Milwaukee Biz Blog

As graduation approaches, many employers are looking to local colleges and universities for the next generation of young leaders. Over the last decade, career colleges in particular have become a critical resource for connecting employers seeking highly qualified employees with those looking to enter specialized fields of the workforce.

Recently, nearly 200 graduates marked the completion of their career preparation at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee. I joined a distinguished group of guest speakers at the graduation ceremony to attest to the vital role this career-oriented program is playing in the region's economy.

Career colleges such as Bryant & Stratton College play an integral part in connecting work-ready graduates with quality employment opportunities, which help to ensure a vast majority of these trained graduates remain in Wisconsin and directly benefit our local economy.

The success of career colleges can be attributed to a variety of factors, but two in particular seem to stand out. First, career colleges focus solely on offering degrees for high-growth industries such as health care, business and financial services. Students attending colleges such as Bryant & Stratton College are thus aligned with fields that provide the highest employment potential, and they also receive lifetime job placement assistance to ensure they secure a job in their field upon graduation. Many career colleges also work in tandem with employers directly, tailoring programs based upon employer needs. In the health care field, for example, Bryant & Stratton College has collaborated with major employers such as Wheaton-Franciscan Healthcare, the Medical College of Wisconsin and Take Care Health, a subsidiary of Walgreens. Through advisory board meetings and regular discussions with key executives at these organizations, Bryant & Stratton College develops a dynamic curriculum based upon the key skills desired by major employers for professionals in this field.

The result is a win-win for both graduates and employers. Graduates receive training that will best prepare them to secure employment in their field of interest, and employers have access to high-quality, skilled employees who can make a seamless transition into the workforce.

The success of today's career colleges is evident both by the high enrollment and job placement statistics. This year, Bryant & Stratton College reached record enrollment numbers, increasing by more than 25 percent over last year. Job placements rates also soared, exceeding 91 percent last year. I commend this year's graduates for their outstanding achievement and wish them all the best as they pursue their future careers and endeavors.

State Rep. Pedro Colón (D-Milwaukee) represents Wisconsin's 8th District. He serves on the Joint Committee on Finance and chairs the Governor's Council on Migrant Labor. He also serves on the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District Board and the Milwaukee Area Technical College District Boards. He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, where he serves on the board of directors.

Last year, Wisconsin legislators raised the driver's license fee by $10 to pay for state compliance with Real ID, the national ID law authored by Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner. The fee, which raised Wisconsin taxes by $22 million, will now be used to balance the Wisconsin state budget.

Now Congressman Sensenbrenner is mad. He calls the deal, negotiated by Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) and Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston), a "breach of faith with the people of Wisconsin" and a "fiscal shell game."

This turn of events leaves many Wisconsin conservatives scratching their heads in wonder: Congressman Sensenbrenner purports to be a foe of big government.  So why is he complaining that Wisconsin legislators aren't spending his tax increase the way he wants them to?

On May 11, Wisconsin and the nation's other states reached the implementation deadline for Real ID, the national identification card program authored by Sensenbrenner, the Fifth District's 30-year
incumbent congressman. After a lengthy staring match with the states, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) blinked, effectively granting the states until 2011, perhaps even 2018, to comply. But the conflict isn't over.

Real ID was born in controversy when Sensenbrenner attached the bill as a "rider" to a 2005 military appropriation bill (a rider is a provision that shares little in common with the original bill - and is favorite technique legislators use for dropping earmarks into unrelated bills). Worse yet, Real ID was voted on in the US Senate without an opportunity for a single hearing or debate. 

Many conservatives, already bristling at the GOP's irresponsible spending habits and expansion of government by 2005, soon revolted. The Wall Street Journal accused Sensenbrenner and the Republican leadership of betraying its "federalist principles" yet again. Real ID, as described by the Journal, effectively requires all 245 million license holders in the US to "head down to the local Department of Motor Vehicles with certified source documents - such as a birth certificate or Social Security card - to apply for the new standardized national ID. And people from states that don't play ball won't be able to use their licenses to board planes or enter federal buildings."

In effect, Real ID is an internal passport for American citizens with a mandate to build, according to the Cato Institute, a "federal surveillance infrastructure" to track "every American, native-born and immigrant
alike." The Journal evoked images of totalitarian Germany, calling it the "show-us-your-papers Sensenbrenner approach" to internal security.

