From WisBusiness.com …
– Midwest Airlines shouldn’t need to trim routes any further or lay off any more employees if jet fuel prices remain stable, Tim Hoeksema, the company’s president and CEO says.
Last week, Midwest announced it will furlough 109, including 35 pilots and cut service by 2.5 percent. And earlier today, oil prices broke new records, topping out at more than $117 after a rocket attack on a Japanese tanker in the Mideast and turmoil in Nigeria.
Hoeksema, speaking to television newsman Mike Gousha on his Up Front program, said these are “tumultuous times” for the airline industry. He noted that four companies have stopped flying in recent weeks and another has filed for bankruptcy protection.
But he predicted Midwest would be able to weather the storm. He also said a proposed merger between Delta and Northwest would not affect Midwest service to Milwaukee.
“That won’t have any bearing on Midwest,” noting that the biggest worry for his airline are rapidly escalating fuel prices and an economy that is teetering on recession.
See the interview on Midwest Airlines and other segments of “UpFront with Mike Gousha”
http://www.wisn.com/upfront/15937885/detail.html
— Wisconsin’s first statewide sustainable business conference will be held in Ashland later this month. Event officials hope it will draw as many as 150 people to learn how to operate businesses in ways that are both environmentally and socially responsible and profitable.
The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Conference is slated to take place at Northland College April 24-25. It is to be followed by a post-conference event on April 26 designed to explore the growing eco-municipality movement taking place in Wisconsin.
For further information about the conference, contact the Alliance for Sustainability office at (715) 682-1189 or email info@wisustainablebusiness.org
— Manpower Inc. is reporting first quarter net earnings of $75.5 million, or 94 cents per share, up 27 percent from $59.5 million, or 69 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The downtown Milwaukee-based staffing company’s quarterly revenues rose to $5.4 billion, up 19 percent from a year earlier.
Results for the first quarter were favorably affected by 14 cents per share as foreign currencies were relatively stronger compared with the first quarter of 2007. On a constant currency basis, revenues increased 8 percent over the prior year period.
See story: http://www.biztimes.com/daily/2008/4/18/#cheap-dollar-propels-manpowers-earnings
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Press Releases
Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center Installs the Country’s Second-Largest Hyperbaric Chamber
Governor Doyle Recognizes Fifteen Governor’s New Product Award Recipients
Governor Doyle to Kick-Off DreamBikes Grand Opening
Harley-Davidson Reports First Quarter Results
Kalahari Resorts Continues to Lead the Hotel Industry With Innovative ‘Green’ Operations
Manpower Reports 1st Quarter 2008 Results
PSC Commissioner Celebrates Earth Day by Presenting Antigo with Excellence in Energy Efficiency Award
Record Gas Prices Could Be Worse
Renaissance Learning, Inc. Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend
U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 17
Walk-To-Work Housing: Historic Brewery Anchors Re-Emerging Neighborhood
Wisconsin Public Service Inks Agreement to Negotiate for 500 Megawatts of Manitoba Hydro Electricity
For these and more releases visit http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Content=82
TOP STORIES
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Mortgage insurer regroups: MGIC launches rebuilding effort after recent losses… Like a homeowner recovering from an earthquake, MGIC Investment Corp. has been forced into a major rebuilding job. But just as with the homeowner, MGIC can control only part of the project. The major question looming over it is what will happen with external factors. The earthquake that hit the Milwaukee company last year was caused by shifts in the nation’s real estate and credit markets brought on by problems with subprime mortgages. That sent strong tremors through MGIC, the nation’s largest mortgage insurance company. The tremors toppled the proposed acquisition of a rival, sent MGIC’s stock plunging and caused the company to lose more than $1 billion in the final quarter of 2007.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741189
Tomo shares plummet on negative report: Shares of Madison-based TomoTherapy plunged by nearly a third in early trading today after the company lowered its earning predictions for 2008, citing a shift in customer orders to the second half of the year and early 2009. The company, which makes a radiation therapy device for treating cancers, said Thursday it expects earnings between 14 cents and 33 cents per share for the year, down from previous predictions of 34 cents to 39 cents per share. The company now expects full-year revenue between $255 million and $290 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 36 cents per share on revenue of $302.5 million.
http://www.madison.com/tct/business/282175
Hydropower: Technological know-how builds area’s stature as hub of water industry… Some people talk about Big Oil, Big Banks, Big Pharma. “I’m in Big Water,” says Tom Pokorsky, a veteran of the technology race to supply safe and affordable water to parched and polluted parts of the world. Pokorsky has watched the water technology industry grow up around him since long before it became a $425 billion-a-year global market. One by one, he saw aging metalworking companies in his hometown of Milwaukee reinvent themselves using the science of clean water. “They ended up selling technology instead of metal,” said Pokorsky, a 55-year-old civil engineer.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741188
Magnetek to appeal patent infringement ruling: $23.4 million penalty was upheld Wednesday by federal court… Magnetek Inc. said Thursday it will appeal a $23.4 million patent infringement ruling that was upheld Wednesday by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The lawsuit, brought by plaintiff Ole K. Nilssen, was originally filed in 2005. The suit charged that the Menomonee Falls-based maker of digital power and motion control systems had violated patents for certain types of electronic ballasts. Magnetek still owes nearly $22 million from the judgment, it said in a statement. The company generated revenue of $103.8 million during the fiscal year ended July 1.
