President Barack Obama today urged Congress to approve his bill to help small businesses recover from the Great Recession.
The legislation would provide new tax breaks for small businesses that hire people, would establish a new lending fund for small businesses and would eliminate capital gains taxes for startups and small businesses.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill next week, followed the Senate soon after.
"We are still seeing problems for small businesses when it comes to being able to obtain loans to expand or hire new people or just maintain their inventories," Obama said at a news conference this morning in the Rose Garden, where he was surrounded by several small business owners. "And so we've got a package of measures that have been worked on a bipartisan basis that would help in terms of capitalizing small firms (and) that would eliminate capital gains taxes for startups and small businesses …Those measures need to be put in place. We need to get that done, because the work of repairing this economy is not complete."

BizTimes Media will co-present the 2010 Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidate Economic Forum, to feature the Democratic and Republican nominees on Thursday, Sept. 16. The forum will focus on economic issues impacting the state and other matters relating to doing business in Wisconsin. The event is being organized by the Wauwatosa West Suburban Association of Commerce (WWSAC). Co-presenters of the forum include the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce, the Milwaukee Press Club, BizTimes Media, WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is the presumed Democratic candidate for governor. Former Congressman Mark Neumann and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker are competing in the Republican primary. For more information about the forum, read this week’s edition of MKEpolitics.

Lakeland Supply Inc., a Waukesha company known for posting its spiritual messages on a sign along Interstate 94, was named the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year on Friday. The company is a distributor of packaging, paper and janitorial products. The award program was presented by the chamber and BizTimes Media. The Top 10 Small Businesses of the Year are saluted in the new edition of BizTimes Milwaukee, which also includes a cover story headlined, “Lessons learned from the Great Recession.”

The Bradley Center Sports & Entertainment Corp. today announced it has selected Texas-based TS Sports to produce a state-of-the-art, custom-designed video scoreboard system to be installed at the Bradley Center before the start of the 2010-11 season.
Bradley Center president Steve Costello said the $3.2 million, center-hung scoreboard will have three times the display space of the current scoreboard and feature 12 high-resolution video panels, allowing for brighter colors, sharper images, more exciting special effects and expanded sponsor messages and game stats that will dramatically enhance the fan experience.
“The new Bradley Center scoreboard system is being designed specifically for our venue and will help create a more dynamic, vibrant and exciting atmosphere for basketball, hockey and other sports and entertainment events,” Costello said.  “All of our tenants, our board and staff are very excited about this new centerpiece, which will dramatically enhance the experience of fans in every seat in the house.”
The new scoreboard will replace the nearly 15-year-old Sony JumboTron that has hung in the Bradley Center since 1995.
The new board will be 29 feet tall, 32 feet wide and weigh approximately 50,000 pounds.
Costello said that some of the funding for the new system would come from a recently approved $5 million state bonding grant.

The stock market was mostly flat this morning, as investors absorbed conflicting economic data.
U.S. retail sales declined for the first time in eight months in May, tumbling 1.2, the U.S. Commerce Department estimated today. Seasonally adjusted sales were mixed across sectors, dominated by declines at hardware stores, auto dealers, gas stations, department stores and clothing stores. Modest gains were found in most other types of stores.
Meanwhile, U.S. consumer sentiment rose in early June, hitting its highest level since January 2008, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index. The consumer sentiment index increased to 75.5 in June from 73.6 in May.
The largest local gainers in the BizTimes Stock Index this morning were Weyco Group Inc. (up 69 cents to $23.87) and Manpower Inc. (up 43 cents to $44.05). The largest local decliners this morning were Joy Global Inc. (down 63 cents to $54.34) and Bucyrus International Inc. (down 55 cents to $51.38).

Butler-based Actuant Corp. announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Bergen, Norway-based Selantic AS for cash of approximately $17 million, plus potential future performance-related consideration.
Selantic provides high-performance slings, tethers and related products for heavy lifting applications and has annual revenues of approximately $10 million.
Selantic will operate as part of Cortland in Actuant's Energy Segment.
Brian Kobylinski, executive vice president of energy and industrial segments, said, "Selantic is an excellent fit with our diversified energy portfolio, broadening our product offerings for slings and tethers used primarily in lifting, anchoring and ROV (remotely operated vehicles) applications. Its products are also complementary to our Enerpac Integrated Solutions heaving lifting offerings. Selantic brings strong customer relationships, engineering expertise and customized products which will further strengthen and globalize our existing Cortland business."
Actuant has broken ground on its consolidated new headquarters in Menomonee Falls.