Since 2005, the rationale for Real ID has mutated as its proponents struggle to overcome bipartisan opposition.  Initially it was an antiterrorism bill.

It then became a technique to control illegal immigration.  Then it was about preventing identity theft.  Most recently a top DHS official suggested the ID could be used to control access to cold medications.

Reasons enough to oppose its implementation.

The lesson of DHS's call for an ID to control access to cold medicine, warns Cato's Jim Harper, is this: "Once a national ID system is in place, the federal government will use it for tighter and tighter control of every American."

With Real ID, Jim Sensenbrenner has managed to unite left and right in opposition. Groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to Gun Owners of America oppose Real ID. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA) warned Americans that a national ID system might soon be used to monitor your "credit history, your residential information, your banking history, your medical and mental health records, your marital status, your ATM withdrawals, turnpike use,
library checkouts, movie rentals, pharmacy prescriptions, phone call records, and firearms by serial number and address. Imagine all that information encrypted in a hologram on your national ID card ... but a hologram you can't read. Only higher authorities can read it."

"Never accept the idea," he concluded, "that surrendering freedom - any freedom - is the price of feeling safe."

Nineteen state legislatures have passed bills refusing to comply with Real ID, while Republicans in Congress work for its repeal. South Carolina's Republican governor, Mark Sanford, considered suing the federal government over the unconstitutionality of Real ID. Senate Republicans John Sununu and
Lamar Alexander are working actively to roll it back.

Their complaint?  Sensenbrenner's bill violates the GOP's commitment to federalism, or states' rights.  Conservatives have long complained about the abuse of "unfunded mandates" by the federal government. Real ID is among the most abusive unfunded mandates in recent history:  Sensenbrenner's bill appropriated between $40 and $60 million in federal funds, while estimates of the total cost passed on to the states range from $4 billion to over $20 billion.[8]  With unfunded mandates like the Sensenbrenner Tax, federal legislators are able to hide the real cost of government by making the
states raise taxes for them.

It is, to use Sensenbrenner's own words, a "fiscal shell game" - the tax increase he secretly passed along to Wisconsin taxpayers a "breach of faith with the people of Wisconsin."

Proponents of Real ID suggest concerns over abuse of the system are unwarranted.  But Americans were once promised that Social Security numbers would not be used for identification purposes.  Now, Social Security numbers are used for drivers licenses, patient and credit records, and by employers. Moreover, Real ID's national database increases the likelihood of identity theft. 

There are viable alternatives.  For those who would use Sensenbrenner's national ID to combat illegal immigration, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis) introduced in February an employment verification system to provide a "tested and effective way to immediately authenticate an employee's legal status." Ryan touts his proposal as an effective alternative to the "new 'big brother', one-size-fits-all federal
government database and national I.D. card."

Wisconsin voters should be angry enough that under Republicans the government grew by almost fifty percent between 2001 and 2007. Now the same leaders who gave us $3 trillion in new debt and a massive expansion of Medicare are working hard to give us more unfunded government, this time at
the expense of our privacy.

Next time you complain about Wisconsin's high tax rates, remember the Sensenbrenner Tax. It's one of many reasons Real ID needs to be repealed.

Jim Burkee, an associate professor of history at Concordia University Wisconsin, is challenging Jim Sensenbrenner in the September 9 primary for Wisconsin's Fifth Congressional District seat.

Business is just booming in Canada, eh. That message rang loud and clear at the Milwaukee World Trade Association's 44th annual Wisconsin International Trade Conference Tuesday.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to moderate a panel discussion on Canadian/U.S. trade relations at the conference, which took place at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee.

Here in the United States, we're slogging through record national debt, two wars, record gas prices, skyrocketing food costs, an icy housing market, the subprime mortgage collapse, low consumer confidence, plummeting retail sales, a weak U.S. dollar and tightened credit.

To validate our woes, only six of the 19 local economic indicators tracked by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce pointed upward in March.

A lot of folks like to blame the messenger, i.e. the media. But I am here to tell you straight out that the media did not cause Harley-Davidson Inc. or Midwest Airlines to eliminate hundreds of jobs. The media did not cause Dell Inc. to cut 10 percent of its workforce or General Motors Corp. to cut 3,500 jobs, including about 200 in Janesville.

