Milwaukee Biz Blog

First a few questions, would you be upset if emission testing for your car was ended?  Are you considering purchasing an extended range electric vehicle when they become available? If jobs could be created to support advanced energy storage and advanced battery technology development and production, would you support that effort?

If the legislature could pass a bill that would accomplish all the things listed above with no new taxes would you want that legislation passed? Well there is an opportunity to do just that.

A bill is being introduced that will do all these things. The bill is a bi-partisan effort that is the culmination of more than a year and a half of effort by local companies and institutions.

This legislation originates from a discussion with the owner of numerous automotive dealerships in Wisconsin. The message that came from this discussion was that the new electric technologies in the automotive industry will be slow to arrive in Wisconsin. It is expected that these new vehicles, like the Chevrolet Volt, will be directed to the east and west coasts before any appreciable number of these vehicles would be sold here. There would need to be an effort made to set the stage for these cars to be directed here and to provide consumers with the choice to purchase these advanced vehicles.

A workgroup was assembled that took to the task to identify what could be done to prepare the region and the state to attract the notice of the auto manufacturers and have these vehicles shipped to Wisconsin for purchase. We Energies, General Motors and Marquette University all contributed to this ongoing effort. The expertise and insight this group provided proved invaluable in the development of the ideas that eventually lead to the introduction of this legislation.

Another event that was a major factor in the development of this legislation was a tour of the Johnson Controls Inc. facility here in Milwaukee. The introduction and explanation of the amazing technologies that are being developed right here in southeastern Wisconsin were eye opening and further guided the discussions and efforts of the work group. From that point forward Johnson Controls has provided valuable perspective to the development of this legislation.

One other development served to guide the efforts of this workgroup and weighed heavily in the development of the legislation. Both the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and Marquette University have announced plans to build brand new engineering buildings. The untapped potential that these new investments in higher education bring, paired with the other academic institutions in the region, will provide both research and education opportunities for a workforce to meet the needs of the companies in Wisconsin.

The bill being introduced will address four areas that were identified as necessary to take advantage of the unique opportunity we have here in southeastern Wisconsin and across the state. First, the bill will exempt from sales tax the purchase of these new vehicles in Wisconsin. The second item deals with exempting from property taxation any added value that is incurred as a result of installing equipment that is used in the charging of the batteries in the new vehicles. The bill also moves up an incentive for companies to invest in equipment used in research.

Finally, the legislation will end the current emission testing program and reinvest the funds from  the testing program. This funding stream will be administered by the Department of Commerce to support the development of advanced energy storage or battery development in the region that currently is subject to the IM testing program. Academic institutions along with industry will be given access to these funds.

The goal of this legislation is to help set the stage for an advanced energy storage and battery technology  hub to develop here in SE Wisconsin. Given the concentration of industry leaders in this field and the capabilities of our academic institutions there is every reason to believe we could find ourselves quickly becoming world leaders in this field. Similar to the developing water hub that exists here, a hub focused on energy storage and battery technology development could provide employment and educational research opportunities  across the region. The economic and educational future of our region could be greatly enhanced through the success of this hub.

To better understand the impact this effort could have on Wisconsin and our area, three additional articles will follow. An in-depth look at the impact on industry, academics and consumers will be provided. This opportunity has been recognized by others in the region, across the nation and worldwide. The time has come for everyone to come together and work to take advantage of this opportunity. 

State Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) represents Wisconsin's 82nd Assembly District.

Once upon a time, I was called in to a local company to discuss their quality problem. They had been selling water treatment devices into Japan for more than three years, with no complaints.

They were very proud of these sales; not every American firm had the product quality and performance to sell in Japan. Now, however, their agent in Japan reported that the major purchaser had done a complete tear-down inspection on 15 units, out of a shipment of 600, and found that four of the 15 were missing a stop valve ball.

What did the company plan to do to correct the problem on this shipment and any future shipments?

I was told that the missing part was only needed once a year when the device was flushed. Why had the customer inspected new units? The customer had not given any complaints for the last three years; why were they concerned now?

It developed that the missing part had been changed to a darker color, so the assembly operators no longer noticed when it was missing. The marketing people would not budge on the new color, so one question would be how to assure that the operators assembled the units correctly.

