MADISON – The Business Resource Directory is now available online to help businesses
quickly search for resources throughout the University of Wisconsin System.
Compiled by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Corporate Relations, the
directory contains descriptions and contact information for business-related
services at the 13 four-year UW campuses and the UW-Extension, as well as business
contact information for the two-year UW colleges and Wisconsin’s technical colleges.
“Prior to this directory, there was no single place for businesses to find out who
to contact at the university to get assistance,” says Charles Hoslet, managing
director of the Office of Corporate Relations. Although the university system offers
a substantial amount of services, Hoslet says, “The challenge is finding it.”
“We have over 200 research centers and 20 career service offices alone at
UW-Madison, and for a business to figure out exactly where to search to have their
needs met is difficult,” Hoslet says. The online directory eliminates the need to
search each campus’s Web site by condensing them to one downloadable PDF file.
The UW System offers a variety of business resources, such as professional
development programs, small-business assistance and student recruiting information.
For instance, the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center at UW-Whitewater offers
companies market-based research for new products and inventions.
In addition to these programs, Hoslet says that the UW System offers expert faculty
and staff in nearly every field, from agriculture to engineering to health care, and
that companies can take advantage of these resources to understand the latest
changes and technologies to assist them.
Hoslet notes that the online directory is an updated version of the original
directory printed three years ago. He says the benefit of having an online resource
is that is can be updated at any time so “companies should always have access to the
most current information. You cannot do that with a printed piece.”
The directory is currently available at http://www.ocr.wisc.edu and
http://www.wisconsin.edu. It will soon be available on other campus Web sites as
well.
