Menomonee Falls-based Kohl's Department Stores announced today that it is donating $3 million to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to establish the Kohl's Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence.
The gift will provide an endowment for administration and programming for the center and a "state-of-the-art" facility for the center that will be built in the expanded and renovated UW's School of Human Ecology building.
With the Kohl's gift, the enhanced retailing center will have dedicated space for students to meet and increase the number of students it can serve. Construction of the $48 million addition and renovation to the Human Ecology building, including the Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence, is scheduled to begin in September 2009 and expected to be completed in 2013.
The Kohl's donation is the largest corporate gift ever given to the School of Human Ecology. The largest gift toward the school's building project was $8 million given by alumni Nancy and Albert "Ab" Nicholas
"While we have great partnerships with many universities, our longest-standing relationship is with UW-Madison," said Telvin Jefferies, executive vice president of human resources for Kohl's. "The University has been a valuable resource for Kohl’s by consistently offering graduates who demonstrate initiative and leadership. In fact, many of our associates are alumni. It is a pleasure to invest in and showcase the university's retail major and offerings with the Kohl's Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence."
The Kohl's Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence will create a link between the retail industry and the faculty, staff and students of UW-Madison, allowing students to interact with industry professionals and explore careers and job opportunities.
UW-Madison is one of few institutions in the nation to offer a Bachelor of Science retailing degree.
"This gift will transform the center into a single portal where retailers can identify students from the many fields across which they hire," said School of Human Ecology Dean Robin A. Douthitt. "We expect the Kohl's Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence will connect retailers with cutting-edge faculty and graduate student research across campus."

Milwaukee-based J.M. Brennan, a mechanical contractor, announced today that it recently purchased Racine-based H.V.A.C. of Wisconsin Inc., which specializes in HVAC installation, maintenance and service.
As a result of the acquisition, J.M. Brennan said it will be able to offer "local, high-quality services to existing and new customers in the Racine, Kenosha and Walworth areas."
All current H.V.A.C. of Wisconsin employees will remain with the company.
In addition, J.M. Brennan announced that it plans to hire additional employees and open an office in Sturtevant.
J.M. Brennan also can now offer H.V.A.C. of Wisconsin customers an expanded line of services, including plumbing, controls, sheet metal and piping, as well as assistance in construction projects.
"H.V.A.C. of Wisconsin has an excellent reputation. We are excited to expand our services and customer base through this merger," said John Brennan, president of J.M. Brennan. "With our combined expertise, we can provide a wider base of customers with quality mechanical and HVAC services."
"Our customers will benefit greatly from this partnership," said Gene Townsend, former owner of H.V.A.C. of Wisconsin and current J.M. Brennan south region service manager. "We will be able to offer our customers an expanded variety of mechanical services to fit their unique needs. They will continue to receive the first-rate service they are used to from familiar faces, now enriched with the additional services J.M. Brennan provides."

Manitowoc-based The Manitowoc Company Inc. announced today that it has increased its offer for United Kingdom-based Enodis to $2.4 billion.
The deal would include the assumption of Enodis' net debt (approximately $245 million as of March 29, 2008).
Enodis is one of the leading global food and beverage equipment manufacturers with approximately 6,800 employees and 30 factories in 9 countries. The company is based in London and operationally headquartered in Tampa, Fla.
Earlier this month Illinois Tool Works Inc. made a $2.3 billion offer for Enodis, causing The Manitowoc Company to increase its offer.
"We reconsidered our options carefully and reaffirmed that there is significant strategic merit in bringing these two strong organizations together," said Glen E. Tellock, Manitowoc president and chief executive officer. "Our announcement today highlights that we are determined to bring to bear the many benefits we believe a combination will deliver. Our increased offer is at a five percent premium to ITW's offer and a 63.7 percent premium to Enodis' average closing price for the 12 months ending April 8, 2008. As such, we believe strongly that our revised offer represents superior value for Enodis' shareholders. At the same time our revised offer still meets our financial objectives of being EPS accretive in two years and EVA positive in three years."

DuraSafe Locks, a New Berlin manufacturer of locks for recreational vehicles, recently introduced a new line of locks to secure fishing-related electronics such as fish finders, GPS systems, chart plotters and VHF radios. Read more in today's edition of SBT's Manufacturing Weekly.

Miron Construction is planning a $6 million, 46,000-square-foot expansion of its corporate headquarters in the Town of Menasha. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.

Wisconsin legislators raised the driver's license fee by $10 to pay for state compliance with Real ID, the national ID law authored by Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner. But now the fee, which raised Wisconsin taxes by $22 million, will now be used to balance the Wisconsin state budget. That shows why Real ID was a bad idea says Jim Burkee, author of today's Milwaukee Biz Blog. Burkee is an associate professor of history at Concordia University Wisconsin, who is challenging Sensenbrenner in the Sept. 9 primary for Wisconsin's Fifth Congressional District seat.

The BizTimes Stock Index fell 0.66 points to close at 166.90 Friday, but local stocks had a strong showing in early morning trading today. The largest local advancers this morning were Harley-Davidson Inc. (up $1.57 to $41.52), Snap-On Inc. (up $1.04 to $61.82) and Rockwell Automation Inc. (up 95 cents to $58.31). The largest decliners this morning were Badger Meter Inc. (down 68 cents to $48.98), Bucyrus International Inc. (down 56 cents to $140.00) and Strattec Security Corp. (down 57 cents to $36.73). 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.