TUE AM News: WiSys seeking applicants for ag research funding effort; WEDC awards $250,000 grant to Urban League of Greater Madison

July 29, 2025

— WiSys is seeking applications for a research funding initiative, offering support to small businesses, nonprofits and scientists for agriculture-focused projects.

UWM Research Foundation President Jessica Silvaggi called for applicants to the Forward Ag: Use-Inspired R&D program in a recent post. She noted the effort aims to support “innovative agricultural research with real-world applications” in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Program organizers are seeking applied research ideas pertaining to supply chain innovation, climate-smart farming, crop and livestock productivity, management of water or other resources, workforce development and other topics. Funded research projects are eligible for up to $80,000 in funding each.

“Projects should be early-stage, high-impact, and focused on creating practical solutions for Wisconsin’s agriculture and food sectors,” Silvaggi said.

The request for proposals comes from the WiSys-led effort called Wisconsin Forward Agriculture, which received a development award in 2023 from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program. WiSys is the dedicated technology transfer for the Universities of Wisconsin comprehensive campuses.

An application portal notes the focus on solving challenges to achieve “meaningful economic and societal benefits” for the state. The funding is available for early-stage research and development and aims to help projects move toward commercialization or deployment, and ultimately bring new products and services to market.

“Teams are encouraged to propose bold, high-impact ideas — regardless of their current maturity — that could transform their field or region within a 10-year horizon,” authors wrote.

The initiative is looking for proposals that tie into the concept of circular agriculture, or leveraging ag waste and other byproducts into new sources of revenue for farmers and food processing companies.

That can include on-site collection and pre-processing, with applications in biomass conversion, as well as finding ways to use food and plant waste to develop new products such as natural dyes and biofuels. That could include discovering products, better ways to extract key materials, new business models for improving the economics of these practices and more.

Another priority topic for applicants is optimizing supply chain logistics, ranging from ways to build resilience to changes in weather, cost and other factors to data-based modeling of biomass availability for better coordination.

The request for proposals was published earlier this month, and applications are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 20. Awards will be announced in early September for projects starting in October and running through June 2026.

See more details here.

— WEDC has awarded the Urban League of Greater Madison a $250,000 development grant for efforts to help small businesses in underserved areas.

The funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. comes from the agency’s Small Business Development Grant program. It follows an earlier $400,000 WEDC grant that helped fund loans and grants for more than two dozen small business recipients, according to the announcement.

Ruben Anthony Jr., president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison, says the new grant will fund “mini-grants” for $1,000 to help small businesses get a vendor license or other supplies, as well as larger loan guarantees to help companies secure private funding.

“The Urban League is excited that WEDC is making this investment in our community,” he said in a statement.

Along with small grants to help local small businesses with startup costs such as filing and legal fees, supplies, marketing materials and more, the Urban League is also providing loan matching funds for companies that have successfully launched crowdfunding campaigns with Kiva, an online lending program.

See the release.

— Wisconsin’s first dental assistant registered apprenticeship program has officially launched with initial participants taking courses at the Chippewa Valley Technical College-Eau Claire campus.

The state Department of Workforce Development recently announced the new apprenticeship program, supported by a grant from the Department of Health Services’ Wisconsin Oral Health Workforce Pathway Program.

The 15-month program includes 592 hours of paid instruction and 2,008 hours of on-the job training, with minimum pay during instruction ranging from $20-$22 per hour. DWD references federal labor figures to show employment in the dental assistant field is projected to grow 8% from 2023 to 2033, above the average for all occupations.

“Closing workforce gaps in the healthcare workforce is vital to both the well-being of our communities and the sustainability of our healthcare system,” DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek said in a statement.

See the release.

— Health officials have identified this year’s first human case of West Nile virus in Wisconsin and are warning residents to reduce their exposure to mosquitos, which spread the disease.

Since the state Department of Health Services began tracking the disease in 2001, the state sees about 18 reported cases per year on average. But Rebecca Osborn, the agency’s vector borne disease epidemiologist, says nearly 80% of those infected with West Nile virus will never know as they won’t develop symptoms.

Speaking yesterday during a DHS online briefing, Osborn said people who become infected will develop immunity to future infections. She said it’s unclear why some develop symptoms while others don’t, though elderly people and those with compromised immune systems are at greater risk.

“It is rare, thankfully, in Wisconsin,” she said. “But unfortunately, when people do get sick, sometimes it can be very serious. So we just want to make sure that that message is very clear, and the ways to prevent mosquito bite can be fairly straightforward and pretty routine, and pretty achievable for most people.”

The state’s first human case of 2025 was detected in a man in his 60s in Barron County, Osborn said. DHS reports mosquitos collected in Lafayette and Milwaukee counties have also tested positive for the virus.

Seeing the first case of the year in July is “fairly average,” though others have been reported as early as June. Cases have been reported between June and November, but most people that report illness from the infection do so in August and September.

The West Nile virus can cause fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, rash and fatigue, while more serious cases can include stiff kneck, disorientation, mental confusion and even seizure and coma, according to DHS.

The agency says the best way to avoid getting sick is to reduce exposure to mosquito bites by using insect repellent, wearing long sleeves and pants to limit exposed skin, and rescheduling outdoor activities being held during peak mosquito times, in the early morning or early evening.

See the release.

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— Alex Lasry, the former Milwaukee Bucks executive and U.S. Senate candidate, is CEO of the New York-New Jersey World Cup Host Committee and says next summer’s World Cup “will be the largest event in human history.”

“It’s just the scale and scope of this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” Lasry told WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “The last World Cup was viewed by the same amount of people as the last 13 Super Bowls combined.”

Matches in the U.S. begin in less than a year, and Lasry is in charge of the host committee that will see eight games and the final at MetLife Stadium.

“I look at our job as the host committee is kind of four pillars — security, transportation, fan engagement and economic impact,” Lasry said. “And so those four things, if we’re able to knock those out of the park, we’ll have a very successful World Cup. So, making sure the games are safe and secure, making sure transportation to the games or to our fan fest are seamless and efficient, ensuring that all the fans have a great time and feel engaged.”

Games will be held in 11 U.S. cities, with Kansas City being the closest site to Wisconsin.

“I’ve spoken with leaders even in Milwaukee about what we can do to ensure that people are coming to visit Milwaukee, to come to watch parties, to be part of the fever that the World Cup is going to have,” Lasry said.

See more at WisPolitics.

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