President Barack Obama picked up a key endorsement for his plan to reform the American health care system Tuesday when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told the White House that it supports requiring large employers to provide health insurance to workers.
The support of Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, could give momentum to Obama's intentions of providing insurance coverage to 46 million uninsured Americans.
Small businesses would be exempted from the proposed requirement.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is opposed to such a mandate, saying it would prompt companies to cut jobs, lower wages and possibly drive them out of business.
Wal-Mart on Tuesday delivered a letter to Obama, taking a different stance.
"We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage," said the letter, signed by Wal-Mart chief executive officer Mike Duke. Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, also signed the letter, along with John Podesta, who led Obama's transition team and is chief executive of the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning think tank.
The National Retail Federation, the retail industry's main lobbying organization, said it was "flabbergasted" by Wal-Mart's move.
For more coverage, visit The Wall Street Journal.

Briggs & Stratton Corp. today announced a plan to close its manufacturing plants in Jefferson and Watertown, eliminating 430 jobs by fiscal 2010.
The work at the production facilities in Jefferson and Watertown will be consolidated into existing the company's other U.S. engine and lawn and garden product facilities to optimize plant utilization and achieve better integration between engine and end-product design, manufacturing and distribution, the company said.
The company's portable generator production will be moved to its plant in Auburn, Ala. Pressure washer manufacturing will be shifted to the company's McDonough, Ga. The home standby generator production, along with engineering research and development, will be moved to the company's plant in Wauwatosa.
In conjunction with the closing of the Jefferson and Watertown facilities, the company will incur a pre-tax $5.8 million charge in the fourth quarter, including $4.6 million of net asset impairments and approximately $1.2 million of employee-related charges for severance and pension costs.
The company estimates approximately $11.0 million of pre-tax savings from the consolidation of operations by fiscal 2011.
"The market volatility for our weather-dependent products, along with the current economy, constantly challenges us to find new ways to remain competitive," said Harold Redman, president of the Briggs Home Power Products Group. "Currently we have available capacity in other Briggs & Stratton locations and can optimize our efficiency by moving Home Power Products manufacturing to these other locations within the United States."

Journal Communications Inc. is seeking more staff reductions in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom.
A lawyer representing the company met with members of the bargaining team from the Newspaper Guild Milwaukee Local 51 Monday, telling the union that the company wants to trim "substantially more than 25" newsroom positions from the staff, sources told BizTimes Milwaukee.
The latest round of reductions also could include managers, sources said. If the targeted number of employees does not accept the company's latest buyout offer, layoffs will follow, sources said. People accepting the latest buyout offer would need to agree to leave by Aug. 1.
The Guild has asked the company to clarify some of the details of its latest demands.

Milwaukee-based Fullhouse on Tuesday laid off 10 employees, reducing its employment to 85, after losing business from Irving, Texas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp.
"Kimberly-Clark was a significant client of ours and they have gone through some reorganization in their marking group," said Fullhouse chairman and principal owner Glenn Kleiman. "As part of that, they have shifted a significant amount of business away from us. We feel terrible that we had to do this. (The laid off employees) are good people who do good work. We hope to re-hire them in the future."
Fullhouse provides interactive marketing services, including web site management, live interactive experiences and digital signage.
Despite the loss of the Kimberly-Clark business, the company remains strong with good future business opportunities and the company is still working on plans to move its headquarters from Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward to a larger space in the South Water Works development in the Fifth Ward, Kleiman said.
"We are an extremely conservatively run operation, and we have an extremely strong financial position," he said.
The company was recently named to the 2009 Future 50 list of growing companies by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and its Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE).

Initial claims for unemployment insurance in Wisconsin decreased by 1,188 to a total of 20,377 for the week ending June 27.
Last week, initial claims totaled 21,565, according to the latest numbers by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. One year ago, initial claims in the state totaled 10,636.
Continued claims for unemployment insurance in the state also decreased by 399 to a total of 158,273 last week, from 158,672 in the week before. One year ago, continued claims amounted to 69,167.

