Signicast Corp., a Hartford-based investment castings manufacturer, has been acquired by The Pritzker Group, a Chicago and Los Angeles-based private investment firm that represents the interests of the Pritzker family. Signicast has more than 650 employees. Its Hartford facility is approximately 500,000 square feet. It also operates a facility in Milwaukee, where the company was founded. The company had about $130 million in revenues for 2007 and forecasts more than $140 million in revenues this year.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Pritzker Group typically partners with management teams of the companies it is purchasing, and Signicast's management team was part of this acquisition, said Richard Griffin, group vice president of The Pritzker Group.

While The Pritzker Group owns and has operated industrial and manufacturing companies, it is not planning major changes at Signicast. "We look forward to working with their management and their top customers," Griffin said. "We want them to keep doing what they're doing. They have a formula for success, in terms of sales, service and fulfillment times."

Walter "Terry" Lutz, president of Signicast, will continue to lead the company, along with Robert Schuemann, executive vice president. Before the sale, Lutz held a majority of the company.

There were many potential buyers for Signicast, including private equity groups and strategic buyers. The company was most attracted to a family private investment firm because, Lutz said, because it does not plan large changes.

"They (private investment firms) were the only kind of people we talked to," Lutz said. "They were the only ones that fit our objective. We were looking for someone who could accept Signicast for what it was and continue it for the future."

MGS Manufacturing Group Inc., a Germantown-based plastics engineering and molding firm, recently purchased two new 880 ton Krauss Maffei presses to increase capacity at the company's TecStar Manufacturing Company.

TecStar is the MGS division that handles advanced technology molding.

MGS purchased the new presses to manufacture a series of components for Cooper-Standard Automotive, a supplier to the automotive industry.

MGS' TecStar facility in Germantown is about 200,000 square feet and employs about 400 employees. It also operates two TecStar facilities in Illinois and another in Mexico.

For more information, visit www.mgstech.com.

The latest employment statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development shows the state lost about 17,800 jobs over the last year. Manufacturing jobs decreased by 13,300, construction jobs decreased by about 4,600 and trade-related jobs decreased by about 6,200. The state's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in June, an increase of .7 percent from May. The national rate for June was 5.7 percent. Total Wisconsin non-farm jobs increased by 31,500 from May to June – the biggest gainers were the leisure and hospitality sector (10,600 more jobs), manufacturing (6,500 more jobs) and construction (5,200 more jobs).

West Milwaukee-based Rexnord Holdings Inc., the parent company of RBS Global Inc. and Rexnord LLC, recently filed for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The company plans to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol "RXN." The proceeds from the stock offering, estimated at up to $750 million, will be used to repay indebtedness and for "general corporate purposes," the company said.

Apollo Management, the private equity firm that purchased Rexnord in 2006, will not exit the business with the IPO, said Todd Adams, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Rexnord. "These will be new Rexnord shares," he said. Sale price or number of shares to be issued have not been determined, Adams said.

Rexnord has about 7,400 employees worldwide. Adams would not say how many employees the company has locally. Rexnord is a manufacturer with two divisions, power transmission and water management. The company's power transmission products include gears, couplings, industrial bearings, flattop, aerospace bearings and seals, special components and industrial chain, and conveying equipment. The company's water management products include professional grade specification plumbing, water treatment and waste water control products.

Richmond, British Columbia-based Nature's Path Foods Inc. has acquired the former Kraft Tombstone Pizza facility in Sussex and plans to convert it to an organic cereal manufacturing facility. The company will invest about $25 million in the facility during the next year and a half. Kraft closed the plant, located at W227 N6088 Sussex Road, last year.

"We are thrilled to become a part of the Sussex community and bring the spirit of our family-run business to the families that live and work here," said Arran Stephens, Nature's Path founder and CEO. "Building our plant in Sussex is not only about making cereal, it is about doing business in a socially responsible and more environmentally sustainable way. This new plant will help us to better serve the U.S. market east of the Rockies as we save precious resources and limit the miles our products need to travel."

The company will receive a $250,000 training grant from the state of Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday. The company will train at least 100 employees on new equipment and processes. The plant will create a minimum of 159 new jobs during the next year, Doyle said.

Plymouth-based Orion Energy Systems Inc. announced today that its board of directors has approved a share repurchase program, authorizing the company to repurchase up to $20 million of its outstanding common stock.

