In the third week of Festival of the Gods, we are basking in Heliods Glory and The Immortal Sun Emblem! In this event, our spells cost 1 less, all our creatures get +1/+1 and we get to draw an extra card each turn but we are not able to use the loyalty abilities of Planeswalkers. Read on for event details, tips and strategies, and decklists tailor made for this event. If you wish, you can click here to skip straight to the decklists!

Daylight is breaking on this weeks Festival of the Gods event and the radiant glory of Theros God of he Sun. Heliod is burning brighter than ever. Each player has an emblem with the effects of The Immortal Sun and starts with only six cards. How will you outshine your opponent?

The following cards are banned:

Faerie Vandal Narset, Parter of Veils Irencrag Pyromancer Lavinia, Azorius Renegade Improbable Alliance

Due to the effects of The Immortal Sun emblem, Planeswalkers with only loyalty abilities are banned in this event.

Heliod is often invoked at dawn meals and in matters of family honor, legal proceddings, and marraiages to name a few. His areas of influence include the sun, law, justice, kinship, and retribution. He is occasionally symbolized by a pegasus.

In addition, the MTG Arena team has confirmed on reddit that Planeswalkers with passive abilities from War of the Spark can still be played, except these Planeswalkers that are banned but not displayed on the event page (not including Narset):

To clarify, youdo nothave to re-enter the event and you only have to pay the entry fee once. There is no limit on the number of losses (or victories). Play as much as you want for the duration of the event.

Firstly, lets break down the Emblems abilities one by one and see how we can exploit it.

Ob Nixilis might be a bit too slow for this event, but could be an interesting inclusion. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries can also be used as a win condition.

So as many people might expect, a creature based aggro strategy is probably the best kind of deck for this event as it can make use of all the abilities very well. The normal run of the mill Mono Red Aggro, Rakdos Sacrifice and Gruul Aggro will perform great here. If youre just looking for a cheap deck, play 20 Islands and 40 Persistent Petitioners!

Decks like Temur Reclamation and Jeskai Fires (remember to replace the Teferi) can also be very good as they have sweepers and powerful cards like Fires of Invention and Wilderness Reclamation that can come down a turn earlier. Do keep in mind once Fires of Invention is out, its normal rules will still apply, meaning the number of lands will dictate what you can play without paying its mana cost.

All decks below are built around making best use of The Immortal Sun Emblem!

We will be back this weekend with Standard decks from MagicFest Lyon, and next weeks Festival is also going to be very exciting as we get Historic Brawl officially supported for the first time! Enjoy the event, as games are sure to be quick and dirty.

Also remember, you can always engage in our growing MTG Arena Zone community:

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The Immortal Sun - Festival of the Gods: Heliod's Glory Event Guide and Decklists MTG Arena Zone - MTG Arena Zone

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Arkansas continues its streak as road warriors this weekend, traveling to the Lonestar State for its first quad meet of the 2020 season. The Razorbacks will compete against LSU for the second week in-a-row, Centenary and host-school Texas Womens University.

The Razorbacks will be looking to break a three-meet losing streak, on the hunt for their first win since their upset of Georgia at home on February 7 (196.950 196.750). The Gymbacks are undefeated against TWU and quad-meet opponent Centenary, posting a 5-0 record against both. Arkansas is still looking to outscore LSU for the first time since 2012 when they beat the Tigers in two of their three meetings.

Arkansas saw TWU in action last season at the Arkansas Quad Meet in Fayetteville, the Gymbacks finished first (196.525) and TWU finished third (192.175).

Only the seniors, Jessica Yamzon, Hailey Garner and Sarah Shaffer have faced Centenary since arriving at Arkansas when the Gymbacks hosted Centenary in a tri-team event in 2017. Garner won the uneven bars title with a then career-best 9.925 in the event, the highest score by an Arkansas gymnast in any event in 2017. Yamzon also won the all-around title in the Arkansas win.

The last time out, junior Sophia Carter won her 23rd career title on Friday evening, tying her career-high score on the floor with a 9.950 in the event. Carters performance helped Arkansas finish strong against No. 5 LSU but ultimately fell to the Tigers in Baton Rouge, 197.125 195.725. Sophomore Kennedy Hambrick and redshirt-freshman Bailey Lovett also tied a career-highs with their 9.925 and 9.900 respectively on the beam. Lovetts famous double-layout first pass scored her a 9.900, making it six out of nine times this season she scored a 9.900 or higher.

