Kahler Slater Architects Inc. announced today it has acquired Performa Higher Education, a national consulting and design group specializing in work for small private colleges and universities.
Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater also has an office in Madison. With the acquisition, the Performa Higher Education group provides a complement to Kahler Slater's established Higher Education Team and its portfolio of significant public university projects.
Performa Higher Education will maintain its offices in Green Bay and in Burlington, N.C.
Performa Higher Education, formed in 1995, has 200 small private colleges and universities as clients.
Jill Morin, one of Kahler Slater's chief executives, said, "We've been particularly aggressive in the last five years in redefining the discipline of design, adding to our architecture and interior design services with strategic research and vision planning, including communications. This acquisition fits right into our strategy of delivering total experience design."
Thomas Gavic, Performa Higher Education's president, said, "We approach our work from the same vantage point - creating intentional experiences for visionary clients by delivering a great mix of integrated products and services. We believe the best solutions result when integrating people, process, perception and place."
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

St. Louis, Mo.-based Alter Trading Corp. has acquired Samuels Recycling Co., a company that was founded in Wisconsin in 1896.
Samuels Recycling Co. is based in Portage and operates ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling facilities in Madison, Janesville, Green Bay, Waupaca, Beaver Dam and Waupun.
Alter, a privately held firm, is a processor of scrap metal and currently employs 550 people. The acquisition of Samuels Recycling Co. will significantly increase Alter's capacity, making it one of the largest scrap metal recycling companies in the United States.
"This acquisition will only serve to enhance Alter's commitment to our consumers, our employees, the environment, and to the communities in which our facilities are located," said Robert Goldstein, chief executive officer and president of Alter Trading Corp. "The dedication, integrity and commitment to quality that can be found at each Samuels Recycling location complements Alter's own high standards."
Michael Spear, president of Samuels Recycling Co., said,  "It is with optimism and pride that we are able to align ourselves with a company of Alter's reputation for integrity and honesty as together, we continue our shared passion for reclaiming the past to provide a better future."
With the acquisition, Alter will operate 28 metal recycling facilities and five trading offices in seven states, in addition to a representative sales office in Shanghai, China.

A strong Christmas surge helped Kohl's Corp. to report a comparable store sales increase of 3 percent in December.
The Menomonee Falls-based department store chain's total sales for December increased to $2.8 billion, up 11.2 percent from $2.5 billion in the same month a year earlier.
Larry Montgomery, Kohl's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "December's sales results were driven by strong performance over the last two weeks as a result of last-minute shoppers in the fourth week and gift card redemptions in the last week of the month. This helped offset weak consumer demand of cold-weather merchandise such as outerwear, sweaters, and boots throughout the month."
Montgomery said the Company "remains comfortable" with its previous earnings guidance of $1.36 to $1.42 per diluted share for the fourth quarter.

Four Wisconsin companies will be receive the Governor's Wisconsin Forward Awards of Excellence.
The awards, announced by Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman on behalf of Gov. Jim Doyle, are the state's highest honors for organizational performance excellence.
"These award winners demonstrate that an organization's ongoing commitment to excellence can have long-term affects and lead to major gains in financial performance, patient care and safety, customer satisfaction and retention, and employee performance and involvement," Gassman said.
The four winners of the awards are:

• Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - All Saints, Racine, an integrated health care delivery system serving a population of nearly 200,000 through a network of multi-specialty and primary care physician offices and a medical center operating on two campuses.
• Runzheimer International, Waterford, a management consulting firm specializing in employee mobility, with services tailored to meet the needs of 2,500 customers through four primary business lines of service: business vehicle, global mobility, government and travel management.
• Meriter Hospital, Madison, a 448-bed non-sectarian teaching hospital providing inpatient and outpatient care to the people of southcentral Wisconsin through three key service lines - medicine, surgery and emergency services - and two specialty centers for cardiac and women's health.
• Luther Midelfort, Mayo Health System, Eau Claire, a highly integrated, physician-led, multispecialty health care system that serves 123,000 patients at four hospitals, 11 clinics and three long-term care facilities throughout seven counties.

