Sen. Andre Jacque is seeking cosponsors for a bill that would require health insurers to cover certain costs related to participating in a clinical trial.  In a memo sent to other lawmakers, the De Pere Republican says the legislation aims to ensure clinical trial participants don’t face “unnecessary denial and

The head of the state Department of Workforce Development says the rise of AI technology “couldn’t come at a greater time” given the state’s labor challenges.  Speaking this week during the first meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence in Madison, DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek noted

Midwest Games founder and CEO Ben Kvalo sees the potential for a “mega-hit” video game coming out of Wisconsin in the near future as the regional industry continues to mature. The Green Bay-based publishing studio recently completed a $3 million investment round, according to an announcement yesterday from lead investor

Nexus Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer of generic drugs and other products, aims to double its workforce in under a decade as it adds more production lines at its Pleasant Prairie facility.  The Illinois company first broke ground in 2019 on the $100 million project, which was the first greenfield generic drug

The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce’s latest annual dinner explored the concepts of belonging and human connection in the era of remote work.  “Gathering can happen in interesting ways, that doesn’t always have to be in person. But there are risks when it’s not in person … Remote work and

The head of a consulting service for Wisconsin manufacturers is advocating for a tech-savvy, generational approach to employee recruitment, development and retention.  Chris Baichoo, executive director and CEO of Madison-based WMEP Manufacturing Solutions, spoke during the 2023 Wisconsin Economic Summit. The two-day event was hosted this week in Appleton by

State officials are touting Wisconsin’s precision medicine “Tech Hub” designation as a win for the state’s biohealth industries.  The U.S. Department of Commerce yesterday announced the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub effort, led by Madison-based BioForward Wisconsin, is one of 31 such initiatives selected for Regional Technology Hub designation by the

While statewide home sales and listings were still down year-over-year in September, the latest Wisconsin Realtors Association report shows some areas of improvement.  WRA Board of Directors Chairman Joe Horning notes the annual decline in new home listings was below 4% for the second month in a row — a

A UW-Madison think tank is urging policymakers to raise the state’s minimum hourly wage, arguing low-income workers in Wisconsin are “falling behind.”  The progressive COWS High Road Strategy Center yesterday released a new report on how the state would be impacted by upping the minimum wage from its current level

Biohealth companies in south central Wisconsin are drawing on the region’s growing pool of skilled talent as they expand.  Speaking yesterday during the Wisconsin Biohealth Summit hosted by BioForward Wisconsin in Madison, panelists acknowledged the workforce challenges facing most industries in Wisconsin. But they said the influence of UW-Madison and

While poverty rates in Wisconsin have fallen from their latest peak during the Great Recession, they haven’t rebounded to the lows seen about a decade before that.  That’s according to a recent report from UW-Madison’s Division of Extension, written by Prof. Steven Deller, an economist and professor in the Department

A cybersecurity expert is urging businesses to be proactive in guarding their data and take online threats seriously.  “If you don’t have an [incident response] retainer, you sure should,” Ghostscale founding partner DJ Vogel said Friday during the Cybersecurity Summit in Milwaukee. “When you’ve got a ransomware screen with a

SHINE Technologies has completed a $70 million funding round — the largest investment deal of the year so far in Wisconsin.  The Janesville-based company is developing fusion technologies for applications in various industries, including health care, aerospace and more. Ultimately, SHINE aims to achieve fusion energy generation in the final

Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee Chair Reince Priebus is praising the bipartisan cooperation required to pull off next year’s Republican National Convention.  Speaking yesterday during a meeting of the Milwaukee Rotary Club, he said attendees “should feel really great about” the Democratic city opening its arms to those with opposing viewpoints.

Five entrepreneurs developing companies around fintech and services make up the latest Black Founder Accelerator cohort in Milwaukee.  Northwestern Mutual yesterday announced the startup leaders joining the program for its second 2023 cohort, hosted in partnership with Madison-based accelerator gener8tor. It’s funded through a $20 million commitment from the financial

Wisconsin has been ranked 22nd in the country for the health of its women and children, reflecting the state’s high level of access to clinical care.  The ranking comes from the latest United Health Foundation report. It analyzes states’ performance on an array of metrics, ranging from education and economic

AI is being used for crunching data, detecting fraud, writing software, analyzing language and much more, but business users say human expertise remains as important as ever.  Spencer X. Smith, founder of Madison-based digital marketing firm AmpliPhi, emphasized the importance of human feedback for an AI training method called reinforcement

Marquette University researcher Qindan Huang is getting nearly $740,000 in federal funding to explore a method for protecting critical infrastructure from corrosion.  Huang is an associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering in the Milwaukee university’s Opus College of Engineering. She will use the U.S. Department of Transportation grant

The state has seen a substantial improvement in drought conditions over the past few weeks as farmers continue harvesting corn, potatoes and other crops.  The percentage of Wisconsin experiencing extreme drought — the second-worst category — has fallen from 22% in early September to just 6.8%, according to the National

While investment activity in Wisconsin so far this year is faltering, one expert says there’s still time for “a nice uptick” in the coming months.   The Tech Council has identified about $191 million in investment deals in 2023 — well below the year-end totals of $870 million in 2021 and