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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m F e b r u a r y 2 0 14 • I nsIgh t | 43 PLAY{FULL} 138959 © 2013 Touchmark Living Centers, Inc., all rights reserved "It's an incredible bunch of people here. … I teach pool and run all the tournaments." – Ed Rice, resident Noted billiards player and Sportsman show producer Single-family homes • Independent Living Assisted Living ToUchmark on wesT prospecT Full-service Retirement Community 2601 Touchmark Drive • Appleton, WI 54914 920-372-0109 • Touchmark.com At Touchmark … It's the people! Visit TouchmarkAppleton.com/info to learn more about Ed and the Full Life. Identifying businesses that are part of the defense industry supply chain is crucial, says Jerry Murphy, executive director of new north Inc. "We don't even know who all the players are," he says. "Once we have that information, we'll be able to do a lot more. We can communicate with them about job options in other industries. Our goal is to make the companies who are part of the supply chain stronger." e City of Oshkosh and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh are tasked with implementing a cluster of businesses to serve the aero-industry sector. Fowle says work started on a new aviation business park in Oshkosh and UW-Oshkosh is launching a northeast Wisconsin Business Accelerator Program. Both efforts will help expose manufacturers to new opportunities to serve the aero industry as well as other growing economic sectors, Fowle says. "As we look at the supply chain, we'll try to identify some businesses that may benefit from some additional training to help them transition into new markets," he says. spending bill unleashes funds C ompanies in the new north doing business with the U.s. Department of Defense are breathing a collective sigh of relief aer a flurry of Congressional action. As 2013 came to a close, a new budget deal was struck and President Barack Obama signed the $632 billion national Defense Authorization Act into law. e spending plan guarantees $552.1 billion for military spending this year and $80.7 billion for overseas operations, such as the war in Afghanistan. It also rolls back the $63 billion in arbitrary spending cuts that were scheduled to go into effect beginning in January. "Between sequestration and the budget CRs (Continuing Resolutions), the last year was brutal for businesses working with the government," says John Rogers, president of Capstone national Partners, a Milwaukee- based boutique public relations and lobbying firm. e recently passed legislation allows federal employees – and the companies that work with the government – to look to the future and do some planning, says Rogers, a former Defense Department official. "Projects will now move ahead and hopefully business will be better" for companies that work with the government, he says. "Everything was on hold before. now government employees can plan ahead and companies can come forward with ideas they have" for new equipment, including the Joint Light tactical Vehicles (JLtV) contract, which Oshkosh Corp. is in the running for.