The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, which had improved to 53 in the first quarter of 2007, fell to 45 in the second quarter. A reading of less than 50 points reflects more negative than positive responses.
The survey includes about 100 business leaders in a wide range of industries across the nation.
Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said, "Several quarters of sluggish economic growth have taken a toll on CEOs' confidence, erasing two quarters of improvement. Looking ahead, CEOs do not expect a significant turnaround in conditions and profit expectations. Only a quarter expect profits to increase vs. three-quarters last year, reflecting their pessimistic outlook."
CEOs' assessment of current economic conditions was little changed from earlier this year, with 23 percent of CEOs compared with 24 percent last quarter claiming the current economic environment is better. In assessing their own industries, however, business leaders were considerably less optimistic. Approximately 23 percent claim conditions are better, down from about 37 percent in the first quarter.
CEOs are less optimistic about the short-term outlook than last quarter. Now, just 17 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months, down from 27 percent last quarter. Expectations for their own industries were also significantly less positive, with 17 percent anticipating an improvement, down from 35 percent last quarter.
On the issue of profit expectations over the next 12 months, only 22 percent of executives anticipate increases.
Among chief executive officers who expect profits to increase, 46 percent believe technology will drive profits up, while 29 percent cite price increases as the main source of improvement. Only 17 percent foresee market/demand growth as a driver of growth, and the remaining 8 percent cite cost reductions.
The declining optimism reflects the bulk of observations in SBT's recent Midyear Economic Forecast.

The number of mortgage foreclosure filings in Milwaukee County in the first half of 2007 were nearly 48 percent higher than the number recorded in the first half of 2006, reflecting the region's icy housing market and the nation's growing subprime lending crisis. Read more at WisBusiness.com, a media partner of Small Business Times.

Bob Schultz, the developer who has proposed the mixed-use Rivianna project along the Milwaukee River just south of the Historic Third Ward, says he feels like the "Rodney Dangerfield of developers in Milwaukee." Schultz believes he ought to get a little more respect for proposing a $100 million development, which would feature three towers, each 16 stories high, with a total of 165 condominiums and a 60-room boutique hotel. Read more in the new edition of the Small Business Times Real Estate Weekly bulletin.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. announced today it is partnering with PGA Tour professional Mark Wilson. A Pewaukee native, Wilson will wear the Baird logo while playing at next week's U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, as well as during more than 50 other PGA tournaments in the coming years.
Wilson also will take part in various Baird corporate events. 
Wilson recently won his first PGA Tour tournament, The Honda Classic, after a dramatic four-man, sudden death playoff. His victory came after he called a two-stroke penalty on himself during the second round because his caddie inadvertently gave club information to a competitor.
"Mark's commitment to playing with honor and integrity, and to giving back to the community speaks volumes about his character, and makes him an ideal partner for Baird," said Paul Purcell, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Baird. "He embodies the values that are most important to Baird. He's a fierce competitor and highly skilled golfer who works tirelessly to improve his game. He also believes strongly in sharing his success with others."
Since 2004, Wilson has had a special relationship with the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) Fund, a charitable organization that supports research into the treatment and cure of childhood cancer, and which is also supported by the Baird Foundation and numerous Baird associates. Wilson donates a portion of his tour earnings every year through his "Making a Mark Fore MACC" program. Wilson's $30,000 donation last year in honor of the MACC Fund's 30th anniversary was the single-largest by a professional athlete in the history of the organization.
He also participates in charity golf events for the MACC Fund and other organizations, and has visited children with cancer at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.
"I am proud to be aligned with Baird, a Midwestern-based company with which I have a lot in common," Wilson said. "I admire Baird's reputation for excellence and respect the firm's commitment to integrity, teamwork and community involvement, values I share. I also love that Baird is recognized as being a great place to work. You don't achieve that type of accolade without creating an environment where every employee can succeed, and I think that's important."

Johnson Outdoors Inc., a Racine-based provider of outdoor recreational products, announced it has reached a settlement with Confluence Holdings Corp. that will end a long-standing intellectual property dispute between the two companies.
While the terms of the agreement are confidential, the settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by either party and includes a one-time payment by Johnson Outdoors of $4.4 million.
Johnson Outdoors said the payment is expected to have an unfavorable impact on its earnings in the third fiscal quarter.
"After weighing the costs, risks and business distractions associated with continued litigation of this matter against the potential benefit, it became clear that it was in the financial best interests of the company and its shareholders to settle and move on," said David Johnson, vice president and chief financial officer of Johnson Outdoors.
Johnson Outdoors said it has made an insurance claim to cover the payment, but it does not expect resolution of the claim in fiscal 2007.

