Category: Business/Technology

Madison, Wis. – In a move that could bring additional investment partners to Wisconsin deals, Venture Investors of Madison will open an office in Ann Arbor, Mich. after receiving money from a Michigan venture fund.

The Madison venture capital firm, which recently moved into a larger space in the MGE Innovation Center in University Research Park, was one of three venture firms selected to receive funding through a competitive bidding process conducted by Venture Michigan Fund I. The three firms, which also include Arboretum Partners of Ann Arbor and Nth Power of San Francisco, will receive investment commitments of $95 million over the next three years.

“We’ve had tremendous success, especially with companies spun out of the nation’s fourth largest research institution (UW-Madison),” Neis said. The University of Michigan is the nation’s third largest research institution, he said, calling it “fertile territory.”

The Corporation for Enterprise Development’s conclusions are also a good argument for continued emphasis on university research – at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin – and for mining that research for start-up companies. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in Madison, long a licensing powerhouse, is paying more attention to spinning out start-ups. And that’s a good thing.

Scott Converse, director of technology programs for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is part information technologist, part futurist, and part ââ?¬Å?anti-change agent,ââ?¬Â as he demonstrates in Part II of this interview. In Part I, he addressed information technology workforce development issues. In Part II (below), he addresses creating a culture of innovation and finding IT talent.

Burying a portion of a controversial proposed power line along the Beltline more than doubles the cost of the project, American Transmission Co. said today.

ATC said its yearlong analysis of burying portions of its proposed Rockdale-West Middleton line determined that underground construction adds between $9 million and $15 million per mile to the cost compared with overhead lines.

The University of Wisconsin has reaped $850 million from technology transfer successes over the years. A large portion of that came after one of its leading scientists, Harry Steenbock, discovered a way to add vitamin D to food in the 1920s.

Editor’s note: As the director of technology programs for the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, Scott Converse is at the forefront of trends in information technology workforce development. In part one of this interview, he talks about the market need for courses that help IT professionals in their progression from technologist to manager or CIO. Look for part two next week.

It is the surest way to see the results of our labor. That’s why in this special issue we celebrate organizations, individuals, and one scientific breakthrough, all of which embody the very best of Madison business – its progressive and productive climate, and its thoughtful and visionary leadership.

Technical advancements in placing extended portions of the transmission lines underground has prompted the city of Madison to formally request the American Transmission Co. to consider burying portions of a power line proposed along the Beltline if the project’s need is demonstrated.

….”There’s nothing special about the Beltline that would warrant it … Undergrounding doesn’t work well as well from a technical viewpoint, it costs too much and it creates a precedent for it if we do it along the Beltline,” (ATC vice president Mark) Williamson said.

….”The Beltline is a huge, ugly highway … I drive it every day. It’s not a view worth saving,” he said.

A Madison biotechnology company has signed a multimillion-dollar agreement with the world’s largest pharmaceutical company.
Mirus Bio Corp., founded in 1996 by three UW-Madison researchers, has entered into a two-year deal with Pfizer to work on RNA interference – better known as gene silencing – using two delivery methods.

Madison firefighters kept busy early this morning and at mid-morning, fighting two separate fires in two near-downtown buildings that forced the evacuation of residents but resulted in minor damage and only one injury.

The first fire was at the Palace Latin Club, 1401 University Ave., and is being investigated as possible arson after occupants of the building heard a small explosion at 2:11 a.m. today.

As states try to maintain thriving economies in the high-tech 21st century, two assets are essential: brains and money.
For that reason Wisconsin lawmakers should make it a priority in 2007 to improve the education level of the state’s work force and to increase the financing available for economic development.

Joe Boucher is not your average dark-suited, buttoned-down lawyer who works in a well-appointed, mahogany-laden, immaculate Downtown office overlooking the state Capitol.

Boucher is a sweater guy, friendly and informal. He is co-founder of a Madison law firm, Neider & Boucher, that employs 30 people, 14 of them attorneys, with offices at University Research Park on the West Side.

At an unprecedented gathering in the main living room of the governor’s mansion, top state officials earlier this month courted an elite group of executives who control hundreds of millions of investment dollars.

The message: Help grow Wisconsin’s young, high-tech companies.

That’s why a grant announced recently by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to the University of Wisconsin-Madison is an important step in building a base for new business start-ups. The foundation, based in Kansas City, is giving UW-Madison $5 million over five years to encourage entrepreneurship, offer services to nascent companies and perhaps work on the economic problems in Milwaukee’s inner city. The school is one of nine nationwide receiving the funding.

NeoClone Biotechnology International LLC is a poster child for what can happen when the state gives incentives to investors in young, emerging companies. The firm was founded in 1999 based on technology developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Dear Editor: The Capital Times correctly lauds Judge Sarah O’Brien’s decision upholding a contract to sell a property that will be the National Primate Research Exhibition Hall, a permanent protest against animal research conducted by the university in two adjacent buildings.

Open-enrollment executive education programs at the UW-Madison School of Business have been rated best in the world for the second straight year by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Wisconsin scored 4.3 on a 5-point scale, with three schools tied for second at 4.2 – IESE School of Business in Barcelona, Spain; Washington University in St. Louis (Olin); and York University (Schulich).

The rankings came from an international survey of more than 200 senior executives who attended executive education programs.

City and county lawyers are considering making a request to the state Public Service Commission to order American Transmission Co. to pay for an independent study looking at future power needs in the county.

A top official at ATC, however, said that the company would not be willing to pay for another independent study since it already spent $200,000 for a study completed two years ago.

But a PSC official said another study could be ordered if a compelling need for it were found.

Dear Editor: The problem with passing a resolution on alcohol license density as weak as this one is that people will think the issue has been solved and it really hasn’t.

Both academic research and personal experience demonstrate that the concentration of alcohol outlets in the downtown area leads to increased criminal activity, property damage and a reduced quality of life for downtown residents.