The next generation of China’s migrant workers seeks a better quality of life. Read more in the new edition of BizTimes correspondent Einar Tangen’s Dispatches From China.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday to celebrate the start of construction of a new office building in downtown La Crosse. The building will have 110,000 square feet of office space, which will be occupied by Logistics Health Inc. About 700 people will work in the building, once it its complete. The building is the third phase of the Riverside Center development, where a total of 2,000 will work once the third phase is complete. Read more in BizTimes Milwaukee's headlines from around the state by clicking here.

Busy readers of the BizTimes Daily can get a jumpstart on the Air Show and the weekend ahead by reading to the new edition of the OnMilwaukee.com Weekend Preview. OnMilwaukee.com is a media partner of BizTimes.

Southeastern Wisconsin companies are invited to send corporate teams to compete when the Boy Scouts of America, Milwaukee Chapter, hosts its Corporate Pinewood Derby contest on Thursday, June 17, at the Harley-Davidson Museum.
The event will include teams from Milwaukee-area companies competing in a familiar Cub Scout tradition by racing homemade pinewood derby cars down a track.
Corporations already signed up to participate include Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Waukesha Electric Systems Inc, Twin Disc Inc., Patrick Cudahy Inc., Ladish Forging LLC and P&H Mining Equipment Inc. The deadline to participate is Monday, June 14.
“Teams should participate to promote teambuilding in your company and have fun at the same time,” said Katie Clark, fundraising and marketing director for the Boy Scouts. “Where else can you race little cars down a giant track and act like a kid again?”
Awards will be presented in the following categories: fastest car, best of show, best of corporation and best dressed pit crew.
The best of corporation award will be given to the company who designs its car to best represent its company.
A new rookie class was established this year as well, feature providing five pre-cut cars that require only minor decorating and assembly. There will be special awards for the rookie class category.  
Anyone interested can attend the event and enjoy the races, food and networking by purchasing a $20 “pit pass.”
“By attending, individuals can cheer on their favorite car and network with business leaders in our community,” Clark said.
To register a corporate team, ticket information and for additional pricing information visit: www.milwaukeeboyscouts.org/corporatepinewood.
For more information, read the latest edition of the BizTimes Nonprofit Weekly.

Amazon.com dominates the Internet sales of books. Barnes & Nobles is the most successful brick-and-mortar book retailer. That leaves Borders on the outside looking in. Author and consultant Kay Plantes says Borders needs more than a new brand. It needs a new business model. Read more in today’s Milwaukee Biz Blog.

In its monthly Troubled Asset Relief Program report to Congress, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that TARP repayments to taxpayers have, for the first time, surpassed the total amount of TARP funds outstanding.
The department’s report showed that, through the end of the May, TARP repayments had reached a total of $194 billion, which exceeded the total amount of TARP funds outstanding ($190 billion) by $4 billion.
"TARP repayments have continued to exceed expectations, substantially reducing the projected cost of this program to taxpayers," said assistant secretary for financial stability Herb Allison. "This milestone is further evidence that TARP is achieving its intended objectives: stabilizing our financial system and laying the groundwork for economic recovery."
The milestone was reached when the department completed its sale of 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup - a transaction that provided gross proceeds of $6.18 billion to taxpayers.
In addition to the $194 billion in TARP repayments, the report also showed that taxpayers also have received a further return on TARP investments of $23 billion through dividends, interest, and other income. Overall, combined TARP revenues (repayments and other income) totaled $217 billion through the end of May.
In May, the Treasury notified Congress that the projected lifetime cost of TARP has decreased by $11.4 billion to $105.4 billion since the fiscal year budget was first proposed.
Several banks still owe TARP debts. Wisconsin’s two largest banks, Marshall & Ilsley Corp. and Associated Banc-Corp., are hoping to return to profitability and repay their TARP debts later this year or early in 2011. Read more in a recent BizTimes cover story: http://www.biztimes.com/news/2010/5/28/too-important-to-fail.