The reality is we've got some strong headwinds to fight through around here, but we're doing our best to keep moving forward.

However, our neighbors to the north apparently are faring far better at this point in time.

Nancy Ward, director of the Canadian Trade Office of the Council of Great Lakes Governors in Toronto, Ontario, spoke on the panel Tuesday with great exuberance about the health of the Canadian economy.

Canada has no recession, she said. In fact, its economy is a reverse-mirror image of America's economy, with a strong Canadian dollar, a tidy government budget surplus, an oil market boom, soaring retail sales, strong consumer confidence and unemployment at a 33-year low.

"Canadians are buying lots of things," Ward said.

They're also making lots of things.

In 2004, Ontario made automotive history when it surpassed Michigan as the largest automotive producing jurisdiction in North America, according to Ward's Automotive. While Detroit withers, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Suzuki and Toyota have shifted production plants to Canada.

I asked Ward why America is losing so much production and so many jobs to Canada. She did not hesitate with her answer. "Health care."

America has the highest health care costs in the world. I know it deeply disturbs many Wisconsin business leaders to hear it, but Canada's government-paid, universal health care system is an economic competitive asset, when compared with America's mish-mosh system that is part private, part socialistic and all redundant, inefficient and costly.

Ward also noted that Canada has a more tightly regulated mortgage banking system, so its economy has not been nearly as shell-shocked by the subprime collapse as the American economy has been.

I know what some of you are thinking. Something along the lines of, "Those Canadians don't have to pay for their defense, because we do it for them."

True enough. But then again, there's a matter of degree. America's total cost for the war in Iraq could reach the $3 trillion mark, according to Nobel Prize economic laureate Joseph Steiglitz.

Some other observations from the speakers on the Canadian business panel Tuesday:

• Georges Rioux, Canadian Consolate General in Chicago, said the pressure is growing to create a "smart border" with the United States, using better technology and more manpower. In this era of "just-in-time" manufacturing and high fuel costs, neither country can afford to have its 18-wheelers standing idle in traffic jams at the border, waiting for inspections, Rioux said. "It's important for our tourists, it's important for our trucker, but most of all, it's important to our way of life," Rioux said.
• JoAnn Queen, senior international trade specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., said the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which is the subject of considerable debate in the U.S. presidential election, has been a resounding success for businesses on both sides of the Canadian border.  
• Bill Werra, business unit manager for the process division of Sentry Equipment Corp. in Oconomowoc, said his company is growing rapidly as it manufactures equipment for harvesting bitumen from the oil sands of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. The locals up there have dubbed their town "Fort McMoney," he said.
• Roch Lambert, vice president and general manager of the Outboard Marine Engines Division of BRP US Inc., said his company is thriving quite nicely in Sturtevant. He attributed the operation's success to its proximity to the Canadian company's development center in Waukegan, Ill.; the quality of the Wisconsin labor force; a local talent pool of qualified engineers; strong support from the Wisconsin state government; and a tight cultural fit of "outdoorsmen who like to play outside … We're extremely happy to be here."
• Greg Charlesworth, vice president of foreign exchange services for M&I Bank, said the Canadian budget surplus "is a great advantage for their currency." He predicted that the U.S. economy will "pick up" a little bit in the second half of 2008, and interest rates will rise here in 2009. However, all bets are off if crude oil prices continue rising toward the $200-per-barrel mark, he said.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

There is no question that our economy is in trouble. We all know it, and the President acknowledged as much in his State of the Union speech (Monday) night. But the solution isn't HR 5140, the economic stimulus package that passed the House of Representatives (Tuesday).

I voted against this legislation because it provides too little too late - if the economy needs a jumpstart now, what's the point of sending checks in June, five months from now?

Congress can give the economy the immediate shot in the arm it needs by eliminating federal income tax withholdings for a month or two. This would give wage-earners a boost in their take-home pay next month, which they can spend as they see fit.

Moreover, individual income tax rates could be adjusted so taxpayers won't be hit when they file their 2008 tax returns.

This makes more sense than mailing rebate checks. We've done this before - Congress passed legislation a few years back which included tax rebates. But while rebate checks are helpful to consumers, they have shown to have little impact on improving the economy.

