Startup firms in Wisconsin’s Qualified New Business Venture program received

$281.7 million

in funding in 2016, up 60 percent from 2015, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

There are

54

Wisconsin firms on the new Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America, up from 52 a year ago.

Attendance at the Wisconsin State Fair totaled

1,028,049

this year, a 1.2 percent increase from 2016.

For the first seven months of the year, passenger traffic at General Mitchell International Airport increased

2.5%

compared to the same period last year.

The Milwaukee area manufacturing index was

55.4

in August, down from 56.98 in July. Any reading greater than 50 indicates growth.