Category: Business/Technology

There will be a lot of empty space at the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s upcoming career fair for students from the College of Letters & Science. Last year, 43 employers turned out to talk up their internship programs and full-time opportunities; this year only 23 plan to attend. It’s gotten so bad that business students, who normally clamor for jobs with investment banks and consulting companies, are settling for less. “Retail used to be not that appealing to business studentsâ??it’s kind of a back-up plan,” says career services director Leslie Kohlberg. Not anymore.

Directors of the third annual Wiscontrepreneur Challenge awarded cash prizes to four creative, unique student projects.

On Monday afternoon, for what may have been the first time in 30 years, I was back in a classroom on the UW-Madison campus.

Like the old days, I tried to hide in the back row. Still, once I heard about this event, there was no keeping me away.

“This is like the Academy Awards,” Doug Bradley was saying into a microphone, up on stage. “Only a week later.”

Dozens of entrepreneurial University of Wisconsin-Madison students took part in a 100-hour “Wiscontrepreneur” challenge.

The contest required teams to use materials from the UW Swap shop — the campus store selling surplus equipment — to create a valuable, innovative or socially beneficial product.

“I think you learned a little bit about what it might take to be an entrepreneur. I hope some of you are invigorated with that spirit and are ready to take the plunge and do something with this,” Doug Bradley, of the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations, said to the participants.

A dress made of air filters, a â??drunk tankâ? that captures party crashers, a water purification system and a terrarium made of test tubes became winners Monday of the University of Wisconsinâ??s third annual 100-Hour Challenge.

MADISON (WKOW) — Madison Alderman Eli Judge is working with UW-Madison students to develop a “Madison Property Ratings” website for the campus area.

The project will help renters and property owners by focusing on the quality of campus area housing in Madison.

The site will be similar to the already popular “Rate My Professor” site, but instead will encourage renters to rate their landlords and the properties they rent.

A dress made out of air filters, yellow wire, vacuum filters and foam peanuts was the most creative entry in the annual 100-hour Wiscontrepreneur Challenge on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

A record 63 entries made by almost 200 students competed for honors in four categories in the third annual competition, put on by UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations.

Winners were announced Monday in the University of Wisconsin’s 100-Hour Wiscontrepreneur Challenge.

The third annual event attracted a record of nearly 200 students and 63 entries, compared to last year’s 17, during the four-day competition.

Providing college students with ways to make the most of their money, especially during a recession, is the focus of a seminar being held this weekend at UW-Madison.

UW-Madison Business School professor Ron Smith says the financial independence seminar will give students advice on how to budget, save, and invest their money. He says students approaching graduation are often uninformed about financial issues and have a lot to learn before they start their career. (Final item.)

A San Diego real estate group has purchased seven properties in downtown Madison from local landlord Harold Langhammer, with eyes on redeveloping the busy corner of West Washington Avenue and Broom Street.

Cardinal Group Investments, LLC announced Tuesday it acquired the seven properties totaling 78 bedrooms for $4.5 million.

The purchase includes the historic 25-room Zeta Beta Tau fraternity building at 233 Langdon St

For the third consecutive year, University of Wisconsin students of all backgrounds are encouraged to express their creativity and entrepreneurial skills by participating in the Wiscontrepreneur 100-Hour Challenge.

The Brink Lounge is banning hip-hop shows indefinitely after 16 Madison police officers responded to a call from a Valentine’s Day hip-hop party where a fight broke out close to bar time.

The Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is home to Wisconsin’s first licensed Peet’s Coffee & Tea shop. The coffee and tea house, located on the Union’s first floor across from Der Rathskeller, is celebrating its grand opening through Feb. 14 with samplings and door prizes such as mugs and T-shirts.

It was all about economic stimulus Monday night as the Madison Plan Commission approved a new Hy-Vee grocery store at Westgate Mall despite conflicts with the city’s long-range plans for the site.

….Also Monday night, the commission approved a $14 million apartment and retail development at the corner of Regent and Park Streets, the former site of Josie’s Spaghetti House.

Madison developer Tom Degen is pursuing a 65-unit, six-story project at the corner, including about 4,250 square feet of ground-level retail space – enough for two or three tenants – and an underground parking lot providing 31 of about 45 parking spaces on the site.

The developer has said he is looking to attract upperclassmen and graduate students from UW-Madison as well as professionals working in the nearby hospitals.

As graduation approaches and the economy continues to weaken, entering a weakening job market is a daunting task for soon-to-be University of Wisconsin graduates.

Downtown residents and Madison City Council members found themselves facing a difficult decision Tuesday night when asked to approve a proposed apartment complex adjacent to the Acacia fraternity, ultimately shooting down the proposal.

By the slimmest of margins, Madison’s City Council voted Tuesday night against a downtown project that partnered a fraternity house with a local developer.

The development paired historic renovation developer the Alexander Co. with the Acacia House, 222 W. Langdon St., in order to bring much-needed improvements to the historic building. The plan involved turning the house into a combined fraternity and apartment building and adding an 18-unit apartment building behind the historic building on a gravel parking lot.