Volume 2 - Issue 6 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 2.5.09 to 2.12.09

Wisconsin - Feb. 6, 2009 - Forward Wisconsin, which uses public and private funds to promote the state for business expansions, is ending 25 years of selling Wisconsin to out-of-state executives. Forward will transfer its marketing functions to the state Department of Commerce, which can do it more efficiently, Commerce Secretary Richard Leinenkugel said Friday. Forward, which started in 1984, has just two employees and has been without a president since 2007...

Madison - 2/11/2009 - It was all about economic stimulus Monday night as the Madison Plan Commission approved a new Hy-Vee grocery store at Westgate Mall despite conflicts with the city's long-range plans for the site. The Iowa-based grocery chain is looking to tear down a big chunk of the blighted mall and build a new 83,000-square-foot, full-service grocery at Whitney Way and Odana Road. Plans call for razing everything south of the existing T.J. Maxx store, which will remain...

Verona - 2/9/2009 - Less than six months after David Reinke blurted out a prepared statement to the Common Council desperately pleading for the right to build a large shopping center on his land, his attorney and a different development group were back in Verona presenting another proposal Monday night. This time, however, the complex, inventive plan for the southeast edge of Verona got the full blessing of the city administrator and planning director and at least a lukewarm, curious response from the Plan Commission. The proposal, put together by Madison-based Ruedebusch Development and Construction...

Dane County - February 5, 2009 - Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk unveiled the 2009-13 county capital improvement plan, which includes $136.4 million in capital improvement projects, Thursday. The county issues the capital improvement plan annually, and it serves as a five-year vision for high-cost projects the county plans to take on. The plan includes the $13.7 million county share for highway and transportation improvement projects...

Ken Notes: The actual 137 page plan is Here.

Madison Area - 2/11/2009 - Will the combination of a deep economic slowdown, coupled with improvements in energy efficiency, preclude the need for a new $250 million high-voltage electric transmission line across Dane County? It's a question some are asking as more factories close at the same time President Obama is calling for a greening of the nation's century-old electric system...

Madison - FEB 11, 2009 - Faced with a $600 million budget hole that must be closed by June, Gov. Jim Doyle and top lawmakers Wednesday unveiled only a partial fix of tax hikes and spending cuts, signaling they would use expected federal aid to cover much of the remaining gap. The decision provides a glimpse into how state leaders may try to solve an overall $5.7 billion deficit...

Ken Notes: So I guess banking on the stimulus money for oh say - stimulus was a wild and crazy idea.

Madison - February 11, 2009 - President Barack Obama has been a big advocate for converting medical records nationwide to an electronic format, and he's providing federal dollars through the stimulus package to make it happen...

Wisconsin - February 10, 2009 - Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. is introducing a new year-round beer starting in Wisconsin this month and nationwide in March. The company said Classic Amber is a light copper, golden color beer that features four varieties of hops....

Ken Notes: We do movie tax credits why not brewery tax credits the jobs are permanent the revenue world wide and we create a quality product. In addition we could increase tourism dollars by encouraging events and tours focused on the industry. Who wants to drink a beer made is St. Louis anyway.

Madison - February 7, 2009 - After a big hiccup last year, the future looks brighter for a $4 million affordable condo project in an improving South Side neighborhood. Since a bank receiver was appointed last summer, the project has stabilized, owner concerns have been satisfied and there are pending offers on units despite the bad economy, city economic revitalization supervisor Percy Brown said. "We aren't getting any calls or complaints," Brown said...

WISCONSIN - This is a comprehensive data base of all business professionals in development, planning, government, commercial real estate, architecture, construction, and service providers to business. Any professional may enter his or her own business card for free. FutureWisconsin is Wisconsin's own social networking data base to promote new business in the state...

Ken Notes: Network with professionals doing business in the state...

Madison - 2/15/09 - When told the $80,000 salary he received in 1930 was $5,000 more that President Hoover received, baseball great Babe Ruth was reported to have said, "I had a better year than he did." The Babe was by no means a great political observer, but the Depression-era story seems appropriate today as America addresses another economic meltdown. Among the issues up for discussion in 2009 is executive compensation, with President Obama ordering a cap on CEO pay of $500,000 for firms getting big bailouts from Washington...

Ken Notes: I wish we were more focused on the loan holders than the givers in this case. My current op-ed (still homeless) illustrates. My editorial here. Feel free to reprint.