For example, when Congress offered a rebate in 2001, it was discovered that less than a quarter of households surveyed intended to use their rebates on purchases. Instead, most planned to save the money, or use it to pay off their debts.

Under the new stimulus package, nearly 35 million people who paid no federal income tax can expect to receive a $300 check for each person in their family. This isn't fair - it's income redistribution, and it renders these rebate checks as government handouts disguised.

Rather than telling the country that the check's in the mail in June, Congress should do the right thing now. To truly stimulate the economy, Congress should put money into taxpayers' pockets in the quickest and least bureaucratic way possible.

After all, remember that in 1979, when Wisconsin was experiencing its own financial troubles, then-Gov. Lee Dreyfus stopped state withholdings for a few months. This helped put more money in the pockets of Wisconsinites, which ended up putting more money back in the state's economy.

It worked for Wisconsin in 1979, and 29 years later, it's still a good idea for the rest of the nation.

Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) represents Wisconsin's Fifth District and lives in Menomonee Falls.

Firestone and the Asphalt Paving Alliance might not come to mind when you think "green." But the significant presence of the two organizations at the recent Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago points out just how mainstream "green" is becoming.

Your probable disassociation of those two names with green also reflects a widespread challenge for those who want a greener world and more healthy living spaces.

That challenge involves the definition of green. More specifically, it involves a definition that consumers can relate to and easily understand. There are plenty of industry specification guidelines that architects, engineers, builders and developers are familiar with. But the homeowner pretty much has been left on his or her own when it comes to trying to figure out what building or home improvement products are green and to what degree of green.

For the record, Firestone Building Products Co. launched a green roofing initiative this year. (Yes, its parent corporation is the one that makes tires.) And the Asphalt Paving Alliance likes to note that asphalt is the most widely recycled product in America. That counts as green. Most of the people who attended Greenbuild this year understand that, even if not all of them are willing to live with such a broad definition.

Many of the products displayed by the 850 exhibitors at Greenbuild, however, were consumer oriented, including flooring, paint, toilets, windows and a myriad of other products. By and large, those products are purchased through retailers who have face-to-face contact with homeowners.

Those homeowners are confused, and many of the retailers that serve them have been frustrated by that confusion. We've heard that time and again from the many green retailers we deal with through the distribution side of our business, and from consumers we work with through our retail outlet. They want green definitions and guidelines to help them make informed decisions.

Our response has been Degree of Green - a program that helps retailers educate consumers and contractors on the green and healthy characteristics of home building and home improvement products. The program, which will officially be launched in January, received enthusiastic response from retailers who attended Greenbuild.

At the heart of Degree of Green is a product rating system. The judging panel, which includes Thiensville's Lyn Falk, a nationally recognized expert on green and healthy living spaces, reviews products from three perspectives: 1) the least adverse effects on human health; 2) the highest level of environmental sustainability; and 3) the least adverse effects on the environment.

That will not only help retailers educate consumers, but also allow consumers to make choices based on factors that are most important to them. Just as green building products come in varying degrees of green, consumers have varying desires and needs when it comes to green products. Some are more concerned about environmentalism while others are more concerned about personal health or the health of their families. (Products in the "green" world are most often less toxic than traditional building products. For example, "green" cabinetry, carpeting and paint do not out-gas the way traditional products do.) For others, the concern involves materials sourcing.

Each Degree of Green report describes a product, its composition, advantages and raw materials sourcing, and offers comparative data.

Retailers who participate in the Degree of Green program will not only receive an ongoing flow of rating sheets but also a full merchandising support program, including a web site that was just launched at www.degreeofgreen.com.

Industry thought leader Joel Makower asked this in a recent blog: "What will it take to bring honesty, accuracy, accountability, and transparency to the marketplace?" We believe Degree of Green is an answer to that question.

As recent national studies and the recent Greenbuild expo have shown, green is growing. Last year's expo in Denver drew 14,000 people. This year, more than 20,000 went to Chicago for the expo. Plenty of those people were from Wisconsin, as were many of the exhibitors, including Johnson Controls Inc., Johnson Diversey Inc., Marshfield Door, Super Sky Products, InPro, Kohler, Wausau Paper, Wausau Tile, Trane, Cooper Industries, FJA Christiansen Roofing (through Tecta America) and the Energy Center of Wisconsin.

