The rising costs of living will absorb the bulk of the economic stimulus tax rebates for many temporary workers in Wisconsin and northern Illinois, according to a new survey.
The vast majority of respondents plan on spending their rebate money toward easing everyday costs for things such as gasoline and food, according to a survey of 100 temporary workers by QPS Companies Inc., a Brookfield staffing and recruiting firm.
For many, the stimulus check is already as good as gone, as the money is to be applied toward existing debt. 
Seventy-one percent indicated that the rebates will not have the desired effect to help boost the economy.
Among the survey's findings:

• 29 percent plan on spending rebates on necessities such as groceries and fuel.
• 29 percent plan on using the money toward paying down debt.
• 26 percent plan on saving the rebate money.
• 9 percent plan on spending the rebate on vacation.
• 4 percent plan on using the money to help purchase an automobile.
• 4 percent plan on using the money to help purchase a house.

QPS cited two respondents as being typical of the sample.
Ashley plans on saving her rebate. "I need to beef up my savings to help with my sense of financial security. In this economy, you never know what may strike next: lay-offs, outsourcing, unexpected events. I plan to save my rebate," she said.
Don is "holding on to his check for dear life." Don doesn't think the check is enough to spend on non-necessities. "I'm afraid that as the cost of necessities like food and gas continue to rise, I will fall upon rough times," he said.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly today announced the four finalists who will be considered for the position of chancellor at the UW-Madison.
A 23-member search and screen committee, chaired by UW-Madison professor Marsha Mailick Seltzer, recommended the finalists to Reilly and a special committee of the UW System Board of Regents chaired by Regent David Walsh, a UW-Madison alumnus.
The four candidates will participate in meetings and receptions on the campus from May 12 through May 15, where they will interact with faculty, academic staff, classified staff, students and community members. Reilly and the Regent committee will interview the finalists on May 14. The final appointment of a new chancellor must be confirmed by the full Board of Regents.
The four finalists and the dates of their public receptions in the Main Lounge of the Memorial Union at the UW-Madison are:

• Gary Sandefur, Ph.D., dean of the UW-Madison College of Letters and Sciences; Monday, May 12, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
• Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin, Ph.D., provost at Cornell University (New York); Tuesday, May 13, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
• R. Timothy Mulcahy, Ph.D., vice president for research at the University of Minnesota;  Wednesday, May 14, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
• Rebecca Blank, Ph.D., former dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan; Thursday, May 15, 1:30 to 3 p.m.

SBT had reported Tuesday that Sandefur was one of at least four internal candidates being considered for the position.
The person chosen will become UW-Madison's 28th leader, succeeding chancellor John D. Wiley, who plans to retire in September.

Marcus Hotels and Resorts, a division of The Marcus Corp. in Milwaukee, today announced it has been selected by Dial Family Resorts to manage the new 7th Wave Resort, a $150 million water park project to be built just south of Providence in West Warwick, R.I.
The 7th Wave Resort is a Hawaiian and surfer-themed destination resort that will feature 409 rooms, a 75,000 square foot indoor water park, 53,000 square feet of outdoor space and 12,000 square feet of flexible meeting space.
Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2008, with opening slated for the first quarter of 2010.
Marcus Hotels and Resorts is currently providing pre-opening services and will manage the property under a long-term contract when it opens. The 7th Wave Resort will be the third water park property in the Marcus Hotels and Resorts portfolio.
"The 7th Wave Resort is a great addition to our portfolio. As the only water park resort of its size in the Providence area, its 460,000 square feet of entertainment activities will draw families and guests from throughout the region. We look forward to working with Dial Family Resorts and to bringing our broad resort and water park management experience to this exciting new family destination," said Bill Otto, president of Marcus Hotels and Resorts.

Mondovi, Wis.-based Marten Transport Ltd. announced today that its board appointed Timothy Kohl to serve as its new president, effective June 2.
Randolph Marten will remain chairman and chief executive officer of the company, which is one of the leading temperature-sensitive truckload carriers in the United States.
Kohl, who joined the company in November 2007, has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation services industry. Kohl previously served as the president of Knight Transportation Inc.
Randolph Marten said, "We are pleased to announce that our board has appointed Mr. Kohl because he is a strong addition to our leadership team. His experience in the transportation services industry will be invaluable as we focus on growing and improving our business."

A bipartisan effort is calling for legislation to provide oversight of energy markets in the final version of the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill.
U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) are pushing for the provision to ensure federal oversight of the electronic trading of oil and gas.
The provision closes a loophole, often dubbed the "Enron loophole," that has allowed oil and gas traders to make electronic energy trades without federal oversight. The lack of oversight has led to market manipulation and speculation, which in turn has led to price distortion, the senators said.
The legislation would put in place protections for certain "over-the-counter" markets similar to the markets used by the New York and Chicago Mercantile Exchanges. While the Farm Bill Conference Report has yet to be finalized, the "Enron loophole" provision has been completed, Feingold said.
"It is past time to prevent market manipulation by energy traders," Feingold said. "Energy market speculation has a lot to do with the price of gas, and Congress must act immediately to close a loophole to ensure there is proper oversight of energy trading. We cannot allow energy traders to secretively bid up the price of oil and saddle Americans with the price at the gas pump."
The provision would prevent market manipulation by requiring large trades to be reported and publishing price and trading volume of energy on a daily basis, Feingold said. The provision also would monitor trading, limit the size of trader positions and establish an audit trail by collecting records of trading activity.
"If this energy loophole is not fixed we will not be able to determine if American consumers are paying a fair price for energy," Feingold said. "With energy prices at or near record high levels, farmers and foresters are struggling to fill their tractors, heat their homes, fertilize their crops, and transport their goods to market. It is critical that the Congress take advantage of this opportunity on the Farm Bill to increase transparency and reduce the threats of manipulation and excessive speculation that have plagued our energy commodity markets over the past several years."

The plans to develop a 160-room Holiday Inn hotel in the Posner building at 152 W. Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Milwaukee are dead. Read more in the new edition of the BizTimes Real Estate Weekly bulletin.

In response to General Motors Corp.'s plans to cut 750 jobs in Janesville, which has also spurred some Janesville GM suppliers to also plan job cuts, Janesville City Manager Steve Sheiffer says now is the time for the community to pull together and chart an economic development strategy for the next 20 years. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.

Eric Borgerding of the Wisconsin Hospital Association tells his side of the story about the proposed Wisconsin hospital assessment in today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index recovered .17 points to close at 164.03 Tuesday, and local stocks maintained some of that momentum in early morning trading today. The largest local advancers this morning were Twin Disc Inc. (up $1.03 to $19.05) and Kohl's Corp. (up 70 cents to $49.51). The largest local decliners this morning were Joy Global Inc. (down $2.21 to $76.87) and Fiserv Inc. (down $1.14 to $52.28). 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.