BizTimes MKE: Milwaukee Business Insights

Andrew Weiland, Alex Zank and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the big stories of the week, including the sale of the USPS building on St. Paul Ave., sinking plans for a massive mixed-use redevelopment of the property, and Milwaukee Tool's plans to open an office in Chicago. Plus Johnson Bank's former building at 333 E. Wisconsin Ave. has a new owner and Toppers...

Steve Richman, group president of Milwaukee Tool, joined BizTimes associate editor Arthur Thomas on stage at the Next Generation Manufacturing Summit earlier this month to discuss the company’s growth, managing supply chain challenges and recruiting people to southeastern Wisconsin. 

Andrew Weiland, Alex Zank and Arthur Thomas from BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week, including the state of Wisconsin looking to sell the former Department of Natural Resource headquarters building at the northeast corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and West North Avenue. Alex discusses what some real estate analysts see for the property and Andrew points out the p...

Lauren Anderson, Arthur Thomas and Andrew Weiland discuss news from the week, including Foxconn's plans to buy a car plant in Ohio instead of making electric vehicles in Wisconsin and Fiserv's decision to expand in New Jersey. 

BizTimes associate editor Lauren Anderson joins Arthur Thomas to discuss her recent BizTimes Milwaukee cover story exploring the financial challenges facing the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Read the story here.

BizTimes Media reporter Maredithe Meyer joins editor Andrew Weiland and associate editor to spotlight BizTimes Insider stories from the week and discuss her coverage of the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan County. Insider Spotlight Stories: - Health benefits consulting firm mueller QAAS sold - Metro Milwaukee export rebound lags Midwest and still down from 2018 - Generac buys former Ame...

Keith Duplain, president of St. Louis branded portfolio at Caleres, and Bob Steffes, vice president of manufacturing at Allen Edmonds, joined BizTimes associate editor Arthur Thomas on the BizTimes MKE Podcast to discuss the company’s journey since Caleres acquired Allen Edmonds and over the course of the pandemic. They also discussed Allen Edmonds’ partnership with the PGA of America to make the...

Milwaukee Mitchell Airport director Brian Dranzik joins BizTimes editor Andrew Weiland to discuss the airport's rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, the addition of new flights and carriers, the potential for more international travel, and the latest on efforts to relaunch Midwest Express. 

Lauren Anderson, Andrew Weiland and Arthur Thomas of BizTimes Media get together to discuss the news of the week. After highlighting some of this week's BizTimes Insider Only stories, the group discusses President Joe Biden's decision to mandate vaccines for employees at companies with more than 100 employees. The group then discusses Arthur's story looking at which parts of Milwauk...

Lauren Anderson and Andrew Weiland join Arthur Thomas on the BizTimes MKE Podcast Weekly Debrief. After highlighting some of the top Insider Only stories from the week, the group dives into discussing the long-awaited return of Summerfest to Milwaukee's Lakefront. After taking a year off from the pandemic, Summerfest shifted to a September timeslot this year. Unfortunately, it seems its tradi...

Editor Andrew Weiland and real estate reporter Alex Zank join BizTimes associate editor Arthur Thomas to talk about the week's news. First up is the news that the 100 East office building is in foreclosure. Alex describes what office brokers and industry experts expect to see as the building, once one of the premier office properties in the city, emerges from the process. Then the group discu...

BizTimes' Lauren Anderson, Brandon Anderegg and Andrew Weiland join Arthur Thomas to discuss the week's news, including the announcement of 53 Wisconsin companies on this year's Inc. 5000 list. The group takes a closer look at Frontdesk and Parts Badger, two of the southeastern Wisconsin companies on the list. Then they participate in a brief mock draft to select another eight compa...

BizTimes Milwaukee editor Andrew Weiland and reporter Brandon Anderegg talk about two of the biggest local business stories of the week: Generac's purchase of the former American Family Insurance office building in Pewaukee to expand its operations and the city of Milwaukee's move to ban dockless scooter operations downtown and in nearly neighborhoods because too many people were riding...

