Wisbusiness: The Podcast

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” is with Dale Willis, co-founder of Curate Solutions. This Madison-based startup relies on artificial intelligence to parse through government minutes and agendas to find opportunities for companies in the construction industry. Willis says the company has specialists on hand to help determine if the data identified is valid. Curate is currently focused on the Midwest, but he says the team is looking to expand nationwide. “The only way we could really do that and scan through this data across the entire country is by taking the data we have labeled, and use artificial intelligence to determine what will be valid for our other customers as we expand,” Willis said.

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Paul Krupski, director of opioid initiatives for the state Department of Health Services. He comments on the U.S. Surgeon General’s recent advisory on the importance of overdose reversal medication, and discusses the state’s ongoing effort to reduce opioid deaths and abuse. “The state of Wisconsin, specifically the Department of Health Services, is taking a three-pronged approach to combat the opioid crisis in our state,” he said. “We are working to prevent opioid use, invest in treatment, and also support recovery.”

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Clay Burdelik, CEO for software startup YoEats. He explains how this Madison-based startup is building out its platform with pilots at local restaurants, and gives an update for an ongoing fundraising round. The company provides a system which handles both ends of the restaurant sales operation, including point-of-sale on the restaurant side and an ordering app for customers. “It’s way more convenient for the customer, for the server -- they don’t have to split a million bills,” he said. “The house gets this unprecedented data feedback in terms of rating each dish… We’re trying to optimize the experience for every single person in the restaurant.”

This week’s podcast features Mike Semmann, co-founder for Advancing AI Wisconsin and COO for the Wisconsin Bankers Association. Advancing AI Wisconsin is a grassroots initiative formed about 18 months ago aimed at boosting awareness related to several disruptive innovations -- machine learning, artificial intelligence and other technologies. The initiative is the brainchild of Semmann and co-founders Oliver Buechse and Kurt Hahlbeck. They came together after travelling the country and learning about the numerous applications of artificial intelligence and other tech. “We need to raise the alarm to generate awareness, so these types of new digitally disruptive technologies can be available to companies,” Semmann said. The initiative has over 80 members, and hundreds more have signed up to receive additional information. “It’s a group of people seeking more information and want to help spread the word to assist and amplify the works being done on technology and how they can be applied in Wisconsin and

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Peter Menet, COO for Milwaukee-based drone services company Menet Aero. He discusses cybersecurity in the drone world and explains why he’s developing a new open-source aircraft for infrastructure inspections and analysis. “The open-source side has come so far from where it was in the last two years,” he said. “You have so many more options of what you can do and what you can integrate… we started designing an aircraft that really starts meeting our needs from a professional aviator background.”

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” is with Craig Davis, president and CEO of NovaScan. This Milwaukee-based oncology diagnostics company uses a novel electrical technique for finding cancer in a patient’s body. Davis sat down for a chat at the recent Wisconsin Tech Summit, held in Waukesha by the Wisconsin Technology Summit. This annual event lets early-stage startups like NovaScan meet representatives of some of the state’s biggest companies. “We have a platform technology that’s not exclusive to skin cancer or breast cancer; its broadly applicable to cancer,” he said. “For the other applications -- and there are an enormous amount of them -- looking to partner with large device companies to carry those forward.”

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features a discussion with Don Stanley, CEO and co-founder of 3RhinoMedia and a lecturer on social media and digital marketing at UW-Madison. He explains how he helps major companies, professional athletes and others better understand how to effectively communicate online, turning digital platforms into assets rather than liabilities. “One of my friends says, if you want to be a successful fisherman, fish where the fish are,” he said. “You have to go where people you want to attract are, and digital is that space where people spend time.” He talks about location-based marketing, also touching on the state’s talent attraction campaign, which features several digital marketing elements.

This week’s podcast is with Ryan Prellwitz, president of the Wisconsin Winery Association and owner of Vines and Rushes Winery in Ripon. He discusses legislation recently approved by the Assembly to extend late-night hours for wineries. He also explains why the state’s three craft beverage silos -- wine, beer and distilled spirits -- are striving for simplification of Wisconsin’s alcohol industry laws. “If we can move forward the industry as a whole, everybody benefits,” he said. “A rising tide floats all boats, so to speak.”