Opponents of state Senate bill 224, also known as the Brewpub Tourism Development Act, demonstrated against the bill Tuesday at the docks of the Milwaukee Ale House.
Ale House president Jim McCabe said, "This bill does no less than create an entirely new license category, the 'brewpub.'"
The bill's ambiguous definition of a brewpub, based on criteria such as percentage of food sales and gross volume of production, is capricious and arbitrary, McCabe said.
Today, the most dynamic segments of the brewing industry are the microbrewery industry, craft beers and brew pubs. The proposed state law would discourage the start-up of any new business or expansion of existing business in the industry, he said.
"The legislation, if passed, will amount to a restraint of trade in the dynamic craft brewing segment that has energized this state's culture and economy in ways never envisioned when brewing laws were written in 1933," McCabe said.
 "Other states have enacted brewpub legislation, and there may be need of revision of the prohibition-era legislation that regulates our industry,” said Wisconsin Brewer's guild president Russ Klisch, who is president of Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery. "But such revisions should be undertaken in a thorough, consistent, fair and open process, and not through stealth legislation authored by lobbyists for the benefit of special interests and introduced during a holiday break."
Glendale-based Sprecher Brewing Co. vice president and general manager Jeff Hamilton added his concerns about the fast-track legislation being considered by the legislature. Hamilton said the issue deserves a thorough study by the Wisconsin Legislative Council.
"The last time the Wisconsin State  Legislature Legislative Council conducted a study of recodification of alcoholic beverage laws was in 1978. Certainly, after another thirty years have passed, it is time to do the same," Hamilton said.
A state committee was expected to conduct hearings on the bill in Madison today.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court today reinstated a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, ordering more proceedings into whether childhood victims of sexual abuse can sue the diocese for covering up past abuse. The court reinstated the victims' claims of fraud against the diocese and ordered more proceedings to consider whether the six-year statute of limitations for such claims had expired. The victims say the diocese fraudulently claimed the priests who abused them were not dangers to children and had no history of molesting children, when church officials knew otherwise. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of newspaper headlines from across the state at www.biztimes.com.

Abri Health Plan Inc., a West Allis-based health maintenance organization (HMO) that currently handles health insurance for Wisconsin Medicaid and Badger Care members, as well as federal Medicare patients, is making preparations now to offer commercial health insurance. Read more in this week's Small Business Times.

The Republicans in the state Assembly approved their version of the state budget Tuesday. Is it a budget that would protect Wisconsin's taxpayers, or would it gouge Milwaukee County's middle class? Read today's special point/counterpoint edition of the Milwaukee BizBlog, where Rep. Robin Vos (R-Caledonia) and Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) debate the merits of the GOP plan.

The BizTimes Stock Index plummeted 3.77 points to close at 199.60 Tuesday, but local stocks bounced right back with a strong rally in early morning trading today. The largest local gainers this morning were Joy Global Inc. (up $1.40 to $62.65) and Actuant Corp. (up $1.14 to $64.84). The largest local decliners this morning were Strattec Security Corp. (down $1.00 to $48.43) and A.O. Smith Corp. (down 16 cents to $42.06). 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.

Tom Ellis, chairman of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) board of directors, announced today that UPAF president Christine Harris has resigned.
After recently completing UPAF's largest campaign, raising more than $10.4 million, Harris decided to move forward in her career.
"After a five-year tenure as president and seeing UPAF through significant change, I have decided that I wish to pursue different career options," Harris said. "UPAF is now better-positioned to effectively serve the community, its 28,000 donors and the performing arts groups. UPAF is poised to take fund-raising for the performing arts to even greater heights under new leadership."
Harris added, "I am interested in continuing to serve our community as strategically as possible. As a Milwaukee native, I remain committed to this region being a more vibrant, creative and attractive area."
Harris has been in arts administration in Milwaukee for more than 20 years. Prior to joining UPAF in 2002, Harris served as the executive director of the Milwaukee Ballet and as the director of audience development for the Milwaukee Symphony, among other nonprofit roles.
"Under Harris's leadership, UPAF has developed a new strategic plan, improved the operational infrastructure, enhanced UPAF and group accountability to donors, and created a renewable campaign base. She has worked with great energy and passion on behalf of the community and the performing arts groups," Ellis said.
A national search for a new UPAF president has begun. Ellis and a board search committee will work with a recruitment firm throughout the process. An internal transition team is in place to address operational needs as UPAF moves forward to begin planning for the 2008 campaign.