Other organizations receiving recognition for excellence in the program include: American Society for Quality (ASQ), Milwaukee (Service); Bay Area Medical Center, Marinette (Health Care); Community Memorial Hospital, Menomonee Falls (Health Care); National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Madison (Nonprofit); Northcentral Technical College, Wausau (Education); ProHealth Care, Waukesha (Health Care); Red Cedar Medical Center, Mayo Health System, Menomonie (Health Care); St. Michael's Hospital/Ministry Health Care, Stevens Point (Health Care); St. Clare Hospital & Health Services, Baraboo (Health Care); and St. Clare Meadows Care Center, Baraboo (Health Care).
The awards program is a public/private partnership modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program.
The Wisconsin Forward Award recipients will be presented with their awards in a ceremony at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison on Wednesday, Feb. 7. For additional information, visit www.forwardaward.org.

The Blue-Ribbon Committee convened by the West Allis/West Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce has chosen P&H Mining Equipment as its Business of the Year and Mary Pat Morris as the Citizen of the Year.
P&H Mining Equipment was founded in 1884, and its headquarters remain at the intersection of Miller Park Way and West National Avenue. The company has been very active in the community, according to the committee.
P&H became involved with the Silver City Main Street at its inception in February 2005. Since then, P&H has contributed more than $30,000 in in-kind services, including graphic design, marketing, leadership expertise and stage design for the Concert in the Park series. P&H employees also volunteer to help.
Morris and her late husband, Jerry Morris, who was a senior design engineer at Allis-Chalmers (later Siemens), raised their family in West Allis. Their sons also are raising their families in West Allis.
Morris has served West Allis on the Plan Commission and the Community Development Authority and is currently the chairwoman of the City Ethics Board. She has volunteered for many community projects.
"I am humbled to be chosen Citizen of the Year. Forgive me if I use this pulpit to encourage everyone to look outward. When you do, I am sure you'll find your own corner of the world to make better for yourself and future generations."
Other nominees for the awards this year included the Columbus Club, Culver's of West Milwaukee, Poblocki Sign Co., QPS Companies, Ron Ziolecki, and Tony C's Bakery & Deli.
The award winners and nominees will be recognized on Wednesday, Jan. 24, at the chamber's annual meeting from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 1800 S. 92nd St.

Lakeview Equity Partners LLC, a Milwaukee-based private equity fund, has announced the acquisition of Automatan Inc. of Plover, Wis.
Automatan is a manufacturer of lithographic labeling equipment sold to the corrugated packaging industry worldwide.
"Automatan has achieved excellent brand recognition through its superior technology, product performance and customer service," said W. Kent Velde, president of Lakeview Equity Partners.  "With the trend toward large-format labeling in product displays and in-store advertising, Automatan's products make it possible to add high-quality graphics to corrugated packaging."
A partner in the acquisition, Kevin Widder, will serve as the new president and chief executive officer of Automatan. Widder, who has more than 20 years of experience in the capital equipment industry, was previously president of Sheboygan-based Pemco.
"We're very excited about this acquisition," Widder said. "Automatan is a great company with a terrific reputation in the industry. The new management understands Automatan's market and its customers, and Lakeview Equity Partners has the financial capacity and strategic resources to support the company and bring it to the next level."
Widder said Automatan's current sales, customer service and manufacturing team would be retained. He also said there will be no immediate changes in the company's product line, which includes singleface, lithographic and pattern laminators; load turners and jogger/aerators; and an ink quality control system.
This is the fourth transaction by Lakeview Equity Partners during 2006.  The company has also invested in: 5 Alarm Fire and Safety Equipment, Fort Atkinson, Wis.; Firehouse Animal Health Centers, Denver, Colo.; and LS Research, Cedarburg, Wis.

The BizTimes Stock Index dropped .89 points to close at 177.03 Wednesday, and local stocks continued to fall in early morning trading today. The largest local decliners this morning were Rockwell Automation Inc. (down 95 cents to $59.98) and MGIC Investment Corp. (down 60 cents to $62.86). The largest local advancers this morning were Kohl's Corp. (up 91 cents to $67.99) and Fiserv Inc. (up 63 cents to $52.20). The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.