Madison - February 6, 2009 - Locavores touring Metcalfe's Sentry can check signs noting how far items on their shopping lists have traveled to the store. Ham? From Wyttenbach Farm in Prairie du Sac, 21 miles. Kosher doughnuts have a short jaunt from Greenbush Bakery, 3 miles away. Milk from Barneveld's Blue Marble has come 32 miles; eggs, 73 miles from New Century in Shullsburg; and some 500 more items come from in the state or within 150 of the Hilldale store....

Ken Notes: The article fails to mention Babcock Hall Ice cream which I know the have!

Wisconsin - FEB 11, 2009 - More Wisconsin residents are facing the prospect of losing their homes, and stemming the tide of foreclosures will be difficult, a top housing official warned lawmakers on Wednesday. More than 2.5 percent of Wisconsin mortgages are already in foreclosure and that rate is expected to continue to increase in coming months...

Wisconsin - 2/11/2009 - MADISON – A coalition assembled to improve Wisconsin’s existing investor tax credits law applauded Gov. Jim Doyle’s February 11 announcement of plans to expand and refine the four-year-old program...

Oregon - February 16, 2009 - County Executive Kathleen Falk and the late Dane County Supervisor Lyman Anderson did not see eye to eye on a lot of political matters, but Monday they became united in the creation of the latest county park. Falk and Anderson's widow and children announced plans to have the longtime Anderson farm in the town of Oregon, which has been in the family for about 140 years, turned into the latest county park. The first phase of the purchase will be about 127 acres, with future phases adding another 270 acres...

Ken Notes: Is there room for a small community garden?

Madison - February 11, 2009 - The Madison Transit and Parking Commission on Tuesday night proposed increasing fees for city meters and parking ramps...

Ken Notes: Video report with more details here!

February 7, 2009 - February 7, 2009 - Paula Brotski, a single mother and full-time UW-Madison student, remembers times when she didn't have enough money to buy a carton of milk. But last summer, she and her son, Aden, always had fresh vegetables. Their community garden plot at Drumlin Garden in Fitchburg yielded so much fresh produce that Aden, 7, earned his allowance going door to door selling basil to neighbors. And Brotski, 37, had enough tomatoes and other homegrown vegetables to last them through the winter...

Wisconsin - 2/10/2009 - A Michigan utility company wants to build what it's calling the Green Power Express, a super-sized transmission line that would link wind power farms around the Midwest and carry their electricity to urban areas where the power is needed. The $10 billion to $12 billion proposal by ITC Holdings Corp., of Novi, Mich., would cover 3,000 miles over seven states, including Wisconsin, and could wind up in or near Madison....

Ken Notes: Now that's marketing.

Wisconsin - 2/11/2009 - The Wisconsin Biotechnology and Medical Device Association is changing its name to BioForward Inc. The announcement was made Wednesday at the association's monthly breakfast at the MGE Innovation Center in University Research Park...

Recent commercial property listings from PropertyDrive.

Wisconsin - More than $336 million in federal stimulus money has been allocated to counties, cities, towns and villages in Wisconsin. Of that total, about $124 million has been allocated through the state Department of Transportation for road, bridge and transit projects. And more than $48 million in Housing and Urban Development funds has been allocated...

Ken Notes: Great Resource

Dane County - FEB 11, 2009 - Foreclosure filings in Dane County set a record in January with 154 filings, according to DaneCountyMarket.com, a Web site that tracks the local real estate market. The number was up 24 percent from 124 a year ago and two more than the previous record set in October...

- February 8, 2009 - As of Jan. 31, there was 7.7 months of inventory of single-family homes (excluding condos) listed for sale in Dane County. Months of inventory is calculated by dividing the active listings (2,575) by the average monthly sales for the preceding 12 months (336). As the following chart illustrates, months of inventory varied greatly by price. Sellers tend to have the most leverage in price ranges where the months of inventory are low....

Wisconsin - February 7, 2009 - As auto sales nationwide continue to dwindle, a Wisconsin auto dealer has offered a solution to boost demand and revive the flailing U.S. auto industry: $5,000 government discounts.John Bergstrom, CEO of Bergstrom Automotive based in Neenah, Wis., wrote a letter to President Barack Obama late last week suggesting that everyone who purchased a new vehicle in America, no matter where it was built, be given a government voucher for $5,000 during a 90-day period from Feb. 15 to May 15...

