MSCR Winter Program Guide – Enjoy a variety of fun programs for all ages

January 7, 2021

For Immediate Release

Contact: Nicole Graper at ngraper@madison.k12.wi.us

MSCR Winter 2021 Program Guide
Enjoy a variety of recreation opportunities for all ages held Indoor, Outdoor and Online.

The Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) Winter 2021 Program Guide is available at mscr.org.

The guide is filled with a variety of recreation activities for all ages including arts & enrichment, fitness, 50+ fitness, skiing, sports, family events and more. Programs are adapted to be held safely indoor, outdoor and online. Indoor programs begin the week of January 25, following these Health & Safety Policies.

Registration is open for residents and registration opens on January 19 at 8 am for non-residents. Fee assistance is available for those who qualify.

Winter Program Guide Highlights:

• New Special Events – Join MSCR for fun programs like Parking Lot Bingo, Winter Fun in the Park and Screen Free Boredom Busters.
• Outdoors Pursuits – Explore and learn about local, natural beauty in programs like Sunset Snowshoe Hike and Orienteering at the School Forest and Winter Survival Skills.
• Adult Arts & Enrichment – express your creative side in these engaging classes: ArtChats, SoulCollage ©, Painting with the Impressionists and Textile Jewelry.
• Youth Arts & Enrichment – Plenty of ways to keep children busy with indoor and virtual dance classes, Polymer Clay Creations and virtual guitar.
• Fitness – Start the new year on the right foot with exciting virtual fitness classes like HIIT, Hatha Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation and more. Virtual fitness begins this week and a wide range of indoor fitness classes begin January 25.
• Outdoor Sports – Adults can enjoy Ice Skating and Kubb. Shuffleboard Mini-Golf (SHOLF), a fun new program, is open to all ages.

A Spanish edition of the program guide is available at mscr.org or please email mcanicoba@madison.k12.wi.us for assistance.

Register at mscr.org.  Please call 608-204-3000 for more information.

MSCR is a department of the Madison School district and offers many recreation programs for all ages at affordable prices.

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DeMarb Brophy: Your Business Has Options – Really

The revenue of small businesses – and especially restaurants, hotels, gyms and entertainment venues – is at all-time lows. This is not news.  The same small businesses have fixed costs and expenses, even if they are not operating, like rent, licensing, and equipment loans.  This is also not news.  What may be newsworthy, though, is what a bankruptcy lawyer can do for these businesses, especially now.

Common Bankruptcy Misconceptions

Let’s correct some common misconceptions about bankruptcy before we get started.  Bankruptcy does not mean that your business will stop operating, and it does not mean that your equipment will be auctioned off farm-style.  The kind of bankruptcies that keep businesses operating are not just for United Airlines and Guitar Center.  They can work for small businesses.  Bankruptcy will not drive away all of your customers or your vendors.  This is a common concern but largely unfounded.  Your bank will not necessarily hate the idea of you filing bankruptcy.  Almost always, they end up working with us and not against us.

So, How Can a Bankruptcy Help Small Businesses and their Owners Alleviate their Financial Troubles?

Bankruptcy can allow you to reorganize your business to make it stronger.  If you are ready to step away from operating your business, bankruptcy can give you a way to sell your business while it continues to operate.

In a reorganization, you can actually reduce the amount of your mortgage or equipment loans, permanently.  Your business would propose and get court approval of a plan of reorganization.  That plan could provide for the “cram down” of your secured creditors’ debt. 

For example, if your equipment loans have a balance of $200,000, but the equipment is only worth $125,000, then the plan could reduce the amount of the equipment loan to $125,000.  The plan could modify the interest rate, too, but it can actually decrease the amount of the secured debt.  How do we get to the value of the equipment?  It would need to be appraised. When is the value of equipment for restaurants, hotels, bars, gyms and the like likely to be at its lowest?  Now.  So, by filing for bankruptcy now, you may be able to reduce the amount of your monthly payments most drastically and permanently.

