NOTE: The news summary sent earlier this morning inadvertently included content from the Tuesday edition. The summary below has today’s content.
From WisBusiness.com …
— For a doctor, Craig Samitt has a rather bleak view of health care delivery in the United States.
“The industry is broken … and needs to be transformed,” said Samitt, who has been CEO of the Dean Health System for nearly 18 months. His aim is to shake up the delivery of medicine while improving service, holding down costs and improving efficiency and quality.
Samitt, who spoke Tuesday at a luncheon sponsored by WisBusiness.com, Madison Magazine and the Madison Club, said physicians don’t like it when he criticizes their reluctance to embrace technology or points out the high rate of health care errors.
“Why is our defect rate so much greater than any other industry?” asked Samitt, who said the health care is the only service business that doesn’t act like one.
But it’s worse than that, he continued.
“If we were an airline, two jets would crash every day at O’Hare, 12,000 pieces of mail would be lost per hour in the postal service and 35,000 bank checks would be drawn from the wrong person’s account,” he said.
“And if we had the medical defect rate overall in obstetrics and gynecology, 20 babies a day would be given to the wrong parents to take home.”
See story and listen to audio: http://wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=118039
— Delphi Electronics and Safety has notified state and local officials that it plans to close an Oak Creek plant and lay off 300 workers. The company said it will beging shutting down the facility in March and terminate the last employees by the end of October.
Delphi said some of the workers are represented by the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)Local 438. The company did not say if any of the employees have bumping rights.
The state Department of Workforce Development has already begun meeting with the affected employees. A state official said the department hopes to help the dislocated workers find new employment or update skills and training “so they can support themselves and their families.”
— Georgia-Pacific will invest $50 million to create a “state-of-the-art” recycling system that will retain high-paying, high-quality jobs in Wisconsin and greatly improve energy efficiency, Doyle announced Tuesday.
Doyle praised the move and noted that the company has been a national leader in recycling for more than 70 years, starting in the 1930s when its Broadway facility in Green Bay began collecting wastepaper and using recycled fibers to make tissue products.
Georgia Pacific, which employs 2,700 people in the Green Bay area, won’t receive any tax credits or grants for the new system, Doyle spokeswoman Jessica Erickson said.
See the release:
http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=117981
— Joe Pine, an internationally acclaimed author, speaker and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike, will be the keynote speaker at the CEO Strategies Breakfast.
The breakfast will kick off the fourth annual Small Business Times BizTech Expo on Wednesday, April 30, at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Pine is the co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings.
See story: http://www.biztimes.com/daily/2008/2/12/#business-author-will-kick-off-expo
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Press Releases
A Dozen Thanks: Midwest Airlines Offers Sale Fares on Travel Through June 11, 2008
Applied Tech Plans Seminar
Asian economic growth expert to speak at UW-Madison
Catheterized system wins annual engineering creativity prize
Conference looks to the future of interdisciplinary work on campus
Edgewood College Announces New Executive Education Program
Faculty conflict of interest issues probed at WARF gilson discovery series
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Lauds Inclusion of Taliesin, Taliesin West, Other Wright-Designed Buildings on U.S. World Heritage Tentative List
Governor Doyle Announces Georgia-Pacific Investment
Hoover Institution speaker coming to UW-Madison
Human Resource Experts Urge Wisconsin Legislators to Reject ‘No-Match’ Employment Verification Penalties
Poll of Wisconsin small-business owners shows support for healthcare reforms
Rep. Kind to Announce New Legislation to Help Small Businesses Offer Savings Plans to Employees
For these and more releases visit
http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Content=82
TOP STORIES
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GM offer appealing in Janesville: Hundreds of General Motors employees in Janesville are likely to take advantage of a buyout offer the automaker announced Tuesday, said Mike Sheridan, president of United Auto Workers Local 95. GM reported a $38.7 billion loss for 2007, prompting a new round of buyouts to all 74,000 of its hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers. While employees have mixed emotions about the downsizing, the timing is just right, Sheridan said. This spring, the Janesville plant ‘s production line making full-sized sport utility vehicles will slow from 52 an hour to 44 an hour, and that will translate into the loss of 300 to 400 positions, he said.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/272204
Related:
– GM offers more buyouts
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717526
– Janesville union expects hundreds will take buyout
http://www.gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2008/feb/13/janesville-union-expects-hundreds-will-take-buyout/
If arena’s built, team will follow; Hockey league president likes Cedar Creek plans : The president of the United States Hockey League on Tuesday confirmed plans to start a team in the Wausau area by 2009 if a group of investors follows through on plans to build a 4,000-seat ice arena in the Cedar Creek area in Rothschild. Preliminary designs for the $20 million facility meet all the league’s requirements, said Gino Gasparini, who sees Wausau as an up-and-coming community with the corporate base and demographics to support a franchise. The developmental team of players ages 16 to 20 would play 30 games a year at the 190,000-square-foot arena, which a spokesman for the project says will boast two sheets of ice and private suites and be a draw for large concerts and other events.
