FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Ben Camp, Recovery.com; WisBusiness: the Show with John Neis, Venture Investors

April 4, 2025

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with returning guest Ben Camp, CEO and co-founder of Recovery.com.

When Camp previously came on the show in 2020, the business was called RehabPath. But it has since rebranded to reflect its broader focus on the entire recovery journey. The company helps people find addiction and mental health treatment options, offering resources on thousands of treatment centers across the world.

“We’re doing what we set out to do when we started the company in 2017, and have been able to successfully scale the size of our team, the impact that we’re having and reach,” he said, adding the company last year had “over 2 million people on our website looking for treatment, and we were able to connect hundreds of thousands of those with treatment options.”

Also last year, Recovery.com was in the top 200 companies on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies, Camp says. It was the fastest-growing in Madison and the second-fastest in Wisconsin.

People seeking mental health care are more likely to turn to the internet for help rather than friends, family or even medical professionals, according to Camp, who pointed to the stigma associated with seeking this type of treatment.

“On the negative side of it, and kind of why we started the company, is that there’s a lot of websites out there that are trying to take advantage of people in those times of crisis,” he said.

Recovery.com is meant to be a trusted, independent resource for finding legitimate treatment information, giving users better information as they seek help for themselves or their loved ones. The company is continuing to scale up its offerings, and currently has more than 20,000 treatment options listed on the site.

“We list every treatment option for free, and so the website itself is very comprehensive and you as a patient, or potential patient, can look at all the options and compare in an independent way,” he said.

Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.

— In the latest edition of “WisBusiness: the Show,” Venture Investors Managing Director John Neis says Wisconsin needs more large venture capital funds to improve its investment climate.

Neis notes the median VC fund in the United States is $57 million, while that drops to around $37 million in areas outside the coasts.

“I don’t know exactly what our median is, but it’s probably half that,” Neis said. “And so, we have a lot of very small funds, which all add to the ecosystem, all help, you know, move things forward. But the biggest ideas that the venture capital industry backs often need tens of millions of dollars.”

While the smaller funds in Wisconsin, whether that be $10 million or $20 million, can help get businesses started, “they’re not in a position to pull together the large kind of syndicate necessary for the biggest ideas to advance.”

The conversation highlights the impact of Venture Investors, the state’s oldest and largest venture firm, which focuses on innovation in the health care industry largely across Wisconsin and Michigan.

“The last few funds have been in the $70 million, $80 million ballpark, but you know, with syndication, we’ve raised a lot for our companies over time,” he said.

Watch the full interview here and find more episodes here.

— The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, says “we’re losing a lot of friends with this trade war” and predicted it will backfire on the United States.

Speaking at a WisPolitics-La Follette School of Public Affairs breakfast in Madison on Wednesday — before new sweeping tariffs were announced by President Donald Trump — Thomas-Greenfield pointed to Denmark as one example.

“Denmark is very, very fearful about economic warfare because of Greenland,” she said. “And one of the things they said was, ‘We’re excited. We believe in everything you believe in. We want to work with you. You can depend on us when we’re in the Security Council.’

“I don’t know now whether they will be a dependable partner on the Security Council, because they don’t think we’re dependable.”

While she stressed that she can’t predict the impact of the trade war, Thomas-Greenfield said she’s hearing “this is going to be bad” for the U.S. economy.

“The president himself said in the long term, the tariffs will lead to benefits, but in the short term, can we survive? Can ordinary Americans survive in the short term? And that’s the worry.”

She also argued China will claw back progress that had been made with small countries in Africa and around the world who had felt ignored by the United States and where China was “relentlessly making inroads.”

“Now the truth is, they will not be there for them,” she said. “But they do some things that we don’t do. They build bridges, they build roads, they build airports, they build hospitals.”

Still, she also emphasized U.S. connections to all 54 African nations, noting she has always argued “that there was never going to be a time when Africans would prefer China” to the U.S.

“We have something the Chinese don’t have,” she said. “We have a diaspora community, a strong immigrant community with ties to those countries, that ensure that we stay engaged in those countries even when our engagement might be lackluster.”

Listen to the audio here.

— The Wisconsin congressional delegation is split on Trump’s sweeping tariffs, including a 10% baseline tariff on virtually any foreign imports.

At a White House event this week, the president announced “reciprocal” tariffs starting immediately. Ahead of the event, Trump called it “Liberation Day,’’ He called it “one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history.’’

Trump signed an executive order issuing tariffs on countries he claimed leverage heavy tariffs on the U.S. For China, 34% tariffs plus 20% tariffs for the European Union, 46% for Vietnam, 24% for Japan and 25% for South Korea, among many others. These individualized tariffs will take effect April 9. He also said there would be a baseline tariff of 10% for any foreign products, which began earlier this morning. Trump also announced a 25% tariff on all foreign-made vehicles.

Wisconsin Democrats criticized the announcement.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin denounced Trump’s focus on tariffs at a press conference ahead of the announcement.

