The stock market rose today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting triple-digit gains, after the U.S. Senate agreed overnight to cloture and is on schedule to approve a health care reform bill on Christmas Eve.
President Barack Obama praised Senate Democrats for brokering a compromise bill, calling the action a "major step forward" in making health care more accessible to Americans.
"After a nearly century-long struggle, we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality in the United States of America," Obama said, calling the bill "the largest deficit reduction program in a decade.”
Obama said late amendments proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made the bill "stronger."
On Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the amended bill would reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion over the next 10 years at a total cost of $871 billion.
However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) accused Senate Democrats of pushing the bill through while Americans were preoccupied with Christmas and not paying attention.
"Make no mistake, this bill will reshape our nation and our lives," McConnell said in a press conference. "This bill is a legislative train wreck of historic proportions."
The vote for cloture was split along party lines, with Democrats in favor of the reforms and Republicans opposed.
Some progressives in the House criticized the compromised bill as too diluted because it did not include a robust public option to compete with private insurers.
The Wall Street Journal has compiled a summary of the provisions in the Senate health care reform bill.
The stock market reacted favorably to the news. The largest local gainers in the BizTimes Stock Index this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $4.95 to $55.90) and Rockwell Automation Inc. (up $1.25 to $46.68). Only a handful of local stocks posted meager declines. The largest local decliners were Harley-Davidson Inc. (down 15 cents to $25.82) and Twin Disc Inc. (down 5 cents to $9.60).

Bucyrus International Inc. chief executive officer Tim Sullivan said today the company plans to create 400 to 500 new jobs in metro Milwaukee after it acquires the mining equipment business of Terex Corp.
Bucyrus announced Sunday night it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Terex division for $1.3 billion in cash.
The transaction, expected to close by the end of February, will create the world's largest supplier of mining equipment.
South Milwaukee-based Bucyrus currently has about 1,500 employees in southeastern Wisconsin.
"We are extremely excited about acquiring Terex Mining, and we believe that this is a unique opportunity to build an even stronger company for our customers, employees and shareholders," Sullivan said in a conference call with investors this morning. "Customers will reap benefits from this transaction as Bucyrus will be able to offer a broad, complementary product line that is driven by technology, quality, and first class service.”
About half of the new jobs in the Milwaukee area will be in manufacturing, with the balance in engineering and management positions, Sullivan said.
Bucyrus’ facility in South Milwaukee is the company’s global headquarters, and Terex’s mining division management also will be housed there in the future, Sullivan said. The company is now negotiating to bring many of Terex’s managers to the Milwaukee area.
“We will go through the entire (negotiation and evaluation) process over the next few weeks,” he said. “We value the people at Terex. The people we have met there are top-notch.”
With the acquisition of Terex’s mining equipment, Bucyrus will offer a comprehensive product portfolio comprised of walking draglines, electric rope shovels, hydraulic excavators, off-the-highway haul trucks, highwall miners, underground longwall, room and pillar and transport machinery and a full line of drills and belt systems for all mining applications.
"Like Bucyrus, the Terex mining assets have a proud history powered by hard-working, loyal employees who are passionate about mining,” Sullivan said. “This broad product line and our infrastructure around the world will be met with positive reaction by our customer base around the world. We have positioned ourselves to do business with some of the big multinationals as well as some of the smaller applications where Terex has had success in the last decade.”
Terex’s mining equipment business has 38 facilities around the world with approximately 2,150 employees. After the acquisition, Bucyrus will have a team of approximately 10,000 people in nearly 100 locations around the world.
The company will have also greatly increased its market share - from Bucyrus’ current addressable market of $15 billion to about $30 billion.
“This will (make) us the largest mining equipment supplier in the world today,” Sullivan said.
The global company will also achieve roughly $100 million in annual savings, to be worked in over the next year or two. It expects to save roughly $28 million on manufacturing and distribution, approximately $33 billion in the supply chain and $24 million in overhead.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett issued the following statement about the announcement today: “On behalf of the City of Milwaukee and our regional partners, I want to thank CEO Tim Sullivan and the entire Bucyrus International team for their commitment to growing Bucyrus in Wisconsin.  With operations in South Milwaukee and the City of Milwaukee, today’s announcement is, as Tim Sullivan stated, ‘a big story for Milwaukee.’ “The growth of Bucyrus will bring more jobs to the region, which will benefit families, local businesses and the larger economy.  It is great news and a great way to start the holiday season.  Thank you Bucyrus International!”

Telkonet Inc., Germantown, Md.-based clean technology company that develops and manufactures proprietary energy management and SmartGrid networking technology, is restructuring and will move its offices, along with about 50 jobs, to the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa.
The move will be made possible by $300,000 relocation loan from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce.
The transition is part of an ongoing focus to competitively position the company within the $50 billion SmartGrid and Clean Technology industries while achieving cost reductions. The move will complete the company’s corporate strategy to consolidate the Telkonet and EthoStream businesses into a single location.
“The transition to Milwaukee uses the core of EcoStream and brings the corporate focus of Telkonet as we continue to grow,” said Jason Tienor, president and chief executive officer of Telkonet. “The transition is expected to be completed by mid-2010.”
Tienor, a Milwaukee native, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Marquette University. He is the former president and CEO of EthoStream, which was acquired by Telkonet in 2007. After graduating from Marquette University, Tienor co-founded EthoStream with gradating classmate Jeff Sobieski, who is currently the chief operating officer for Telkonet.
As part of the corporate restructuring, Telkonet announced that its chief financial officer Rick Leimbach will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
 in the near future. Mr. Leimbach will be assisting the
Telkonet is one of the top three occupancy-based energy management control providers in each of the hospitality, commercial, military, healthcare and education markets. The company’s in-room energy management systems are lowering heating and cooling costs in over 170,000 rooms and are an integral part of various utilities’ green energy efficiency and rebate programs.

