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WISN-TV hires Midwest native for Mallory Anderson's former role
WISN-TV (Channel 12) has named Zoie Henry as the new live desk anchor of “WISN 12 News This Morning,” the weekday morning newscast from 4:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. <\p> Henry takes over the role vacated by Mallory Anderson, who now co-anchors the morning newscast. <\p>
Baird Center expansion unveiled. How Summerfest's old CEO pitched in.
Baird chairman and CEO Steve Booth credited former Milwaukee World Festival Inc. leader Don Smiley with providing crucial consulting services to the Milwaukee-based financial firm resulting in what Booth called spectacular results for its naming rights package at the newly unveiled Baird Center.<\p> Booth spoke Thursday morning at the ribbon-cutting for the just-expanded downtown Milwaukee convention center. See the attached slideshow of the event from Milwaukee Business Journal photographer Kenny Yoo.<\p>
Bear seeks city support for 140 affordable Harbor District apartments
Bear Development is seeking financial support from the city of Milwaukee to round out the capital stack for a mixed-use building in the Harbor District neighborhood slated to include 140 affordable apartments with monthly rents as low as around $500.<\p> The Kenosha-based developer, which has a variety of other Milwaukee projects in the works, is under contract to purchase a vacant 1.6-acre site for the project at 100 E. National Ave. and hopes to begin construction by the end of August. It's seeking $2.17 million in city tax incremental financing (TIF) for the $55 million development. <\p>
AI's latest casualty? Entry-level jobs
Welcome to The National Observer, a roundup of top business news and actionable insights from across The Business Journals. We'll take a look today at how artificial intelligence is taking roles that used to act as entry-level positions; Frontier Airline's strategy targeting business travelers; and how you can buy everything in a Red Lobster restaurant. But we'll start with what higher-for-longer rates mean for those in the real estate business.<\p> Get more stories like these every day in your inbox by subscribing to The National Observer newsletter.<\p>
Mandel adds units to apartment plans for Tosa village
The developer of a planned new apartment building in the heart of downtown Wauwatosa is proposing to add 27 units to the project after increased construction costs and interest rates threatened the project's viability. <\p> Milwaukee developer Mandel Group is now proposing 157 market-rate units for its Harlow & Hem building, which would redevelop an area that currently includes city-owned surface parking lots at the northern corner of Wauwatosa Avenue and Blanchard Street. The city in 2022 approved plans for the project with 130 units, including some affordable units.<\p>
'A sequel to Buck Bradley's' makes its debut: Slideshow
The space of the former Buck Bradley’s Saloon & Eatery has taken on a new name — Copper — and a few cosmetic changes but its new owners remain determined to honor the history of the longtime downtown bar.<\p> Pete Marshall and Jerry Bussen, co-owners of Pete’s Pub on Brady Street, partnered to purchase the property along with Pete's wife and business partner, Megan Marshall, at 1019 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, in 2023. <\p>
Idea Fund of La Crosse raises over $31M for second VC fund
The Idea Fund of La Crosse said Wednesday that it has closed on its second venture capital fund, raising $31.5 million to be invested in pre- and early-stage revenue startups in the upper Midwest.<\p> The Idea Fund of La Crosse is one of the five Wisconsin venture capital firms backed by the public-private Badger Fund of Funds, a $25 million initiative launched in 2013 to help kick-start the state's venture capital industry. The Badger Fund of Funds backed the Idea Fund with $5.2 million contribution for Idea's first fund, which closed with a total of $13 million.<\p>
Koss caught in 'meme mania' again, shares more than double
Koss Corp. stock enjoyed a two-plus day ride on meme-stock mania this week akin to similar spikes in 2021.<\p> The Milwaukee-based stereo headphone company saw its stock climb as high as $6.95 per share Tuesday, which was more than double Koss’s closing price on May 10 before the meme streak started. Trading volume for Koss was heavy at over 19 million shares Monday and Tuesday after trading just 360,500 shares on May 10.<\p>
TitletownTech new UWM space aims to grow investment opportunities
With Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector getting a shot in the arm through Microsoft’s move to the state, TitletownTech is making a concerted effort to aid the industry both through helping manufacturers succeed and in finding opportunities for investment.<\p> TitletownTech, the Green Bay-based venture capital fund formed through a partnership between Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers in 2017, will join the tech-giant as it creates its AI Co-Innovation Lab on the UW-Milwaukee campus. This will be done through a full-time office, TitletownTech-Milwaukee, that will be embedded into the space.<\p>
War Memorial, Explorium Brewpub commemorate D-Day with beer
Milwaukee's War Memorial Center, Kegel's Inn and Explorium Brewpub are marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day with a beer collaboration.<\p> The beer, named 200 Yards, pays homage to the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II.<\p>
