(WisBusiness) WED News Summary — 12 Nov. 2008

From WisBusiness.com …

— TomoTherapy’s CEO says recent stockholder lawsuits against the company are, “most likely some lawyer trying to make some money.”

Thomas “Rock” Mackie, CEO of the successful medical tech start-up, said Tuesday that “shareholder suits arise when stock prices fall, common for all companies,” scoffing at the notion that it was a serious threat to his company,

“There have been 6,000 in last decade, only four have gone to court, and end up being a way for law firms to get money from insurance companies,” he said.

TomoTherapy, founded by Mackie in 1997 when Waukesha-based General Electric Medical decided to leave the radiotherapy business, has become a multi-million dollar enterprise with a three-building campus in Madison’s west-side University Research Park.

Mackie spoke as part of the Smith & Gesteland Executive Speaker Series sponsored by Edgewood College at its west side business school location near Middleton.

Mackie offered business executives a variety of stories detailing his five rounds of fund-raising to get TomoTherapy off the ground. He offered a range of rules to promote creativity among staff in a highly technological setting. “Some of the best ideas come from unstructured Tomo meetings,”Mackie said.

Go to www.wisbusiness.com soon for more from Mackie’s talk

— Two companies have filed notice with the state regarding as many as 119 potential layoffs.

JW Peters in Burlington filed notice of plans to place as many as 89 workers on temporary layoff in January. While the company described the layoffs as temporary, it could not rule out the possibility that they may become permanent.

ACCO Brands filed notice that it plans to close its Pleasant Prairie plant, resulting in the permanent layoff of approximately 30 employees starting in January.

— A spokesman for a state utility watchdog said Tuesday’s unanimous Public Service Commission vote to deny a plan for a new coal-fired power plant was an out-of-the-ordinary win for his group, and could signal a change in direction for the PSC.

“We lose so often that I don’t know how to deal with it when we win,” said Charlie Higley, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board. “This is the first time they’ve ever turned down a power plant of this magnitude.”

Alliant Energy subsidiary Wisconsin Power & Light had applied to build a $1.3 billion coal and biomass power plant, called the Nelson Dewey plant, in Cassville.

“We’re very disappointed for the people of Cassville and the agricultural community out there who supported our plan to develop a biomass opportunity that is now lost,” said Rob Crain, spokesman for Alliant Energy. “We feel bad for the folks in the labor community in Cassville and the region who were looking to this project as a source of jobs and economic development.”

One PSC commissioner said the decision involved more than just the plant’s impact on the local community.

“Having attended the hearing in Cassville, I know how important this proposal is to the people of that community,” PSC commissioner Lauren Azar said afterwards. “However, a community’s desire for this plant cannot overcome the fact that the Nelson Dewey proposal is not cost effective, is inconsistent with Wisconsin’s energy priorities and does not provide the flexibility we need to deal with our uncertain energy future.”

Read more about the PSC’s 3-0 vote against the new plant: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=141231

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Nov. 18 in Milwaukee: STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN RECESSIONARY TIMES

**Register now for the Tues. Nov. 18 event at Discovery World in Milwaukee featuring past and present state Commerce secretaries.

“State Economic Development in Recessionary Times: A post-election look at where the state economy is heading.”

Sponsored by Quarles & Brady, Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and We Energies.

See more: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=138124

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NEXT CHECKPOINT SURVEY QUESTIONS DUE FRIDAY

Take advantage of an exclusive discount program for WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com Subscribers.

If you are a WisPolitics or WisBusiness subscriber, you’ll receive a 10 percent discount if you purchase two or more questions in the next monthly Checkpoint survey, a production of Wood Communications Group of Madison. That means the first question costs $900, and subsequent questions are $810 each.

The monthly “Checkpoint” survey of public opinion is a 500-person statewide random digit dial poll. The next survey is set to go into the field on Nov. 18.

Individual questions are due by Friday. Contact Kennan Wood at Wood Communications Group. Call 608-259-0757 or e-mail kwood@wcgpr.com

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THANKS TO OUR WISBUSINESS SPONSORS

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Madison Gas & Electric
• University Research Park
• Wisconsin Technology Council

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