General Electric Co. announced this morning that it will invest $3 billion on health care innovation, intended to lower costs and improve care. The $3 billion will help create at least 100 new innovations to lower health care prices, increase access and improve quality by 15 percent, a company release says.
The company is also committing $2 billion financing and $1 billion in GE technology and content to improve health care information technology and health in rural and underserved areas.
“Health care is an important industry that is challenged by rising costs, inequality of access and persistent quality issues,” said Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE. “Healthcare needs new solutions. We must innovate with smarter processes and technologies that help doctors and hospitals deliver better healthcare to more people at lower costs.”
GE Healthcare’s U.S. headquarters are in Waukesha, and the company has about 7,000 employees throughout Wisconsin. The $6 billion investment in global healthcare initiatives will turn into new jobs, opportunities and expansion in the metro Milwaukee area, said Arvind Gopalratnam, a GE Healthcare spokesman.
“This will have a huge positive impact on our Wisconsin employee base,” he said. “This is a global strategy, and will have impact around the world. With the manufacturing, R&D, engineering, marketing and sales we do in Waukesha and Wauwatosa, this will be an exciting time. We see the need to improve the (health care) system and feel our Milwaukee area employees can have a huge impact on reducing global concerns.”

The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee plans to build a $40 million development with a mix of single-family market-rate homes, townhouses and senior-only apartments for both independent elderly and those needing assisted living facilities on the 5.6-acre former Army Reserve site at 2372 S. Logan Ave.
The development is a "net zero energy" project, meaning it produces the same amount of renewable energy as the energy consumed on-site.
As proposed, the development would include: 20 market-rate single-family homes and townhomes; 75-80 independent senior apartments; and 35-40 assisted living senior apartments.
Ald. Tony Zielinski will host a neighborhood informational meeting on Tuesday, May 26, at 6 p.m., at Bay View High School, 2751 S. Lenox St. about the project.
The City of Milwaukee solicited proposals for the purchase and development of the site and the RFP required that the proposed development be a "net zero energy" project. The Housing Authority project was selected from seven development proposals for the site.
“We want Milwaukee to lead by example, when possible, to increase the demand for green, clean technologies that create jobs,” said Mayor Tom Barrett. “The fact that the Department of City Development received seven proposals indicates the level of interest and demand for greener housing.”
The project proposes to meet the "net zero energy" requirement by incorporating solar technology and through sustainable building design. Solar panels will power the development, geothermal heat pumps will heat and cool, and the buildings will be designed to maximize solar gain and passive solar. All stormwater will be contained on-site using green design building materials will be local and sustainable.
Independence First will work with the Housing Authority and Quorum Architects to ensure that all housing is universally-designed to be fully-accessible.

Lawmakers Wednesday announced compromise legislation that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants statewide but delay the effective date of the ban until July 5, 2010. Read more in BizTimes Milwaukee's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.

Consumers cut back spending in April at Menomonee Falls-based Kohl's Corp.'s stores. The company today reported that its total sales for April were down 2.3 percent to $1.2 billion and sales decreased 6.2 percent on a comparable store basis.
The company also reported that its sales are down 0.4 percent for the quarter and comparable store sales are down 4.2 percent for the quarter.
As of May 2, the company operated 1,022 stores in 49 states, compared to 957 in 47 states at the same time last year.
"Sales results for April exceeded our expectations," said Kohl's president and chief executive officer Kevin Mansell. "Childrens outperformed the company from a line-of-business perspective and the southwest was our strongest performing region. As a result of our sales results and inventory management initiatives, our gross margin for the quarter was stronger than planned and our expenses remained well controlled. We now expect earnings of 43 cents to 44 cents per diluted share for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, exceeding our previous guidance of 27 to 34 cents per diluted share."

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corp. yesterday notified the state Department of Workforce Development that it will lay off 26 employees on July 3 from its Milwaukee office at 111 W. Pleasant St. Nine employees will remain at the site.

Milwaukee native Danny Gokey, who has become one of the final three contestants in “American Idol” will be welcomed home tomorrow with several public appearances and events.
Starting at 4:30 p.m., Gokey will take part in a mini-parade from the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Street to Chicago Street in the Third Ward, which will enter the Summerfest Grounds. The event will also feature Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Nick Barnett and Ruvell Martin of the Green Bay Packers.
Gokey will headline a mini-concert at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse on the Summerfest Grounds from 5:15 to 6 p.m. Friday, with several special guests. After the concert, he will go to Miller Park, where he will throw out the first pitch of the Brewers-Cubs game and sing the National Anthem.
During the afternoon Friday, Gokey will visit several downtown landmarks, including the bronze Fonz sculpture, the Harley-Davidson Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin.

