WED AM News: WMC launches new peer network for Wisconsin executives; WEDC contracts for $91.5M in tax incentives, grants and loans in FY25

September 10, 2025

— Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce has launched a new peer network for business leaders, with a focus on executive leadership and growth strategies.

The group yesterday announced the Wisconsin Executive Forum, which will initially have three cohorts in Madison, Milwaukee and the Green Bay-Fox Cities area. The experience will include monthly meetings and exclusive content featuring subject matter experts.

“Our goal is to convene, equip and educate C-suite executives from across the state, different industries and different geographies to sharpen their leadership swords,” WMC Chief Operating Officer Wade Goodsell said in a recent interview. “It’s our belief … that the ceiling of the organization is often dictated by the ceiling of the lead executive.”

He described the effort as a “curated and confidential peer-to-peer network” that will help participants advance in organizational strategy, change management and business growth.

Each of the cohorts are launching in January with up to 14 participants, selected from among a pool of applicants. It’s open to WMC members and non-members as well, though Goodsell said it’s targeting senior leadership at middle market to upper-middle market businesses in Wisconsin. The forum will also ask participants to agree to a non-solicitation clause.

“Our goal isn’t to get business from these groups; our goal is to learn from each other within these groups,” he said. “Of course, business will probably happen downstream as relationships are built.”

Goodsell said cohort members will get access to an on-demand speaker library, featuring insights from current CEOs on how they’ve scaled up their companies, navigated mergers and acquisitions and other experiences.

Members will be asked to commit to 12 months of participation, but they can remain in the cohort longer than that if they find value, according to Goodsell. It’s envisioned as an “evergreen” program to convene executives for the foreseeable future.

He touted the forum’s “unique value proposition,” arguing it will enable networking on a level that other organizations aren’t able to within the three largest population hubs in Wisconsin.

“As we launch in 2026, that’s our focus,” he said. “And as we move into 2027, I expect that we’ll expand and add cohorts within those regions and new geographies across the state.”

The Milwaukee cohort will be facilitated by Corey Chambas, CEO of First Business Bank, while the Madison cohort will be led by Larry McManis, former global strategis at Kraft Foods. And Barb LaMue, former CEO of the New North, will lead the Green Bay-Fox Cities cohort.

See more in the release.

— WEDC contracted for $91.5 million in 320 grants, loans and tax incentives in fiscal year 2025, the highest number of awards in five years.

Just looking at grants, the agency handed out 259 to businesses and communities, for a total of $41.2 million. That’s also the largest annual dollar amount and number of grants the agency has awarded over the past five years.

As part of that total, the Small Business Development Grant Program provided about $4.7 million to recipients in 25 counties, with nearly three-quarters going to communities with fewer than 15,000 residents.

“In the past fiscal year, we’ve seen incredible creativity, innovation, and initiative from our local partners in creating communities where people and businesses want to live, work, and grow,” WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes said in a statement.

See the release.

— Overall enrollment in the Universities of Wisconsin was flat compared to last year, likely due to a drop in the number of international students, according to the school’s president.

UW officials didn’t release figures yesterday on international enrollment as it announced an overall count of 164,430 students this fall, according to preliminary estimates. That’s down 96 from the final numbers from a year ago.

Still, UW President Jay Rothman cited national sources that have estimated international enrollment could drop as much as 15% at colleges nationwide.

“The UWs are not immune to this trend & significant declines in international students are a likely reason total enrollment remained steady and did not increase,” Rothman posted on X.

According to the university, there were 10,849 international students enrolled in the fall of 2024 systemwide. The bulk of them are on the Madison campus, which reported 7,626 international students for the 2023-24 school year.

Both Madison and Milwaukee, the two largest campuses in the system, saw slight decreases in enrollment. The system estimated 51,550 students at Madison, compared to 51,791 enrolled under the final numbers for fall 2024. The estimate for Milwaukee this fall was 22,613, compared to 22,683 from the final numbers a year ago.

The expected drop in international students comes as the Trump administration has revamped the student visa process, including revoking about 6,000 so far this year, citing factors such as support for terrorist groups in Gaza and criminal behavior.

The figures released yesterday showed new freshman enrollment was up 3%, nearly 900 students.

The final fall 2024 enrollment numbers compared to yesterday’s estimates for the other campuses include:

UW-Eau Claire: 10,000 fall 2024; 9,498 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Green Bay: 11,188 fall 2024; 11,500 fall 2025 estimate
UW-La Crosse: 10,458 fall 2024; 10,627 fall 2025 estimate
UW-Oshkosh: 12,964 fall 2024; 12,457 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Parkside: 3,947 fall 2024; 3,895 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Platteville: 6,391 fall 2024; 6,406 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-River Falls: 5,273 fall 2024; 5,275 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Stevens Point: 8,251 fall 2024; 8,538 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Stout: 6,914 fall 2024; 7,047 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Superior: 2,819 fall 2024; 2,859 fall 2025 estimate.
UW-Whitewater: 11,752 fall 2024; 12,075 fall 2025 estimate.

The UW began releasing enrollment estimates in 2020. Official counts will be released later this fall based on the 10th day of enrollment.

— The Assembly Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Committee approved 6-3 along party lines a bill to provide a $10 million grant to Rogers Behavioral Health for a mental health facility in the Chippewa Valley.

Lawmakers allocated $10 million in the state budget for a new mental health facility. The proposal comes after Hospital Sisters Health System shut down hospitals in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire last year, leading to a loss of 33 psychiatric beds and sending psychiatric patients farther from home to seek emergency care.

Under AB 388, the Department of Health Services would only award the grant if Rogers Behavioral Health submits a letter of intent with plans for building the facility, along with proof of purchase or lease of land. The Assembly is set to take up the bill tomorrow, according to the calendar.

— Gov. Tony Evers joined a ribboncutting for the new Marshfield Medical Center-Park Falls hospital after previously approving $20 million for the facility’s renovation.

The funding came in 2022 from the Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Grant Program, which Evers created with American Rescue Plan Act federal dollars. It was meant to address aging infrastructure for the hospital, improve inpatient rooms, and create a new urgent care space while adding retail pharmacy services and more.

The guv’s office says the $20 million award helped the facility stay open during the renovation project. The next closest medical facility of its kind is located nearly an hour away, according to the release.

“By investing in projects like this, we’re not only creating systems to set this region up for the next century of patient care, but we’re also creating a hub for community jobs, we’re creating a focal point to bring new residents and businesses to the area, and we’re giving those who have called this community home for years another reason to be proud of this great city,” Evers said yesterday in a statement.

See more in the release.

— State health officials are distributing 131,000 drug checking test strips to community groups in the state to help cut fatal overdoses.

The Department of Health Services yesterday announced the distribution of the test strips while also renewing the statewide standing order for the overdose reversal drug naloxone. That allows pharmacists to provide the drug without needing a prescription, according to the DHS release. Unlike previous standing orders, the latest one doesn’t expire.

The test strips can test if opioids contain xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that can be mixed into fentanyl and other drugs. DHS says the drug makes it more likely to die from overdose, while also causing serious skin infections.

The announcement highlights various strategies DHS is pursuing to fight the opioid epidemic, including a rapid response system for overdoses, mobile response teams, fentanyl test strips and more. The agency says final data for 2024 is expected to “show a significant year-over-year decrease” in drug overdose deaths when it’s released later this year.

See the release.

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