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2008/April_08/04182008_08.asp
Hospital tax may be dumped: Democrats may be ready to jettison their demands for a proposed hospital tax, one of the key sticking points over a deal to fix the broken state budget, leaders said. A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, one of the strongest supporters of the proposed tax, said Friday that it would be difficult to win over Assembly Republicans who adamantly oppose it. “I don ‘t think they ‘re going to be able to go there, ” Carrie Lynch said of GOP lawmakers. “We ‘re working to keep (the hospital tax) included but at the end of the day, I don ‘t think we can hold up the entire budget process for it either.” The $416 million hospital tax, favored by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Senate Democrats, lies at the heart of how to resolve a projected $527 million state budget shortfall.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/282362
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WISBUSINESS FEATURED COLUMNISTS
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– TOM BURZINSKI: IT executive and consultant
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TECHNOLOGY (back to top)
– Google profits climb 30% to surpass analyst views
http://www.madison.com/tct/business/282138
– Gateway working to become first college in country to train geothermal installers
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/04/21/money/doc480a88fd37fb8784590743.txt
BIOTECH (back to top)
– She pulled off 2 big disease findings
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/282360
– Flambeau fails to win grant
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741216
– State Corn Growers: Ethanol is Not Causing Food Price Hikes
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=490&yr=2008
– House built by students on display at Earth Day fair
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/282387
ECONOMY (back to top)
– Gasoline prices set new records
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/APC0101/804210410/1979/APCnews
– QPS staffing company acquires local N.E.W.
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/APC03/804210396/1028
– Manpower 1Q profit up on favorable foreign currency exchange
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/04/19/wi/9wi19.txt
– Managers look past nervous U.S. consumers for gains abroad
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741204
– Tosa firm gets fund off ground
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741201
MANUFACTURING (back to top)
– Recycling pays dividends for company
http://www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/MAN0101/804210440/1984
– Strattec sales, profits drop on cutback in auto production
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/04/14/daily53.html?surround=lfn
LABOR (back to top)
– State technical college grad income on the rise
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/282330
– Many state government employees earn more than Gov. Doyle
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/politics/politics_front.asp
SMALL BUSINESS (back to top)
– Wiscontrepreneurs: UW students compete to transform trash
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/282322
– The Cookery goes eco-friendly
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/GPG03/804210481/1247/GPGbusiness
INVESTING (back to top)
– TomoTherapy lowers outlook for 2008
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/04/14/daily51.html?surround=lfn
REAL ESTATE (back to top)
– Hotels, condos could be at heart of Falls redevelopment
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=740307
– Two office buildings proposed for Bassett area
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/282385
– City housing prices defy national trends
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/OSH/304210018/1987
AGRIBUSINESS (back to top)
– State Food Prices Continue to Show Steady Incline in 2008
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=489&yr=2008
– State & National Milk Production Up in March
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=491&yr=2008
– AgSource Honors Members During Annual Meeting
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=492&yr=2008
TRANSPORTATION (back to top)
– Manager: Airline merger won’t hurt CWA
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/CWS0101/804200524/1980
– Menasha considers State 114 enhancements
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/APC0101/804210383/1979/APCnews
RETAIL (back to top)
– Bear Paw Outdoor Adventure Resort reopens
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/GPG0101/804210517/1207/GPGnews
REGULATION (back to top)
– Pier exemption ‘grandfathers’ many large structures
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/APC0101/804210405/1979/APCnews
– Officials ‘not sold yet’ on intersection cameras
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/GPG0101/804210499/1207/GPGnews
TOURISM (back to top)
– Historic inn to bite dust
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/282364
– Filming begins today at Little Bohemia Lodge
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/WDH0101/804210381/1581/WDHnews
UTILITIES (back to top)
– Suit over well could be precedential
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/282363
– WPS Corp. building wind farm in Iowa
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/04/21/wi/06wis21.txt
– Judge dismisses wind farm case
http://www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/MAN0101/804200408/1984
HEALTH CARE (back to top)
– Autism diagnoses on rise
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/MNH0101/804210465/1980
– Having faith in Franklin
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741205
– Wisconsin health system should reconsider dental services
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/front/topstory11.asp
FINANCIAL SERVICES (back to top)
– Family Care program concerns nonprofits
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/OSH0101/804210351/1987
– Bank Mutual 1Q income rises
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/04/14/daily52.html?surround=lfn
MANAGEMENT (back to top)
– Former K-C employee finds new niche at IPS
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/GPG03/804210485/1247/GPGbusiness
– Forbes: Milwaukee Brewers value moves up ranks
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/04/14/daily54.html?surround=lfn
– Lakeview buys majority of Chicago firm
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/04/14/daily56.html?surround=lfn
– Forestry dropout a natural financier
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741191
BUSINESS COLUMNS (back to top)
– Tom Saler: Signs of hope, but there’s recovery work to be done
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741203
– John Torinus: McCain gets an earful on realities of free trade
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=741187
– Ray Unger: Capturing growth in riskier emerging markets
http://www.madison.com/tct/business/282139
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