Why Would Your Lender Not Hate the Idea?

If you just default and turnover the keys to your lender, they are going to be stuck selling their collateral.  Lenders are in the business of making loans, not selling empty restaurants or gym equipment.  Like in 2008 when lenders found themselves in the real estate business because of the foreclosures, lenders are going to be overwhelmed with restaurant equipment, for example, in the coming months.  The market for that restaurant equipment will be flooded and, therefore, the value for that equipment will decrease.  The costs of selling the equipment are high.  Even if you reduce the amount of their secured debt in a bankruptcy, the value of the equipment is the highest in use and in place – in your business.  Lenders prefer to keep your equipment with you, and take your payments over time.

Filing the bankruptcy automatically imposes a stay on collection.  It gives you the breathing room to put this plan together.  It gives you relief from past due rent, past due collections.  It allows you to deal with only your obligations going forward and gives you space to avoid with past due amounts. 

Why Do You Need a Bankruptcy Lawyer to Help with the Process?

These are just a few of the ways that filing a bankruptcy can help you.  The analysis is more complicated than this, of course, and you need a lawyer experienced in the process.  You also need some cash to stay afloat during the process.  This cash can come from a variety of sources, including some stimulus money.  You should not assume that a reorganization will not work for you.  Many business bankruptcy attorneys will not charge you for the initial call if decide not to hire them, and they will discuss fees at that initial call.  You should talk with a bankruptcy lawyer who files Chapter 11 cases before you give in to your landlord or turn the keys over.  You have options.

Alternatives to Reorganizing

As an alternative to reorganizing, a bankruptcy can allow you to sell your business while it is operating.  This option looks different than the reorganization because the goal is to actually sell the business as an operating business. 

For example, last summer my firm filed a Chapter 11 case the day before the business’s eviction hearing. The owners knew they wanted to head toward a sale, and that’s what we did. Filing the Chapter 11 allowed the company to do three things. First, it stopped the eviction process and gave the company some breathing room. Second, it allowed the company to continue operating and paying its employees.  Because the company was not paying its past due debts, it had the breathing room to stay current going forward.  Third, it signaled to the market of buyers for the business that there would, in fact, be a sale in a structured process.

After a couple of months, a buyer who would start the sale process came forward. This buyer put in an offer to purchase, which we then got approved by the court. From there, other parties interested in operating the company decided to join the process, and then the auction of the operating business was scheduled from there. The auction worked exactly as intended. Two parties participated and, at the end of the day, the sale price increased by 70% over the initial offer.  More importantly, the company will pay its creditors five or six times more than it would have if the eviction had continued and the Chapter 11 had never been filed.   In the process, the owners of the company reduced the amount they owe on their personal guarantees.

Going forward, the owners of the company are staying on with the buyer as employees. The buyer will keep operating in the same space. They will keep using local vendors. The business will stay in Madison. 

Now is a good time to move forward with a bankruptcy that will lead us to a sale.  In six months, we expect that there will be more businesses for sale inside of bankruptcies than there will be buyers for those businesses.  If you are ready to be done having the sole responsibility for operating your business, now is the time to consider this sale option.

Protect Yourself

Whatever you do, do not bury your head in the sand right now.  Reach out to a bankruptcy lawyer, not just your regular business lawyer.  The reorganization and sale options might not work for every business, but they will work for many.  It would be a mistake to spend your last dollar, cash in your retirement, or turn over your keys to your landlord or lender without fully exploring all of your options.

Oak Bank Partners with Madison Reading Project

For Immediate Release

Contact: Karen Virnoche, 608.441.6000
kvirnoche@oakbankonline.com

Oak Bank Partners with Madison Reading Project
Book donations accepted until December 15

Fitchburg, WI – Reading profoundly benefits children beyond developing language skills. It improves social and cognitive development, well-being, mental health, relationship building and so much more. But two-thirds of children from low-income households in the U.S. do not have books in their home.

