News

  

RAI Stone Locates Operations Office in Eau Claire

Immediately Hiring Business Operations Analysts and Accounting Assistants

RAI Stone Group, LLC, a financial services firm out of Minneapolis, is locating a corporate operations office in Eau Claire this month. The company has leased office space located at 3504 Oakwood Mall Drive.

The company's location in Eau Claire will bring an anticipated 50 jobs to the community over the next three years. The positions being hired immediately include Business Operations Analysts and Accounting Assistants.

"We plan on hiring five to seven positions immediately, and then will hire more as the company grows."

RAI Stone has been using the SMARTT Network to search for immediate candidates and will continue to utilize the tool as the company grows.

"RAI Stone used the SMARTT Network to validate the available talent pool in the region prior to committing to locate here," says Brian Doudna, executive director of the Eau Claire Area EDC. "Their company profile on the network allows individuals to learn more about the business and submit information directly to the company. Individuals can also create a confidential skills profile to augment their employment search with other companies located in the region."

To see full job descriptions and submit a resume, click here.

RAI Stone's CEO Sam Zordich says that there were several reasons why they chose to locate the company in Eau Claire.

"Eau Claire has an entrepreneurial spirit, a lot of support for early-stage businesses, and really understands the benefit of having a good mix of businesses," says Zordich. "We need to grow our workforce quickly and we need people with advanced degrees, so the proximity to the University in Eau Claire also played a role."

Zordich notes that the consistent message of entrepreneurship and innovation, and the stable workforce and economy were appealing for their company.

"People in Eau Claire are very community-oriented and tend to stick here," she says.

  View RAI Stone's Company Profile
  on the SMARTT Network

Back to Top

---

  

Information Technology company Genesis10 to bring
up to 150 jobs to Eau Claire

Leader-Telegram of Eau Claire

Eau Claire has come up big in the battle of smaller-market cities.

The Eau Claire City Council approved an agreement this week with New York-based Genesis10 that will bring as many as 150 technology consulting jobs, a significant step in the city's efforts to boost salaries.

Company plans filed with the city show Genesis10 will pay wages of at least $30 per hour.

Genesis10 previously had 15 locations throughout the United States and Canada, all of them in relatively large metro areas. Company officials decided their next expansion would be in a smaller city, in part because of cheaper costs.

The company considered a number of Midwest cities, such as Duluth and Willmar in Minnesota, as well as cities in the South. Ultimately, it chose Eau Claire, said Mike Hartquist, Genesis10 vice president of work-force solutions.

"Eau Claire came up at the top of our list in a number of areas we felt were important," Hartquist said.

For the city, "this really fits with what we've been trying to do in terms of economic development," city economic development administrator Mike Schatz said.

Genesis10 hopes to create 50 jobs during each of the next two years and 25 in each of the following two years. Initially, the firm plans to add 40 project managers, 16 of whom already have been hired. Other positions Genesis10 hopes to add include business analysts, software developers, infrastructure capacity planners, systems administrators, quality assurance analysts and help desk professionals.

Read full article

Back to Top

---

  

Hudson firm wins $250,000 in tax credits

Cities Digital Inc., a firm in Hudson that converts paper documents into digital files, has been awarded $250,000 in Technology Zone tax credits to help finance an expansion project that's expected to create 15 jobs.

In announcing the award, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said Cities Digital is purchasing an 18,00-square-foot building in Hudson in the $1.87 million expansion.

"To grow Wisconsin, we must continue to invest in our economy and foster technology growth, even during these difficult economic times," Governor Doyle said.

Cities Digital CEO Patrick Welsh said the St. Croix County location is close to universities and colleges that can supply talent to the technology-based business.

Read full article

Back to Top

---

 

CHARLTON HIRING 150 OVER NEXT THREE MONTHS

August 6, 2009 (Eau Claire, WI) - The Charlton Group, a privately held telemarketing company based in Madison, WI, is looking to fill at least 150 full-time permanent customer service positions in Eau Claire within the next three months.

Bonuses and benefits packages are offered. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply at 2132 Eastridge Center in Eau Claire, across from Perkins Restaurant on Business 53 or call 715-839-9650, ext. 605.

