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Category: Business/Technology

ATC says burying lines ‘impractical’

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Capital Times

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz wants an independent study of the feasibility of burying a portion of a controversial power line that could run along the Beltline.

American Transmission Co. on Wednesday announced preliminary results of its study of the issue, calling it “impractical” because part of the line would have to run through city neighborhoods and because of the huge costs of underground vs. overhead lines.

….Opponents of running the line overhead along the Beltline are concerned about impacts on the UW Arboretum, local businesses and neighborhoods. The line also has opposition from those who say it isn’t needed.

Brainpower called key to prosperity

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee region, once known as the “machine shop to the world,” must remake itself as the industrial “design shop of the world” if it is to compete in a landscape transformed by global economic forces, civic leaders said Wednesday in unveiling the Milwaukee 7s strategic economic plan.

The report by the seven-county economic development group said southeastern Wisconsins future hinges on its engineering talent, research-and-development capacity, its universities and its collective impulse to generate products and ideas.

ATC underground power line plans cut, called “impractical”

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Capital Times

Constructing a portion of a controversial power line underground along the Beltline Highway is “impractical” and will not be recommended, American Transmission Co. said today in announcing results of an undergrounding study.

Running part of the proposed Rockdale-West Middleton line along the Beltline is part of one of three potential routes for the controversial 345-kilovolt line, which ATC says is needed to meet growing electrical demand in the area.

….Part of the problem with undergrounding is that the locations identified as the most feasible include routes off the Beltline on city streets and frontage roads, rather than directly adjacent to the highway, ATC said.

Pouring time and energy into tapping new markets (Chicago Tribune)

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Chicago Tribune

Just two years after inventing a better keg tap for the stadium market, Matthew Younkle knows it’s time to expand.

Already, the inventor of TurboTap — a nozzle that attaches to beer kegs and delivers a pour with the right amount of foam in less than three seconds — claims to own leases in 30 percent of the U.S. professional stadium market.

“While the stadium market is big and profitable, it only represents a small fraction of beer taps in circulation,” said Younkle, 32, who created a prototype of the product for an investor’s competition in his senior year at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

New UW grads enter work force armed with sustainable skills, goals

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Capital Times

A new corporate emphasis on a “triple bottom line” is leading to new and varied jobs for University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates, a trend that is expected to grow rapidly.

“The traditional bottom line is that a company has to perform well financially, but now that company has to have a good environmental performance and a good social responsibility record as well,” said Dan Anderson, a professor in the UW School of Business who also teaches at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

Joseph Eichenseher: Med school should cut industry ties

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Capital Times

Dear Editor:

….I have seen firsthand how for-profit business infiltrates academic medicine, to the point where many faculty at the medical school receive tens of thousands of dollars in “consulting” fees from medical industry, for a few hours of time each year. Our new medical school even has corporate names and logos at the entrances to our lecture halls.

….It is time that the UW, with a rich history of integrity and commitment to the public good, follows other universities and bans such compromising industrial ties. Wisconsin deserves more, and we need to lead by setting a more socially responsible example.

UW attacks loan abuses

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Capital Times

The University of Wisconsin System has responded appropriately to one of the ugliest scandals to break out in higher education: the revelation that private lenders have cultivated cozy relationships with campus financial aid officials in order to take advantage of students.

Report: UW School Of Business Is One Of World’s Best

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin School of Business takes top honors again.

The school made the Financial Times annual list of the world’s top executive education providers for the third straight year.

The UW ranked no. 13 in the U.S. and no. 26 in the world in the publication’s overall ranking.

As businesses â??go green,â? college grads find jobs that help the environment (WPR)

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Wisconsin Public Radio

(UNDATED) As thousands of college graduates try to enter the labor force this summer, it may help some candidates to have a background in environmental sustainability.

Home Depot is one of the companies that says itâ??s now taking a long view of the environment and following some sustainable policies and practices. Unless the corporations are engaging in false environmental image- making, known as â??greenwashing,â? the switch could be good news for college grads with experience in energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture and certain other fields.

Tom Eggert teaches classes on business and sustainability at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He says the green building movement is another area seeking educated workers. This is not something coming from the industry itself, he says, but rather comes from the people who are having these buildings built or deciding to go in a way that would be aligned with being energy efficient or aligned with indoor air quality. (Final item.)

State’s farm future charted

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Capital Times

Wisconsinites have an opportunity to shape the future of agriculture policies affecting the lives of rural and urban dwellers alike.