Arkansas has won 22 event titles through nine meets. Carter and Hambrick are the only with multiple event titles and there are three first-time title winners, Lovett, Laird and Elswick. Hambrick has the team-high with ten total titles, the only event she hasnt won a title in is vault.

Kennedy Hambrick has scored a 9.850 or higher in seven of her nine floor routines dating back to the start of the season good for 78% of her routines. Three of her last five routines have scored a 9.925.

Visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas Gymnastics. You can also find the Hogs on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Gymnastics) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackGym).

Link:
First Quad Meet of the Season on Deck for Gymbacks - Arkansas Razorbacks

After the wintry mix and colder temperatures set in Thursday night, Friday started cold with wind chills falling into the single digits. Friday will only get into the mid 30's but wind speeds will settle down in the afternoon.

As a high pressure system moves in for the weekend we'll see a wonderful warm up that we haven't had in over 131 days. October 27th was the last time we got above 50 degrees and October 21st was the last time we broke 60.

We're set to hit both this weekend!

Sunny skies across the board with the high pressure center keeping things clear. This will develop a southwest breeze for Saturday and Sunday though that will transport the warmer temperatures into western Wisconsin.

Wind speeds will be from the west-southwest at 10 to 20 mph. There will be a few extra clouds mixing in Sunday as a low pressure system aims to bring light rain to Wisconsin to start next week.

Don't forget we spring ahead Saturday night so set the clocks forward, and test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. This is a good time to change their batteries.

Otherwise, the longer term forecast shows consistent 40+ highs and a few shots at rain. The warmer trend is still around as we head into the second week of March.

See the article here:
It's a "double brat and a beer on the deck" type of weekend - WQOW TV News 18

Before he was a beloved deckhand on Below Deck Mediterranean, Colin Macy-OToole commanded the ferry back and forth from Fire Island and shared some pretty insane incidents that occurred on his route.

Macy-OToole dished with the hosts from the Out in the Wild podcast about how he ended up on Below Deck Med, his crazy experiences as a ferryboat captain, plus his first encounter with Bravo producer Andy Cohen. Macy-OToole says his first brush with Cohen occurred long before he ended up on the show. He added that landing on Below Deck Med was almost a fluke as he was originally supposed to appear on Below Deck season 5 when Nico Scholly was bosun.

Even though he applied to be on the show as a joke, he was called for Below Deck season 5. His girlfriend at the time didnt want him to go on the show, so he backed off. Macy-OToole later found himself single and set sail on Below Deck Med. While he may have found some of the guests on the show to be pretty wild, their antics may not compare to what he saw as a ferryboat captain.

When the hosts asked for stories, Macy-OToole wanted to make sure they were appropriate for the audience. Ive got a couple of stories, but I dont want to be inappropriate, he says.

He recalls being approached by a passenger while he was hanging out with a young new crew member. A guy comes up to us and was like, Theres a guy you know, smoking. You cant smoke on the boat, Macy-OToole explains. This guys smoking in the back. Its midnight or whatever. So we asked the new kid, Alright check it out see whats happening. Macy-OToole reveals that when the new crew member ventured over to the passenger, he wasnt exactly smoking. But rather a passenger was performing oral sex on someone. Needless to say, Macy-OToole shared that the young new crew members life was forever changed.

But, Ive had people as a captain, guys come on the boat with just a shirt on, Macy-OToole says. No underpants. No anything. Hey, as long as youre sitting down and not being an a**hole, I dont care.

Speaking of Fire Island, Macy-OToole says he first met Cohen while he was working as a ferryboat captain. He says he met Cohen about five years ago when Cohen was staying on the island. He didnt know who I was at the time, Macy-OToole shares.

So if you have a house over at the beach, and you get an Amazon package, instead of you going back to Sayville and getting the package, well just deliver you the package, Macy-OToole describes. Like you just call in, I have a package for Cohen. So you pick it up, this is about five, six, seven years ago. And we have a package for an A. Cohen. So me and all the girls were there like, Oh that would be funny if it was Andy Cohen!'

Macy-OToole recalls docking the boat with Cohens package. And right in front, waiting for us to dock is Andy Cohen in his little bathing suit just booty popping. Im like, Alright its his.' Macy-OToole recalls that Cohen approached him for the package, which was $3 for the delivery. Hes like patting himself down, like, I dont have any money on me,' Macy-OToole says.

