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.

In Business Madison’s inaugural Executive Excellence: Finance & Technology Awards ceremony, held Thursday evening at , d...
07/11/2025

In Business Madison’s inaugural Executive Excellence: Finance & Technology Awards ceremony, held Thursday evening at , drew 300 attendees and honored 11 winners for their roles in the growth, vitality and future of their organizations, and for their contributions to the Greater Madison community. Congrats to the winners from American Family Insurance, Old National Bank, WorldWise Microfinance, TruStage, RBC Wealth Management, State of Wisconsin, Total Administrative Services Corporation (TASC), Pelago, Graceful Management Systems, Earthling Interactive and Madison College. And thanks to our sponsors for supporting this sold-out event!

The In Business Madison Executive Excellence: Finance & Technology Awards was presented by Forvis Mazars US. Sponsored by JG Development and UMB Bank. Supported by Johnson Financial Group and WICPA.

A business feature story on the local pickleball boom seemed like an appropriate piece to run at the height of summer, w...
07/11/2025

A business feature story on the local pickleball boom seemed like an appropriate piece to run at the height of summer, when the joy of playing outside is palpable for kids and adults.

But I wasn’t expecting to have our cover story on pickleball offer a broader lesson about inclusion and community — two themes that echo through multiple stories this month.

First, the picklers. Freelance writer Allison Garfield, our lead designer Jess Carter and two local photographers we frequently work with, Sharon Vanorny and Patricio Crooker, spent hours traipsing around to local parks to capture, in words and images, the pickleball craze.

It’s a great read with excellent photos (thanks team!) and through interviews with players, the story also reveals how important the community aspect of the game is. Pickleball has a low barrier to entry. It doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment. And people of all ages and abilities can play together.

“As long as people keep the true purpose of pickleball in mind — kindness, inclusion and fun — it’s just going to keep growing,” said Erin Schettler, one of the players interviewed.

No wonder the pickleball business is booming.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Katie Dean
Photograph by Sharon Vanorny

Ironically, for Tom Eggert, running an organization that provides microloans has not been all about the money. That’s wh...
07/09/2025

Ironically, for Tom Eggert, running an organization that provides microloans has not been all about the money. That’s where the programs through his Madison-based nonprofit start, but WorldWise Microfinance is working to rewrite the script on microlenders.

The nonprofit has spent its 15 years in operation leveraging global connections to support entrepreneurs in countries with high rates of poverty and other obstacles. Its sustainable programs have spurred growth — economically and otherwise — in communities across multiple continents.

WorldWise Microfinance’s newest partnership with Ugandan nonprofit Nsimbi Impact shows that its dual goal of bolstering entrepreneurs — particularly women founders — and improving communities' quality of life is doable when generosity and mutual accountability unite.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Brittney Kenaston
Photograph by Patricio Crooker

Not many new, small businesses willingly part with 40% of their revenue, but Melissa Loerke Hagan built giving into her ...
07/07/2025

Not many new, small businesses willingly part with 40% of their revenue, but Melissa Loerke Hagan built giving into her business model when she started selling her handmade goods last year.

Sun Prairie-based Mental Threads, which began as an Etsy business before becoming an official LLC, offers knit products like hats, pet toys and other soft items, and every year, a portion of sales are earmarked for donation. Loerke Hagan said she was driven to found the business by her own experience with mental health struggles.

“I’ve actually been looming for probably about 10 years. It started off as just a hobby,” she said.

“I have anxiety and depression, and I wanted to give back to a community that has given me so much. I’ve gone to therapy for about the last four years, and it’s just really helped me overcome a lot.”

While Mental Threads has encountered its fair share of obstacles as a fledgling business, it has also seen substantial growth and yielded other, more personal rewards.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Brittney Kenaston
Photography by Patricio Crooker

July's In Business Madison Professional of the Month is April Johnson, broker/owner of April Johnson- Rooted Real Estate...
07/03/2025

July's In Business Madison Professional of the Month is April Johnson, broker/owner of April Johnson- Rooted Real Estate WI - Madison. After 14 years in the industry, April launched her own independent brokerage this year. She’s passionate about helping clients navigate life transitions and staying true to her values of empathy, integrity and personalized service.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Katie Dean

The Child Care Counts program has ended, and Wisconsin won’t spend the $480 million Governor Tony Evers initially propos...
07/02/2025

The Child Care Counts program has ended, and Wisconsin won’t spend the $480 million Governor Tony Evers initially proposed for early child care in the 2025-27 state budget, but that doesn’t mean early child care advocates can’t point to some wins in the spending plan.

In fact, Ruth Schmidt, executive director of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, counts three big wins in the new budget, which should come as good news for working parents and the companies that employ them.

