FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Katie Kollhoff Mouat, the Water Council; Evers creates online portal for fired federal workers

March 28, 2025

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Katie Kollhoff Mouat, director of innovation programs for the Water Council.

The group recently announced the latest cohort of companies taking part in its BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator program, which helps startups ramp up development of their water-related technologies.

Kollhoff Mouat shares an overview of the program and its latest group of participants, discussing the importance of driving innovation across sectors where water is heavily used.

BREW 2.0 — which stands for Business, Research and Entrepreneurship in Water — is meant for entrepreneurs that have already gone through early-stage business development processes and have gone to market. The hybrid virtual and in-person program is “really focused on expert-led sales and growth training” for water tech companies.

“It is crucial to be driving innovation, especially in the water space, because it is such a ubiquitous resource and the problems are global but also deeply local,” she said. “We focus on water innovation in freshwater, because we’re here in the Great Lakes region … all of us in these communities feel deeply the impacts of challenges to the water.”

That can include issues around water quality and quantity, as well as climate resilience and contaminants such as PFAS, she explained. The BREW 2.0 program has strong ties to industry partners of the Water Council, that are interested in the next stages of innovation within their own industries.

“What’s at the forefront, and how can we help those innovations see the light of day?” Kollhoff Mouat said.

Company leaders that join the program participate in tailored sessions with subject matter experts, ranging from branding and marketing to water-specific sales and legal considerations when growing a company and expanding internationally.

“We have participants from six different countries participating in the BREW, and so, there’s really an opportunity to look at what it means to be not only a growing company, but a global company as well,” she said.

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

See an earlier story on the latest BREW 2.0 cohort here, which includes details on participating companies.

— Gov. Tony Evers has announced a portal for federal workers who have been fired as part of President Donald Trump’s cuts through DOGE. The portal features links to job sites and information about virtual job fairs.

Evers condemned Trump for “gutting” federal programs and attempting to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.

“The Trump Administration’s mass firings across the federal government in flagrant violation of the law have created undo chaos and confusion for tens of thousands of federal employees—employees who only wanted to do their best for the families and communities they were tasked to serve,” the governor said in a release. “These actions are not only harmful to our workforce, but they are harmful to the folks who have lost critical and trusted support systems in accessing the programs and resources they rely on each day,”

Evers added that he wants these workers to be welcome in Wisconsin.

“But here in Wisconsin, hard work is in our DNA, and anyone who is interested in bringing that same commitment to the job is welcome in our state. We are hopeful that these systems can help bring dedicated and talented workers to Wisconsin state government and communities across the state.”

The portal includes links to sites for jobs around Wisconsin and in the state government. Evers also announced eight new virtual job fairs in April.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, chair of Wisconsin’s version of DOGE, the Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency Committee, criticized the announcement on X.

“Tony Evers is so committed to growing government that he’s now trying to import the DC Swamp to Wisconsin,” Nedweski said on X. “We need to be focused on eliminating government waste, not expanding the bureaucracy and making government more efficient.”

— Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remains at 3.2%, which is lower than the national average of 4.1%, according to February data released by the Department of Workforce Development.

There are three million total nonfarm jobs in the state, which is down 5,300 over the month, but 3,700 over the year, according to February preliminary estimates.

Scott Hodek, an economist at DWD, told media in a briefing yesterday that the takeaway from the initial data is that job numbers have somewhat moderated in early 2025, but the state’s employment numbers are still historically high.

Hodek said it is still too early to tell if national economic fluctuations due to a new administration and specific policies like tariffs will have an impact on Wisconsin jobs. He also said it’s too early to measure the impact of mass federal firings on the state.

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TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Dairy Foundation Auction Raises $50K for Dairy Education

– Farmers, ag professionals visit Wisconsin legislators

EDUCATION

– Five years after COVID: Schools still trying to make up for students’ learning loss

HEALTH CARE

– 18 states have reported measles cases. Is Wisconsin one of them?

– First-term state representative urges Wisconsin to match Minnesota’s medical reimbursement rates

INVESTING