Viewpoints

Milwaukee-based private equity firm Mason Wells has acquired Whitehall Specialties Inc., a Whitehall-based cheese products manufacturer.

Milwaukee-based manufacturer Brady Corp. has sold its Varitronics LLC division to Minnesota private equity firm Renaissance Equity Partners. Milwaukee investment banking firm Emory & Co. advised Brady in the transaction.

After 26 years as one of the prominent voices and leaders in the Wisconsin business community through his work as the senior vice president of government relations at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), James Buchen will leave the organization to establish a new, independent public affairs firm.

Waukesha-based Generac Holdings Inc. announced it plans to acquire Latin American generator manufacturer Ottomotores UK Ltd. for $46.5 million.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be the keynote speaker at a Workforce Development Program to be presented by the Waukesha County Business Alliance on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Cudahy-based Lucas-Milhaupt Inc., a subsidiary of Handy & Harman Ltd., announced it has acquired Inmet Metal Processing Plant Ltd. of Gliwice, Poland.

Palermo Villa Inc. and Voces de la Frontera, the activist group advocating for some of the company's employees, are both assessing National Labor Relations Board Milwaukee regional director Irving Gottschalk's initial verbal rulings on complaints that the firm violated labor laws.

Judie Taylor, president of Dueco Inc., announced the growing company is adding a second shift of production at its truck body manufacturing shop in Waukesha.

Rockwell Automation has been awarded a $21.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the operation of machinery control systems on its Navy and Coast Guard surface ships.

On the Friday before the Nov. 6 election, I spoke with two prominent members of the Wisconsin Republican Party who were downright giddy about the prospects for their nominee, Mitt Romney. One even offered to bet me a dinner that Romney would easily beat President Barack Obama.