abundance at Institutes for Discovery
Capital Times
Dear Editor: The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on the UW-Madison campus will soon be occupied by brilliant scientists and eager students. For the time being, it?s home to hundreds of men and women who are busy putting the finishing touches on a stunning research facility.
Their craftsmanship is evident at every turn. Less visible is their equally impressive generosity and compassion. These carpenters, pipefitters, welders, electricians and glaziers are also generous benefactors.
Contract At Whitewater Technology Park Violated Rules
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — The city of Whitewater and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater violated federal rules when awarding a construction contract at the Whitewater University Technology Park.
The problem revolved around a $2.9 million contract awarded to Janesville-based J.P. Cullen & Sons. Cullen was in charge of reviewing the bids and recommended itself for the main construction contract. It?s also construction manager.
UW-Madison research spending tops $1 billion
Wisconsin State Journal
Spending on research at UW-Madison has for the first time topped the $1 billion mark, according to a survey by the National Science Foundation of research expenditures nationwide in 2009. Vice Chancellor for Research Martin Cadwallader said the milestone is important not just for the university but for the entire state.
Your Right to Know: Let the sun shine on state contracts
Capital Times
A state website operating since 2007 is supposed to be informing citizens how state government spends some of their taxpayer dollars by disclosing information on state contracts worth $10,000 or more. But that is not happening. And for a state that strives to be a leader in government transparency, this is not a pretty story.
Google’s Marissa Mayer kicks off Business Strategy and Technology Conference
Wisconsin Technology Network
Marissa Mayer, raised in Wausau, Wisconsin, has been on the cover of Newsweek as ?one of the most powerful women of her generation.? Mayer, vice president of search product and experience and the first female engineer to join Google, returned to Wisconsin last week as a keynote speaker at the 12th annual Business Best Practices and Emerging Technologies Conference.
Hockey arena gets funding
Badger Herald
After several delays for financial reasons, the proposal to build a women?s hockey facility near the Kohl Center will now advance out of developmental stages and into the city approval process.
Madison groups win funding for isotope work
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Two Madison-area groups have received $500,000 each from the federal government to further develop technologies for making a radioactive isotope widely used in medical imaging tests.
The National Nuclear Security Administration awarded funding to a group including the Morgridge Institute for Research and Phoenix Nuclear Labs LLC of Middleton, as well as to NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC of Madison and its partners.
The Wisconsin partnerships are the third and fourth recipients of such awards, for which there will be one more funding round, said Jennifer Wagner, a spokeswoman for the administration, part of the U.S. Department of Energy.
3M to give some retirees vouchers for health care – TwinCities.com
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Quoted: Tom Oliver, a professor at the University of Wisconsin?s School of Medicine and Public Health and an expert on health care policy.
Madison companies win federal grants to produce substance for heart care
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison could be the only U.S. location producing technetium-99m, a substance that is in cardiac stress tests and cancer scans performed on tens of thousands of patients every day, and is in short supply worldwide. Two area companies, in separate arrangements, won the only two federal allocations announced Monday to manufacture the medical isotope molybdenum-99 which, when it decays, produces technetium-99m. One of the proposals is a partnership with UW-Madison, state of Wisconsin, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and Phoenix Nuclear Labs in Middleton.
410,000 more jobs by 2018?
Capital Times
Every two years, the state of Wisconsin comes out with its 10-year predictions on job growth. The report is designed to guide young people into new careers, let business owners know what employment trends are coming and help educators adjust their training programs. But the timing of the just-released “2008 to 2018 Jobs Outlook” could not have been worse.
Quoted: Kari Dickinson of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS)
Executive Q&A: Fred Blattner helps purify E. coli
Wisconsin State Journal
When a pharmaceutical company is creating a compound that could become the next wonder drug, it helps to have a clean slate on which to build the drug. That?s the concept behind Scarab Genomics, 1202 Ann St., a company that grew out of research at the UW-Madison laboratories of genetics professor Fred Blattner, the company?s president and chief executive officer.
Chris Rickert: What’s happening to on-the-job training?
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Bill Reese, a professor of educational policy studies and history at UW-Madison, and Allen Phelps, a professor and director in the UW-Madison Center on Education and Work.
UP ON THE ROOF
Green roofs are sprouting up on local mixed-use condominium and apartment buildings as well as some public buildings, an effort to promote storm water retention, prevent urban heat buildup, and create appealing green spaces for city dwellers to enjoy.
