Category: Business/Technology

Bill Johnston is coming home.
He’s been gone a while. The Janesville native and UW- Madison graduate who began his newspaper career 33 years ago delivering ad proofs for Madison Newspapers (now Capital Newspapers) was named publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal Tuesday.

A team of UW-Madison MBA students placed first in the annual Center for International Business Education and Research MBA International Business Case Competition, held here earlier this month. MBA student teams from across the globe took part.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison ranked fifth among American universities in the number of patents it was awarded in 2005, up from eighth in 2004, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced.

Transport 2020 meeting set

Planning for future transportation needs in Dane County and Madison is going into high gear.

Transport 2020, the long-range study jointly sponsored by Madison, Dane County and the state, will concentrate on refining its initial recommendation over the next 16 months, hoping to come up with a final recommendation in summer 2007.

University of Wisconsin professor Mark Fedenia brought 20 master�s students to Omaha last fall. He described Buffett as a principled person who has a message for those about to start their careers.

From the 95th floor of the John Hancock building, with the sun setting in colorful streaks above the glittering lights of Chicago, the view was spectacular for the 250 people attending an invitation-only Wisconsin reception Monday night for participants at BIO 2006, the biotechnology industry’s annual convention.

The price of natural gas is expected to remain both volatile and high for years, making it all the more urgent for businesses and homeowners to take steps to reduce their usage, energy experts said Wednesday.
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“High energy prices are not temporary, they are the new reality,” said Dan York, senior research associate with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, during a forum sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Public Utility Institute. “Midwest states must plan accordingly.”

At the University of Wisconsin, Procter & Gamble has developed a seminar covering persuasive selling, the art of negotiation and other skills, as well as a sales competition for M.B.A.s. In the contest, student teams pitch a new Pantene shampoo line to two P&G managers and a buyer from Target.

UW-Madison reports that its MBA students are seeing the national trend of improved job opportunities.

The job market for MBA students this year features more job offers and bigger salaries, particularly from employers in the consulting, financial services and consumer product industries, according to a new survey from the MBA Career Services Council.

The city�s Urban Design Commission gave unanimous final approval Wednesday to reconstructing the Presbyterian Student Center project. The committee also heard initial plans for a mixed-use project on West Washington Street during its meeting.

Dear Editor: I find myself more often than not appreciating and agreeing with the editorial page of The Capital Times. I thought you really missed the mark, however, with your recent editorial criticizing Mark Bugher’s leadership as chairman at one meeting of the city’s Economic Development Commission.

If there is a person in this city who knows how to put politics aside, how to listen to all sides, how to seek consensus, and how to be the voice of reason in a heated debate, it’s Mark Bugher.

Mark Bugher is an active and valued contributor to the economic development debate in Madison, but he needs to respect the fact that not everyone is going to agree with him. Bugher…now serves as director of University Research Park and as chairman of the Madison Economic Development Commission.

It was in that latter role that he presided this week over a lengthy commission meeting that heard testimony regarding a proposed city ordinance that would require larger Madison employers to provide paid sick leave to workers. Bugher’s skepticism about the ordinance mirrors that of many in the business community, and he certainly has a right to his opinion. But as the chair of a city commission, he also has a responsibility to treat citizens and expert witnesses appropriately.

University of Wisconsin Business School senior Joe Jennings is kicking back, enjoying his last few months of college life. And why shouldn’t he? Jennings received four job offers by the end of the fall semester and accepted a position at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Chicago in late November.

Jennings says he was surprised by how easy it was to land a job. “It was awesome,” he says. “I got offers from companies I’d never even heard of — extremely painless.” The 23-year-old, who will earn a starting salary of $53,500 with a $2,

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Just as American Family Mutual Insurance is gearing up to start selling auto and homeowners policies in Washington – including the high-income/high-growth Seattle area – the company gets hammered by a nearly $3 million punitive damages award.

The case, which was settled out of court last week, included damaging testimony that American Family employees in the Colorado office routinely joked about the company’s get-tough policy regarding paying claims.

Those revelations were enough to tilt a jury in Boulder, Colo., last November in favor of Dominic Peressini, who earned a Ph.D in education from UW-Madison in 1996 and had been a tenured professor at the University of Colorado.

Bob Sieger knows he’s fighting an uphill battle in getting approval for a six-story condominium and sports bar development at the busy corner of Monroe and Regent streets.

But the Madison architect thinks the $15 million project fits perfectly across from Camp Randall Stadium and the UW Fieldhouse.

“I know some people think it’s too tall but I’m pretty excited about it,” Sieger said (last week).