On the Friday before the Nov. 6 election, I spoke with two prominent members of the Wisconsin Republican Party who were downright giddy about the prospects for their nominee, Mitt Romney. One even offered to bet me a dinner that Romney would easily beat President Barack Obama.

Rockwell Automation has been awarded a $21.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the operation of machinery control systems on its Navy and Coast Guard surface ships.

Judie Taylor, president of Dueco Inc., announced the growing company is adding a second shift of production at its truck body manufacturing shop in Waukesha.

Palermo Villa Inc. and Voces de la Frontera, the activist group advocating for some of the company's employees, are both assessing National Labor Relations Board Milwaukee regional director Irving Gottschalk's initial verbal rulings on complaints that the firm violated labor laws.

Cudahy-based Lucas-Milhaupt Inc., a subsidiary of Handy & Harman Ltd., announced it has acquired Inmet Metal Processing Plant Ltd. of Gliwice, Poland.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be the keynote speaker at a Workforce Development Program to be presented by the Waukesha County Business Alliance on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Waukesha-based Generac Holdings Inc. announced it plans to acquire Latin American generator manufacturer Ottomotores UK Ltd. for $46.5 million.

After 26 years as one of the prominent voices and leaders in the Wisconsin business community through his work as the senior vice president of government relations at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), James Buchen will leave the organization to establish a new, independent public affairs firm.

Visits to brick-and-mortar banks are on the decline as mobile banking becomes the norm, and Brookfield-based Fiserv Inc. is poised to capitalize on the electronic trend.

The U.S. economy is showing positive signs of continued recovery with a variety of sectors witnessing significant growth, according to BMO Private Bank’s December Outlook for Financial Markets Report.

A record 247 million people visited stores and websites between Thursday and Sunday and spent a total of $59.1 billion, 13 percent more than last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said today.

Alliant Physical Therapy Group announced today its continued expansion into the central city of Milwaukee with the addition of two new clinics to serve a historically underserved market.