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Quad/Graphics Inc., which still relies heavily on revenue from commercial printing, anticipates a fourth consecutive year of sales declines in 2025 as sales and profits face headwinds including a postal rate increase and possible tariffs on paper from Canada.

The Sussex-based printing and marketing firm (NYSE: QUAD) continues diversifying its business from shrinking commercial printing segments, such as magazines and newspaper inserts, to higher-margin targeted print products and Quad’s marketing and advertising businesses.

Quad executives told analysts and investors in late 2024 the company would see continued sales declines until 2027 or 2028, when revenue is expected to increase and cash flow to improve.

For the near term, the company last week increased its quarterly dividend by 50% to 7.5 cents per share per quarter, or 30 cents per share annually.

Chairman and CEO Joel Quadracci told analysts Thursday that Quad expects U.S. postal rate increases to continue outpacing the overall inflation rate. That adds to customer costs and causes some customers to reduce the volume of printed products they’re planning to mail, he said.

Quadracci said he expects another postal rate increase of up to 13% in July. The latest rate hikes were planned under outgoing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, but Quadracci said he expects the U.S. Postal Service to implement the rate hike regardless of the organization’s leadership.

The parent company of PyraMax Bank is voluntarily delisting from the Nasdaq and transitioning to trade over the counter in an effort to reduce expenses.

1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin Inc. (Nasdaq: BCOW) said it would be withdrawing the registration of its common stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a press release.

The bank has been public for about three and a half years, with its listing on the Nasdaq starting in July 2021, the culmination of a conversion project the former mutual savings bank began early that year.

Mutual savings banks are owned by their depositors, not outside shareholders, as the bank was once it transitioned.

BCOW's stock started out trading with a share price over $15 but within days settled down to trading between $10 and $11, a level it stayed at until March 2023.

The stock was generally selling for less than $10 a share until October 2024, when it returned to that level, where it has stayed. On Wednesday, it closed at $9.98.

The decision to delist and deregister was made to reduce expenses and allow management more time to focus on its core mission, PyraMax Bank CEO David Ball said.

From the Article:

Customers of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service will pay more for electricity in 2025 and 2026, after the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on Thursday approved rate increases for both utilities.

The utilities, both owned by WEC Energy Group, applied for the rate hikes in April, citing a need to ramp up forestry efforts to ensure reliability and costs from construction of renewable energy and natural gas facilities.

We Energies’ request sparked backlash that led to customers protesting the proposed rate hike in downtown Milwaukee last month. The utility had already hiked rates in 2023 and 2024.

At Thursday’s meeting, commission chair Summer Strand said the commission sought to balance the need for safe, reliable and environmentally responsible utility service with affordability.

“My approach to these rate cases is measured and seeks to maintain stability and balance through a fair, gradualist approach,” she said. “Rate shock and major changes in any direction do have significant impacts on all parties.”

Strand also said she was “disappointed” that WEC Energy Group partially attributed the need for a rate increase to “disadvantaged communities struggling to pay their bills” and the company’s partnership with labor unions.

From the Article:

More than 1.5 million Wisconsinites have already cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. Wisconsin’s top elections official says the state is poised to set a new record for early in-person absentee voting.

All told, more than 41 percent of all active, registered voters in Wisconsin have already cast absentee ballots, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Of those, nearly 950,000 were in-person absentee ballots, which were cast in clerks offices or early voting sites.

During a Monday briefing, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said there have been nearly 645,000 mail-in absentee ballots requested by voters for the presidential election.

“To kind of contrast that, in 2020, the volume of by-mail absentee ballots set records,” Wolfe said. “This year, it appears there’s a record number of in-person absentee ballots that were cast.”

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, absentee voting exploded during Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election. That year, WEC data shows nearly 1.9 million ballots were returned. Of that total, there were just 644,843 people who cast early, in-person absentee ballots.

From the Article:

Milwaukee could see expanded service to Chicago after the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) received $72.8 million in federal funding that will be funneled toward boosting freight rail capacity.

The funding will go to the Muskego Yard bypass project, which will upgrade and reconfigure routes to create less traffic between commuter and freight trains. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) announced the funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation this week.

When completed, WisDOT said it will give the railway the ability to increase service to eight daily round trips between Milwaukee and Chicago. Amtrak’s Hiawatha Service currently runs seven daily trips between the cities.

"Along with the completion of the Milwaukee Airport Rail Station project in 2026, WisDOT will be able to implement eight daily round trips between Milwaukee and Chicago, allowing more customers to use this high-demand corridor," WisDOT said in a statement provided to the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Upgrading the railway and creating a two-track mainline would allow freight trains to bypass the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. This would minimize passenger delays and free up track capacity, a news release says.

Additionally, funding would go toward replacing or rehabilitating approximately five bridges along the Milwaukee-to-Chicago route.

“In many ways, the future of rail in Wisconsin hinges on a successful Muskego Yard bypass project,” WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman said in the release. “We’re thrilled to receive this pivotal funding that will significantly reshape our rail infrastructure plans in the coming years.”

Funding will come from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program, which invests in railway projects around the country.

From the Article:

As part of the America Amplified project, WPR is among dozens of public radio stations reaching out directly to voters and answering their questions.

Some voters had questions about how elections are run in Wisconsin and what measures are in place to ensure election security.

The following answers are compiled from sources including the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Wisconsin laws and interviews with current and former Wisconsin clerks.

