Small Business Times invites its readers to attend the 2008 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference to be held June 9-10 at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, 333 W. Kilbourn Ave. The theme of this year's conference is "All Good Things Start Small."

Major speakers at the sixth annual conference, which is produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council, will include:

• G. Steven Burrill, chief executive officer of Burrill & Co., a San Francisco-based life sciences venture capital company that has nearly $1 billion in assets under management. Burrill is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
• David Brophy, director of the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium.
• Craig Culver, CEO of Culver Franchising System, which operates more than 370 Culver's restaurants nationwide.
• John May, chairman of the Angel Capital Association, North America's largest alliance of angel capital groups.
• Sue Strommer, president and CEO of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, which represents more than 8,000 innovation capital professionals.
• Anne Zizzo, CEO of Zizzo Group Advertising and Public Relations in Milwaukee.

M&I executives cash in their stock options
Marshall & Ilsley Corp., the Milwaukee-based parent company of M&I Bank, announced that three of its top executives have exercised stock options that were expiring this year. The stock options were granted to the executives in 1998 under the company's 1997 Executive Stock Option and Restricted Stock Plan. Dennis Kuester, chairman of the board, exercised stock options for 100,215 shares. John Roberts, senior vice president, exercised stock options for 16,034 shares. Thomas Ellis, senior vice president, exercised stock options for 10,690 shares. Each executive paid the exercise price of the option by surrendering previously owned shares of M&I common stock resulting in a net increase in the number of M&I shares held by each executive. After the exercise, Kuester will hold 455,452 M&I shares and options to acquire 1.8 million M&I shares. Roberts will hold 155,097 M&I shares and options to acquire 463,664 M&I shares. Ellis will hold 23,587 M&I shares and options to acquire 337,391 M&I shares.

Eau Claire bank to repurchase stock shares
Citizens Community Bancorp Inc. the Eau Claire-based holding company for Citizens Community Federal, plans repurchase up to 10 percent of its outstanding stock shares in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The shares will be purchased periodically time over a 12-month period, depending upon market conditions. James Cooley, president and chief executive officer of the company, said the board of directors approved the repurchase program in view of the current price level of the company's common stock and the strong capital position of Citizens Community Federal. "We believe that the repurchase of our shares represents an attractive investment opportunity which will benefit the company and our shareholders," Cooley said. As of March 31, the company had consolidated total assets of $425.7 million and stockholders' equity of $75.3 million. The company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Stock Market under the symbol "CZWI."

QuadTech acquires Irish print inspection technology firm
Sussex-based QuadTech, Inc. has purchased Limerick, Ireland-based Vigitek, a designer and manufacturer of 100 percent print inspection technology. QuadTech said that "the acquisition strengthens print quality solutions for printers and converters in the packaging industry by bringing together QuadTech's advanced register guidance system with Vigitek's state-of-the-art print defect detection technology." Vigitek will operate as a subsidiary of QuadTech, and will continue to function as its own entity. "We are excited to combine our companies' products and know-how to benefit the packaging industry worldwide," said Karl Fritchen, president of QuadTech. "Vigitek excels at continuous defect detection across the entire press web. QuadTech excels at register controls. Together, we offer a premier solution for the packaging industry."

The precision and reliability of QuadTech's and Vigitek's solutions are equally well-suited for the decorative print industry, where precise color and register are essential to maintain pattern, repeat length and color consistency, Fritchen said. "We, too, are excited about the acquisition," added Martin Cooke, chief executive officer of Vigitek. "As part of QuadTech, we can accelerate the marketing of our print inspection technology in Europe, Asia and the Americas to help printers and converters produce packaging that reflects the quality of their customers' brand while minimizing waste and costs." QuadTech is the research and development subsidiary of Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc.

Modine closes on sale of subsidiary
Racine-based Modine Manufacturing Co. announced that it has sold substantially all of the assets of its Thermacore Inc. electronics cooling subsidiary based in Lancaster, Pa., , for $13.25 million. The price includes $2.5 million of seller financing with subordinated, promissory notes delivered by the buyer. The purchaser, FSBO Ventures, is owned by current and former members of Thermacore's management team. Commenting on the divestiture, Modine president and chief executive officer Thomas Burke said, "The sale of Thermacore is consistent with our strategy to divest non-core or underperforming assets in order to focus our leadership attention and capital resources on more strategic, value-adding opportunities."

