(WisBusiness) FRI News Summary — 17 Oct. 2008

From WisBusiness.com …

— Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman announced Thursday that Wisconsin’s unemployment rate for September was 4.4 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from August. The national rate for September was 6.0, down 0.1 percentage point from August, and up 1.5 percentage points from September 2007.

“Wisconsin’s unemployment rate declined for the third consecutive month in September to 4.4 percent, following its usual season pattern,” Secretary Gassman said. “The September rate is well below the national rate of 6.0 percent. We are holding our own in these very challenging economic times at the national level. Our focus remains one of strengthening our workforce, assisting job seekers and connecting them with employers.”

See the DWD release: http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwd/newsreleases/2008/unemployment/0908_state_lmi.pdf

— Wisconsin has a long history of using wind-energy to pump water on the state’s plentiful farms and dairies — but not to produce electricity for the grid.

That changed a decade ago, when two big wind turbines were installed by four utilities near Green Bay as a demonstration project for the state’s Public Service Commission. The following year, 33 turbines went up in Fond du Lac and Kewaunee counties. And two years later, the Montfort project was built on land owned by several farmers east of Dodgeville. The project featured 20 GE wind turbines, producing 30 megawatts of energy.

Fast forward to 2008.

The state now has two more wind farms in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties that opened just this year. They are the 145-MW Blue Sky Green Field We Energies project and the 86-MW Forward Wind Energy Center near Horicon Marsh. Together, they can supply electricity to at least 50,000 homes.

Two more are under construction that will add another 122 MW this year for a total of 449 MW in the state. The industry is continuing to pick up speed with another 10 Wisconsin projects having received permits from state, local and federal agencies.

Read about the future of wind power in Wisconsin in a new interview with Michael Vickerman, head of RENEW Wisconsin, a 17-year-old group based in Madison that lobbies for wind, solar and other forms of clean energy: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=139165

— “Managing risk is really the key to success in business,” 3M corporate development manager Raymond B. Eby said Thursday, adding that “transparency is key to success in acquiring businesses in other countries.”

During a Thursday forum at Edgewood College, Eby discussed his experience in acquiring businesses in Latin America, Europe, and Africa, and the influence of local customs and traditions that pose risks for potential new owners.

A veteran acquisitions manager for the Minnesota-based 3M, Eby discussed the importance of business executives controlling the compliance of field operatives.

Read more about his address: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=139186

— Secretary Matt Frank of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and other officials gathered near the banks of Timber Coulee in Vernon County Thursday to announce a major increase in stream habitat restoration for 2009.

Seven local chapters of Trout Unlimited have been granted more than $800,000 in federal funds for 10 stream projects in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, one of the most popular fishing destinations in the United States. The grants are part of the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

These new projects – featuring a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to stream rehabilitation – will focus not only on trout, but on the habitat needs of frogs, turtles, snakes, birds and invertebrates, including several endangered species such as the Wood turtle and Blanding’s turtle.

“This is very important for this part of the state, and the state as whole,” Frank said. “Fishing is very important to our economy of not only this area, but the entire state.

“Wisconsin is second to Florida in the number of fishers from outside the state. Trout fishing is a big part of that in Wisconsin.”

Read more about the grants: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=139187

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