Study shows Wisconsin’s bioscience industry is lucrative and growing
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin?s bioscience industry provides jobs for 24,000 employees whose paychecks are nearly two-thirds higher than the average Wisconsin worker, a study released Wednesday shows. And the industry, which ranges from drug development to medical instrument manufacturing, is growing. Stemina Biomarker Discovery is an example of the growth. The Madison stem cell company had six employees in December 2007; today, it has 10 and is looking to hire at least three more. Stemina also received word this week that it will get $1 million in a phase 2 contract with the National Cancer Institute to find biomarkers associated with cancer stem cells.?We?ll be looking at more cancer stem cell lines and we?ll be taking it into animal models in collaboration with both the UW-Madison and the Mayo Clinic,? Donley said.
Report shows increase in bioscience jobs in Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin?s bioscience industry provides jobs for 24,000 employees whose paychecks are nearly two-thirds higher than the average Wisconsin worker, a study released Wednesday shows. And the industry, which ranges from drug development to medical instrument manufacturing, is a growing field.
While employment statewide dropped 3 percent between 2004 and 2009, the number of bioscience jobs increased 3 percent during the same period, according to the report, compiled by the UW-Milwaukee Center for Workforce Development.
Mike Knetter and Linda Salchenberger: Two structural changes vital to bring good jobs to Wisconsin
Capital Times
If you did not feel great urgency about the Wisconsin economy three years ago, the impact of the Great Recession has probably changed your mind. It has changed ours. That is why we both agreed to serve on the steering committee consisting of representatives from business, government and education that commissioned the Wisconsin Competitiveness Study. We strongly support the recommendations of the completed study, entitled ?Be Bold Wisconsin? — especially the two recommendations that would radically alter the economic development infrastructure in the state.
(Wisconsin School of Business Dean Mike Knetter and Marquette University School of Business Dean Linda Salchenberger)
Biz Beat: Hotel at Monroe and Regent stays dark
Capital Times
If everything had gone according to plan, fans heading to today?s UW home football game might have spent Friday night in a new hotel across from Camp Randall Stadium. Instead of bustling with Badger fans, however, the hotel at the corner of Regent and Monroe streets remains empty.
Construction projects are few, far between
Wisconsin State Journal
To say that construction in the Madison area has slowed to a crawl is almost an understatement. If it weren?t for big projects like UW-Madison?s Institutes for Discovery and Epic Systems Corp.?s mushrooming campus in Verona, a lot more construction workers likely would be picking up unemployment checks.
UW panel discusses financing higher ed
Daily Cardinal
Chancellor Biddy Martin, former Kimberly-Clark Executive Kathi Seifert and UW Board of Regents President Charles Pruitt held a panel to discuss financing public higher education Wednesday at a Public Representation Organization of Faculty Senate event.
Chancellor, WARF threaten unionized labor at WID
Badger Herald
In a recent address to the Associated Students of Madison, Chancellor Biddy Martin summarized a lengthy PowerPoint presentation she plans on selling around the state. While glossing over the substantive changes she ultimately sought, Martin spent most of her 30 minutes in front of ASM lauding UW?s substantial impact on Wisconsin?s culture and economy. However, flipping through the slide packet that was temporarily distributed to council members, one could see the eerie outlines of Martin?s master plan. The overall objective was to sever UW?s ties with the rest of the UW System to become independent while still benefiting from an umbilical tether to state coffers.
Union workers protest WID?s food services
Daily Cardinal
Seventy-five sign-wielding members of the Local 171 branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees protested the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery privatization of food service employment outside the WID yesterday.
New Lakeshore residence hall and food service facility on way to construction
Daily Cardinal
The City of Madison Plan Commission unanimously approved a conditional use request to construct a new UW-Madison Lakeshore residence hall and food service facility Monday.
UW workers union rallies against WID
Badger Herald
A University of Wisconsin workers union held a protest and picket line outside the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building Monday morning to show their anger about the outsourcing of jobs to non-union workers.
Chris Rickert: UW a cog in helping to bust unions
Wisconsin State Journal
About 70 unionized UW-Madison food service workers and their supporters picketed the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery work site Monday to protest the university?s alleged complicity in a practice nearly as old as capitalism itself: union busting. The 1,500-member Local 171 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is irked because three dining venues planned for the privately owned parts of WID will not employ its members.