I knew that an inspection of 15 units out of 600 qualifies as a “falling out of bed” test.

The sample size and method is only large enough to determine flaws that are obvious; it can detect if you fell out of bed or not. If a customer is using this method of inspection after three years, it suggests that they still don’t trust the supplier very well. Clearly, that mistrust was warranted in this case. The supplier did not assemble their own product correctly over one-fourth of the time, and didn’t know it until a customer told them.

As if to confirm my fears about the company’s attitude toward its product reliability, a side discussion revealed that American distributors always scheduled a call back for each installation of this firm’s water treatment devices, while European competitors’ units did not get, or need, that care. This fact was dismissed; it was not considered a contributing factor to a long term sales decline.

A CEO friend calls this whole situation a “self-correcting problem.” In due course, customers will find other suppliers with more reliable, functioning products. The real question is, how far can a firm ignore the warning signs before it is sold to a far away place, or simply withers away? Any way it goes, it will take down jobs and business activity with it, not to mention the collective creative spark that generates new patents and innovative products, which this company had a lot of in the years before I met them.

Today we hear about the possibility that Milwaukee could become a center for “water technology,” meaning the treatment, handling, and distribution of clean water, plus the cleanup of “used” and contaminated water.

My experience with this company that was in the midst of this industry tells me that in addition to developing superior ways to treat and handle water, those firms need to learn or remember certain business basics. Namely, how to reliably manufacture their own designs, how to assure themselves that the finished product does what they claim and how to respond, reactively and proactively, to clear examples of performance failings.

Of course, you say. Everyone must do that. As for the company I mentioned earlier?

It's been sold twice since then. The brand name still exists, but the company's web site doesn't mention any new patents, despite their historical track record. And I wonder if they still tell themselves that distributor call-back frequencies are unimportant details.

Jay Warner is the principal scientist at Warner Consulting Inc. in Racine.

The sun is the source of all energy on Earth. Yet, here in Wisconsin, the direct use of the immense energy of the sun is not considered a renewable resource. Most people do not believe this when the concept is first introduced to them because they know - intuitively - there is nothing more renewable than the sun … at least for the next 5 billion years.

But it’s true.

It will take a majority vote of both the Assembly and the Senate at the state Capitol and the signature of Gov. Jim Doyle to make the sun’s direct energy a renewable resource in Wisconsin.

The good news is that a broad list of business, trade and environmental groups, including Orion Energy Systems Inc., are working with the governor and the legislature to make this happen.

“Direct-use” renewables such as solar hot water heating, geo-thermal heating and “light pipe” technology would soon be included in Wisconsin’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) as a result of the passage of either the Clean Energy Jobs Act (LRB-3883/1), or independent legislation authored by Sen. Jeff Plale and Reps. Jim Soletski and Ted Zigmunt (SB273/AB401).

The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) identifies those technologies defined as “renewables” in our state.

Why is this good for the people of Wisconsin? Well, the new law will create jobs, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels (Wisconsin imports all of its fossil fuel resources from out of state) and dramatically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and other health threatening pollutants.
Let’s take a look at the Clean Energy Jobs Act and the independent Senate and Assembly Bills uniquely in regard to the impacts of the direct use technologies being included in Wisconsin’s RPS and particularly, light pipe technology.

As a result of the passage of the direct-use legislation, Orion’s Apollo Solar Light Pipe will be included in Wisconsin’s RPS. Once included, Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) will be developed for the installation and use of this innovative, “direct-use” renewable, which directly converts solar energy into the light used to illuminate the interiors of large commercial and industrial buildings. Due to the advent of the “tradable” RECs – which can be used to meet their renewable generation requirements – utilities will provide incentives for the installation of light pipe and other direct-use technologies spurring jobs creation in both the manufacturing and construction sectors of our economy.

It is estimated that the passage of these bills would provide as many as 1.4 million person-hours of work for unemployed Wisconsinites for the installation of the Apollo® Solar Light Pipe alone.
In regard to reducing Wisconsin’s dependence on fossil fuel, light pipe technology provides extreme energy savings by allowing major facilities to operate “off the grid” for their lighting needs for eight to thirteen hours per day. Thirty-five percent of commercial energy consumption is dedicated to lighting building interiors.

