In Business Madison

We're hiring!

We're looking for a Sales & Marketing Coordinator to join our employee-owned team at In Business Madison.

If you're organized, collaborative and excited about sales, marketing, events and connecting with Madison's business community, we'd love to hear from you.

Learn more and apply today: https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/portal/41E82EC60AAD792EC7018E3AB22DE8D2/jobs/329239

Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards will take place Thursday, August 20, at The Edgewater Madison.

Join us as we recognize the exceptional finance and HR leaders making a difference across Wisconsin's Capital Region.

Current ticket holders are all set—their registrations have automatically transferred to the new date.

🎟️ Tickets are available: https://ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence/

Thank you to our presenting sponsor Forvis Mazars US , major partnersInvestors Associated, LLP, Boerner Van Deuren s.c., and UMB Bank, and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group.

After the police shooting that killed Corey Ruiz on July 22 rocked the Madison community, the intersection of South Baldwin and Williamson streets was blocked off by the city, and by mattresses, pallets and debris.

A makeshift memorial to Ruiz sits in the intersection, with flowers, signs and candles. A giant black fist looms over the memorial, with a red, black and green Pan-African flag waving in the wind. Pop-up tents provide shelter to those handing out supplies.

While the city has mourned, the businesses behind the barricades are doing their best to support the community and pay the bills. Whether staying open or remaining closed, many of the shops and restaurants in the near east side neighborhood have offered support to mourners and protesters who have come to grieve and stand vigil at the site of the shooting.

Read more: https://ibmadison.com/businesses-at-site-of-fatal-corey-ruiz-shooting-support-community-amid-challenges/

Story and photograph by Louis Livingston-Garcia

Businesses at site of fatal Corey Ruiz shooting support community amid challenges While the city mourns, businesses are doing their best to support the community and pay the bills

POSTPONED

Due to the police-involved shooting in Madison on Wednesday and after consulting with our partners and stakeholders, In Business Madison has decided to postpone tonight's Executive Excellence: Finance & Human Resources Awards at the Edgewater. The event will be rescheduled for a later date.

Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the man who was killed, and the broader Madison community as it mourns.

Details on the rescheduled event will be forthcoming. Thank you for understanding.

Wisconsin has added small businesses at roughly the same pace as the nation since 2010, but it has added jobs within those businesses at a significantly slower rate, according to a new study from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Joe Peterangelo, research director for the Wisconsin Policy Forum and a co-author of the study “Small Business, Big Stakes: The state of Wisconsin's small businesses,” said Wisconsin entrepreneurs are doing well in starting businesses but find it difficult to grow them into larger ventures.

Wisconsin had 37.3% more small business establishments in 2025 than 2010, compared with a 37.2% increase nationally.

In 2025, establishments with fewer than 10 employees (“micro-businesses”) accounted for more than three-quarters (77.3%) of Wisconsin’s total small business establishments.

Read more here: https://ibmadison.com/arrested-development/

Story by Joe Vanden Plas
Illustration by Getty Images

New study says state micro-businesses have grown rapidly However, evolving into larger ventures has stalled

Wisconsin is where we live, work and raise our families. It’s where we planted roots, found opportunities and built stable lives.

For us, Wisconsin is home, but the reality is hard to ignore: Our state is falling behind, and our demographic and workforce trends pose a threat to our future.

These forces are reshaping the state’s workforce, economy and long-term outlook. To reverse these trends and save Wisconsin, we must pursue an agenda to retain and attract Wisconsin workers.

As elaborated in the WMC Foundation’s recent “Wisconsin Competitiveness Report,” a brief glance at Wisconsin’s demographic and workforce trends paints a bleak picture. The median age in Wisconsin is 40.7 — more than a year older than the national average — and residents age 65 and older make up 19.2% of the population, compared to 18% nationally.

While Wisconsin ages, our youth population continues to shrink at an unprecedented rate.