Those are all established, mainstream companies that have solid green products or services.
And like those mainstream companies, the crowds at Greenbuild were pretty mainstream too. Sure, the "Birkenstock" crowd was represented at the expo. But based on the number of people with suits and ties or in corporately accepted business casual, green has certainly come of age in American business.

Andy Pace, CSI, is founder and president of Safe Building Solutions in Waukesha. Pace has served on the board of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance and is a two-time president of the Construction Specifications Institute-Milwaukee Chapter. He can be reached at andy@safebuildingsolutions.com or by calling 800-697-5371.

Editor's note: The following is the text of a letter recently sent to Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).

Dear Congressman Shuler,

On behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation's leading small-business advocacy group, I am writing to express our strong support for H.R. 4088, the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act of 2007 (SAVE Act).

This legislation takes into account the concerns small-business owners have with illegal immigration, and in particular, the employer verification sections strike a fair balance between increased enforcement and limiting the regulatory burdens placed on small business.

Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and small-business owners believe that Congress needs to fulfill its obligation to enforce our borders and provide a nation-wide employee verification system.

Many states are working to enact their own enforcement measures, and if Congress does not act, the resulting impact will be chaotic as small-business owners would face a complex and confusing set of enforcement policies.  We commend you for recognizing that a failure to act by Congress may well result in 50 state and local governments enacting their own immigration enforcement measures.

Like most Americans, small-business owners are troubled by the problem of illegal immigration. According to recent NFIB Research Foundation polls.

• Over 90 percent of NFIB members believe that illegal immigration is a serious problem;
• 86 percent say that finding a solution should be a "very high" or "high" priority for Congress and the administration.
• 73 percent of NFIB members agreed that employers should be required to use a government-run verification system.
• 83 percent stated that employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants should be subject to fines or other penalties.

Furthermore, they believe that an automated system to identify eligible workers would help ease I-9 burdens.
NFIB believes that in order for an immigration reform effort to be successful, the requirements and enforcement provisions must be workable, efficient and fair for small businesses. As such, NFIB supports an employment eligibility verification system (EEVS) that includes a reasonable limit on small-business penalties and reduces such penalties on first-time offenders, prohibits penalties for good-faith violations, protects employers if incorrect information on a worker is given by the EEVS and contains an appropriate phase-in time of the new EEVS system. Title II of the SAVE Act addresses these small-business concerns and is consistent with the beliefs of our members.

NFIB is pleased that the SAVE Act retains current internal revenue code that takes into account the size of an employer in its fee structure. We also appreciate that the bill retains the safe haven provision for voluntary and early compliance. Small-business owners are always concerned about how government regulations will burden them, and we applaud the inclusion of a 1-800 number for verification purposes.

As Congress begins consideration of H.R. 4088, we are eager to work with you to ensure that America's small businesses are not unduly burdened or unfairly scrutinized. NFIB is hopeful that during committee consideration of the bill, further legal certainty can be clarified for small employers that hire subcontractors. Also, H.R. 4088 would require an employer to allow an employee only 10 business days to correct any mismatching number with the Social Security Administration or face termination. NFIB supports a 90-day notification time period.  In addition, while our members support an enforceable guest worker program and expanding H-2B visas for economic need, we understand the need to first secure our borders and verify employment status.

Small-business owners feel strongly about enforcing our borders and creating a workable employee verification system, and we endorse your legislation.

Thank you for your strong support of small businesses, and we appreciate your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,
                    
Dan Danner, executive vice president, public policy and political, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

Legend has it that when Frederick Miller brewed his first barrel of beer in Milwaukee in 1855, he spoke emphatically about "quality, uncompromising and unchanging." It became his slogan, his vision and his mission for Miller Brewing Co.

The "quality" arguably still remains. However, the "uncompromising" and "unchanging" tenets no longer apply.

SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co. today announced that they have signed a letter of intent to combine their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations to create a larger company to compete against the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch Inc.

Although officials from both Miller and Coors shared a stage and spoke of "surprisingly similar" corporate cultures this morning, this marriage has five key variables that will need to be decided in the next few months. The decisions will have a direct impact on Milwaukee.