Koss Corp., the Milwaukee-based high-fidelity stereophone leader, requested today that the NASDAQ Stock Exchange immediately halt trading of its securities after discovering information regarding certain “unauthorized transactions.”
The Koss board of directors has appointed a special committee of independent directors to lead an internal investigation involving the unauthorized transactions and determine the effect, if any, on Koss' financial statements.
In response, NASDAQ halted trading of Koss Corp. stock today. Law enforcement also is assisting Koss Corp. with the matter.
The company said Sujata Sachdeva, vice president of finance and secretary of Koss Corp., was placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
The company’s stock is traded with the ticker symbol KOSS.

U.S. airlines will have to deplane passengers if they are kept waiting on the tarmac for three hours under new federal rules, The Associated Press reported today, citing the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The new rules, which will go into effect in 120 days, will require airlines to give passengers food and water after two hours of waiting on the tarmac and to keep the toilets operating.
In the first six months of 2009, at least 613 planes were kept waiting on the tarmac for more than three hours, the AP reported.

As 2009 draws to a close, Wisconsin has more people working for government than in manufacturing, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) announced today.
A review of state employment data by WMC found this to be a first since records have been kept.
“This is a very disturbing development,” said James Buchen, WMC vice president of government relations. “An economy that has more government jobs than manufacturing jobs cannot be sustained for the long-term. Manufacturing is critical to the success of a strong economy.”
Manufacturing jobs earn the highest wages and offer the best benefits that support families, provide a middle class lifestyle, and sustain strong communities, the WMC said. A strong manufacturing sector supports jobs in other sectors of the economy, the organization said.
The Department of Workforce Development reported that Wisconsin in November had 435,800 jobs in manufacturing and 438,200 government workers.
Fifty years ago, Wisconsin manufacturing workers outnumbered government workers by a 3-to-1 ratio, the WMC said. In 1959, 459,800 people were employed in manufacturing, but only 155,000 were employed in the government.
“Wisconsin needs to turn this trend around quickly,” Buchen said. “Your economy is in a crisis when manufacturing jobs are outnumbered by government jobs.”

Festival Foods will begin a $1 million renovation of Apple Creek Inn after the first of the year. Festival acquired the rural Brown County business in August and plans to complete the remodeling by May. Read more in BizTimes Milwaukee’s headlines from around the state at http://www.biztimes.com/#news.

Helios USA, a start-up solar panel manufacturer, expects to have a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility operating in the city of Milwaukee by the end of the second quarter of 2010, according to chief executive officer Steve Ostrenga. When the Milwaukee plant begins production in mid 2010, it will have 20 to 30 employees. The company expects to have more than 50 workers within three years, Ostrenga said. The company is currently negotiating a long-term lease for its facility. It is looking at two facilities, one on Milwaukee’s northwest side and another in the Menomonee Valley. Read more in the new edition of the BizTimes Manufacturing Weekly.

Let the record reflect that Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is singing the praises of the jobs being created in Milwaukee County as a result of President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus package, according to Milwaukee County Supervisor John Weishan Jr., author of today’s Milwaukee Biz Blog.

A banner day for southeastern Wisconsin’s job market continues to get better. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle announced today that Dickten Masch Plastics LLC in Nashotah will receive $293,000 in Economic Development Tax Credits from the Department of Commerce for an expansion project that will create 75 jobs and retain 160 existing jobs in Waukesha County.
Earlier today, BizTimes reported that Bucyrus International Inc. will bring 400 to 500 jobs to southeastern Wisconsin with an acquisition of a Connecticut company’s mining equipment division. Meanwhile, Telkonet Inc. announced it will move about 50 jobs to Wauwatosa from Maryland, and BizTimes reported Helious USA is on schedule to open a new solar panel manufacturing plant in the region, with more than 50 employees.
The governor made the announcement during a visit to the Dickten Masch facility today. The company is installing a new production line at a cost of $2.8 million.
Doyle said the state budget he signed earlier this year made unprecedented investments in Wisconsin businesses, including new tax credits designed to keep and add jobs. The budget also offered companies major new incentives to spur research and development and gave investors new tools to promote start-ups and new companies.
Dickten Masch Plastics produces plastic components for the power tool, electronics, small engine, construction, health care and food industries. The company specializes in thermoplastic processes using 40 to 725 ton presses and thermoset injection and compression/transfer presses from 55 to 800 tons.
The news about Dickten Masch’s growth plans was first reported in a BizTimes cover story in October.
For more information on Department of Commerce programs and services, contact the area development manager at http://commerce.wi.gov/BD/BD-AreaDevManagers.html.