Excerpted from Watertown Daily Times
By Kim Erdmann

Last week, Johnsonville Sausage hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at its new Watertown location, 1222 Perry Way. The event was well attended by local businesses, Watertown city government employees and representatives from state organizations. The 63,000-square-foot building, which was purchased in August and is the former home to Multi-Color Corp., will support Johnsonville’s fresh sausage operations. The company notes that, with the new facility, 30 jobs will be created in the next year, with the potential for more.

In May of this year, Johnsonville experienced a loss in Watertown when its facility at 104 E. Division St. suffered a fire that caused extensive damage to the building and the equipment. Obviously, the fire caused a huge disruption for not only the company but its employees as well.

What Johnsonville did after that is really special. The company, anxious not to have any of its employees displaced while the building was being repaired and production was shut down, kept employees on the payroll while they completed training and education classes at Madison Area Technical College and while they did a host of volunteer projects in the community.

Johnsonville CEO Nick Meriggioli, who joined the company in April of this year after the retirement of longtime CEO Ralph C. Stayer, noted at the groundbreaking it didn’t take long for him to see that Johnsonville Sausage was a special company, one that does the right things for its community, customers and employees.

Steve Johnson, vice president of operations for Johnsonville Sausage, noted the company is proud of its relationship with Watertown and recognized the community for its support during the purchase and
rezoning of the Perry Way building.

Johnsonville Sausage has been a great partner to Watertown for more than three decades. With the new location on Perry Way, we are excited to see this partnership continue and expand.

Read the full article.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MadREP’s Paul Jadin & Michael Gay will promote international trade opportunities Oct 26-30, 2015;
leads sought from regional companies seeking international connections

Madison, WI – Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) has been selected to participate in the Fourth Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation & Entrepreneurship (ACE), a high-level visit taking place from October 26 to 30, 2015, in the Province of Córdoba, Argentina.

Paul Jadin, President at MadREP, and Michael Gay, Senior Vice President of Economic Development at MadREP—who are among just five delegates from the United States selected for the tour—will promote international trade between Argentina and the Madison Region, establish long-term global/regional partnerships, and see the results and best practices of economic development initiatives that strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Jadin and Gay’s participation comes on the heels of the Third Americas Competitiveness Exchange in April 2015 when MadREP hosted 50+ foreign dignitaries for a tour that prominently featured Madison.

“This tour marks another extraordinary opportunity to promote the Madison Region and its innovative industries and companies for the purposes of international trade,” comments Paul Jadin, president at MadREP. “Being selected to participate in another Americas Competitiveness Exchange points to the region’s continued recognition as a global leader in technology, agribusiness, and manufacturing.”

“It is a privilege to work with MadREP on international exchange efforts that benefit both the City of Madison and the region as a whole,” adds City of Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. “I commend the organization for increasing its international activity during this time of global economic interdependence, and I look forward to the economic benefits generated by this initiative.”

The exchange will consist of a five-day tour of Córdoba’s innovation and competitiveness hubs, which are currently leading their respective fields and taking Córdoba’s competitiveness to a world-class level. In addition to meeting with Argentina’s foreign trade ministers and more than 30 high-level representatives from several countries of the Americas, Jadin and Gay will tour incubators, local tech-based companies, agriculture and dairy production sites, local branches of international corporations, research centers and public-private initiatives, most of them related to medical technologies, high precision measuring instruments for mining and industrial applications, agribusinesses and manufacturing sectors.

The activities featured in the one-week tour have been selected to increase linkages between Madison Region and international actors, such as companies, researchers and government officials, in order to foster business opportunities and spark new collaborations among stakeholders.

MadREP is seeking input and leads from regional companies that wish to make connections with Argentinian companies as a result of this trade event. Interested companies and organizations should contact Michael Gay at 608.571.0402.

The organizing institutions of the exchange are the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Mining and Development of the Government of the Province of Córdoba, Argentina; the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the OAS, the Government of Guatemala, as Chair Pro Tempore of the RIAC 2015, and the Organization of American States (OAS) as the RIAC Technical Secretariat; in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

TOUR AGENDA

OCTOBER 26

• City tour and welcome reception

OCTOBER 27

• Crea FabLab: a business incubator that connects entrepreneurs, professionals, students and creative minds with different interests in order to think, develop and prototype ideas that create value for society.
• National University of Cordoba’s Business Incubator: supports the creation of technology-based companies that promote the development of the region and generate high-quality jobs, specialized knowledge and innovation.
• Promedon: an international leader in medical technology research, development, production and distribution with products sold in 60+ countries.
• Incutex: an incubator for technology-based start-ups that provides a co-working space and a mentorship system to help entrepreneurs succeed.
• The Tech Pub: an initiative to facilitate the convergence of technology and entrepreneurship. With the aim of contributing to technological sustainability, Santex Group created this space for professionals to identify and discuss technological trends.

OCTOBER 28

• SavantPharm: a high-tech pharmaceutical company that mostly produces antibiotics and soft capsules, with a productive capacity of more than 150,000 units per hour.
• Arcor: a multinational corporation based in Argentina that specializes in food, chocolate, cookies and ice cream elaboration.
• Spinlock: a technology-based local company focused on industrial applications of magnetic resonance and nuclear quadrupole resonance.

