— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Scott LeBlanc, a labor and employment attorney with Husch Blackwell in Milwaukee.
LeBlanc discusses a sweeping rule proposal from the Federal Trade Commission that would establish a new national standard for non-compete agreements. He explains the current non-compete landscape differs state-by-state, noting courts in Wisconsin will examine such agreements with a “skeptical eye.”
“They will typically tend to interpret non-compete provisions in favor of the employee, and the non-compete has to be sort of reasonable and as narrowly tailored as possible in order to be enforceable,” he said.
Other states come down on either side of that standard, with some states not allowing non-compete agreements at all and others following the contract to the letter, he said.
Under the FTC proposal, non-compete agreements would essentially become unenforceable nationwide, according to LeBlanc.
“If companies were trying to enter into non-competes, the FTC would presumably step in and do something about that,” he said.
He notes the rule would supersede all contrary state law, as certain states that “go even further” than the FTC’s proposed restriction would keep their limits in place.
“For example, I mentioned customer non-solicitation restrictions. Generally speaking, those aren’t enforceable in California either. Under the FTC’s rule, those may or may not be enforceable, depending on the scope,” he said. “So if a state was even stricter than the FTC, those state laws would still be in place. But there’s very few examples, I think, given where the FTC’s position is now.”
LaBlanc also provides an overview on the rulemaking process for the proposal and the possible timeline for implementation. Federal officials are currently taking comments on the rule.
Listen to the podcast here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-scott-leblanc-husch-blackwell/
See the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/podcast/
— Wisconsin has been approved for up to $79.1 million under the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative, White House officials announced yesterday.
The latest version of this program was reauthorized and funded under the American Rescue Plan Act, the U.S. Department of the Treasury website shows. Officials yesterday announced $339 million in new funding under the SSBCI program, bringing the total amount of funding allocated under the program to $6.6 billion.
In a media briefing yesterday, Treasury Department Chief Recovery Officer Jacob Leibenluft said the program aims to “drive investments to underserved entrepreneurs” around the country.
Of Wisconsin’s total allocation, $50 million is going toward venture capital efforts aimed at supporting small businesses, a White House release shows. In an email, a Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. spokesperson said the agency has two approaches to working with VC funds and plans to work with several fund managers.
“WEDC has not selected the fund managers yet,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We are soliciting proposals from interested managers and will go through a process to identify what funds we partner with.”
Another $15 million is going to the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to help small businesses that get funding from Community Development Financial Institutes to expand their access to capital, the release shows.
Meanwhile, $6 million is going to WEDC’s Capital Catalyst Fund, which provides matching capital to revolving loan funds managed by nonprofits, per the White House release. WEDC has operated this program since 2012 and has awarded $11.3 million in that time.
The other $8.1 million will support the state’s Technology Development Loan program, the agency spokesperson said. This program aims to help companies with “high-tech or innovative solutions with national or global market potential,” according to WEDC’s website.
WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes says the SSBCI provides “an exciting opportunity” to provide capital to small businesses and promote new private investments.
“The long-term benefit is using the private investment expertise to generate returns and grow a revolving pool of capital to be reinvested in new businesses again and again,” she said in a release from Gov. Tony Evers office.
See more in the White House release: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1294
See Evers’ release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/347a6ca
— Two of the top three winners of the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest were made in Wisconsin, and the winning team was led by a Wisconsin native.
Over several days this week, dozens of expert judges in Green Bay evaluated 2,249 contest entries from 35 different states. The top three cheeses were announced yesterday during a livestream event.
This year’s winner was an aged gouda cheese called Europa, produced by the Arethusa Farm Dairy’s cheese team based in Connecticut. The company’s head cheesemaker, Eric Schmid, called the win “a welcome surprise” and praised the team’s work in producing the winning cheese.
“Oh my god, my heart is pounding … I’m originally from Wisconsin, a southern Wisconsin boy, I moved out here to Connecticut to help make some really great cheese,” he said. “I’m very proud to be involved with Arethusa Farm Dairy.”
The first runner-up was the Vintage Cupola American Original Cheese, created by Team Door Artisan Cheese Company for Red Barn Family Farms in Appleton. The farm’s co-owner, Paula Homan, acknowledged the cheesemakers, small family farmers that provided milk for the cheese, and the state’s Center for Dairy Research for “all their work in helping us to create this wonderful, original-recipe cheese.”
The second runner-up in the contest was a medium-aged cheddar made by cheesemaker Dillon Sylla of Associated Milk Producers, located in Blair. Company President and CEO Sheryl Meshke congratulated the dairy farmers and cheesemakers who played a role in producing the cheese.
Nine of this year’s top 20 cheeses were made in Wisconsin, according to a release from contest organizers. Others were made by cheese producers in New York, Pennsylvania, California, Idaho, Vermont, Ohio, Connecticut and Minnesota.
The biennial competition has been hosted by the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association since 1981.
See the top 20 cheeses here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/wisconsin-cheese-makers-association-u-s-championship-cheese-contest-announces-top-20-finalists/
See more on the contest: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/cheese-makers-association-connecticut-aged-gouda-named-2023-u-s-champion-cheese
— Gov. Tony Evers has appointed Summer Strand to the Public Service Commission.
She will replace conservative Ellen Nowak, whose term ends March 1, for a six-year term.
Evers appointed Strand to the Building Commission in 2019 to serve as its citizen member, and she previously served as the administrator of the Division of Facilities Development at the Wisconsin Department of Administration August 2011 to May 2016.
She is currently the director of government affairs for the Walbec Group, a construction and engineering company.
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/gov-tony-evers-appoints-summer-strand-to-the-public-service-commission-of-wisconsin
— Evers has signed an executive order declaring an energy emergency because of the winter storm that’s been sweeping across the state.
The order provides waivers from federal and state requirements to give flexibility to in-state utility workers who may be working on power outages due to downed power lines.
Read the executive order:
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report … </b></i>
— COVID-19 activity across Wisconsin remains relatively low and stable, according to the latest Department of Health Services data.
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#TOP STORIES#
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#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
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http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=223&yr=2023
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# MANAGEMENT
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# MANUFACTURING
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# REAL ESTATE
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# TOURISM
– Inside EPIC Event Center’s autographed guitar wall, memorabilia on loan and backstage band perks
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Diversatek Healthcare, Inc: Extends global reach with G-Flex acquisition
