The Bradley Center Board of Directors on Tuesday did an about-face and rescinded its decision to seek to sell the naming rights for the Milwaukee facility.
The reversal came after board members were sent a letter from Lynde Bradley Uihlein and David Uihlein Jr., the daughter and son of the late philanthropist Jane Bradley Pettit, who donated $90 million to build the Bradley Center in 1988.
The letter by the Uihleins stated: "Sadly, Jane Pettit's $90 million gift in honor of her father could be degraded if those initiatives result in a renamed facility. Moreover, a sale of naming rights will barely impact the financial challenges facing the Bradley Center's future. We believe that there are better solutions to the current funding dilemma. Now is the time for state and city government, the Bradley Center board, the Wisconsin Center District and the Milwaukee Bucks to work together to ensure that Milwaukee remains a major-league city. In order to achieve that goal, we believe that Milwaukee's sports, entertainment and convention resources must be unified in order to fully derive the benefits of current taxpayer support and efficient operations. For our part, the Bradley family will continue our longstanding and diverse philanthropic efforts in and around Milwaukee."
A Milwaukee Biz Blog calling for unified leadership on the future of the downtown entertainment district on March 24 had generated additional discussion among Bradley Center board members.
Ulice Payne Jr., chairman of the Bradley Center board of directors, issued the following statement: "We have reviewed the statement from Lynde Bradley Uihlein and David V. Uihlein Jr., and we greatly respect their comments. After discussing their statement with other members of the Bradley Center Board, we have decided to end any efforts to seek naming rights for the building as a way to help strengthen the long-term health of the Bradley Center. As we have stated previously, it was always our intention to approach this issue in a respectful manner and with the family's involvement.  With their new statement today, we are ending any effort to seek a naming rights partner for the Bradley Center. Like everyone else in our community, we are grateful for the long-standing and diverse philanthropic efforts of the Bradley family."

Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., the licensee of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield insurance plan in Wisconsin, today reported first quarter net income of $588.1 million, or $1.07 per share, which was down from $783.1 million, or $1.26 per share, in the same period a year ago.
The decrease included net realized investment losses of 6 cents per share.
The company's total revenues for the quarter grew slightly to $15.6 billion from $15.1 billion a year earlier.
"While the first quarter was challenging for WellPoint, since our March announcement we have further reduced claims inventories and achieved greater visibility into medical costs," said Angela Braly, president and chief executive officer of Wellpoint. "Consequently, we have refined our earnings forecast to reflect higher medical costs and a lower level of favorable prior year reserve development. Our overall enrollment growth remains strong and we are now serving 35.4 million medical members, more than ever before. We offer access to the largest provider network in the industry, with competitive pricing, distinctive care management and wellness programs, and innovative medical cost transparency tools. We will continue to enhance this superior value proposition with new product offerings in order to drive future membership gains and long-term earnings growth."

Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation Inc.'s fiscal second quarter net income dropped to $142.8 million, or 96 cents per share, from $729.3 million, or $4.45 per share in the same period a year ago.
Last year's second quarter included profit from Rockwell's discontinued power systems business of $622.2 million, or $3.80 per share.
The company's total sales in the quarter grew to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier.
Keith Nosbusch, chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwell, said, "We delivered solid top line results, with strong revenue growth in the United States, Asia and Latin America offsetting lower than expected organic growth in Europe. We continued to benefit from investments in technology leadership, expanded served markets and stronger global presence. EPS grew 17 percent, despite operating margins somewhat lower than expected due to revenue mix and currency impacts. We remain intensely focused on sustaining above market revenue growth, diversifying our revenue base and driving productivity."
Commenting on the company's outlook, Nosbusch said, "Customer capital spending and project activity remain firm at this time. Looking forward, we expect continued strength in emerging economies, steady demand in the United States and improved performance in Europe. While we continue to acknowledge that there is significant uncertainty in the economic environment, particularly in the United States, we have not seen a fundamental change in customer demand for our products, services or solutions. We are optimistic regarding our growth prospects and ability to execute. Assuming business conditions in the industrial sector remain relatively stable, we are reaffirming EPS guidance for 2008 of $4.25-$4.45."
The quarterly report sent Rockwell's stock falling $5.42 this morning to $55.57 per share.

AT&T Inc. announced that its U-verse TV and Internet services are now available to more than 200,000 housing units in and around the Milwaukee, Racine and Sheboygan areas.
The growth of U-verse TV and the passage of the Wisconsin Video Choice Act have resulted in the creation of hundreds of new AT&T jobs in Wisconsin, the company said. AT&T is currently seeking to fill 200 technician positions across the state, including openings in the northeast Wisconsin and south central Wisconsin areas. Additional information about the job opportunities is available at AT&T's career site located at www.att.jobs.
John DeVaul, AT&T general manager for Wisconsin, said, "We're looking forward to bringing our innovative video choice to more Wisconsin consumers in the years ahead. Since we've launched U-verse TV here, we've introduced new interactive features, grown our HD lineup to offer more HD channels than the local cable providers, and added sports networks that are important to Wisconsin fans - like Big Ten Network and NFL Network."
AT&T is the only national provider to offer a 100 percent Internet Protocol-based television (IPTV) service.

