Shelby Olstad ’19 launched her cake and cookie company, Miggy’s Bakes, from her college apartment. What started as a side project soon turned into a full-fledged business. But as demand increased and the business grew, Olstad faced challenges, particularly with financial projections. “I felt so over my head,” she says. That’s when she turned to the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a network of more than a dozen centers, including one at UW–Madison.
Established in 1980 through the U.S. Small Business Administration, with legislation written by Wisconsin state senator Gaylord Nelson LLB’42, the SBDC network spans the state, providing no-cost consulting, training, and resources to help support businesses at every stage, from start-up to expansion. By equipping entrepreneurs with the tools and expertise they need, the SBDC network has helped cultivate a thriving small-business community in Wisconsin.
With the guidance of SBDC consultants at UW–Madison, Olstad gained clarity and confidence to navigate her business’s growth, ultimately opening a storefront in Middleton, Wisconsin, in 2023. She says that the support was “critical,” and her business has grown far beyond her initial expectations. “We’ve seen growth at our storefront that I didn’t even project happening for years down the line,” she says.
Olstad’s is just one of the many success stories from the SBDC at UW–Madison. In 2024 alone, the center assisted 780 clients, helped secure more than $13.2 million in capital, and supported the launch of 29 new businesses. These efforts are part of a broader impact across the Universities of Wisconsin, where in 2023, 298 companies were started and $96.9 million in capital investment was raised, demonstrating the impact of the SBDC network statewide.
In addition to fostering small business growth, state funding to UW–Madison and other Universities of Wisconsin campuses has been instrumental in advancing Wisconsin’s agricultural sector. A prime example is the Dairy Innovation Hub, a strategic partnership between UW–Madison, UW–Platteville, and UW–River Falls. First introduced in the 2019–21 biennial budget, the initiative gained strong support from key farm groups, including the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and the Dairy Business Association, who recognized the need for cutting-edge research to sustain the dairy industry. With dairy production contributing $52.8 billion annually to Wisconsin’s economy, the Dairy Innovation Hub plays a critical role in ensuring the industry’s continued success.
Funded by $7.8 million per year from the state budget, the Dairy Innovation Hub focuses on four priority areas: land and water management, animal health and welfare, human health and nutrition, and farm businesses and community. By leveraging interdisciplinary and intercampus research, the Dairy Innovation Hub addresses critical challenges in sustainability, nutrition, and profitability, helping to solidify Wisconsin’s global leadership in dairy production and innovation.
Jordan Matthews ’09, a partner in Rosy-Lane Holsteins in Watertown, Wisconsin, has collaborated with UW–Madison assistant professor of animal and dairy sciences Jennifer Van Os on several projects aimed at improving farm efficiency and animal welfare. The latest, Mooving Cows, is an educational game designed to teach audiences about cattle flight zones and safe animal-handling techniques.
“Part of [Rosy-Lane’s] mission states, ‘To utilize and experiment with profitable and environmentally sound technologies for plants and animals.’ Nearly every experiment done by the University is for this reason,” Matthews told the Dairy Innovation Hub. “If we want to continue to operate as a best-in-class farm, working hand-in-hand with the experts setting the standards has helped us accomplish our mission.”
Over the past five years, the Dairy Innovation Hub has funded more than 230 projects, investing $3.4 million in developing industry talent, including new faculty and staff. In fiscal year 2024, another $7.8 million was allocated to support innovative dairy initiatives. These investments drive technological advancements, new product development, and collaboration across UW campuses, further strengthening Wisconsin’s $116.3 billion agricultural sector.
Whether through the SBDC’s support for entrepreneurs or the Dairy Innovation Hub’s research-driven initiatives, these targeted investments in UW–Madison and the Universities of Wisconsin are building a more dynamic, sustainable economy for the state.
