Source: wisbusiness.com

Top Wisconsin manufacturing and agriculture leaders see the recently announced trade agreement with Mexico as a positive for businesses in the state.

President Trump announced yesterday a tentative new trade deal with Mexico as he’s “terminating” the North American Free Trade Agreement, marking a potential end to the 24-year deal between the United States and Wisconsin’s two largest trading partners.

The new “U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement” is a bilateral trade agreement, but could also involve Canada. Trump threatened yesterday to slap automotive tariffs on Canada if it doesn’t agree to the deal.

“We applaud President Trump for his leadership,” said Kurt Bauer, president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. “It is our hope that this will bring Canada back to the table and lead to more open and fair trade between our three countries.”

Trump says negotiations will begin shortly to reach some sort of agreement with Canada. He left the door open on whether any potential Canada deal would be wrapped into the agreement announced yesterday.

“We’ll give them a chance to probably have a seperate deal,” he said. “We could have a seperate deal, or we could put it into this deal.”

Though a deal with Canada is still up in the air, Wisconsin Farm Bureau President Jim Holte says the Mexican trade deal is “welcomed with open arms from farmers, because Mexico is a large agricultural trading partner.”

“Farmers have been waiting for some movement on trade negotiations,” Holte said. “We hope to see the same initiative taken with other countries soon as we continue to advocate for new markets and further expand existing markets.”

Negotiations surrounding NAFTA had been ongoing since last year, following Trump’s repeated insistence on the campaign trail that it was “the worst trade deal” in U.S. history. Any new trade deal would require congressional approval.

A report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in late 2017 found Wisconsin would be the second-hardest hit out of U.S. states if the country were to pull out of NAFTA entirely. That study predicted 249,000 jobs would be at risk. Manufacturing goods account for over 80 percent of all Wisconsin exports, and about 46 percent of all Wisconsin exports are bound for Canada and Mexico.

“As far as Canada is concerned, we haven’t started with Canada yet; we wanted to do Mexico and see if that was possible to do,” Trump said. “We’ll start negotiations shortly. I’ll be calling the Prime Minister (Trudeau) very soon, and we’ll start negotiation. If they’d like to negotiate fairly, we’ll do that.”

Source: wisbusiness.com

Foxconn Technology Group has pledged to invest $100 million in UW-Madison to further engineering research and create a new tech facility on the university’s campus.

The deal, unveiled at a joint news conference yesterday morning in Madison, includes plans to set up the Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology, in addition to a new research facility that would feature labs and student learning spaces for UW-Madison’s College of Engineering.

Foxconn Chairman and CEO Terry Gou said the partnership would “enable groundbreaking research and innovation in applied science.”

“It is my hope that this gift … will help promote cooperations, innovations and entrepreneurship across Wisconsin,” he said.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the $100 million agreement marks the university’s largest industry research partnership, as well as one of the largest gifts in UW’s history.

The university is also planning to raise an additional $100 million as part of its $3.2 billion “All Ways Forward” fundraising campaign over the next two years, she said.

Blank told reporters after she and Gou signed the declaration of intent that there’s no clear timeline for establishing the new research facility on campus.

But the chancellor said the idea is Foxconn and the university will each cover around half of the total cost for the new building. If any of the $100 million from the company remains, she said, the university would need to consider how to “most fruitfully” use it for program expansion.

The agreement marks the latest in a series of announcements this year from the Taiwanese company. Foxconn has announced plans to open its North American headquarters in Milwaukee, as well as innovation centers in Eau Claire and Green Bay.

Blank said the agreement yesterday didn’t require approval from the Board of Regents, but regents would need to sign off before UW-Madison and Foxconn sign a legal contract, which she said will happen “at some point.”

Meanwhile, the Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology is planned to have its main location at its campus in Racine County, in addition to “an off-campus presence in Madison,” per a joint statement from UW and Foxconn yesterday. That center will focus on research in medical science, computer science and materials science, as well as other fields.

Asked about what the physical plans are for the institute, Foxconn executive Louis Woo told reporters that officials are “still working out the details.”

He also declined to comment on whether Foxconn is planning to announce partnerships with any other UW System schools or colleges in the future.

