Education & Workforce Development

A little more than a year ago, Rebecca Blank visited the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on the UW-Madison campus to listen to faculty members, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Her topic: What’s working and what’s not when it comes to the role of the university and the economy?

This week Wisconsin is expected to open its checkbook to anyone who wants to look. It’s called “OpenBook Wisconsin.”

The three largest school districts in central Wisconsin are a combined $103 million in debt after borrowing money to pay for new schools, upgrade old ones and, in one district, help manage cash flow difficulties.

Denver-based hrQ Inc., a staffing firm, announced today it is expanding into the Milwaukee market.

The South Beloit School Board issued bidding documents this week to contractors with the intent to start construction on the new South Beloit Junior High School Based Health Center.

Janesville’s economic development director resigned Friday, and a top city official said the community would use Vic Grassman’s departure as an opportunity to expand strategies for business expansion and job creation.

Gateway Technical College officials have been making the rounds touting the need for $49 million to expand and renovate sites in the district.

The minimum retirement age for public employees would increase by two years under a bill proposed by a state lawmaker who said the change would reflect increasing life spans and later retirement ages in general while possibly strengthening the pension system.

Alto-Shaam, Inc., a foodservice equipment manufacturer in Menomonee Falls, plans to add up to 110 jobs at its newly expanded facility. There are currently 300 workers at the plant.

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Reggie Newson today announced two Special Response federal grants of $25,000 each to assist more than 400 workers displaced by business closings in Burlington and Pleasant Prairie.