From the Article:

For a year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has operated without a leader at the helm, and some former agency heads say Gov. Tony Evers may be waiting to see whether the election changes prospects for state Senate confirmation of his next appointee.

It’s the longest the agency has been without a DNR secretary in more than two decades, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. Former DNR Secretary George Meyer said he can’t recall any significant gap in the office in more than 50 years.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Meyer said.

Meyer was the last secretary appointed by the Natural Resources Board before former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson and the Legislature stripped the board of that power in 1995. Meyer served as DNR secretary from 1993 until 2002, and Thompson reappointed him to the position in 1998.

Meyer said the year-long vacancy is at the heart of a political battle between the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Senate, which has rejected 21 Evers’ appointees. They include eight appointees fired last fall, as well as Evers’ appointee to the Public Service Commission in January.

“Hopefully, something will break after the election if the governor feels he needs a different legislature to work with,” Meyer said.

From the Article:

Three of the state’s major utilities are planning to spend almost $2 billion on five renewable energy projects as part of their plans to cut carbon emissions and shift to clean energy.

We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service and Madison Gas and Electric filed plans with the Public Service Commission to acquire and build facilities that would cost around $1.9 billion combined. The five projects are expected to power about 250,000 homes. They include 500 megawatts of solar, around 180 megawatts of wind and 100 megawatts of battery storage. The wind and solar facilities are being built by developers Invenergy and Qcells USA. They include the Dawn Harvest Solar Energy Center in Rock County, Saratoga Solar Energy Center in Wood County, Ursa Solar Park in Columbia County, Badger Hollow Wind Farm in Iowa and Grant counties and the Whitetail Wind Farm in Grant County.

“As we close our older, less efficient fossil fuel plants, we’re replacing that with clean energy, and these projects are going to be an important part of doing that,” We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said.

We Energies would own 80 percent of the projects. WPS and MGE would each own 10 percent.

We Energies and WPS, which are owned by WEC Energy Group, plan to invest nearly $8 billion in renewable energy, natural gas projects and storage in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee-based company said it’s part of a larger plan to save customers more than $2 billion over the next two decades.

From the Article:

The Wisconsin Vehicle Inspection Program (WIVIP) announced on Monday, Sept. 30 a new vehicle emission testing program. It features kiosks which motorists can use to conduct the testing themselves.

A news release says the two self-service kiosks have been installed at the new test-only facilities located at 8718 W. Brown Deer Road in Milwaukee and 9300 S. 27th Street in Oak Creek. Vehicles with a model year of 2007 and newer will be able to test at the WIVIP Self-Service Kiosks.

Officials said the launch of self-service kiosks is part of a larger initiative from the Wisconsin Vehicle Inspection Program to expand emission testing services throughout the seven-county southeast Wisconsin region.

From the Article:

Kwik Trip plans to start the rollout of the first of its 24 planned electric vehicle charging stations, with the initial two slated to open in October.

The first two are under construction in the Wisconsin communities of Ashland and Salem, with two others planned later in 2024. The majority of the stations will be built in 2025, according to Ben Leibl, public relations specialist for the convenience store chain.

The state of Wisconsin previously allocated $23.3 million in funds it received under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program to offset the costs of installing 53 electric vehicle charging stations in the state.

Those stations are expected to cost $33.8 million in aggregate. The remaining $10.5 million is to come from private financing.

La Crosse-based Kwik Trip will open 24 of the 53 EV charging stations planned for Wisconsin, the most of any single entity among the hotels, restaurants and fuel retailers that are part of the project.

The Kwik Trip program will provide direct current fast chargers (DCFCs) for customers. It will include connectors for both Combined Charging System (CCS) and North American Charging Standard (NACS), "allowing drivers of almost any electric vehicle to charge at a safe, clean and staffed 24/7 location," Kwik Trip said in a Monday news release.

According to the retailer, the chargers will offer a minimum of 150kW of power per dispenser when four vehicles are plugged in, or up to 400kW of power for a single vehicle.

"These rates depend on a variety of factors when the vehicle pulls up, but Kwik Trip is excited to be able to offer some of the fastest chargers in the market, furthering their commitment to quality guest service," the company said.

Customers will also be able to view charger availability, pricing and where chargers are through a standalone mobile application.

From the Article:

A complaint filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission says a town in Rusk County is breaking the law by refusing to make voting machines available to voters with disabilities. Despite a warning from the U.S. Department of Justice, the town allegedly conducted the August primary election using only hand-counted, paper ballots.

The complaint filed by Disability Rights Wisconsin says the Town of Thornapple violated the federal Help America Vote Act by not making electronic voting machines available to people with disabilities during the April and August primaries. “By ceasing to use electronic voting equipment and, instead, exclusively using paper ballots completed and tabulated by hand, Respondents are no longer using voting systems that are accessible for individuals with disabilities in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters,” the complaint said.

Disability Rights Wisconsin is asking the Wisconsin Elections Commission to order Thornapple to make accessible voting machines. DRW Director of Legal and Advocacy Services Kit Kerschensteiner told WPR the goal is to ensure all town residents are able to cast private ballots in the November presidential election. She said voting machines were used without issue in Thornapple before April.

“This is not the situation of a machine that just isn’t functioning that day at the polling place,” Kerschensteiner said. “This is a place that has chosen specifically, knowing that they were disenfranchising individuals with disabilities, and choosing to go ahead and do that, which we find to be unacceptable.”