Category: Member News
Learn who’s growing, changing, moving and more! Stay on top of what’s new with your neighboring businesses. We share news releases and announcements from your peers in the Madison area. Want to toot your own horn? Use our Submit Member News form to share your own stories.
Photo by Richard Hurd
CEC Announces the Return of its Business Technology Conference in 2021
Celebrating 75 Years of Technology & Innovation: Past, Present, and Future
Hiawatha, IA (Feb. 16, 2021) – CEC (Communications Engineering Company), a nationally recognized technology solutions provider and systems integrator in the Midwest, is excited to announce the return of its popular Business Technology Conference (BTC) on October 21 at the Doubletree in downtown Cedar Rapids, IA.
BTC will help CEC close out a year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary by connecting Iowa and Wisconsin business leaders to new and relevant technologies, demonstrations, and innovative ideas to improve communication, collaboration, and safety. With a theme of 75 Years of Technology & Innovation: Past, Present, and Future – the conference will be an opportunity for organizations to assess their technology foundation, learn about trends, and work on their technology vision and roadmap.
“BTC has grown into a regional event where customers can experience the latest technology,” states Randy Montelius, CEC VP of Technology. “The single day format makes it easier to fit into their schedule and provides a unique platform to hear first-hand how peers are meeting the challenges of today’s world.”
CEC’s trusted technology partners—leaders in AV, fire and security, healthcare communications, IT, and two-way communications—will also be onsite to update attendees on the technology set to support digital experiences and new ways of working (NWOW).
CEC’s Business Technology Conference has become a must-attend event for technology decision-makers in hospitals and long-term care settings, schools and campuses, manufacturing facilities, and corporate offices. In 2021, the event returns as one way to honor the past, talk about the challenges of the present, and plan for what’s to come.
The valuable information unveiled at this year’s BTC won’t be found anywhere else in the Midwest. Attendees can use what they learn to stay one step ahead of the rapidly changing technology landscape.
For more information, visit www.cecinfo.com.
About CEC
CEC employs more than 300 professional and technical staff in eight locations in Iowa and Wisconsin. The company offers solution design, integration, and technical services specializing in audio/video, fire and security, healthcare communications, IT, and two-way communications. Focused on creating world class technology experiences, the CEC team partners with clients to understand their businesses, tailor solutions, and plan for future technology needs. Visit www.cecinfo.com.
About BTC
Now in its 13th year, CEC’s Business Technology Conference (BTC) provides free education for technology influencers and decision-makers. The free event delivers several tracks of education sessions, showcases the latest technology from trusted technology providers, and supports networking among professionals across the Midwest.
Media Contact: Angie Worrell, aworrell@cecinfo.com, 319.731.1245 | #BTC2021
Photo by Richard Hurd
Meccore String Quartet to Perform for Wisconsin Union Theater Patrons Feb. 28
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 15, 2021
Contact Information:
Shauna Breneman, Communications Director
Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu
MECCORE STRING QUARTET TO PERFORM FOR WISCONSIN UNION THEATER PATRONS FEB. 28
MADISON – The Wisconsin Union Theater will stream an online Concert Series performance by the Meccore String Quartet on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
The Quartet will perform the String Quartet No. 21 in D major, K. 575 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, String Quartet No. 3 “Leaves from an Unwritten Diary” by Krzysztof Penderecki, and String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The ensemble includes violinists Wojciech Koprowski and Aleksandra Bryła, violist Michał Bryła, and cellist Marcin Mączyński.
As one of Europe’s most compelling ensembles, the Meccore String Quartet has appeared at many influential music festivals around the globe, such as the Rheingau Musik Festival and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The ensemble was the first ever Polish string quartet to perform during the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Bundestag, the national parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Meccore String Quartet has also received many international awards, including a nomination for the Paszport Polityki award in the classic music category for its “innovative approach to the music and for breaking the musical stereotypes.” The musicians won the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition and Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition.
When they are not performing, Meccore’s members lead chamber music and individual instrumental classes at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland.