Wisconsin lost a staggering 40,000 residents under 18 from 2020 to 2024. If this trend continues, we are on pace to lose a projected 95,000 young people this decade — nearly the population of Wisconsin’s fourth largest city, Kenosha.

Read more: https://ibmadison.com/wisconsin-workforce-in-a-competitive-crisis/

Story by Rachel Ver Velde / Associate Vice President of Government Relations and Senior Political Advisor / Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce - Wisconsin's Chamber
Photograph by Getty Images

Viewpoints: Wisconsin workforce in a competitive crisis Wisconsin’s demographic dilemma has clearly affected the workforce. The labor force participation rate peaked in 1997 and has declined since

Final days to register!

Join us on July 23 at The Edgewater Madison for the 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards.

Celebrate the outstanding finance and HR leaders making a lasting impact across Wisconsin's Capital Region while connecting with fellow business professionals for an evening of recognition, networking and celebration.

🎟️ Tickets are available through Sunday, July 19.
Purchase your tickets here before registration closes: https://ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence/

The 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards are presented by Forvis Mazars US, with major partners Investors Associated, LLP, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., and UMB Bank k, and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group.

Due in part to its acquisition of Madison’s Exact Sciences , Abbott reported second quarter sales growth of 13% and raised its full-year 2026 earnings per share guidance range.

The results for the second quarter ended June 30 were announced Thursday morning during a conference call with investors.

Abbott reported overall sales of $12.6 billion, including $5.2 billion in U.S. sales, during the second quarter. For the year to date, sales grew to $23.8 billion, including $9.5 billion in the U.S.

Abbott raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance range to $5.45 to $5.60, compared to the previous range of $5.38 to $5.58.

The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 comparable sales growth guidance of 6.5% to 7.5%.

Read more here:

Abbott reports higher sales, profits in Q2 Abbott raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance range to $5.45 to $5.60, compared to the previous range of $5.38 to $5.58

Join us on July 23 at The Edgewater Madison for the 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards.

Celebrate the outstanding finance and HR leaders making a lasting impact across Wisconsin's Capital Region while connecting with fellow business professionals for an evening of recognition, networking and celebration.

Tickets are available through Friday, July 17.
Don't miss your chance to be part of this special event.

🎟️ Buy your tickets here: https://ibmadison.com/events/executive-excellence/

The 2026 Executive Excellence: Finance & HR Awards are presented by Forvis Mazars US , with major partners Investors Associated, LLP, Boerner Van Deuren s.c. and UMB Bank, and supporting partner Johnson Financial Group.

Chloe Longmire is among the dozens of vendors who sell their wares at one of roughly 30 markets Garver Feed Mill hosts each year. Her company, Chase My Creations, offers social justice-centered art and apparel, and she said Garver helps build community among the businesses there.

“You feel a strong sense of community when you’re in spaces like this that are all about thriving and seeing other people thrive,” she said in a statement. “I (have) met so many amazing people.”

Since Garver’s restoration and opening in 2019 — led by Chicago-based developer Baum Revision and local contractor Bachmann Construction — the historic building on Madison’s east side has drawn over 300,000 visitors annually, according to Garver’s first-ever economic impact analysis.

Bryant Moroder, a member of the Baum Revision development team, said Garver’s appeal stems from the variety of local businesses and community organizations it brings together — along with the close proximity of its five-acre site to Botanical Gardens.

Baum recently completed the economic impact report — prompted by the building’s 120th anniversary — and, in Moroder’s words, “by every measure, this project has exceeded even our most optimistic expectations.”

Read more at: https://ibmadison.com/garver-feeds-local-economy-entrepreneurship/

Story by Brittney Kenaston
Photography courtesy of Garver Feed Mill

Garver feeds local economy, entrepreneurship Chloe Longmire is among the dozens of vendors who sell their wares at one of roughly 30 markets Garver Feed Mill hosts each year. Her company, Chase My Creations, offers social justice-centered art and apparel, and she said Garver helps build community among the businesses there. “You feel a stron...