— The Department of Commerce and the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership today announced a joint venture to ramp up the number of state manufacturers that export their goods and services. Under the plan, WMEP and the Department of Commerce will combine their resources and expertise to help small and midsize manufacturers assess and develop their export potential. The effort will target manufacturers with outreach that includes personal contacts to manufacturers, public workshops and other communications aimed at building awareness, knowledge and capabilities. See details: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=171243 — New numbers released by the state show the jobless rate dropped in Wisconsin’s 12 metro areas between July and August. But the numbers also showed that all 12 metro areas had significantly higher unemployment rates than a year earlier. Janesville had the highest unemployment rate at 12 percent and Madison had the lowest rate, at just under six percent. See details: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=171162 — The Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association and members of the U.S. Cranberry Marketing Committee are hosting 18 trade representatives from 12 countries at the Gottschalk family cranberry marsh in Wisconsin Rapids. The international guests – from Australia, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Mexico, Japan and South Korea – are in Wisconsin cranberry country to learn about the fall cranberry harvest and different ways to promote cranberries in their individual countries, thus helping increase international exports of the state’s largest fruit crop. This visit comes as recent figures show that cranberry exports have increased by nearly 18 percent over last year See details: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=171173 — A Wisconsin expert says dairy prices have started to show signs of improvement. UW-Madison’s Bob Cropp says a price recovery hinges on a slowdown in milk production, which he says is starting to happen He says exports are also showing some improvement, which would help prices. See Cropp’s analysis: http://ecals.cals.wisc.edu/extension-outreach/2009/09/20/dairy-prices-begin-to-show-some-improvement/ ************************* TOP EXPERTS TO DISCUSS WIS. GREEN JOBS FUTURE “Green Jobs: Growing Wisconsin Employment” is part of a series of forums at Discovery World and aims to assess Wisconsin’s future in the green jobs market. The forum, sponsored by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, UW-Milwaukee, We Energies, Wisconsin Environmental Initiative and Johnson Controls, begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. Breakfast begins at 7:15 a.m. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will provide remarks about his city’s efforts to cultivate green jobs. Confirmed panelists include: The event is organized by WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com with the help of MMAC, Discovery World, and UW-Milwaukee. More sponsorship opportunities are available; contact Jim Greer at 608-237-6296 or greer@wispolitics.com. The event is open to the public, and the price is $30 per person. But WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com subscribers, members of the Wisconsin Academy, the UW-Milwaukee community, and members of MMAC and Discovery World are able to attend for $20 per person. The price includes the breakfast buffet but not parking. ************************* TOP STORIES
Kohl’s opening 37 stores; 30 in California: Kohl’s Department Stores is preparing for the Sept. 30 grand opening of 37 stores, including 30 in California. The store openings will create more than 5,200 jobs across six states, the Menomonee Falls-based retailer (NYSE: KSS) said. Jobless rate dips to 8.4% in state: Employment gains in the education and health sectors helped push down unemployment rates across the state. The state’s jobless rate for August was 8.4 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from July, but 3.8 percentage points higher than a year ago. Suit claims paper dumping: Appleton Coated LLC has joined two other paper firms and the United Steelworkers of America in filing petitions to investigate and offset what they view as costly, unfair trade practices by Chinese and Indonesian paper producers. Green Bay area is a hotbed of Subway suppliers: About 45 of the suppliers Subway uses for products ranging from retail packaging paper to cheese are from — or have operations in — the Green Bay area, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “This is probably the number one or number two (concentrated area we purchase from),” said Jan Risi, president and chief executive officer of Independent Purchasing Cooperative. Statewide hearings to address extending gun-deer hunt: The Natural Resources Board wants to hear what hunters think about extending the traditional November gun-deer hunt.
************************************************************ See commentary from around the state and columns from WisBusiness contributors Jennifer Sereno, Kevin McKinley, Tom Burzinski, Gregg Hoffmann, Tom Still and Steve Jagler: ************************************************************ TECHNOLOGY (back to top)
ECONOMY (back to top) – Venture capital firm brings investors to Madison forum
MANUFACTURING (back to top)
LABOR (back to top) – Milwaukee-area job losses set record
SMALL BUSINESS (back to top)
INVESTING (back to top) – Money manager denies fraud allegations
REAL ESTATE (back to top)
AGRIBUSINESS (back to top) – State hosting trade representatives for cranberry harvest – Pumpkins help farmers make ends meet
RETAIL (back to top) – New Pick ‘n Save store planned for Menomonee Falls – Mayor: stalled Pabst Farms retail plans likely to change
TOURISM (back to top)
UTILITIES (back to top) – Amcast site put on priority list for Superfund program
FINANCIAL SERVICES (back to top) – Proposal would eliminate ZIP codes as factor in Wisconsin car insurance rates
MANAGEMENT (back to top) PRESS RELEASES (back to top) For these and more releases visit http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Content=82 |
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