The installation of light pipe technology across the state would also drastically reduce the demand for electricity, which in turn reduces the need for generation and therefore causes a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Reducing emissions would have a positive impact on Wisconsin’s environment and the health of our citizens.

Orion’s Apollo Solar Light Pipe is customarily installed with Orion’s highly efficient lighting technology and energy control system, known as Intellite II.

When this fully integrated lighting system is installed, including the Apollo Solar Light Pipe, the total annual CO2 reduction for Wisconsin would amount to 732,237.9 tons.

Passage of either the Clean Energy Jobs Act or the independent legislation that will include light pipe and other “direct-use” renewable technology in Wisconsin’s Renewable Portfolio Standard will create at least 1.4 million person-hours of work for our state’s unemployed, help rid our dependence on fossil fuels and create a healthier environment for all by limiting the emission of carbon and other pollutants. These bills speak to Wisconsin’s most critical needs: jobs creation, energy independence and a healthy environment.

Neal Verfuerth is founder and chief executive officer for Orion Energy Systems Inc. Based in Manitowoc, Orion designs, manufactures and deploys energy management systems.

The No. 1 New Year’s resolution for people is to lose weight and get more fit. Many of us have already eaten too much and failed to exercise enough because self-discipline is hard, and it’s only the second week of January!

Now is the time to review your strategic marketing plans for 2010 and if, like most nonprofits, you resolve to improve your website effectiveness, do not get derailed because you think it is too hard or time-consuming.

According to Joanne Fritz, an online nonprofit expert, and Jakob Nielsen, a web page usability expert, “Bad nonprofit web sites result in fewer online donations.”

Nielsen conducted a study with real donors and asked them to choose and then donate to a charity, using their own credit cards, based solely on the charities’ websites.

Not surprisingly, the study found that the decision to donate was based on seeing, understanding and agreeing with an organization's mission, goals, objectives, and how the charity uses their contributions.

Nielson noted that “only 43 percent of the 23 sites tested provided information about mission, goals, objectives, and work. And, shockingly, only 4 percent of the nonprofit websites gave information about how they use a giver's donation.”

In terms of what specifically impeded a connection with the donor, Nielson listed specific "donation-killers."

• Nearly half (47 percent) of the usability problems related to poor page and site design with unintuitive information architecture. Surprisingly, 17 percent of the sites made it hard for users to even find where to make a donation.
• More than half (53 percent) of the usability problems were related to unclear content, missing information and confusing terms.
• One of the worst problems was poor integration of local chapter sites with their national parent sites. When donors moved to a subsidiary site to find out what was being done in their local area, these sites looked completely different than the parent sites.

On a positive note, the actual transaction was fairly easy, especially when the process was similar to the merchant sites many were accustomed to using.
And here’s the benefit of sticking to your New Year’s resolution: Nielson found that fixing even minor usability problems could increase donations by 10 percent.

Cathi Mohan is founder of Glendale-based Brand on the Run. She is a nonprofit consultant specializing in providing an integrated approach to resource development and marketing communications strategies that deliver to brand goals. She can be reached at (414) 534-4688 or clbmohan@gmail.com.

There is no bigger stage for climate change than this week’s global-warming gathering in Denmark. Let’s hope when the time comes to discuss the world’s energy and environmental future, global leaders - including President Barack Obama - focus on the practical as well as the promising.

Without question, the most significant opportunity to save energy and the environment stretches high into the sky along the streets and avenues of our cities. Commercial and industrial buildings consume the most energy around the world, bar none.

Admittedly, building efficiency is not sexy like renewable energy sources wind and solar, which are certain to be the darlings of the climate conference. But better-run skyscrapers and factories hold the cheapest, cleanest means of extending world energy supplies. And, by controlling our energy usage, we individually and collectively control our emissions, our energy security and our economic future.

The benefits of using less energy correlate directly to a sustainable environment and a sustainable economy. More efficient buildings produce four times the environmental impact of renewable energy, which seems to have all the momentum toward becoming the future of global energy supply. Every dollar an executive or building owner saves in overhead, such as energy expense, is equivalent to three dollars of revenue.