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/WDH0101/802130503/1581&located=RSS
Georgia-Pacific to upgrade recycling; Green Bay factory will cut waste, save money: Georgia-Pacific LLC said Tuesday it is spending $50 million on a new paper recycling system that will save energy, water and waste from its tissue mill on the west side of Green Bay. The company, which makes Angel Soft and Soft N’ Gentle toilet papers and So-Dri paper towels and Mardi Gras napkins, expects those products and others to improve with the new recycling system. The system will switch to an oxygen-based brightening process for the fibers from one that uses the chemical compound hypochlorite. The company has already begun demolishing parts of the old system and expects to employ 100 to 250 contractors over the next year. The project involves consolidating a six-part recycling system into a three-part system.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717506
Milwaukee airport facing mounting air traffic controller shortage: General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee is faced with a mounting air traffic controller shortage as the air space under the airport tower’s control is set to expand, union officials contended Tuesday. On Feb. 14, air traffic controllers at Mitchell will become responsible for what is known as the Ripon Approach Control Area. The territory, which encompasses the Oshkosh region, will expand the air space under the supervision of controllers at Mitchell. … Full staffing for the combined Mitchell/Ripon areas is 56 controllers, Charapata said. Currently, there are 40 controllers at Mitchell, with one set to retire in February. As a result, the Air Traffic Controllers Associations claims the Milwaukee area “is in crisis and the public’s safety is on the line.” … Elizabeth Isham Cory, spokeswoman for the FAA in Chicago, said she is “very stunned that the union had gone to the media in an effort to scare the public.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/02/11/daily16.html?ana=from_rss
Madison: Alexander shows plan for $120 million development: A South Side area that once was the site of two landfills is on its way to becoming a business park. The Alexander Co. has unveiled a $120 million master plan for its 70-acre Novation Campus along Badger Road south of the Beltline and east of Rimrock Road. The development will add 1 million square feet of space for offices, retail and educational uses to about 275,000 square feet already built. The area also may include a hotel, light industry and flex-style buildings that are easily converted to various uses.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/biz/272206
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WISBUSINESS FEATURED COLUMNISTS
– GREGG HOFFMANN: Contributor, WisBusiness.com
– TOM STILL: President, Wisconsin Technology Council
– JENNIFER SERENO: Senior manager, Wood Communications Group
– STEVE JAGLER: Executive editor, Small Business Times
– TOM BURZINSKI: IT executive and consultant
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TECHNOLOGY (back to top)
– Appleton: Innovation Network sets next meeting
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/APC03/802130570/1888/APCbusiness
BIOTECH (back to top)
– Calif.: ‘Job creation’ puts biotech in limelight
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/biotech/20080212-9999-1b12gov.html
– Human stem cell tests could be near
http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/11/news/companies/geron/?postversion=2008021209
ECONOMY (back to top)
– Presidential hopefuls grapple with economy
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717505
– Wisconsin firms receive tax credits for expansions
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/02/11/daily12.html?ana=from_rss
LABOR (back to top)
– Kerry closing Germantown plant
http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_milwaukee/~3/233881705/daily11.html
SMALL BUSINESS (back to top)
– In Stoughton, dream of co-op turning to reality
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/272202
INVESTING (back to top)
– Journal Communications increases dividend
http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_milwaukee/~3/233897287/daily14.html