A new web-based tool is available for Wisconsin companies to identify specific opportunities for doing business with the federal government.
The web site, www.B2Gconnect.org, is part of the continuing work of the Wisconsin Procurement Institute to return more federal dollars to the state via business contracts.
"This new system will open doors to revenue for Wisconsin businesses," said John Rogers, chairman of the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Procurement Institute (WPI).
The web site complements individual activity, events and seminars of WPI to connect Wisconsin companies to federal contracts.
"We spent more than a year developing it, applying cutting-edge technology to an easy-to-use interface," he said. "Unlike other sites that have generic matching processes, B2Gconnect presents registered users with opportunities that much more exactly match their lines of business. The result is a highly effective process that, we are confident, will lead to new federal business for Wisconsin companies. There is no other procurement site as robust."
B2Gconnect employs knowledge software developed in Wisconsin to provide users with refined opportunities for federal contracts.
WPI executive director Aina Vilumsons said the site was funded by a U.S. Small Business Administration grant and represents the federal government's ongoing effort to make it easier for private business of all sizes to gain access to government contracts. B2Gconnect.org initially will focus on Wisconsin businesses but will later be extended for use by businesses in other states.
"This is an exclusive opportunity for Wisconsin companies," Vilumsons said. "You often read stories about Wisconsin not getting its fair share of federal dollars, but that is changing, because companies here are taking advantage of these kind of opportunities."

South Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International Inc. has entered into a preliminary framework agreement with Huainan Mining Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. to seek to establish a joint venture in the Huainan mining area of the Anhui Province in the People's Republic of China.
The preliminary agreement contemplates Bucyrus owning a controlling interest in a joint venture that would involve the building of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the Huainan mining area of China that would initially manufacture belt systems and armored face conveyors for resale on a preferential basis to Huainan Mining, as well as to other third parties in China and elsewhere.
It is possible that the joint venture could manufacture and sell additional underground mining equipment as well. Both Bucyrus and Huainan Mining would contribute an undisclosed amount of cash, as well as other assets and personnel, to the joint venture. Bucyrus president and chief executive officer Tim Sullivan said, "The joint venture which we hope will result from this preliminary framework agreement will benefit both Bucyrus and Huainan Mining. The first step in a resulting joint venture will extend our market coverage and provide us with a low cost manufacturing base in China. Huainan Mining will benefit from the higher technology of our products, and the region will gain through the development of a high technology manufacturing base in Anhui Province. There is also the future potential for exports using our international sales network."

Wisconsin law firm Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. has appointed Traci Mortensen to the position of chief operating officer.
In her new role, Mortensen is responsible for managing the firm's day-to-day operations and business planning, which includes overseeing all administrative departments, including human resources, information technology, marketing, finance and other support groups.
"For years I have relied on Traci for an increasingly complex set of duties and in each situation, she has shined," said Mark Miller, chief executive officer of the firm. "Traci is ideally suited for this position."
Mortensen is the first woman to serve as COO of the company. Her position was created in conjunction with a new five-year strategic plan, which redefines the firm's goals and objectives.
Mortensen previously served as the firm's director of human resources for nine years. 
"It is an honor to serve as Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek's COO," Mortensen said. "It has been exciting to watch WHD's growth in recent years. I see this as an incredible opportunity to impact the firm's future success."

Representatives from municipalities, business improvement districts and development-related nonprofit organizations will present their latest development opportunities at the Development Forum during the BizTech Expo next week. Read more in the latest edition of the BizTimes Real Estate Weekly bulletin.

In a partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's computer science department, Microsoft Corp. announced that it plans to open an advanced development laboratory in downtown Madison. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.
 

Rub elbows and share ideas with the corporate and civic leaders of the Milwaukee region at the BizTech Expo. Read more in Small Business Times executive editor Steve Jagler's weekly blog at OnMilwaukee.com, a media partner of SBT.

The BizTimes Stock Index lost 3.14 points to close at 157.36 Tuesday, and local stocks tried to regain some momentum in early morning trading today. The largest local gainers this morning were Snap-on Inc. (up $2.05 to $55.17) and Bucyrus International Inc. (up $1.64 to $122.72). The largest local decliners this morning were Rockwell Automation Inc. (down $5.42 to $55.57) and Manpower Inc. (down $1.56 to $63.66). 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.