Schmidt was pleased with progress toward the twin goals — identified in IB Madison’s March cover story titled “A Public Good?” — of stabilizing Wisconsin’s child care industry and lowering child care costs for working families with a permanent public investment.

“There are probably at least three items that come with significant dollars attached that I think are absolutely critical to this industry, and they are very representative of bipartisan leadership on getting a deal cut on these things to help stabilize the child care field,” Schmidt said.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Joe Vanden Plas
Photograph by Sharon Vanorny

Caleb Ganansky and Jack Drake sat on the side of Tenney Park’s tennis courts on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, catching th...
07/02/2025

Caleb Ganansky and Jack Drake sat on the side of Tenney Park’s tennis courts on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, catching their breath from their last match.

“I am definitely sweating more than I should be,” said Drake, 28.

The game was not tennis, though. The two graduate school friends caught up over the fastest-growing sport in America. Your parents likely play it. Your friends, too. Maybe even your grandparents have joined the trend.

“Pickleball is humbling,” Ganansky, 28, said. “The first time I started playing was with my wife’s mom, who is obsessed, and it was just me and her mom and a bunch of people who were 50 and 60 years old — and I was getting smoked.”

The two have been playing for a few years, piggybacking on the sport’s sweep of the nation — a sweep that was not slow and steady but instead took over the country rapidly. Accelerated by the remoteness of the pandemic, pickleball has exploded in popularity since 2020, with municipalities and private companies leaning into the movement and building new courts and facilities for “picklers.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Allison Garfield
Image 1 by iStock
Images 2, 3 & 4 by Patricio Crooker
Images 5 & 7 by Erin Schettler
Image 6 by Sharon Vanorny

07/01/2025

Wow! Executive Excellence: Finance & Technology Awards tickets are officially SOLD OUT! ✨

We're blown away by the incredible response and can't wait to deliver an amazing experience for everyone attending!

The In Business Madison Executive Excellence: Finance & Technology Awards is presented by Forvis Mazars US. It is sponsored by JG Development and UMB Bank. It is supported by Johnson Financial Group and WICPA.

The July issue of In Business Madison is live! From local leaders to big ideas, this month’s edition is packed with stor...
07/01/2025

The July issue of In Business Madison is live! From local leaders to big ideas, this month’s edition is packed with stories worth your time. Check it out now at ibmadison.com.

The Yahara lakes region — known as Teejop or “Four Lakes” by the native Ho-Chunk people — has attracted communities to i...
06/27/2025

The Yahara lakes region — known as Teejop or “Four Lakes” by the native Ho-Chunk people — has attracted communities to its vast, glacially carved shores for thousands of years. These lakes — Mendota, Monona, Wingra (once a deep-water marsh), Waubesa and Kegonsa — have long shaped how people live, work and play across Greater Madison.

Have you imagined what our community would be like without these lakes? How different would our quality of life be without their scenic views, recreational access and ecological richness? How do we even begin to put a price tag on clean lakes? More critically, what happens to these benefits when lake health declines — or improves?

To answer these questions, the Clean Lakes Alliance partnered with economists and environmental experts in a groundbreaking study to estimate the economic value of the Yahara lakes. The results were striking: these lakes are more than a natural treasure — they’re an economic powerhouse.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by James Tye

A new hire leans across the breakroom table. “What’s the best perk here?” Without hesitation, a longtime employee smiles...
06/25/2025

A new hire leans across the breakroom table. “What’s the best perk here?” Without hesitation, a longtime employee smiles. “The time I get to spend at our adopted public school.”

As leaders — one from the public K-12 sector and one from a health care organization — we see every day that volunteerism is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s a strategic advantage. It strengthens teams, deepens company culture, and makes a tangible difference in the communities where we live and work.

Companies across the country are waking up to this reality. In a LinkedIn poll referenced in an April 2024 edition of Fortune, nearly 70% of respondents said they had participated in an employer-supported volunteer program. The benefits are clear: higher employee retention, stronger engagement and measurable gains in morale and productivity.

Here in Madison, businesses have a unique way to turn these trends into action: Adopt-a-School, a 20-year partnership program led by the Madison Public Schools Foundation.

Read more at ibmadison.com.

Written by Melinda Heinritz and Dr. Mark Huth

🚀 HUGE congratulations to our incredible Finance & Tech finalists in Wisconsin's Capital Region! Join IB Madison to cele...
06/23/2025

🚀 HUGE congratulations to our incredible Finance & Tech finalists in Wisconsin's Capital Region! Join IB Madison to celebrate their achievements and network with industry leaders: https://www.ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence/

The 2025 In Business Executive Excellence Awards is presented by Forvis Mazars US. It is sponsored by JG Development and UMB Bank. It is supported by Johnson Financial Group and WICPA.

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