He remembers Cohen asking random people if they had any money and ended up borrowing the $3 from a stranger. Macy-OToole said he re-told the story on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen just kidding around. After the show, he gives me a bottle of Don Julio and says, Sorry for being a pain in the ass., Macy-OToole laughs adding he only told the story because he thought it was comical.

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'Below Deck Med': Colin Macy-O'Toole Shares Wild Experiences in Boating (And the Funny Moment He Met Andy Cohen) - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Entrepreneurs are learning it's time to batten down the hatches in startup land.

Legendary venture capital firm Sequoia Capital sent a memo to its company founders and chief executives on Thursday, warning them of the potential business consequences of the coronavirus and its ripple effects. It described the pandemic as the "black swan of 2020."

The memo, which has been posted online and has spread through all of "tech Twitter," told company founders to prepare for the worst. The partners at the global venture firm have already seen startups suffer a decline in business activity and breaks in their supply chain. Fears of an economic downturn could make it much harder for them to raise outside funds, they said.

People on Twitter are describing the memo as "the sequel" to another dramatic warning from the firm 12 years ago.

On an early October day in 2008, Sequoia called an emergency meeting of its entrepreneurs, including Alfred Lin, a partner at Sequoia and a former executive at Sequoia-backed Zappos. Lin and others heard from a handful of partners and sat through a presentation on the worsening financial crisis and measures their businesses could take to blunt its effects.

The first slide had an image of a tombstone that read "R.I.P. Good Times."

The weeks leading up to the meeting saw the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the bailout announced, and the worst week of losses in the history of the Dow Jones.

In Sequoia's recent memo to founders, Lin shared a memory of the event.

"We didn't know then, just like we don't know now, how long or how sharp or shallow of a downturn we will face," Lin wrote. "What I can confirm is that the presentation made our team and our business stronger."

The deck, which we've shared with Sequoia's permission below, includes some of the same recommendations that the firm issued this week in its memo.

The slide show presentation known as "R.I.P. Good Times" gave Sequoia's company founders a gloomy forecast.

It predicted that venture-backed startups would raise smaller rounds at later stages if they could even secure a term sheet. They might see the number of exits slip, as companies take longer to go public, and the bigger companies change their acquisition strategy to conserve capital.

The firm told its founders that "acquiring entities will favor profitable companies," and it would be necessary for them to become cash-flow positive to survive.

Cuts were a "must," Sequoia's partners said. Entrepreneurs would need to review employee salaries, potentially decrease headcount, and slash their marketing budgets and they had to do it fast.

"Spend every dollar as if it were your last," the deck read.

The firm's recent coronavirus memo has been described as the "2020 version" of the "R.I.P. Good Times" deck, because of its take on the business landscape and smart recommendations for any startup.

We're sharing the full deck from 2008 with Sequoia's permission.

The rest is here:
Sequoia's coronavirus memo is eerily similar to another warning the VC firm gave to startup founders in 2008. Here's the full 'R.I.P. Good Times'...

For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Deckers Outdoor (DECK - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Deckers Outdoor is one of 240 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. DECK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DECK's full-year earnings has moved 5.18% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, DECK has moved about 2.29% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of -13.45% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Deckers Outdoor is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, DECK belongs to the Shoes and Retail Apparel industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #114 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 11.75% this year, meaning that DECK is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

DECK will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.

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Has Deckers Outdoor (DECK) Outpaced Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks This Year? - Zacks.com

There are so many jaw-dropping moments that Below Deck producers had a hard time choosing three. Pic credit: Bravo

There have been seven seasons of Below Deck with over 100 episodes airing. Below Deck executive producers, Mark Cronin and Courtland Cox, are revealing some of the most jaw-dropping moments of the series.

Fans of the hit Bravo show know there is plenty of shocking and dramatic moments for producers to choose.

The last season alone gave viewers some of the most WTF moments of the series, and that doesnt include what didnt air on television.

Along with sharing what fans get wrong about the show, Mark and Courtland are revealing the times that Below Deck made their jaws drop.

Yes, it was hard for them to pick three out of the million things that have shocked them over the years.

There is no question Ashton Pienaar going overboard during Season 6 was the scariest moment in the series.

Courtland said producers initially had no idea what was going on because they were in the control room.

As a producer, Im in the control room watching, and I can only see what the cameras are shooting. So, I see that moment. I see the rope starting around Ashtons ankle, and then I see him go in the water, and then three seconds later, I see a camera being set down on the deck of the boat. And, as a producer, Im yelling at my camera operators. Im saying, Why are we not shooting? Whats happening? And its not until well after the fact that I realize that our camera operator had set his camera down to untie the line to let Ashton free from the rope that hes entangled in, Courtland shared with The Daily Dish.

