Foley & Lardner opens new office in China
Foley & Lardner LLP, a Milwaukee-based law firm, announced that the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China has approved the company’s application and granted it a license to open a law office in Shanghai.
Catherine Sun, chair of the firm’s Asia practice, will lead the growth and development of the Shanghai office. Sun joined Foley earlier this year as a partner from the Shanghai office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where she managed that company’s intellectual property (IP) practice in China.
Sun recently led Foley’s first legal work for the Chinese government, overseeing the firm’s role as international legal counsel for the organizing committee of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Shanghai on Oct. 2-11.
“China’s growing presence in the global marketplace, coupled with its evolving legal system, presents a unique business environment for our clients. Foley is well-positioned to help them navigate Chinese business culture and address various legal issues related to corporate structure and protection of intellectual property assets,” said Ralf Boer, chairman and chief executive officer of Foley & Lardner. “Just as important is our commitment to be involved in the Chinese community. Our relationship with the Special Olympics has been extremely rewarding and illustrates the responsibility we feel to be involved outside of our legal work.”
Foley will leverage its nationally recognized Intellectual Property Department to provide value-added IP services based upon decades of experience to companies doing business in China. The firm will focus on counseling companies on creating effective IP strategies for enforcement and protection of patent, trademark, and copyright assets; structuring business transactions in China and the importance of cross-border IP counseling; and international technology transfer, licensing, and portfolio management.
House of Peace
Triad Construction Inc. completed a new addition and renovation at the House of Peace, at 19th and Wells in Milwaukee. The 14,000-square-foot addition allows the organization to accommodate greater volumes of food and clothing and provide more efficient space for various projects. The House of Peace provides 30,000 services per year to families and people in need throughout Milwaukee. The new two-floor addition will accommodate the food pantry, the Capuchin Clothes Closet, general storage, and expansion of multipurpose areas. The renovation of existing space will help the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee staffed nursing clinic and the law clinic staffed and funded by the Marquette University Law School. Two new elevators and wheelchair lift will also provide accessibility for clients, volunteers, and staff. Funds were raised for this project through a capital campaign. The House of Peace has served Milwaukee’s central city since 1968, providing food, clothing, pastoral care, medical care and a legal clinic to the poor. The House of Peace is a Capuchin ministry and is part of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph, headquartered in Detroit.
Milwaukee/NARI home improvement council
The Milwaukee Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), presented its annual Building Milwaukee Award to Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.
Franklin Alderman Ken Skowronski, owner of KS Remodelers, presented the award at Milwaukee/NARI’s monthly membership meeting. The Building Milwaukee Award was created to recognize efforts made by individuals and groups who concentrate on community improvements and assist in the growth of the home remodeling industry. Last year’s Building Milwaukee Award winner was Steve Tennies of Habitat for Humanity. The Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Council was chartered in July 1961, as a Chapter of the National Home Improvement Council.
Barry Goldman
Certified public accountant Barry Goldman recently opened his public accounting practice in Mequon. Goldman focuses on general business accounting/consulting, individual/business income tax preparation and planning, Quickbook’s implementation/training, and part-time controllership services. Goldman is one of three independent CPAs that have joined together to share office space without being a “firm.” Goldman’s office is at 10144 N. Port Washington Road, Suite 1-D Mequon.
Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership
The Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP), Milwaukee, is working to bridge language and cultural gaps with Hispanic-speaking manufacturing workers. WMEP hired Luis Lopez, a seasoned bilingual English-Spanish manufacturing leader who has managed plants as large as 1,400 employees. Lopez, who has held positions as general manager, vice president of operations and industrial director, brings more than 20 years of experience in leading lean culture transformations in culturally diverse manufacturing environments. Lopez said his experience running a plant in Monterrey, Mexico proved to him the exponential value of engaging employees in improvement-focused strategies. In Southeast Wisconsin, Hispanic workers represent 7.3 percent of the labor force, according to a Department of Workforce Development analysis of 2006 American Community Survey data. In the past, WMEP has used Spanish versions of lean workshops, and brought in interpreters and two-way radios with ear pieces to convey lean concepts to non-English speaking employees. Lopez holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Regional Institute of Technology in Juarez, Mexico; and a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University in St. Louis. He has held positions with United Technologies Automotive, Lear Corporation, Philips Lighting, Cummins Emission Solutions and RCA Components. In his new role with WMEP, he will also assist manufacturers with business growth strategies. WMEP provides technical expertise and business assistance to help small and mid-size manufacturers adopt advanced manufacturing technologies and business practices. WMEP is a leader in lean manufacturing, growth services, strategic business development, quality systems and supplier development.
Discover Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) awarded the 2007 Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer award to Discover Wisconsin Productions owners Dick Rose (posthumously) and Mark Rose for their role in promoting and advancing Wisconsin’s tourism industry. Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Kelli Trumble joined WACVB in presenting the award to Mark Rose during the WACVB’s 2007 Wisconsin Fall Tourism Convention in La Crosse. In 1987, Dick Rose started Discover Wisconsin Television, a private and public-sector funded television show dedicated to Wisconsin tourism. The company continued evolving under Dick Rose’s leadership until his death in 1994. Today, Mark Rose and his wife Lisa, carry on Dick’s dream, managing Discover Mediaworks, Inc.
