The Milwaukee Intermodal Station, at 433 W. St. Paul Ave. in downtown Milwaukee, was officially "reopened" this morning during a ribbon-cutting ceremony that celebrated the completion of a $17 million facelift.
The project transformed the dingy Amtrak station into a modern train and bus station. The Milwaukee Intermodal Station is now the downtown Greyhound bus terminal, in addition to serving as the city's downtown Amtrak train station. The remodeling project gave the building an entirely new look with the addition of a three-story glass galleria along St. Paul Avenue and created a more attractive gateway to the city.
City officials also are hoping the remodeled transit hub will spur more development on properties surrounding the station.
To view images of the refurbished station and obtain additional information, visit www.amtrakhiawatha.com.

Southeastern Wisconsin's business community and the general public are invited to attend the first public appearance of Edward Flynn, Milwaukee's next police chief, at a special Newsmaker Luncheon to be held by the Milwaukee Press Club on Thursday, Nov. 29.
The event will take place at the Midwest Airlines Center in downtown Milwaukee, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave. Networking and lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. in room 102 on the first floor. The program will begin at 12:15 p.m.
Flynn will be interviewed by a panel of Milwaukee journalists. Questions also will be taken from the audience near the end of the program.
Flynn, 59, recently was the unanimous choice of the Milwaukee Fire & Police Commission to succeed outgoing Chief Nannette Hegerty. Flynn will leave his post as police commissioner in Springfield, Mass.
Flynn's previous positions in law enforcement included: Massachusetts secretary of public safety; chief of police, Arlington County, Va.; chief of police, Chelsea, Mass.; chief of police, Braintree, Mass.; and he spent 15 years at the Jersey City Police Department in New Jersey.
The Newsmaker Luncheon will be Flynn's first public appearance since he was selected to become Milwaukee's next chief of police.
Pre-registration for the Newsmaker Luncheon is required. The cost to attend is $20 for MPC members and students and $25 for non-members. Lunch is included. Because seating is limited, pre-registration and advance payment is required and may be made online at www.milwaukeepressclub.org. To pay by credit card, call (262) 894-2224. Contact the Milwaukee Press Club at milwaukeepressclub@gmail.com or (414) 588-9571 for additional information.

Organization Development Consultants Inc. (ODC), a Brookfield-based management consultant company, announced today that it has been selected by the Catholic University of America to be the program evaluation provider for the $2.9 million Technology Engineering Scholars project through the U.S. Department of Labor.
The project is aimed at promoting higher education and reducing tuition costs so U.S. citizens might meet the educational requirements for Washington, D.C.-area jobs often held by foreign nationals working in the United States under H-1B Visas.
Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D, a principal with ODC, will be the project manager for the program.
Schroeder, who writes a monthly column about human resources in Small Business Times, said he believes ODC was chosen because of its recognized expertise in program and outcome evaluation, with higher education as an emerging focus of the firm's programs and services of this kind.
The project retrains Americans to fill the positions by helping them earn post-baccalaureate certificates, industry certifications, bachelor's degrees and master's degrees in the high-demand fields of information technology, computer science, and construction engineering.
"We are truly honored to be selected to lead the program evaluation component of this very important project," Schroeder said. "To be part of this groundbreaking program is simply a wonderful opportunity."
As the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States, the Catholic University of America is a community of scholars, both faculty and students, set apart to "discover, preserve and impart the truth in all its forms, with particular reference to the needs and opportunities of the nation."

The Milwaukee Mile has added John Doyle to the speedway’s staff as the newly appointed manager of group sales and corporate hospitality.
Doyle worked in group sales with the Milwaukee Brewers for the past two years, and he previously worked with two minor league baseball teams, the Greenville Astros and the Danville Braves.
The Menomonee Falls native earned his bachelor's degree in sports administration from Saint Thomas University in Miami, Fla.
"After an extensive search, John was our top choice to grow our corporate hospitality involvement and will energize our increasing group sales efforts for our world-class IndyCar Series, NASCAR and Governor’s Cup weekends,” said Aaron Hart, vice president of sales for the Milwaukee Mile.  “We’re very excited to have John on our team because of his experience, knowledge, work ethic and proven success in building customer relationships.”

The Wisconsin Alliance of Cities is working on a bill, not yet introduced in the Legislature, that would allow two or more communities to create a regional transit authority. An RTA would be able to levy a sales tax of up to .35 percent, or 35 cents per $100 spent, for mass-transit needs. Such a plan could clear the way for the creation of an RTA for the proposed KRM (Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee) commuter rail project. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

Rail needs to be part of a regional transit plan, according to Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, author of today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index gained 2.48 points to close at 164.04 Friday, and local stocks started the new week with a surge in early morning trading today. The largest local advancers this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $1.78 to $84.70) and Joy Global Inc. (up $1.32 to $54.22). The largest local decliners this morning were Fiserv Inc. (down 79 cents to $50.47) and MGIC Investment Corp. (down 71 cents to $19.92). 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.