Ken Notes: I like the interest rate part of the proposal.

Madison - FEB 11, 2009 - Iraqi students and faculty could begin studying and conducting research at UW-Madison if a burgeoning partnership with Tikrit University is formalized. Sending UW-Madison students to study in Iraq is not in the immediate plans but could happen in the future if the country stabilizes, said Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies...

Ken Notes: The UW may be among the best diplomats we have.

Madison Area - February 10, 2009 - There is no "For Sale" sign outside Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Madison, although the building is indeed for sale. Church leaders thought better of a sign, figuring it would have limited marketing value and could cause angst among members struggling with the decision to sell. Such are the practical and sentimental considerations involved in selling such an unusual property. Although the woes of the housing market are well known, the intricacies of unloading a church are more mysterious. Mount Olive, which is moving to a larger facility, is the latest to give it a try. It began listing its 32,000...

Ken Notes: Great adaptive reuse potential one would think, $90 a square foot plus the land...

Stoughton - 2/11/2009 - The City of Stoughton is seeking bids to repair and upgrade the Fourth Street Dam, a project expected to cost at least a half million dollars and possibly take all summer to complete...

The seller of real estate is required to file a Real Estate Transfer Return (RETR) with the County Register of Deeds when recording deeds of property conveyances. State statutes require those returns to be filed electronically beginning July 1, 2009. Below is a link to the electronically filed Real Estate Transfer data as of July 1st 2009 and forward. The data will be updated on a weekly basis...

Ken Notes: This link is a regular feature of WDN...

Madison Area - February 16, 2009 - Madison Area Technical College leaders find themselves in a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, the college is starting to burst at the seams as it attempts to educate a new generation of young people while also providing training and sometimes the groundwork for a new career to casualties of the economic crisis. But to truly address this issue, MATC must find a way to expand -- a move which could raise some eyebrows due to the recession. "We're expected to play a major role in helping...

Ken Notes: I believe they will. The Famous Footwear lease is a great move.

Madison - February 8, 2009 - Great Wolf Resorts has letters of intent to build three waterpark resorts, all of them at major tourist destinations. Construction dates have not been announced. The projects are in: Lake Lanier, Ga., near Atlanta. Great Wolf has a letter of intent with the city of Cummings to build a resort on the shores of the lake, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s. The lake has 692 miles of shoreline and is visited by more than 7 million people a year. Mall of America, Bloomington, Minn. In 2007, Great Wolf signed a letter of intent to build a resort ...

Ken Notes: Madison???

Treasury Department Debt to the Penny Link
CNN Money Scorecard
Government Recovery Website
Wisconsin State Budget Google News

Create a vibrant, innovative and prosperous entrepreneurial business climate, nurturing, connecting and celebrating entrepreneurs and their companies...

Ken Notes: A valuable resource worth visiting for all businesses in the state. A special thanks for BizStarts for compiling and sharing the resource!...

February 8, 2009 - February 8, 2009 - Two new businesses are scheduled to open this spring at Greenway Station Shopping Center in Middleton, located west of the Beltline in the Deming Road area. Jump and Shout Play Center, described as an indoor entertainment center for young children and their families, emphasizes active play. The nearly 9,000-square foot play center features indoor gym sets, inflatable bouncing toys, a number of video music games and what are described as high-tech amusements for children up to about age 12, and their parents....

Waterloo - FEB 11, 2009 - A more than $1 million cheese factory expansion is complete at Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, northeast of Madison. The project doubled the building's size at the Crave Brothers Farm, W11555 Torpy Road, north of Waterloo. The cheese factory and farm are run by four brothers. Specialized cheesemaking equipment has been installed and the brothers anticipate hiring 11 employees...

Ken Notes: Let's hope amidst all the economic issues we remain focused on the industries that put us on the map in the first place.

Madison - February 6, 2009 - Rooftop solar panels at the Dane County Regional Airport's new rental-car return kiosk will bring in about $3,000 a year by selling power back to Madison Gas & Electric Co., county officials said Thursday. The photo voltaic panels, expected to provide 12,000 kilowatt hours of power each year, cost $96,305 and the county received $27,215 back in a rebate from Wisconsin Focus on Energy. The airport uses about 3.5 million kilowatts annually. The airport also is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification ...