Discover Mediaworks, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, develops and produces high quality broadcast television and radio series, commercials, and corporate productions. Mark and Dick Rose join a prestigious group of past Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer award recipients including former Governor Tommy Thompson; former Governor’s Council on Tourism chair and Tommy Bartlett president Tom Diehl; Kohler Co. Chairman, CEO and President Herbert V. Kohler Jr., and EAA President and CEO Tom Poberezny.
In addition to the individual category, awards were presented to five organizations for outstanding marketing and partnership projects. Organizations receiving this year’s awards are: Fox Cities CVB for the Geocache at the Fox Cities Visitor Center project – A unique and cost-effective marketing effort to drive traffic to the Visitor Center. Destination Kohler for the Food & Wine Experience – An event to increase lodging and shopping in Kohler during late fall. Door County Maritime Museum for the Pirates! Exhibit – A marketing effort to promote a new exhibit and draw record attendance to the museum. Explore Highway 51 Consortium for Outstanding Partnership Initiative – A marketing effort by 15 destination marketing organizations to increase awareness and attract new travelers to communities along Highway 51. WACVB presents the Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazers awards each year in an effort to increase the visibility of Wisconsin’s tourism industry and destination marketing organizations. WACVB represents Wisconsin’s top destination marketing organizations and initiates cooperative ventures that enhance the state’s tourism industry.
Medical College of Wisconsin
The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a four-year, $886,468 grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding will be used to develop statistical methods to analyze long-term outcomes of bone marrow transplantation. John P. Klein, Ph.D., professor of population health and director of biostatistics, is principal investigator of the grant. Data from medical studies on survival, competing risks, and multi-state models and repeated measures will be used to develop standardized techniques.
Specific projects include: development of a regression approach that can be used as summary model for multi-state models. Continued development and study of alternatives to the current model for survival and competing risks data. Development and study of techniques for measuring explained variation, which can be used to examine and compare models for predicting a patient’s outcome. Techniques to include covariates into models for multi-state data and development of methods for modeling repeated measurements taken over time. The grant will enable researchers to continue to refine existing methods and develop new statistical models for assessing risk-data and survival and predicting patient outcomes.
Medical Associates Health Centers
A schedule of fees for basic services provided at Medical Associates Health Centers is now available for the public to view. The public posting is believed to be the first of its kind for any large multi-specialty clinic in Wisconsin. Medical Associates has been a first responder to consumer-driven health care initiatives in southeastern Wisconsin, being one of the first multi-specialty clinics to actively report its quality data as part of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality Initiative.
As a growing number of consumers are personally funding more and more of their health care expenditures, there is growing demand for fee transparency. A multi-functional team of Medical Associates’ leaders have been working to simplify the complex method of assigning fees. The published fee schedule covers pediatric and adult preventive care, doctor office visits for illness and injury, and travel immunizations. These fees are the beginning of further fee transparency reporting expected by Medical Associates. Although the new fee transparency will allow consumers to find information about basic fees at Medical Associates, the reported fees should be considered estimates, and not a guarantee of the costs consumers will pay. Out-of-pocket costs for consumers will ultimately be based on any insurance benefit plan (including deductibles and co-pays that a consumer may have), the proprietary contract insurance companies have with Medical Associates, and the extent of medical decision making that is required as part of the medical exam.
Blue Horse
Menomonee Falls-based Cousins Subs has selected Milwaukee-based Blue Horse Advertising Agency as its Agency of Record. Blue Horse will handle creative and strategic media planning and buying for the chain of sandwich shops. In addition, the agency will be responsible for promotions and point-of-purchase materials. Sports commentator Dan Patrick who has played a prominent role in Cousins commercials will continue to serve as a spokesperson for the company. Blue Horse is a full-service marketing communications agency providing advertising, public relations, branding and promotion support on behalf of a broad range of consumer, business-to-business and health care accounts.
Wisconsin Dental Association
Dr. Monica Hebl of Brookfield was sworn in recently as the 136th president of the 2,900-member Wisconsin Dental Association. Hebl, a general dentist in Milwaukee, joined the father and son team of Drs. Stanley and Michael Donohoo in practice after she graduated from Marquette University School of Dentistry in 1985. A Medicaid provider for 22 years, Hebl was the only general dentist from the private sector to serve on the Governor’s Task Force to Improve Access to Oral Health Care in 2004 and 2005. Her professional credentials include Greater Milwaukee Dental Association president, trustee for the WDA Greater Milwaukee Region 3 and a member of the WDA delegation to the American Dental Association annual House of Delegates since 1999. Hebl’s extensive involvement on behalf of organized dentistry has been recognized with two WDA Pyramid of Pride awards and fellowship in the International College of Dentists and the Pierre Fauchard Academy.