The announcement comes one day after company announced that its first quarter revenues would be lower than expected, in the range of $16.1 million to $16.3 million. The company attributed its lower revenues to its focus on building its sales organization.

Total revenue for fiscal 2009 are now forecasted by the company to be between $101 million and $103 million. Orion is a provider of energy management systems to the commercial and industrial sectors.

Hurt by the slumping economy and high gas prices, Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Inc. said last week that its second quarter earnings were $222.8 million, or 95 cents per share, down 23 percent from earnings of $290.5 million, or $1.14 per share, for last year's second quarter. For the quarter, the company's revenue dropped about three percent to $1.57 billion, down from $1.62 billion for last year's second quarter.

During the second quarter the company shipped 80,326 motorcycles to its dealers and distributors. "While this result exceeds our guidance range of 76,000 to 80,000 units for the quarter, it is a decrease of 15.6 percent from the year-ago period," said Jim Ziemer, chief executive officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc. "This decrease reflects the impact of the shipment reduction we announced April 17th in response to ongoing weakness in the U.S. economy."

In response to the slumping economy, and rising gas prices, in April the company also announced plans to idle plants and change production schedules, resulting in the loss of 370 union jobs. "We expect U.S. economic conditions and ongoing consumer concerns to continue to create challenges at least through the end of the year," Ziemer said. "We believe the actions we took to reduce shipments to our U.S. dealers and our related workforce reduction position us appropriately for the current economic environment. I am confident about our future as we continue to manage and reinvest in the business for the long-term."

The company expects to ship between 74,000 and 78,000 motorcycles during the third quarter of 2008. For the full year of 2008, the company plans to ship between 303,500 and 307,500 units. The company is taking other steps to grow and meet the challenges of the slumping economy, Ziemer said.

"Last week, we announced our planned acquisition of the MV Agusta Group and celebrated the grand opening of the Harley-Davidson Museum," Ziemer said. "Next Tuesday, we introduce our exciting new 2009 motorcycles. A month from today, we kick off our 105th Anniversary Celebration with the launch of the first of 105 motorcycle rides to Milwaukee from around the U.S. These are just some of the ways we are positioning the company for the future, strengthening bonds with current customers and reaching out to new customers."

World Trade Center Wisconsin in global spotlight

The World Trade Center Wisconsin, a member of the New York-based World Trade Centers Association, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the business climate in the cities in which it does business, was recently the subject of the cover story of World Trade Center, an international magazine published by The Financial Times in Germany. The publication is a partnership of the major World Trade Centers in Germany, and headquartered at the World Trade Center Cologne, Germany.

The magazine is distributed to hotels, airport lounges and business clubs around Europe and is also available on newsstands.

SBA opens disaster center for Wisconsin business owners

The U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has opened a Business Recovery Center to help businesses impacted by the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding this summer. The center is located at 10310 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

"Due to the amount of physical and economic losses caused by the flooding in Wisconsin, we want affected businesses to have a resource where they can meet individually with SBA representatives and find out how a low-interest disaster loan can help them recover," said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East.  

Businesses of any size and non-profit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.

The SBA also offers mitigation loans to disaster victims based on 20 percent of the verified physical loss. These funds are designed to help borrowers pay for protective measures to protect or minimize damages of the same kind in the future.

For small businesses, and private non-profit organizations of all sizes, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage. Interest rates can be as low as 4 percent for businesses with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based upon each applicant's financial condition.

Beta-Kramer files for 100th patent

Sturtevant-based Beta-Kramer, a Ruud Lighting company, recently filed its 100th patent application for an off-axis total internal reflection nanooptic, a patent that allows its KramerLED lighting series to deliver more efficient, controlled lighting.

"Our team of world-class engineers is committed to harnessing the benefits of LED technology into effective optical and fixture designs," said Beta-Kramer president Al Ruud. "This significant milestone exemplifies our role in setting the industry standard for continuous innovation of industry leading LED luminaires."

BetaLED, a brand of Beta Lighting and KramerLED, a brand of Kramer Lighting, were established to dedicate resources to the emerging use of LED technology for exterior and interior applications. Beta-Kramer Lighting, a Ruud Lighting company, provides the lighting market with high-quality, specification-grade luminaires for exterior and interior lighting applications.