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Milwaukee Business Journal
Ascension continues restoring systems following cyberattack
Ascension Wisconsin patients and clinical staff will regain access to electronic health records by June 14 — about five weeks after Ascension suffered a cyberattack that led to frustration for patients and clinicians but didn’t shut down the 18-state health system.<\p> Ascension, which is based in St. Louis, posted an update Tuesday morning on restoring access to electronic health records (EHR) in Florida, Alabama and Austin, Texas. The health system hired outside contractors and experts to restore the service, which Ascension said has been among its top priorities.<\p>
RNC work starts on Fiserv Forum, six weeks before convention
Planners and contractors for the Republican National Convention started a multimillion-dollar project inside Fiserv Forum to convert the basketball and concert arena into a convention hall.<\p> The move-in of work crews on Monday initiates a six-week process leading up to the downtown Milwaukee event July 15 through July 18 that’s expected to attract 50,000 visitors to southeast Wisconsin. <\p>
PrideFest expands for 2024, eyes future growth
After a record breaking year for the number of vendors and performers, PrideFest Milwaukee returns to Henry Maier Festival Park this weekend with an eye on continuing to grow.<\p> For 2024, that starts with opening night on Thursday, which is historically a slower night for the event. Milwaukee Pride, which organizes and operates PrideFest Milwaukee, saw a larger than expected crowd on its opening night in 2023. Hearing and seeing a demand from fans for expansion, the festival will now activate four of its five stages on Thursday night to allow for more entertainment options.<\p>
Brookfield shopping center to get upgrades after sale
A Brookfield shopping center near Kopp's Frozen Custard at an active section of West Bluemound Road will receive a multimillion-dollar facelift as its new owners look to attract more restaurant and retail tenants. <\p> Cincinnati-based retail property firm Last Mile Investments on May 21 paid $7,250,800 to buy the 6-acre Galleria West Shopping Center at 18900 W. Bluemound Road, state records show. The seller was Galleria West Associates, which had owned and operated the center since the early 1980s, according to Last Mile Investments.<\p>
Milky Way Tech Hub collaborates on series of AI workshops
Milky Way Tech Hub said Monday that it is participating in a series of workshops focused on artificial intelligence in collaboration with its corporate members and community organizations, including American Family Insurance, Northwestern Mutual, Summerfest Tech and Social X MKE. <\p> The workshops aim to educate and empower the community by providing insights into the practical applications of AI and fostering an environment of learning and innovation, the organization said.<\p>
Hard cider taproom in Walker's Point to close before end of the year
Milwaukee's first hard-cider bar says it will close by the end of the year.<\p> In a Facebook post on June 1, Lost Valley Cider Co. owners Stuart Rudolph and Chandra Rudolph cited "preparing to take our next steps in our personal journeys" as the reason for the closure.<\p>
Most top-performing companies take this position on pay transparency
Most top-performing companies are proving to be open and transparent about pay at a time when workers increasingly expect it.<\p> That finding comes from compensation data and software provider Payscale Inc., which recently analyzed companies that beat their own revenue goals to find what they had in common. <\p>
Clarios to invest $16M to expand automotive battery components plant
Battery manufacturer Clarios International will invest about $16 million in expanding a plant in South Carolina that manufactures components for low-voltage batteries.<\p> The Glendale-based company said the expansion will house high-tech equipment to produce plastic vents specifically for absorbent glass mat batteries. Those batteries are used in vehicles with high electrical demand including electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and vehicles with start-stop technology.<\p>
Kohl's sees opportunity in activewear after $27 million net loss
As Kohl’s Corp. strives to rebound from a first-quarter net loss of $27 million, CEO Tom Kingsbury said the company will sharpen its focus on activewear and increase awareness of its value-oriented private brands, which are performing well.<\p> Kingsbury discussed the Menomonee Falls-based retailer's activewear among the “areas of opportunity” identified for the company going forward during a recent earnings call with Wall Street analysts. The category accounted "for the majority of the overall sales decline in the quarter," according to Kingsbury, who cited clearance as “a major factor” in the active decline. He added that the impact was most felt in men’s and kids businesses.<\p>
UPAF Ride for the Arts raises $434,000, sees more riders