"The company has seen an increased customer demand that has allowed the management staff to make the decision to add staff at the Eau Claire center. The company had a staff reduction due to the economy starting last fall," says Brian Doudna, executive director of the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation.

Charlton ranks as one of the U.S.'s leading providers of inbound and outbound teleservices focused on cable, phone and Internet markets. TMC Magazine ranks the firm as the 18th largest in U.S. outbound service, 18th in U.S. inbound service, and 24th in global combined services. Approximately two-thirds of Charlton's revenues come from inbound and the balance from outbound.

Read article from Leader-Telegram

---

  

Focus on Energy provides $99,000 to boost energy saving efforts at Cortec Coated Products

Since being acquired in 2001, Cortec Coated Products in Eau Claire, Wis. has prided itself on finding smart business solutions. The manufacturer has built on its knowledge and experience to become a global supplier and forerunner in the coated paper and film industry. With the help of Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, Cortec Coated Products has also been able to build on Focus' knowledge and experience to become a leader in energy efficiency.

Cortec Coated Products received $99,000 in financial incentives from Focus on Energy after installing an innovative heat-recovery system and plant-wide lighting and steam trap upgrades. These improvements will save the company more than 223,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 175,000 therms of natural gas annually - enough energy to power 200 Wisconsin homes for
a year. The company will also benefit from $210,000 in savings on its energy bills each year.

Read full release

Back to Top

---

  

UW-Eau Claire Materials Science Center

Unique Resources for the Region's Business & Industry

The Materials Science Center is based at UW-Eau Claire. But if you go looking for it, you won't find a building labeled "Materials Science Center." That's because the Center isn't exactly a center. Rather it's an amalgam of labs.

Doug Dunham, 40, is a professor of physics and astronomy, and serves as the director of the Material Science Center.

"We're located in the Phillips Science Hall on the main campus at UW-EC. It's not so much a physical space as a collaborative lab. We have several labs that contribute to the Center. We have a materials science laboratory, a microscopy lab, and a geochemistry lab. We tried to leverage resources that we already had. It's a pooling of resources."

But it's more than that. It's also a pooling of expertise. It connects professors of biology, geology, chemistry, and physics and astronomy. Dunham founded the Center three years ago.

"I had this idea. We had chemists, geologists, physicists and biologists all doing materials related work. We were all looking at different applications of materials. We use the same types of instruments and since we're all doing similar things, why not work more collaboratively? We put forward a proposal to join the research of these disciplines. It's a collaborative effort to advance materials research."

Read full article from the Chippewa Valley Business Report

Watch it!

  Materials Science Center: What does it do?



  Materials Science Center: Benefits for Business

  Materials Science Center: Benefits for Students

The Center can provide cutting-edge testing assistance including:
• Elemental analysis of most solids and liquids
• Microscopy including elemental mapping
• Reduction of hazardous substances (RoHS) testing
• Materials characterization
• Custom method development
• Cooperative research and development support
• Quality control
• Regulatory affairs
• Failure analysis
• Custom method development
• Confirmation of material certifications
• Comparison of different cost basis materials
• Distinguishing product in market segment
• Product/patient monitoring relating to medical devices
• Production troubleshooting

To learn more about the Materials Science Center, contact Doug Dunham.

Featured Technology: Process for Recycling Powder Coating Waste

Technology Owner: Delaware Economic Development Office

Filed under Plastics and Packaging category

Description of Technology: The invention relates to the recycling of powder coating waste.

Patent Listing:
1. US Patent No. 6,881,762, Issued April 19, 2005, "Process for Recycling Powder Coating Waste"

Market Potential: The preparation of powder coatings is mostly carried out by extruding the powder coating ready formulated by dry mixing of all the required components (powder coating fresh material) in the form of a paste-like melt, cooling off of the melt, coarse comminution into so-called powder coating chips, fine milling (grinding) and subsequent sieving and classifying to desired grain fineness (powder coating classification). Powder coating material that is too coarse-grained (high grain) on sieving can again be fine-milled. Powder coating material that is too fine-frained (low grain) represents waste.

Benefits:

* intimately contacting powder coating waste to powder coating chips; and ehating the combination to bond the powder coating waste to powder coating chips

Applications:

* Powder coating waste

Back to Top