WED AM News: Africa trade mission aimed to deepen state ties with Niche Cocoa; Evers warns of impacts from changes to food stamp standards

August 5, 2026

— During the recent WEDC trade mission to Africa, state officials sought to deepen the economic ties between Ghana’s Niche Cocoa and Wisconsin.

The trade mission took place July 20-25, featuring diplomatic meetings with local officials in both Ghana and South Africa as well as visits with African businesses and institutions and stops at distribution operations run by major Wisconsin companies such as Trek Bicycle Corp., Harley-Davidson and Rockwell Automation.

In an interview yesterday, WEDC Secretary and CEO John Miller said he and Gov. Tony Evers met with investors and other supporters of Niche Cocoa, calling it the biggest business connection of the trip with an African company that has operations in Wisconsin.

Niche Cocoa is currently building a cocoa processing plant in Franklin, which it selected after the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. courted the business following a site search that began in 2022.

After first joining a dinner with representatives of the company, Miller and Evers spent the following day touring its factory in Ghana and learning about the company’s operations there. While work on the Franklin project is underway, Miller added Niche Cocoa is also looking to get more involved in providing chocolate milk for schools in Ghana.

“The one thing they don’t have in Ghana is ready milk, so they’re interested in buying powdered milk,” Miller told WisBusiness. “We actually brought along officials from the U.S. Dairy Export Council to help them figure out ways to buy not only U.S.-made but Wisconsin-made powdered milk.”

Up until now, Niche Cocoa has been buying powdered milk from the Netherlands, Miller said.

“We’re working on not only helping them bring their facility and expand their facility into Wisconsin, but also helping them with bringing some Wisconsin products over to help them and their manufacturing process in Ghana,” he said.

Miller said the trip marked the first time a Wisconsin governor has gone to Africa on official business, noting there largely hasn’t been “a lot of outflux of financial benefit coming into the U.S.” from the continent. He says Niche Cocoa’s investment in Wisconsin bucks the trend, and WEDC has previously said the project represents the largest food and beverage investment by an African company in U.S. history.

“So we really wanted to celebrate it,” he said, adding “it was definitely the biggest part of the trip.”

Miller said no Wisconsin-based businesses joined this trade venture, but stressed that Africa and South Africa in particular present great opportunities for Wisconsin companies looking to export and establish a foothold elsewhere. He noted the continent’s relatively young population as a strength for its future economy.

“There are billions of consumers in these countries and a lot of things going on, and one of the things that we can do, especially with our products, is help them prosper,” he said. “I think it deserves our attention, to make sure we pay attention to every continent and every potential avenue to both benefit the economy in Wisconsin, and their economies locally.”

See more on the trip.

— Gov. Tony Evers told the USDA in a letter that new standards for retailers that accept food stamps will limit where lower-income families can buy food.

The agency now requires retailers to stock more staple food varieties and more perishable goods in order to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Retailers have until Nov. 24 to comply.

In yesterday’s letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, Evers wrote that small retailers in rural and tribal areas would struggle to comply with the new requirements, potentially cutting off food access for lower-income families in those areas.

“USDA has presented this rule as a way to encourage expanded access to “real foods,” but if the only convenience store in an area is deauthorized and can no longer accept SNAP benefits due to these new standards, Wisconsinites—especially families and farmers who live in our rural areas and communities—may be left with significantly fewer accessible food options or without any options at all,” Evers wrote.

Evers cited statistics showing that some 10% of Wisconsinites live in parts of the state classified by the USDA as low-income, low-access areas – colloquially known as food deserts.

He also cited Center on Budget and Policy Priorities data showing some 24,000 fewer residents were receiving SNAP benefits compared to last April, following the passage of new SNAP restrictions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

— A new report from the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy credits state regulators with creating “substantial protection” for ratepayers but says “gaps remain” in its regulatory structure.

Wisconsin “is already one of the major sites” for the nation’s AI buildout, research economist Junjie Guo and economics Prof. Ananth Seshadri wrote in their report for the UW-Madison think tank, which is backed by funding from the conservative Bradley Impact Fund and the Charles Koch Foundation.

The authors count some $36 billion in data center investment that is already underway from a $46 billion pipeline.

The report highlights the Public Service Commission’s April decision setting the terms by which We Energies’ will bill its data center customers for power.

That ruling requires all very large customers to pay for and financially guarantee the cost of new power generation built to serve them, and locks those customers into 15-year contracts.

