FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Chris Landowski, Onego Bio; June home sales up 8.1% amid peak season for homebuying

July 25, 2025

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Chris Landowski, co-founder and chief technology officer of Onego Bio.

The company earlier this year purchased a 26-acre lot in Jefferson County for a planned manufacturing facility. Onego Bio produces a fermentation-based egg protein powder product called Bioalbumen, and plans to reach the equivalent output of millions of chickens once the facility comes online in the coming years.

“It’s a little bit like the brewing process, so in a way we’re brewing egg protein,” he said. “And egg protein is kind of a product that you would use for all kinds of applications like baking, confectionaries, omelettes … we’re making that in a large-scale way.”

He notes the “massive” market for egg products the company aims to reach. While the business is still in the startup phase, having been launched about three years ago, he said the team is building on advanced technology and industry expertise.

Landowski explains that egg whites include dozens of different proteins, including a major component called ovalbumin, which makes up about 50% of that part of the egg. The protein gives eggs their foaming and finding properties needed for certain food products, such as a meringue.

“We are producing the 100% pure one protein, ovalbumin, in a recombinant microbe,” he said. “That’s something that’s a little bit different, but it is actually better in some ways … you can make a little bit different kinds of recipes, if you’re making a cake when you use our product you can form different, stronger, harder structures if you want.”

The podcast explores the company’s choice to set up shop in Wisconsin, and Landowski shares some details about the path ahead for developing the fermentation facility.

“So maybe it’s sort of ready towards the end of 2028, but I think maybe it opens in the beginning of 2029, then we’ll start manufacturing over there,” he said, adding “it would be like a massive egg farm, if you were to compare it.”

Once up and running, the facility will have capacity to produce about 5,000 metric tons of product per year, he said. If things go well, he said Onego Bio has capacity to add two more fermentation units on that nearly 30-acre parcel, eventually tripling that production ability.

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

— Wisconsin’s June home sales total rose by 8.1% over the year amid the peak season for homebuying in the state, the Wisconsin Realtors Association reports.

A total of 7,172 homes were sold in the state last month, up from 6,637 in June 2024. The group notes that’s the first year-over-year sales increase for June in four years, with Board Chair Chris DeVincentis noting it’s “good to finally see an upturn” for the month.

“June is usually our most active month for closings, with just over 11.5% of the state’s annual sales typically taking place during that month … Hopefully ongoing inventory improvements bode well for the remainder of the peak summer sales period,” he said in the WRA’s latest report.

It also shows home sales for the first half of this year were “essentially unchanged” from the same period of 2024, increasing by just 0.1%.

While the state’s median home price rose 4.6% over the year to reach $340,000 in June, the association notes overall affordability actually increased by 2.6% over the same period as the average mortgage rate declined slightly to 6.82%.

WRA President and CEO Tom Larson says June marked the fourth month in a row with only moderate growth in prices, pointing to increases of less than 5% for three of those four months.

“In contrast, the annual appreciation of median prices had exceeded 5% every month since June 2020,” Larson said in the report. “We hope this moderation in prices is a trend rather than an aberration.”

And though all measures of home availability on the market have improved over the year, WRA notes it remains a seller’s market with four months of supply. That’s even after new statewide listings rose 5%, total listings rose 4.7% and months of supply increased by 8.1%.

“We would need total statewide listings to increase by 53% for the market to reach the six-month supply indicator of a balanced market,” authors wrote.

See the release and report.

— The Wisconsin Beverage Association is touting new figures showing the state’s beverage industry generates $5.1 billion in direct economic impact.

Citing economic impact data from American Beverage, the state group notes the industry operates more than 100 facilities in the state including manufacturing sites and sales and distribution centers.

Beverage companies in Wisconsin also support more than 84,000 jobs including more than 5,000 direct employees, the release shows, providing nearly $500 million in wages and benefits.

Kelly McDowell, executive director of the Wisconsin Beverage Association, says the industry reflects the state’s “proud tradition” of hard work and entrepreneurship.

“From small, family-run businesses to nationally recognized brands, our members are committed to driving economic growth and building healthier, more sustainable communities,” she said in a statement.

See the release.

— Legislation being circulated by GOP authors would create a new requirement for how child care centers and schools provide information on immunization waivers.

Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara of Appleton and Rep. Lindee Rae Brill of Sheboygan Falls recently sent a cosponsorship memo to other lawmakers on the bill. They reference a “lack of transparency” around immunization waivers for children enrolled in schools, nursery schools and child care centers.

State law allows parents or guardians to waive immunization requirements for their child to attend a school, child care center or nursery school for “medical, religious, or personal conviction” reasons as long as they submit a written statement.

But the bill authors say many families aren’t made aware of this law while enrolling their child, arguing some institutions don’t provide “clear and consistent” procedures for how to submit such a waiver.

“This lack of transparency can create confusion and unnecessary barriers for parents, as well as increase administrative burden on schools when immunization documentation is incomplete or delayed,” they wrote.

Current Wisconsin law requires that when these institutions notify a student, parent, guardian or legal custodian of the immunization requirement, they must also inform them about their right to waive that requirement for the specified reasons.

Under the bill being circulated, the school or child care center would have to provide a procedure for presenting the waiver with “each health-related form” that must be completed before the child is enrolled or admitted, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Authors say the legislation would “reduce confusion, support parental rights, and create a more consistent process” statewide.

The cosponsorship deadline is Aug. 4.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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— Former Wisconsin lawmaker Duey Stroebel has been appointed to serve as Midwest regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Stroebel was a state senator from 2015 to 2025, and served in the state Assembly before that.

“I am honored to serve under the leadership of Secretary Turner as HUD’s Regional Administrator for the Midwest,” Stroebel said in the announcement. “It is an exciting time for HUD, and I look forward to working with Secretary Turner to increase homeownership, support community development, and improve access to affordable housing in Region Five.”

In the role, Stroebel will work on affordable housing and expanding homeownership opportunities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Indiana.

See the release.

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