— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, executive director of the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment and president of the American Medical Association.
The endowment is the state’s largest health improvement philanthropy, Ehrenfeld explains, and was created by MCW with a financial donation made by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin.
The school uses the endowment funds to invest in promising biomedical research, supporting community health initiatives and driving growth in Wisconsin’s health workforce. Since 2004, it has donated more than $337 million to support more than 600 projects, Ehrenfeld noted.
“We’ve reached almost every corner of Wisconsin,” he said. “Direct funding has been provided to organizations in 63 of our 72 counties here in Wisconsin, and of course we’ve funded statewide work as well.”
He shares details on some specific projects getting support from AHW, highlighting the impact these efforts are having on Wisconsin residents, including tribal communities. And he touts the endowment’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting its role in producing personal protective equipment and early research on therapeutics.
“So we’ve been able to respond to critical emergencies as well as support public health infrastructure through the fund over the last 20 years,” he said.
Ehrenfeld also shares his perspective on emerging trends in health care as the third Wisconsin doctor to lead the American Medical Association.
“We’ve got a lot of backseat drivers in health care — it used to be just insurance companies that often told us what we could and couldn’t do, denying necessary treatment for patients — now, unfortunately we have legislative restrictions on a lot of the care we can provide nationally,” he said.
Listen to the show here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-dr-jesse-ehrenfeld-advancing-a-healthier-wisconsin-endowment/
See the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/podcast/
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— Ten maternal and child health equity projects are getting $2.8 million in federal funds through the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment.
Meanwhile, a recent study co-authored by a UW Health doctor found nearly one-fourth of participating cancer patients engage in binge drinking.
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— A Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty attorney is knocking a bill seeking to impose liquor regulations on wedding barns, saying “special interests want to use government to eliminate competition.”
Lucas Vebber in a Senate Universities and Revenue Committee public hearing yesterday argued that needlessly including wedding barns in the bill renders them inoperable.
The bill would require wedding barns to obtain a permit allowing them to host events six days per year and one day per month if beer and wine are consumed at no charge. Otherwise, they would have to obtain a Class B liquor license, which is required to sell alcohol.
“The state has long taken the position that these are not public places in Wisconsin, and they do not require licensure,” Vebber said.
Earlier in the hearing, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, who introduced the bill, defended the added regulations, saying wedding barns are the only unregulated alcohol providers in the state.
He said he wants to make sure wedding barns are “operating under the same procedures that every other venue is.”
Vebber also argued it would be extremely difficult for wedding barns to sell alcohol if they wanted because of restrictive zoning ordinances and the financial and administrative burdens of being a licensed liquor reseller. He also mentioned some wedding barns don’t meet local zoning requirements for minimum hours or days of operation to keep from losing their liquor license.
“Any prospective operators that are planning to open in future years would be ineligible for the exception to the quota and would be unfairly then subjected to those quota limits,” Vebber said. “We strongly encourage the committee to amend this legislation and not use the heavy hand of government to decimate the livelihoods of many farmers in our state.”
— Gov. Tony Evers will lead a trade mission to Europe next month, his first since before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Evers, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary Missy Hughes and 10 companies will attend the mission that will include stops in Brussels in Belgium, Amsterdam and Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
The guv’s office noted Belgium is among the top 10 destinations for Wisconsin exports in 2021, and the Netherlands ranked 11th.
The planned stops include a green energy park and a hub for water technology.
“Wisconsin shares historical and cultural ties with the Benelux region and common commercial interests such as advanced manufacturing in Belgium and water technology in the Netherlands, and these similarities will serve as a starting point for successful partnerships,” Evers said.
The trip will come four years after Evers’ first — and only — trade mission during his time in office. The guv led a delegation to Japan Sept. 6-14, 2019.
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/gov-evers-governor-wedc-to-lead-trade-mission-to-europe/
— The state’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 2.6 percent in July, according to the latest figures from the Department of Workforce Development.
That’s up from 2.5 percent in June, and 0.2 percentage points higher than the record low of 2.4 percent seen in April and May. Wisconsin’s rate remains below the U.S. rate of 3.5 percent.
Meanwhile, total nonfarm employment hit a new high of 3,007,200 last month, for an increase of 39,500 jobs over the year.
The state’s labor force participation rate rose from 65.3 percent in June to 65.5 percent in July, but remained below the U.S. participation rate of 62.6 percent.
See the release: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/press/unemployment/2023/230817-july-state.pdf
— The Department of Safety and Professional Services has established a data sharing agreement with Michigan aimed at speeding up license approvals.
DSPS Secretary Dan Hereth and state officials in Michigan yesterday announced the new agreement, which will automate the exchange process for certain documents between the two states.
In a statement on the move, Hereth said the partnership is “just the first step toward more comprehensive, automated data sharing” between states.
“We have been actively pursuing these kinds of agreements, and we will continue to add new partners to enhance operations here in Wisconsin,” he said.
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/dept-of-safety-and-professional-services-announces-data-sharing-agreement-with-michigans-licensing-agency/
— The Port of Green Bay continues to see higher shipping totals so far this year, officials announced.
Year-to-date, a total of 924,778 tons of cargo have moved through the port, according to figures released yesterday. That’s 13 percent more than during the same period of last year, when 823,620 tons of cargo had passed through the port.
Port of Green Bay Director Dean Haen said officials are “very happy to have had five strong months” to start this year’s shipping season.
“Because port activity is indicative of the economic health of northeast Wisconsin’s economy, it’s always good to see strong totals over a sustained period of time,” he said in a statement.
Top cargo imports for last month included limestone, cement, petroleum products, coal, wood pulp and forest products, slag — a byproduct of smelting ores or recycling metals — and liquid asphalt.
See the release: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/port-of-green-bay-july-tonnage-totals-remain-strong/
#TOP STORIES#
# Bill tightening tobacco, lottery and sales tax evasion laws gains momentum
# Wisconsin fur farm workers try to recapture 3,000 mink that activists claim to have released
# Sprecher continues national expansion, now available in 49 states, has nearly tripled sales since 2020
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– DBIA launches new grant programs to support dairy industry
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=773&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– Developer gets more time to repay city loan. A mix of uses has replaced the hotel plan
– $197 million affordable apartment development gains first OK for Milwaukee incentive
– Northern Wisconsin labor organization signs project labor agreement with Minnesota Power for Nemadji Trail gas plant
# EDUCATION
– Madison teacher vacancies way down, but more custodial jobs unfilled
# ENVIRONMENT
– Widespread moisture continues to evade the corn belt
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=772&yr=2023
– Canadian wildfire smoke again has Wisconsin under an air quality advisory — this one into Monday
# HEALTH CARE
– Suicides rise in Wisconsin, led by more than 500 gun deaths in 2022
– Incarcerated people are at risk of opioid overdose after release. This Milwaukee County program aims to help.
# LABOR
– Following Yellow’s bankruptcy, 85 Oak Creek employees are out of work
# MANAGEMENT
– Saul Newton stepping down as leader of the Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce
# MANUFACTURING
– Georgia-Pacific picks end date for Day Street Mill shutdown
# REAL ESTATE
– Harness brothers gift land for conservation, foiling Neenah development
# SPORTS
– Milwaukee Brewers, Bucks telecasts could return to over-air TV. Here’s how.
– Milwaukee-area athletic director named NCAA executive of the year
# TOURISM
– She always stayed at this Germantown hotel. Then she found snakes in the pool and hallways.
# TRANSPORTATION
– Southwest Airlines adds more Milwaukee flights to 11 cities for spring break
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Dept. of Agriculture: Humane officer training scheduled for September 18-22 in Madison
