FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Chris Tatge, DC Materials; Talking Trade with Matt Umhoefer, state DOT

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Chris Tatge, founder and president of DC Materials. 

Tatge discusses the Stoughton-based company’s recent rapid growth, which landed it on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies. 

“We’ve grown 1,126% in three years,” he said. “There’s a lot of exciting things that happen when you’re sort of rapidly growing business, and a lot of new opportunities.” 

The building material supply business provides framing materials, wall panels and more for large multi-family residential construction projects in southern Wisconsin. 

“Normally if you want to build a building, you buy lumber from a lumber yard, you pay somebody else — a contractor — to bring the labor to put all that lumber together, right?” he said. “We sort of combine the two, so we’re a labor and materials contractor.” 

Tatge discusses his path to business ownership, building on two decades of working in carpentry. And he shares insights on the building industry, noting the clash between new technologies and innovation and the “old-school” nature of construction. 

“There’s been a lot of capital, which means a lot of opportunities — a lot of opportunities to fail, a lot of opportunities to succeed,” he said. “But in general, I think it’s starting to push construction, and leaders in construction, into much more of a forward-thinking position.” 

The podcast also touches on the future of DC Materials, including ongoing plans to increase capacity, as well as changes Tatge hopes to see in the industry. 

Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts. 

— In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” Matt Umhoefer of the state Department of Transportation discusses Wisconsin’s freight plan and federal infrastructure funding. 

Umhoefer, the economic development section chief for the agency, notes the Bipartisan Infrastructure added new items for states to add to their existing freight plans. He discusses the latest iteration of the plan and shares details on the state agency’s future work on that effort. 

He notes the BIL will help fund improvements to roads and bridges, upgrades to airports and maritime ports, expansions to public transit and passenger rail, and more. 

“That phrase, generational investment, I think really does hold true in this case,” Umhoefer said. 

Meanwhile, show host Sandi Siegel, president and managing director of M.E. Dey & Co., highlights some of the challenges facing supply chains. 

“For years we’ve been hearing how the infrastructure hasn’t kept up with all the extra trucks and deliveries and so forth on the road, and certainly the trucking industry seems to have had the perfect storm,” she said. “Not only with more demand, but a continuing trend of driver shortages and drivers aging out.” 

Umhoefer highlights various elements of the freight plan, including those focused on trucking, rail safety, riverways and more. 

Watch the show here and see a map referenced in the interview.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— Exact Sciences’ Cologuard Plus genetic test “significantly outperformed” a commonly used alternative in a recent study focused on colorectal cancer screening, the Madison-based company announced. 

Results were published yesterday in the The New England Journal of Medicine print edition. The BLUE-C study, which involved 20,000 participants, compared the performance of Exact Sciences’ stool-based test with an independent fecal immunochemical test, or FIT. 

Cologuard Plus — a newer version of Exact Sciences’ original Cologuard test — was rated better than the FIT on a number of measures including overall sensitivity for colorectal cancer, according to the release. 

Dr. Thomas Imperiale, a professor of medicine at the Indiana University and principal investigator for the BLUE-C study, says the new test is “highly sensitive” 

“This noninvasive test also detected a good proportion of the most advanced precancerous lesions, and did so with a low number of false-positive test results,” he said in a statement on the results. 

Exact Sciences says it submitted its pre-market approval application for Cologuard Plus to the FDA in December and plans to offer it starting in 2025, if approved. 

Company Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy says the study publication “reflects a decade of deep scientific and medical research” conducted alongside Mayo Clinic. 

“We’re eager to bring an improved, noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test to patients in Cologuard Plus, as colorectal cancer remains the most preventable, yet least prevented cancer,” he said. 

See the release.

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— Gov. Tony Evers has appointed Marcus Hawkins, the executive director of the Organization of MISO States, to the Public Service Commission.

Hawkins, whose previous work includes a stint as a senior engineer at the PSC, replaces Tyler Huebner, whose nomination the GOP-controlled state Senate rejected earlier this year.

The appointment is effective April 8 and lasts for the remainder of Huebner’s term, which runs through March 1, 2027.

“We have important work ahead of us at the PSC, from expanding access to high-speed internet to building 21st-century clean energy infrastructure across our state, and I’m glad to have Marcus’ expertise back at the PSC and know that he will serve the people of Wisconsin well,” Evers said.

The Organization of MISO States works with commissioners from the 17 state regulatory agencies within the Midcontinent Independent System Operator footprint. MISO, a not-for-profit organization, oversees the flow of high-voltage electricity across the region.

Hawkins has been with OMS since 2016 and has served as the executive director since 2019.

His other past work includes serving as a program manager and engineer at Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp. and an energy capital markets analyst in Denver.

See the release.

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TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS 

– Wisconsin DNR boosts urban forestry grants 

CONSTRUCTION 

– Milwaukee Public Museum construction will start in the summer 

– Fundraising for Appleton library reaches $11 million of $12 million goal

– Iowa DOT says new Lansing bridge construction likely caused movement of old bridge supports 

ECONOMY 

– Metro Milwaukee population growth ranks in bottom third in 2023 

EDUCATION 

– Scholarships awarded for dairy leadership development 

ENTERTAINMENT & THE ARTS

– Madison rock band The Flavor That Kills mines treasure from chaos 

– ‘Bad River’ documentary about Wisconsin tribe’s struggle for rights premieres Friday 

FOOD & BEVERAGE

– For 60 years, the Redwood Inn has served up Friday fish, Sunday chicken and Old-Fashioneds the Smits family way 

HEALTH CARE 

– Legislators and task force chairs respond to closure announcement 

LABOR 

– Madison Sourdough workers ratify first union contract 

POLITICS 

– Milwaukee bar The Mothership says it’ll close during Republican National Convention, opposing its ‘tomfoolery’ 

– MMAC spends over $100,000 on campaign to defeat MPS referendum 

REAL ESTATE 

– Northwestern Mutual to add public convenience store to downtown campus 

– Plans for vacant downtown Green Bay lot change for 3rd time in 5 years

RETAIL 

– Northwestern Mutual Commons convenience store will be open to public 

– Convenience store coming to Northwestern Mutual tower, Starbucks to move 

– Milwaukee Boot Company debuts new styles of men’s sneakers, loafers and casual dress shoes 

SPORTS 

– Madison Gay Hockey Association displays pride on ice 

PRESS RELEASES

See these and other press releases 

Wisconsin Business World, ITU AbsorbTech: Announce student essay contest winners

Marquette School of Dentistry: Professor named fellow for American Association for dental, oral and craniofacial research

Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection: Honey bees support Wisconsin’s agriculture industry