But, the report’s authors note, that ruling only applies to one utility, has been challenged in court and can be weakened by future commissions, and has collateral requirements and exit penalties that are so far untested.

It also notes the ruling does not address all transmission-related costs.

“The order gets the central allocation right: customers that require dedicated generation must pay for it. But it covers only one utility, leaves part of the transmission exposure unresolved, and can be revisited by a future commission,” the authors write.

American Transmission Company, which maintains much of the states’ power lines, has filed plans with state and federal regulators to facilitate billing data centers for new transmission infrastructure.

The report argues Wisconsin needs more power generation but notes that the state’s regulated monopoly incentivizes utilities to build and “if demand falls short, existing customers may still be left paying for the assets.”

It instead argues for “competitive procurement” allowing very large customers to build, co-locate or contract for private generation. The report also says regulators should not approve new power facilities built by utilities until data center customers have signed binding “take or pay” agreements to cover the cost of power plants.

The report also argues against imposing a statewide moratorium on data center development, counting some $9.6 billion in paused and pending data center investment, including $8 billion for the redevelopment of Janesville’s former GM Assembly Plant.

Authors also oppose imposing a statewide moratorium on data center development. The report argues for a “by rule” tax exemption for data center costs, as opposed to the project-specific sales and use tax exemptions.

— Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined a lawsuit to block new double-digit tariffs on a vast swath of the United States’ trade partners.

Twenty-two states’ attorneys general – all Democratic, except for Hawaii’s officially nonpartisan appointed AG – and the Democratic governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania this week filed the complaint in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

The complaint comes after the U.S. Trade Representative announced tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on some 59 countries and the European Union, allegedly for failing to implement and effectively enforce prohibitions on forced labor.

The Trump administration has invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs in response to unfair trading practices.

The states argue there is “no rational fit between the purported problem of forced labor in international supply chains and the blanket global tariffs,” which affect some 99.4% of imports to the United States.

The White House’s efforts to implement global tariffs have been previously struck down by federal courts.

“As these tariffs illustrate, the Trump administration isn’t just failing to sufficiently address affordability challenges — it’s actively making them worse,” Kaul said in a statement. “The American people shouldn’t have to keep paying extra for goods because of illegal tariffs.”

— The Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network is launching a new version of its platform called WISHIN 2.0, boasting a “streamlined” interface and greater technical capabilities for users.

The group is unveiling its updated platform and plans to roll it out to users throughout this month. The announcement touts a number of improvements, including an expanded patient search function, historical timelines, improved “patient matching logic” for identifying records between various organizations, a personalized patient list and more.

The existing WISHIN network has functioned as the state’s designated entity for facilitating health information exchange since 2010, with more than 2,000 participants currently in the network. That covers major health systems in Wisconsin, individual hospitals and clinics, pharmacies, public health agencies and others.

CEO Steve Rottman says the system has a “proven track record” for providing secure and accurate patient details.

“We are excited to take our trusted and secure interoperability products to the next level, delivering even greater value to the organizations and communities we serve, and empowering better patient care for all Wisconsinites,” he said in a statement.

— U.S. News & World Report has once again rated UW Health as the No. 1 regional hospital in Wisconsin, followed by Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center and Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

UW Health has now topped the national publication’s list of best hospitals in Wisconsin for 15 years in a row, according to the Madison health system, which touted the ranking yesterday in a release.

It was nationally ranked in nine specialties and three children’s specialties — more than the rest of the Wisconsin hospitals that made the list combined.

UW Health Chief Operating Officer Dr. Peter Newcomer says once again claiming the No. 1 ranking “is something we’re incredibly proud of” and signals the high quality of care available to Wisconsin residents.

“It speaks to the talent, innovation and commitment of our teams, who continue to advance patient care, research and outcomes across our health system,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee came in at No. 2 on the list and was nationally ranked for two specialties. Froedtert and the MCW, which landed at No. 3, earned a national ranking for three specialties.

Rounding out the top 10, the publication rated: Mayo Clinic Health System-Eau Claire at No. 4; Aurora Medical Center-Grafton at No. 5; SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital-Madison at No. 6; Aspirus Wausau Hospital and Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse tied for No. 7; UnityPoint Health Meriter in Madison at No. 9; and Bellin Memorial Hospital in Green Bay at No. 10.

See the full ranking.

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