In This Edition
2011 Early Stage Symposium - It's a wrap!
'Wisconsin YES!' student biz plan contest
2012 Gov's Biz Plan Contest gears up for 2012
Tech Council broadband report
'WisBusiness: The Show'
Company news round-up
Inside Wisconsin columns
Wisconsin Angel Network launches new logo, website
News, Events and Opportunities
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November 2011
The Wisconsin Innovation Network (WIN) eNewsletter is a periodical of news, events and programs about the needs and challenges faced by new and growing technology-based businesses in Wisconsin.  WIN has chapters in western Wisconsin, the Lake Superior region, Madison, Milwaukee, northeast Wisconsin and central Wisconsin.
2011 Early Stage Symposium - It's a wrap!

 

The 2011 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium was held Nov. 2-3 in Madison, where 455 people, including 65 investors, took part in various aspects of the conference. Click here to see a conference wrap-up page, including news conferences, photographs, an attendee list, speakers slides and more. Also, look for a post-conference survey to let us know how we can make the 2012 symposium even more successful!    

'Wisconsin YES!' student biz plan contest accepting entries now

 

Wisconsin Youth Entrepreneurs in Science, a statewide youth business plan contest modeled after the successful Governor's Business Plan Contest, is open for online entries from Wisconsin middle- and high-school students through Dec. 5, 2011.   

 

Public, private and home-schooled students across Wisconsin are eligible to turn their science- and tech-related ideas into business plans and compete for cash and prizes for themselves and their schools. The contest begins with a 250-word summary and culminates in June with awards at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference.  

 

The contest is an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience in developing ideas into business plans. Visit www.wisconsinyes.com for more information.  

Governor's Biz Plan Contest gears up for 2012

BPC 2012 Banner Small

The Governor's Business Plan Contest is accepting entries until 5 p.m. Jan. 31, 2012, for its ninth annual contest. Over time, more than 2,000 entries have been received statewide and finalists have received more than $1 million in cash and other prizes. Produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council and partners that include the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., the Governor's Business Plan Contest engages contestants in a six-month process that includes mentoring and comments from judges on selected plans. The contest also leads to valuable public and media exposure for the best business plans and spurs company creation in Wisconsin. Past finalists have raised a reported $20 million in private equity, such as angel and venture capital.

Need for improved rural broadband coverage examined in report
Widespread access to high-speed broadband coverage is necessary for the overall health and prosperity of much of rural Wisconsin, a report issued Monday by the Wisconsin Technology Council has concluded.

"Connecting rural Wisconsin: The economic necessity of broadband" urges continued federal, state and private-sector efforts to make broadband coverage more pervasive in rural Wisconsin.
Read report here 
Latest 'WisBusiness: The Show' features WEA Trust CEO Moody
Company news round-up

Virent continues to make headlines with their crude oil replacement products.  

BPC finalist Amy Recob of Middleton teaches children how to manage food allergies

Medical College of Wisconsin has received its largest grant ever, just under $45 million in federal money over six years, to fund and analyze large clinical research trials. 

Hartland start-up Lightweight Structures and Aquamost were two of five finalists in the Midwest clean-tech competition.

Promega breaks ground on $90 million expansion Backhoes will begin moving dirt for a new building at Promega Corp.'s Fitchburg campus - the biggest building yet for the privately owned biotechnology company.  

Aver Informatics, a DePere company, has raised $1.3 million in angel financing.

Anteco Pharma is breaking ground on a 25,000-square-foot addition to its manufacturing facility in Lodi, Wis., just north of Madison.

Middleton biotech Lucigen has been awarded $350,000 in grants from the National Institutes of Health to fund additional research and development. 

HarQen Inc. of Milwaukee, a firm that focuses on collaborative voice services, has raised $2.5 million in its current $4 million round of venture capital funding.

Cellular Dynamics International, the stem cell company founded by UW-Madison researcher James Thomson in 2004, has won the top prize in the Wall Street Journal's 2011 Technology Innovation Awards.

Radioisotope maker Northstar Medical Radioisotopes, one of the presenting companies at the Nov. 2-3 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, will receive a $4.6 million federal grant to continue its work toward developing an alternative source for a commonly used medical isotope.   

Inside Wisconsin columns tackle state, tech issues

Tech Council President Tom Still shares insights on technology, the economy and politics through "Inside Wisconsin." Here are some recent columns:

 

Foreign direct investment is transforming Wisconsin's economy for the better - This month's announcement that Thiel Cheese & Ingredients of Hilbert has been acquired by the Irish Dairy Board might have struck some people as a bit odd. Have the Irish run out of dairy farmers or lost their historic knack for making cheese? 

Isotope race shows strength of Wisconsin start-ups - Still writes about the success of two Wisconsin companies locked in a national race to produce a commonly used medical isotope -- and how their presence here exemplifies the state's start-up sector.

Competitive federal grants help keep Wisconsin tech companies in the game   Stratatech is a Wisconsin company at the forefront of efforts to develop substitute skin. It's also a prime example of how emerging companies with innovative technology can compete for, and win, federal research grants that speed discoveries into the marketplace.

Strength, diversity of Wisconsin's innovation economy on display at Early Stage event - With the Wisconsin Legislature huddled in the Capitol to debate ideas for improving Wisconsin's economy, it's only fitting that some of the companies actually shaping the state's future will be gathered two blocks away next week.

Venture capital program worth the investment - Still compares the advantages of investing in a state-leveraged venture program to other successful economic development strategies. 
Wisconsin's workforce paradox: Nagging unemployment and unfilled jobs
- Delore Zimmerman likes a lot of what he sees in Wisconsin's economy: its tradition of high-performing, globally competitive companies; its above-average export growth; and what he describes as a "robust" tech-based ecosystem driven by business, university and government.  

A short course on how Wisconsin can attract businesses from outside - Darin Buelow of Deloitte Consulting's Chicago office is a Badger in almost every way that counts. He's a Madison native, married a Madison native, graduated from UW-Madison and describes himself as a "proud Green Bay Packers shareholder" - an attribute he may not flaunt every day while strolling down on Wacker Drive.     

 

Click here to view more Inside Wisconsin columns. 

Wisconsin Angel Network launches new logo, website 
The Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN) has a new look! To check out the anatomy of the WAN rebrand, click here.
WAN was launched in January 2005 to fuel the growth of entrepreneurial, early stage financing throughout Wisconsin. WAN accomplishes this mission by providing services and resources to the early stage investing market. WAN connects entrepreneurs to investors and offers tools and education on raising capital. Access these for free by visiting our redesigned site:www.wisconsinangelnetwork.com.

Wisconsin has experienced a significant growth in angel networks and early stage funds, from five in early 2005 to more than two dozen today. Creating connections between these groups and others in the region has led to an expansion of the early stage investment market in Wisconsin and beyond.
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________________________________________________________________________ 
Dear Reader,


For 10 years, the Wisconsin Technology Council and its membership arm, the Wisconsin Innovation Network, have served as the independent, non-partisan science and technology advisers to four governors and successive Legislatures. We're pleased that, through Executive Order 51, Gov. Scott Walker has reaffirmed the Tech Council's role in helping create an innovation-based economy in Wisconsin. Visit our newsroom at www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com to learn more.  Also, I invite you to share your ideas for news and events with us by emailing us at news@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.
 
Sincerely,
 


Tom Still, president
Wisconsin Innovation Network / Wisconsin Technology Council
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E-mail: news@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com
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