The plans to reconfigure the Lake Interchange, announced by state and local officials this week, will open up a three-acre site near the downtown Milwaukee lakefront for development and include road improvements and footbridges to improve vehicular and pedestrian access to the lakefront. What may be less obvious is that the project could also boost development in the Historic Third Ward.

Many families dream of the possibility of building a business enterprise that can support and be enjoyed by many generations of the family. But making important and sometimes necessary transitions along the way can be difficult. Many advisers know the best techniques to make those transitions in a tax-efficient and legally beneficial matter, yet it is still notoriously difficult to maintain a family business through succeeding generations.

Brookfield-based Advantage Federal Resourcing has been acquired by Florida workforce solutions company STS Technical Services.

Standard & Poors has upgraded its rating of MGIC Investment Corp. to B-, up from CCC+, as a result of the company’s capital raise last week.

John Blau has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president and chief credit officer at Pewaukee-based Foundations Bank.

BMO Private Bank announced it has hired Peter Koleske as vice president and private banker in Milwaukee.

Racine-based Johnson Financial Group announced the appointment of Todd Shaffer as chief risk officer for the company.

Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. is considering a divestiture of its automotive electronics business.

Milwaukee-based Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. held an initial public offering last week with shares priced at $30 on the New York Stock Exchange. The share price quickly rose to $36.

The four-county metropolitan Milwaukee housing market continued plowing through the winter in February, posting a 16.4 percent increase in sales over February 2012, the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors reported today.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) and the Milwaukee-based Water Council today announced a seed accelerator program to assist water technology startup firms in Wisconsin.

General Electric (GE) announced a new $60 million research and innovation partnership with the National Football League on Monday.