The United Performing Arts Fund raised $434,000 on Sunday during the 2024 Ride for the Arts that took cyclists on a tour of Milwaukee's lakefront.<\p> The annual fundraiser supports the country's largest united fund for the performing arts. For this year's event, it returned to its Hoan Bridge route, taking participants as far north as Lake Park on Milwaukee's east side, down the lakefront to Cudahy and turning back. <\p>
Tudor-style Elm Grove mansion sells for $2.9M: Slideshow
A Tudor-style Elm Grove mansion with balconies and a turret recently sold for $2.98 million after previously being listed for $4.2 million. It's located in one of the priciest areas of the popular Milwaukee suburb.<\p> At nearly 10,000 square feet on 0.79 acres, it has five bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half-baths. The primary bedroom is on the main level, and it has a spiral staircase that leads up to a private den and office. <\p>
Steel giant to acquire Jackson manufacturer for $565M
Rytec Corp., a Jackson-based manufacturer of high-performance commercial doors, is being sold for $565 million cash to Nucor Corp., a North Carolina steelmaking giant and recycler that two years ago bought another door manufacturer for $3 billion.<\p> The privately held Jackson company has over 300 employees at plants in Jackson and Hartford. <\p>
Why BRP laid off hundreds of employees in Sturtevant
In the wake of BRP Inc. laying off 298 employees at its Sturtevant plant, the company’s CEO said the marine products business is softer this year than executives expected and wading through the slowdown might take 18 months.<\p> Since April, dealerships that sell BRP marine products, which include the Sea-Doo Switch pontoons made in Sturtevant, have reduced the number of boats shipped from the company, president and CEO José Boisjoli, said during a stock analyst call on Friday. Executives with the Quebec-based company decided to reduce shipments for the balance of the year, which in turn meant BRP reduced production through 2024, he said.<\p>
Small-business grants you can apply for this month
Despite the seemingly endless number of challenges that come along with being a small-business owner, the vast majority of entrepreneurs recommend it. <\p> A survey of employed adults and small-business owners by Justworks and The Harris Poll earlier this year revealed that 93% of small-business owners would recommend business ownership to others, with 59% saying it was easier than they had anticipated. <\p>
Price of renovated Oconomowoc Lake estate rises nearly $4M: Open House
After transformational upgrades, an Oconomowoc Lake home is back on the market for $9.2 million just over a year after selling for $5.5 million. It's being offered fully furnished with brand-new designer furnishings.<\p> The current owners of the 12-acre estate purchased the property in late March 2023 and listed it for sale earlier this month after completing a full renovation of the home, which was built in 2001.<\p>
NCG Hospitality petitions for union election among Trade Hotel workers
NCG Hospitality has filed a petition for an election instead of formally recognizing the union formed by workers of The Trade Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, according to an attorney representing the hospitality firm. <\p> Doug Witte of law firm Boardman & Clark LLP, which is representing NCG Hospitality, confirmed to the Milwaukee Business Journal that a petition to hold an election was filed.<\p>
Top chefs put own spin on McDonald's menu at Unwrapped fundraiser
About 300 Milwaukee-area business executives gathered at The Deco event venue in West Allis on Thursday to sample some McDonald's-inspired fine dining in support of local nonprofit Sharp Literacy Inc.<\p> Check out the attached slideshow to see photos from the Unwrapped MKE event, which featured well-known Milwaukee chefs putting their twist on some of the fast-food chain's main ingredients.<\p>
ManpowerGroup is no longer No. 1 in this state metric
For several years now, ever since Johnson Controls officially relocated its corporate domicile (i.e., headquarters) overseas in 2016, ManpowerGroup Inc. has ranked at the top of one metric tracked by the Milwaukee Business Journal.<\p> The metric is annual revenue, and it forms the basis of the Milwaukee Business Journal rankings of the Largest Wisconsin-based Public Companies list. The list covers publicly traded companies based in Wisconsin and is ranked by total revenue for the latest fiscal year.<\p>
Milwaukee manufacturer expands layoffs to production workers
Milwaukee-based snowplow manufacturer Douglas Dynamics Inc., which has been hurt by low snowfall the past two winters, plans to eliminate an unspecified number of positions at its plant on Milwaukee’s northwest side in June after trimming its white-collar workforce earlier this year.<\p> “We are in the process of making changes to better support the long-term growth strategy, which will require the elimination of some positions at the end of June,” company spokesman Nathan Elwell said in a Thursday email to the Business Journal.<\p>
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