WellPoint acquires large dental benefit plan
WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health benefits company, announced the acquisition of DeCare Dental, one of the country's largest administrators of dental benefit plans. DeCare, a Minneapolis-based company, manages 4 million members representing 21,000 group customers. The acquisition of DeCare enhances WellPoint's ability to offer dental products that balance affordability and access, drawing upon DeCare's expertise in dental analytics and operations.

"The acquisition of DeCare builds upon a core focus of WellPoint which is to continually provide our members with innovative and industry-leading products," said Angela Braly, president and chief executive officer of Indianapolis-based WellPoint, which operates Wisconsin Blue Cross & Blue Shield. "DeCare has clearly emerged as a leader in administering dental benefits. Their unique tools and services and exceptional management team will enhance WellPoint's ability to provide affordable, high-quality dental benefits to our members nationwide."

"DeCare is excited to join a company that has a unique market position of having both national scale and strong local depth," said Michael Walsh, president and CEO of DeCare. "Our employees will be able to serve a much larger population of dental and medical members, executing on our mission to serve the oral health needs of our communities." Upon completion of the acquisition, WellPoint will become one of the largest providers and administrators of dental benefits in the country with significant growth opportunities nationwide. Both WellPoint and DeCare will continue to service their current clients while both dental organizations are integrated.

McMasters will be the next CEO of Clifton Gunderson
The cover story of this week's Small Business Times documents how Krista McMasters rose to become the first female chief executive officer of a major certified public accounting firm. McMasters will be the next CEO of Clifton Gunderson LLP, which will move its headquarters to Milwaukee.

Metavante is off to strong start as independent company
Metavante Technologies Inc. reported first quarter net income of $35.0 million, or 29 cents per share. The Brown Deer-based company, which was spun off from Marshall & Ilsley Corp. last November, reported quarterly revenue of $424.6 million. Commenting on the results, Frank Martire, president and chief executive officer of Metavente, said, "Our first quarter was a good start to 2008. The strong organic revenue growth was driven by higher transaction volumes and by our recent successes cross-selling our product portfolio and capturing new business. I am particularly pleased that the combination of operating leverage and cost productivity allowed us to make additional investments in future growth while still improving profitability. Our customers continue to confront a difficult and uncertain environment, and are deferring decisions and delaying capital spending."

Commenting on the outlook, Martire said, "While it is still early in the year, our performance in the first quarter allows increasing confidence that 2008 will be another good year for Metavante. Our updated outlook prudently balances our expectations for continued strong execution with the reality of an uncertain and difficult selling environment, which could impact our ability to sell software and professional services later in the year. We will continue to diligently monitor demand and adjust our spending and investment plans accordingly."

MGIC will hold special meeting for shareholders
Cash-strapped MGIC Investment Corp. announced plans to conduct a special meeting of its shareholders. The special meeting will be in addition to its 2008 annual meeting of shareholders, which will be held on Thursday, May 15. A date for the special meeting will likely be set in upcoming weeks and is anticipated to take place in mid-June. MGIC has been adversely affected by the subprime mortgage meltdown and the icy housing market.

Wisconsin Nonprofits Association to convene statewide summit
The Wisconsin Nonprofits Association (WNA) will host a statewide Summit in Madison in June. "Common Ground for Common Good; Setting the Agenda for Wisconsin's Nonprofit Sector" will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Madison on June 10, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. "We are excited to be convening our first statewide event," said JoAnn Stormer, representing the WNA. "When nonprofit leaders come together to speak with one voice, we demonstrate the critical importance of the nonprofit sector to Wisconsin's economic, educational and civic success."

There are more than 30,000 nonprofit organizations in the state of Wisconsin. The summit will encourage participants to network and learn. Workshops for participants will share tools and techniques to strengthen their organizations and the non-profit sector in Wisconsin. Information and registration for the summit is available at: www.wisconsinnonprofits.org. 