Ken Notes: Now we need an additional regional carrier to create connections and business destinations.

MADISON - February 11, 2009 - Wisconsin leaders Wednesday will sound-off on the “Moving Wisconsin Forward” consensus policy agenda for the state’s business community. “We want to hear from leaders from business, education, agriculture, organized labor, and policy makers as we finalize the ‘Moving Wisconsin Forward’ agenda,” said James A. Buchen, WMC vice president who has directed the development of the consensus business agenda...

Madison - 2/11/2009 - A Madison-based biopharmaceutical company has raised another $3 million in investment funding to develop its drug enhancement program. Centrose announced on Tuesday it received $2 million in investor money from outside Wisconsin and raised almost $1 million from in-state investors. The in-state investing was helped by state tax credits....

Cross Plains - February 8, 2009 - Spending a summer working for a Colorado builder gave Mike Vilstrup his first taste of the home construction industry. After he later was laid off by a Baraboo contractor, Vilstrup found more permanent work at Fish Building Supply in Madison, where over more than 25 years he worked his way up to store general manager and construction division manager. He hosted "All Around the House," a local radio show on home construction and improvement,...

Madison - February 8, 2009 - The new UW-Madison south campus union will cost $7.1 million more than expected, bringing the total building cost up to $94.8 million. The Board of Regents approved the request for extra money at its meeting last week. To fund the difference, the campus is providing money from parking fees, adding gift funds, and moving money from the Memorial Union Theater renovation project...

Wisconsin - 2/15/09 - Ahlborn Equipment, Inc., a family-owned Wisconsin business since 1961, has joined WCA as an Associate Member. "Ahlborn Equipment is a true Wisconsin success story and we are excited to have them as a partner with WCA as an Associate Member," said WCA Executive Director Mark D. O'Connell. "I encourage counties to take a close look at how this company can help their communities save money."...Website

Wisconsin - This section allows you to access any of our current space needs and acquire some brief detail regarding each. You'll notice that in addition to posting our current RFPs and RFIS, we are listing other significant needs for which we are seeking space....

Ken Notes: Brokers should check this often...

Madison - FEB 11, 2009 - Metro Transit is reporting a 30-year peak in bus ridership, but some fear a looming fare increase might undermine that trend. Metro saw a 6 percent increase to 13,433,149 riders in 2008 — the second highest increase ever — and revenues rose $500,000 to $9.5 million, Metro officials said...

Stoughton - 2/10/2009 - Stoughton Trailers is reporting additional job cuts. One of three production lines at the factory has been halted, ending work for about 150 employees, said Patrice Gillespie, vice president of human resources. That shrinks the staff to 350, the lowest since 2001, and it's down 68 percent from June 2007, when the company had 1,100 employees...

Ken Notes: I try not to include too many layoff stories but again if their is an upside it is that we have a great available pool of skilled workers ready and willing to get back to work.

Madison - WED., FEB 11, 2009 - I'm always interested in stories about parking in Downtown Madison, now that I am largely removed from the fray. According to news reports, on Tuesday the Madison Transit and Parking Commission proposed a fee increase for city meters and ramps. The amount will vary by location. According to a report on Channel3000.com, "city officials said the proposed increases would bring in $725,000 in revenue and encourage car pooling."...

Madison - February 11, 2009 - A top Wisconsin official said the number of homes facing foreclosure is rising and finding solutions "will not be easy." Antonio Riley, executive director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Agency, told lawmakers that more than 2.5 percent of Wisconsin mortgages are in foreclosure and that number is projected to keep increasing...

Madison - February 10, 2009 - A local computer network products company is closing, putting 62 people out of work in April. Emerson Network Power Embedded Computing, 8310 Excelsior Drive, plans to start laying people off April 6 and continue through April 20. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development received...

National - February 8, 2009 - Circuit City will finally flicker out when its remaining 567 stores close this year, but the bankruptcy of the nation's second-largest electronics retailer will ripple across the U.S. economy for years. In its wake will be 18.71 million square feet of vacant space in a faltering real estate market. More than 40,000 workers will be jobless, including 7,000 laid off last year. Shopping centers will lose rental income. Suppliers will lose display space....

St. Francis - February 12, 2009 - Only three Parkway Square units have sold. When they were constructed about three years ago off Interstate 794, Parkway Square condominiums were supposed to appeal to middle-aged people working downtown... http://www.stfrancisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=846624 February 12, 2009...

