Manufacturing

Jason Inc., the Milwaukee-based parent company to a global family of manufacturing companies in the seating, finishing, components and automotive acoustics markets, announced the selection of Srivas Prasad as president of Milsco, a leader in the manufacture of innovative seating solutions for the powersports, turfcare and heavy equipment markets.

We have been getting significant positive economic news of late, but here is one you may have missed, because for some reason it has not generated much media coverage.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the gross domestic product grew at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter.

The Waukesha County Business Alliance and media sponsor BizTimes Media have announced the 2014 Top 10 Businesses of the Year.

Malvern, Pa.-based Liberty Property Trust, a real estate investment trust, has announced plans to build a 172,000-square-foot speculative industrial building in Oak Creek.

Yet another industrial park development is planned in the I-94 corridor in Kenosha County.

Milwaukee-based Sensient Technologies Corp. sent a letter to shareholders asking them to reject a hostile board takeover attempt by Greenwich, Conn-based hedge fund FrontFour Master Fund Ltd.

Brookfield private equity firm Blackthorne Partners Ltd. and former Trostel Ltd. vice president Ross Lund have acquired Columbus-based Hughes Co. The company will now be called Hughes Equipment Company LLC.

All of the outstanding shares of Grafton-based Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals Inc. have been acquired by Albany, N.Y.-based Albany Molecular Research Inc. for $38.2 million. AMRI also assumed $2.8 million in liabilities.

Waukesha-based Metal-Era, Inc., a commercial engineered roof solutions company, announced the addition of a weekend shift to their production department, which is now operating seven days a week.