Category: Business/Technology

Itâ??s three days after an early December snowstorm dumped 14 inches on Madison and most city streets remain covered with a layer of compacted snow.

Rush-hour traffic is moving at a crawl and the talk radio jocks are having a field day ripping the mayor for not using enough road salt in the name of environmental protection.

But Fred Mohs isnâ??t cursing the icy conditions. Heâ??s just strolled three blocks in brilliant sunshine from his whitewashed mansion on Wisconsin Avenue to his cozy law office on the Capitol Square.

Noted: In addition to Drake and the University of Iowa, other Centers of Actuarial Excellence are: University of Connecticut, Georgia State University, Illinois State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, St. Johnâ??s University, Temple University and University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States, and the University of Manitoba, Université Laval and the University of Waterloo in Canada.

The First Business Bank Economic Survey of Milwaukee and Waukesha counties is based on responses from 566 businesses across the two counties and was conducted by the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Tiger Woods sex scandal has been a boon for online publications, even though it hasnâ??t generated the same amount of Internet traffic as Michael Jacksonâ??s death or President Barack Obamaâ??s inauguration, the Associated Press reported.

Provocative remarks by Yahoo Inc. CEO Carol Bartz at an investor conference in New York this week illustrate how major Internet channels and niche publications are benefiting from the Woods controversy.

Known for her off-color commentary, the UW-Madison graduate told financial analysts Tuesday that the Woods story is “better than Michael Jackson dying” for helping Yahoo make money, because it is easier to sell ads against salacious content than morbid stories, AP reported.

It may be a brave new world, but not every bold business move is made by a 23-year-old who looks 16. â??Iâ??m a geezer entrepreneur,â? 59-year-old Tom Olscheske was saying Wednesday. His Madison-based company, a-Peer, is helping create a cultural park in Shanghai. The companyâ??s main focus is digital technology as it relates to the music and video industry, and China â?? which Olscheske first visited as a UW-Madison student in 1971 â?? is its start-up market.

Wisconsin has lost a bigger percentage of its work force during the current recession than it did during other recent recessions, in 2001, 1990 and 1981, according to a report from the UW-Madisonâ??s Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

Mirk Buzdum and Dick “Cappy” Capstran, a pair of garage entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, know full well that their designs for drill bits and cutting tools are good.

“Itâ??s obvious that these technologies are valid, because people are stealing them and theyâ??re in production,” Buzdum said.

But their anger isnâ??t directed only at the multinational companies that they say are ripping off their ideas. A big part of the blame, they say, falls on the agency that is supposed to protect them and the rest of the nationâ??s innovators: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent applications drafted by Buzdum and Capstran are among the 1.2 million applications pending at the agency – a backlog that was the subject of a Journal Sentinel investigation published in August.

Todd Streicher and his partners started 5Nines in 2003 as an outgrowth of Matador Consulting, founded two years earlier to provide advice on Internet marketing and computer applications for business use. 5Nines offers a data center, is an Internet service provider and handles computer support. Streicher has a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in psychology.

Russell Athletics, a clothing company that formerly produced licensed UW-Madison athletic apparel, announced plans last week to reopen a factory in Honduras and rehire the 1,200 workers who were let go when the factory shut down business last year.

Russell Athletic, a former apparel licensee of the University of Wisconsin, made an agreement Tuesday with the union representing workers from one of its former plants in Honduras, which would allow the company to reapply for a contract.

The brains behind the Apex real estate empire claims it all started with a paper route.

When Bruce Bosben was 13, he began delivering The Capital Times to homes on Madisonâ??s west side. Bosben was eventually handling six different routes with the help of his family and in 1983 was named â??CT Carrier of the Year.â?

By the time he started college at UW-Madison, Bosben had saved enough money to pay his own tuition and launch the Empire Records store in the Westgate Mall.

Kenny Dichter will hold a talk at Camp Randall about how he turned his passion for Badger sports into entrepreneurial ventures that ultimately led him to found Marquis Jet, a leader in fractional ownership private aviation.

UW-Madison and other UW System schools may receive grants or funding for job-related initiatives if a new bill introduced by Senate Democrats makes it to the floor in the next legislative session.

A “professor” looking to rent a residence in Madison duped a real estate agent out of thousands of dollars using an old, but apparently still workable, check scam.

Madison police said the unidentified real estate agent lost over $3,500 to the scammer before she smelled a rat.

The restaurant industry has seen declines nationally because of the down economy, but Monty Schiro’s Food Fight group, with 10 restaurants in the Madison area, has found economical ways to grow. Schiro is a UW-Madison graduate.

With Halloween and the annual Freakfest celebration quickly approaching, businesses along State Street have been anticipating the rush of excess customers, as well as the potential for disorderly conduct.

Who says Wisconsin suffers from a shortage of go-getters with good ideas?

Not U.S. News and World report, which features Linda Remeschatis, in its October issue. Remeschatis is owner of wisconsinmade.com.

The University of Wisconsin is also recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an excellent resource for people starting businesses.

The company that owns Brothers Bar & Grill filed a lawsuit against the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents Tuesday, alleging unfair condemnation procedures over their location at 704 University Ave.