In mid-July, Hartland-based Fathom Digital Manufacturing Corp. announced plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition corporation or SPAC. On the latest BizTimes MKE Podcast, Fathom CEO Ryan Martin talks about why the company is going public and why a SPAC was the right vehicle to do it.  SPACs have received a lot of attention over the past year as a vehicle to take companies public withou...

Arthur Thomas, Lauren Anderson and Andrew Weiland from BizTimes Media discuss worrying trends in the COVID-19 pandemic. With the CDC changing its recommendations on wearing masks, Lauren and Andrew highlight numbers for southeastern Wisconsin. They also discuss how local health systems have begun mandating vaccinations and whether more employers will move in that direction going forward. Ascension...

Beth Ridley and Lauren Anderson join Arthur Thomas to talk about diversity and inclusion coverage from the July 19 issue of BizTimes Milwaukee. Beth works as a consultant helping companies with D&I issues. For the issue, she wrote a column highlighting how she is focusing on having tough conversations when the opportunity arises. She also discussed how these conversations can help companies fo...

BizTimes editor Andrew Weiland joins associate editor Arthur Thomas to talk about the Milwaukee Bucks winning the NBA Finals. Andrew reflects on the cooperation and bipartisan work that made Fiserv Forum and the Deer District possible, a topic he addressed in his commentary for the July 19 issue of BizTimes Milwaukee. Andrew and Arthur also bring up reporter Alex Zank's Real Estate Spotlight...

Enerpac Tool Group's Jeff Schmaling and Barb Bolens join BizTimes Media associate editor Arthur Thomas to discuss lessons learned from helping the Menomonee Falls-based company navigate through the COIVD-19 pandemic over the past year. Enerpac, previously known as Actuant, had just completed a series of moves, including a major divestiture and a name change, aimed at setting the company on a...

BizTimes Media real estate reporter Alex Zank joins associate editor Arthur Thomas to talk about the cover story in the July 19 issue of BizTimes Milwaukee. Alex's story explores how The Couture, a long awaited residential, retail and transit development along Milwaukee's lakefront, serves as the missing piece for a number of other projects and site in downtown Milwaukee. Alex took a clo...

The latest episode of the BizTimes MKE Podcast features editor Andrew Weiland's conversation with Carl Rick at the BizTimes Family & Closely Held Business Summit. Rick is a training manager and third generation family spokesperson for La Crosse-based Kwik Trip. Their conversation touches on the culture at Kwik Trip, the importance of profit sharing with employees, navigating the pandemic,...

As president of Brookfield-based QPS Employment Group, Ryan Festerling has a front row seat to how the labor force is reacting as the economy ramps up again. QPS provides staffing services to more than 1,000 companies across seven Midwestern states, many in light industrial, warehousing and manufacturing settings.  Festerling said that while the enhanced benefit is likely keeping some people on th...

Arthur Thomas, Brandon Anderegg and Andrew Weiland from BizTimes Media discuss the news of the week, starting with Oshkosh Corp.'s decision to build the next generation of postal delivery vehicles in South Carolina, not Wisconsin. Andrew says the decision is disappointing. The group also discusses the continued growth in flights out of Mitchell Airport with Spirit adding more flights this wee...

Arthur Thomas, Andrew Weiland and Maredithe Meyer from BizTimes Media preview the upcoming Family and Closely Held Business Summit. The event marks the return of live events for BizTimes Media and will take place June 29 at the Brookfield Conference Center. To register for the event, visit biztimes.com/family

Joel Brennan, secretary of Wisconsin Department of Administration, joined the Milwaukee Rotary Club last week. He discussed Gov. Tony Evers' plans to shrink the state's real estate portfolio over the next decade and what was lost when lawmakers removed plans for a new state office building at 27th and Wisconsin in Milwaukee from the state budget. Brennan also touched on the state budget...

BizTimes Media associate editor Arthur Thomas is joined by reporter Brandon Anderegg and editor Andrew Weiland to discuss the news of the week. Brandon describes the friction over the proposed $100 million state venture capital fund that was cut from the state budget and then previews a story he wrote in the latest issue of BizTimes Milwaukee highlighting the work of SHINE Medical Technologies and...