WisconsinBiz

In the New North, partnership defines the mission. Among the region’s accomplishments are the creation of a region-wide map of businesses serving Defense Department heavyweights Oshkosh Corp. and Marinette Marine, the formation of a partnership between outdoor equipment manufacturer Ariens Co. and a local high school job training program.

Milwaukee-based Global Freight Source, a transportation management services firm, manages $40 million in sales with a staff of 26 people.

Nancy Spelsberg didn’t intend to purchase a trucking company, but looking back she’s glad she made the decision to purchase BCP Transportation in Deerfield three years ago.

Agriculture and tourism are locked hand in hand in Wisconsin and together they are a winning combination. That’s the message that Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett shouts loud and clear.

By any measure, a cooperative that has survived since 1903 deserves a thundering round of applause. Located two hours west of Madison (that’s certainly more than several hundred cows end-to-end), the co-op has more than 160 local members. Many of the farms supplying milk have been in the same families for four to five generations.

When you think about transportation in Wisconsin, roads and rails might jump to mind. But the state’s 20 commercial ports more than carry their weight in the transportation economy, moving over $7 billion worth of goods annually.

Politics aside, after the bruising battle over passing a new U.S. Farm Bill, the Wisconsin farm economy is strong. Agriculture continues to be a major plus in the economy in general and in Wisconsin in particular, confirmed Ben Brancel, secretary of the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Tourism Protection.
Wisconsin's farms and agricultural businesses generate more than $59.6 billion in economic activity and provide jobs for 353,991 people, indicated by UW-Madison and UW-Extension research. There are 76,800 Wisconsin farms in Wisconsin according to the United States Department of Agriculture - National Agricultural Statistics Service. Total farmland hovers around 15.0 million acres, with average size at 195 acres.

There are a lot of unknowns in running an insurance company. Take, for example, weather. Mother Nature can make a big difference between having a good year and a not-so-good year.

Riding past Acuity's headquarters off Interstate 43 in Sheboygan, passersby can't miss seeing the company's growth. Acuity, a property and casualty insurer that operates in 22 states, is in the midst of a $130 million, 240,000-square-foot addition. When finished in 2016, the company's corporate headquarters will double in size and house a 65-foot ferris wheel and a 2,000-person theater-in-the-round for companywide meetings.

The Milwaukee skyline will take on a whole new look during the next few years as Northwestern Mutual constructs its new 32-story downtown tower.