By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Milwaukee developer William Orenstein would like to see policy makers move past catch phrases like “Open for Business” and have a meaningful discussion of what it takes to make Wisconsin attractive to business.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says jokingly that when he got his invitation to a Super Bowl party from the White House, he asked, “What should I bring? Some brats? A couple of six packs?”

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Eaton Corp., now located in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, is being wooed to move to the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa using both tax incremental financing and $20 million in federal New Market Tax Credits designed to encourage business development in poor communities. This kind of poaching happens often, but is it fair?

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Everybody wants to be paid promptly. For some subcontractors, especially smaller businesses, it can be a life or death issue.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

The hullabaloo surrounding the proposed $50 million Marriott hotel has caused the Historic Preservation Commission to do some soul searching.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Eric Uram, the chairman of the left-leaning John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club, has found something to like in the recent Republican electoral landslide.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Last week, industry representatives offered advice to Gov. Scott Walker on regulations that need to be ditched as he considers all that are enforced by the soon-to-be-abandoned Department of Commerce.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Has the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee tapped out its deep-pocket donor base or can it raise money for a new arena on campus?

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers wants to return to its roots.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Just nine months after Talgo announced it was moving into Milwaukee with the support of the governor and the Milwaukee mayor, the company is now asking: What happened? Where are you guys?

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is planning to spend $16 million to build two pump stations that are capable of dumping untreated sewage, diluted by rain, into local water ways.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Although the high-speed rail connection between Milwaukee and Madison appears to have been derailed, the train connection between Chicago and Milwaukee seems to be zipping along.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

The contractors who were supposed to be working on the high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison have been awfully quiet about the work being put on hold in the post-election hullabaloo.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Today, the Institute for Justice, a self-described libertarian law firm based in suburban Washington D.C., is releasing a lengthy report entitled “Unhappy Days for Milwaukee Entrepreneurs,” one of reports aimed at eight American cities that the institute says has bad-for-business policies.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

The forecast for business environment for the fourth quarter is lukewarm, and construction and manufacturing always lags the rest of the economy. But there could be good news ahead.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

The trains are coming -- not by rail, but by flatbed truck.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Milwaukee County and the federal government buildings are exempt from the city’s facade inspection ordinance but follow it voluntarily. But the O’Donnell Park garage, the site of a fatal accident this summer, wasn’t covered under the policy.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Milwaukee City Hall was abuzz last week over an unseemly shouting match between two aldermen -- Tony Zielinski and Joe Davis -- at the end of a meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Wisconsin is losing ground in highway performance and cost-effectiveness, according to the most recent Reason Foundation Annual Highway Report.

By Marie Rohde

staff writer

Urban planners say Milwaukee needs first-floor retail space with new construction, but developers say the need isn’t there and the city should relax its requirements.