THU AM News: Talking Trade with Prof. Denis Leclerc, Thunderbird School of Global Management; WEDC announces details of WIF investments

June 5, 2025

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Prof. Denis Leclerc of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University shares insights on negotiating international trade deals.

Leclerc, who teaches cross-cultural communication and global negotiations, emphasizes the importance of building trust for developing international trade. He also raises the question of whether European countries and Canada can trust the United States as a trading partner amid ongoing tariff tensions.

“If you don’t have that trust, where you know, we understand, we’re going to trade goods and services because it’s in both’s interest, both benefits … both sides are going to lose that part, that notion of trust,” he said.

He predicted exchanges between the U.S. and these major trading partners going forward will fall under the concept of “distributive bargaining,” in which negotiations are focused on dividing up a fixed amount of value.

“This is what we’re seeing right now … most global economies don’t like that. What they want is a system that’s not based on, you know, one-to-one issue,” he said. “They like to have a stable system — might not be the best system, but at least it’s stable.”

Leclerc explained that stability enables better planning, as consistent costs can be used in making business decisions and calculations. As tariffs on specific countries, industries and goods change week by week, he noted “everybody’s … pretty stressed” about the uncertainty.

“Issues like, can I trust what I’m signing now going to be good in six months from now?” he said.

The discussion ranges from the United States’ relationship with other trade partners such as the United Kingdom to resources available for companies looking to reach international markets and related opportunities.

“Do the work to make sure you understand the market, because you’re going to have to change,” Leclerc said. “Like if you want to be very practical to talk about cross-cultural issues, you might have to change your labels … you might have to do a lot of things that you are not used to.”

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. President and Managing Director Sandi Siegel.

Watch the full episode here.

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

— Alongside its partner funds in the state, the Wisconsin Investment Fund has invested in a dozen companies since launching last year, WEDC announced.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. yesterday released information on the companies getting funded through WIF, a $100 million effort to boost startup companies in the state. Of that total, $50 million came from the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative, while select venture capital firms are matching public dollars with private investment capital.

The list of recipient companies, organized by VC firm, includes those chosen by:

*Venture Investors, which has invested $4 million into: Rivermark Medical, which got $3 million to continue developing its urinary stent product; Sanacor, which got $500,000 as it develops a treatment for chronic heart inflammation; and Ten Bay Bio, a startup focused on antibody therapies that also got a $500,000 investment.

*HealthX Capital, which focuses on health care investments. The firm has invested $2.675 million into: Amulet, which has a wearable chemical sensor device and got a $750,000 investment; data workflow startup Cardamom Health, with a $1 million investment; Optical X, a precision imaging startup focused on early disease detection, $375,000; and Ready Rebound, a health consultancy that got $550,000.

*NVNG Investment Advisors, which has invested $1.27 million in: AIQ Solutions, which received $375,000 for its approach to improving treatment outcomes for patients with complex diseases; MedServe, which has a controlled substance management system for health care providers and got a $375,000 investment; motor technology startup C-Motive Technologies, $375,000; and “cleantech” company Intrnls, $145,000.

*Idea Fund of La Crosse, which has invested $49,500 into Eneration, a startup with a method for helping hospitals reduce energy costs and emissions.

Meanwhile, the agricultural tech-focused VC firm Serra Ventures had no investments listed but “is optimistic an investment will be made” in the fourth quarter of this year.

See more in the release.

— An executive with a paper mill in Biron warned that restricting foreign ownership of Wisconsin land could cut off the company’s ability to expand in the state.

But GOP Sen. André Jacque, who co-authored one of the bills to restrict foreign ownership that received a public hearing yesterday, argued placing new limits on foreign ownership is a necessary step to address threats posed by those working against U.S. interests.

“This is not about closing our state to international investment,” Jacque said. “It’s about drawing a necessary line to protect Wisconsin’s critical resources, our farmland, our food systems and our communities from regimes that have demonstrated hostile intent.”

The Senate Agriculture and Revenue Committee took public testimony on competing bills that want to restrict foreign ownership of Wisconsin land.

