Common Council Rejects Resolution Opposing F-35A Basing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Sept. 17, 2019)

Contact: Erik Greenfield, Communications Manager, 608-443-1952 (office), 608-669-7884 (cell)

MADISON – Tonight the Madison Common Council rejected a resolution that opposed the basing of the next-generation F-35A jet at Madison’s Truax Field. In response to tonight’s vote, Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce President Zach Brandon released the following statement:

“We are pleased that the council sent a message of support to the 115^th Fighter Wing by voting to oppose this resolution. The long-term health of the 115^th is vital to our economy and our community, and basing the F-35A at Truax Field will protect the livelihoods of the 1,200 Airmen – our friends, neighbors and guardians – who currently work there.

“We appreciate the mayor and council’s focus on ensuring a high quality of life for our residents, and those concerns can be balanced with maintaining Greater Madison’s economic momentum. This community has resolved similar challenges many times before, whether it is the interstate, major thoroughfare reconstruction like Verona Road or our railroad crossings.

“We will continue to support this new mission to ensure the benefits of the base – including supporting 1,264 permanent jobs and 400 construction jobs, generating $100 million in annual economic impact, providing emergency services for the airport and giving tuition support to area students who serve in the Guard – remain in Greater Madison for decades to come.”

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,300 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 10,000 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, our members vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at madisonbiz.com.

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Jerry, Rachelle & Vanessa Butler’s Living Sculptures brings multi-media, multi-generational collaboration to Madison Ballet’s studios for Gallery Night

CONTACT: Gretchen Bourg, (608) 278-7990, gretchen@madisonballet.org

MADISON, WI – Madison Ballet is proud to present the original choreography of Rachelle Butler, inspired by the visual art of her father and sister. Part of Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA)’s Gallery Night, Living Sculptures will see the student dancers of School of Madison Ballet perform surrounded by paintings and collages of prolific local artists, Jerry Butler and Vanessa Butler.
 
The home of Madison Ballet will be transformed to a performance space and art gallery in the first public performance offered there since moving to their new studios at 6734 Odana Road. All ages are encouraged to visit Madison Ballet for these series of free performances on Friday, October 4th, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.. Performances will be every 30 minutes. Refreshments will be provided through the generous sponsorship of Willy Street Co-op.

Rachelle Butler is the Director of the School of Madison Ballet. Ms. Butler’s professional training began with Madison Ballet, then Wisconsin Dance Ensemble, in 1999. She was accepted on full scholarship to The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, where she trained under dancers from American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet. Ms. Butler began her teaching career as a student with Ballet Chicago and honed her teaching style while performing with Sacramento Ballet and Madison Ballet.

Her choreographic works include a commercial with MG&E’s genre3060, Capital City Theatre’s Find Your Light program and with the students of the School of Madison Ballet. Ms. Butler’s passion for bringing ballet to underprivileged youth sparked her to work in the Chicago, Sacramento, and Madison communities in outreach and education throughout her career.

Jerry Butler is a visual artist, writer, and educator from southern Mississippi whose path has gone from teaching elementary school to college to college student and back again many times — each iteration lead him to grow more as an artist. He holds a PhD in Arts Education, an MFA in 2D art, and has done post graduate work with Harvard University. He currently resides in the Madison area developing programs to embrace art as a form of expression and utility in times of struggle.

The School of Madison Ballet is designed to take students through a comprehensive curriculum of classical ballet and related studies. SMB provides quality training for students of all levels who will gain the poise, confidence, discipline, and fundamental life skills inherent in the study of classical ballet.

Government, business and cybersecurity leaders gather at CyberSecure My Business™ Workshop in Madison

MADISON, Wisc., Sept. 13, 2019 ‒ The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a nonprofit public-private partnership focused on helping all citizens stay safer and more secure online, is teaming up with the Wisconsin Chief Information Officer, the Small Business Administration and others to present NCSA’s CyberSecure My Business™ workshop in Madison on September 24, as part of the Wisconsin Governor’s Cybersecurity Summit.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are regular targets for cybercriminals. SMBs represent 54% of the nation’s economy, according to the SBA. In addition, the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Report stated that 58% of targets within their study of more than 53,000 incidents identified as small businesses. Studies show more than half of small businesses would be unprofitable within a month if they were to lose permanent access to their essential data.

With this top of mind, NCSA created a national program designed to help SMBs learn to be safer and more secure online with a non-technical, non-threatening approach. The workshop will cover common cyber threats targeting SMBs, cyber misconceptions, actionable steps or “quick wins” to better secure their businesses and free local, state and national resources to help them improve their cybersecurity. 

“The CyberSecure My Business workshop content is designed to be easily understood by people who do not have technical backgrounds,” said Daniel Eliot, NCSA’s director of small business education. “Attendees will leave the workshop with the understanding they are indeed a target, but this isn’t a scare tactic. The rationale is to empower SMB owners, employees, and advisers to take action and implement key actionable steps to secure their personal and business assets. Cybersecurity awareness is great, but cybersecurity action is the goal.”

Participation in the workshop is free, but registration is required. The agenda for the morning workshop, to be held at the UW-Madison Gordon Commons Event Center, 770 W. Dayton in Madison is:

8:30 a.m.:           Registration, networking and exhibitor tables

9:00 a.m.:           Opening remarks from the U.S. Small Business Administration

9:15 a.m.:           Fireside Chat, featuring:

·         David Cagigal, Chief Information Officer, State of Wisconsin

·         Brian Dennis, Director, Cybersecurity Center for Small Business, UW-Whitewater

·         Lisa Plaggemier, Chief Evangelist, Infosec

·         Matt Wernz, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission

·         Molly Arranz, Partner, SmithAmundsen

10:00 a.m.:       CyberSecure My Business™ Workshop

12:00 p.m.:       Wrap-up

Visit https://staysafeonline.org/event/csmb-workshop-wi/ to register at no cost.

To learn more about staying safe online and to find links to websites that offer additional account security information, visit www.staysafeonline.org.

Badgers’ Economic Impact? $610 Million

MADISON, Wis. — In athletics, statistics matter. For Wisconsin Athletics, two numbers stand out from a recently completed economic impact report.

The Badgers provide a $610 million total annual economic impact for the state of Wisconsin.

Zoom in on the city of Madison and the Badgers provide a $395 million total annual economic impact for the local community. That’s also 1.8 million visitors to the city each year.

Completed in June with Econsult Solutions, Inc., the economic impact report sheds light on the many economic benefits the Badgers’ 23 athletic teams and supporting organization bring to the area through hosting football games, other sports competitions and other events like high school state tournaments, concerts and more.

“The fact that Badger Athletics has such an impact on our city, region and state is a great source of pride for us,” said Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez. “Our athletic program is woven into the fabric of not only the Madison area, but all over our great state.

“The financial figures back that up and they go hand-in-hand with the strong bond we have with the residents of our state.”

Notably, the $610 million impact equates to 4,480 jobs and a $12 million tax revenue impact. In Madison, the $395 million impact brings 2,950 jobs and a $1.7 million tax revenue impact.

Fall Saturdays at Camp Randall Stadium? Each home football game provides $16 million in total economic impact on the Wisconsin economy.

The report also highlights the Badgers’ impact more specifically in direct spending by athletic department operations, capital investments, attendee spending, ancillary spending and broader societal impacts.

The full report is available online here – https://uwbadgers.com/economicimpact.

Tickets Available to the General Public for Q&A with Actress, Producer and Activist Stephanie Beatriz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

Contact Information: Shauna Breneman, Communications Director
Office: (608) 262-8862
Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu

TICKETS AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC FOR Q&A WITH ACTRESS, PRODUCER AND ACTIVIST STEPHANIE BEATRIZ

MADISON – Tickets are on sale to the general public, as of Sept. 13, for a Q&A with producer, activist and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” actress Stephanie Beatriz in Shannon Hall at Memorial Union on Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. 

During Beatriz’s Shannon Hall debut, a moderator will lead a Q&A about her life, career and activism, including her time on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and her work with the LGBTQIA community.

Beatriz’s work includes not only starring on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” but also guest starring on the show “Modern Family,” producing and starring in “The Light of the Moon,” and more. 

Beatriz has advocated for the normalization of LGBTQIA characters on television, including on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” in which the bisexual actress plays the role of Rosa Diaz, a no-nonsense, brave, smart, bisexual detective with a heart of gold.

She has called for the entertainment industry to do better when it comes to portraying LGBTQIA characters and to endeavoring to have LGBTQIA characters portrayed by LGBTQIA actors.

“We are so excited to be having not only a leader for women in television comedy, but to also have such a strong activist for the LGBTQIA community,” said Hailey Koller, the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee’s committee relations assistant director. “When it comes to speaking out for LGBTQIA equality in the entertainment industry, Stephanie’s voice has been so important, and we look forward to learning about her experiences.”  

This event is presented by the Wisconsin Union Theater in collaboration with the WUD Performing Arts Committee.

Tickets for this event became available to University of Wisconsin-Madison students Aug. 20 and will continue to be exclusively available to UW-Madison students through Sept. 12.

For more information about Beatriz’s upcoming appearance, including how to purchase tickets, visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/stephanie-beatriz.

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About the Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee

The Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee plans and promotes events for the historic Wisconsin Union Theater stages. The student-led committee programs a variety of events to provide a diverse and cultural experience for students, faculty, alumni, community members and visitors. Learn more: union.wisc.edu/get-involved/wud/performing-arts.

About the Wisconsin Union Theater

For more than 75 years, the Wisconsin Union Theater has served as a center for cultural activity in the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The Theater hosts performances in multiple locations, including Memorial Union, and has an expansive history of remarkable performances. The Wisconsin Union Theater is part of the Wisconsin Union, a membership organization that blends study and leisure to create unique out-of-classroom opportunities. Learn more about the Theater: union.wisc.edu/wisconsin-union-theater.

[Note to the editor: Click here to download a photo of Stephanie Beatriz.]