— The Dow Jones opens the week continuing on its march toward 10,000 after gaining more than 200 points last week to close at 9,820. The WisBusiness index of Wisconsin stocks is up again as well, opening the week at 1,770. That’s up more than 50 points from a week ago. Part of that increase comes from the Greenville-based company School Specialty. With school years kicking off around the country, the educational product company was up more than 9 percent last week. See more stock info: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=140042 — Milwaukee’s Marcus Corp. wants to keep the former Midwest Airlines chair on its board even though Timothy Hoeksema resigned as a Marcus director. In a briefing for shareholders in advance of its annual meeting on Oct. 14, the company “reviewed the appropriateness of Mr. Hoeksema’s continued service on our board of directors and declined to accept his resignation.” The board’s remaining nine members up for election at the meeting next month are well-known members of the Milwaukee business community, including three members of the Marcus family, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, former utility exec Bronson Haase, and James Ericson, the retired head of Northwestern Mutual Life. The company says a record-setting performance by its movie division is offsetting lower results from hotels and resorts. “Our diversity provides overall stability and enables us to weather the ups and downs of the economy,” the company says in its annual report. — WisBusiness columnist Kevin Reardon says now might be a good time to re-assess your retirement plans, particularly your 401 (k). Some of his tips: Make sure you contribute to a plan if one is available, save even if your company fails to match and try to contribute the maximum if you can afford it. He also advises against borrowing from your 401 (k) because of the possibility you could face income taxes or penalties and he says it’s a bad idea to cash out when you switch jobs. See Reardon’s new column: http://blogs.wisbusiness.com/bizopinion/2009/09/retirement-investment-taking-fresh-look.html ************************* TOP EXPERTS TO DISCUSS WIS. GREEN JOBS FUTURE “Green Jobs: Growing Wisconsin Employment” is part of a series of forums at Discovery World and aims to assess Wisconsin’s future in the green jobs market. The forum, sponsored by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, UW-Milwaukee, We Energies, Wisconsin Environmental Initiative and Johnson Controls, begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. Breakfast begins at 7:15 a.m. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will provide remarks about his city’s efforts to cultivate green jobs. Confirmed panelists include: The event is organized by WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com with the help of MMAC, Discovery World, and UW-Milwaukee. More sponsorship opportunities are available; contact Jim Greer at 608-237-6296 or greer@wispolitics.com. The event is open to the public, and the price is $30 per person. But WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com subscribers, members of the Wisconsin Academy, the UW-Milwaukee community, and members of MMAC and Discovery World are able to attend for $20 per person. The price includes the breakfast buffet but not parking. ************************* –> TOP STORIES
Stimulus plan sparks SBA loans: The SBA in March introduced reduced fees and higher SBA guarantees to encourage banks and small business owners to engage in more financing. The impact was nearly instant in Wisconsin with SBA lending emerging from its previous slumber. Business unpaid after job for Army : An Idaho company whose chief contact with the U.S. Army was a felon on probation snagged a multiyear, six-figure contract for work at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin last summer – and then failed to pay the Oconomowoc company it hired to do the job. The Idaho company, MLDC Inc., continues to get federal contracts and has collected millions of dollars from government work. White Oak Farm LLC of Oconomowoc, meanwhile, has so far received just $25 of the $116,000 it says it is owed for work it did as a subcontractor for MLDC at Fort McCoy. Report details medical needs of children in child welfare system : An evaluation of more than 500 young children removed from their parents’ care by the Milwaukee Bureau of Child Welfare found five children who had been abused or neglected and 305 more who needed follow-up medical care, according to a recently released report. hMinnesota ends tax reciprocity program: The State of Minnesota has decided to end its income tax reciprocity program with Wisconsin, effective January 1, 2010. As a result, Minnesota residents who work in Wisconsin will be required to file returns in both states next year.
************************************************************ See commentary from around the state and columns from WisBusiness contributors Jennifer Sereno, Kevin McKinley, Tom Burzinski, Gregg Hoffmann, Tom Still and Steve Jagler: ************************************************************ TECHNOLOGY (back to top)
ECONOMY (back to top)
LABOR (back to top) – Tosa trade school works on employability skills
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REAL ESTATE (back to top) – Madison: Biz Beat: A big empty space
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