Ideas

In 1860, the great tightrope walker Charles Blondin walked the 1,100 feet across Niagara Falls five times.

For the third year in a row, manufacturers that make everything from plastics coatings and steel tubes to custom hardware and interactive kiosks hold the most spots – 15 – on Council of Small Business Executives Future 50 list for 2014.

Wearing deck shoes and khaki pants, with his sleeves rolled up, sans socks or a tie, you wouldn't have guessed that Marc Lasry was the billionaire in the room, much less the new co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.

New Berlin-based Emteq Inc. is being acquired by B/E Aerospace Inc., a Wellington, Fla.-based manufacturer of aircraft cabin products and aerospace fasteners.

Menomonee Falls-based Actuant Corp. reported fiscal third quarter net earnings of $50.6 million, or 70 cents per share, up from a loss of $93 million, or $1.24 lost per share, in the third quarter of 2013.

Gardner Denver Inc., which is in the process of moving its corporate headquarters from suburban Philadelphia to Milwaukee, is already considering future expansion plans here, according to Luis de Leon, chief executive officer of the firm's Industrials Group.

Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Motor Co. has introduced its first electric motorcycle, Project LiveWire.

Spanish wind and solar product manufacturer Ingeteam Inc. hasn't created jobs in Milwaukee at the pace it expected, which is due in part to slow growth in the renewable markets it targeted.