Wausau Equipment Company Inc. plans to build a new 22,050-square-foot testing, assembly and research and development plant in Fond du Lac.
The company manufactures heavy-duty snowplows and airport ice-control equipment.
The new plant will cost $2.4 million and will enable the company to create 34 new jobs.
Wausau Equipment will receive $221,000 in Enterprise Development Zone tax credits from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to accommodate the new plant.
For more information on the Department of Commerce programs and services, contact the agency's area development manager at http://commerce.wi.gov/BD/BD-AreaDevManagers.html.

What are the best practices that will propel Wisconsin manufacturers to success in 2015?  To what extent are the state's 10,000 manufacturers embracing world class manufacturing strategies to transform their companies?
Wisconsin's Next Generation Manufacturing Survey will provide answers and fresh insights to those and other questions. The web-based survey was launched today and can be accessed at www.WisconsinNGM.com.
Any Wisconsin manufacturing owner, chief executive officer or senior level executive is eligible to participate. The survey is confidential and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. Deadline for participation is Sept. 30.
Survey participants will receive a personalized Next Generation Manufacturing Performance Report or a summary report after results are tabulated. 
The survey will identify and measure key performance metrics and best practice strategies consistent with next generation manufacturing. The elements of next generation manufacturing are customer-focused innovation, global engagement, green/sustainability, supply chain management and collaboration, process improvement and talent acquisition and retention.
"Everyone - industry leaders, government officials, academia - understands that Wisconsin's manufacturing base must change if it's going to win in this new economy," said Mike Klonsinski, executive director of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP). "The survey results will provide us with a scorecard to determine where we are today, and where we need to be to be considered a world class manufacturing center."
The survey is being conducted by the Manufacturing Performance Institute for WMEP and its partners, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), Milwaukee 7, New North, Inc. and the Northwest Wisconsin Manufacturing Outreach Center (NWMOC). 
The survey findings will be used to align and strengthen local and state policies, programs and infrastructure supporting the state's 10,000 manufacturers. Klonsinski said.  Survey results will be released this fall, and will be widely disseminated to business leaders, elected officials, state policymakers, the media and general public. For more information on the survey, call 1-877-800-2124 or email results@wmep.org.

The Milwaukee Press Club's Past Presidents Council has announced its 2008 slate of journalists and media professionals who will be inducted into the Milwaukee Media Hall of Fame.
"We are honored to recognize this year's slate of award winners, which includes some of the most distinguished, high-achieving professionals and respected members of the journalism and communications fields in Milwaukee and Wisconsin," said Marilyn Krause, senior editor/administration at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and president of the Milwaukee Press Club. "We are extremely proud to have them take their places among our past Hall of Fame honorees."
The 2008 inductees to be inducted into the Milwaukee Media Hall of Fame are:
Vern Arendt, veteran photographer for the Ozaukee Press.
Clayborn Benson, veteran cameraman for WTMJ-TV.
Whitney Gould, former architecture and "spaces" critic and editorial writer for The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Paul Joseph, former chief meteorologist for WTMJ-TV.
Jim McLoone, owner of the Lake Country Publications, which he sold to Add Inc., a subsidiary of JCI, in 1990.
Paul Salsini, longtime state editor for The Milwaukee Journal, writing coach to scores of young journalists, and author.
Duane Gay, veteran reporter for Channel 18 and WISN-TV (deceased).
Bruce Gill, a senior editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and former reporter and editor for the Milwaukee Sentinel (deceased).
James Pluta, WITI-TV photographer (deceased).
Ray Taylor, longtime of the Milwaukee Labor Press (deceased).
Lynise Weeks, veteran reporter for WTMJ-TV (deceased).
The induction dinner is set for Friday, Oct. 17, at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino in the Northern Lights Theather. Relatives, friends and co-workers of the inductees, as well as members of the Milwaukee Press Club and the general public, are invited to attend. For additional information about events or the inductees, contact Joette Richards at milwaukeepressclub@gmail.com or call (262) 894-2224.

Traffic & Parking Control Co. Inc. (TAPCO) has outgrown its plant in Elm Grove and plans to move its headquarters to Brown Deer. The company will receive a $5.1 million Industrial Revenue Bond allocation from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to acquire and equip an existing 128,000-square-foot production facility at 5100 W. Brown Deer Road. For more information, read the latest edition of the BizTimes Manufacturing Weekly bulletin.

It does little good to create renewable energy if our infrastructure has no means of storing that energy until it is needed, according to Rob Parry, author of today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index lost .09 points to close at 143.27 Friday, and local stocks continued to fall in early morning trading today. The largest local decliners this morning were Bucyrus International Ind. (down 98 cents to $67.00) and Snap-on Inc. (down 83 cents to $56.61). The largest local advancers this morning were Weyco Group Inc. (up 26 cents to $30.59) and Johnson Controls Inc. (up 25 cents to $32.00). 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.