Yet, less than 1 percent of all commercial and industrial companies use advanced technology to measure and manage energy spending. Nearly all companies, however, use advanced technology to measure and manage telecommunications spending. In other words, companies will scrutinize employee cell phone bills while completely ignoring wasted energy at 100 times the cost.

What's most compelling are the actual savings that can be realized through energy efficiency solutions for buildings. The reduction in energy use, depending on the source, could save the United States an estimated $1.2 trillion by 2020 with an annual investment of $50 billion in energy efficiency technologies.

The biggest barrier, however, seems to be lack of understanding by many of those who own the buildings and the companies - especially small to mid-sized businesses - with the most opportunity to benefit. One survey of hundreds of business executives, for example, found: 87 percent have room to improve on energy management, 74 percent do not have a handle on energy cost and 59 percent are not well-positioned in house to control energy.

More than likely, U.S. politicians, policymakers and scientists at this week’s climate conference will take time to reflect and to look for new ways of doing things. This is paramount to improving what The Financial Times recently described as necessary to creating the next great stride in the standard of living.

In their special report on the future of energy, Financial Times’ writers accurately stated every great change in living standards throughout history has had a revolution in energy at its heart. The revolution we need as a country - and as an economy - is one that focuses on what’s right before us.

Coming out of the Denmark climate conference, my hope is that the United States realizes we already hold the keys to our economic and environmental futures. Those keys open the front doors to our nation’s buildings and unlock numerous opportunities to save energy, cut emissions and improve profitability.

Paul Oswald is president of Environmental Systems Inc., which has offices in Milwaukee and Chicago.

President Barack Obama showed up at Madison's Wright Middle School last week to talk about reforming education, but that topic may not have been top of mind for everyone who came to hear him.

It was the day after Democrats lost races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, two states where Obama made personal appeals, and during a time in which Congress was stewing over health-care reform, troop levels in Afghanistan and legislation to extend unemployment benefits.

In case anyone was listening, however, the setting was as good a place as any to talk about what it will take to produce better educated citizens.

Wright Middle School is a 12-year old charter school within the Madison School District. It has about 240 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, mostly black and Latino, with attendance rates that historically hover around 93 percent. It's been a public education success story because the students who attend all choose to be there – and their parents choose to be involved.

Obama wanted to speak at Wright Middle School to highlight the "Race to the Top" competition, which will invite states such as Wisconsin to compete for a share of $4.35 billion in federal education grants. Obama, who believes lagging achievements in education are a chronic problem in the United States, urged Wright students to aim higher, calling education "a prerequisite for success."

He's right, of course. Better educated people are more likely to find jobs, keep jobs, earn a good living and contribute to society as a whole. The real debate is how best to produce more of them.

"Race to the Top" dangles federal aid carrots to states that raise academic standards, improve teacher quality and expand the reach of charter schools. While $4.35 billion is a lot of money, it represents only a fraction of total K-12 education spending in the United States - about $667 billion in 2008-2009. It's even a fraction of federal-only spending on elementary and secondary education, a category that has grown sharply since former President Bush launched "No Child Left Behind" in 2001.

More money alone won't solve the problem. For "Race to the Top" to work, it must spur education innovation that spreads far beyond a charter school here and a new standard there. It must build upon best practices that can be broadly implemented, in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Public-private efforts to enrich science, technology, engineering and math education provide ready examples of innovation. In Wisconsin, programs such as Project Lead the Way, Science Olympiad and FIRST Robotics have energized students and teachers alike - and are beginning to yield results.
Project Lead the Way is one instructive example. It prepares middle and high school students for careers in engineering and technology through courses that capture students' imagination. It's used in 2,300 schools nationwide, including 162 in Wisconsin, and is taught by existing public and private school teachers who are immersed in PTLW techniques. The track record is impressive: 73 percent of Project Lead the Way students enter engineering or tech programs, and 80 percent earn their degrees.

Another example of thinking differently about education involves student testing. Wisconsin has begun the process of phasing out its current system of testing student performance in grades three through eight and 10 in favor of a system that will more effectively guide teachers, parents and students - and help prepare those students for college and the workforce.

