advertisement


MADISON - Wisconsin sees biggest monthly job loss since 2009  
One measure shows Wisconsin's employment picture improving since Gov. Scott Walker took office in January 2011, but the most recent jobs numbers tell a different story.

On the same day it cheered data showing Wisconsin has gained some 62,000 private-sector jobs over the past two years, the Department of Workforce Development on Thursday quietly released the latest federal figures showing the state losing 22,000 jobs in April. The monthly jobs loss — indicated in preliminary, seasonally adjusted Current Employment Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, was the biggest monthly decline since April 2009, near the end of the Great Recession.

The state lost 22,600 private-sector jobs between March and April and another 1,500 public jobs according to the Current Employment Statistics, which samples around 3.5 percent of Wisconsin employers monthly.

But state officials were quick to direct attention away from the April numbers toward figures from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which showed that Wisconsin gained more than 62,000 private-sector jobs in 2011 and 2012.

Read more.
advertisement
APPLETON – Vetter Denk proposes 180-unit apartment, townhome development for Appleton riverfront  
A Milwaukee developer unveiled plans Thursday for a five-building, 180-unit apartment facility on the city's riverfront on the site of a former dairy factory.

Vetter Denk Architects Inc., which developed waterfront property in Green Bay and Milwaukee, described the plans at Lawrence University's Campus Center for crowd of about 50 neighbors. It was the public's first look at the proposal that would bring the three-story structures to the waterfront next year.

"Our focus and love is creating neighborhoods and long-term community value that is pedestrian oriented," said co-founder John Vetter. "Our firm has taken an interest in post-industrial towns that grew up around these mills and connecting the area back with nature."

Read more.
BARABOO – Clinic to be built in Baraboo  
Constructions will soon begin on a $6.5 million medical office building next to St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo.

Dean Health System and SSM Healthcare, which owns St. Clare and St. Mary’s Hospitals in Madison and Janesville, will provide primary and specialty care, including ophthalmology, podiatry, orthopedics, general surgery and OB-GYN.

Read more.
advertisement
GREEN BAY - Integrys Energy reports a year of quiet progress  
Last year was one of low-key accomplishment for Integrys Energy Group.

The Chicago-based utility and parent company of Wisconsin Public Service Corp., continued to strengthen its regulated utilities, which provide more than 85 percent of its revenue, as well as improve the safety of its employees, said Charles Schrock — the chairman, president and CEO — at the company’s annual meeting Thursday at the Weidner Center.

Read more.
LA CROSSE - County Board OKs Park Plaza sale  
The La Crosse County Board unanimously approved the sale of the long-idle Park Plaza site on Barron Island after a lengthy debate Thursday night.

West Coast Development LLC will purchase the 5.7 acres for $800,000 but get $50,000 back on credit at signing. “This has been the best offer we’ve had,” County Administrator Steve O’Malley said. “We’d have the first movement we’ve had in many, many years.”

The group has proposed an $11 million plan to create lots for multifamily homes on the site, unused since 1999.

Read more.
BLOOMER - Professor: Sand mines could influence other businesses  
Dr. Thomas Power isn’t saying Chippewa Falls made a mistake allowing EOG Resources to build a frac sand processing plant in the city limits.

But Chippewa Falls needs to see if the industry will eventually undermine the city’s attractiveness to other businesses, said Power, a professor emeritus in the economic department at the University of Montana.

“You definitely want to think about that,” Power said after a news conference, where he detailed the findings of a 66-page report he helped to write on the economic impact of sand mining.

Read more.
ASHWAUBENON – Hooters to close in Green Bay, Fox Valley areas  
Hooters is closing its Green Bay and Fox Valley locations.

A Hooters spokesman confirmed Thursday that the restaurant at 2611 Holmgren Way, Ashwaubenon, will close May 28. That’s the same day the Hooters at 1271 N. Casaloma Drive, Grand Chute, will close.

“Hooters and franchise operators continuously evaluate the business performance of restaurants. On occasion, circumstances regretfully lead to closing a location,” said national spokesman Scott Yates. He did not indicate if the closures were isolated or widespread in the chain.

In Grand Chute, store manager Mike Neumann said insufficient sales prompted the local closings. He said Hooters restaurants in other parts of Wisconsin remain open.

There are locations in Brookfield, Madison, Janesville and La Crosse.