Season 1 featured Kat Held defying an order by Captain Lee Rosbach not to go out, and to stay on the boat. The captain watched her sneak off the yacht via the security cameras.

It made the producers list because it was so entertaining.

Thats one of those moments where its like. Its so perfect the way that it happens as Lees watching it and laughing at Kat walking off the boat. You couldnt script that any better than what actually happened in that real moment. As a producer, watching those things really happen on the boat, those are the things that, in the midst of a crazy production when youre tired, you see those moments, and youre like, that is completely amazing and magical, Courtland expressed.

Its time for a One Second Quiz: #BelowDeck Edition with @Lesdoggg #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/jSkOmb9uwy

Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) January 23, 2020

It might seem shocking that of all the WTF moments during Season 7, chef Kevin Dobsons penis cake made the list.

The reaction from the guests, minus the primary Jemele Hill because she already went to bed, was priceless.

Granted, Kevin was following orders by creating the penis cake Jemele wanted. However, chief stew Kate Chastain purposely let him deliver the penis cake knowing the primary went to bed.

Kevin is terrified by the reaction to that. He falls into a depression. You cannot write those moments, Mark admitted.

The producers revealed there are about five or six moments each season that keep life interesting for those working on Below Deck.

Those moments are also not necessarily the same ones fans would choose.

Below Deck will return for Season 8 in fall 2020 on Bravo.

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Below Deck producers reveal three jaw-dropping moments of the series - Monsters and Critics

I recently attended the Leap Year birthday party of my great-niece. As I took in all the details of her frog-themed party with all of its adorable, mom-crafted decorations I couldnt help but feel a little surge of pride in my nephew.

I watched as he patiently (and repeatedly) saved his 2-year-old daughter from tipping over her chair, dispensed swamp water (green punch) to the guests and wheeled out the birthday girls crowning gift: a tiny bicycle with a booster seat in the back for Kenzies dolls.

I also marveled over how overwhelmingly feminine his household is, with a wife and two girly daughters. Even the family dog is dainty a tiny, white dog with ribbons in her soft, floppy ears.

I know he loves his family and home more than life itself, but I also wondered if he ever felt outnumbered. After all, this is a guy who loves John Deere, fixing engines and buying anything with wheels, yet his life is spent perching at tiny tables and drinking Lilliputian cups of tea, watching Frozen repeatedly and helping daughters put plastic high heels on their Minnie Mouse dolls.

Maybe thats why he also occasionally bought Tonka earth-moving equipment for his daughters. Or looked so proud when Kenzie corrected her grandma by telling her this new toy was a backhoe, not a tractor.

Such is life for fathers with daughters. Even the most macho of men will soon find himself awash in a sea of estrogen.

I wondered if he ever asked for pointers from my dad, who not only had four daughters, but was raised in a household with three sisters. Just in case he hasnt, it seems like a good time to warn him of what lies ahead. As a daughter, sister, aunt and great-aunt, I feel fully qualified to share what Ive observed.

ARCHIVE: Read more of Tammy Swift's columns

Readers can reach columnist Tammy Swift at tswiftsletten@gmail.com.

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Swift: The things that dads with daughters know - Brainerd Dispatch

When the 12 China-based employees of private-label sock manufacturer PAC-MFG return to their office on Monday after a two-week quarantine of the city of Haining, things will be a little different. Buses and trains are hot spots for transmission of the coronavirus, sothe company has conscripted its in-house driver to pick up car-less workers and ferry staff around the city for quality-control inspections. PAC-MFG also will hand out ear thermometers and require employees toreport their temperatures through a new company social media group. Even the bathroom has changed.Most sinks in China dispense only cold water.PAC-MFG just installed a water heater to amp up the disinfectant power of hand washing.

The coronavirus, which is pummeling stock markets and kinking supply chains worldwide, is particularly dangerous for small-to-midsize businesses, which tend to operate on shorter lead times and have all their manufacturing eggs in the China basket, says Hitendra Chaturvedi, a professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University. "I believe if the coronavirus impact goes beyond March, many SMEs will have to shut shop," Chaturvedi says. Even small companies without direct exposure to Asia are threatened as the epidemic rushes west and the potential for employees to get sick increases.So now smart small-and-midsize-company leaders are trying to mitigate the coronavirus risk with a variety of tactics, such as conserving working capital, crafting work-at-home policies, and communicating frequently with vendors and customers.