Praised for their technical accuracy, Meccore is also known for its deep musicality and expressiveness.
“The Meccore String Quartet brings an unparalleled energy and emotional depth to its performances,” Wisconsin Union Theater Director Elizabeth Snodgrass said. “This ensemble is admired the world over, and our patrons will experience why the Quartet has earned global praise during its virtual Wisconsin Union Theater performance.”
Ticket purchase information can be found here. Tickets for this online event are $10 for UW-Madison students; $17 for Wisconsin Union members, UW-Madison staff and faculty, and students that do not attend UW-Madison; and $20 for all other patrons.
The Wisconsin Union Theater team presents its Concert Series season in collaboration with the student-led Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee, which, along with 10 other WUD committees and six clubs, promotes and runs more than 1,000 Wisconsin Union events each year.
The Meccore String Quartet’s performance is sponsored by the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Fund.
The Wisconsin Union Theater presents this event, in part, with the help of financial support from Wisconsin Arts Board funding from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Wisconsin Union Theater team is committed to taking action against racial inequities. For a full statement on the Theater’s stance, click here.
The Wisconsin Union Theater team strives for all of its spaces to be accessible. Those that need accommodations can reach out to the Theater team at wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu.
For more information about the Meccore String Quartet’s upcoming performance, visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/meccore-quartet.
-###-
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: union.wisc.edu/wisconsin-union-theater.
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.
[Click here to download a photo of the Meccore String Quartet. Photo by Arkadiusz Berbecki.]
To read this release online, visit union.wisc.edu/about/news/meccore
Photo by Richard Hurd
Wood Communications Group: Become a local leader — apply to Leadership Greater Madison
If you care about your community and want to make a difference — Leadership Greater Madison is for you! Leadership Greater Madison is a non-partisan, civic education and leadership-training program with a mission to inform, connect and engage a diverse group of individuals so they might be inspired to serve, lead and make a difference in their communities.
Become an effective community leader. Join the nearly 800 local leaders who are LGM graduates and apply today for the next LGM class that will kick off soon. The online application can be found at www.leadershipgreatermadison.org. Financial assistance is available to qualified applicants.
Leadership Greater Madison is a joint collaboration between the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and Wood Communications Group.
Photo by Richard Hurd
WPS Health Solutions shares a ‘Love Letter to First Responders,’ sends treats to hospital workers, adds red heart to face mask for Valentine’s Day
MEDIA ADVISORY | February 12, 2021
Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-977-7343
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com
WPS Health Solutions shares a ‘Love Letter to First Responders,’ sends treats to hospital workers, adds red heart to face mask for Valentine’s Day
Following up on the “face mask” replicas that were added to its Madison campus sign in December, WPS Health Solutions is celebrating Valentine’s Day by sharing a “Love Letter to First Responders” and adding red hearts to the sign at 1717 W. Broadway in Monona.
The temporary face masks call attention to the continued need for people to wear face coverings to reduce the spread of COVID-19, even as vaccines are being administered around the nation. The masks say, “We support first responders.”
For Valentine’s weekend, WPS is delivering treats and healthy snacks for Intensive Care Unit employees at hospitals in WPS communities: Madison; Wausau; Green Bay; Omaha, Neb.; Hampton, Va.; and southern Illinois. (Madison hospitals: SSM Health St. Mary’s, UnityPoint Health – Meriter, and UW Health)
Jessica Marking, a Brand Journalist in WPS Corporate Communications, wrote the following tribute, which is being shared with WPS employees and on the company’s social media channels.
A love letter to our first responders …
For so many serving in health care, your career path wasn’t a choice but a calling.
As battlefield health care providers, you have tended to the fallen of an invisible enemy during the COVID-19 pandemic. With overrun hospital beds and supplies, you have sacrificed for us.
Your face is covered with scars from your mask while your capable hands heal us and do not fear us. You’ve persevered in the face of total exhaustion. You have protected us.
