The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce received a boost from a rather unlikely source Thursday in its effort to convince Miller Brewing Co. and Molson Coors Brewing Co. executives to locate their combined headquarters in Colorado, rather than Milwaukee. Denver's boost came directly from the mouths of five Milwaukee chief executives, who complained publicly that Milwaukee is a terrible place to do business. Read more in today's Milwaukee Biz Blog by Small Business Times executive editor Steve Jagler.

Years ago, few people could have imagined what Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward or its Menomonee River Valley ultimately would become. City officials hope to recreate the same type of reformation with the 30th Street Industrial Corridor. Those plans are featured in the cover story of the print edition of this week's Small Business Times. Other highlights of this week's issue include a Commercial Real Estate Spotlight on a Third Ward project, a story about a Brookfield manufacturer that plans to move to a new plant in Sussex and some advice about how to make sure your company's IT system is secure.

The Milwaukee Common Council will consider using the city's powers of eminent domain to force Bee Bus Line Inc., to sell three properties on the city's northwest side.
The properties are located at 3478 W. Hopkins St., 4250 N. 35th St. and 4260-4300 N. 35th St.
On Tuesday, the council will hear a proposal to declare the properties blighted and approve their acquisition by Integrated Mail Industries Ltd., a nearby business that wants to expand onto the sites. Under the proposal, Integrated will pay for the acquisition of the property and demolition there, according to city documents.
The city's redevelopment authority approved the plan in December, and its Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development committee approved it earlier this week.
Bee Bus acquired the property several years ago, said Bruce Arbit, chairman of the board of Integrated Mail, and has never used it. Integrated Mail is based at 3410 W. Hopkins St., adjacent to the Bee Bus property.
Integrated Mail has tried to negotiate with Bee Bus, Arbit said, but has not been successful.
Integrated Mail has about 120 employees in its 167,000-square-foot facility, Arbit said. The company has an immediate need for expansion, Arbit said, and routinely turns work away.
"We're ready to hire 50 people immediately," he said. "We cannot do any more work in the building we have now. That is work that our clients are demanding that we can't produce."
If it gains control of the Bee Bus property, Integrated Mail will expand by 50,000 to 150,000 square feet, he said.
"We haven't finalized our plans yet," Arbit said. "The issue is do we (expand) in phases or do it all at one time."
Integrated Mail needs to have all of its operations under one roof, Arbit said. If the company isn't able to acquire the Bee Bus property, it will have to look for another site, which would probably be outside the city, he said.
"We're landlocked here," Arbit said. "The problem is that we can't increase sales. We're turning work away, and we're at risk of losing clients."
Integrated Mail, Bee Bus Line and the properties in question are within the city's 30th Street Industrial corridor, an area that the city wants to redevelop (see the cover story in this week's Small Business Times).

Brookfield-based Fiserv Inc. announced today that Richard Jones will join the company as executive vice president and chief information officer.
The new position will have oversight responsibility for global infrastructure, technology governance and spearheading programs to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the company's disbursed technology resources.
Jones joins Fiserv after 12 years at Countrywide Financial Corp., serving most recently as senior managing director and chief information officer.
"Richard's proven experience leading technology in a world class financial services organization will bode very well for Fiserv," said Jeffery Yabuki, president and chief executive officer of Fiserv.
Yabuki will be one of the featured CEOs at the Northern Trust Economic Trends Breakfast to be presented by SBT on Thursday, Jan. 24.

Racine resident Craig Leipold has agreed to purchase the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild from Minnesota Sports & Entertainment.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The final sale requires approval by the National Hockey League and other regulatory approvals.
Leipold recently sold another NHL team, the Nashville Predators, which he had owned since 1997.
"I love the sport of hockey and am very excited to continue the tradition of Wild hockey here in Minnesota - the state of Hockey," Leipold said. "It is a true privilege to become part of the organization and the hockey community in Minnesota."
Leipold founded Ameritel Corp., a telemarketing firm that specialized in business-to-business sales contracts for major companies. He then purchased Rainfair Corp., a 125-year-old manufacturer of protective clothing and footwear. Leipold also formed Powers Management Corp. in 1997.
Leipold and his wife, Helen Johnson-Leipold (chief executive officer of Johnson Outdoors Inc. and chairman of Johnson Financial Bank Corp.) reside in Racine.

Supple Hospitality and Ashwaubenon Boardwalk Development plan to build a 105-room Aloft hotel in Ashwaubenon. Aloft is a brand of White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which is also planning to develop an Aloft hotel in downtown Milwaukee. Supple is considering plans to develop an Aloft hotel in Madison. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

Busy readers of the BizTimes Daily can get a jumpstart on the weekend ahead by reading the OnMilwaukee.com Weekend Preview, where Brett Favre, Wayne Newton, Hannah Montana and the Home Builders Expo are on the marquis. OnMilwaukee.com is a media partner of Small Business Times.

The BizTimes Stock Index recovered 1.31 points to close at 153.55 Thursday, but local stocks sank with broader market again in early morning trading today. Decliners far outnumbered advancers this morning. The largest local decliners were Weyco Group Inc. ($2.13 to $27.20) and Rockwell Automation Inc. (down $1.67 to $59.48). The largest local advancers this morning were MGIC Investment Corp. (up $1.33 to $19.16) and Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (up 94 cents to $26.08). 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.