A little more than a year ago, Rebecca Blank visited the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on the UW-Madison campus to listen to faculty members, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Her topic: What’s working and what’s not when it comes to the role of the university and the economy?

Krista McMasters, CEO of CliftonLarsonAllen, will retire effective April 1 after 35 years with the firm.

Company owners interested in learning more about the process and prospects of buying or selling businesses are invited to attend the annual BizTimes M&A Forum, which will take place Friday, May 3, at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Milwaukee-based ARI Network Services Inc., a provider of software and data solutions, announced it has entered into definitive agreements with investors in a private placement of $4.8 million of its common stock at a purchase price of $1.50 per share.

Pewaukee-based Waterstone Mortgage Corp. has unveiled a new logo as part of a rebranding campaign.
 

Northern Trust Corp. announced it has received no objections from the Federal Reserve Board to its proposed 2013 capital plan.
 

ABC Supply Holding Corp., the parent company of Beloit-based American Builders & Contractors Supply Co. Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement to redeem all of the shares held by its minority shareholders, an investor group led by Advent International.
Upon the closing of the transaction, 100 percent of the shares of ABC Supply will be controlled by the company’s co-founder, Diane M. Hendricks.
 

In its 2012 financial statement, Sheboygan-based property and casualty insurance firm Acuity reported that its assets under management reached an all-time high of $2.75 billion and policyholders’ surplus finished the year at a record $1.125 billion.

A public-private partnership is developing The Rock Sports Complex at the former Crystal Ridge ski hill in Franklin.

Gov. Scott Walker's recent decision to reject an expansion of federal funds for Medicaid in the state could cause Wisconsin employers to pay up to $36 million more in federal taxes next year, according to a new study by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

BizTimes Milwaukee invites readers to participate in its NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness Pool. The BizTimes Milwaukee Bracket is held through CBSSports.com.

Supervalu Inc. has decided to move its Midwest regional office to a site formerly occupied by Hospira at 8401 102nd St. in Pleasant Prairie.