Read more.
MANITOWOC – Capitol Civic Centre renovations under way  
Work on the Capitol Civic Centre’s $1.2 million renovation began this week.

The Hamann Construction Co. and Franz Electric crews arrived Wednesday morning to remove electrical fixtures, ceiling tile, insulation and duct work in the Kadow Room Museum. They also dismantled the oak cabinetwork along the north wall of the room, according to Lori Kirby, Capitol marketing director. The cabinetwork will be retrofitted to create the back bar in the new concessions area, she said in a news release.

“We’re thrilled to be getting this comprehensive renovation and improvement project under way. We are hoping that the process of diving into the work will help with our fundraising; we still have a ways to go to reach our goal,” said Matthew Schliesman, executive director of the Capitol.

Read more.
WAUSAU - Business owners, leaders developing food cart ordinance  
City business owners, civic leaders and food vendors have begun crafting an ordinance that would allow permits for food carts or trucks in Wausau.

The city currently doesn’t place any restrictions on mobile food vending, but Wausau City Clerk Toni Rayala said she has talked to a handful of residents who are interested in selling hot pizza or soup from carts or trucks, spurring the city to launch a permit system for the mobile vendors. Rayala said food carts and trucks are popular around the country and she would like to see some settle in Wausau.

Read more.
SHEBOYGAN - New BBQ restaurant gets city OK  
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, a Texas-based fast-food chain, was approved Tuesday by the City Plan Commission to open a new franchise location in Sheboygan.

The 1,880-square-foot restaurant, the chain’s seventh in the state, will be located in the Calumet Shopping Center, 2723 Calumet Drive, in the same building as the Cherry Berry Yogurt Bar and near a Dunkin Donuts that’s slated to open later this year.

Read more.
MADISON – Foster to receive entrepreneur award  
Madison native Fred Foster, who founded Middleton-based Electronic Theatre Controls, will receive the 10th annual Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference, being held June 4-5 in Middleton.

Read more.
COLUMBUS – Enerpac breaks ground on plant in Columbus  
Menomonee Falls-based manufacturer Enerpac Corp. and Milwaukee-based real estate development firm Zilber Ltd. broke ground this week on a $17 million, 167,100-square-foot manufacturing facility in Columbus, that will be next to the Highway 73 off-ramp of Highway 151.

City officials say Enerpac and its 200 employees will become the anchor of the Gateway Business Park, which could someday be home to other manufacturers, retail, a hotel, senior housing, parkland and a park-and-ride lot.

Read more.
GREEN BAY - Baycom acquires Milwaukee 2-Way  
Baycom of Green Bay acquired Milwaukee 2-Way, a Motorola Solutions Radio Channel Partner based in West Allis. The business includes one location that serves public safety and commercial customers in southeastern Wisconsin.

A majority of Milwaukee 2-Way employees will remain with the company.

Read more.
APPLETON – CEO says managed expansion the course for Festival Foods  
When Mark Skogen joined his family’s grocery business in 1990, the company only had a few locations.

Today, Skogen’s Festival Foods operates 17 stores around the state, including some in the Fox Cities.

Its recent acquisition of Spiegelhoff’s SuperValu in Kenosha will bring the family’s total to 18 when it takes over that location in June.

The Skogens aren’t stopping at just acquiring the store, said Mark Skogen, president and CEO of his family’s business, which was started by his grandparents Paul and Jane Skogen in 1946 in Onalaska.

Plans are to build a new Festival Foods store next door to the existing Kenosha supermarket, he said. A new store gives the company an opportunity to brand the new location as a Festival Foods site as well as introduce its store and approach to customer service to that community, Skogen said.

Read more.
ASHLAND - 9,030 acres up in smoke  
A massive wildfire that may have originated at a logging site on Tuesday afternoon had burned through 9,030 acres of forestland in Douglas and Bayfield counties by Wednesday afternoon.

The blaze, named the Germann Road Fire after the area where it originated, is being characterized by the Department of Natural Resources as the largest forest fire in northern Wisconsin in 33 years. A DNR spokesman said Wednesday that it appeared the fire may have started at an active logging site in Douglas County. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Read more.
Current Issue
Cudahy receives Lifetime Achievement AwardMichael Cudahy receives BizTimes Lifetime Achievement Award
Aside from city founders Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn and George Walker, few people, if any, have had more impact on Milwaukee than entrepreneur, community advocate and philanthropist Michael J. Cudahy.
more »
advertisement