European Deer District? If Aston Villa F.C. realizes Wes Edens' vision
Milwaukee Bucks' co-owner Wes Edens could bring some of the similar strategies he implemented around Fiserv Forum to his co-owned European soccer team Aston Villa F.C.<\p> In an interview with New York Times Magazine, Edens told Bruce Schoenfeld he is planning to develop the Aston neighborhood around the team’s stadium in Birmingham, England. As part of this plan, the businessman hopes to build hundreds of apartment units in the area.<\p>
Shareholders reject proposal for oversight of Kohl's social actions
Kohl's Corp. shareholders during an annual meeting on Wednesday soundly rejected a proposal that sought to establish an oversight committee to review the company's actions related to social and political matters.<\p> The conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research — as shareholders of the Menomonee Falls-based retail chain — presented the proposal in a proxy statement that Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) distributed ahead of the annual meeting. Preliminary results shared at the meeting showed that of the 81% of shareholders who voted prior to the meeting, only 6% voted in favor of the proposal. Final results will be reported on a Form 8K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company noted in a press release.<\p>
Sneak peek at the $456M Baird Center expansion: Slideshow
The Baird Center is ready for expanded business.<\p> The $456 million renovation to Milwaukee's convention center, which is owned and operated by Wisconsin Center District, opens to the public Thursday. A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for the morning and a grand-opening gala will follow in the evening. Then, events will start filling the space as early as this weekend.<\p>
Elevated interest rates force re-pricing of billions in CRE debt
Just shy of $20 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities debt backing U.S. office properties is set to mature in the next year, occurring at a time that's now also expected to feature a higher-for-longer interest-rate environment. <\p> Moody's Analytics Inc. found that as of April, $19.9 billion in office CMBS loans will mature by next spring. That's a marked increase over the $8.75 billion in office CMBS debt that matured in 2023. <\p>
Green Bay’s 2025 NFL Draft festivities begin in Milwaukee
While many Green Bay Packers fans eagerly await the start of the 2024 season, their eyes were focused on a different sort of handoff Tuesday.<\p> In preparation for Green Bay hosting the 2025 NFL Draft, the Packers and the NFL kicked off the draft festivities with the ceremonial NFL Draft Handoff. Akin to the Olympics torch, a themed football was brought to Milwaukee from this year's draft host Detroit via the Lake Express Ferry where it was given to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.<\p>
The coveted perk that could be critical for workforce development
As the focus shifts from recruitment to retention in a still-tight hiring market, many employers are searching for the incentives that will retain workers. <\p> While perks like four-day workweeks, unlimited vacation and remote work are often in the spotlight, another coveted perk is career development and upskilling opportunities. <\p>
Zywave CEO departs the company
The top executive of insurance industry software firm Zywave has departed the company, and the Wauwatosa-based company hasn't yet identified a successor.<\p> Jason Liu, who became Zywave's CEO in 2018, recently left Zywave and is now the CEO at Wood Mackenzie, a London-based data and analytics firm in the energy and sustainability industry. He announced his new role on LinkedIn earlier this month.<\p>
Indian Village owners' new restaurant to offer international cuisine
Apexa Patel has envisioned a menu for the new IVR Bar restaurant on Milwaukee’s northwest side that will provide Indian cuisine, Mexican dishes and pizza to provide the kind of variety in meals for customers that she knows her own family enjoys.<\p> A vegetarian herself, Patel said she likes Indian food but her children go for Mexican, and she enjoys cooking both. She and her husband, Vijay Patel, will be purchasing the property at 10950 W. Good Hope Road. They bring 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry to the opening of the proposed IVR Bar, planned for summer of 2024. They have submitted their business application and alcohol beverage license application to the city of Milwaukee for consideration and approval.<\p>
Sturtevant plant to close if a buyer, or other option, can't be found
Mauser Packaging Solutions filed a layoff notice for 42 employees at its aerosol-can plant in Sturtevant but the company’s notice says it is considering several options — including a potential sale, merger or other transaction — to keep the plant running.<\p> Mauser Packaging also will close a plant in the Cincinnati area and a company spokesperson told a local television station Mauser is exiting aerosol can manufacturing in the U.S.<\p>
Microsoft pays $8.8M for more land in Mount Pleasant
Less than a week after announcing a $3.3 billion investment in an artificial intelligence data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Microsoft Corp. has purchased more land in the village. <\p> Microsoft on Monday paid $8.8 million for 32 acres at 12721 Louis Sorenson Road in Mount Pleasant, state records show. The seller was SRS Industrial LLC, an entity tied to development firm Wangard Partners.<\p>
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