1. The company's name. They're tentatively calling it MillerCoors. Putting Miller first may have been a bone that was thrown Milwaukee's way. After all, Coor's seems to be calling most of the shots, so far. Pete Coors, vice chairman of Molson Coors, will serve as chairman of MillerCoors. Leo Kiely, current CEO of Molson Coors, will be the CEO of the joint venture. Miller's top executives, Graham MacKay and Tom Long, will take supportive roles.
   Long-term, the name also could have an impact on the names of the baseball stadiums in Milwaukee (Miller Park) and Denver (Coors Field).
2. The company's headquarters. Golden, Colo., or Milwaukee? Malcom Wyman, current chief financial officer of SABMiller, said the decision will be based upon the "best strategies and economic interests" of the company. Milwaukee might be in trouble here. Denver's a bigger city with a bigger airport. And as one of my colleagues in the newsroom pointed out, it seems unlikely to think that Pete Coors, the star of all of those commercials filmed in the Rocky Mountains, would agree to move to Milwaukee.
   Pat O'Brien, executive director of the Milwaukee 7, says a collaborative effort, including Milwaukee's corporate leaders, Mayor Tom Barrett and Gov. Jim Doyle, will be made to put Milwaukee's best foot forward. "Obviously, it's a big priority. What we have to do now is find out what stage it's in and what criteria they will use," O'Brien said. "Headquarters create jobs in the region. There's a multiplier effect … It all adds to prestige."
   Barrett said today he will make a "full-court press" to convince the merged company that Milwaukee is its best headquarters option. Barrett said he already has discussed the issue with Doyle, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce president Tim Sheehy and Greater Milwaukee Committee president Julia Taylor.
   "Miller is a Milwaukee institution and has always been a great corporate citizen and employer. I'm going to do every thing I can to make sure that Miller keeps both its corporate headquarters and brewery jobs here … When people think beer, they think Milwaukee," Barrett said.
   Aside from Milwaukee's beer brand, Barrett said the city has many logistical advantages that would make it a preferable option to Denver, but he declined to be specific. "There are many, many advantages, and we'll be laying those out as we move forward." Barrett said.
3. Labor relations. Miller has a strong union labor tradition. Coors does not. Brewery Workers UAW Local 9 AFL/CIO represents more than 500 workers at Miller's Milwaukee brewery, and their contracts expired in August and September. The union has been negotiating with Miller to extend the terms of the three-year pacts. Harry Shayhorn, president of Local 9, says he has "no idea" what will happen when Coors officials join the bargaining table.
   Make no mistake, when the corporate guys were talking about $500 million in "synergies" with a merged company today, they were mostly referring to eliminating thousands of jobs.
   Over the years, Coors has built a notoriously bad labor relations reputation. The company has been accused of union-busting. The firm was the subject of a decade-long boycott by the AFL-CIO after it hired scabs to replace striking workers in 1977 and tried to subject its employees to lie-detector tests. How will Coors executives now interact with Miller's unions?
4. Wholesalers. Will the Miller wholesalers, such as Miller Brands LLC in Wauwatosa, continue to distribute Miller products? Will the wholesalers that distribute Coors products continue to operate? Will they be merged? In other words, will this become an "either/or" proposition, or will both survive?
   Steve Johnson, president of Miller Brands, says his troops can only wait and see, at this point.
   "I really don't know how this is going to shake out. My guess is you have six to eight months of due diligence. I think we have plenty of time to figure out how this shakes out. For now, from my point of view, it's business as usual. How this will unfold or what the pace will be, I have no idea," Johnson said. "Obviously we would like to see the Miller headquarters remain in Milwaukee."
5. Philanthropic focus. Miller recently was embroiled in a controversy when it supported a festival for gays in San Francisco. Let me put it this way. That will never happen again. For generations, the Coors family has staunchly supported conservative causes, including the Heritage Foundation and the John Birch Society.
   Back in 1984, former company chairman William Coors told a largely African-American audience that "one of the best things they [slave traders] did for you is to drag your ancestors over here in chains."
   In preparation for his 2004 bid for the U.S. Senate, Pete Coors tried to appease generations of mistrust among minorities and gays by changing his company's policies and providing domestic partner health care benefits. Ironically, that came back to haunt him in the Republican primary race, when conservative groups lambasted him for doing so, and he was defeated.