This message opened the Future of Farming and Rural Life in Wisconsin Conference this morning at Monona Terrace. Speakers urged farmers, policy makers and agriculture advocates to use research and recommendations presented at the event to shape a public private partnership to address challenges.

“If you’re looking for slick, that ain’t us, folks,” said Steve Stevenson of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “This is an effort to bring people to the table to look at what it will be like five, 10, 15 years down the road.”

$1M state boost will support research on drug toxicity

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Capital Times

A Madison stem cell start-up company will get a $1 million boost from the state, Gov. Jim Doyle announced this morning.

Top University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Gabriela Cezar co-founded Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. in November with Beth Donley, the former executive director of WiCell, the stem cell subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

With the aid of two WARF stem cell patents, the company is developing ways to help drug manufacturers screen drugs for toxicity. The aim is to save millions of dollars in drug development costs by developing a library of biomarkers that discover toxins in the early stages of pharmaceutical development.

Stem cell firm gets $1 million

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. will receive $1 million in loans and grants from the state, Gov. Jim Doyle will announce today.

The Madison company was founded in November by a former top executive at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s patenting arm and a high-profile UW scientist. It is the third company started in the state that uses embryonic stem cells.

New Jobs Open In Sustainable Business

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — College graduation is just around the corner and that means the job search is on.

This year, some experts said that there are some good job prospects for graduates in a relatively new sector of the business world called sustainable business, WISC-TV reported.

Sustainable business is a growing area and nonprofit organizations are finding ways to become more environmentally and socially responsible.

University of Wisconsin senior Julia Glad and others like her are signing on with companies committed to helping others. Glad is currently working for Envest, a local financial company that she’s helping launch. She will eventually provide loans to poor individuals in developing nations like Nicaragua, WISC-TV reported.

“Often they are small families or moms who are looking for ways to send their children to school,” said Glad. “With these small loans, individuals have the opportunity to pursue other jobs or careers beyond things like slash and burn farming, which have a really negative effect on the environment.”

UW business professor Tom Eggert said that companies like Envest are part of a growing trend.

Wall Street embraces TomoTherapy

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Wisconsin State Journal

Investors warmly welcomed TomoTherapy’s entrance onto Wall Street on Wednesday.

Shares of the Madison medical equipment manufacturer opened at $24 on the Nasdaq market under the symbol TTPY. That was 26 percent higher than the initial public offering price of $19 a share, which was already up from the estimated $15 to $17 price range when the registration was filed in February.

Bill Berry: 2 years of work net 83 proposals

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Capital Times

Citizen involvement has been an underpinning of the two-year Future of Farming and Rural Life in Wisconsin Project. People from around the state had a hand in fashioning the list of recommendations released last week and featured on the front page of The Capital Times.

The recommendations — essentially action steps offered to policymakers, community leaders and interested citizens — will be discussed at the statewide Future of Farming and Rural Life conference May 14-15 at Monona Terrace. Information on registration is available on the project Web site. A report this summer will include the final recommendations.

TomoTherapy starts impressively

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Capital Times

TomoTherapy Inc. made a big splash today in its debut as a public company.

Even after adding shares and pricing above the previously set range of its initial public offering of stock, the Madison-based maker of cancer treatment systems (and UW-Madison spin-off) opened up about 25 percent as it launched on Nasdaq under the symbol “TTPY.”

U.S. lab is good fit for Dane County

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Wisconsin State Journal

Memo to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security:

As you consider where to build a $400-million federal laboratory to conduct research to fight animal and human diseases, you should be aware of the public support for putting the lab in Dane County.

600 dress up to explore new theater, help Chazen Museum

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Capital Times

The Sundance Kid welcomed everyone to Madison’s newest theater Sunday night. Only he did it by proxy, through Paul Richardson, president and CEO of Sundance Cinemas.

….About 600 people dressed in black and white, the evening’s theme, got a sneak preview of the six-screen theater and restaurant complex Sunday night in a sold-out fundraiser for the Chazen Museum of Art, complete with tours, wine, hors d’oeuvres and music from the UW Jazz Trio.

WARF conflict alleged

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Capital Times

The California-based group challenging the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s stem cell patents wants WARF managing director Carl Gulbrandsen to step down from a U.S. Patent Public Advisory Committee until the case is settled.

Gulbrandsen was appointed in 2005 as one of 12 members of the committee, which advises the patent office on matters of administration, policy and budget. Another 12-member panel advises the government on trademark issues.