Woo also countered recent reports that Foxconn is downsizing its commitment in Wisconsin, saying they represent a “misinterpretation of our phased approach to such a humongous project.”

“Our original commitment to the state of Wisconsin was 13,000 meaningful and creative jobs,” he told reporters after the agreement was signed. “That has not changed. Up to $10 billion investment — that has not changed.”

Woo’s comments come after Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz last week questioned the Foxconn’s investment in Wisconsin after the company earlier this summer pulled back in its initial plans for the facility.

The state’s contract with the company says it will build a factory that creates display panels from large sheets of thin glass, called a Generation 10.5 LCD panel. But the company has acknowledged it will first build a plant producing smaller screens, known as Generation 6. It also said it planned to build a larger factory in a second phase.

Source: PRNewswire

Phoenix LLC, known for making the strongest compact neutron generators in the world, announced plans to build a state-of-the-art neutron imaging center in Fitchburg, WI opening in mid 2019. This will be the first non-reactor facility offering commercial neutron imaging services.

“Opening the Phoenix Neutron Imaging Center represents a major advance in making our neutron imaging technology broadly available to any industry,” says Evan Sengbusch, Phoenix President. “By investing in a high performance, reliable, and safe imaging services facility, we’re able to tap into new markets that, due to cost, were previously inaccessible.”

The Madison-based technology company partnered with Krupp General Contractors, known for sustainable building practices, and the city of Fitchburg to build the 10,000 square foot neutron imaging services facility that will provide neutron activation analysis, radiation effects testing and neutron (“n-ray”) and even standard x-ray imaging. The selection process for the new site was done in coordination with local government and economic partner, Madison Region Economic Partnership. “Phoenix’s commitment to continue to grow their business in Fitchburg represents another step forward for the Madison Region as a midwestern biotech hub,” said MadREP President Paul Jadin. “MadREP is proud to have been a part of the collaboration between local government and business on the site selection.”

The ATF/DoD compliant center mitigates the risks, complications, and cost of using a nuclear reactor and will generate high-quality 2D and 3D neutron images for clients in several verticals, most prominently aerospace and defense. Neutron radiography is a best-in-class non-destructive testing methodology for showing highly detailed information about the internal structure of an object. For many components, neutrons reveal defects that would be completely invisible to traditional x-rays.

Phoenix will break ground in November of 2018 on the new facility and has already begun accepting customer orders. The company also has plans that will allow companies to utilize the imaging services facility to trial Phoenix’s innovative technology in Wisconsin before transitioning to a dedicated, onsite, custom imaging solutions matching the client’s specifications.

In addition to the new facility located in Fitchburg, the company will also be building its new 50,000 square foot corporate headquarters on the same site. Slated for occupancy in 2020, the headquarters will provide rapidly growing Phoenix with increased office and manufacturing space to meet increasing demand for their accelerator systems.

The Madison-based technology company has seen a rapid growth rate over the last year – doubling in size and securing large orders from two of the largest nuclear fuel manufacturers, landing 2 U.S. Army contracts, and closing a recent round of $12M in financing.

About Phoenix: Transforming nuclear technology since 2005, Phoenix designs and manufactures the world’s strongest neutron generators. Phoenix’s non-destructive, cutting-edge technology has been safely used in the aerospace, defense, medical and energy sectors to improve manufacturing efficiency and quality.

Here at MadREP, we get excited when it’s time for Forward Fest. The Forward Festival is Madison’s flagship technology and entrepreneurship festival, which has grown tremendously since starting in 2010. This year we are especially proud to have taken part in the Badger Startup Summit and the Wisconsin Games Alliance (WGA) Meetup.

This year, MadREP continued serving as the supporting host organization for the annual Badger Startup Summit, an event connecting Wisconsin entrepreneurs. “Badger Summit has evolved over the last six years from strictly ICT-focused startups to the crossover technologies,” said MadREP Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Michael Gay. “These are ICT sub-sectors that cross into manufacturing, including machine learning for health system data management, cell phone microchips that turn your phone into an ultrasound machine, and leveraging cloud-based technology to share radiology images across the globe via mobile devices.” In addition to networking, the event’s 140 attendees enjoyed Gregg Fergus’ keynote speech, Democratizing Healthcare with Innovative Hardware, AI and the Virtuous Circle. Fergus, a UW-Madison grad, negotiated the sale of Ion Torrent to Life Technologies for $725 million before joining 4Catalyzer, a Guilford, Connecticut-based startup accelerator.

