PRESS RELEASE: December 11, 2012
Courtesy of Universal Acoustics & Emission Technologies

In response to the rapidly growing demand for its products and services, Universal Acoustic & Emission Technologies will expand its new manufacturing facility in Beloit, Wis., early next year, company officials announced today.

The Stoughton, Wis.-based company, which produces custom-engineered products to control noise and emissions pollution in industrial processes, moved into the Beloit Ironworks complex just nine months ago. It currently leases 60,000 square feet and is looking to add 40,000 more square feet to keep up with product demand, said Dick Strojinc, Universal AET’s senior vice president of global operations.

“With our business outgrowing the capacity at our existing Wisconsin manufacturing facility due to changes in emission regulations, we knew we needed an additional location and an ability to lease additional floor space as our business expands,” Strojinc said. “Beloit was a logical location because of its easy access to the Interstate, and its proximity to our Stoughton headquarters and Muscoda (Wis.) manufacturing center.”

The Beloit facility, which currently employs 17 individuals, could see as many as 100 workers added in the near future depending on the rate of growth, said Strojinc.

“When the time comes to hire more workers, we will have a great need for welders, and there seem to be many people with that skill-set in the Beloit area,” he said. “We also are securing office space so we can bring some design and engineering support to Beloit as well. With these staffing and facility changes, we will be in good position to grow along with our customers and to manufacture larger-scale products.”

Universal AET also completed improvements and additions recently at its manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The Mexico plant manufactures large inlet and exhaust systems for gas turbines. The plant expanded by 10,000 square feet; new cranes and a second paint booth were added, and the existing sandblast booth was expanded and refurbished. These improvements increased total capacity and heightened the capability to manufacture even larger products.

Universal’s Muscoda manufacturing facility employs 113 individuals. It includes 100,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space.

In addition to the Stoughton headquarters, Universal has offices in the UK, Singapore and India. The company employs about 400 people globally.

Universal AET was established under the name Universal Silencer in 1959. In the 1970s, it was acquired by Nelson Muffler and then was sold to Cummins Inc. in 1998. The company became independent in 2007.

About Universal Acoustic & Emission Technologies: Universal provides engineered acoustic, emission and filtration solutions for power generation, oil, gas, and industrial markets. Universal has particular expertise in air movement applications, diesel engines, and gas turbine engine systems. Even with an expansive solutions portfolio of standard products, Universal is recognized around the globe for its customized solutions for noise control, emission, and air filtration technologies. Universal is based in Stoughton, Wis., and has offices and manufacturing facilities in five countries. For more about Universal, visit universalaet.com.

Contact: Amy Mertz, Public Relations Specialist, 608.220.9815.

Excerpted from Janesville Gazette
By Marcia Nelesen

Biotech company Virent, now thriving in a 72,000-square-foot facility, got its start in a 600-square-foot cubicle at a Madison business incubator.

NeuWave Medical started with office space in the same Madison incubator with a handful of engineers. It, too, has moved out and employs about 35.

The people who started Sologear, a company that makes ethanol-based fuel for grilling, started in the Madison incubator, as well, and grew into a space of 30,000 square feet. The company later sold the technology to BIC.

Mike Mathews, president of Economic Growth Advisors of Middleton and Janesville’s consultant for its new incubator, spoke about the Madison success stories when asked about the future of the Janesville Innovation Center , which is set to open in January.

The Janesville building features natural light, a good location and lots of parking on the city’s south side near Interstate 90/39. It provides flexible office and manufacturing space.

Its goal is to help launch new businesses, said Vic Grassman, the city’s director of economic development. Companies that leave incubators tend to stay in the areas where they grew, Mathews said. That’s where the companies typically have their work forces and supplies.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from The Scientist
By The Scientist Staff
with editorial additions by MadREP staff

While innovation has been a buzzword since the early 1990s, its ubiquitous usage threatens to dilute the very meaning of the word. The fifth annual “Top 10 Innovations” competition refocuses on the core meaning of innovation – a new idea, method, or device. This year’s winners exemplify true innovation, and MadREP congratulates the two companies headquartered in the Madison Region that appear among the top ten: Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) and Promega. We also congratulate Life Technologies, which has an office in the Madison Region.

Promega has introduced a new fluorescent reporter enzyme called NanoLuc Lucferase, a tool that offers improvements such as its smaller size and capacity to shine 240 times as brightly as other luminescent reporters. “Bioluminescence has become one of the fundamental measurement technologies used in life science,” says Promega head of research Keith Wood. “We think with NanoLuc we’ve advanced that technology in a number of ways.”

CDI is utilizing a revolutionary technology in biomedical research to produce induced pluripotent stem cells “on demand” with high quality and purity. This development has high potential to transform both numerous fields of life sciences research and open the door to potential medical applications. “[Customers] don’t have to be stem-cell biologists to leverage this technology,” says Chris Parker, CDI’s chief commercial officer. “They can simply be interested in a disease state and get the human cells they need to answer appropriate questions.”

Life Technologies’ Ion Proton machine will make human-scale genome sequencing more accessible by taking a technology that was $1 billion 12 years ago, to just $1,000 while increasing its speed. “By making large-scale sequencing more widely available, this machine will enable a new era of discovery,” says Maneesh Jain of Ion Torrent, the sequencing technology start-up acquired by Life Technologies in 2010

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

Waterloo (Wis.) world-class bicycle manufacturer Trek and Madison bio-products company Virent have joined the state’s business climate marketing initiative, “In Wisconsin,” to promote the benefits of doing business in Wisconsin. The “In Wisconsin” integrated marketing campaign, sponsored by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), brands Wisconsin’s business climate and promotes the benefits of starting, expanding or locating a business in Wisconsin. The campaign targets business owners in the state as well as those in neighboring states.

“The initial eight weeks of the campaign highlighted three companies – Organic Valley, Rockwell Automation and Schneider National,” said Kelly Lietz, vice president of marketing for WEDC. “Like the first three, Trek and Virent embody the state’s pioneering spirit and heritage of innovation, key attributes of our state’s business climate. Through this campaign, we are able to convey the link between their success and where their stories take place – in Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin’s economic assets include: a concentration of industry clusters with worldwide market significance—water, biosciences and renewable energy/clean technology; its investment in education that fuels cutting-edge research and a skilled workforce; low business operating costs; and a highly responsive network of economic development partners throughout the state.

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Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
By Dean Mosiman

Madison officials mourned the loss of booming Epic Systems to Verona in the mid-2000s, but the medical software colossus is having a huge, unexpected impact on its original hometown.

Smart, young Epic employees with cash in their pockets and an affinity for Madison’s culture, restaurants and nightlife are fueling demand for rental apartments in the Downtown area.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of visitors to the Epic campus are booking Madison-area hotel rooms, boosting city room tax revenues in a tough economy.

The visitors are filling airline seats — sometimes requiring bigger planes and more flights — enjoying Madison’s offerings and taking hundreds of cab rides monthly between the airport, hotels and Epic’s campus in the rolling hills of Verona.

Mayor Paul Soglin, who criticized city officials for letting Epic leave when it announced plans to do so in 2001 and worked as an administrator at Epic from 2004 to 2007, didn’t foresee it.

But Soglin and other city and business officials laud Epic’s undeniable benefits for the city’s businesses, economy and quality of life.

“It comes up all the time,” said Downtown Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District. “You can just feel it. You can see it.”

Read the full article.