Manufacturing

About 73 percent of Wisconsin manufacturing companies saw an increase in sales in 2012 over the previous year, and 75 percent are forecasting an increase in sales this year, according to Milwaukee manufacturing development organization The Paranet Group.

Milwaukee-based Briggs & Stratton Corp. today announced a multi-year agreement with GE Capital Retail Bank to provide private label retail financing programs for power equipment and standby generators.

Generational Equity, a Dallas-based mergers and acquisitions advisor for privately-held, middle-market businesses, announced the sale of its client, Acry Fab Inc. of Sun Prairie, to The Vollrath Company LLC of Sheboygan.

Menomonee Falls-based diversified industrial company Actuant Corp. has announced two executive appointments.

Readers of the BizTimes are invited to take the BizTimes New Year Dashboard Survey.

A daylong symposium to celebrate and nurture innovation in Milwaukee will be presented by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) and the Harvard Business School Club of Wisconsin.

The Big Three U.S. automakers reported their best December sales since before the Great Recession hit in 2008.

Menomonee Falls-based Bradley Corp. announced it has purchased the assets of Keltech Inc. of Delton, Mich., and will operate the company as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Gov. Scott Walker announced he will lead a trade mission to China in April to build trade ties between Wisconsin firms and Chinese businesses and investors.

Robust hiring in manufacturing and construction fueled national job gains in December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.