Business owners are taking advantage of the combination of historic highs for estate and gift tax exemptions, low business and investment valuations and extremely low interest rates to transfer and protect wealth – and uncertainty in the long-term stability of the estate and gift tax laws has many considering whether the time to act is now.

Kenosha County's economic diversification and revitalization has been two decades in the making. An economy once dominated by automobile manufacturing has become considerably more diverse and resilient.

Xten Industries LLC is so named because the company aims to be an extension of its customers' businesses.

Bristol-based GEM Manufacturing Inc. has nearly doubled its manufacturing space and its workforce in the past two years.

Craig Deaton was determined to start his own business, in his own way, back in 1983 when he founded Gateway Mortgage Corp.

Allied Plastics Inc., a Twin Lakes-based plastic thermoforming company, has experienced significant growth in recent years, in large part because of a shift in business from packaging to OEM (original equipment manufacturer) work.

Equity Creative (formerly Equity Brand Design) is a marketing and communications agency founded in 2007 by partners Dean Helmke and Charlie Skendziel.

A few years ago, Carl Schultz was frustrated that nobody could provide a high-quality polycarbonate coating for the windows that his company, Twin Lakes-based Five Star Fabricating Inc., makes for race cars. Five Star Fabricating makes race car bodies and polycarbonate sheets are used to protect the race car windows.

Offsite LLC, founded in 2002 by Steve Borucki and Joe Rickard, provides data storage and disaster recovery services for business clients.

RJ Underground specializes in directional drilling, especially for the installation of sewer and water utilities.

The Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) and the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce will honor F. Gregory Campbell, longtime president of Carthage College, at the annual Kenosha County Business Excellence Awards dinner on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Clifton Gunderson LLP, Milwaukee has added Joel Hess to the Milwaukee office as director of business development for Wisconsin. Hess has 18 years of consulting, recruiting and business development experience.