Showing compassion for perfect strangers. Every day honoring the oath you pledged. Treating every color, every age, every human with decency and dignity. You have loved us.
Encouraging the fight within us and showing up day after day with no end in sight. You have advocated on our behalf. You have listened to our circumstances, our stories, our concerns, and our hurt. You have shown us patience.
Holding our hands when it is time to let go. You comfort our families in times of grief, guilt, and sorrow—and clap your hands in celebration of recovery. You have raised them in thanksgiving as you lifted us in good health. You have cried over us, prayed over us, and healed us.
People have called you heroes; people have called you warriors. From the bottom of our hearts, we call you angels.
At WPS Health Solutions this Valentine’s Day, we have a message for our employees, customers, and everyone else: Share your love for the first responders in your life.
Please #sharethelove by tagging @WPSHEALTHSOLUTIONS on Facebook and LinkedIn, and @WPS_HS on Twitter.

About WPS Health Solutions:
Wisconsin
Physicians Service Insurance Corporation is a nationally regarded benefits
administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading
not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Physicians Service
Insurance Corporation utilizes “WPS Health Solutions” to refer to our entire
enterprise. Within our enterprise, there are three divisions, including
Government Health Administrators, Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health
Insurance/WPS Health Plan/EPIC Specialty Benefits. WPS Government Health
Administrators manages Medicare Part A and Part B benefits for millions of
seniors in multiple states, and WPS Military and Veterans Health serves
millions of members of the U.S. military and their families through TRICARE and
Veterans Affairs programs. Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation
has been based in Madison, Wis., for nearly 75 years. For more information,
please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.
Photo by Richard Hurd
Summit Credit Union’s Cottage Grove Headquarters Becomes COVID-19 Testing Site
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Media Contact:
Emily Decorah
(608) 243-5000
publicrelations@summitcreditunion.com
Summit Credit Union’s Cottage Grove Headquarters Becomes COVID-19 Testing Site
Financial cooperative hosting free drive-thru testing in partnership with testing provider JangoDX, Wisconsin Department of Health Services
MADISON, Wis.—February 11, 2021—Summit Credit Union, a Madison-based financial cooperative, is now hosting COVID-19 testing at its Cottage Grove headquarters, located at 1709 Landmark Drive. The free drive-thru testing service is part of a partnership with testing provider JangoDX and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS).
“We are thrilled to be able to offer our headquarters as a testing site. This is so important to the health and well-being of our community. The site is easy to get to and will be open seven days a week,” said Summit Credit Union CEO & President Kim Sponem.
JangoDX has been working with the Wisconsin DHS to expand testing availability throughout Dane County. In the FDA-approved, self-administered test, individuals are provided test kits and instructions on how to complete their test. The process collects patient information and swabs in under five minutes and provides results within 3-7 days.
The drive-thru testing lane is set up in the back parking lot of the Summit headquarters, located at 1709 Landmark Drive in Cottage Grove. Testing is offered seven days a week from 8 am – 3 pm, with hours subject to change due to weather and other factors. Please check the site’s availability at https://jangodx.com/community-testing/ or by calling JangoDX at 1-800-936-0534 and selecting Option 1.
About Summit Credit Union:
Established in 1935, Summit Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative. Summit is the 2nd largest credit union in Wisconsin and holds $4.4 billion in assets and has more than 209,000 members and 679 employees across 45 locations throughout south-central and southeastern Wisconsin. Kim Sponem has been CEO & President of Summit Credit Union, and its predecessor organization, CUNA Credit Union/Great Wisconsin Credit Union, since 2002. Recognized for its excellence in employee engagement, Summit was named a Top Workplace in the USA in 2021 by Top Workplaces USA and the Top Large Workplace in the Madison area for 2020 by the Wisconsin State Journal. For more information, visit www.summitcreditunion.com or call 608-243-5000 or 800-236-5560.
For additional media information, visit https://www.summitcreditunion.com/about-summit/press-room or follow Summit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ###