SPWL Launches Energy-Saving Initiatives for Business Customers (Sun Prairie Star)

Local businesses are key targets for an energy-saving initiative being launched recently by Sun Prairie Water and Light and its power supplier, WPPI Energy.

Sun Prairie Water and Light and WPPI Energy offer programs, technical assistance and financial incentives to help businesses operate more efficiently, and now the utilities are ramping up efforts to encourage customers to participate.

Click here to read more about these programs in the Sun Prairie Star.

Zach Brandon to Speak at March 18 Chamber Luncheon (Sun Prairie Star)

Zach Brandon, from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, will discuss business attraction and retention at the state level during the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce’s March 18 noon membership luncheon at The Cannery Grill, 315 E. Linnerud Drive.

For more information or to make reservations, call the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce at 837-4547.

Click here to read the full article at the Sun Prairie Star.

State-of-the-art sports facility is a boon for Sun Prairie High School (Capital Times)

[Blogger's Note: The article was written by Jim Polzin, and the photo above was taken by Michelle Stocker]

The massive field house inside Sun Prairie’s new high school, which is scheduled to open in the fall, is a facility that can serve a great number of purposes.

As athletic director Jim McClowry is quick to point out, its primary benefit is that of a spacious classroom for physical education students that eliminates overcrowding and gives teachers myriad options of activities to include in the curriculum.

There’s also the obvious advantage to the school district’s student-athletes, who will have a breathtaking venue to call home.

But there’s an ancillary benefit to having a large facility with ample parking, and plenty of other bells and whistles, that has McClowry excited about the future.

For years, McClowry has applied to host the Madison area’s WIAA Division 1 boys basketball sectional — the biggest cash cow of the year when it comes to prep postseason events in the area that are held at school sites — knowing Sun Prairie had little chance of being selected.

Not anymore. McClowry is confident a state-of-the-art facility will make Sun Prairie a player in the eyes of the WIAA.

Click here to read the full article in the Capital Times.

SPWL upgrades fiber optic network (Sun Prairie Star)

Ciena Corporation, the network specialist, on March 10 announced in a press release that Sun Prairie Water & Light (SPW&L) has deployed its Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery (CESD) platforms to upgrade the service delivery capabilities of the utility's fiber optic network throughout its serving area.

The network is run by the utility's communication services division, SPW&L Telecom, and is already connecting all 12 locations of the Sun Prairie Area School District, multiple locations for WPPI Energy, Brooks Tractor, Laker Software and other business customers, as well as providing the communications infrastructure for the utility's smart water grid.

SPW&L Telecom offers a variety of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint wide area network and Internet connections over the network that combine the reliability and performance of traditional carrier services with the cost-effectiveness of Ethernet. SPW&L Telecom's network was designed and is managed by its long-time partner, INOC, a global provider of outsourced network operations center (NOC) monitoring and reporting services.

Click here for the full story in the Sun Prairie Star Online.

Prairie Heritage Quilters Annual Show and Competion - March 14-16th

Prairie Heritage Quilters - Quilt Show and Competition

March 14, 15, & 16 2010

St. Albert the Great Church

2420 St. Albert the Great Drive

Sun Prairie, WI 53590

Show Hours:
Sunday March 14th 12-5
Monday March 15th 9-8
Tuesday March 16th 9-3

- 200+ Competition Quilts from all over the Midwest

- PLUS 2009-2010 PHQ "Nursery Rhymes" Challenge wall quilts
- Favorite quilt shop vendors

- Luncheon served by various St. Albert Groups

For more information, go to: http://www.sunprairiequiltshow.com/

Wind Power Happy Hour draws 75 to Cannery Grill (Sun Prairie Star)

[Blogger's Note: The above photo is the team from Vestas. From left to right: Peter Hansen (Madison Office), Henrik Lykke Sørensen (Århus, Denmark Office), William Dorner (Houston Office), Dr. Ramasamy Anbarasu (Lübeck, Germany Office), Jennifer Green (Houston Office), Henrik Vejergang (Århus, Denmark Office), and Professor Thomas Jahns, University of Wisconsin, Madison.]

Wind energy is a hot topic in Sun Prairie, not only for city planners working to add wind power companies to the city’s business roster, but also for the many wind industry representatives who convene in Sun Prairie once a month.

Sun Prairie Economic Development Coordinator Neil Stechschulte’s efforts to bring wind industry stakeholders together—including everyone from manufacturers to engineers to state government representatives—have led to a well-known and increasingly well-attended networking event—the Wind Power Happy Hour, held right here in Sun Prairie at the Cannery Grill each month.

The most recent happy hour event, held on Wednesday, Feb. 24, drew about 75 attendees including international representatives from Vestas—the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines and home of the industry’s largest research and development unit.

With research centers in Denmark, Singapore, India, and the United Kingdom, and plans to establish units in the United States in Houston and Boston, their attendance at the Sun Prairie event shows that international industry experts recognize the Dane County area as a worthwhile place to participate in wind-industry discussions.

Stechschulte said he hopes those discussions will lead to economic growth and new jobs in Sun Prairie’s future.

“Our reason for holding these events is to develop relationships with private sector companies that have a high growth potential in terms of jobs,” Stechschulte said. “As far as I am aware, this was the first meeting where we had representatives from three of the most notable wind energy projects over the past year in one room—Vestas, Ingeteam, and Energy Composites. Sooner or later, one of these companies is going to be looking for space for a new facility. By using these events to build a relationship with these companies, this should greatly enhance our ability to put Sun Prairie in the running when they are considering possible sites.” Wednesday’s event—which was the most highly attended of any of the Wind Power Happy Hour events at the Cannery so far—showed that interest in the wind industry here in Sun Prairie is gaining enthusiasm.

Click here to read the full article in the Sun Prairie Star.

[Blogger's note #2: Special thanks to Star for their continung support of this event.]

Trachte Building Systems, Inc. Acquires Tech-Fast Brand (Press Release)

Trachte Building Systems, Inc. has acquired the Tech-Fast brand from founders Dave Cook and Mark Duncan.

Established in 1901, Trachte’s fabricated steel products have historically dominated their respective markets and currently offers a comprehensive line of turn-key Self-Storage Building solutions, Roll Up Doors, Micro Units, Partition Systems and Portable Storage Units. Tech-Fast has been in business since 1989, and has supplied and/or built thousands of buildings in North America.

By purchasing the Tech-Fast’s brand, plans and designs, Trachte Building Systems will be structured to serve the needs of former and prospective Tech-Fast customers. “I’m pleased that we were able to put together this arrangement with Trachte to continue to serve our customers. I’m confident that they will be in good hands with the crew at Trachte,” commented Cook. Customers will now be able to select from Trachte’s traditional building systems or seamlessly opt for a Tech-Fast building design.

Trachte National Sales Manager Jamie Lindau is excited about the opportunity and looks forward to meeting and working with Tech-Fast’s customer base. “Tech-Fast has a history of offering their customers not only basic single story buildings, but also a very impressive portfolio of attractive multi-story projects. The acquisition of Tech-Fast, will serve to further expand Trachte’s already extensive product portfolio while increasing market penetration in the Western United States and Canada. This acquisition is an important step in implementing Trachte’s long term strategic growth plan of product, capabilities and market expansions.

Click here for more information on Trachte Building Systems.

Source Link: http://www.trachte.com/news-events/press-release.php?80