WED AM News: Innovation can come from anywhere, Tech Council panelists say; Wisconsin joins multi-state effort to challenge Trump spending order

January 29, 2025

— As major companies in the state seek to advance and leverage new technologies, panelists at a Wisconsin Technology Council event stressed that innovation can come from anywhere.

Speaking yesterday at the Tech Council luncheon in Madison, Rockwell Automation Innovation Program Manager Krystal Thibault said organizing events like hackathons and innovation challenges can lead to valuable breakthroughs. But she noted the company environment has to be welcoming of new ideas for them to flourish.

“I think it happens in small and large ways,” she said. “Be creative. Build psychological safety and trust within teams, and really cool things start to happen.”

Steve Nieland, vice president of software engineering and controls for Faith Technologies incorporated in Menasha, said the electrical systems business has a monthly innovation awards program. This effort solicits ideas from employees across the company and offers monetary incentives, and is paired with technology incubators as a more structured approach to innovation.

He said providing an idea for the incubator — even one that doesn’t go anywhere — is rewarded with $50. But if the employee’s idea is selected for implementation, that jumps to $2,500.

“Within my team, there’s an expectation that I want you to spend between 10% to 20% of your time playing with technology,” he said. “Find something that you’re interested in, find something that you like to learn more about, and play with that. Spend some time and we’ll grow from that.”

Sharing useful findings with the rest of the team is a critical piece of that process, he added, as some ideas end up being applicable in a different part of the business. He also said the company tries to involve the person who had the idea with its application, whether that’s an experienced researcher or new apprentice.

“If it’s field personnel, we pair them with the engineer, and they’ll work with the engineer to develop their idea,” he said.

Similarly, doctors at UW Health will often develop new ways to tackle hands-on problems in their daily work, and the health system’s innovation-focused Isthmus Project works to commercialize these and other technologies. That’s according to Elizabeth Hagerman, the project’s executive director.

“We’ll see a lot of clinicians who, in their own practice, don’t like the tools that they have available to them … maybe it’s a software program, maybe it’s a physical, surgical implement,” she said, adding nurses, researchers and even guest services staff have come up with new innovations.

Sara Mann, vice president of commercial excellence at Promega, said “innovation is at the core of everything that we do” for the Madison-based scientific products manufacturer. She and other panelists underlined the importance of getting buy-in from leadership for innovation initiatives.

“We like to give people space and time, so our R&D team does this really well,” she said yesterday. “They have what’s called individual justified research, so they can work on any project that is interesting to them for a certain amount of time, as long as it’s legal, and that has actually led to some really cool, innovative projects.”

She described one example, a scientific test called a kinase glow assay — spearheaded by one of Promega’s researchers.

“It actually seemed like it was a challenging business model, but we had one scientist who truly believed in it and actually championed it, and leadership listened,” she said. “A lot of it comes down to leadership, and who believes in you … And it actually still continues to be one of our highest selling products.”

Watch the video at WisconsinEye.

— The Tech Council is touting higher rates of women taking part in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, which has a Friday deadline to enter this year’s competition.

Yesterday’s release notes 30% of contest entries over the past nine years came from women. Over that period, 155 of the 556 semi-finalists and 86 of 247 finalists were women.

“There is still a long way to go before women are starting companies at the same rate as men, but the rise of women who enter and perform well in the Business Plan Contest is a healthy sign,” Tech Council President Tom Still said in a statement.

The group is highlighting a number of female grand prize winners in recent years: Laura King of Elucent Medical in 2014; Katie Brenner of bluDiagnostics, 2015; Patricia Wooldridge and Brent Brenner of GrowthChart Records, 2019; Jackie Hind of Plumb Pharmaceuticals, 2020; Paige Peters of Rapid Radicals, 2022; and Katy Jinkins of SixLine Semiconductor, 2023.

See the release.

Get more contest information and apply here.

— The California AG has announced Wisconsin is one of 23 states suing to block implementation of a directive by the Trump administration to freeze certain federal spending as it reviews whether the outlays are in line with the president’s agenda.