In the process, it should also help businesses in search for workers with 21st century skills, and Wisconsin taxpayers who have a stake in more effective use of local, state and federal dollars.
Other states have remade their testing systems already. Some, such as Oregon, have developed an Internet-based system, which dramatically shortens reporting time and allows for repeat tests for those who want to improve. Michigan requires the ACT test in its system, which lowers the statewide average score (a Wisconsin bragging right for decades) but serves to encourage more students to continue their education after high school. Nebraska built a statewide assessment system from classroom and district best practices. They're all designed to raise standards and performance.

Don't get me wrong: Wisconsin could use whatever share of the "Race to the Top" dollars it can get: It ranks a miserable 49th among the 50 states in per capita federal spending on K-12 education, according to one recent study. But let's make sure those dollars are put to work on innovation that can spread far beyond a school here or a classroom there.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal.

In a recent entry in the Milwaukee Biz Blog, I wrote about how technology solutions can help businesses stay afloat in this new economy. While it's true that companies today evaluate every decision that affects the bottom line, some are also simultaneously concerned about how these decisions impact the environment.

Some companies don't realize that the same solutions can meet both objectives. In many cases, technology can cut costs while also reducing the overall impact on the environment.

Here are a few technology tips that can help you save money and the environment.

Avoid phantom energy
Leaving power cords for devices plugged in can consume energy and result in a higher energy bill. Unplug devices that you're not using to reduce "phantom" energy costs.

Save energy with virtualization
Consolidate your servers virtually to save energy. By reducing the number of physical servers in your office, more energy is saved and less money is spent on power and space.

Sleep at the end of the day
Choose sleep settings for your PC when not in use, allowing your PC to use less energy. Many PCs already have a default setting for sleep mode, but it doesn't hurt to be sure it is on.

Work remotely
Endorse remote working to reduce the effects of travel on the environment and reduce associated costs by as much as 30 percent. Live Meetings, video conferencing and instant messaging can make working remotely as easy as working in your office.

Use energy-efficient hardware
Choose a laptop over a desktop to consume less energy. Laptops consume less than 30 watts at full performance, compared to desktops that can use anywhere from 60-150 watts at full performance.

Build a recycling program
Establish a program to recycle old equipment. Tens-of-millions of functional computers are discarded each year by businesses, organizations and individuals. To find a recycler near you, go to http://green.msn.com/Tools/GreenDirectory/Recycle/Default.aspx.

Use less paper
Use programs like Office OneNote or SharePoint to reduce the amount of paper you use. SharePoint allows coworkers to share information and collaborate on documents without needless printing.

Calculate your savings - cost and energy
Use applications such as the Microsoft Desktop Energy Savings Calculator to conduct a full sustainability assessment to show your cost and energy savings.

Many companies are trying to find solutions to reduce operational costs that don't include employee cutbacks. With these tips, businesses can effectively use technology to reduce company costs and also shrink their carbon footprint.
 
Rob Busch is the Wisconsin enterprise sales manager for Microsoft and serves clients and partners in the company's Waukesha office. For more information, visit www.microsoft.com/environment.

Forget Saturday's football showdown between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Ignore the Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre's Minnesota Vikings.

The real cross-border game these days is all about biotechnology.

At least, that's the view from the newsroom of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which recently published a two-part series headlined "A bio border battle" and "Badger state tech boom." The stories call attention to Wisconsin's emerging technology sector - and even declare Minnesota an "underdog" in terms of catching up.

While it's human nature to perceive grass on the other side of the fence as greener, the Star-Tribune series (and a related blog item headlined, provocatively, "Wisconsin kicks our butt") is emblematic of a growing awareness about Wisconsin's ability to transfer research into start-up companies. After years of building a more entrepreneur-friendly economy, Wisconsin is finally moving beyond Rodney Dangerfield status and gaining respect.

