Of these 54 Wisconsin Companies, 5 of them have Market Caps now of more than $10 bil. Most of these 5 names are familiar to many people. Their Total Audited Earnings in 2014 of $4.846 bil were up a very robust 15% over the comparable $4.220 bil Audited Earnings in 2013, as you can see in the below chart:
| 2014 | 2013 | |||
| Most | Audited | Audited | ||
| Recent | Net | Net | ||
| City | 2014 | Income | Income | |
| Wisconsin Company | HQs | FYE | (Loss) | (Loss) |
| mil $s | mil $s | |||
| $ | $ | |||
| Johnson Controls | Milwaukee | Sep | 1,553 | 1,191 |
| Fiserv | Brookfield | Dec | 754 | 650 |
| Rockwell Automation | Milwaukee | Sep | 827 | 756 |
| Kohl's | Menomonee Falls | Jan 15 | 867 | 889 |
| Harley-Davidson | Milwaukee | Dec | 845 | 734 |
| Total all 5 | 4,846 | 4,220 | ||
| 2014 Earnings % Increase Over 2013 | 15% |
There were 49 Wisconsin Companies with Market Caps now between $100 mil and $10 bil. So just how have they done on the earnings front since the 2008/9 US financial meltdown? Just completely off-the-charts fantastically well.
These 49 Smaller Wisconsin Companies generated 2014 Audited Earnings From Continuing Operations of $3.916 bil, which was up a staggering 24 Times from 2008.
Further, these 49 Smaller Wisconsin Companies generated Three Year 2012-14 Combined Audited Earnings From Continuing Operations of $9.659 bil, which was up an even more staggering 43 Times from the Three Years 2008-10 Comparable Earnings Combined.
It's pretty clear that the State of Wisconsin's sweet spot, in addition to its University of Wisconsin Badgers Sports Teams, is its so many very fine Smaller Businesses. Wisconsin US House Members Democrat Ron Kind and Republican Paul Ryan are both strong advocates for Wisconsin's Smaller Businesses, as was former Wisconsin US Senator Russ Feingold, perhaps the smartest, keenest US Senator when he served there.
Below here are the reported US GAAP Audited Net Income (Losses) of each of these 49 Smaller Wisconsin Companies for all of their fiscal years reported from 2008 through 2014, presented by Market Cap:
| 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |||
| Most | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | ||
| Recent | Net | Net | Net | Net | Net | Net | Net | ||
| City | 2014 | Income | Income | Income | Income | Income | Income | Income | |
| Wisconsin Company | HQs | FYE | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) |
| mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | |||
| Snap-on | Kenosha | Dec | 432 | 360 | 315 | 284 | 193 | 144 | 244 |
| ManpowerGroup | Milwaukee | Dec | 428 | 288 | 198 | 252 | (264) | (9) | 206 |
| AO Smith | Milwaukee | Dec | 208 | 170 | 163 | 111 | 57 | 61 | 47 |
| Spectrum Brands Holdings | Middleton | Sep | 215 | (55) | 49 | (75) | (187) | (113) | (905) |
| Bemis | Neenah | Dec | 239 | 193 | 149 | 187 | 210 | 153 | 172 |
| MGIC Investment | Milwaukee | Dec | 252 | (50) | (927) | (486) | (364) | (1,322) | (525) |
| Joy Global | Milwaukee | Oct | 331 | 534 | 767 | 631 | 461 | 455 | 373 |
| Artisan Partners Asset Management | Milwaukee | Dec | 239 | (234) | 43 | 130 | 43 | 48 | 183 |
| Oshkosh Corp | Oshkosh | Sep | 309 | 316 | 246 | 273 | 793 | (1,167) | 289 |
| Regal Beloit | Beloit | Dec | 36 | 126 | 200 | 158 | 155 | 99 | 129 |
| Sensient Technologies | Milwaukee | Dec | 82 | 114 | 125 | 120 | 107 | 87 | 91 |
| Associated Banc-Corp | Green Bay | Dec | 191 | 189 | 179 | 140 | (1) | (132) | 168 |
| Generac Holdings | Waukesha | Dec | 175 | 175 | 93 | 325 | 57 | 43 | (556) |
