TOURISM

Spending declined slightly in 2007

Tourism spending in Wisconsin dipped slightly in 2007. A report released today by the state Department of Tourism says spending totaled $12.78 billion in 2007, compared to $12.8 billion in 2006.

State officials said spending on meetings and conventions increased 5.9 percent from $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion.

Traveler spending was up during summer and fall, traditionally the year 's strongest seasons, according to the report by David-Peterson Associates of Kennebunk, Maine. Summer spending rose two-tenths of a percent to $4.9 billion and 1.4 percent to $3.1 billion in the fall. Spending fell by six-tenths of a percent in spring to $2.6 billion and by 3.9 percent in winter to $2.2 billion, according to the 18th annual report.

Milwaukee led the state 's counties with estimated tourism spending of $1.7 billion, a gain of 1 percent. Dane and Sauk counties finished second and third, at $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively. Those figures are virtually unchanged from 2006.

KRAFT / OSCAR MAYER

Employees ' suit gets class-action status

Employees of Kraft/Oscar Mayer have been given class-action status for their lawsuit seeking pay for time spent putting on and taking off safety equipment.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb says current and former hourly employees who worked at the company 's Oscar Mayer meat processing plant in Madison since May 2004 can take part. Crabb says the group includes at least 1,000 workers.

The workers claim the company is breaking the law by refusing to pay them for time spent donning and doffing equipment like protective boots, hard hats and ear muffs. Workers must go to the plant 's third floor before and after shifts to do so. The company argues those activities do not qualify for pay.

ASSISTED LIVING

70-unit center is being built in Footville

Construction has begun on St. Elizabeth Manor, a 70-unit assisted living center in Footville. It could be the first phase of a large mixed-use development. Footville is west of Janesville in Rock County.

The $4.5 million center, scheduled to open in November, will accommodate up to 82 residents and will be operated by the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church, a Roman Catholic religious order that also operates St. Elizabeth Nursing Home in Janesville.

Besides the living units, including some with kitchens, the center also will include a lower-level convent, an activity room and a dining hall.

Future development around the center may include 135 apartments for older adults in three buildings, stores and a 50-acre subdivision with 105 homes. The developer is a group of investors using the name Hawks Manor.

BRIEFLY

Sitel Corp. of Nashville, Tenn., will lay off 72 employees by June 1 at its Madison telemarketing center at 1117 Deming Way, a company spokesman said Friday. The company said earlier this month it would lay off 105 employees, but has been able to find placement for 33 employees with other accounts, said spokesman Amit Shankardass. In a letter to the state Department of Workforce Development, the company said the layoffs were caused by the loss of a customer. Shankardass would not disclose the customer 's name. He said the company currently has more than 300 employees in Madison.