Other examples in recent weeks:

• Nineteen Wisconsin companies were selected by the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum to make on-stage pitches to investors who will attend the group's annual conference, which will be held Nov. 11-12 in Madison. The next largest contingent of companies from any one state is eight from Ohio.
  Springboard Enterprises, a national group dedicated to connecting women-led businesses with private equity capital, held its "All Things Life Sciences" conference this week in Madison, attracting investors from across the United States.
• A recent gathering of tech-based organizations in Chicago examined Wisconsin's experience with a five-year-old investor tax credit law in hopes of persuading the Illinois Legislature to follow a similar approach.
• The Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, which annually gives start-up companies a chance to pitch their companies to investors, received more than 50 applications this year - including 10 from Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. This tech-based matchmaking event will be held in tandem with the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum in November.
• The premier of Manitoba, who will soon become the next Canadian ambassador to the United States, will visit Wisconsin in Oct. 15 to sign a protocol agreement with the state that highlights opportunities for growing tech-based businesses.

The Star-Tribune series was sparked by the move of several Minnesota tech companies to Wisconsin, which, while hardly an exodus, highlighted the lure of Wisconsin's investor tax credits and a generally healthy system of launching homegrown early stage companies. Some members of the Minnesota Legislature are now hoping to emulate Wisconsin's tax credits law.

There's some irony in Minnesota looking to Wisconsin as an example - because for years, Wisconsin's tech community looked with envy upon Minnesota. It is a state that built a medical device industry around companies such as Medtronic, Guidant and St. Jude, and which continues to attract far more venture capital in any given year than Wisconsin. Most important, per capita incomes in Minnesota and Illinois still outpace Wisconsin by at least $4,000 per year.

But outsiders sense momentum in Wisconsin, and perceive the process of creating and nurturing start-up companies here is more cohesive. The Star-Tribune quoted Pete Bianco of Halleland Consulting, a Twin Cities firm with corporate experience in Wisconsin, as saying: "You just get this sense of forward motion. Wisconsin is doing something right. I would like to see Minnesota do the same."

It's reassuring that people in Minnesota, Illinois and beyond are taking note of Wisconsin's tech-based economy, which has always boasted some of the world's best academic research and now has some impressive companies to match. But the end game in Wisconsin should not be about gaining a leg up on Minnesota, Illinois or any other neighbor. The real imperative is competing on a global stage.

The region that includes Chicago to the south and the Twin Cities to the west is the "I-Q Corridor," a place where ideas, innovation, intellectual property and investment combine to create interstate quality. It's a region that can compare itself with many others nationally - and which must compete with emerging economies in China, India and beyond.

It's productive and even flattering that some people in Minnesota and Illinois see Wisconsin's grass as being greener. But let's remember the real goal is a lawn big enough and green enough for everyone to play, work and prosper.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

When do your employees stop becoming representatives of your company and start becoming private citizens? When are they officially off the clock? When they walk out the door at the end of the work day, are they private citizens who are no longer held to the same standards of behavior? When they get home, are they no longer considered to be on the job?

The process of establishing the answers to those questions is becoming murkier by the moment in this emerging age of social media.

Case in point: Nick Barnett. While rehabilitating from a nasty knee injury and operation this year, the Green Bay Packers linebacker became a Twitter sensation, attracting more than 17,000 followers.
Most of his "Tweets" were innocuous references to the tedium of everyday life, such as what he was having for dinner or what he was watching on television. He ended many of them with the phrase LOL (laugh out loud).

Then came the second game of the season, a disappointing Packer loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Barnett did not have a good game. After he finally made a tackle late in the second half, he celebrated with some sort of childish Samurai sword dance.

His Twitter followers immediately mocked him. Shortly after the game, Barnett retaliated with the following Tweets:

• "Oh yea for everyone that had something to say after I celebrated for making a takle for lost KISS MY (expletive deleted) ..."
• "I was trying to get defense fired up... And so what if I missed the takle before am I suppose to stay in a funk about it!?? Get a life."

A few hours later, Barnett apologized for letting his emotions get the best of him. By the next morning, he announced that he will no longer Tweet this season. He wrote an extended Tweet (unedited): "Hey everyone.. I done somethinking and I have decided to stay off Twitter unroll next offseason.. I am a emotional person and sometimes With this Twitter thing I forget that everything is public.. Sometimes I feel I am talking to my freinds and just talk.. So I am going To pull myself away from that.. Thanks to all the people who supported me thru my rehab and tough times and for the haters well god loves u."

