UNEMPLOYMENT

Madison's jobless rate drops slightly

Unemployment inched downward in the Madison area and in most other Wisconsin metropolitan areas in June, compared to June of 2007. Madison's jobless rate was 3.9 percent, slightly lower than the 4.0 percent a year ago.

More people were out of work this June, compared to June 2007, in Janesville, La Crosse and Sheboygan, but the Racine area reported the highest unemployment rate of the state's bigger cities, at 5.9 percent.

At the county level, Dane County's jobless rate was 3.8 percent. Only Buffalo County, in western Wisconsin, had a lower unemployment rate in June, at 3.7 percent.

Statewide, unemployment in June was 4.9 percent, down slightly from the year-ago jobless rate of 5.1 percent.

MADISON AREA BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

Parade of Condos starts Saturday

Showcasing 15 condominiums in five Dane County communities, the 2008 Parade of Condos, sponsored by the Madison Area Builders Association, will be Saturday through Aug. 3.

Featured units will be open for viewing from 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Tickets are $10 and free for children ages 12 and under. A $1 savings per ticket is available by buying them by Friday online at www.paradeofcondosmadison.com. Driving directions and more details also are on the Web site or call the association at 608-288-1133.

Here are the featured condominium developments:

• Fitchburg: The Crossing, Galway Green Condominiums, Glen Wood Heights Condominiums.

• Madison: Bentley Green, Capitol West, Crosswinds at Hawk's Landing, Hawk's Ridge Condominiums, Mill Creek Estates.

• Middleton: Pheasant Branch Ridge Condominiums, Villages of Bishops Bay.

• Sun Prairie: Vilas at Meadow Crossing.

• Waunakee: Blue Ridge Condominiums, Hanover Place Condominiums, Meadowbrook Condominiums, Savannah Oaks Condominiums.

AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS

Projects approved for two local airports

A $9.7 million improvement project at the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison and a smaller project at Middleton Municipal Airport will begin soon.

The Dane County project, scheduled for completion this fall, includes design and reconstruction of a taxiway, installing a glycol recovery management system and constructing an electrical vault building. The project will be funded with about $9.2 million from the Federal Aviation Administration, $241,979 from the state and $241,979 from the county.

The $453,205 Middleton Municipal Airport project, scheduled for completion by November, involves construction of a snow-removal equipment building. It will be financed with $430,544 in federal funds, $11,330 from the state and $11,331 from the city of Middleton.

BRIEFLY

Second-quarter net income for Capitol Bank of Madison of $503,000 was up 29 percent from last year, according to bank president Ken Thompson. The bank's assets of $189 million on June 30 were up 5 percent or $9.8 million since last year. For the first six months of 2008, Capitol Bank had net income of $1 million, up 35 percent from the same period in 2007. Deposits at the bank's Verona branch office, which opened 30 months ago, exceeded $27.5 million as of June 30.

AirTran Airways will expand service at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. It will add nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and expand service to Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, New York, and the Florida cities of Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa. The announcement comes days after Midwest Airlines announced it was cutting service to several of those cities.

Minnesota-based Pentair will close its Sheboygan plant by June and eliminate about 350 jobs. Pentair makes commercial and residential water-filtration units. It said Tuesday it also will close a Sheboygan Falls distribution center.

Glass America, a windshield replacement and repair company, has opened a location at 2223 Industrial Drive in Monona. The company also offers mobile service at customers' homes or workplaces. The Chicago-based company has had a Beloit location since 2006. The Web site is www.glassusa.com.

H.J. Pertzborn Plumbing & Fire Protection, of Madison, has been recognized by Gerber Plumbing Fixtures for being in business for 80 years. As part of Gerber's 75th anniversary in 2007, the Woodridge, Ill., company conducted a national search of eligible plumbing contractors that also reached or exceeded the 75-year milestone.

FDIC INSURANCE: The state Department of Financial Institutions and the Wisconsin Bankers Association are offering speakers for municipalities, businesses and organizations with questions about deposit insurance coverage by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Michael Mach, DFI banking administrator, and Rose Oswald Poels, WBA senior vice president, are available by contacting Eric Skrum at 608-441-1216 or eskrum@wisbank.com.

— State Journal staff, wire services