REAL ESTATE (back to top)
– Milwaukee: City reaches accord on Kilbourn Tower settlement
http://onmilwaukee.com/politics/articles/hissom021308.html
– Brookfield land plan includes hotel, no stand-alone eateries
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717550
– Madison: New razing rules clear panel
http://www.madison.com/tct/business/272100
– Foreclosure rise matches nation’s
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717509
– Urban infill incites developer opposition
http://www.dailyreporter.com/item.cfm?recid=20047846
– Wausau: Bridge Street development will replace five houses
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/WDH0101/802130610/1581&located=RSS
– Oshkosh: Hotel group, common council reach deal on convention center
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/OSH0101/802130493/1128&located=RSS
– Oshkosh: Developer gets OK to convert former grocery
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/OSH0101/802130492/1128&located=RSS
– Omro: Local dentist buys vacant banquet hall, plans professional building
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/OSH0101/802130488/1128&located=RSS
AGRIBUSINESS (back to top)
– Mint, Cherry & Ginseng Producers to Vote on Marketing Orders
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=186&yr=2008
– Organic Valley Contributes $50,000 to UW School for Beginning Farmers
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=187&yr=2008
TRANSPORTATION (back to top)
– [Outagamie] County exec wants business leaders involved at airport
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/APC0101/802130605/1004&located=RSS
– Sheboygan: Alderman says paying off marina debt would save money
http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/SHE0101/802130460/1062&located=RSS
– Port projects paddle up financial stream
http://www.dailyreporter.com/item.cfm?recid=20047847
– Fond du Lac: Bypass corridor study will determine future changes
http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/FON0101/80212222/1289&located=RSS
RETAIL (back to top)
– Miller Chill to face rival in market niche
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717510
– Miller merger partner Molson Coors posts sales growth
http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_milwaukee/~3/233842357/daily10.html
– AGT Enterprises sells six Star Cinema theaters
http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_milwaukee/~3/233819703/daily8.html
TOURISM (back to top)
– Ashwaubenon backs conversion of lots near Lambeau
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/GPG0101/802130739/1207&located=RSS
– Exel Inn motel chain sold
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/biz/272136
UTILITIES (back to top)
– WPS wants to increase electric rates
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/GPG03/802130702/1247/OSHbusiness
HEALTH CARE (back to top)
– Madison: Feds Name 3 Area Nursing Homes In Deficient List
http://www.channel3000.com/news/15284459/detail.html?rss=c3k&psp=news
– Marinette: Luther Home improves, but is still on watch list
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/GPG0101/802130734/1207&located=RSS
– Manitowoc County Board approves Health Care Center sale
http://www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/MAN0101/802130521/1358&located=RSS
– One person’s health impacts community
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/MNH0101/802130434/1732&located=RSS
– FastCare clinic to open Feb. 25 in Shawano
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/GPG03/802130693/1247/GPGbusiness
FINANCIAL SERVICES (back to top)
– Credit Unions Urge Caution in Use of Account Statements for Identification
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-12-2008/0004754926&EDATE=
MANAGEMENT (back to top)
– Ex-Norlight president named CEO of Guaranty Title Services
http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_milwaukee/~3/233819702/daily9.html
– Shopko executive taps into customers’ desires
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/APC03/802130569/1888/APCbusiness
BUSINESS COLUMNS (back to top)
– Tannette Johnson-Elie: Minority business issues need a voice
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