Some businesses have designated point people--coronavirus czars, in effect--to oversee their efforts. At PAC-MFG, which in addition to its China workforce employs six people at its San Diego headquarters, that person is the assistant to CEO and founder Harold Robison. The CEO's assistant "is looking at anything we can do to reduce exposure that doesn't affect mission-critical work--even if there is a little extra cost," says Robison, who anticipates the epidemic will ding 2020 revenues by about 15 percent. "We are expecting to overreact the first month."

Director of technology Ryan Dolley acts as coronavirus specialist at PMsquare, a 33-employee data and analytics company in Oak Brook, Illinois. Dolley posts updates about the virus's spread on Slack; another employee created a dashboard there tracking such data as rates of infection and mortality, to keep staffers informed.

On Dolley's recommendation, the leadership team recently drew up a list of infectious disease outbreak policies, such as the temperature above which employees must stay home (100.4 degrees) and what to do if someone falls ill while traveling. The team also created an additional benefit allowing for sick days that don't count as paid time off. Employees are required to check off every item on the list to indicate they've reviewed it. "We used CDC's guidelines and customized them for our business," says Dustin Adkison, PMsquare's managing partner. "We've also bought hand sanitizers for the whole office and asked the cleaning crew to begin doing surface area sanitation instead of just wiping things down."

Of course many companies already have work-from-home policies. But those aren't helpful when staffers are too groggy to peck at a laptop. MBX Systems, a 180-employee company in Libertyville, Illinois, which makes hardware for applications ranging from flight simulation to surveillance, got a taste of that months ago during a two-week period when15 engineers succumbed to the flu. Fortunatelythe company has a well-thought-out contingency plan that chief strategy officer Justin Formella says should protect it if the coronavirus breaches its walls.

Leaders at MBX have assessed the minimum staffing levels required for each department and identified employees who have been cross-trained to fill in for those functions.The company also determines what work will be eliminated or deferred if staffing levels drop. "You might decide to cut new initiatives and go into a sustaining posture," Formella says. "It should be automatic that if today we only have five people instead of 10, everyone knows that these are the things we will focus on."

Maintaining supply

Supply chains, which take time to diversify, present a more daunting problem.MBX sources raw materials and components from many vulnerable countries in Asia. Starting in mid-January, the company began rapidlybuilding up inventory and working with customers to do the same,urging them to forecast out to the second quarter and beyond. MBX has also been firm with suppliers about reserving its spot in line to buy new inventory as it is produced. "We have to do this in advance of the shortages, which at this point are anywhere between now and four weeks away," Formella says.

A 25-year-old, $100 million company like MBX has sufficient sway with suppliers to get much of what it needs. A fragile startup with no employees does not. Mike Bradford, founder of Atlanta-based Wonderflle has been producing irons customized to make stuffed waffles out of two factories near Shanghai for less than a year, and selling out each run. He was waiting until March to place his next order and now is not sure whether the manufacturers will accommodate his scant volume.

Bradfordsays he will consider moving operationsshould problems spill into the summer. Fortunately hearranged Chinese production through a contract manufacturing service that has partnerships in India and other countries. That should make any transition easier. "If it looks like there will be significant delays, they will help me as far as moving materials to another location," Bradford says. "But I have spent a year learning how things work in China, and in India I would have to rebuild."

Jennifer Randklev can't afford to wait and see what happens. Randklev is CEO of the second-generation family business Penguin Patch Holiday Shop, a Fort Worth, Texas, company with revenue under $10 million that provides materials for gift-selling events at schools. With 100 percent of revenue dependent on a few weeks in December and 100 percentof products coming from China, the business has no margin for error. Randklev had planned to visit China in February to finalize packaging and approve production samples at many of the 15 factories in Ningbo where she manufactures. But the factories told her not to come. Things were bad.

Production in China typically takes 60 days for a company like Penguin. Randklev anticipates that stretching to 90 days or longer. Worried about future delays and complications, she decided to move her entire production process up six weeks. "I have dropped all other aspects of my business just to work on placing my orders with China" as soon as possible, she says. Those orders are basedin parton Penguin's existing inventory, comprising thousands of items not sold in its holiday shops last year. Normally employees have until the end of March to conduct a count of all those products, but this yearRandklev had to hireadditional workers to get it done faster. With staffing agency fees, the 10 or so extra hands cost her at least $50,000. But they finished the inventory early this week, increasing the odds she'll get the shipments in time for holiday customers.