At what point did Nick Barnett stop becoming a Green Bay Packer and start becoming a private citizen with his own identity in the world? Should the Packers have held him accountable for how he treated … their customers?

What about your company? If your people go home, and they write something offensive on Twitter, or Facebook or LinkedIn, will they be held accountable by your company? Should they be?

I don't have all of the answers to those questions, even though BizTimes Media is on the cutting edge of this social media revolution. Thanks to reporters Alysha Schertz and Eric Decker and managing editor Andrew Weiland, we are way out in front of most media outlets.

Like many of you, we're not sure where this all goes, but we want to be along for the ride.

I have told our people that I do not have the time nor the inclination to police every single entry they post on social media sites. However, I also told them I will reserve the right to hold them accountable. So, they should write with the presumption that I may see their content.

In many ways, that's regretful. But the reality is that in a sense, none of us is ever really off the clock anymore. Because of advancements in technology, the line of distinction between our professional and personal lives has been blurred. We use our cell phones and laptops to make dental appointments for our children one moment and communicate with a business client or a co-worker the next.

So, I guess we all best be careful when we LOL.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.

We've been told on talk radio for years that Wisconsin is a terrible place to do business. You know the drill. Wisconsin is a tax hell hole. Wisconsin does nothing to encourage entrepreneurship or development of new businesses.

We often accept these notions as fact, shrug our shoulders, grumble a little bit and try to get about our jobs as best we can. And we wonder why we stay here.

Every now and then, however, we get a wakeup call from across state lines that lets us know that hey, maybe we aren't so bad off after all. In the latest case of sunshine, the call comes from across the national border.

The headline on a news story in a recent edition of the New Brunswick Business Journal proclaims, "Culture of investment thrives in Wisconsin."

What's this? How can that be? What in the world are these Canadians talking about?

The subhead on the news story gets even more jiggy: "Capital markets New Brunswick Securities Commission turns to U.S. state as a prime example of fostering investment growth."

What's this? How can that be?

The lead of the story entices further: "New Brunswick has found a model for promoting entrepreneurship in a U.S. state whose economy has traditionally relied on farming, mining and forestry. Wisconsin's love affair with startups and investors - which has transcended the business community and made its way to the state legislature - has had the New Brunswick Securities Commission and other interested parties playing copycat."

You don't say.

The story says Rick Hancox, executive director of the New Brunswick Securities Commission, recently returned from a trip to Wisconsin, his second in three years, to learn how Wisconsin's economy "has benefited from new investor and entrepreneur networks, research and development commercialization programs, aggressive tax reform and a governor's business plan competition."

Wisconsin? Really?

The story says, "Hancox got turned onto Wisconsin years ago when commission employees had begun scouring the globe for examples of jurisdictions fostering investment growth. After months of eyeing examples out of the United Kingdom and Australia, staff was continually pointed by experts to Wisconsin - a place where declining traditional sectors could not continue to be relied upon heavily to backstop the economy."

The story notes how State Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) drafted Act 255 to provide generous tax credits to investors pumping money into high-tech companies in pre-commercialization mode.

"Meanwhile the business community was lining up to take part and arms-length agencies were being formed to push Gov. Jim Doyle's 'Grow Wisconsin' initiative beyond government," the story sates.
Do tell. To read the entire story, visit http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/714051.

The New Brunswick story comes on the heels of the news that VitalMedix, a Minneapolis biotech startup company, is moving to Wisconsin within 90 days. VitalMedix lead investor Charlie Goff said Wisconsin's investment tax credits "had everything to do with" the move. The company is negotiating leases in Hudson and New Richmond.

VitalMedix is developing a drug that has the potential to allow humans to endure severe blood loss and deter organ damage during resuscitation. The drug could be tested on humans as early as next year.

According to The Associated Press account of the story, "Despite a huge budget deficit, Wisconsin this year doubled the cap on the amount of credits to $8 million, raised the cap on eligible angel investments to $4 million and tripled the total credits available each year to $37 million."
Who knew?

Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.