(WisBusiness) WED News Summary — 11 Mar. 2009

From WisBusiness.com …

— A group that likes the state’s Depression-era minimum markup law vows to keep fighting in the courts.

That’s according to Matt Hauser of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, which represents a lot of mom-and-pop gas stations around the state. The group said Tuesday that it plans to continue its effort to overturn a federal judge’s ruling that minimum mark-up is unconstitutional. That comes after the state’s attorney general, J.B. Van Hollen, said he’ll pass on the option of an appeal.

The group has also asked U.S. Judge Rudolph Randa to reconsider his decision. Hauser said the group hopes to receive a decision from Randa on both fronts next week. If those requests are denied, an appeal is planned in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We will keep fighting in the courts,” Hauser said.

Gov. Jim Doyle supports Van Hollen’s decision to not appeal the federal ruling.

“I think it’s an outdated law,” Doyle said Tuesday, noting that only a few states have similar statutes.

— The worst national employer survey since 1982 saw similar results in Wisconsin, a Manpower executive said.

“In the Madison area, 12 percent of the firms plan to increase staff, 12 percent plan to decrease, and the rest plan to remain the same,” Manpower U.S. Marketing Vice President Mark Metzendorf said Tuesday. “They zero each other out.”

It was even worse in greater Milwaukee. “In the Milwaukee area 12 percent plan of firms polled planned increases, 16 percent decreases, and the rest plan to remain the same, for a negative 4 percent demand for jobs,” he told the monthly meeting of the Madison International Trade Association.

Metzendorf said the “world of work has changed as we make our way through the economic mess we find ourselves in now.”

See more from Metzendorf: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.Iml?Article=151659

— Sportsman’s Warehouse has announced the closing of two Wisconsin locations, one in De Pere and one in New Berlin. Both locations are expected to close in May, affecting a total of 125 employees.

See the state filings: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.Iml?Article=151793

— Berntsen Foundry in Madison has filed notice with the state about a temporary layoff of unknown duration affecting 57 employees.

See the state filing: http://www.wisbusiness.com/1008/large/090310berntsen.pdf

— A crowd of over 500 farmers from across the state is expected in Madison today for Ag Day at the Capitol, where farmers meet with their legislators to inform them about the state’s $51 billion agriculture industry.

State Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink, D-Milladore, and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, who chair the agriculture committees in each house of the Legislature, will address Ag Day attendees. Joining them will be Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen.

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HOW THE FEDERAL STIMULUS AFFECTS WISCONSIN, WITH GARY WOLTER

Thursday, MARCH 12, 2009

11:45 a.m. at the Madison Club

The event is open to the public, and the price for lunch is $15 for WisPolitics.com subscribers and Madison Club members, $19 for the general public. Call the Madison Club to register at (608) 255-4861. The luncheons start at 11:45 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m.

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