UW to join universities working to expand energy research
Badger Herald
The University of Wisconsin will be teaming up with three of the state?s largest engineering research schools to become the fourth member of an energy research powerhouse that will combine university research and businesses.
Martin may hire outside firm to evaluate UW efficiency
Badger Herald
University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin may hire a consultant firm to look at the efficiency of the entire university, which may cost millions of dollars, but could potentially save tens of millions.
Campus Connection: Forums to focus on ?green’ jobs in state
Capital Times
Most everyone has heard the term “green” jobs or listened to someone talk about the “green” economy, but do you really understand what those terms mean or know how you can parlay your skills into starting a new “green” career?
The public is invited to a free series of forums called “Green Jobs for Wisconsin?s Economy,” which are to examine this growing sector and highlight opportunities for those who would like to learn more about potential careers in this area. The events, which are organized by UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental studies, are to be held on four Tuesdays in room 1106 of the Mechanical Engineering Building. These forums run from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Tech: Charter adds ‘broadcast TV surcharge’ of $1 to customer bills
Capital Times
Customers of Charter Communications have a new $1 surcharge on their bills. The “broadcast TV surcharge” stems from the often fierce retransmission negotiations between broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) and subscription TV providers.
Quoted: UW-Madison telecommunications professor Barry Orton
UW Hospital named a top company for working parents
Wisconsin State Journal
UW Hospital is one of the nation?s top 10 companies for working parents, according to an annual list developed by Working Mother magazine.
Bill Berry: Earmarks have been boon to northern Wisconsin
Capital Times
STEVENS POINT ? Dave Obey was on hand here a few days ago as University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point officials, faculty, students and community leaders celebrated the launching of the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology in ceremonies on campus.
Obey?s presence was fitting. He directed about $1.4 million of federal funds to support the institute at the university, which will take an interdisciplinary approach as it creates and commercializes sustainable technologies and connects the campus to the business community.
Campus Connection: Recruiters love Big Ten schools
Capital Times
UW-Madison ranked among the top 25 schools in the nation according to a Wall Street Journal survey of recruiters who work for the 479 largest public, private, nonprofit and government agencies. UW-Madison checked in at No. 16.
SweeTango at core of apple war
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mentions that the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which patents discoveries of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and licenses them to companies around the world, has offered exclusive licenses for a limited number of crops.
Wis. economist pitches new college savings plan
Madison.com
Noted: A report by Dennis Winters, Wisconsin?s chief labor economist, who wants the state to save $1,000 every year for every public school student to help pay for college. Winters describes the plan in a publication issued by the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education, a UW-Madison think tank.
UW praises stem cell ruling but wants law changed
Madison.com
Stem cell researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are relieved by a court ruling that will allow their federal funding to continue temporarily. Researchers had warned that studies on a range of diseases would come to a halt if a federal judge?s order blocking the funding stayed in place. An appeals court ruled Thursday the funding can proceed temporarily until the court rules on the Obama administration?s position in a lawsuit that calls the research illegal. UW-Madison?s federal lobbyist Rhonda Norsetter says the decision is terrific news.
Update: UW scientist praises court ruling that allows stem cell funding
Wisconsin State Journal
A leading scientist at UW-Madison praised a ruling Thursday lifting a recent ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research but said an ongoing court case still calls the future of the funding into question. “It?s good news; we hope this will allow the research to go on unimpeded,” said Dr. Tim Kamp, director of the university?s Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. “The challenge is that it?s hard to plan for the future with this on-again, off-again situation.” A federal appeals court permitted federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to proceed while it considers a judge?s ruling last month that had temporarily shut off the funds.
Embryonic stem cell funding allowed — for now
Madison.com
The government may resume funding of embryonic stem cell research for now, an appeals court said Thursday, but the short-term approval may be of little help to research scientists caught in a legal battle that has just begun. It is far from certain that scientists actually will continue to get federal money as they struggle to decide what to do with research that is hard to start and stop.
Quoted: Dr. Norman Fost, director of the bioethics program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who was on the National Academy of Sciences committee that wrote the first national guidelines on embryonic human stem cells.
Doyle: Stem cell research good for state
Badger Herald
Gov. Jim Doyle came out in support of embryonic stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin Tuesday, vowing to fight a recent injunction halting federal funding for facilities across the country that perform stem cell research.
