The internet-based system, named HomeLoanWatchDog.com, monitors current mortgage rates and compares them to a customer's existing mortgage to ensure they have the best rate. The system monitors rate levels and notifies customers when mortgage rates are at a lower level than their current home mortgage.

"We designed this tool to make sure customers are always paying the lowest possible interest rate on their home mortgage," stated Dennis Kahn, president of Mid America Mortgage Services. "People are too busy to watch rates every hour of every day. With the recent news of rates possibly being reduced to below 5 percent, the timing of this product will help homeowners get a rate they may not have thought possible."

For more information, visit HomeLoanWatchDog.com or call (262) 347-0852.

M&I issues home foreclosure moratorium
Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. has instituted a system-wide moratorium on owner-occupied residential home mortgages. The foreclosure moratorium requires troubled home owners to work in good faith with the bank to reach a successful repayment agreement. The moratorium applies to home loans in all M&I markets and will be in effect until March 31, 2009.

"This recessionary economy is obviously challenging for many families as they try to balance the family budget each month," said Mark Furlong, president and chief executive officer of Marshall & Ilsley. "During these stressful economic times, M&I is committed to ensuring our customers have access to the resources and products that can enable them to stay in their homes."

The bank has also enhanced its mortgage foreclosure relief program by extending terms and rate reductions that can cut monthly payments. The bank also has created streamlined assistance programs.

"I am grateful to Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for taking this tremendous step toward keeping families in their homes as they work to get back on their financial feet," said Tom Barrett, mayor of Milwaukee. "With strong private partners like M&I, I am confident that significant progress can be made addressing the impact foreclosures are having on our neighborhoods and residents."

Town Bank's parent company takes federal injection of funds
Wintrust Financial Corp., the publicly traded, Illinois-based corporate parent of Hartland-based Town Bank, announced it accepted a $250 million investment by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Capital Purchase Program. The program is intended to inject capital into healthy banks to stimulate commercial and retail lending.

The investment calls for the Treasury Department to buy $250 million in senior preferred shares at a $22.82 per share price over a 10-year period. The Treasury Department will eventually be able to sell the shares.

"With this additional capital from the Capital Purchase Program, our capital position is even stronger, and provides an excellent opportunity for our organization to more quickly return to our strategic growth plan," said Edward Wehmer, president and chief executive officer of Wintrust. "We look forward to using the proceeds from this sale for general corporate purposes which include additional capital to grow lending operations and to position Wintrust for additional market opportunities."

In addition to Town Bank, Wintrust holds 14 other community bank subsidiaries, most of which are based in Illinois.

First Business declares 7 cent dividend
First Business Financial Services Inc., the publicly traded corporate parent of First Business Bank-Milwaukee, recently declared a 7 cent per share quarterly dividend. The company's annualized dividend of 28 cents per share is a 7.7 percent increase over its 2007 annualized dividend.

Tushaus acquires Chicago firm
Tushaus Computer Services, a Milwaukee-based provider of information technology solutions and services, has acquired the customers and services provided in Milwaukee by FastRoot, formally known as Capital Internet.

The acquisition combines the strength of Tushaus' data center hosting, application and web development and technical solutions with Chicago-based FastRoot's expertise in Unix and data center hosting.

The primary services acquired with this acquisition are email and Unix hosting. 

"Tushaus Computer Services acquired data center service customers from FastRoot in a deal that sharpens FastRoot's focus on their core business and transfers customers that fit with Tushaus' core competencies in data center services. These customers include shared, dedicated and co-location hosting," said Gregg Tushaus, founder and chief executive officer of Tushaus.

Fiserv to acquire Montana company
Brookfield-based Fiserv Inc. announced it has agreed to acquire i_Tech Corp., a provider of outsourced account and payment processing services, from First Interstate BancSystem Inc. of Billings, Mont.

The purchase price is $40 million, with an expected closing date of Dec. 31.

i_Tech provides outsourced account processing services as a licensee and reseller of the Fiserv ITI Premier core banking system to financial institutions located primarily in the northern Midwest and West.

In addition to account processing services, i_Tech provides its clients with a variety of complementary services, including EFT processing and check processing.

"Our relationship with First Interstate and i_Tech dates back to the very early days of Fiserv and the ITI Premier core banking system. We are excited about the opportunities that we will have together as we enter into the next phase of our more than 30-year relationship," said Jeffery Yabuki, president and chief executive officer of Fiserv. "Fiserv's suite of exceptional, innovative technology solutions will complement the great service that i_Tech has provided to its clients for more than three decades."

First Interstate BancSystem president and CEO Lyle Knight said the decision to sell i_Tech was a strategic one based on long-term trends for bank data processing.

"This was a difficult decision for us as i_Tech has been a member of the First Interstate family for many years. But the industry has changed. Many banks are divesting themselves of their data processing operations. While we were successful in the past, we felt that, going forward, global provider Fiserv was in the best position to take our clients to the next level," Knight said.

