Johnson Bank closes four offices in Arizona

Shortly after closing three Wisconsin branches, including one in Racine, Johnson Bank announced it was closing four branches in Arizona. Here's a short story.

CNH Capital Announces Initiative to Upgrade Point of Sale Technology

CNH Capital, the financial services business of CNH Global N.V., is in the process of implementing an upgrade to its dealer revolving account service offering.

The dealer service offering upgrade is enabled by FreeWay(TM) from FreedomPay, a Software as a Service (SaaS) payment and transaction gateway that joins all areas of payment and transaction processes into a single interface and reporting system. The POS technology enhances the servicing of existing investments in Dealer Management Systems (DMS). FreeWay integrates with Dealer Management Systems currently being used by many of CNH North America's family of dealers.

By implementing this technology, the CNH family of dealers will have real-time ability to access a variety of promotions for their customers, and insight into optional customized programs, also accessible at the point of purchase.

Trysha Stiffler, Division Manager from CNH Capital says, "This upgrade represents a significant advancement to the CNH Capital Commercial Revolving Account product line. We are now able to provide additional benefits to both dealers and customers through the use of a state-of-the-art sales tool accessible online or at the point of sale, all while bringing a high level of data security to our dealers. This initiative represents the implementation of an easy-to-deploy solution yielding benefits to both our dealers and their customers."

Sam Bellamy, Chief Operating Officer from FreedomPay adds, "The deployment of FreeWay across the CNH dealer network is expected to yield numerous benefits, including secure payment processing and enhanced ability for dealers to provide customers with additional insight into available promotional offerings. We look forward to working with CNH Capital and the CNH family of dealers in the coming months to launch FreeWay."

FreeWay is certified for use with CNH's most widely used Dealer Management Systems.

About CNH Capital

CNH Capital, the financial services business of CNH Global N.V.(CNH 39.52, -0.11, -0.27%), a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat Group (fia:MI), provides a comprehensive range of services, including wholesale and retail financing, leasing, insurance, asset management, and revolving lines of credit, for the global marketplace. Building on more than 50 years' experience in the equipment finance industry, CNH Capital services a portfolio of more than $18 billion, helping customers through various wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia. More information about CNH Capital can be found atwww.cnhcapital.com.

About FreedomPay

FreedomPay offers innovative payment and transaction solutions to companies. The Software as a Service (SAAS) FreeWay, the world's most flexible gateway, joins all areas of payment and transaction management into a single, easy-to-use interface and reporting system.

For over a decade, FreedomPay has offered end-to-end payment and transaction solutions ranging from POS hardware, service kiosks, virtual and remote terminals, payment processing, intelligent analysis, routing of promotions, incentives, and customer relationship management services.

FreedomPay provides customers in retailing, healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, government, and nonprofits with a PCI compliant and end-to-end-encrypted single solution for intelligent payment and transaction management.

Visit us online at www.freedompay.com

Maintaining ISO 9001 certification topic of American Society of Quality meeting in Racine

David Taylor of Taylor Enterprises, Inc., will show the easiest way to maintain ISO 9001 certification by focusing on the most important parts for your company at the American Society for Quality, Racine-Kenosha-Walworth Section Meeting 6:00 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Charcoal Grill, 8300 Washington Ave. in Racine.

Please make reservations to Jay Warner at quality@a2q.com. There is no charge for the meeting.

Free program explores self-employment options

If you’ve ever thought about operating your own business or are just curious about taking the business ownership step, “Dream the Possible Dream:  Business Ownership” is a place to start. The free workshop is hosted by Financial Service Group from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 4812 Northwestern Ave.


The interactive workshop, led by Marty Barnes of The Entrepreneur’s Source, will discuss self-employment options and lead participants through a process to help determine if self-employment is a good career option and what type of business would be the best fit.

Reservations are required. Call Lori at 262-554-4500 or visit this website. 

Johnson family moves up on list of richest Americans

Racine's billionaires are the 182nd richest people in the world, according to Forbes magazine.

Fisk Johnson, Curtis Johnson, Helen Johnson-Leipold, and Imogene Powers Johnson are each worth about $2 billion. That's $50 million over last year. The SC Johnson family moved up one place on the annual Forbes list of richest Americans.

Menard's owner John Menard is the richest person in Wisconsin. His fortune is valued at $5.2 billion.

See the full list here.

Johnson Bank is closing three branches, including drive-up in Racine

Johnson Bank is closing three branches, including a drive-up location in Racine, to save money due to the down economy.

Here's the company press release:

Johnson Bank announced today they will consolidate their Lake Geneva office into their Burlington location. The bank will also consolidate their Sheboygan office into their Kohler location. The office located at 580 Broad Street in Lake Geneva and the office located at 701 N. 8^th Street in Sheboygan will officially close on December 17, 2010, along with Johnson Bank’s drive up location located at 5417 Washington Avenue in Racine. This is part of the bank’s plan to manage business in light of the evolving economic environment.

“No one is immune to the impact caused by the current economic situation,” said Russ Weyers, Chief Operating Officer/incoming Chief Executive Officer. “We’re making decisions so we can be an even stronger financial partner in the future for our clients.”

The banks will remain open until close date. Weyers said he expects the impact on clients to be minimal.

“Our client relationships are important to us and we appreciate their business,” added Weyers. “Our clients can expect the same high level of service they’re accustomed to at Johnson Bank.”

Weyers said the bank will continue to review multiple aspects of the organization to manage the business and adapt to the changing economic environment. Approximately 12 associates will be affected.

Shurpac, Inc. set to Expand Facility, Workforce

The City of Racine put out the following press release today:

RACINE – Thanks to a partnership with the City of Racine resulting in an assessment grant from the DNR, Shurpac Inc. is preparing for a building and workforce expansion at its long-time Racine location – 1700 Phillips Avenue.

The City of Racine, in partnership with Shurpac applied for an environmental assessment grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and was awarded the grant to perform the assessment. The grant will facilitate the completion of phase I and phase II of the property.

As a result, Shurpac will be able to increase its building investment and eventually its workforce by 50 employees.

“From a city standpoint, our No.1 objective is to be able to partner with our local businesses and job opportunities,” said Mayor John Dickert. “Shurpac has committed to the City of Racine and the City of Racine has committed to Shurpac.

“We were able to cut through the red tape in Madison, partner with the DNR, and get the job done and because we were successful in doing so we have a local company able to expand its facility and that expansion will eventually create 50 more jobs. This is very exciting news.”

Shurpac is equally excited about the partnership and the results.

“Mayor Dickert has been very proactive and aggressive in helping us with any issues that have come up,” said Shurpac President Jeff Hoey. “The city has made us feel wanted. They’ve made great partners. We’ve been a part of this business community for 52 years.The city and the Mayor worked side-by-side with us to make sure this expansion happened and because they did we are very pleased to be able to create more jobs for the people in our area.”

Since Shurpac had outgrown its current location, the city was in danger of losing a valuable employer. Partnering together, the city and Shurpac determined the need to investigate the vacant parcel adjacent to the company and then successfully applied for the needed funding.

 “This project is a testament to Racine’s prime manufacturing location in the Chicago-Milwaukee Corridor,” Mayor Dickert added. “It also highlights the partnership among local and state governments and our economic development organization to create and retain critical jobs in our community. This is another win for the residents of Racine.”

For additional information on this project and the assistance that may be available to other employers in Racine County, contact the Racine County Economic Development Corporation at 262-898-7424.