So, when Miller and Coors talk about "similar" corporate cultures, one must wonder.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of Small Business Times.

Recently the federal government took a half-step on immigration while taking a giant step toward harming Wisconsin’s and our nation’s economy. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced new Social Security No-Match regulations which, for the first time, force employers to fire workers who can’t resolve employment verification issues within 90 days. With this announcement, the Bush Administration appears to have abandoned further attempts to reform the nation’s broken immigration system in favor of an enforcement-only approach.
 
Enforcement is essential to the integrity of our nation’s immigration system, but enforcement must be smart, not just tough. Is it smart to gamble with the health of our economy by worsening worker shortages in Wisconsin and the rest of the country in key industries such as meat packing, construction and health care? Is it smart, when immigrants make up 70% of the agricultural workforce, to tie the hands of our farmers just as harvest is approaching? Is it smart, when the vast majority of Americans support comprehensive immigration reform, to take half-measures that could raise prices and lower the standard of living for all Americans?
 
These are the likely effects of the new regulations. Wisconsin employers, including small businesses and farmers, could face criminal prosecution, heavy fines and discrimination claims for failing to fire these workers or resolving these issues to the government’s satisfaction.
 
To make matters worse, the government offers no carrot to go with the stick. Businesses will face new regulations and increased liability without the tools needed to quickly and accurately verify worker eligibility. An internal audit of the Social Security Verification Pilot Program indicated a 4% error rate, which translates to 18 million people being incorrectly identified as being ineligible to work. Not surprisingly, only a small percentage of businesses now use the program.  A measure to properly fund and improve the system died with immigration reform this summer, and in its recent announcement, DHS offered no credible explanation as to how it will achieve such a vast expansion of the flawed program.
 
Assuming that DHS can wave a magic wand and make the verification system work, it is unlikely to achieve its stated purpose of ensuring that those that work in this country have the legal authority to do so. Under the present system, most undocumented immigrants work “on the books.” They pay federal and state payroll taxes. The new system will simply encourage a cash economy where workers are much more susceptible to labor abuses. Businesses that have played by the rules under the old system will be punished by losing workers, while businesses that break the law will continue to pay cash and will find a much larger pool of desperate workers to prey upon.          
 
This new edict follows the failure by Congress and the president to provide real immigration reform that would allow hardworking, law-abiding immigrants to fill the jobs that many Americans are simply not willing to do. Unfortunately, each attempt at reform has devolved into finger pointing and arguments about what constitutes “amnesty.” In reality, a broken law usually makes everyone a lawbreaker, and our immigration system is no exception. Rather than looking for a scapegoat, our politicians need to focus on a practical solution. Comprehensive immigration reform would secure our borders, create a temporary worker program, and form a path to legalization for most of the 10 to 11 million undocumented community members in our country.  
 
Employers should be able to find willing and eligible workers. Workers should enjoy full protection under the law. And every American should feel that this nation’s borders are secure and that our critical industries have enough workers to function properly. But our immigration system is in crisis, and in a crisis, half measures such as those announced by DHS will cause far greater harm than good to all citizens. The only real solution to this crisis is a complete solution – comprehensive immigration reform.
 
Erich Straub is the chairperson the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Wisconsin Chapter. AILA is the national association of more than 10,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA members represent thousands of U.S. businesses and workers in dealing with immigration issues. For more information, visit www.aila.org.

Earlier this week, Ceberus shoved aside Thomas LaSorda to name Robert Nardelli CEO of Chrysler. One wonders why.

As things currently stand, the North American automobile industry is losing money. Toyota earns about $1,200 a car and the Detroit Three lose more than that. Overall, the Big Six - GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda - have trouble turning a profit.

The Detroit Three are not incompetent. They lose money owing to burdensome legacy and everyday labor costs, and antiquated work rules. Without a transformational contract, the domestics will continue to lose money, and by the utterances of Ron Gettlefinger, don't look for the UAW to do what needs to be done to preserve their numbers long term.

As for Chrysler, Robert Nardelli is the wrong man for the job.

Chrysler has three problems. First, it has the immediate problem of putting more desirable products on the road. Nardelli is not a car guy. He can't quick fix what Chrysler hasn't got. He lacks the background.

