“I championed legislation to spur more venture capital investment, as it is essential to the state’s economic growth,” Governor Doyle said. “By encouraging investors through tax credits to make these crucial investments – we are helping to turn these great ideas into viable, job-creating businesses.”
The Angel Investor and Venture Fund Tax Credit Programs offer Wisconsin income tax credits to angel investors and investors in seed-stage venture capital funds. These programs are designed to increase the supply of both qualified angel investors and investors in qualified venture capital funds. The tax credits are available only for investments made in technology businesses qualified by Commerce. As Commerce qualifies businesses for investment, it will list them on the Commerce website.
President Visits Milwaukee Web News Firm
President Bush made an interesting choice during his visit to Milwaukee today, stopping to say hello to the folks at www.onmilwaukee.com. The legacy publication, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel mentioned the visit and the domain!
School Referenda
In order to clarify what I said to the reporter in the May 18 story entitled Mayor Urges Yes Vote for Schools, I sent the following letter to the CapTimes:
Dear Editors,
I was quoted as saying the “world wouldn’t come to a screeching halt” if the referenda did not pass. Actually, what I said was there was plenty of time for the school board to prepare new referenda questions for a November election, when we would otherwise be voting. Thus, for those of us concerned that these items are not based on solid data, a ‘no’ vote now would not bring the district to its knees.
Why the rush, then? Because the outcome might change. For instance, by next fall, we might learn that the demographics in the district and Leopold neighborhood argue against a school there, perhaps that building there would mean certain school closures in the Isthmus area. Those following school issues know that another far West side elementary school is surely going to get built in addition to whatever happens at Leopold. Something’s got to give.
And as to the operating and maintenance questions, we need a closer look at the teachers’ contract and also the “untouchable” administrative staff arrangements. Actually, we need an overall transparent budget process. If the numbers are solid, let’s see the justifications and assumptions. I am happy to support these requests when I can trust the numbers. Right now, I don’t.
Joan M. Knoebel
Real-Time Earthquake Hazard Forecast – California
Richard Harris on the USGS’s new earthquake forecast site.
More Wal-Mart Supercenters?
The Daily Union Editorial Page:
That said, we can’t help but notice that the Daily Union staffers have been receiving more than their fair share of “thank-yous” of late, and particularly since May 3. That was the day we reported that the Jefferson Common Council decided 5-3 to ignore high circulation figures and drop the Daily Union after nearly two decades as the city’s official newspaper. Apparently a lot of our Jefferson readers now want us to know that they, at least, appreciate our efforts. Their pats on the back have felt nice.
Conversely, the stabs from five aldermen who perceive our coverage of municipal meetings as biased and erroneous have not. They’ve pointed, in particular, to one discussion on Wal-Mart in which proponents claim we slanted our front-page story against a SuperCenter being built in Jefferson. We’ve also misinterpreted quotes recorded on tape, they say.
The Amazing Rise of the Do it Yourself Economy
It used to be that a tinkerer like Misterovich could, at best, hope to sell his idea to a big company. More likely, he’d entertain friends with his Pez-sized visions. But a number of factors are coming together to empower amateurs in a way never before possible, blurring the lines between those who make and those who take. Unlike the dot-com fortune hunters of the late 1990s, these do-it-yourselfers aren’t deluding themselves with oversized visions of what they might achieve. Instead, they’re simply finding a way—in this mass-produced, Wal-Mart world—to take power back, prove that they can make the products that they want to consume, have fun doing so, and, just maybe, make a few dollars. “What’s happened is a tremendous change in awareness,” says Eric von Hippel, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of the recent Democratizing Innovation. “Conventional wisdom is so strong [in business] about find-a-need-and-fill-it: ‘We’re the manufacturers; we design products; we ask users what they need; we do it.’ That has begun to crack.”
Illinois Tri-Cities Municipal Broadband Battle – Mother Jones
Via Glenn Fleishman:
Read the full Mother Jones article on municipal broadband (enter code MJZL6Y to read full article): The fine folks at Mother Jones sent me an access code and permission to post it so you can read the full article they published in this month’s issue about the Tri-Cities, Illinois, battle with SBC and Comcast on one side and the city’s business-backed goals of providing municipal broadband on the other.
Interestingly, the Tri-Cities now have substantially greater broadband services: the two incumbents spent hundreds of thousands to defeat two ballot initiatives, and then probably tens of millions to upgrade their networks.
David Isenberg has more on Japan continuing to kick our butt in FTTH (fiber to the home), including some interesting numbers to single family homes.
Auto Industry Leadership Index
Peter DeLorenzo’s AutoExtremist published an interesting auto industry leadership study. Take a look. DeLorenzo examines brand perceptions from a consumer, industry insider and enthusiast perspective.
Lucian Read’s Guerilla Galleries
Powerful photos, from Lucian Read. Via Ed Cone. More on Lucian.
Baker on a Big Three Rebirth?
Today’s Wall Street Journal article provides an overview of today’s Auto industry. It answers the question I’ve been thinking of for a long time — “what is an American Car”. Fully 1/3 of the cars built in North America are Non-Big Three. I’m sure that if they went further and looked at “investment” in new facilities over the past 20 years, it would be even further skewed.