THU AM News: Tech Council’s Brickerman lays out vision for organization’s future; Twenty-one WI companies achieve ‘Green Master’ status this year

November 6, 2025

— Maggie Brickerman, the new president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, has laid out her vision for the organization’s future, which includes driving more investment deals in the state.

Speaking yesterday at the group’s Early Stage Symposium in Madison during her third day on the job, Brickerman discussed how her past work with startup accelerator gener8tor will shape her approach to leading the organization. She succeeds Tom Still, noting the longtime Tech Council leader will be on speed-dial as she navigates the new role.

Along with leading efforts in Wisconsin around developing and retaining science- and tech-based businesses, the Tech Council weighs in on various policy issues, advocating for the state’s technology sector.

“I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a builder, and Tom has built a great organization,” Brickerman said. “And so, if you had been looking for someone to … keep this great thing going just the way it is, I wouldn’t be the right person. But I think having this moment where the ecosystem has changed since 2001, we have this great foundation, what are the opportunities to build on?”

Brickerman emphasized the group’s ability to connect Wisconsin’s academic community and the investment ecosystem, noting it’s no secret that the state needs more venture capital. She said there’s an “opportunity for the Tech Council to take accountability” for getting more investors, banks and others to engage on this challenge.

She also said she wants to put a new focus on the number of investment deals happening in the state, in addition to the more attention-grabbing larger deals that have driven much of the activity in Wisconsin.

“Because if we have one company that’s doing a mega-round, and we’re kind of hiding the fact that it was really only one company and not a bunch of others, we’re not really getting that end result that we want, which is the impact on the economy,” she said.

Brickerman said she has ideas for new partnerships that could make the state’s tech landscape more interconnected, including a greater effort on coordinating talent acquisition.

She noted individual roles can get hundreds of applicants from across the country, and helping some of these highly qualified professionals get connected with other opportunities in Wisconsin would boost the entire ecosystem.

“When you think about like, what do we all have in common? Whether we wake up every day to do it or not, we all are part of this high-tech economy that if it’s firing on all cylinders, really can unleash the full potential for the entire state,” she said.

See more here.

— Twenty-one Wisconsin companies have achieved “Green Master” status through their sustainability efforts this year, the Sustainable Business Council announced.

The group’s Green Masters Program provides a sustainability certification based on business performance across measures of environmental, social and governance. It includes four categories: Adapting, Advancing, Maturing and Green Master.

The last of these is reserved for companies that are effectively managing material sustainability issues and related performance while taking a “comprehensive approach” to improving their own sustainability.

According to the release, the program has benefited nearly 400 companies in the state over the past 15 years.

SBC Executive Director Jessy Servi Ortiz notes the program aligns with international sustainability standards, helping participants continually improve.

“For over fifteen years, the program has helped companies build credible and impactful sustainability initiatives, and we are proud to see companies like these paving the way for a more sustainable future,” she said.

This year’s Green Masters include major Wisconsin manufacturers such as Oshkosh Corporation, Green Bay Packaging and Mercury Marine, as well as other companies across various industries.

The SBC yesterday announced the Green Masters during the second day of its annual conference in La Crosse.

See the release.

— WMC is touting new survey results showing broad support for Medicaid work requirements among likely Wisconsin voters.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce yesterday released findings from a recent statewide poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for the Jobs First Coalition.

When asked if able-bodied single adults without children should be required to work in order to qualify for low-cost health care from the state’s Medicaid program, 76% were supportive including 55% indicating strong support, while 23% were opposed including 12% strongly opposed. Another 1% didn’t know or didn’t answer.

Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations for WMC, said “work is the pathway to opportunity” in a statement on the findings.

“By strengthening work requirements, Wisconsin can help move individuals off the sidelines, rejoin the workforce, and experience the dignity and independence that comes with employment,” he said.

The survey was conducted over the phone Sept. 13-17, tapping 800 likely Wisconsin voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46%. Other questions in the poll focused on funding for the state’s youth apprenticeship program and academic standards.

See more results here.

— GOP state Rep. Amanda Nedweski argued allowing those who undergo a gender transition procedure as a minor to sue the health care provider who performed it is needed to provide a recourse for those who suffer an injury.

But Dem Sen. Melissa Ratcliff, whose son is transgender, accused the GOP co-authors of ultimately trying to dissuade providers from performing gender-affirming care and said the legislation is about “policing bodies.”

“They don’t want children to get the care that they need when they need it,” said Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove.

SB 405 would allow anyone who suffered a physical, psychological, emotional or physiological injury after undergoing a procedure or related treatment as a minor to file a lawsuit by the time they turned 33.

The bill would give providers several defenses to such a suit. That includes documenting the individual’s perceived gender or sex for at least two years and receiving consent from the individual and their parents or guardians at least 30 days before the first treatment and during every subsequent medical visit during the following six months.

Providers would also need certification from at least one mental health professional and one health care provider that gender transition is the only way to treat any mental health concerns the person has. And they would need certification that the individual suffers from no other mental health concerns, such as depression, an eating disorder, autism or an intellectual disability.

Nedweski, testifying alongside co-author Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, argued the market for gender-affirming care has exploded in recent years, creating a lucrative business for health care providers and pharmaceutical companies. She said under current law, patients harmed while undergoing other medical procedures have the option to seek a civil remedy, and the bill is about giving the same option to those who undergo gender-affirming care as minors.

“Medical accountability should not be a partisan issue,” she said. “We have a duty to ensure that the children are protected from experimental treatments that can inflict lasting damage on their bodies and their minds as they enter into adulthood.”

Sen. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, asked Nedweski and Hutton about their conversations with medical professionals about the legislation and why so many of those groups oppose the legislation if they had reached out.

As of early yesterday afternoon, 11 groups had registered in opposition to the bill with none in favor. Those opposed include: the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.

Nedweski dismissed the question, noting Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s largest providers of gender-affirming care.

“All of these organizations financially benefit from gender-affirming care,” she said.

Drake suggested they had a different motivation and that’s seeing “the person as a whole.”

“Obviously, this piece of legislation would have negative impacts on people in the LGBTQ-plus community in our state,” Drake said.

— UW Health has rolled out a new hospice initiative, which health system leaders say will improve the process for providing end-of-life care.

Under the new effort, the health system will involve hospice care “much earlier” for patients who need it, such as in the case of an irreversible stroke. Dr. Jeff Pothof, chief quality officer and emergency medicine physician for UW Health, says the change will ensure patients are put in the most appropriate environment for their condition.

The announcement also underlines the importance of what patients and their families are prioritizing in hospice care situations. Pothof notes that “comfort is a more important goal than cure” in many cases.

“As doctors, we often want to throw the Hail Mary pass and do everything we can for the patient, but sometimes that is not in the best interest of the patient,” he said in the release.

The initiative encourages discussions between care providers and patient families to better understand their care goals.

Patients at UW Health previously may have stayed in the intensive care unit during the end of their life, given the time required to coordinate hospice care, according to the release. By offering inpatient or at-home hospice care earlier, the effort aims to help free up ICU space while also improving the experience for patients prioritizing comfort.

See the release.

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