West Allis - 2/11/2009 - Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, real estate investment trust (REIT), is planning a $9.5 million remodeling of the West Allis Towne Centre shopping center at 6740-6800 W. Greenfield Ave. Ramco-Gershenson wants to improve the shopping center's access to the highly successful Summit Place office complex, located to the north. So the firm plan...

EAU CLAIRE - 2/11/2009 - City officials say a planned expansion of the Nestle USA plant in Eau Claire will triple the size of the operation and add about 150 jobs. City economic development administrator Mike Schatz said Tuesday the timing of the project is "perfect," considering the many companies that are closing plants and laying people off...

Ken Notes: Video of the story

Wisconsin - Feb. 12, 2009 - Journal Communications Inc. (JRN) posted a $223 million loss in the fourth quarter, including $228.7 million in non-cash charges as the company wrote down the value of goodwill and television and broadcast properties. The per-share loss was $4.46. That compares with net income of $9.5 million, or 15 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2007...

Brookfield - February 08, 2009 - It's a tough time to be a mall operator. But if that's your business, Brookfield Square is a pretty good place to be...

Milwaukee - 2/11/2009 - Milwaukee-based Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. plans to move its Pick 'n Save store at 7830 W. Good Hope Road, Milwaukee, to the former Home Depot building at 7401 W. Good Hope Road."All I will say … is that we have signed a lease for this project, yet there is still much work to be done...

Menomonee Falls - February 12, 2009 - A big-box store is a probability in the southwest area of Menomonee Falls...

Brown Deer - February 12, 2009 - Jewish Family Services anticipates starting construction on a three-story, 66-unit senior apartment complex called Deerwood Crossing in May, pending Brown Deer Village Board approval Feb. 23...

Wauwatosa - February 12, 2009 - Restaurant would use part of bridge. Wauwatosa's Community Development Committee on Feb. 10 recommended several changes to a proposed lease that would allow Cafe Hollander to operate outdoor seating on the pedestrian bridge...

Brookfield - February 12, 2009 - The city of Brookfield's Plan Commission on Feb. 9 approved rezoning a three-acre parcel of land on Executive Drive where a Pennsylvania developer plans to build a $20 million Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotel...

Oconomowoc - February 12, 2009 - A 20-percent decrease in the number of applications submitted to the city planning department is just one indicator of an economic slowdown.. A 20-percent decrease in the number of applications submitted to the city planning department is just one indicator...

St. Francis - February 12, 2009 - But city sold corner lot to brew pub developer for just $1. The $2.4 million St. Francis Brewery and Restaurant was tapped out of receiving tax-incremental financing funds...

Chippewa Valley - February 10, 2009 - $160,000 project for design engineering services...

Shawano - February 10, 2009 - $245,095 project for design engineering services at the Shawano Municipal Airport...

- February 10, 2009 - $28,000 project to repair pavement areas at the Tomahawk Regional Airport...

A single source for all economic development news for Greater Madison and beyond. Wisconsin Development News, (WDN) is published weekly by Ken Harwood.

Available to commercial brokers, developers, financial professionals, community planners, public officials, the press and others who have expressed an interest in Wisconsin development. All stories should link to their original source in the original context. These pages may contain advertising, and I encourage patronage of both our sponsors and the related advertisers and publications I link too.

We link to Editorial and Opinion articles each week, this does not suggest we agree with the stance of the author. The "Ken Notes" items are the opinion of our editor. We will include any comments or feedback sent to WDN. Ken also writes a monthly column for Capitol Region Business Journal and other state publications.

The focus for WDN is to create a positive view of economic development for the Greater Madison Region. The publication will also feature news from around the state, nation, and world that offers insight to policy, trends, and projects that may be of interest to the reader.

Please forward any information you would like included for consideration. We do our best to include any non advertising stories, press releases, or articles from other sources that you feel would be of interest to the reader. WDN can also host your news stories and press releases online. Please feel free to forward WDN.

We continue to develop this newsletter because of the positive feedback we have received in the past and strong encouragement to continue. As always let us know what you think.

Ken

Kenneth Harwood
WisconsinDevelopment.com LLC
P.O. Box 930234
Verona, WI 53593-0234
608.334.2174
ken@wisconsindevelopment.com