The Milwaukee Post

14 • Milwaukee County Post • September 5, 2014 BUSINESS SBA seeking nominees MILWAUKEE — The U.S. Small Business Administration's Wisconsin office is seeking nominees for its 30th annu- al Small Business Awards in several cate- gories. Business categories include: Small Business Person of the Year and a runner up; Exporter; Emerging Small Business; Young Entrepreneur; Family-Owned Small Business; and Entrepreneurial Success. Champion categories are: Veterans' Business Champion; Women in Business Champion; Minority Business Champion; Legal Services Champion; Financial Services Champion; Home-based Business Champion; Small Business Development Center Service Excellence; and Women's Business Center of Excellence. An initial one-page nomination form is due by Oct. 4 and can be found at bit.ly/SBAawards. Awards will be announced in spring and celebrated at the annual Awards Breakfast in June. www.sba.gov Mayfair to add Athleta WAUWATOSA — As part of an ongoing redevelopment project Mayfair will add women's performance apparel company Athleta to its mix of stores. The store, the company's third in Wisconsin, will be located on the lower level of the mall near the Nordstrom corri- dor. Mayfair Senior General Manager Stephen Smith said the store will be "a great addition," adding the redevelopment efforts are "successfully progressing." www.athleta.com www.mayfairmall.com WEDC loan to support Forte MILWAUKEE — Forte Research Systems Inc., a Madison-based developer of clinical research software, has received a $550,000 state loan to help its growth and potentially add 55 jobs over the next three years, Gov. Scott Walker announced Tuesday. The loan is through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporations Business Opportunity Loan Fund Program and is contingent on Forte creating 55 new jobs by August 2017 and retaining its cur- rent 69 full-time positions through 2019. The company's specialized software for clinical research includes products such as OnCore Enterprise Research, Allegro CTMS and Overture EDC. Forte also pro- vides complimentary blog articles, eBooks, webinars and more to support continuous learning on industry topics Forte founder and CEO Srini Kalluri said the company is looking forward to expanding and adding employees "that share a passion for changing an industry." www.forteresearch.com/ TDS acquires Oregon firm MADISON — TDS Telecom announced Tuesday it had completed the purchase of BendBroadband, a cable and broadband company headquartered in Bend, Ore. The sale, which was originally announced in May, is effective Sept. 1, with a purchase price of $261 million. TDS Telecom President and CEO David Wittwer said central Oregon is a hot spot "exploding with business growth and resi- dential development" and will help fuel success for the company. Headquartered in Madison, TDS cur- rently provides 1.1 connections to internet, phone and TV. www.teldta.com Duo opens second Dickey's NEW BERLIN — Sherri Povolo and her son-in-law Craig Hatfield opened their sec- ond Dickey's Barbecue Pit in Waukesha County on Thursday. The store is located at 15155 W. National Ave., New Berlin. The duo opened a loca- tion in Pewaukee last year. Dickey's, found- ed in 1941, is the nation's largest barbecue chain. www.dickeys.com Rogers Memorial adds VP OCONOMOWOC — Rogers Memorial Hospital announced Thursday that Dr. James E. Ledbetter had joined the adminis- trative leadership team as vice president of operations for regional partial hospitaliza- tion programs. Ledbetter's primary responsibility is day-to-day operations, leading all aspects of regional intensive outpatient programs and partial hospitalization programs while working with medical leadership to assure high satisfaction for patients and their fam- ilies. www.rogershospital.org By MATT MASTERSON Conley News Service CITY OF PEWAUKEE — Days before Barack Obama's visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said he hopes to be able to speak with the president and voice his support for "deci- sive" action against ISIS in Iraq. During a Pewaukee Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Milwaukee Marriott West in the Pewaukee on Aug. 29, Johnson said the United States is not doing enough to stop the advance of the Islamic State — which has captured towns in both Iraq and Syria as it pushes toward taking hold of the Syrian-Turkey border. The Republican senator from Oshkosh said he was asked by Obama to greet him at the tar- mac when he arrived in Milwaukee Monday — an oppor- tunity he hoped to use to discuss possible anti-ISIS action with the president. "I am willing to be supportive if the president takes decisive action. I want to be supportive," Johnson said. "I am happy to rearrange my schedule if I can just have five minutes to convey that to the president of the United States — that I am willing to be supportive if he could act decisively." Obama attended Laborfest, an annual festival organized by Milwaukee Labor at the Summerfest grounds. Johnson said the U.S. is not providing the Peshmerga — the Kurdish forces battling ISIS — with the type of supplies and munitions they need. He added the Iraqi Security Forces have shown some potential, but he believes it is clear that neither group can handle ISIS on its own. The senator said the Islamic State is not only nearly twice as large as al-Qaida was when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, but its fighters are also more strategic, better trained and equipped, and far more effective. "Back then it took 168,000 American troops to defeat al- Qaida in Iraq," he said. "Now we have got a little less than 1,000 helping direct airstrikes." Johnson criticized comments made by Obama last week when the president said the U.S. does not yet have a strategy for fight- ing ISIS in Syria. The senator said Obama needs to get on the phone and assemble a "coalition of the will- ing," made up not only of Wsester n nations, but also Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia. "America has to lead — we are the only ones that can do it," he said. "We are at war — and we are going to be at war because they are at war with us. We ignore that at our own peril. "We put our head in the sand when al-Qaida declared war on us and as a result, thousands of Americans lost their lives when the Twin Towers came down." Johnson also spoke about comments made by Gov. Scott Walker last week, in which he said political fatigue among Republican voters is one of his biggest concerns heading into the November election. Johnson said Wisconsin has "tur ned the cor ner" under Walker, whom he said has worked hard to reduce property taxes, balance the budget and make the state an attractive place for businesses. "They realize this is a close election, they have got to get fully involved," he said. "Don't sit back on the sidelines, you have got to get fully involved, fully engaged." Contact Matt Masterson mmasterson@conleynet.com Johnson:Will support Obama action against ISIS 'America has to lead,' says senator Photo by Charles Auer/Conley News Service Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson speaks during a presentation Aug. 29 at the Milwaukee Marriott West.

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