News

Minneapolis biotech firm moving to Western Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/Leader Telegram

Lured by the state's tax credits for investments in high-growth companies, a Minneapolis biotech start-up said Thursday that it was moving to Wisconsin.

VitalMedix Inc. is negotiating leases in Hudson or New Richmond and expects to move within 90 days. It is developing a drug that first responders, trauma center surgeons and military medics could use. The drug, Tamiasyn, has the potential to allow humans to endure severe blood loss and inhibit organ damage during resuscitation. It has been tested in animals and could go into human trials as early as a year from now, said Jeffrey M. Williams, company president and chief executive.

"This sort of deal is better understood by investors in Wisconsin," Williams said. "Angel groups in Wisconsin are not only more aggressive, there are just a lot more of them."

The state has 22 organized angel investing groups, according to the Wisconsin Angel Network.

Despite a huge budget deficit, Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature expanded the state investment tax credit in February. Wisconsin doubled the cap on the amount of credits that a qualified business may use to $8 million, raised the cap on eligible angel investments to $4 million and tripled the total credits available each year to $37 million.

"Other states have incentive programs that are designed to help start-up companies, but it's fairly unusual to have a tax credit program tied to investments in tech-based companies," said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

"Early-stage companies like VitalMedix have discovered the advantages of establishing their principal adminstrative offices in Wisconsin, and a border location like St. Croix County is a primary beneficiary," said William Rubin, executive director of the St. Croix Economic Development Corp. "Wisconsin's Act 255 is the critical conduit in the evolution of development-stage companies to their eventual goal of commercialization. For companies unable to take on additional debt, a viable option is an equity injection from Wisconsin's network of angel investors. Put simply, we're resourceful here."

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Additional article from Finance-Commerce.com

 
A local company continues to grow with a new buy

Eau Claire (WQOW)

Silver Spring Foods in Eau Claire, recently purchased Kelchner's Horseradish Products in Pennsylvania. Silver Spring says it plans to combine that company, with another one they bought in 1999 called Bookbinders.

The goal is to blend the strengths of their horseradish brands, to make a stronger product. The president says , as a group, the companies will reach a broader market.

"Together they really serve that Northeastern Seaboard market, which consists of a lot of horseradish users, they really consume a lot of horseradish. So it's a nice market and where we really need to be to grow," says Ed Schaefer, Silver Spring CEO/President.

Right now, Silver Spring is the worlds largest horseradish grower and producer, and is celebrating 80 years as a family owned business.

Stevens Engineers Acquires Building; Completes Move in Early June

In late May, the principals of Stevens Engineers, completed the acquisition of existing office space at 2211 O'Neil Road in Hudson, Wisconsin. Stevens Engineers then completed the move from leased space on Livingstone Road to O'Neil Road in the St. Croix Business Park. With an estimated 6,000 square feet, the new location affords the engineering firm with space to accommodate future growth.

The Regional Business Fund, Inc. provided assistance with the transaction in the form of a supplemental loan that was approved the St. Croix EDC's loan review committee. Citizens State Bank (Hudson, Wisc.) was the primary lender on the transaction.

Stevens Engineers is a civil engineering, land surveying and planning firm based in Hudson, Wisconsin. Stevens has performed LEED design services for projects such as the River Crest Elementary School in Hudson, the Maple Grove Ice Arena expansion, and the $60 million Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center.

Earlier this year, Angela Popenhagen earned the LEED Accredited Professional designation (LEED AP). The LEED professional accreditation distinguishes professionals with the knowledge and skills to facilitate the LEED certification process in sustainable, green building and development practices.

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The LEED Green Building Rating System(TM) encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

For more information, contact Angela Popenhagen at (715) 386-5819 or go to www.stevensengineers.com.

    
High-tech firm expands at NanoRite

Leader-Telegram

A high-tech company is expanding its presence at the NanoRite Center for Innovation in Eau Claire.

Resonant MicroSystems has formed a public-private nanotechnology partnership in the Chippewa Valley with UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout and Chippewa Valley Technical College. During a Wednesday news conference at UW-Eau Claire, the company announced it is leasing 6,000 square feet - 5,000 dedicated to manufacturing and 1,000 for office space - at NanoRite, 2320 Alpine Road. Resonant MicroSystems has 10 employees at the site and plans to double that figure by the end of the year.

The micro-electro-mechanical systems company in essence "builds tiny machines on microchips," said Frank Bucheger, general manager, who added that the business is the first of its kind in the region. Resonant MicroSystems is partnering with Stresau Laboratory in Spooner.

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 Read news release from CVTC and NanoRite

    
Downtown project gets stimulus money

By THE HERALD 

Chippewa Falls is getting a slice of federal stimulus funding to change its downtown riverfront.

The city will receive $660,000 for the downtown redevelopment project. It's part of $7 million in Community Development Block Grants being given out throughout the state.

Mayor Greg Hoffman said last month the city will create walking paths and a picnic area along the Chippewa River.

Under the project, a sewage overflow pond by the river would be demolished and be replaced by an amphitheater.

Meantime, a sewer pipe would be installed running from the Veterans Memorial Bridge on Main Street to the city's sewage treatment plant.

The cost of the project is $2.47 million.

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Local firm MEP expanding

MEP Associates has expanded its headquarters in Eau Claire. The company has grown to about 60 employees in less than seven years. 

 Leader Telegram

At a time when many companies are scaling back their operations, MEP Associates of Eau Claire is expanding.

Jeff Urlaub started the mechanical/electrical engineering services firm in his basement in November 2002. It has since grown to about 60 employees, including 40 in Eau Claire, with two satellite offices in Minnesota - Eden Prairie and Rochester - one in Florida and another in Oklahoma.

"I never thought we'd grow this quick," Urlaub said.

MEP expanded to a location in Banubury Place and eventually moved to its current location, 2720 Arbor Court, in 2006. The firm has become renowned for its geothermal expertise. One such project was a large high-rise in Seoul, South Korea. It also has worked extensively locally with Luther Midelfort.

Geothermal is an energy system that moves heat from and to the earth. Urlaub was introduced to the process while he was involved with design-build work for Maple Plain, Minn.-based Bergerson-Caswell.

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