In Business Madison

In Business Madison Celebrating more than 47 years of editorial excellence, In Business Madison is the premier business media outlet serving Wisconsin's Capital Region.

Sign up for a free subscription at ibmadison.com! In Business Madison is the premier business media outlet serving Wisconsin's capital region. Celebrating more than 45 years of editorial excellence, our nationally acclaimed editorial department covers the companies and people shaping the business community through news, analysis, and in-depth profiles — online and in print. We provide interview-st

yle reporting on business best practices by industry, as well as profiling new businesses in the marketplace and honoring the stakeholders who built the business community with awards programs and special events. IB also publishes a morning and afternoon e-newsletter every weekday featuring the latest local, regional, and national business news stories.

Human resources leaders help organizations attract talent, build culture, support employees and create workplaces where ...
05/29/2026

Human resources leaders help organizations attract talent, build culture, support employees and create workplaces where people can succeed.

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & Human Resources Awards. Help us recognize outstanding leaders in the following categories:

• Human Resources Executive of the Year
• Large Business Human Resources
• Small Business Human Resources Executive (Less than 50 Employees)
• Public Sector & Agencies: Leadership in Local Municipalities & State Government
• Non-Profit Human Resources Executive
• Rising Star in Human Resources

Do you know an HR leader making a difference in your organization or the Capital Region?

🗓️ Nominations close June 15
➡️ Nominate here: ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence

The 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards will take place July 23 at The Edgewater Madison and is presented by Forvis Mazars US, with major partners Investors Associated, LLP, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. and UMB Bank, and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group.

Nominate a leader, reserve your seat and learn more at ibmadison.com.

Finance leaders do more than manage the numbers — they help shape strategy, drive growth and guide organizations through...
05/29/2026

Finance leaders do more than manage the numbers — they help shape strategy, drive growth and guide organizations through change.

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & Human Resources Awards. Help us recognize outstanding leaders in the following categories:

• Financial Executive of the Year
• Large Business Financial Executive
• Small Business Financial Executive (Less than 50 Employees)
• Public Sector & Agencies: Leadership in Local Municipalities & State Government
• Non-Profit Financial Executive
• Rising Star in Finance

Do you know a finance leader making a difference in your organization or the Capital Region?

🗓️ Nominations close June 15
➡️ Nominate here: ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence

The 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards will take place July 23 at The Edgewater Madison and is presented by Forvis Mazars US, with major partners Investors Associated, LLP, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. and UMB Bank , and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group .

Nominate a leader, reserve your seat and learn more at ibmadison.com.

Tickets are now on sale for In Business Madison’s 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards 🎉 Join us as we recogni...
05/27/2026

Tickets are now on sale for In Business Madison’s 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards 🎉

Join us as we recognize outstanding leaders in finance and human resources across the Capital Region and celebrate the professionals making a difference within their organizations and our business community.

🗓️ Nominations close June 15
🔗 Nominate here: https://www.ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence

Nominate a leader, reserve your seat and learn more at ibmadison.com.

The 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards will take place July 23 at The Edgewater Madison and is presented by Forvis Mazars US, with major partners Investors Associated, LLP, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., and UMB Bank and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group.

✨ Sponsorship opportunities are still available. ✨

There are two schools of thought about the economic effects of the U.S. war against Iran.The first holds that price hike...
05/27/2026

There are two schools of thought about the economic effects of the U.S. war against Iran.

The first holds that price hikes due to shortages, largely the result of Iran’s strategic response to block oil tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, will cause a global recession — especially if the strait, through which 20% of the world’s supply of oil travels, is out of commission for a prolonged period.

The second school says it’s a temporary situation and that once the strait is reopened, energy prices will come back down to earth — perhaps even lower than they were before.

What the national average gasoline price was before the war began on Feb. 28 was $3 per gallon. By April 11, when there was a tentative cease fire and diplomatic efforts were underway to reopen the strait, and before the U.S. launched a naval blockade of that vital passageway, the national average price of gas had risen to $4.14.

Everything from gasoline at the pump to the nitrogen-based fertilizers used by farmers — near the start of spring planting — have been affected.

Most Wisconsin farmers finalized their seed contracts last fall, but some farmers must decide whether to buy new fertilizer, which would raise their input costs, or use less from last year’s depleted supply, which could negatively affect their yields, according to Peter Lukszys, a supply chain expert and distinguished lecturer at the Wisconsin School of Business.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Story by Joe Vanden Plas
Illustration by Getty Images

Nominations for Executive Excellence 2026 are officially open! 🌟Do you know an outstanding finance or HR leader helping ...
05/22/2026

Nominations for Executive Excellence 2026 are officially open! 🌟

Do you know an outstanding finance or HR leader helping shape the success of their organization and the greater Madison business community? Now is the time to recognize them.

Executive Excellence honors the professionals driving growth, innovation, leadership, and culture across our region, and we can’t wait to celebrate this year’s incredible honorees.

🗓️ Nominations close June 15
➡️ Nominate here: ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence/

The 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards will take place July 23rd at The Edgewater Madison and is presented by Forvis Mazars US, with major partners Investors Associated, LLP and Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group. ✨ Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

Across Dane County, something powerful is happening inside businesses of every size and sector. Sustainability is becomi...
05/22/2026

Across Dane County, something powerful is happening inside businesses of every size and sector. Sustainability is becoming a driver of innovation, employee engagement and long-term business success.

