FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Erine Gray, Findhelp; Evers rolls out state’s new Clean Fleet Policy

July 17, 2026

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Erine Gray, founder and CEO of Findhelp.

The software company with offices in Madison operates a search engine for social services, which has grown over the past 16 years to now include more than 900,000 verified community programs across all 50 states.

The platform serves more than 800 customers, including health systems, government agencies and others.

“Everybody in the United States has a time of need, whether or not they struggle with paying the bills or maybe they have a kid that has a rare disease, so how do you find out what services are available to you?” Gray said.

He wanted to develop a platform to help others answer this question, providing information on nearby available programs based on their ZIP code.

“We are now working with most major health systems across the United States, a lot of health plans,” Gray said. “Typically, our customers tend to be those who hire large groups of social workers, so these are companies like Sanford Health, Marshfield Clinic, UW Health, MHS Health Wisconsin, Endeavor Health and some of the other ones that are there.”

More than 1.29 million Wisconsin residents have used Findhelp, having conducted more than 3.8 million searches for services through the platform. Within the state, the network has 1,665 community groups and more than 7,300 programs, with participation in all 72 counties.

Just in the past year — from July 2025 to June 2026 — users in the state have made 1.24 million searches on Findhelp and received more than 50,000 referrals. A total of just under 20,000 people in Wisconsin were referred to organizations for support during this time, according to figures provided by the company.

“We see food pantry as the number one search term, and that is throughout the state, as well as meals or help pay for housing,” he said.

Findhelp earlier this year received a $250 million investment from the global firm TPG, which Gray says will help the company “dive even deeper” into the social services space. It’s currently hiring at its offices in Madison.

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

— State agencies will be required to buy electric vehicles or other “alternative fuel” options under Wisconsin’s new Clean Fleet Policy.

Gov. Tony Evers yesterday announced the new policy, which directs agencies to purchase EVs or plug-in hybrids for new fleet vehicle acquisitions, with some exceptions. It was created with the state’s Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy.

Wisconsin’s 6,000-vehicle fleet includes about 14% alternative fuel vehicles, according to the guv’s office.

Yesterday’s announcement says the newly established policy will help reduce air pollution and Wisconsin’s climate impact, pointing to federal efforts earlier this year to reduce emissions standards at the national level.

“This new policy ensures state government is leading by example and that future vehicle purchases continue working towards our emission goals as options like electric vehicles continue to become more accessible and available,” Evers said in a statement.

See the release.

See the policy document.

— Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 3.3% in June, marking a slight decline over the previous month, according to the latest Department of Workforce Development figures.

The agency yesterday announced the decline of 0.1 percentage point from May’s unemployment rate. The state gained 6,000 employment over the previous month and 16,600 over the year, reaching 3,030,100 in June.

Wisconsin’s change matches the national trend, as the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 4.3% to 4.2% over the previous month.

Meanwhile, the state’s labor force participation rate ticked up by the same amount to 64.5%, remaining above the national rate of 61.5%.

See the report.

— Madison was ranked No. 9 among the top 10 fittest cities in the country by the American College of Sports Medicine.

The group says all of the top-rated cities were included for their high levels of physical activity, strong “active transportation systems,” broad access to parks and recreation and policies that support active lifestyles.

Stella Volpe, chair of the college’s Fitness Index Advisory Board, says the highest rated cities have built systems over time that support healthier living.

“They are the ones creating environments where physical activity can easily become a part of everyday routines,” Volpe said in a statement.

About 85% of Madison residents exercised in the previous month, while 65% are meeting aerobic activity guidelines, according to the report. Another 32.6% are meeting aerobic and strength activity guidelines, while 10% either bike or walk to work.

Just 5.2% of Madison residents smoke, the report shows, while 58.1% were in excellent or very good health.

Still, 31% of the city’s population is obese and 23.2% have high blood pressure, per the report.

See the release.

See the full data set for the rankings.

— UW Health says a new interventional radiology imaging center at American Family Children’s Hospital is expected to double the number of related procedures performed each year.

Dr. Eric Monroe, a pediatric interventional radiologist with UW Health Kids, says the group’s care team sees patients with a wide range of conditions, from cancer to vascular disorders. The new space will “enable us to perform all these vital services for so many more patients” going forward, he said in the announcement.

“When I got here in 2021, we did about 300 interventional radiology procedures per year, and now we’re up to 800,” said Monroe, who’s also professor of radiology at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “But we still saw delays or patients going elsewhere because we didn’t have the space to care for the volume of patients we would have liked to.”

The image-guiding technology in the suite was developed by GE HealthCare, according to the release. The new suite is the fourth of its kind in the world currently used for patient care, UW Health says, and the first ever used for pediatric interventional radiology.

It includes an imaging arm with an “AI-supported guidance tool” that can move around the patient to reduce their discomfort, as well as 3D imaging technologies and more.

“Now our surgeons will have more capacity for the patients who need their specific expertise and the operative environment,” Monroe said.

See the 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.

— Pluribus News/State Affairs will preview the National Conference of State Legislatures’ upcoming legislative summit via a chat with CEO Tim Storey before the doors open in Chicago.

The discussion is set for Wednesday ahead of NCSL’s 2026 summit, offering a look at the biggest ideas shaping state policy this summer. The virtual event is being held at noon via Zoom.

Join here.

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