The 2009 Johnsonville World’s Largest Brat Fest will kick off Friday May 22 at 10:00 a.m. at Willow Island at the Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way in Madison. The event will go through Memorial Day weekend and end Monday, May 25 at 6 p.m. Organizers of the event will try to rally brat lovers to break the current world record of 191,712 brats sold in a single event, set at the festival in 2008.
“This event has helped kick off the summer grilling season for nearly 30 years,” said Tim Metcalfe, owner of Metcalfe Sentry Foods in Wauwatosa and son of the founder of the Johnsonville Brat Fest. “This is a great opportunity for our community to come together, support one another and kick off the summer in a fun way.”
Proceeds from the event will benefit more than 95 local groups and charities.
“This year more than ever, we know how important the funds raised during our event will be for various groups in the area, we are looking forward to the opportunity to help in an important way,” Metcalfe said. 
To help the festival in meeting its goal of grilling and selling more than 200,000 brats in four days, the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill, which weighs 53,000 lbs and measures 63 feet in length, and is able to grill nearly 800 brats at a time will be on hand for the festivities.
“We’re thrilled to be helping brat-lovers across the country kick off this year’s grilling season with the Johnsonville World’s Largest Brat Fest,” said Ryan Pociask, Johnsonville brand manager. “Bringing family and friends together to enjoy great food, while creating memories and giving back to the community, is a top priority for Johnsonville. This even is a perfect fit for our company.”
Brats will be sold for $1.50 at the event.

Northwestern Mutual foundation today announced it would make a $500,000 donation to the American Red Cross to assist in enhancing its recovery and relief efforts in areas affected by natural disasters.
“This commitment to the American Red Cross is one more way that we can help communities and policy owners protect what matters most,” said Edward Zore, Northwest Mutual chairman and CEO. “True security and stability means being prepared to respond to risks. As a financial security provider, our company is committed to helping people prepare for and recover from disasters.”
Northwestern Mutual is also promoting American Red Cross’s Facebook fan page to its representatives, employees, and policy owners, to make it easier for them to enroll in an American Red Cross Disaster Services Training course, or pledge personal donations to the organization.
“Northwestern Mutual Foundation’s generous donation will enable the Red Cross to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters,” said Jeffrey Towers, chief development officer at American Red Cross. “Donations that are made in advance of major disasters are essential to the organization’s ability to provide services like sheltering and feeding immediately after a disaster strikes.”

Take the BizTimes Poll (at www.biztimes.com): Do you think the Kenosha Chrysler Engine Plant can be saved?

The three workforce development boards serving the seven-county region have each been awarded expanded funding through the federal Workforce Investment Act to administer large-scale youth job programs this summer says Mike Mortell Regional Workforce Alliance (RWA) / Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) coordinator and author of today’s Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The stock market slid backward in early morning trade today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85 points and, after the BizTimes Stock Index rose 0.69 points to close at 97.33 Wednesday, local decliners outnumbered advancers this morning. The largest local decliners this morning were Joy Global Inc. (down $2.28 to $29.21), Badger Meter Inc. (down $1.48 to $37.44) and Weyco Group Inc. (down $1.45 to $24.20). The largest local advancer this morning was Kohl's Corp. (up $1.18 to $44.91).

Bo Black, former executive director of Summerfest, was recently awarded the TEMPO International Leadership Award. The award is given to a non-member woman who has demonstrated leadership, mentoring, and has made a positive impact in the community at large. Read more in this week's edition of BizTimes Bubbler Weekly.

Some students at the UWM School of Architecture did a public installation project at twelve locations around the city, which would only be up until Friday. Read more at ThirdCoast Digest, a media partner of BizTimes Milwaukee.

Federal regulators have told 10 of the 19 largest financial institutions in the U.S. to raise an additional $74.6 billion in capital, after the results of the Supervisory Capital Assessment Program or “stress test” were announced this afternoon.

Losses at the 19 largest financial institutions could reach $600 billion, if the economy were to take a rougher course, according to the report by the Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Most of those losses would come from the banks’ accrual loan portfolios, including residential mortgages and other consumer loans.

“These examinations were not a test of solvency; we knew already that all these institutions meet regulatory capital standards,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. “Rather, the assessment program was a forward-looking ‘what-if’ exercise intended to help supervisors gauge the extent of the additional capital buffer necessary to keep these institutions strongly capitalized and lending, even if the economy performs worse than expected between now and the end of the year.”

The $74.6 billion that 10 of the 19 banks need to raise would allow those banks to absorb those losses, the report states.

The banks that need to raise capital include:

• Bank of America: $33.9 billion
• Citigroup: $5.5 billion
• Fifth Third Bancorp: $1.1 billion
• GMAC: $11.5 billion
• KeyCorp:  $1.8 billion
• Morgan Stanley: $1.8 billion
• PNC Financial Services Inc.: $600 million
• Regions Financial Corp.: $2.5 billion
• SunTrust Banks Inc.: $2.2 billion
• Wells Fargo & Co. Bank Holding Company: $13.7 billion

US Bancorp, the parent company of US Bank, was one of the nine banks that did not need to raise additional capital, according to the report. Other banks that did not need to raise capital included American Express Co., BB&T Corp., The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Capital One Financial Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., MetLife Inc., and State Street Corp.