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The Wisconsin Innovation
Network (WIN)
eNewsletter
is a periodical of news, events and programs that
focuses on the needs and challenges faced by new
and growing technology-based businesses in
Wisconsin. WIN has chapters in the Chippewa Valley,
the Lake Superior Region, Madison, Milwaukee and
Northeast and Central Wisconsin.
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Entrepreneurs submit 279 ideas for fourth annual Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest
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From innovative ways to improve business processes
to ideas for enhancing everyday life, the fourth annual
Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest has
attracted 279 ideas from 215 individuals in 100
different cities, villages and towns, it was announced
last week.
Entries received by Jan. 31 were spread over four
contest categories aimed at capturing Wisconsin’s
best technology-based ideas: Advanced
manufacturing (66); business services (90),
information technology (80) and life sciences (43).
The number and quality of entries in the fourth annual
contest met the expectations of contest organizers at
the Wisconsin Technology Council and sent an
encouraging message about the state’s untapped
entrepreneurial talent.
“The increase in the number of entries from about 190
a year ago to 279 this year demonstrates that
Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial climate continues to
improve,” Tech Council Chairman Mark Bugher said.
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State budget has focus on tech growth
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The two-year state budget proposed by Gov. Jim Doyle
includes a number of tech initiatives:
- A $10 million increase in tax credits through a
program for investors in state start-up companies.
Increasing the $13 million amount to $23 million.
- Funding for the creation the Governor’s
Office of Energy Independence in an effort to move
Wisconsin forward towards renewable energy,
especially ethanol production.
- Funding for the creation of the Wisconsin
Investment Center.
- Increased state investments in the UW
System to meet its goals of graduating more
students, expanding research and holding tuition
down. Proposed $225 million over two years.
- $30 million budget to increase the use of
electronic medical record systems.
- Requiring a third year of math and science
in high school.
Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield has also announced
his “Invest Wisconsin 2.0” plan. His plan includes
a “NanoSTEM” initiative, nanotechnology tax credits,
and other proposals to stimulate investment. It seeks
to change the state’s marginal income rates starting
in the 2007 tax year. Under the measure, all income
tax payers would see a 1 percent reduction in their
marginal income tax rates.
To read more about the governor’s proposals, click here.
To read more about Invest Wisconsin 2.0, click here.
To read recent editorials on these topics, click here.
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National organizations single out Wisconsin for excellence
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The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the
Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)
recently released reports that reveal Wisconsin as a
leader in biotech and other tech-related areas.
- "Growing The Nation’s Biotech Sector: A Regional
Perspective," a report produced by Battelle for BIO,
identified local areas advancing in bioscience. It
highlighted Madison's grow in broad bioscience
subsectors.
- The CFED's 2006 "Development Report Card for
the States" identified several Wisconsin programs as
being examples of innovation in tech-based
development, including the Wisconsin Technology
Council, the Wisconsin Innovation Network and the
Wisconsin Angel Network.
Referring to cities and their surrounding counties
as metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), the
BIO/Battelle report states that more than half of the
nation’s MSAs are specialized in at least one of four
sectors.
Madison and Lincoln, Neb., were the only metropolitan
areas to meet the criteria for specialization (an
employment concentration that is 20 percent greater
than the national average) in all four sectors: Drugs
and pharmaceuticals; medical devices and
equipment; research, testing and medical
laboratories; and agricultural feedstock and
chemicals.
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Wisconsin fares well in Fortune Magazine's Best 100 Companies to Work For
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Wisconsin is home the headquarters of three ranking companies
Though Google came in number one of Fortune
Magazine’s best 100 companies for which to work,
S.C.
Johnson & Son, Robert W. Baird and Quad/Graphics
all ranked well at 7th, 38th and 75th, as featured in a
January issue. Of the nation's many
states, half ranked in the listing and only 13 states
housed three or more top companies. Wisconsin was
one of them.
Scores for the listing were based on results from
employee surveys and each company’s responses to
a culture audit,
which covers work related areas such as
benefits programs, pay and internal communications.
Interested in entering or nominating a company?
Companies eligible to be considered include those
with more than 1,000 U.S. employees and are seven
or more years old.
According to Dun & Bradstreet, a credit
and research reporting company, there are 117
Wisconsin companies that meet these criteria.
The deadline for next year’s top 100 is March 31, 2007.
To enter or nominate a
Wisconsin company, visit:
www.greatplacetowork.com.
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Did you know? Fast facts about Wisconsin's high-tech economy
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- Based on a 2006 survey conducted by the Center for Digital
Government, a national research and
advisory
institution, Wisconsin ranks 9th in most
digitally-advanced state governments in the nation.
In 2004,
Wisconsin ranked 25th in this survey.
- TomoTherapy, a
Wisconsin start-up that makes machines for
specialized radiation therapy, plans to go public.
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Get WIN-volved! Membership has its privileges
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Joining your local Wisconsin Innovation Network (WIN)
Chapter offers networking connections with a variety
of industries and professionals in high tech, law,
banking, government, public relations, manufacturing,
and local entrepreneurs. Your next
client/customer/partner is only "six degrees of
separation" away.
Click here to
join your local WIN
Chapter or to learn more about us.
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