The $2.8 million construction project along Silver Spring Drive is in its final stages.
The project to upgrade the utilities, resurface the street and beautify sidewalks along the street began in October 2008 and is coming to a close, with the street looking completely transformed.
Beautification elements in the project include colored accent paving, new ornamental and shade trees, in-ground planters, standing pots for more flowers and shrubs, enhanced lighting and new benches.
The Silver Spring Drive reopening celebration will take place on Friday, July 3, at 1 p.m. at the intersection of Silver Spring Drive and Berkeley Boulevard. The event will feature live blues music from Made in China, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and free root beer floats courtesy of Sprecher Brewing Company.
The event is being sponsored by GRAEF and Chrispell-Snyder, who have been key contributors to the success of the project.
The Silver Spring Drive Beautification project was a collaborative effort between the Village of Whitefish Bay, the Community Development Authority, the Whitefish Bay Business Improvement District and others. The major source of funding for the project was a tax incremental financing (TIF) district created by the village in 2004.
"We at the Business Improvement District are thrilled that the project is complete and completed on time. The street has been completely transformed and is a warm and inviting community shopping district. Everyone on the street and in the community has been very patient throughout the entire process and we hope that everyone takes the opportunity to visit the street and take part in all of the improvements,” said Jennifer Heise, marketing director for the Whitefish Bay Business Improvement District.

An internationally recognized expert on airport-driven economic development is in Milwaukee this week to assess Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport and other amenities.
Dr. John Kasarda, Kenan distinguished professor of management and director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, will visit the airport today and tour the surrounding area.
Kasarda also will tour downtown Milwaukee and facilities at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, according to Alderman Terry Witkowski.
Witkowski said Kasarda is considered the leading developer of the Aerotropolis concept, which defines the roles of aviation and airports in shaping 21st century business competitiveness and urban growth.
Following the tour, Kasarda will discuss the concept and other related topics during a meeting with the Airport Area Economic Development Task Force on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel, 4747 S. Howell Ave. Karsarda will make a public presentation on the subject.
Tom Rave, executive director of the Airport Gateway Business Association, which is paying for Kasarda's visit to Milwaukee, said, "Just as trains and railroads shaped economic development in the 1800s, and cars and trucks did the same during the last century, today airports are driving economic hubs because of the speed, efficiency, and convenience of air travel and air commerce."
For additional information about Kasarda's visit to Milwaukee, visit www.gatewaytomilwaukee.com.

Quad/Graphics Inc., announced today that its main Sussex manufacturing plant has received a silver rating in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
The accomplishment makes Quad/Graphics the first company of its kind to achieve any level of LEED certification for a manufacturing site.
Because of its age - 25 years old - Quad/Graphics' Sussex facility qualified for LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB). With 1.7 million square feet of usable space on a 73-acre site, the plant houses almost 60 pieces of heavy industrial press and finishing equipment, and serves as the company's corporate headquarters.
"We're proud of our environmental record and what LEED certification signifies," said Quad/Graphics president and chief executive officer Joel Quadracci. "The fact that we've been able to certify a decades-old manufacturing facility - one that first opened in the 1980s - is a testament to our long-time commitment to environmentalism. It's not something we decided to get into recently. We've been committed to the environment since the very early days of our company - so much so that it is now embedded in our corporate DNA."
Quad/Graphics' Sussex plant is the first of 10 manufacturing sites the printer plans to have certified for LEED.

Economic Development/Washington County (EDWC) announced today that John "Jack" Caldwell Jr. has resigned as the organization's executive director, effective immediately.
Caldwell came to West Bend in May 2006 as the EDWC's first executive director.
A search committee for his successor will begin work after the July 4th holiday. Until a new executive director is found, Anthony Warren will assume the role on an interim basis.

Oshkosh Corp. plans "significant hiring" following the announcement Tuesday that it won a $1.06 billion contract to produce 2,244 of the company's mine resistant all-terrain vehicles for the war in Afghanistan. Read more in BizTimes Milwaukee's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.

The stock market rose today on the news that pending sales of existing homes in the United States ticked up in May, boosted by affordability and special incentives for first-time buyers, according to the latest report by National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The NAR pending home sales index rose 0.1 percent in May after an upwardly revised gain of 7.1 percent in April. The index is 6.7 percent above May 2008.
"Strong activity by entry level buyers is helping to absorb inventory and allow some existing owners to make a trade," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
Yun predicted that existing-home sales should trend up through the end of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by more than 100 points by mid-morning today, the first day of the third quarter.
Locally, stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index also rose. The largest local advancers included Badger Meter Inc. (up $2.09 to $43.06), A.O. Smith Corp. (up $1.96 to $34.37) and Brady Corp. (up $1.05 to $26.21). The largest local decliners this morning were Ladish Co. (down 19 cents to $12.84) and Briggs & Stratton Corp. (down 12 cents to $13.24).

The proposed $100 million renovation of the Edgewater Hotel on the downtown Madison isthmus would be a showcase project for Brookfield-based Hammes Co. Read more in the new edition of the BizTimes Real Estate Weekly.

Now is the time to voice your opinion to the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal to require more independent members on the boards of directors overseeing publicly held companies, according to attorney Chad Wiener, author of today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.