“While nobody but Donald Trump knows precisely what these tariffs will look like, I know enough to know that these tariffs will hurt our farmers and our manufacturers, and will jack up our prices on hardworking families across Wisconsin,” Baldwin said.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, said the tariffs would lead to “economic uncertainty.”

“Tariffs are a legitimate policy tool when designed to support American industries and workers,” Moore said on X. “But Trump’s haphazard approach is escalating tensions with our trading partners, risking raised prices.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, slammed Trump’s tariffs for raising costs for Americans.

“There are reasons to have tariffs,” Pocan said in a statement to WisPolitics. “If someone’s dumping cheap steel in this country, we should put tariffs on them to support the American workers and the industry. But that’s not what these are. These are across-the-board tariffs that at the end of the day will drive up prices for American consumers.”

Republicans expressed trust in Trump.

U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said he wished the tariffs weren’t necessary, but he “trusts” that Trump’s policies will benefit the American people.

“I wish it hadn’t reached this point, but President Trump has made it clear that countries have been taking advantage of the United States for too long, resulting in an erosion of American jobs to foreign countries — which is unacceptable,” Fitzgerald said in a statement to WisPolitics. “I stand with him in the fight to get fair trade agreements for the United States.”

U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, praised Trump for putting America first with these tariffs. He emphasized that companies can do business in the U.S. to avoid tariffs.

“President Trump has made it clear with these reciprocal tariffs that we will no longer allow other countries to take advantage of us,” Wied said in a statement to WisPolitics. “His goal is simple: to bring jobs and manufacturing back to our country and open up foreign markets to American products.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, also expressed support for Trump’s tariffs.

“If they impose tariffs on us, we will impose tariffs on them,” Tiffany said on X. “President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs will bring back FAIR trade and put American workers FIRST.”

See more from the WisPolitics DC Wrap.

— Ag and conservation groups are backing a bipartisan bill to provide grants for farmers to use grass-based managed grazing practices, saying the proposal would be a win-win for Wisconsin farmers and the environment.

Managed grazing involves regularly moving livestock between separated areas of pasture to feed. The method helps prevent soil compaction and erosion while improving water quality and ensuring grass isn’t exhausted through feeding.

Co-authors Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, introduced the bill for the first time last session, but it didn’t see a floor vote in either chamber.

James at yesterday’s Senate Agriculture and Revenue hearing said farmers have had to scale down their operations in Wisconsin, keeping cattle in barns rather than roaming in fields, in order to compete. He said SB 113 would help change that.

“These grants would help Wisconsin move back to the forage-based systems Wisconsin became famous for while remaining competitive in the modern world and being good stewards to the environment,” James said.

SB 113 would create a pilot program under the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The program would offer grants of up to $40,000 over three years to help farmers implement managed grazing systems while also offering technical and other assistance. The proposal would create one half-time position at DATCP to support the program and provide resources for farmers.

Thorp dairy farmer Amy Penterman said managed grazing helps reduce input costs, including for feed and fuel, while improving soil health and water quality.

She also said the bill would help open new revenue opportunities for farmers, such as dairy farmers like herself, who start beef operations to supplement their income as milk prices fluctuate.

“With growing interest among dairy farmers in raising beef cattle, many of us could use managed grazing systems to transition acres for beef production, helping to meet this demand while diversifying revenue streams,” Penterman said. “Additionally, large dairies could utilize grazing for the young stock and dry heifers, reducing the cost of raising replacements while promoting healthier animals through a more natural environment.”

See more from the hearing at WisPolitics.

— Researchers with Marshfield Clinic Health System are entering the second year of an effort to study tickborne diseases in Wisconsin, including those newly introduced by ticks coming from warmer climates.

The health system’s Marshfield Clinic Research Institute is asking state residents to send in ticks they find as well as information on if they’ve ever been diagnosed with a tickborne illness, such as Lyme disease.

The institute last year launched the Tick Inventory via Citizen Science, or TICS project, which received more than 6,000 ticks in 2024 that were submitted from nearly every county in the state. Of that number, about 70% were the American dog tick, also called the wood tick. Most of the rest were the blacklegged, or deer tick, which are smaller and more likely to carry certain diseases.

Along with the most common illness they transmit, Lyme disease, deer ticks can also pass on pathogens that cause other diseases. Researchers last year identified an increase in the number of ticks coming from warmer areas, such as the lone star tick and Brown dog ticks.

“With new tick species becoming more prevalent in Wisconsin, the risk for potential newly introduced diseases increases,” MCRI Executive Director Jennifer Meece said in a statement. “We are trying to determine the extent and significance of this spread and the potential health effects.”

The institute is offering pre-paid collection kits to participants willing to send in ticks, providing them in-person at the George Mead Wildlife Area Education Center near Marshfield, Castlerock Veterinary in Marshfield and other MCHS locations. Kits containing a collected tick, either dead or alive, can be sent in by mail.

The kits include survey questions on precautions being taken against ticks, past diagnoses with related diseases and willingness to engage with the institute on possible future studies.

Meece says tickborne diseases are “complex to diagnose” and sometimes hard to treat as well.

“Having a better understanding of the people affected can better help us in future research,” she said.

See the release.

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