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” is with Maximilian Christman, sustainability specialist for UW Health. He discusses the challenge of pushing for sustainability on a system-wide level, working within the unique constraints presented by the medical field. “You want to obviously have materials and cleaning and disinfecting supplies that are environmentally responsible. But at the same time you can’t be increasing infection rates, you can’t be allowing antibiotic-resistant bacteria into your hospitals, your clinics,” Christman said.

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” is with Deb Thompson (pictured here) and Laura Berkner, co-founders of Stimmi. This Madison-based startup is currently pilot-testing a website meant to be used by caregivers for people with autism and other disabilities. These caregivers can input personalized care information on the site, then share it with loved ones and other caregivers. The site also supports instant messaging so everyone involved can be constantly in the loop. “Often times, people who have special needs will have multiple caregivers in different agencies, and those people don’t have the community or platform to communicate together,” she said. “It really helps provide better care.”

This week’s podcast features a discussion with Dan Nelson, president, CEO and chief creative officer for Nelson Schmidt Inc., the marketing agency behind the ongoing talent attraction campaign for Wisconsin. Nelson Schmidt worked with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation on the statewide Think-Make-Happen branding campaign, and created the millennial-focused promotions that are now running in the Chicago area. “Early in our journey of economic development marketing and promoting Wisconsin as a place to do business, we realized that workforce development and promoting Wisconsin as a place to live was equally important,” he said.

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features a discussion with Gus Faucher, chief economist for PNC Financial Services Group. He sat down for a chat this week at the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s Economic Forecast Luncheon in Madison. He commented on how evolving tech is changing opportunities for work, and gave his take on tackling the workforce shortage in Wisconsin. “I think it's not going to be a one-size-fits-all approach,” Faucher said. “You're going to need to take a number of different approaches and do that in order to build the kind of 21st century workforce that Wisconsin will need over the longer run."

This week’s podcast is with Kevin Dwyer, CEO for the nonprofit Where Is Care, (pictured here) and Nick Meyers -- both members of the planning committee for the upcoming Nonprofit Draft Day. The NFL draft-style event will bring together nonprofit groups from all over the state that are seeking new members for their boards of directors. The event will be held at Edgewood College in Madison Saturday from 9 a.m. until around noon. Where Is Care is an online platform for social and health services currently being developed in Dane County. It was previously known as HealthConnect.Link.

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features Christopher Patterson, CEO of Metisoft Solutions, a company building out websites and mobile applications for Wisconsin’s tech startup industry. Patterson's company designed and developed the Kilter Rewards app, which is used by over 1,500 users in Madison. He explains how constructing an online presence can be challenging for entrepreneurs with big ideas, touching on some upcoming projects and technologies he’s most excited about.

This week’s podcast is with Robert Meyer, president of Ventris Learning in Sun Prairie. This publishing startup creates educational materials aimed at improving literacy for low-income kids. Ventris Learning’s ToggleTalk curriculum provides a structure for young students to learn how to switch between standard English and their own at-home manner of speaking.

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features a chat with Jason Stringer of the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation. He talks about the PACE program, which helps commercial property owners get long-term, low-cost loans for upgrading energy efficiency. He explains the benefits for property owners and other stakeholders, and gives an update on how the program is spreading through the state, county by county.

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features a discussion with Dave Geisler, CEO of Rapid Imaging. This early-stage Madison startup combines drones with augmented reality technology to deliver insights to its customers. He talks about the company’s roots in aviation-based intelligence used by NASA, and explains how merged technologies can be used in real estate, construction, agriculture, and in emergency situations.

This week’s episode of WisBusiness: The Podcast features a discussion with Dave Grandin, president and CEO of Madison-based Kiio. He discusses the tech startup’s recently formed partnership with insurance company WEA Trust, as well as the company’s mobile engagement tools for health and wellness, such as its lower back pain product.