FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Rose Oswald Poels, Wisconsin Bankers Association; Utilities group highlights factors driving up electric costs

April 17, 2026

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Rose Oswald Poels, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

Oswald Poels shares her view on the latest economic trends, noting her predictions from the end of 2025 have largely aligned with how the first quarter has played out.

“I said it was going to be a mixed economy, and … that’s certainly proving to be more true than I even envisioned,” she said. “With the war in Iran, and now prolonged war, it’s certainly wreaking havoc on different sectors, and when it comes to basic things like the price of gas at the pump for consumers, it’s certainly impacting everyone’s pocketbooks.”

Even if the conflict in Iran is resolved, Oswald Poels notes midterm elections — happening later this year — typically lead to some economic uncertainty, predicting “continued volatility” throughout 2026.

The conversation also explores how bankers are integrating AI into their operations, as many in Wisconsin are deploying the technology internally to improve operations, writing communications for customers and more. Others are using customer-facing AI chatbots to answer questions and provide online navigation help.

“I think more of it will start to roll out down the road, certainly maybe even in the credit analyst world where there’s a lot of number crunching and data analytics going on by humans currently,” she said. “With the help of some software, I think that AI can also intervene in that space to improve upon those efficiencies.”

While she said there will always be “a human element” in this process, she expects banks may employ fewer of these analysts over time as AI plays a larger role.

Meanwhile, Oswald Poels also discusses the recently announced acquisition of American National Bank Fox Cities by Landmark Credit Union, explaining her concerns with the move and broader national trend of large credit unions acquiring community banks.

She argues tax advantages enjoyed by credit unions make for an unfair playing field.

“We certainly believe that credit unions that are $1 billion or larger in asset size should really be in today’s world treated just like a bank,” Oswald Poels said. “They act like a bank in all other regards, and so they should be paying taxes.”

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

See more on the debate over the Landmark Credit Union acquisition in a recent story.

WBA is partnering with WisPolitics-State Affairs and WisBusiness to host the 2026 Wisconsin Economic Forecast Luncheon on April 29 in Madison.

Along with keynote speaker Robert Dietz, the top economist at the National Association of Home Builders, the event will feature Department of Workforce Development economist Scott Hodek and other speakers. Register here.

— The executive director of the Wisconsin Utilities Association told lawmakers in a letter that aging infrastructure and the need to harden the electric grid are helping drive up electric costs in the state.

The three-page letter also cites developing new power generation and increasing construction, labor, and financing costs and interest rates as the leading culprits behind higher costs.

“These increases are structural and economic, not the result of a single decision or short term market spike,” it reads.

WUA Executive Director Bill Skewes says he wrote the letter, which was emailed to every legislator in the Senate and Assembly, to address complaints he often heard about rising utility bills.

Those rising rates have become a significant political issue ahead of the fall races.

“We thought it would be helpful to explain to policymakers what is behind what goes into rates, what goes into costs, and what’s been happening with them and the investments in the grid that would ultimately benefit customers,” Skewes said.

It also emphasizes that utility rate increases are regulated by the Public Service Commission, that utilities’ profits are capped and that data centers are not subsidized by residential customers.

“It’s just a common thread that people are concerned about,” Skewes said on the latter issue.

— A drug development firm with roots in UW-Madison has begun enrolling patients in a clinical trial evaluating a potential breast cancer treatment.

Cellectar Biosciences recently announced it has enrolled the first patient in a Phase 1b trial of its therapy called CLR 125 for treating triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. It works by inflicting direct genetic damage within tumor cells, according to details from the company.

Company President and CEO James Caruso notes triple-negative breast cancer patients face “a profound lack of targeted therapies,” calling the clinical trial enrollment a major milestone for the company and those with the disease.

“With additional study sites being activated in Q2, we are poised to rapidly advance this program and plan to provide dosimetry, safety, and efficacy updates throughout 2026,” Caruso said in a statement.

Earlier pre-clinical studies found the therapy achieved selective tumor uptake and “statistically significant” activity within models of this form of breast cancer. At the dosage level being tested, the research found no organ toxicity or hematologic toxicity, which refers to reduced blood cell production in bone marrow.

Under the newly opened clinical trial, the company will evaluate three dose levels and dosing regimens for CLR 125, ranging from two to four cycles of the varying treatment amounts. Each distinct participant group will enroll about 15 patients.

The trial involves imaging-based assessments to check tumor uptake and therapy distribution within the body, used to predict safety and therapeutic activity. Along with checking safety and tolerability, researchers will look at early measures of treatment efficacy, including how tumors respond and “progression-free” survival by patients.

The UW-Madison spin-off, which launched in Madison more than two decades ago, is now based in New Jersey. Its board of directors includes investor John Neis, managing director of Madison-based Venture Investors LLC.

See the release.

— Elephas Biosciences Corporation is working with a California company called Mithrl to incorporate AI into its tumor profiling platform.

The Madison business yesterday announced the scientific collaboration with the tech firm, applying its “scientific decision engine” to the Elephas elive platform. This inclusion of AI analysis aims to improve its ability to identify immunotherapy response signals, according to the release.

“We’re incredibly impressed with the speed at which Mithrl is able to generate novel insights that can better understand the biology of response and generate insights that may help guide translational research and therapeutic development,” Hinco Gierman, chief scientific officer for Elephas, said in a statement.

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.

— Wisconsin’s unemployment rate again rose slightly over the month, reaching 3.4% in February.

That’s according to the latest preliminary figures released by the state Department of Workforce Development, which show state unemployment rose by 0.1 percentage points over the month, matching the increase in January.

Wisconsin’s rate remained below the national rate of 4.4% for February.

Meanwhile, the state’s labor force participation rate rose by the same amount to 64.4% for the month, which is 2.4 percentage points above the national rate of 62%.

See the release.

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TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Wisconsin adds more counties to spongy moth quarantine list

CONSTRUCTION

– Marshfield plans $7.6 million youth center at former J.C. Penney building

– Developer scraps 197-unit apartment plan, pivots to townhomes on Milwaukee’s east side

– Construction start pushed back for luxury subdivision planned in New Berlin

ENVIRONMENT

– Wisconsin will see warmer, wetter weather — and more extremes, report finds