Madison Development Corp. loans help create 110 new jobs

The Madison Development Corporation (MDC)  released its 2009 Jobs Report and Survey in February, noting that 110 new jobs were created in 2009 through a partnership with the city of Madison and Dane County through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant Program and private banks. These include 44 new full-time jobs and 66 part-time jobs, which translate into 29 full-time equivalents for a total of 73 new full-time jobs.

“The Madison Development Corporation report shows that even through tough economic times, we can work with local businesses and banks to create good jobs right here in Madison,” says MDC President Frank Staniszewski.

Applied Tech is a local information technology company that provides services for small- and medium-sized businesses that may or may not have internal I.T. departments.  Applied Tech added six new full-time employees in 2009. 

“MDC’s loan has been pivotal to our ability to grow and create jobs,” says Applied Tech President Kurt Sippel. “Given the times, we needed a partner like MDC to take advantage of the new business opportunities that are still out there.”

Banks are currently being more cautious in meeting higher capital requirements or in reaction to loan losses, making the lending environment harder than usual. MDC makes loans to start-up or early stage businesses that do not meet bank standards.

 The average loan size is $60,000 and interest rates are set to match commercial bank rates to avoid displacing bank funds when available. The loans pay back into a revolving loan fund that then go to other businesses to create more jobs.

MOVERS

>> Great Wolf Resorts Inc. has promoted Derrek Kinzel to regional vice president of operations and named Kim Reese to corporate vice president of human resources.

>> Carl Hampton is the new executive assistant to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. His primary responsibilities in the County Executive’s office will be to work on human services and criminal justice policy matters.

>> Kalahari Resorts has hired Cindy Foley, CMP, as the assistant director of sales.

>> Sidney M. Cook has been named 2010 chairman of the board for Community Business Bank in Sauk City and Lodi. Cook was one of the organizing directors in 1993 and the bank’s first chairman.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

WAUNAKEE: Lisa Whiting, owner of Whopping BIG Prints, is one of the top 10 awardees from across the United States in the Make Mine a Million $ Business Competition. The purpose of the program is to offer women entrepreneurs the needed ingredients to own million dollar enterprises, something just three percent of women entrepreneurs have accomplished. Whopping BIG Prints is a large-format printing company.

WESTBY: SecurityCoverage, a national partnership group of Internet Service Providers based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has opened a second office in Westby. Following a strong 2009 performance, the company is expanding with the addition of a second call center office in Westby. The Wisconsin office became operational at the end of March. SecurityCoverage already provides various services to approximately twenty ISPs in Wisconsin, and is looking to expand upon that base with a focus on its ISP Support Services.

MADISON: Formed when some people were frightened by the prospect of genetic engineering, the UW-Madison Biotechnology Center celebrated 25 years of operation
in March. The center has matured into an interdisciplinary hub of the Madison area’s growing biotech business. Only three Madison-area companies were working in biotech back in 1985, says Dick Burgess, the center’s founding director. Now the area has more than 150 biotech firms, and the state is recognized as a premier site for biotechnology research and industry. Wisconsin has deep roots in biotechnologies such as farming and brewing. A second ongoing focus has been education and outreach.