Later that evening, WGA welcomed MadREP staff and fellow game developers to an evening of networking and good times at the WGA Forward Fest Social at StartingBlock Madison. Attendees enjoyed beer and spirits from Good City Brewing and Domeloz Honey Spirit while learning about the upcoming M+DEV conference, an annual Midwest games event. Taking place October 19 at Alliant Energy Center, attendees will enjoy speakers and panel discussions on topics such as “How to Show Your Game to Strangers,” “Empathy and Gender Diversity in Games” and “Selling Your Studio.” Tickets are available for purchase at mdev.com. WGA hosts social events like this one quarterly to further solidify the Madison and Wisconsin game development community. All WGA members are welcome to attend these casual social events to connect and make friends with area game developers and industry professionals.

MadREP would also like to extend our congratulations to two companies in our region who achieved high honors at Forward Fest. Live Undiscovered Music (LÜM) took home the prized “golden suitcase” from the Pressure Chamber, a pitch contest event run by the Madison Chamber of Commerce. LÜM’s streaming platform is built on a social network that enables emerging artists to circulate their music and grow their fanbase. The following week, YesLMS won Doyenne’s 5x5x5, an event where five women-led companies are selected to compete for a $5,000 grant. The company’s cloud-based Learning Management System is the only LMS platform in the country with complete universal learning capabilities. We can’t wait to see the great things that lie ahead for these two innovative startups!

As another year of Forward Fest wraps up, we’d like to thank everyone who came together from around the Midwest to create eight days of motivation, innovation and a lot of fun. We can’t wait to see what next year brings! See you there!

Transportation across long distances is a common challenge in most rural counties in the US. The issue acutely impacts the agriculture, food processing and light manufacturing industries that depend on lower-skilled workers, many of whom lack access to a vehicle or do not have a driver’s license. The challenge cuts both ways: without transportation, employers have difficulty filling job vacancies and endure high rates of absenteeism while residents who want to work lose the opportunity to earn additional income. Supported by MadREP and led by Paul Scharfman, President of Specialty Cheese Company (SCC) in Reeseville, a public/private consortium in Dodge County is now tackling this challenge head-on.

“Paul and I first connected on this issue nearly two years ago,” said Gene Dalhoff, MadREP V.P. of Talent & Education. “He was looking for ways to fill open positions at his company and was convinced there were individuals in Dodge County who would be available for work if they had a reliable means of transportation. Others were added to the discussion, and soon there was a Dodge county- based team exploring options and solutions.”

The consortium came to include a number of employers, nonprofits, government agencies and economic development partners. The initiative resulting from their work has become known as the Getting-To-Work program.

With support from a $100,000 Easter Seals Grant received in 2017, the Getting-To-Work team is in the middle of two major projects. First, they are running a county-wide survey to objectively assess and prioritize barriers that prevent willing residents from entering the workforce. With evidence, the team expects to justify expanded investment to solve the transportation challenge. Second, with Specialty Cheese Company (SCC) serving as the pioneer, the team is running an employer subsidized ridesharing pilot to test and refine operational concepts. Within the pilot, more than 40 workers on all 3 shifts and 5 contracted drivers participate in round-trip ridesharing runs along two high-demand routes.

According to Scharfman, the pilot has improved SCC’s ability to recruit workers, virtually eliminated absenteeism, and noticeably increased employee morale and retention. Said Scharfman, “I’ve been convinced for a long time that lack of transportation in Dodge County has negatively impacted the grow rate of my business. Now I’ve seen the positive impact on residents when we remove barriers and draw more people into the workforce. I am absolutely delighted by the results.”

Armed with data and a proven ridesharing model, the Getting-to-Work program is now planning strategies for expansion and sustainability. “From MadREP’s perspective, I’m excited about the possibility of growing or replicating this program in our other rural counties in south central Wisconsin,” said Dalhoff. But it goes beyond that. As the agency providing significant grant funding for the program, Easter Seals is watching as well. And if Dodge County, Wisconsin can crack this nut, rural counties all over the US may reap the benefits.