Entrepreneurship

Mineral Point is a small town in southwest Wisconsin with a population of about 2,500. It has a rich history of lead mining and Cornish immigrants who settled there in the 1800s, and many of its historic buildings remain. Family histories stretch back generations, but people continue to be drawn to put down roots and work there. We meet three of them—a bookstore owner, a pastry chef, and a publisher. Their shared passion for supporting their adopted community and region resulted in a book, "The Wisconsin Whey: Cheesemaking in the Driftless."

The Milwaukee Public Library's Entrepreneur-in-Residence program was launched in summer 2024 as a collaboration between the library and a local entrepreneur. It provides free workshops, one-on-one consultations, mentoring, and more for current and aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.

DJ Shawna, the official DJ for the Milwaukee Bucks, and sneaker designer Noel Alvarado are the featured guests in the second episode of VISIT Milwaukee's Good Things Brewing.

The founder of Brilliant Voices, Mwanje Thompson, shares how and why he is teaching young Milwaukeeans about podcasts, business and digital entrepreneurship.

After 20 years of incarceration, Milwaukee-based entrepreneur and motivational speaker, Ed Hennings, knew he wanted to own his own business. After being released, he started his own barbershop but quickly became interested in the box trucking industry. After a challenging process he successfully began his own trucking business.

Latina-owned small businesses are growing steadily in the U.S., including here in Milwaukee, and new organizations have cropped up to help them find support and community.

The A&C Live Bait shop in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood is the legacy of Acie and Carrie White, sharecroppers' kids turned businesspeople who migrated to Wisconsin from Mississippi more than a half century ago.

The television program Project Pitch It features Wisconsin entrepreneurs pitching their companies to business leaders. Now in its sixth season, the show has featured over 100 entrepreneurs. Creator and executive producer Bev Greenburg reflects on the growth of the show.

Sherman Park's food business incubator, UpStart Kitchen, has been finding ways to endure the pandemic and encourage minority entrepreneurs.

Jeff Aronin realized early in his career that big pharmaceutical companies weren’t set up to develop drugs for small numbers of patients with rare conditions. So, at age 29, he began focusing on this problem and launched Ovation Pharmaceuticals from his living room and has been working in developing life sciences companies ever since.