| Manitowoc | Manitowoc | Dec | 161 | 189 | 109 | 22 | (75) | (613) | 101 |
| Exact Sciences | Madison | Dec | (100) | (47) | (52) | (29) | (12) | (9) | (10) |
| Rexnord | Milwaukee | Mar 15 | 92 | 25 | 47 | 30 | (51) | 88 | (429) |
| CNH Industrial Capital | Racine | Dec | 259 | 266 | 214 | 202 | 162 | 116 | 89 |
| Plexus | Neenah | Sep | 87 | 82 | 62 | 89 | 90 | 46 | 84 |
| Actuant | Menomonee Falls | Aug | 141 | 148 | 125 | 124 | 70 | 26 | 126 |
| Brady | Milwaukee | Jul | (48) | (138) | 103 | 109 | 82 | 70 | 132 |
| Physicians Realty Trust | Milwaukee | Dec | (4) | (3) | (3) | (3) | |||
| Roadrunner Transportation Services | Cudahy | Dec | 52 | 49 | 38 | 26 | 4 | 0 | (3) |
| Badger Meter | Milwaukee | Dec | 30 | 25 | 28 | 19 | 29 | 27 | 25 |
| Quad/Graphics | Sussex | Dec | 18 | 31 | 56 | (8) | (245) | 53 | 109 |
| Briggs & Stratton | Wauwatosa | Jun | 28 | (34) | 29 | 24 | 37 | 32 | 23 |
| Lands' End | Dodgeville | Jan 15 | 74 | 79 | 50 | 76 | 121 | 128 | 135 |
| Journal Communications | Milwaukee | Dec | 39 | 26 | 33 | 22 | 31 | 5 | (227) |
| Marten Transport | Mondovi | Dec | 30 | 30 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 18 |
| National Presto Industries | Eau Claire | Dec | 26 | 41 | 39 | 48 | 64 | 63 | 44 |
| The Marcus Corp | Milwaukee | May | 21 | 23 | 23 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 20 |
| Modine Manufacturing | Racine | Mar 15 | 22 | 132 | (23) | 38 | 9 | (20) | (104) |
| Douglas Dynamics | Milwaukee | Dec | 40 | 12 | 6 | 19 | 2 | 10 | 11 |
| Wausau Paper | Mosinee | Dec | (18) | (28) | (2) | (22) | 37 | 21 | (16) |
| Waterstone Financial | Wauwatosa | Dec | 13 | 15 | 35 | (7) | (2) | (10) | (26) |
| Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin | Madison | Dec | 15 | 78 | (34) | (37) | (41) | (177) | (231) |
| Bank Mutual Corp | Milwaukee | Dec | 15 | 11 | 7 | (48) | (73) | 14 | 17 |
| Weyco Group | Milwaukee | Dec | 20 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 17 |
| Cellular Dynamics International | Madison | Dec | (31) | (25) | (22) | (21) | |||
| STRATTEC Security | Milwaukee | Jun | 19 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | (7) | 3 |
| Johnson Outdoors | Racine | Sep | 9 | 19 | 10 | 33 | 7 | (10) | (68) |
| Connecture | Brookfield | Dec | (10) | (26) | (17) | ||||
| Twin Disc Inc | Racine | Jun | 4 | 4 | 27 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 24 |
| First Business Financial Services | Madison | Dec | 14 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| Roundys Inc | Milwaukee | Dec | (253) | 26 | (76) | 48 | 46 | 47 | 49 |
| Bank First National Corp | Manitowoc | Dec | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Nicolet Bankshares | Green Bay | Dec | 10 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Magnetek | Menomonee Falls | Dec | (26) | 4 | 7 | 5 | (3) | 5 | 7 |
| Baylake Corp | Sturgeon Bay | Dec | 9 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 4 | (10) |
| County Bancorp | Manitowoc | Dec | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | |||
| Total all 49 | 3,916 | 3,227 | 2,516 | 2,919 | 1,614 | (1,677) | (168) | ||
| 2014 Earnings % Increase Over 2008 | 2,434% | ||||||||
| Three Year Combined Earnings: | |||||||||
| … 2012-14 | 9,659 | ||||||||
| … 2008-10 | (231) | ||||||||
| …… 3 Year Earnings Improvement | |||||||||
| ………. Amount | 9,890 | ||||||||
| ………. % | 4,285% | ||||||||
On the job front, from the US Bureau of Labor, the Lacrosse-Onalaska WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an Unemployment Rate of only 3.9% in the most recently reported May 2015.
