FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Nicolas Paris, Gilson; MMAC survey finds ‘slow growth’ expected for coming months

May 2, 2025

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Nicolas Paris, CEO of life sciences firm Gilson and board chair for BioForward Wisconsin.

Madison-based Gilson is an 80-year-old UW-Madison spinoff company with subsidiaries in France that makes instruments used for scientific research.

Along with highlighting the company, Paris shares his experience from a recent state-led trade mission to Europe, which he joined alongside Gov. Tony Evers and officials with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

“The trip in Europe was mixing the best of both worlds,” Paris said in the interview, recorded the week after he returned from overseas.

Paris references economic development conversations that happened between Wisconsin officials and local counterparts, ranging from potential future trade missions to agribusiness and cheese.

And he touches on political discussions that took place, emphasizing that “the U.S. and France or U.S. and German relationship is going to still be there and continue” regardless of tensions related to the Trump administration.

He also notes efforts to build on existing partnerships with certain regions of France, as well as opportunities in specific fields such as theranostics, an approach to precision medicine that relies on radiotherapeutics.

“We went to Dijon where there is a strong cluster on radioimaging and therapeutic solutions here, where in Wisconsin we are more focused on diagnostic, and in France they are more focused on treatment,” he said. “So this very technical discussion here about how to collaborate and how to get these industries together.”

Paris says BioForward is “really focusing this year” on international collaboration, and is hosting its Wisconsin Biohealth Summit event in October.

“That becomes really a national event, and part of it will be to have more of those international delegations,” he said.

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

— MMAC’s latest Milwaukee business survey finds respondents predict “slow growth” for the coming months though expectations are mixed.

Fifty-two percent of businesses said they expect real sales increases in the second quarter of this year, while 36% predict higher profits and 28% expect to add jobs compared to last year.

Bret Mayborne, vice president of economic research for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, notes real sales optimism “moved notably upward” compared to the first quarter. But expectations for profit and employment were down from the start of the year, he said.

“Businesses’ top concerns going into the second quarter were continuing economic growth, price inflation and tariffs which likely factored into the modest near-term business expectations,” Mayborne said in a statement on the results.

Sales expectations were higher among non-manufacturing businesses, as 58% of these companies expect sales growth in the second quarter, compared to 41% for manufacturers. But 36% of manufacturers expect to add jobs compared to a year ago, while 22% of non-manufacturers are forecasting job growth.

Meanwhile, 63% of employers with 100 or more employees expect higher sales in the second quarter, above the 46% for businesses with fewer than 100 employees. These larger businesses are also more likely to expect employment growth in the second quarter, at 37% versus 23% for small employers.

MMAC’s latest Business Outlook Survey from mid-April includes responses from 58 metro Milwaukee companies.

See more in the release.

— Tom Still, who has led the Wisconsin Technology Council as president for the past 23 years, is retiring from his post in September.

“There is no single reason for my decision; it’s mainly just a recognition of my time of life and other priorities related to family,” Still said in an April 25 letter to the Tech Council board. ”It’s certainly not for lack of continued enthusiasm for our work, which I believe has left its mark on the tech-based economy in Wisconsin and will continue to do so. In fact, our services, policy advice, events, communications and general outreach are more in demand today than at any time I can remember.”

The former associate editor at the Wisconsin State Journal, Still built the Tech Council into a statewide organization with impact at the Capitol. During his tenure, Still and his allies secured incentives for Wisconsin tech companies and promoted a growing part of the state economy now valued at more than $50 billion per year including both the information technology and biotechnology sectors. The Cyberstates 2024 “State of Technology Summary” counted 144,000 information technology jobs in Wisconsin, or 4.7% of the total workforce; the biotechnology workforce was estimated at 129,000 people for the same year.

“That’s a credit to you, as board members; to our excellent staff and consultants; and to our steadfast partners such as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.,” Still told the board. ”Together, we have reached to the far corners of the state across a mix of issues and disciplines.”

A search for a successor is underway with the hope of completing the process by late summer.

Still, meanwhile, will continue to write his popular “Inside Wisconsin” column, and plans to remain on the Tech Council board as well as boards or advisory groups for the Marshfield Clinic Health System; the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters; the UW-Madison School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences; the UW-Madison College of Engineering; and First Business Bank.

“I’m not going away, just transitioning!” Still concluded in his letter.

— Seventy percent of Wisconsin voters said they’re at least somewhat concerned about additional hospital closures, and more than half of those concerned say they’re most worried about accessing care.

That’s a key finding from survey results the Healthy Wisconsin Alliance rolled out yesterday. The results came from a recent Platform Communications Badger Battleground Poll. HWA is an affiliate of the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

The poll found 85% of voters in the Eau Claire media market said they’re concerned about more hospital closures. The release points to recent high-profile closures in the area, likely referencing multiple Hospital Sisters Health System hospitals shutting down last year in the Chippewa Valley. Eighty-three percent of voters in the Wausau media market said they’re worried about hospital closures as well.

Meanwhile, the release notes “nearly one-in-three” voters in the state blame insurance companies for the closure of rural hospitals, and about the same share had personal experience with trouble getting care due to insurance company denials.

And 67% of respondents said hospitals are more likely to act in their best interest than insurance companies, with 6%. Across Democrats, Republicans and independents in the poll, hospitals were seen as more aligned with their best interests.

The poll reached 500 likely state general election voters over cell phones and landlines April 7-9, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. HWA yesterday only released a summary of answers for certain questions, not the full data set of all questions and responses.

Platform Communications, a Madison public relations firm, designed and commissioned the survey, which was conducted by California-based BK Strategies.

Nate Silver rates BK Strategies as a B/C pollster.

See previous coverage on the poll at WisPolitics and see the polling memo.

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.

Sign up here.

— State officials have announced nearly $500,000 in “fab lab” funding to 20 school districts in Wisconsin.

Fabrication laboratories give students hands-on experience with advanced production equipment such as 3D printers and laser engravers. WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes says the agency has provided more than $5.5 million over the past 10 years to fund purchases of such equipment.

“Fab Labs benefit not only the students themselves with important technology and career skills, but they also benefit Wisconsin employers, who will be able to find workers with the right skills to allow their companies to grow and thrive,” she said in a statement.

See the release.

— The Madison International Trade Association is hosting a free informal networking event Wednesday focused on tariffs.

MITA’s event is being held at Milwaukee Burger Place in Franklin from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. No registration is required.

See event details here.

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ECONOMY

– Optimism for 2025 sales growth declines among MMAC members

ENVIRONMENT