The Sleep Wellness Institute will open CPAP2GO, a retail store specializing in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, masks and supplies that are used to help people with obstructive sleep apnea.
The store, which will be the only of its kind in Wisconsin operated by a sleep disorders center, will open Tuesday, July, 8, in Franklin at 7017 S. 27th St.
The center will be staffed by specially trained employees, most of whom are on CPAP therapy themselves. Much of the equipment will be covered by most health insurance.
According to Sleep Wellness Institute president Mark Stoiber, the store is a natural extension of the West Allis-based company's services.
"Our approach to working with people on CPAP has yielded more than an 85-percent compliance rate with treatment, as opposed to about 55 percent nationwide," Stoiber said. "We believe we can successfully grow our business while helping more people by having a store located in a convenient, high traffic retail business area."
People with sleep apnea are aroused briefly several times per hour every night as the tissues around their airway collapse and prevent them from breathing. Complications can include cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, depression and even death.
The CPAP equipment provides a continuous, positive air flow that keeps the patient's airway open and eliminates snoring.
"Expert knowledge, wide selection and an unmatched dedication to customer service will be the hallmarks of CPAP2GO," Stoiber said. "All too often, we encounter people who have purchased CPAP equipment elsewhere, including from the internet, and then have been unable to get the follow-up service they need, at the times they need it.  We intend to make a difference for those people."
The store will be managed by Cody Glorioso, who is the director of the Sleep Wellness Institute's durable medical equipment department.

With Summerfest in full swing, today also is the last day for the public to take advantage of discount tickets for the Wisconsin State Fair, which will take place Thursday, July 31, through Sunday, Aug. 10.
Te following "Fair Deals will be available until 5 p.m. today: $5 adult admission tickets (savings of almost 40 percent, $3 off the gate); $12.50 for weekday “ride-all-day” midway coupons valid Monday through Thursday; and a 15 "Fair Play" three-day pass.
Tickets are available online at www.WiStateFair.com or at the Fair Box Office at the U.S. Cellular Main Gate located just south of the Pettit Center.

Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL), a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp., has filed both a site permit application and certificate of need application with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) for the Bent Tree Wind Farm, a proposed wind farm south of the Twin Cities in Freeborn County, Minnesota.
The Bent Tree Wind Farm has the potential to produce up to 400 megawatts of emissions-free energy, which is enough to power approximately 100,000 homes.
In April, WPL executed a letter of intent to purchase the site for Bent Tree Wind Farm from Wind Capital Group LLC. WPL anticipates the purchase of the site to be complete by the end of the year.
While WPL's Site Permit application seeks MPUC approval for a 400-MW facility, the project is expected to come online in phases, with the first phase consisting of a 200-MW wind farm. The initial phase of the project will cost approximately $450 million to $475 million, excluding allowance for funds used during construction.

Harken Yacht Equipment Inc. will break ground in August on a new manufacturing plant and headquarters in Pewaukee on a 28-acre parcel at N15 W24887 Bluemound Road. The new facility is expected to open by Jan. 1, 2010. Harken is the largest manufacturer of sailboat hardware in the world. Read more in the new edition of the BizTimes Manufacturing Weekly bulletin.

A Madison landscaping, lawn maintenance and snow removal company changed its fleet of sales vehicles to hybrid sedans two years ago, and that decision is paying off as gas prices sour. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.

The BizTimes Stock Index closed at 139.70 Friday, just above its 52-week low of 138.87, but local stocks showed some signs of life in early morning trading today, even though crude oil prices shot up past the $143 per gallon mark. The largest local advancers this morning were Badger Meter Inc. (up $2.65 to $50.46) and Twin Disc Inc. (up $1.00 to $21.26).  The largest local decliners this morning were MGIC Investment Corp. (down $1.45 to $5.54) and Joy Global Inc. (down 77 cents to $75.99). 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.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says the time has come for Milwaukee to get over its rail phobia. Read more in today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company today announced they have closed on the transaction to combine their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations to create MillerCoors.

MillerCoors will begin operating as a combined entity on Tuesday.

"As a unified company with a world-class board and leadership team in place, MillerCoors will be able to create tremendous opportunities for innovations in products and services that will allow us to drive profitable growth," said Pete Coors, chairman of MillerCoors. "Personally, I am thrilled to be part of such an exciting and innovative organization and look forward to serving as the chairman of this new business.”

Graham Mackay, chief executive of SABMiller, said, "Today is an historic day in the American beer business, not only for the shareholders of both SABMiller and Molson Coors, but for MillerCoors consumers, employees, distributors and business partners. Now that the transaction has closed and MillerCoors is a reality, the strong leadership team we have put in place is ready to execute and realize the tremendous potential of this great organization."