MMAC's local economic indicators show more declines
The southeastern Wisconsin economy continued its cool down in March, according to the business activity indicators monitored by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC). Only six of 19 available local business activity indicators pointed upward in March, down from February's seven improvements. "Growth in the metro area economy has struggled to gain traction over 2008's first quarter," said Bret Mayborne, economic research director for the MMAC. "Nonfarm employment totals continued to post modest year-over-year declines in aggregate, with job levels in a majority of major industry sectors pointing downward."

Employment levels in the metro area averaged 844,700 in March, a 0.2-percet fall from year-ago levels. March's decline matches the 0.2-percentdecrease posted in February (vs. February 2007) and marks the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year decline. Four of 10 major local industry sectors registered March job gains (vs. one year ago), while six posted declines. The largest percentage increase was posted in the educational & health services sector (up 1.9 percent over year-ago levels). Conversely, a 4.9-percent job decline was posted in the construction & natural resources sector, the largest decrease registered.

Among other selected indicators, unemployment and housing & real estate indicators registered March weakness vs. year-ago levels. The number of unemployed in March rose at a 3.6-percent rate vs. year-ago levels after falling 0.7 percent in February. New unemployment compensation claims increased 9.6 percent in March (vs. March, 2007).

March nonfarm employment levels in the metro area averaged 844,700, a decrease of 1,300 jobs (-0.2 percent) from one year ago. March's fall marks the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year employment decline. Local area housing and real estate indicators tracked by the MMAC remained downward-pointing. Existing home sales fell 28.1 percent vs. year-ago levels to 858, the indicator's worst decline this year. Mortgages recorded in Milwaukee County numbered 4,141 for March, down 22.9 percent from one year ago. A couple of bright spots among the MMAC's local economic factors included airport passenger traffic and new commercial construction.

Air passenger usage of General Mitchell International Airport reached a record monthly high in March. Passengers numbered 745,893 for the month, surpassing the previous record of 738,388. The value of signed construction contracts, as reported by F.W. Dodge for February, was $91.7 million, up 32 percent from February, 2007.

Linens 'n Things will file for bankruptcy, close Wisconsin stores
A day after The Home Depot Inc. announced it will close 15 stores, Linens Holding Co. said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and close 120 of its Linens 'n Things stores, including three in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Linens 'n things stores to be closed are the stores at the Shops of Grand Avenue in Milwaukee, the Regency Mall in Racine and Greenway Station in Middleton. Clifton, N.J.-based Linens Holding Co. blamed its bankruptcy and the store closings on the icy economy. "The significant deterioration in the mortgage, housing and credit markets and the resulting impact on the retail marketplace, particularly the home sector, has overwhelmed the operating and merchandising improvements that we have made over the past two years," said Robert DiNicola, executive chairman of the company. "We are making the strategic decision to use a Chapter 11 filing to proactively address our capital structure and ensure that our stores will remain well stocked while we work through the steps to align the capital structure of the Company with the realities of today's business environment.

Linens Holding Co. has secured $700 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from General Electric Capital Corp., which will ensure healthy merchandise flow as the company prepares for the back-to-school and holiday selling seasons. Atlanta-based Home Depot announced Thursday it will close 15 U.S. stores, including the store at 7401 W. Good Hope Road in Milwaukee. Home Depot also said it scrapping plans for 50 new stores. Home Depot said it will record a charge of approximately $400 million related to capitalized development costs and ongoing obligations associated with the decision not to go forward with the new stores.

Financial Executives International Milwaukee Chapter meets on the second Tuesdays of the month at 5:30 p.m., University Club, 924 E. Wells St., Milwaukee. Call Mary at (414) 226-6975.

Banking

• Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions 
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
• Wisconsin Bankers Association 
• Community Bankers of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association
• American Bankers Association
• Bankers Association for Finance and Trade
• Commercial Finance Association 
• Risk Management Association

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Association for Corporate Growth 
• International Business Brokers Association 
• Mergers.com

Wealth Management/Financial/Retirement Planning

• Financial Planning Association
• Financial Planning Association of Southern Wisconsin
• Investment Management Consultants Association

Other 

• Small Business Administration
• State public awareness campaign
• Wisconsin Credit Union League
• CFA Institute
• CFA Society of Milwaukee