Coal burning heat: Sierra Club files suit vs. aging UW Charter St. plant

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Capital Times

The aging Charter Street Power Plant in the heart of the UW-Madison campus has become a lightning rod for environmentalists looking to reduce the state’s reliance on coal-burning and its growing global warming footprint.

Wisconsin’s greenhouse gas emissions grew at a faster rate than the national average during the 1990s, jumping 26 percent compared to 20 percent nationally. About 70 percent of the state’s electricity is generated by coal burning, with at least three new coal-fired power plants in the works here.

To address the pollution issue, the Sierra Club on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing the university and state of violating the Federal Clean Air Act.

Who’s Wooing Who at Wisconsin

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BusinessWeek

The University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Business is just two hours from Chicago, an appealing draw for students who want to secure a job in the Windy City. Couple the location with the school’s innovative MBA specialization programâ??where students pick a concentration before they enter schoolâ??and the school is an ideal fit for many driven students from the Midwest.

“Students don’t have to know exactly what they want to do in life, but they need to be fairly sure how they want to start out,” said Blair Sanford, director of career services.

Students Enticed To Invent

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Wisconsin State Journal

The first-ever Wiscontrepreneur Challenge provided students $10 each to buy materials from a university second-hand store and allotted them 100 hours to turn those scraps into marketable inventions. Twelve teams entered the competition, creating a range of innovations that include a hand-cranking portable power generator and a designer belt-buckle made out of an old cassette tape.

UW alums shine, show value for state

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Wisconsin State Journal

The value of a University of Wisconsin education â?? for students and for the state â?? is huge.

Consider this year’s six distinguished UW-Madison alumni award winners, what they’ve achieved and what they’ve given back:

What I do: Landscape designer

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Wisconsin State Journal

CHRISTOPHER SCHMIDT, Owner/landscape designer, C & J Natural Landscaping: I graduated from the UW-Madison Business School with degrees in management, human resources and marketing. I knew I wanted to start my own business, so I purposely avoided interviews my senior year.

TomoTherapy set to go public

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Capital Times

No date has been set, but TomoTherapy’s initial public offering of stock could be drawing near.

The Madison-based tech company on Thursday filed an amended registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that it could raise up to $213 million in its IPO. The company has applied to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “TTPY.”

TomoTherapy says its “Hi-Art” cancer treatment system precisely delivers radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy to kill cancer cells while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.

Make Wisconsin a Biobelt leader

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Wisconsin State Journal

While critics continue to attack ethanol and other biofuels, Wisconsin should be thankful Gov. Jim Doyle is proceeding full speed ahead to make the state a leader in biofuel development.
The latest advancement was last week’s announcement that Wisconsin is joining 11 states to form an alliance to promote growth in the biofuels industry.

Plan on bike advertising wins

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Wisconsin State Journal

A business plan for bicycle advertising on college campuses took first place and a $10,000 prize in the 10th annual G. Steven Burrill Technology Business Plan Competition Friday.
AdverCycle, a plan presented by Stacy Knuth and Matt Lerner, edged nine other teams from UW-Madison that were competing for $22,000 in prize money at Grainger Hall.

Sanimax biodiesel is as clear as water

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Wisconsin State Journal

Randy Fortenbery, a UW- Madison economist who has studied the feasibility of biodiesel plants in Wisconsin, sees that option as a big plus for the plant.

“They do have a distinct competitive advantage in that they are aligned with (Sanimax) who controls a lot of the recycled grease collection in Wisconsin,” he said. “That’s a nice situation.”

An unholy Union

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Badger Herald

Today, the Wisconsin Legislative Joint Finance Committee will pore over hundreds of millions of dollars in University of Wisconsin building plans in an informational briefing. They will begin the process of determining which of the proposed campus building projects receive the stateâ??s approval.

Editorial: UW’s right to investigate apparel allegations

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Capital Times

University of Wisconsin T-shirts and other Badger-logo products should be made in Wisconsin.

Unfortunately, the university has a long history of going out of state and overseas for merchandise….

As a result, there are ongoing concerns about whether T-shirts, hats and other items with Badger logos are being made in sweatshops.

Students to try to make silk purse from sow’s ear

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Wisconsin State Journal

Tim Sell sees potential every time he comes to work. He hopes a group of UW-Madison students taking part in a unique entrepreneurial program next week will have similar visions.

Sell, the marketing supervisor for the UW-Madison’s Surplus With A Purpose (SWAP) Shop, is anxious for the participants in the first Wiscontrepreneur Challenge to walk the aisles of the shop at 2102 Wright St.