Ken Liu, the chief executive officer of ND Paper, told the committee the company purchased the Wood County mill in 2019 after it had been closed and now employs 250 people there full-time. It also has a warehouse in Sturtevant and a trucking company that largely operates in the corridor between Minneapolis and Chicago.

ND Paper, the U.S. division of the Chinese containerboard producer Nine Dragons Paper, converted the mill to focus on recycling packaging products.

Liu said the company has numerous customers in Iowa and Minnesota and is considering expanding into the southwestern part of the state. But the bill’s provisions would prevent that.

Jacque noted Liu’s mother, who owns 25% of the company, is a citizen of Hong Kong and serves on an advisory committee to the Chinese government, raising concerns that would make her open to pressure from Chinese officials.

Liu insisted her role was largely honorary.

“There’s nothing about national security that we do. We just make paper. We just make paper, and that’s all we do,” he said.

See more from the hearing at WisPolitics.

— Clean energy advocacy group RENEW Wisconsin is urging state residents to voice their support for the Badger Hollow Wind project, the state’s first wind energy project in more than a decade to exceed 100 megawatts in size.

The organization this week issued an “action alert,” noting the state Public Service Commission is accepting public comments on the project through June 26. Located in Grant and Iowa counties, it’s being developed by Invenergy and has been in the works for nearly a decade.

“If approved, it would mark a major step forward in Wisconsin’s energy future,” Communications Director Alex Beld wrote in the email.

He notes the project would create hundreds of jobs for the construction phase, along with “good-paying, long-term” positions in operations and maintenance. The project is expected to produce $3.2 million in additional economic activity in the state, he wrote.

That’s in addition to the project’s contribution of more than $500,000 per year in utility-aid payments, with $300,000 going to Grant and Iowa counties and the other $200,000 going to the towns of Clifton, Eden, Linden, Mifflin and Wingville, according to the group.

The advocacy message also touts the project’s environmental benefits, noting one estimate finds it will avoid more than 250,000 tons of CO2 emissions in its first year of operation.

The project proposal includes 25 total turbine locations, including 19 proposed wind turbine sites and six alternate sites, according to an overview from the PSC.

See more project details here.

— Aspirus Wausau Hospital has finished construction on its emergency department expansion, which began taking patients this week.

The expansion project, which added eight new patient rooms in its final phase, was prompted by rising demand for emergency services and trauma care in the Wausau region, according to the hospital.

Its ED now has 30 total treatment spaces, and additions include “enhanced” trauma and critical care rooms. When the project began in 2022, the department had 18 beds.

The announcement notes the hospital’s role as a regional referral and tertiary care center, offering specialized and advanced care. Now that the expansion project is finished, the ED is now “equipped to handle a broader range” of emergency cases, including life-threatening conditions, the hospital says.

Mason Lucca, ED director for the hospital, says the final phase of the expansion is adding “more than just physical space.”

“It represents our ongoing commitment to providing timely, high-quality emergency care to people throughout our service area,” Lucca said in a statement.

See the release.

— Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health is urging policymakers to prioritize school-based mental health services in the coming biennial budget.

The OCMH this week called for sustainable investments in such services, “as proposed by Gov. Tony Evers in his 2025-2027 budget.”

The governor has proposed a number of related provisions, including funding for mental health professional staff at schools, psychiatric residential treatment for young people, and student-led suicide prevention efforts, according to the OCMH. See details on related provisions in an overview from the office.

“We’ve all heard of the long wait lists for kids to get mental health help,” Linda Hall, director of the OCMH, said in a statement. “Our kids can’t wait for a spot to open on a provider’s waitlist. We need to help kids today and one of the most strategic investments we can make is in school-based mental health.”

See the office’s release.

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.

Wisconsin shop teachers overhaul curriculums, encourage students to consider trades

Wisconsin women top Forbes’ latest ‘Self-Made Women’ list

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Dairy grants boost Wisconsin farms

CONSTRUCTION

– Cost for proposed Joannes Aquatic Center upgrade increases $2M; Parks Committee to discuss June 4.

ENTERTAINMENT & THE ARTS

– Trump administration cuts are impacting Wisconsin art centers

ENVIRONMENT

– Southern Wisconsin is seeing some of the worst air quality nationwide Wednesday