OCTOBER 29

• Aceitera General Deheza: an integrated agricultural-industrial complex specialized in the crushing of oilseeds for the production of vegetable protein meals and pellets, edible oils, vegetable oils as well as biodiesel and ethanol.
• ACABIO: the most modern corn-bioethanol processing plant in Argentina, with a productive capacity of 125,000 cubic meters a year. Due to the importance of its inputs and sub products, it has a key position in many of the regional value chains.
• ESIL (Spanish acronym for “Superior School of Dairy Production”): a local institution that runs a teaching facility as well as a research center specialized in dairy production.
• The Villa María Cheese Cluster: gathers and represents all the participants of the cheese value chain developed in the Villa María Region of Argentina. Its primary focus is to improve the sector’s competitive advantage through technology and innovation.

OCTOBER 30

• MercadoLibre: an e-commerce platform with operations in 12 countries in Latin America and used by millions of customers who buy and sell products through the Internet.
• Tecme/Neumovent: an international company leading the development and manufacture of mechanical ventilators for intensive care.

Learn more: http://riacnet.org/fourthexchange  |  @riacnetorg #ACXchange                                                                        

# # #

 

 

 

Excerpted from The Oklahoman
By Brianna Bailey

CHICKASHA — When it needed to open a new development lab, Oklahoma hermetic switch maker HSI Sensing chose Madison, Wis., for the location, some 876 miles away from Chickasha.

HSI Sensing opened a 5,800-square-foot engineering lab in Madison in July with three employees. The lab focuses on developing new manufacturing technology, processes and efficiency.

The company anticipates adding 15 jobs to the Madison lab in the next two to three years.

Founder William Posey started the company in 1968 in his basement. HSI today is employee owned and has a workforce of about 200 in Chickasha. Posey wanted the company to be based in a rural area and chose Chickasha because it was still close to the Oklahoma City airport, about 43 miles, but that has led to some growing pains over the years.

The company doubled its electrical and mechanical engineering staff at its headquarters in the past year, but has trouble recruiting in Chickasha, a city of about 16,000 people, said Travis Posey, HSI’s vice president of business development.

“Yes, it is difficult from a company standpoint,” Travis Posey said.

To help recruit engineering staff, the company offers competitive benefits. As an employee-owned company, HSI also offers its employees a stock-sharing plan, Posey said.

The company chose Madison for its new engineering lab in part because it found a group of engineers it wanted to work with there and also because of Wisconsin’s strong research and development industry and access to state career and technical programs that focus on engineering and robotics, Posey said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.9 percent of adults 25 and older in Chickasha held a bachelor’s degree or higher between 2009 and 2013. That compares to the national rate of 28.8 percent. In Madison, 26.8 percent of adults 25 and older have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher.

HSI makes reed switches, tiny electrical switches operated by an applied magnetic field. Reed switches first were used in telephone exchanges but are today used for everything from monitoring pacemakers, fluid levels and security systems to tracking spacecraft or firefighters on the job.

“With the company’s focus on innovation, R&D (research and development) and precision manufacturing, it is a perfect fit for this region,” said Paul Jadin, president of the Madison Region Economic Partnership, which assisted HSI with its location and expansion search. “The talent pool and industry partners available in this area will provide a solid foundation for the company’s success as it expands in Wisconsin.”

Read the full article.

Advertising space in the 2016 Madison Region Economic Development Guide is available for local businesses, but only for a limited time. Advertisers will be able to advertise in print and online, and have the option to develop a customer acquisition and retention program.

The official Madison Region Economic Partnership-sponsored magazine targets a defined audience of potential residents, new businesses and visitors and will be distributed throughout the year.

For more information on becoming a part of Madison Region Economic Development, email sales@jnlcom.com or call (800) 333-8842 Ext. 292.

Excerpted from Business Xpansion Journal
By Rachel Duran

A recent survey conducted by the Wood Communications Group in Madison, Wisconsin, found that 85 percent of high school teachers in Wisconsin want a better relationship with the business community. Of course, the business community has been craving that for years.

After working together for years, Madison’s businesses and education system have a few initiatives underway to attract young talent to manufacturing careers. Inspire Madison Region connects students with workplace learning experiences as well as job opportunities. “Inspire wants to onboard 375 companies this year,” says Paul Jadin, CEO, Madison Region Economic Partnership. The companies serve as mentors and coaches so students gain a better understanding of what it takes to become a welder, operate CNC equipment and other positions, among other initiatives.

A recent effort in Madison is the Business and Education Collaborative (BEC). The organization brings together 12 school superintendents, four technical college presidents, the president of the University of Wisconsin system, two workforce development board directors, a private college president and 15 private sector leaders. The goal is create a dialogue between educators and businesses that will be engrained and institutionalized in the region’s overall economy,

“It is all about the relationship between education and business,” Jadin says. “With better dialogue the business community will understand education and their resources better. And the education community will understand the needs of manufacturers. If you go into a high school today and ask about what happens at the plant a mile away, very few teachers will be able to tell you.”

In five years, Madison’s officials want teachers to know exactly what is going on at that plant and know the skills students need to secure a career at that plant.

Read the full article.