Midwest Composite Technologies Inc., a Hartland-based manufacturer of composite products, including molds, tooling, models and prototypes, will move to a new 69,000-square-foot facility on June 1.

The new building was funded with $7.2 million in Wisconsin Industrial Revenue Bonds, said Helmut Keidl, president of the company. The company also has purchased about $1 million in new equipment, and the move is expected to create 13 new jobs over the next two years, Keidl said. The company now has 35 workers.

Midwest Composite Technologies is currently based in a 47,000-square-foot facility, also in Hartland. That building has already been sold to a Hartland graphics company that will move in after Midwest Composite Technologies relocates.

"This will allow us to arrange our facility better," Keidl said. "We will get a much better flow (around our machines) and we'll have higher ceilings. We've acquired a lot of unusual equipment and we'll be able to have some clean areas too."

The company's capabilities include rapid prototyping, CNC machining, injection molding and three-dimensional design software, Keidl said. For more information, visit www.midwestcomposite.com.

Milwaukee World Trade Association Inc. will hold its 44th annual Wisconsin International Trade Conference from on Tuesday, May 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee.

The event will include seminars focusing on international opportunities and issues, including human resources law, investment opportunities and top legal issues in China, U.S. export compliance, business strategies and opportunities in Canada, best practices in international distributor management and global strategies for Midwestern firms.

The cost to attend is $95 for all sessions and lunch, $75 for the sessions without lunch and $35 for lunch only. To register, call (414) 287-4141 before April 30 or visit http://www.mmac.org/display/router.asp?docid=488&event=1055&startDate=05/13/08. 

Manitowoc Company seeks to buy British restaurant equipment manufacturer
The Manitowoc Company recently confirmed that it has approached Enodis plc, a British manufacturer of restaurant equipment, about purchasing the company. Manitowoc, best known for its crane and ship-building divisions, also has a restaurant equipment division. In a statement, Manitowoc confirmed the offer, but said it "does not intent to make further comment on the status of the discussions." A previous offer from Manitowoc to buy Enodis was rejected by the British firm in 2006.

Modine to sell subsidiary
Modine Manufacturing Co.'s restructuring will continue with a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of its Thermacore Inc. subsidiary, based in Lancaster, Pa. The company will be sold a new firm company formed by Thermacore's management team. The transaction is anticipated to close in the first quarter of the company's 2009 fiscal year. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "The Thermacore sale marks another step in our commitment to fine-tune our product and business portfolio," said Tom Cromwell, managing director of Modine's Commercial Products Group. "As part of our ongoing evaluation process and our strategic focus on our core vehicular, HVAC and fuel cell markets, we recognized that the Thermacore business would be better positioned as a standalone company, allowing its management team to focus in the electronics cooling market." Racine-based Modine had acquired Thermacore in 2001 to add end-market diversification to its product line. On May 1, 2007, Modine announced its intention to evaluate its strategic alternatives for the electronics cooling business. Thermacore, which had fiscal 2007 revenues of $32 million, designs, develops and manufactures electronics cooling products for the military, aerospace, medical, server and telecommunications markets. Thermacore has 179 employees and holds 90 active patents. The new company, to be operated under the Thermacore name from locations in Lancaster and Ashington, United Kingdom, is to be owned by management, an employee stock ownership plan and outside investors. Jerome Toth, spokesman for the new company, indicated that the Thermacore business would continue to focus on being a leading global supplier of high performance thermal management solutions. Modine also announced last week it will close its plants in Camdenton, Mo.; Pemberville, Ohio; Logansport, Ind.; and Tubingen, Germany.

Orion hires attorneys to defend against class action lawsuit
Plymouth-based Orion Energy Systems Inc. has retained the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as its defense counsel in purported securities class action lawsuits filed against the company. The lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuits allege, among other things, that Orion, certain of its officers and members of its board of directors made misstatements and failed to disclose material information in the registration statement and prospectus for Orion's recently completed initial public offering. The named defendants include Orion chief executive officer Neal Verfuerth. Orion announced today that it believes it has "substantial legal and factual defenses in this action, which it intends to pursue vigorously." Orion's common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "OESX." The company raised more than $78 million with its initial public offering on Dec. 19. Klafter & Olsen LLP, a law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York has filed a securities class action complaint against Orion on behalf of investors who purchased Orion's common stock between Dec. 18, 2007, through Feb. 6, 2008. Investors who purchased Orion's stock in that time frame have until today to file a motion to be appointed as a lead plaintiff in the class action suit. The complaint alleges that the defendants violated the Securities Act of 1933 by publicly disseminating materially false and misleading information in the registration statement and prospectus issued in connection with the Orion's IPO. The suit alleges that Verfuerth and his family sold 600,000 shares for proceeds of approximately $7 million. The suit claims Orion and its officers and directors made materially false and misleading statements and/or omitted material information in the IPO. The suit claims Orion did not disclose that it was having to rapidly shift its focus from its core product of HIF lighting systems to its new products that were untested in the marketplace.

New Vistage report offers advice for recession survival
Vistage International, a business coaching organization for chief executives, announced the release of a special report that helps C-level executives and business owners "bite back" against a slowing economy. In the report, New Hampshire-based Institute for Trend Research (ITR) economist Alan Beaulieu says 2008 is not a "great" year, but it's not as bad as 2009, when he predicts a bona fide national recession. Beaulieu says his prediction is based on continued expansion of some leading indicators that ITR tracks. According to Beaulieu, the housing market will continue to plummet, and high energy prices and rising interest rates will continue eating away at discretionary income. The recently released Vistage Q1 2008 CEO Confidence Index survey of 2,300 CEOs hit a low point in its five-year history. Sixty-eight percent of 2,300 Vistage CEOs recently surveyed believe the nation is either in a recession or headed for one.

The new Vistage recession survival report includes tactics from renowned business and economy experts to help companies prosper in challenging times. It can be downloaded in full at www.vistage.com/economy. The report, a series of articles entitled "Staying on Top: Managing in an Uncertain Economy," was first offered on the members-only Vistage Web site and is now available to all "Main Street" businesses worldwide. Vistage members tend to reduce marketing expenditures as the economy contracts, mainly because they aren't sure their marketing dollars will work. However, Vistage speaker Mitch Gooze, president of Customer Manufacturing Group in Santa Clara, Calif., says the opposite approach may be more appropriate.

"One recommendation I always make to members, and especially if you believe the economy might be slowing down, is figure out as quickly as you can what aspects of your marketing are working," Gooze said. "Because your competitors are likely to do less marketing, and if you don't do less and instead do what you know is most effective, you'll gain on them." Gooze said "focus" will be key for companies to survive a recession.

"Most companies are afraid to focus on those few things they do great. One reason is fear they won't diversify enough to survive a slowdown. But the truth is, the more you focus the more chances you'll remain successful," Gooze said. "If you don't focus, you end up being a 'me too' company across the board, and the only thing you can sell on is price. And when the economy slows down, people push back on price." Vistage affiliates include TEC (The Executive Committee) in Wisconsin and Michigan.

MillerCoors adds more pieces to leadership team
SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co. today named two executives to key positions in the MillerCoors joint venture, effective upon the closing of the transaction. Tim Wolf was named chief integration officer-designate and Gavin Hattersley was appointed chief financial officer-designate of the prospective U.S. joint venture announced by SABMiller and Molson Coors last October. As previously announced, Leo Kiely, current chief executive officer of Molson Coors, will be the CEO of the joint venture, and Tom Long, current CEO of Miller, will serve as president and chief commercial officer.