FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Greg Keenan, WARF Ventures; Report estimates Exact Sciences’ state GDP impact at up to $7B

March 20, 2026

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with WARF Ventures Partner Greg Keenan.

The discussion explores the path ahead for the recently announced Third Coast Foundry effort, a two-year pilot project involving UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation along with seven other universities.

It’s anchored by a 3,500-square-foot workspace and event center in San Francisco’s South park neighborhood, envisioned as a hub for linking with venture capital and startup activity in the area.

“It really is a way for us, as a collection of some of the top research universities in the Midwest, to connect our universities to investors, talent, alumni and certainly with each other in the hotbed of startup and tech investing,” Keenan said.

Other participating universities include: Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis.

A key element of the effort is “connecting our amazing technologies out of our universities to the deep investment pools of capital” on the West Coast, Keenan said.

The area surrounding the Third Coast Foundry site has more than $100 billion in assets under management, all within a 10-minute walk from the planned hub, he noted.

“Having this presence really enables us to be just a permanent fixture in that location … a lot of capital in a very small area,” he said. “Again, that’s hard to replicate here in the Midwest, so many times, the reality is you’ve got to bring your technologies and talent to where the money is.”

He noted the Madison startup ecosystem has already been working to make connections in the Silicon Valley area. The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce’s Pressure Chamber contest has been bringing winners there to meet investors for more than a decade.

“This is just that on steroids … It really provides a nice center of gravity for us to showcase our technology and talent,” Keenan said.

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

— Exact Sciences contributes up to $7 billion to Wisconsin’s GDP, according to a new estimate from a UW-Madison think tank.

The Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy yesterday issued a report on the diagnostics firm’s impact in the state. Since moving from Massachusetts to Madison in 2009, the business has grown from a 19-person team to more than 7,200 employees around the world, including 3,500 in Wisconsin alone.

Over the same period, its revenue has grown from $4.8 million to $3.2 billion last year. Much of its success is due to its Cologuard test, a non-invasive screening tool for colorectal cancer. The company has since expanded into other product lines, including its Cancerguard multi-cancer blood test.

Late last year, the company announced Abbott Laboratories would acquire Exact Sciences in a $23 billion deal.

While the report presents several ways to assess the company’s impact in the state, authors wrote the figure is “most plausibly” between $6 billion and $7 billion, accounting for as much as 2% of the state’s $354.4 billion GDP in 2024.

The report also emphasizes the firm’s ties to UW-Madison, noting its growth has been anchored by the university and the University Research Park in Madison. These have provided skilled workers, research infrastructure and a physical campus for the company, while it in turn has “deepened Madison’s life sciences ecosystem,” adding jobs across various sectors.

Authors say the role of the university and research park underscores the importance of such ties between higher education and industry.

“University-adjacent communities in the interior United States can nurture globally competitive biotech firms that generate large regional economic effects … a single high-growth firm can have an outsized impact on a regional economy,” they wrote.

Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, says few organizations have had as significant an impact in the region.

“We are confident that with Abbott’s support, reach and resources, Exact Sciences will continue to attract top talent from across the globe, find innovative solutions to some of healthcare’s most complex challenges and play a pivotal role in our region’s thriving economy,” he said in a statement on the findings.

See the report.

— Gov. Tony Evers has signed legislation dubbed “Gail’s Law,” ending out-of-pocket expenses for supplemental screenings for women with dense breast tissue.

Surrounded by advocates for SB 264, including members of the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition, Evers yesterday said the new law will “help ensure thousands of women across Wisconsin receive the health care they deserve.”

The bill’s name references late Wisconsinite Gail Zeamer, a Neenah resident who died of cancer in 2024. She had advocated for the change to help ensure women with dense breast tissue like herself could detect it early without facing excessive costs.

“Gail’s story and influence have helped us make these important changes in state law,” Evers said. “Losing her from your lives so soon should never have been the outcome. Unfortunately, those stories are too common as well.”

The guv said the new law aims to reduce the number of women whose breast cancer goes undetected due to the cost of additional screenings that weren’t covered by insurance, noting it’s already one of costliest cancers to treat.

Evers was joined yesterday by members of Zeamer’s family. Her daughter, Claudia, said she’s “incredibly proud” of her mom.

“I feel very lucky knowing that my mom is now part of history, and I miss her more than ever,” she said. “But I also know that she’s looking down on all of us with that big, beautiful smile of hers knowing that we finished this for her.”

The bill had broad bipartisan support within the Legislature, passing the Assembly on a 96-0 vote and the Senate 32-1.

See the release and see more reactions from lawmakers here.

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.

— Wisconsinites would have the option to buy food from government-run grocery stores under a bill the Legislative Socialist Caucus sent out for co-sponsorship.

The bill is proposed by Reps. Darrin Madison, D-Milwaukee, Francesca Hong, D-Madison, Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, and Christian Phelps, D-Eau Claire. It doesn’t have a path forward this session since both the Assembly and Senate have already adjourned.

In yesterday’s co-sponsorship memo for the Wisconsin Public Grocery Store Act, the lawmakers cited grocery store closures in Milwaukee and high costs for consumers.

“Private incentives are clearly insufficient to meet this critical public good – feeding everyone in our communities and creating a sustainable food system that supports local farmers,” they wrote.

The bill would create a Wisconsin Public Food Administration Authority to oversee the operation of public grocery stores, prioritizing areas that are considered food insecure. It includes $30 million to establish a food distribution system and would allocate $70 million in grants to fund the development and operation of public grocery stores.

The proposal would also allow the authority created in the bill to require larger stores to offer additional services. That includes hot food, a cafeteria and seating area, a coffee shop, bakery, pharmacy, community center, study area, affordable public or social housing development, or access to health or mental health care and child care.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fellow democratic socialist, has proposed city-owned grocery stores in the Big Apple to combat high costs and food insecurity.

The offices of GOP legislative leaders did not immediately return requests for comment on the Wisconsin proposal.

— WEC Energy Group and Madison Gas & Electric will split ownership of new solar facilities in Columbia County after the PSC approved the purchase, the utilities announced.

The state Public Service Commission approved the purchase of the Good Oak Solar Generation Facility and the Gristmil Solar Generation Facility by We Energies, the subsidiary of Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group, yesterday’s release shows.

The projects, once online, will add 165 megawatts of solar power to the grid, enough to power about 50,000 homes. They’re expected to begin producing energy in 2028.

We Energies will be the majority owner with about 79 megawatts from the Good Oak site and 54 megawatts from the Gristmill site. Wisconsin Public Service, also under WEC Energy Group, will own 9.8 megawatts and 6.7 megawatts from the projects, respectively.

The other co-owner, Madison Gas & Electric, will also own 9.8 megawatts from Good Oak and 6.7 megawatts from Gristmill, according to the release.

Another recently approved solar and battery project, the Dawn Harvest Solar and Battery Energy Storage Facility in Rock County, has a similar ownership structure with We Energies leading the effort and WPS and MGE owning smaller portions.

The developer for the Columbia County project is OneEnergy Renewables, based in Seattle.

See the We Energies release.

DNR oversight of industrial farm permits plagued by low staff levels

Pewaukee-based glass maker closes $3 million funding round for expansion, automation initiatives

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– WSMB showcases innovation using Wisconsin soybeans

BANKING

– Q&A: Neil Riegelman, Associated Bank’s new Milwaukee market president

EDUCATION

– NIL bill would help UW, but athletics problems linger, Mnookin says

HEALTH CARE