Keeping customers informed

Anticipating shortages forCool Beauty Consulting, a 22-employee supplier and consultant serving salons and barbershops, founder Bennie Pollard hasbeenpadding his usual 45-day inventory of hair colors, shampoos, and shears to 60 days. His other Louisville, Kentucky-based business,Nova Salons,facesa different problem. "Hairdressing is a very intimate and touchy industry," Pollard says. "So you have to let the customer base know you are very much involved in increased sanitation."

To do that, last Thursday Nova emailed several thousand customers talking up his two salons' existing cleanliness practices, which are being reinforced with beefed-up training, and enhancements like additional hand-sanitation stations. The note includes a list of personal best practices ("Don't share food or drinks. Cough and or sneeze into your elbow") and also politely asks anyone who feels ill to reschedule their appointments, to "protect our staff and all our lovely clients."

"Service businesses already do some preventative measures around things like cleanliness well," Pollard says. "So there is a slight marketing benefit to reminding customers: We care."

Published on: Mar 2, 2020

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The Coronavirus Could Be Devastating to Small Businesses. Here's How Some Companies Are Fighting Back - Inc.com

There's energy efficiency innovation going on right here in Milwaukee. Some of the innovators got to meet potential investors last night. WUWM's Chuck Quirmbach reports.

Some entrepreneurs see profits in renewable energy and energy efficiency products. But early-stage companies often need money to keep innovating. An annual competition held in Milwaukee Tuesday night gave seven firms a chance to show off what they do and meet more potential investors.

The event took place at the Midwest Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC), which is a collaboration of several Wisconsin universities andcompanies. It aims to make the Midwest the leader in energy and the controls needed to use the power more efficiently.

Part of M-WERC's mission is talent development, through its WERCBench Labs Accelerator program that offers young energy firms advice, and lab and testing space. Seven entrepreneurs gave presentations at M-WERC's offices on N. 27th Street on Tuesday.

Joe Bonniwell is of the firm CLOCworks. He touted his company's software, which he says can help businesses optimize energy efficiency.

"An example of a pattern our system might find would be how much energy a site's heating and cooling system would use to keep the indoor temperature of a building at a certain level, given a particular outdoor temperature, Bonniwell said.

Ashray Manur is with Elektrifi Technologies. He promoted his company's small-scale microgrids. Microgridsare electricity networks that serve just a few users and are often powered by renewable energy.

"In the event of an extended blackout, families should be able to produce their own energy," Manur said.

Killian Tobin says his firm, Omega Grid, has software that will help citizens and businesses use less electricity when prices are high and more when prices are low.

"Our system we're working with will work with anything from a campus, all the way down to a smart switch, Tobin said.

A smart switch is a light switch with added features that help automate a home.

Elad Wallach is with the company Steam Energy Labs, which has created a thermostat for electric residential water heaters. He says that can reduce electricity use from power plants.

"Your water heater can help get rid of fossil sources by simply heating water in a smarter way, Wallach said.

But all four of those firms came up short of prizes in the M-WERC competition.

Third place went to Accelerate Wind. Founder Erika Boeing says her company is developing affordable wind turbines for commercial building rooftops.

We've found that wind has the potential to add 30% additional energy generation on top of solar capacity when installed alongside solar," Boeing said.

The second-place finisher was Mesodyne. CEO Veronika Stelmakh says they are making hand-sized generators that can give more power to items like drones.

"Everything is changing thanks to drones, but drones are limited in their flight time," Stelmakh explained.

A panel of judges gave first place to the Milwaukee firm Agricycle, formerly called Blue Mangoes. The company's Claire Friona says they make a dehydrator that reduces food waste.

Our dehydrator is special because they work entirely off the sun, with no electricity involved," Friona said.

All the companies showcased at M-WERC have something in common: they're seeking more investors. But M-WERC CEO Alan Perlstine says almost all of the firms taking part in the five years of WERCBench Labs are still open.

"Win lose or draw, leveraging multiple early-stage startups is one way to rapidly jumpstart and leverage science and technology," Perlstine said, adding that some of these companies may be game-changers.

That's in a world many scientists say needs to become greener,or face more challenges brought by climate change.

Support for Innovation reporting is provided by Dr. Lawrence and Mrs. Hannah Goodman.

Do you have a question about innovation in Wisconsin that you'd like WUWM's Chuck Quirmbach to explore? Submit it below.

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Innovative Companies Offer Energy-Saving Products At Milwaukee Competition - WUWM