Economic Development

U.S. Bank will host the holiday fireworks display on the Milwaukee lakefront tonight at 9:30 p.m. The fireworks will be launched from three barges on the lake, near Veterans Park.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has invited credit unions to participate in a July 26 dialogue that will explore ways to make the state’s financial industry more competitive and robust.

Half of the bank CEOs who responded to a recent survey by the Wisconsin Bankers Association expect Wisconsin’s economy to grow over the next six months.

The state of Wisconsin gained nearly 20,000 jobs in 2011, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Associated Press reported. The jobs numbers are in line with the state’s recent estimates.

Eagle Capital Growth Fund Inc. and its investment advisor, Sims Capital Management, have moved.

Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. announced that its Public Finance business has added five bankers and opened three new offices in Texas, expanding the firm's presence in the state.

The Fisher-Barton Group of Waukesha has acquired Lund Precision Products Ltd., Ireland, from Lund Precision Group.

Menomonee Falls-based ZBB Energy Corp., a leading developer of intelligent, renewable energy power platforms, said it has completed its previously announced underwritten public offering of 31.6 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of 38 cents per share.

Menomonee Falls-based Actuant Corp. reported fiscal third quarter net earnings of $34.4 million, or 45 cents per share, down from $36.4 million, or 49 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Milwaukee-based law firm Quarles & Brady will pay $26.5 million and Greenberg Traurig will pay $61 million to settle a lawsuit against the two firms that accused them of assisting in an Arizona Ponzi scheme that cost investors $900 million, according to a Reuters report.