Second, Chrysler has endemic problems in its supply chain. Chrysler produces the poorest quality, most unreliable products among the big six (GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Honda). Poor quality stems from poor engineering and inept components suppliers. A deep understanding of automotive systems, engineering and supplier relationships are needed to fix Chrysler's quality problems. Nardelli lacks the necessary background.

Third, in five to seven years, newer prototypes - hybrids, fuel cell, hydrogen, etc. - will be more much important than today. Chrysler is behind in developing new protype vehicles, and it must joint venture effectively with others to compensate. Nardelli is hardly a poster boy for corporate diplomacy. His tour of duty at Home Depot demostrated that.

The North American industry has too much capacity and one too many original equipment manufacturers. Right now, either Ford or Chrysler is headed for Chapter 11.

Nardelli's appointment makes it more likely that Chrysler will be the company that fails.

Peter Morici is a professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and former Chief Economist at the United States International Trade Commission. Morici's economic analysis is widely respected. He has granted Small Business Times permission to share his viewpoints with our readers. Chrysler operates a plant in Kenosha.

This is an open letter sent to Miller Brewing executives, questioning a billboard ad outside of Wrigley Field in Chicago taking a jab at the Milwaukee Brewers, the team from the city in which the company was founded. 
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm writing to you in order to bring to your attention a very disappointing and unfortunate decision apparently made by someone within your company, or with whom you place the responsibility of doing your print/billboard advertising.

I'm referring to a billboard I saw placed just beyond the right field wall at Wrigley Field in Chicago, on June 30th of this year. The billboard read: "We prefer a pennant chase, to a sausage race."

Now let me stop this thing right here for a moment to assure you that I'm not writing you as some crazed "how dare they insult our team" Brewers fan. That is not the case. I actually think it's quite a witty jab and would be totally acceptable from any other brewery in the world. But imagine my surprise as a visiting fan after making my way to my seats on the first base line to see this jab coming not from a competing organization or company, but from our very own hometown, homegrown business.

That's why I say I'm not writing this to you as a disappointed Milwaukee Brewers fan, I'm writing this to you as a disappointed Milwaukee Miller Brewing fan.

Having Miller Brewing in Milwaukee has always been something I took pride in. Something you could brag about to others from out of state. It was something that helped earn our world renowned title of "Brew City." To see such a jab being taken at their very own hometown team was, for me, a very disappointing decision, as well as a very confusing one.

Your company had this billboard placed outside of a field who refuses to even acknowledge your presence as a major player in the beer market, selling only your fiercest competitor Anheuser Busch's products as well as catering to the resurgent Pabst Brewing.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the free market and the need to make a push for the almighty dollar, but to slap your birthplace across the mouth all while kowtowing to THEIR fiercest rivals? That almost insults the intelligence of the Chicagoans as well. Do you think they don't know Miller is essentially the namesake for the Brewers? That you guys spent $40 million on naming rights to our Park? I'm willing to bet they have a clue...

Again, I am merely writing this in order to voice my displeasure as a fan of Miller Brewing. I expected more from what is generally a class company. To insult your own home city like that reeks of disrespect to your overwhelmingly loyal hometown customers. I for one have been a Miller customer and ONLY a Miller customer since ... well... eh hem ... AROUND age 21 ... or so.

I work part-time in a bar near Miller Park that refuses to sell any Anheuser Busch products, because of the owners' loyalty to your brand.

Are these are the types of relationships you are willing to sacrifice in order to shill to a market just 90 miles south?

If customer loyalty isn't your thing, maybe a simple history lesson will change your mind. I'm sure you are well aware of the fact Miller Brewing was born in Milwaukee in 1855, but did you know that this was 21 full years before the birth of what would become the Chicago Cubs in 1876? Heck, even your most historically famous brand, Miller High Life, was born and bottled back in 1903, still yet four years before the namesake of "Cubs" was officially adopted in Chicago. With all that history here in Milwaukee, even before the time of the storied Chicago Cubs, you'd think you'd be a little more respectful to whence you came.

I truly do find your marketing decision here regretful, as it has forced me to relinquish my loyalty to your brand and seek out other products on the market. If a company such as yours can't be loyal to the very people where it has built it's base, why should they need to return the favor?

Thank you for your time.

Andy Stanislaw is a resident of Wauwatosa. He is a software administrator for a local printing company is an amateur writer and blogger.