Oak Bank has partnered with Madison Reading Project to help get books into the hands of Dane County children who need them the most.

Each year, Madison Reading Project distributes thousands of books – for free – to area children. The Big Red Reading Bus stopped at Oak Bank, an official Book Donation Station, on Tuesday, December 1, highlighting Giving Tuesday, a day aimed at raising awareness and monies for non-profits.

“We hope by collaborating with the great folks at Madison Reading Project and our community, we can help give children not only an escape during these trying times but also help them build a foundation for success at a critical time in their development,” said Bob Gorsuch, Oak Bank CEO.

If you’d like to donate to the book drive, you can drop off new and like-new books for ages birth to teen at Oak Bank until December 15. Visit the Madison Reading Project website for details on the types of books needed. Considering COVID restraints, you also donate directly by visiting https://www.madisonreadingproject.com/communitybookdrive.

About Oak Bank
Oak Bank has been deeply rooted in the Fitchburg community and Madison area for 20 years, meeting the financial needs of homeowners and businesses by offering top-notch service, quick answers and unique solutions, all while supporting over 125 local nonprofits each year. Visit oakbankonline.com to learn more.

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MSCR Annual Pottery Sale

December 3, 2020

For Immediate Release

Contact: Nicole Graper at ngraper@madison.k12.wi.us

MSCR Annual Pottery Sale is Virtual
Perfect for Holiday Shopping!

The Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) Annual Pottery Sale is moving to a virtual shopping experience.

The Pottery Sale showcases over 500 pieces of work from MSCR instructors, pottery students and local ceramic artists.  The sale opens Thursday, December 17 at 8 am and continues through Saturday, December 20 at 9 pm at mscrvirtualpotterysale.squarespace.com  Customers can pick up their purchases on Monday, December 22, 8 am to 6 pm at MSCR Hoyt, 3802 Regent Street.

Sale proceeds support the MSCR Pottery Program. Items are available at a range of price points including mugs, dishes, vases and unique gifts. MSCR is featuring artists all month on its Facebook page.

“The Pottery Sale is an important community event showcasing and supporting local artists. We are excited to be able to still offer this event virtually”, said Martha Hutchinson, MSCR Adult Arts Specialist.

MSCR offers pottery and additional art classes for all ages.  Please look for updates on winter programs at mscr.org.

MSCR is the Madison public recreation department offering a variety of recreation programs for all ages since 1926.

For more information contact 608-204-3000 or go to mscr.org

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State Bar launches new pro bono portal to connect lawyers with their communities

Madison, WI – More low-income Wisconsinites facing civil legal challenges are expected to receive free legal help from pro bono attorneys with the development of Wisconsin’s first statewide Pro Bono Opportunity Portal, thanks to a partnership between the State Bar of Wisconsin and Paladin, a justice technology company.

The portal, which launched today at probonowi.org comes as civil legal service organizations in Wisconsin face critical funding issues and are turning away nearly 50 percent of those who need legal help. Examples of civil legal challenges include landlord evictions, unpaid health care bills due to unemployment, and child custody issues during the pandemic.

The new website will enable attorneys and law students to match their skills and interests with opportunities available through free legal agencies across the state, such as Legal Action of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Judicare. It will also allow the agencies to post their opportunities to a nationwide, American Bar Association-led Disaster Relief Pro Bono Portal to extend reach for COVID-19 specific pro bono work.

“Civil legal aid programs in the state are telling us that pro bono assistance is crucial to making our shared goal of equal justice for all a reality,” said State Bar President Kathleen Brost. “Requests for legal services have surged with the recent pandemic, and increased pro bono engagement will greatly benefit people in need of critical legal services.

“Pro bono efforts by private attorneys and law students help their clients, the courts, and the profession by reducing barriers to justice and closing the justice gap by meeting the legal needs of all Wisconsin residents and ensuring a just and equitable legal system,” Brost said.