From energy efficiency upgrades to employee-led composting programs, organizations are discovering that when sustainability is embedded into everyday decision-making, it unlocks new ideas, saves money, strengthens teams and builds resilience for the future.

Coming off an engaging April Earth Month, it is clear to me that sustainability matters to our local businesses and is essential to long-term business success. It is essential to address rising costs and gasoline prices, shifting priorities, extreme weather events, talent attraction/retention and community well-being.

Sustainability is the practice of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Increasingly, local Dane County businesses are recognizing that sustainability is a present-day opportunity they must take to innovate, adapt and lead.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Claire Schaefer Oleksiak, Executive Director, Sustain Dane

Camille Carter has a familiar lament in the nonprofit world.Carter, president of the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce, ...
05/20/2026

Camille Carter has a familiar lament in the nonprofit world.

Carter, president of the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit that provides services to Black-owned businesses, has run out of federal grants and is looking for new funding sources to maintain its support of Black-owned businesses and Black entrepreneurs.

Having used a $3.6 million American Rescue Plan Act grant from the COVID era to build capacity, a lack of continuing federal support has placed the organization in a position where it has to pivot in order to sustain that capacity, Carter said.

At the moment, she said none of the chamber’s remaining employees are getting paid a salary or benefits as the organization tries to make do with modest annual membership dues from its roughly 200 members in southcentral Wisconsin.

“We are going to have to potentially get creative,” Carter said. “We currently have some funding to keep the chamber’s doors open and support basic programming. What we don't have is the budget to support staffing for the organization and right now my No. 1 mission is to refund the organization.

“This work takes people,” she said. “It does not run on its own and in order to uplift people and to support them, we have to have the staff in order to do that.”

Thanks to a shift in federal priorities — including what Carter called an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion under President Donald Trump — her plight is familiar to many nonprofit organizations across the country.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Story by Joe Vanden Plas
Illustration by Getty Images

A huge thank you to the partners who helped make our 2026 40 Under 40 celebration possible 🎉We’re incredibly grateful fo...
05/18/2026

A huge thank you to the partners who helped make our 2026 40 Under 40 celebration possible 🎉

We’re incredibly grateful for your support in helping us recognize and celebrate this year’s inspiring class of young professionals and leaders across the Capital Region. Congratulations again to the outstanding 2026 40 Under 40 class 👏

Thank you to our major and supporting partners for helping create such a memorable evening at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.

We couldn’t do it without you!

The 2026 In Business Madison 40 Under 40 event was made possible by major partner The Madison Club and supporting partners Borakove Osman LLC, JP Cullen, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., Stafford Rosenbaum LLP and Summit Credit Union.

Some days, Keith Matejka is a cartographer. On another evening, he might be a knight getting equipped for battle, or a p...
05/18/2026

Some days, Keith Matejka is a cartographer. On another evening, he might be a knight getting equipped for battle, or a profligate gambler trying to fill his Emerald Skull with dice to make some loot while rotting away in Kulbak Prison.

He does this all from Middleton.

Most days, Matejka is sitting at his desk in an office on the west side. The nondescript building at 7182 U.S. Highway 14 Unit 402 has a tiny Thunderworks Games logo on the door. While plain, each time the tabletop game designer steps into the business, he’s entering a world of fantasy he crafts to bring joy to gamers around the world.

What’s immediately apparent in the office is that Thunderworks is global. A vitrine displays multiple versions of the games Matejka and his team have produced, with over 20 games translated in various languages.

German, Japanese, French — Thunderworks has found success at home and abroad. Its most popular game, Cartographers, has sold over 100,000 units in the U.S., and hit over a quarter of a million worldwide.

“We live on a much smaller scale in which, if you sell 10,000 units, that’s a pretty significant success,” Matejka said when comparing his industry to other ones like video games, where sales need to be much higher to garner success.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Story and photography by Louis Livingston-Garcia

The spring storm that hammered parts of Madison with hailstones — resulting in damaged roofs, shattered car windows and ...
05/15/2026

The spring storm that hammered parts of Madison with hailstones — resulting in damaged roofs, shattered car windows and other destruction — will keep the area’s construction crews, auto glass and insurance companies busy in the weeks ahead.

I had a front-row (well, basement level) seat to the pummeling, which resulted in a broken window and two cars pockmarked with quarter-sized dents and a damaged windshield.

In the wake of the storm, on the near east side, representatives of roofing companies knocked on doors and dropped off fliers offering free inspections. What had been a neighborhood blanketed with golf ball-sized hail days earlier was now a mix of trucks, ladders and repair workers.

“For us, it’s unprecedented in 24 years of business,” Ron Chester, general manager at Full Spectrum Solar, told In Business Madison's Louis Livingston-Garcia. “We’ve installed over 50,000 solar panels, and up until the events of April 14th, we can think on one hand how many solar panels couldn’t handle your regular hail.

“The hail we witnessed on the 14th was absolutely next scale, next size, and we’re receiving a lot of damage reports.”

Read more at ibmadison.com or visit our link in bio to see the story.

Story and photograph by Katie Dean

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