» Highway 41 Corridor
Brown, Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac Counties
Lambeau’s latest addition
The Green Bay Packers and partner Delaware North Sportservice unveiled the new Lambeau Field Atrium restaurant, 1919 Kitchen & Tap.
Inspired by the local community and the rich history of the Packers, the gastropub is a tribute to the year the team was organized. The restaurant is in a new space on the atrium’s first floor. 1919 Kitchen & Tap features industrial and rustic finishes, with copper beer lines and exposed brick.
The interior also includes several nods to Packers history.
The restaurant offers a menu full of innovative approaches to old favorites, highlighting locally sourced ingredients. The bar features 40 varieties of beer as well as an open-concept kitchen, which will allow visitors to see food being prepared.
Seating capacity is approximately 250 inside on the first floor of the atrium, as well as 100 on the restaurant’s outdoor patio, outside of the Miller Lite Gate.
1919 Kitchen & Tap replaces Curly’s Pub, which had operated on the atrium’s second floor since 2003. It is the latest in a series of improvements to Lambeau Field, including additional seating capacity, scoreboards and the new visitor plaza.
LU receives $1.5 million gift from innovation professor
Dwight Peterson, a 1955 Lawrence University graduate, has established a $1.5 million endowed professorship to foster innovation at the university.
Peterson worked at 3M (the company that developed Scotch Tape and the Post-it Note) for 38 years, where he says innovation is ingrained in the culture. The gift is intended to support that same culture at his alma mater.
“The long-term history of 3M is based on continuous development of new products,” Peterson says.
“The idea of looking at things from new and different perspectives, of doing collaborative interdisciplinary work, of having a culture where there is the possibility to fail — and it is acceptable — and then start over and rework it, that all fits very well with a Lawrence education.”
Peterson and his wife, Marjorie, are residents of North Oaks, Minn., and he was a member of the Lawrence Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2013.
Adam Galambos, associate professor of economics, has been named the first Dwight and Marjorie Peterson Professor in Innovation.
A number of student-created and directed ventures have grown out of Lawrence’s Innovation & Entrepreneur program. This past spring, LU students Joe Bazydlo and Eddie Elizondo were among 20 finalists from around the country to deliver a presentation in Princeton University’s Entrepreneurship Club’s annual national competition. They pitched a smartphone app to be used by trail users to unlock preloaded information about specific locations within U.S. national parks they developed in Lawrence’s “In Pursuit of Innovation” course.
» The Northwoods
Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto Counties
Marinette Marine launches USS Little Rock
The ninth Littoral Combat Ship in its class — and the fifth constructed by Marinette Marine — splashed into the Menominee River at the Marinette Marine Shipyards in late July as the future USS Little Rock was christened and formally launched.
Shipbuilders at Marinette Marine will continue outfitting the ship now that it is afloat and months of testing are still needed before the ship will be delivered to the U.S. Navy.
Marinette Marine is building the LCS for a team led by Lockheed Martin. The U.S. Navy recently issued a contract modification for one fully-funded 2015 ship valued at $362 million, along with $79 million in advanced procurement funding for a second ship.
The award also includes a priced option for one additional fiscal year 2016 ship.
The contract modification is for construction of LCS 21 and LCS 23, the 11th and 12th Freedom variant ships. The first ship on this 2010 contract, the Milwaukee (LCS 5), was christened and launched in 2013, and is slated to be delivered to the Navy this summer. Detroit (LCS 7) was launched in 2014. The Sioux City (LCS 11), Wichita (LCS 13), Billings (LCS 15), Indianapolis (LCS 17) and an unnamed LCS 19 are in various phases of construction.
» The Lakeshore
Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan Counties
U.S. Army enlists Manitowoc Cranes
The U.S. Army has awarded Manitowoc Cranes a five-year, $192 million contract for all-terrain cranes.
Manitowoc will provide the Army with 60-ton Grove GMK4100B cranes customized to battlefield specifications. In addition to shedding its usual yellow coat of paint for “Army colors,” the company states the cranes will have the capability to be fitted with armor.
Additional customizations requested by the Army include a crew protection system, the ability to ford up to four feet of water and the ability to operate pile driver, clamshell, concrete bucket and concrete barrier lifting attachments.
The cranes feature a 108-foot boom, an 8x6x8 drive system with two-step transfer case and are powered by a 390-horsepower Mercedes engine.
“These cranes will be especially transportable, reflecting the nimble maneuverability of the U.S. military,” says Darryl Mellott, director of government marketing at Manitowoc. “We are honored to be able to support our soldiers in achieving their missions anywhere in the world.”
Manitowoc says the cranes will primarily be operated by the Engineer Brigades division. The company has been working on securing the contract for more than four years and it includes a two-year option at its completion that could ramp up the total to $258 million.
Training for entrepreneurs
Existing and aspiring business owners will be able to participate in the Entrepreneurial Training Program, an eight-week course Sept. 9 through Oct. 28 at Lakeshore Technical College’s Manitowoc Campus.
A collaboration between Progress Lakeshore, the Small Business Development Center at UW-Green Bay and Lakeshore Technical College, the program will take each participant through a step-by-step approach to business planning. The course is designed for those who are considering starting their own business, for existing small businesses struggling to get a handle on all the details and for successful businesses looking to grow.
The Entrepreneurial Training Program usually costs $1,000; however, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is offering an Entrepreneurial Training Grant to qualified applicants. The grant covers 75 percent of the tuition, reducing the cost to $250. The grant requires participants register for the course and fill out an online grant application, attend class, complete a business plan by Jan. 25 and participate in at least one hour of business counseling with the SBDC at UW-Green Bay during the course (which can also be scheduled in Manitowoc at the Progress Lakeshore office).
Space for the course is limited, and registration will be unavailable once filled.
Sargento invests $30M to expand
Sargento Foods, based in Sheboygan County, is investing $30 million to expand its production facilities in Kiel and Elkhart Lake, which will result in about 140 jobs.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation approved $735,000 in state tax credits to support the expansions.
The Kiel location will add 80,000 square feet and create additional space for production, storage and employee facilities. Items such as natural shredded, sliced and snack cheeses, along with cheese dips and frozen appetizers, are currently produced at this location.
Company officials say they remain dedicated in the commitment to growing in Wisconsin, and the construction is expected to be complete by late 2016.
Sargento Foods is a third-generation, family-owned company with $1.3 billion in net sales and employs more than 1,700 employees.
» West Central
Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, Marquette, Green Lake Counties
Berlin foundry to close
Grede Holdings has announced it will begin layoffs for employees at its Berlin casting facility Sept. 1 and plans to shutter the plant by the end of the year.
Grede, which produces cast iron components for transportation and industrial applications, stated the closure is part of a company-wide footprint optimization plan to lower costs and allow greater efficiency at its foundry locations.
The first round of layoffs will affect 77 employees, or about 36 percent of the workforce. That will leave 136 workers at the foundry.
Grede, which is based in Southfield, Mich., operates 14 foundries in the U.S., including four in Wisconsin. As the company has implemented its optimization plan, it has closed three other U.S. foundries and is consolidating two foundries in Mexico.
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