Wis. governor says stem cell ruling could hurt
Madison.com
Wisconsin will “move forward on every legal front we can” to overturn a court ruling that has blocked federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday.D oyle said the injunction entered by a federal judge in Washington last month could cripple Wisconsin?s growing bioscience industry and stop the search for cures for disease. Doyle spoke at the Waisman Center, where UW-Madison scientists using stem cells to study ways to treat eye disorders and Down syndrome expect to immediately lose grants totaling $400,000. UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin said two dozen university researchers have been affected by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth?s decision, and jobs and millions of dollars are at stake.
State, university band together to fight for University of Wisconsin stem cell research
Wisconsin State Journal
With research grants on hold and dozens of scientists uncertain about ongoing experiments, Gov. Jim Doyle and UW-Madison officials said Tuesday that a recent federal court ruling that halts federally funded work with human embryonic stem cells is a serious threat that both the state and the university intend to fight. “There is an incredible amount of uncertainty,” Doyle said at a press conference at UW-Madison?s Waisman Center, where researchers are relying on stem cells to study maladies such as vision problems and Down syndrome. As they await the outcome of legal challenges, as many as two dozen UW-Madison stem cell researchers face costly disruptions in their efforts to test the cells? power to cure human ailments such as juvenile diabetes and spinal injuries, Chancellor Biddy Martin said at the news conference.
Doug Moe: University of Wisconsin graduate dreams big, like, castle-big
Wisconsin State Journal
Jeremy Crane, 22, started a business derived from all the old furniture you see on Mifflin and Langdon Streets and everywhere in between when the students are moving in and out. The business is called Furnish U, and it?s likely only one of what will be many entrepreneurial successes for Crane.
Amid a rise in artisanal butter, state to make it easier to get a buttermaker license
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin is the only state that requires a buttermaker license, and it?s an arduous process to get one. It may soon get easier for would-be buttermakers throughout Wisconsin. In January, the state Agriculture Board approved a scope statement to propose revising the licensing of buttermakers. Such a change would provide more flexible training and education options for potential buttermakers. Current regulations require an apprenticeship of up to two years. Proposed rules would bring that down to 120 hours. Part of the new process would also involve a new Buttermakers Short Course, the first of which will be held Sept. 14-16 at UW-Madison through the Center for Dairy Research. The course is full.
Biddy expounds on vision for new UW, state business relationship in online chat
Badger Herald
It is not everyday University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin pops up online for all of Madison to chat with, but on Sept. 1, she did just that.
Adidas becomes sole provider of UW?s sideline gear
Badger Herald
Following the University of Wisconsin?s decision to cut ties with Nike over workers rights concerns early this year, the Board of Regents approved a five-year extension to a major apparel contract with Adidas.
Last minute attempt to send UW band to Vegas fails
Badger Herald
Badger faithful going to Saturday?s football game against UNLV in Las Vegas will have to rely on their iPods to hear On Wisconsin, If You Want to Be a Badger and other classics, as the UW Marching Band will not be there to play them.
Going green: UW-Madison program helps businesses be eco-friendly
Wisconsin State Journal
A new UW-Madison program to evaluate and promote sustainable business practices is helping Wisconsin companies earn recognition for going green, cutting waste and being socially responsible. ?There were many companies that were actively engaged on these sustainability issues, but they weren?t getting any credit for it,? School of Business professor Thomas Eggert said. ?They were doing things, but no one knew what they were doing.? That?s why the goal of Eggert?s Green Masters Program is as much to publicize the successes of company participants as it is to provide a viable framework for those actions.
Leinenkugel leads North Woods angel investor effort
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mentions G. Steven Burrill, founder of Burrill & Co., and a major donor to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he teaches an entrepreneurs? boot camp, sponsors a business plan competition and is an adviser.
Frank Piraino: Embryonic right to life still under attack
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison depends heavily on federal funds to advance its work on using embryos as a source of stem cells to cure disease. But others have done just as well using bone marrow cells and even skin cells to develop stem cell lines.
Don?t stem promising research
Wisconsin State Journal
Here comes the embryonic stem cell debate again. It?s time to get past this recurring hurdle to ethical and enormously promising medical research. Millions of patients with debilitating diseases will have much better shots at improved treatments – maybe even cures – if embryonic stem cell research is allowed to continue in Madison and elsewhere using federal dollars.
Not nearly bold enough
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Boldness is a word often used in discussions about Wisconsin?s economic future. Of course, boldness means different things to different people.