R.W. Baird & Co. recently hired Gregory Ingram as its managing director and co-head of Equity Capital Markets. Ingram, a senior investment banking professional with more than 25 years of experience, is now responsible for jointly overseeing Baird’s equity capital markets efforts and will focus on healthcare, technology and other emerging growth sectors. He works from Baird’s San Francisco office.

"We are very excited to have Greg join our team," said John Baumgartner, director of Equity Capital Markets. "Our footprint in the marketplace continues to expand rapidly and adding a veteran talent like Greg is another significant step in strengthening our presence on the West Coast and deepening our relationships with the venture capital community."

Before joining Baird, Ingram served as head of equities and capital markets for Pacific Growth Equities. Prior to that, Ingram was co-head of equity capital markets-Americas for JP Morgan and head of equity capital markets for Hambrecht & Quist. Ingram began his career in 1983 at Bear Stearns.

Economic downturn takes toll on Wisconsin's hospitals
Falling revenues are resulting in a strain on Wisconsin's nonprofit hospitals according to a survey recently conducted by the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA).

According to the survey results, the state's hospitals, during the first three quarters of the year, reported that: total margins declined 73.5 percent; charity care increased 19.1 percent; bad debt increased 19.6 percent; cash on hand declined in 80 percent of hospitals; and nearly one-third of hospitals had trouble gaining access to capital in 2008.

To cope with the current economic situation, nearly two-thirds of hospitals say they are planning to cancel, delay or scale back capital projects. Nearly one in six are planning to cut existing programs or services and one-third are considering reducing or freezing staffing levels.

"We are very concerned with the survey results because healthy hospitals are essential to maintaining healthy communities in so many ways," said WHA president Steve Brenton. "Wisconsin's nonprofit hospitals are the front lines of the health care safety net, often the only place people can turn when they have lost their health insurance or simply can't find access to basic care."

The WHA says that increasing amounts of charity care and inadequate reimbursement from government programs are hurting hospitals' bottom lines. Hospitals are currently paid less than 50 cents for every dollar they spend treating Medicaid patients. The resulting $635 million shortfall must be shifted to other patients, meaning higher health insurance costs for businesses and families, according to the WHA.

Wisconsin ranks near the bottom nationally in capturing federal revenues for health care, the WHA says.

"If we accomplish only one thing to help address health care costs during these challenging times, it has to be aggressively going after our fair share of health care dollars from Washington," Brenton said. "We have to start making a substantial effort to reduce Medicaid cost shifting and the inflationary effect it has on the price of health insurance."

Mortgage company to close Middleton office
MortgageIT Inc. announced it will close its Middleton office, eliminating 72 jobs.

The closure is expected by Feb. 9. The office to be closed is located at 1350 Deming Way in Middleton, a suburb of Madison.

MortgageIT, which provides retail, wholesale and correspondent loans and other financial services, is a subsidiary of New York-based Deutsche Bank.

First Choice Mortgage changes name to Inlanta Mortgage
Waukesha-based First Choice Mortgage, a mortgage banker and broker since 1993, has changed its name to Inlanta Mortgage.

After operating with separate names in several states, the company is uniting its partner branches under one name, creating a more consistent identity.

"We're excited to introduce our new name to our customers and fellow mortgage industry professionals," said John Knowlton, president of Inlanta Mortgage. "Our name change signifies our continued growth, and as we move forward as Inlanta, we will maintain our commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers and partner branches."

Previously operating as First Choice Mortgage in Wisconsin, Iowa and Florida, the company had been using the name Inlanta Mortgage Group, Inc. in Michigan and Minnesota, and Tradition Mortgage in Illinois. Going forward, the company's name will be Inlanta Mortgage in all states, including the states into which it recently expanded - Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota.

The company has grown to 25 branches in nine states and more than 100 employees.

M&I Trust recognized by industry magazine
M&I Institutional Trust Services was recently named the #1 Best in Class provider for the second year in a row, based on the 2008 Defined Contribution survey by PLANSPONSOR magazine. M&I received 81 Best-in-Class awards from a field of 92 possible categories, outpacing the next highest ranked competitor by 28 awards.  In 58 of those categories M&I ranked #1 overall.

This is the seventh year that M&I has received Best-in-Class awards from PLANSPONSOR magazine.

"M&I clients have again expressed their confidence in us as an elite provider of retirement plan services," said James (Jamie) Cahn, senior vice president and managing director of M&I Institutional Trust Services. "We believe our one-to-one approach and commitment to both plan sponsors and plan participants alike were key in helping us earn 81 Best-in-Class awards, and we are honored to once again be recognized for our outstanding results."

Andy Narr, president of the Sussex Area Chamber of Commerce, presents Candy Walecki, branch manager of North Shore Bank’s Sussex branch, with the 2008 Sussex Business of the Year Award at the chamber’s annual holiday banquet. The award recognizes successful businesses that have contributed to the Sussex community and are active within the Sussex Chamber.