Tourism in Wisconsin had a record-high $25 billion economic impact last year, marking a 5.4% increase over the previous year’s record of $23.7 billion.  State officials yesterday announced tourism industry data for 2023, showing Wisconsin had 113 million visits last year. That’s 2 million more than in 2022, and includes

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes has finished building specialized facilities at its Beloit location as it prepares to ramp up manufacturing.  The commercial-stage radiopharmaceutical business recently announced the “critical milestone,” noting the new space will support current clinical trials and “full-scale manufacturing” that’s slated to begin in July.  NorthStar is developing radioisotope…

SHINE Technologies is supplying UK-based Blue Earth Therapeutics with a key material for a prostate cancer clinical trial, the Janesville company says.  In a recent release, SHINE announced its partnership with the business, which develops radiopharmaceutical medicines. SHINE has provided the first supply of its lutetium-177 chloride — or Ilumira

Integrating the fields of genetics and social science is “putting us on the right track” for understanding the world better, a UW-Madison expert says.  The university’s La Follette School of Public Affairs yesterday held a panel discussion on its Initiative in Social Genomics, which aims to bring together these disciplines

Opponents of a proposed oil pipeline relocation are raising concerns about environmental harm while supporters of the Enbridge Line 5 proposal frame the project as an economic boon for the region.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a public hearing in Ashland yesterday on Enbridge’s application to relocate a

Just 41% of nursing facilities in Wisconsin currently meet proposed federal staffing requirements, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study.  While the recently released rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services won’t take effect immediately, the KFF report shows most states — including Wisconsin — fall well

Alliant Energy has finished a large solar project in Grant County that will produce enough energy each year to power more than 50,000 homes, the Madison-based utility announced.  Construction on the 200-megawatt Grant County Solar Project started in September 2022 and involved more than 700 workers, according to the recent

Gov. Tony Evers has announced a $100 million effort to back startup businesses, which he called “the biggest public-private investment in Wisconsin startups and entrepreneurs in our state’s history.” Evers announced the Wisconsin Investment Fund yesterday at Forward BIOLABS in Madison, a company that offers lab and office space for

Waukesha County Technical College has launched a new accelerator program to boost technology-focused startups, particularly those working in AI.  WCTC recently announced the gALPHA and gBETA Applied AI Lab accelerators alongside startup organization gener8tor, which include plans to recruit companies in the Waukesha County area to support other startups in

COnovate, an early-stage company based on UW-Milwaukee research, is developing new battery technologies that could offer faster charging and more storage capacity.  Strategy and Commercial Support Lead Jeff Moore presented on the company yesterday during a Wisconsin Technology Council meeting in Madison. COnovate is developing a “remarkable fundamentally distinct” material

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation wants more flexibility in the federal immigration program for seasonal agricultural workers, according to board member and farmer Dave Daniels.  During a WisconsinEye interview published yesterday, Daniels said farmers in the state “harvest every day of the year, not necessarily just nine months out of

The Idea Fund of La Crosse has raised $31.5 million for a second venture capital fund, targeting startups in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.  The VC firm yesterday announced the fund, which aims to invest in pre-revenue and early-stage businesses in agriculture, manufacturing, health care and logistics.  The release notes the

Epic is rolling out a new personalized care data tool, which aims to give doctors crucial patient insights.  That’s according to Phil Lindemann, vice president of data and analytics informatics for the Verona-based electronic health records company. He spoke yesterday during In Business magazine’s Health Care Summit in Madison.  He

The winner of last year’s Governor’s Business Plan Contest, SixLine Semiconductor’s Katy Jinkins, says her approach to tech challenges is to “fail fast” and frequently as part of the innovation process.  Jinkins, the Middleton-based startup company’s CEO, co-founder and co-inventor, was a featured speaker during a recent Wisconsin Technology Council

Stoughton Trailers has broken ground on its new global headquarters project, which CEO and President Bob Wahlin hopes will help elevate Stoughton as a destination for young professionals and their families.  The semitrailer manufacturer early last year announced its plans for the new headquarters, replacing the office building it had

UW-Madison engineers have developed a method for improving the body’s uptake of certain gene therapies through controlled electrical stimulation.  In a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE, electrical engineering researchers found that delivering harmless pulses of electricity to liver cells caused them to absorb 40 times as much

In a recent report, a UW-Madison think tank found instructional staff growth at the university hasn’t kept up with rising undergraduate enrollment.  The Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy, or CROWE, recently released a report called “Administrative Intensity at UW-Madison,” the fourth in a series focused on the economics

The greater Madison area is seeing “significant” improvements in housing inventory as the market stabilizes, according to a local real estate executive.  Stark Company Realtors President David Stark says this spring brings “far less uncertainty” than was present in early 2023, when rising mortgage rates led to confusion among analysts

The MMAC’s latest business outlook survey found relatively low expectations for growth in the second quarter.  Bret Mayborne, economic research director for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, notes respondents expressed concern about continuing economic growth in the coming months.  “That concern was reflected with less than half of those

The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is forming a new future-looking work group called N2, which stands for the Next Normal.  In a recent interview, Chamber President Zach Brandon noted “the pandemic dust hasn’t settled yet” and underlined persistent economic uncertainty.  “We just don’t know where things are going to