If I were doing research for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, would it be bold to compare key statistics of neighboring states with those of Wisconsin? Or would it be bold to research former agrarian countries like Taiwan and South Korea to find out how they transformed into technical powerhouses and created the jobs and corporate brands we desperately seek here in Wisconsin. [A column by Walt Ferguson, former Silcon Valley executive, in response to a column by the business school deans at UW-Madison and Marquette.]
Walker, Neumann make bold promises in debate
Madison.com
In a debate with his Republican primary opponent Scott Walker, Milwaukee County executive, former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann said he could add 250,000 jobs by having the University of Wisconsin System work more closely with businesses to create research hubs similar to what is being done in North Carolina.
Disarray in Madison after federal stem cell ruling
Madison.com
Stem cell researchers in Madison faced an uncertain future following this week?s federal ruling that undercuts certain types of work with the embryonic cells. Monday?s ruling temporarily blocks the use of taxpayer money for stem cell research. If it stands, the ruling means researchers will have to replace public funding with private money, or end their research outright. Either way, researchers are worried.
Barrett slams Republicans over stem cell research
Madison.com
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett blasted his Republican challengers Wednesday for not supporting embryonic stem cell research, dusting off campaign rhetoric that resonated with voters four years ago. Barrett drew applause when he spoke out in support of the research at a biotech conference in Middleton, saying some of the best scientists in the world are doing such work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Campus Connection: Adidas, ?Badger Partnership’ and ?Cornhusker Co-Op’
Capital Times
With a final summer vacation out of the way and the start of the 2010-11 academic year quickly approaching, it?s time to catch up on a couple higher education-related items.
** UW-Madison was given the green light last week by the Board of Regents to ink a bigger and better deal with Adidas to outfit the university?s 23 sports teams. This new five-year contract is worth about $11 million.
** Biddy Martin states her case for a “new partnership between (UW-Madison) and the state” in a piece that appears in the September issue of Madison Magazine.
** You can bet UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez is paying attention to a creative fundraising tactic being promoted by the University of Nebraska.
Bugher Elected to Madison Gas and Electric and MGE Energy Boards (MarketWatch)
Mark D. Bugher has been elected to the Board of Directors of Madison Gas and Electric and MGE Energy, Inc., effective Sept. 17, 2010.Mr. Bugher is Director of the University Research Park, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sluggish economy helps drive big drop in traffic fatalities
Capital Times
One of the few benefits of the sluggish economy is that traffic death rates both nationwide and in Wisconsin have dropped to historic lows.
?People stay a little closer to home when times are tough,? says Maj. Dan Lonsdorf, director of the state Bureau of Transportation Safety. And that, he says, translates into fewer miles traveled, fewer crashes and fewer deaths.
Quoted: UW-Madison traffic specialist David Noyce, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering
Donald H. Yee: An agent?s case for privatizing college football
Capital Times
The Church of College Football is about to open for services. It is perhaps the most passionate religion we have in this country, a seductive blend of our most popular sport and the romantic notion that the young athletes are playing for their schools, not for money.
Two BCS championship coaches recently launched attacks on sports agents for allegedly defiling this house of worship by giving college players what the NCAA calls ?impermissible benefits? — benefits that make those players pros and not amateurs.
?The agents that do this, and I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp?? Alabama?s Nick Saban so memorably put it last month. And Florida?s Urban Meyer said that the problem is ?epidemic right now? and that agents and their associates should be ?severely punished.?
Madison satellite center awarded $60 million grant
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Volcanic ash from Iceland. Fires in Russia. Hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists at a 30-year-old Madison satellite institute have studied them all.Their work will continue under a new five-year, $60 million federal grant, the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies said Friday.
You betcha! UW-Madison students can gamble ? literally ? on their grades
Capital Times
….Ultrinsic, an Internet-based company, is offering students at 36 college campuses ? including those who attend UW-Madison ? the chance to bet on whether or not they?ll earn a certain grade in a given course. The company is promoting itself as a virtual kick in the butt that can help motivate students who might require a little added incentive to get off the couch and into the library.
….At this point, not many administrators, professors or students at UW-Madison appear to know about Ultrinsic. Aaron Brower, UW-Madison?s vice provost for teaching and learning, e-mailed to say he knew nothing about the company. But after glancing at a few newspaper articles about the website, he noted that the company ?trivializes what college should be about ? learning ? for the sake of grades.?