Leo Kiely, chief executive of MillerCoors, said, "MillerCoors will be entrepreneurial, with the ability to operate with speed and agility in the marketplace, backed by the powerful combined resources of two exceptionally successful companies. We will drive profitable growth and bring new energy to the U.S. beer industry. Our focus now is to deliver on the $500 million in identified annualized cost synergies by improving sourcing across our eight major breweries, building a streamlined organization and leveraging the scale of the new company. Our talented people are experienced and passionate about this business and - importantly - are determined to win.”
Some of those efficiencies will be reached, presumably, by cutting hundreds of administrative jobs. Miller has about 900 administrative jobs in Milwaukee.

MillerCoors has not yet announced where its combined headquarters will be. SABMiller is based in London, and its Miller Brewing Co. unit is based in Milwaukee. Molson Coors is based in Golden, Colo.

Pete Coors said earlier this year that the merged company's headquarters will likely be in a neutral location.

The Denver Post reported that the cities being considered for the merged headquarters are Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, New York and Des Moines.

Miller spokesman Julian Green said a decision on the location of the merged headquarters will be announced "soon."

SABMiller and Molson Coors have each named five representatives to the MillerCoors board of directors, as follows:

• Pete Coors, vice-chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Company and chairman of the MillerCoors board.
• Graham Mackay, CEO of SABMiller plc and vice-chairman of the MillerCoors board.
• Peter Swinburn, president and CEO of Molson Coors.
• Sam Walker, global chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Molson Coors.
• Stewart Glendinning, global chief financial officer of Molson Coors.
• Dave Perkins, president, global brand and market development of Molson Coors.
• Malcolm Wyman, CFO of SABMiller plc.
• Nick Fell, group marketing director of SABMiller plc.
• Johann Nel, group human resources director of SABMiller plc
• Sue Clark, corporate affairs director of SABMiller plc.

Based on results for Miller and Coors reported under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the year ended March 31, 2008, and U.S. GAAP for the four fiscal quarters ended March 30, 2008, respectively, MillerCoors’ annual pro forma combined beer sales were 70.1 million U.S. barrels, which is a 1.6-percent increase from the comparable pro forma period a year earlier.

The combined company's pro forma net revenues were approximately $7.0 billion for the most recent year, a 6-percent increase from a year earlier. Pro forma combined EBITDA totaled approximately $991 million, an 18-percent year-over-year increase.

Pentair Inc. and GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of the General Electric Co., today announced they will locate the global headquarters of their drinking water quality joint venture business in the Milwaukee area.

The companies will combine Pentair's global water softener business with GE's residential water filtration business.

Golden Valley, Minn.-based Pentair and Trevose, Pa.-based GE Water & Process Technologies both already have some operations in the Milwaukee area.

GE spokeswoman Ellen Mellody told SBT she could not be more specific about the location of the joint headquarters or how many jobs would be created in southeastern Wisconsin.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pentair has an 80-percent ownership stake and GE has a 20-percent stake of the joint venture, which will be called Pentair Residential Filtration.

With the formation of the joint venture, Pentair and GE will be better-positioned to serve residential customers with industry-leading technical applications in the areas of water conditioning, whole house filtration, point-of-use water management and water sustainability, said Randall Hogan, chairman and chief executive officer of Pentair.

"Further, this joint venture advances Pentair's current residential filtration strategy for growth. We believe we will accelerate revenue growth by selling GE's existing residential conditioning and treatment products through Pentair's sales channels, and by gaining access to some of GE's current and emerging filtration technologies," Hogan said.

In 2007, the combined residential and commercial net sales of the parent companies were approximately $450 million.

"We are excited about the growth opportunities this unique partnership brings our business," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO of GE Water & Process Technologies. "Partnerships such as this one create an excellent opportunity to develop and introduce new technologies that will meet the needs of both developed and emerging markets. It is also another example of how GE continues to partner with industry leaders to drive growth while meeting the world's most pressing water needs."

Pentair Residential Filtration will serve as the primary sales channel for Pentair's and GE's respective global residential water filtration and water softener businesses. It will also serve as the manufacturing arm for residential and commercial tanks, valves and some limited filtration products for the parent companies.

Pentair and GE will continue to serve existing municipal, commercial and industrial water treatment customers separately, sourcing select products from the joint venture as needed.

Pentair Residential Filtration will bring together approximately 1,100 employees from Pentair and GE in 15 facilities in the United States, Europe and China.

The joint venture coming to southeastern Wisconsin is another win for the region's growing identity as the "Silicon Valley of water technology." The Milwaukee 7 and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett are promoting the region as the "Fresh Coast."

"It's absolutely true that there is a growing need around the world in advanced drinking water quality," Mellody said. "Water scarcity is increasing. Water quality is decreasing."