Excerpted from Janesville Gazette
By Jim Leute

Brian Rubash is different from many entrepreneurs.

He’s willing to accept advice.

Rubash, one of the newest tenants at the Janesville Innovation Center, is getting guidance from a team of four mentors associated with MERLIN Mentors, a Madison-based group of about 100 volunteers who use their skills, experience and enthusiasm to mentor emerging entrepreneurs.

“For me, it was the only option for mentorship,” said Rubash, who recently founded Tapzi. The mobile marketing company has developed an app that allows targeted messages sent to potential customers based on their proximity to a store, business or organization.

Tapzi and K4 Innovations, another new tenant at the innovation center, are already involved with the MERLIN program. A couple of the center’s other tenants also are considering the program.

MERLIN, however, could be just one piece of a mentorship program that economic development officials are trying to put together for entrepreneurs and fledgling companies in Rock County.

“We want to do whatever we can to help entrepreneurs in Rock County,” said Mike Mathews, the contracted operations manager of the center. “That will be driven by their needs.

“Some might work with MERLIN, some might work with the center’s board of directors, and some might do something else.”

That something else is yet to be determined.

Rock County 5.0 has formed a partnership with the Janesville Innovation Center, which opened last April and now has seven of its 13 offices and manufacturing bays leased to young companies.

The center is a 22,000-square-foot business incubator that serves small, early-stage firms.

Rock County 5.0 will pay to expand the consulting services of Mathews and his employer, Economic Growth Advisors, to any entrepreneurs or small businesses in Rock County.

The group’s involvement is in response to an increasing demand from entrepreneurial and small businesses, said James Otterstein, Rock County’s economic development manager.

“By expanding these consulting services, emerging entrepreneurial interests and existing small businesses will be able to leverage the synergies that JIC tenants are currently enjoying,” he said.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from The Sun Prairie Star
By Chris Mertes

The deadline is fast approaching for farmers to nominate rural public school districts to compete for a grant of up to $25,000, through America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.

Nominations will be accepted until April 6, 2014. Eligible farmers can nominate their school district by

visiting www.GrowRuralEducation.com or by calling (877) 267-3332.

Grants are awarded based on merit, need and community support. The more farmers who nominate a school district, the more it demonstrates community support and can strengthen the school district’s application. This year, the program has expanded to 18 new counties, for a total of 1,289 eligible counties across 39 states.

School administrators in nominated districts will have until April 21, 2014 to submit their applications online. The application website is also equipped to help answer specific questions about the Grow Rural Education program overall and assist with the grant writing process.

“As we work to grow our next generation of farmers, building a strong math and science foundation is vital,” said Linda Arnold, Monsanto customer advocacy lead. “Working together with farmers and rural school districts, we are building relationships that benefit the community, with the ultimate goal of improving education.”

The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Advisory Council, a group of approximately 30 farmers from across the country, will review and select the winning grant applications. Advisory Council members were selected based on their passion for farming and education, as well as experience in rural school districts.

Last year, more than 73,000 farmers nominated 4,024 school districts, resulting in $2.3 million in grants to improve math and science education in 181 districts across the country.

The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program is part of a broad commitment by the Monsanto Fund to strengthen farming communities. America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education launched in 2012, after a successful pilot in Minnesota and Illinois, and has since awarded nearly $5 million to school districts across the county.

For more information about the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program and to view the official rules, a list of eligible states, counties and CRDs, visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Janesville Gazette
By Gazette Staff

The movement of Illinois software company and its 30 employees to Beloit could be a precursor to even more growth.

AccuLynx moved into the Ironworks redevelopment owned by Hendricks Commercial Properties. The company has 12,000 square feet with an option for an additional 9,000 square feet.

AccuLynx is a cloud-based business management software for specialty trade contractors. It helps contractors with lead development, customer relationship management, project management, production scheduling, ?nancial tracking and business analysis.

The company, previously in Rockton, Ill., said in a news release that its new space is specially designed to be one of the most progressive and innovative office layouts in the country, rivaling other software companies such as Google and Groupon.

The new space can accommodate an additional 70 people to keep pace with anticipated growth over the next three years, the company said.

“AccuLynx chose Beloit—and the Ironworks location in particular—because the vibe is the perfect ?t for our fun, funky culture,” said Richard Spanton Jr., the company’s president and chief executive officer.

“We can’t wait to grow into our new space and be a catalyst for other technology companies to join us in making Beloit their home.”

Mark Membrino, a Hendricks vice president, said the company would boost a growing information technology cluster in Beloit and bring living-wage jobs to the community.

“The new AccuLynx office space is just the next step in HCP’s plan to totally redevelop and transform the former Beloit Corp. complex that was once an obsolete, blighted building into a state-of-the-art facility that is the home to vibrant and growing manufacturing, engineering and IT companies,” Membrino said.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from news.wisc.edu
By Kari Knutson

UW-Madison is again being recognized as one of the world’s top learning institutions this year, placing 28th in the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, up from 30th the previous year.

The list by the London-based magazine Times Higher Education ranks universities on reputation for teaching and research. More than 16,000 academics in nearly 150 countries are surveyed for the annual rankings.

“We’re very proud of being a world-class institution that offers students an exceptional education,” says Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr. “It is an honor to once again be recognized as a leader in teaching and in research.”

In the four years Times Higher Education has issued the rankings, it has received more than 58,000 responses from senior published scholars, providing their insight into the academic prestige of universities across the globe.

Read the full article.

As we continue implementation of the five-year Advance Now Strategy, our efforts within the Human Capital goal area have hit their stride. With the aim of aligning education and workforce development efforts with target sector initiatives, MadREP and key partners are hosting a series of industry roundtables that connect workforce development professionals with business representatives to identify actionable human capital needs.

The inaugural roundtable series focused on the Information Technology (IT) sector, convening IT startups and established companies, IT entrepreneurs, and other firms with substantial IT staff. The major themes of the discussions centered on connecting existing IT students and grads with opportunities at companies in the region, generating more awareness of IT career opportunities for high school students, and fostering interest in IT-related studies in younger students, particularly among girls and minorities.

One of the immediate outcomes of this effort is Moraine Park Technical College’s recent announcement that it will be moving its IT – Applications Developer Program to the College’s Beaver Dam Campus. Matt Hurtienne, Dean of Moraine Park Technical College’s Beaver Dam Campus, said this decision stemmed directly from the roundtable discussions hosted by MadREP. “There were regional businesses looking to fill an employment gap in the information technology sector,” said Hurtienne. “After hearing their needs, Moraine Park had several discussions and felt bringing the Applications Developer Program to Dodge County would be a good start in helping these employers meet those needs.”

To learn more about MadREP’s roundtables and to get involved, please contact Gene Dalhoff.