Vos’ popcorn company one of thousands of Wisconsin companies that received...
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ popcorn company received a loan of at least $150,000, one of thousands that went to Wisconsin businesses as...
WisBusiness: The Podcast features David Clark, Marquette University economist, Wisconsin Realtors Association consultant
This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features David Clark, economics professor at Marquette University and a consultant to the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
The WRA’s monthly analysis showed that statewide, home sales fell since last May but home prices went up. That was the case broken down regionally as well. And while the nation is in a recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark noted in the report that this one might be different from past recessions such as in 2008.
“What’s different this time is our inventories are not high… so prices are unlikely to fall,” Clark said. “The other thing that is somewhat different is mortgage rates were not at record low levels at the beginning of the Great Recession… we are now at historic lows for 30-year fixed rate mortgages.”
Since Wisconsin’s economy opened up sooner than other states, he suspects that it will generate activity at a more rapid pace than states that are still locked down. But Clark noted that the national economy is the main driver.
“As long as we’re in a recession, that’s going to dampen housing activity,”...
WisBusiness: The Podcast with Eric Borgerding, Wisconsin Hospital Association
This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Eric Borgerding, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
The state Department of Health Services will distribute $40 million in aid to Wisconsin hospitals by the second week of July. Funds stem from the CARES Act coronavirus relief package to make up for the lost revenue and increased expenses from the pandemic.
While the $40 million is greatly appreciated among Wisconsin hospitals and WHA, Borgerding said he hopes the door is open for more. He estimates that losses number $2.5 billion in lost revenue.
“We’re grateful for $40 million from the state, we truly are, but in the context of things, that’s about a day's worth of lost net revenue to our health system,” he said.
And that loss is expected to continue week after week, diminishing over time, but still stacking up. Borgerding attributes the continuing loss to low public confidence in going to the hospital and a shifting payer mix.
“It's kind of a one-two punch on healthcare right now,” Borgerding said.
He explained that hospitals, doctors and...
WisBusiness: The Podcast with Dan Costello, director and president of Forward 4 Families
This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Dan Costello, director and president of Forward 4 Families, a public/private partnership creating a framework to centralize food options and provide no-contact delivery to keep communities safe.
The 2020-founded, Madison-based organization stands on four pillars: meet a core need, which is to get food and supplies to people during the COVID-19 pandemic; slow the viral spread; provide doorstep delivery; and support the local economy by helping local businesses keep their doors open and employees working.
“We figured out it was a much larger issue, that it spends a lot more than just restaurant food and feeding people,” said Costello. “We unearthed that there is a whole food supply chain problem that spans the entire breadth of everybody who is in the complete ability to eat out every day to people who just can’t. There is one fundamental truth across all of these groups. They need to get food to their homes in a safe way.”
Costello is also the founder and CEO of Acumium, which helps businesses scale and grow through digital enablements. The core of Acumium is to help...
WisBusiness: The Podcast with Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at UW-Madison
This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at UW-Madison.
America’s Dairyland has faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding to an uneasy past few years of trade dilemmas, oversupply of milk and tariffs.
“Dairy producers have become used to having ups and downs in dairy prices,” said Stephenson. “But this time, we’ve had almost five years of downturn that’s been much more persistent than what they’re prepared for.”
Stephenson said there is light at the end of the tunnel for the state’s dairy industry as restaurants that can now start reopening will begin buying dairy products again.
“Sales of beverage milk has been well up as a result of that, cheese sales have been strong too, and I think all of that is to the good,” he said.
But while that is something to look forward to, Stephenson warned the pandemic isn’t over yet, and neither are the economic consequences that could continue to challenge the dairy industry.
“Even as we crawl out of the pandemic itself, we’re going to...
WisBusiness: The Podcast with Deb Archer, president and CEO of Destination Madison
This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Deb Archer, president and CEO of Destination Madison.
Destination Madison’s work “changed dramatically” in early March when WIAA state basketball was cancelled. That was the beginning of calls from several special events asking to reschedule that the tourism department had to triage.
Archer said Destination Madison also had to adjust its marketing message to “get people dreaming about what they can do when the time is right.”
“We’re really excited about some of the strategies we’re putting into place and we’re ready to rev that engine,” she said of tourism coming out of the pandemic.
Archer will also be a panelist at the 2020 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference put on by the Wisconsin Technology Council on June 4. The virtual event will focus on COVID-19 economic survival, recovery and prosperity for young companies during a ‘new normal.’
She will be lending her expertise to entrepreneurs on what elements of the COVID-19 pandemic will remain and how companies can capitalize.
“Some new trends have been disrupted by all of this and some new...