The attorneys general are seeking a temporary restraining order to block the memo from taking effect, warning of immediate harm to their states. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., yesterday temporarily blocked the freeze on existing programs until Monday afternoon.

Earlier yesterday, Dem Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter to President Donald Trump seeking a delay in the directive, warning it could have “disastrous consequences” for Wisconsin.

The order, released late Monday and originally slated to take effect yesterday afternoon, seeks a freeze on all federal grants and loans with exceptions for Social Security, Medicare and “payments to individuals.” The order has sent government and other officials scrambling as they try to measure the impact.

Evers wrote in his letter that the spending has already been approved in federal law and while “we may disagree on many issues, we should be able to agree that following the law is critically important.”

“With very few details and specifics available, virtually no time for ample review and consideration, and no direct communication to date, states are left to plan for the worst, and Wisconsinites and millions of Americans who are rightfully alarmed and concerned by this unprecedented decision are left scrambling,” Evers wrote.

See more at WisPolitics.

— The MMAC has announced a new coalition of economic development groups and others to lobby against an EPA air quality classification change, arguing the move puts “undue costs” on companies in southeastern Wisconsin.

The group yesterday said the federal agency’s recent move to change the region’s ozone nonattainment classification from moderate to serious will force businesses to “implement costly and burdensome changes” to meet the new requirements.

Dale Kooyenga, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, argues more than 90% of the responsible emissions came from outside Wisconsin. The release points to pollutants coming from Illinois and Indiana.

“While we fully support measures to achieve cleaner air embedded in the law, the reclassification does not address the root cause of elevated ozone levels,” Kooyenga said in a statement.

Under the change, businesses in Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties as well as parts of Washington, Waukesha, Racine, Sheboygan and Kenosha counties would have to implement “stricter” emission controls and permitting requirements. This comes as ozone concentrations along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline have fallen 22% over the past 20 years, MMAC notes.

Along with the MMAC, other coalition members include Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, The New North, Waukesha County Business Alliance, Kenosha Area Business Alliance, Racine County Economic Development Corp., Sheboygan County Economic Development Corp., Sheboygan Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Association of REALTORS Wisconsin.

The announcement notes these members are working with a “bipartisan group” of state lawmakers to seek an enforcement delay and amendment to the Clean Air Act, though the legislators aren’t named in the release.

— Republican lawmakers are circulating legislation that would allow physician assistants and advanced practice nurses to serve as medical advisors to local health officers.

Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger, and Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, recently sent a co-sponsorship memo to other lawmakers with a deadline of noon today.

It references 2021 Wisconsin Act 192, which allowed physician assistants, advanced practice nurses or both to be appointed to a local health board “if a good faith effort could not locate” a willing doctor or registered nurse. The lawmakers argue that change was “necessary,” as local boards of health often struggle to find willing doctors or nurses to fill the role.

But nearly three years later, “one issue remains unresolved,” authors wrote. Under state law, only a physician can serve as a medical advisor to the local health officer — physician assistants or advanced practice nurses can’t serve in that role, according to the memo.

Medical advisors serving in this capacity provide consultations, technical help and advice related to diseases, human health hazards and more, according to an overview from the state Department of Health Services.

The bill from Gundrum and Cabral-Guevara is meant to be a trailer bill to the earlier law, enabling PAs or advanced practice nurses to be medical advisors for the local health officer. It would also allow a PA or advanced practice nurse to supervise immunization programs for school districts or local health departments.

“If a county cannot find a willing physician to serve on the board of health, what is the possibility they will find one to serve as the medical advisor? … LRB-0737 provides an important update to State Statute to ensure all local health protocols are executed efficiently and without delay,” authors wrote.

Find the memo here.

— Dr. John Raymond, president and CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin, plans to step down from his leadership role in June 2026.

The college yesterday announced the leadership transition, which comes after Raymond has spent more than 14 years leading MCW. He plans to remain a part of the college’s faculty after stepping down.

“My years of leadership at MCW have given me tremendous fulfillment, and I am deeply grateful for the trust, support, and collaboration that I have enjoyed throughout my tenure here,” he said in a statement.

The MCW Board of Trustees plans to start searching for Raymond’s successor in the coming months.

See the release.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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