Cassidy Turley Barry Milwaukee Broach's new building is south of Interstate 43 near South Moorland Road. Sean Ryan[1] Reporter- The Business Journal Email[2] | Twitter[3] | Google+[4] Manufacturer Milwaukee Broach Co. is moving its headquarters and 48 jobs to New Berlin under a lease that more than doubles the space of its manufacturing operations. Also this week, the city of Milwaukee financing support for Northwestern Mutual’s[5] downtown office tower gained a needed approval from other area governments. Milwaukee Broach has been in Menomonee Falls since the mid-1990s, but needs more space for new production equipment to meet increasing demand, said accounting manager Beth Koehn[6]. The company signed a 28,000-square-foot lease in the Westridge Business Park in New Berlin and plans to move there by September, she said. “We have new machinery we have ordered and we had no place to put it,” she said. “With the move we now have room to place more machinery, and there will be employment opportunities available as early as next year.” Milwaukee Broach makes cutting tools used to make metal parts for airplane turbines, automobiles and Snap-on and Craftsman tools. The company, established in 1985, has 48 employees, Koehn said. The company has 12,000 square feet in Menomonee Falls, 5,000 of which are for office operations, she said. The new building is at 5660 S. Westridge Court[7] in New Berlin, according to an announcement from Milwaukee-based brokerages Cassidy Turley Barry[8] and NAI MLG Commercial[9]. “This further demonstrates that certain manufacturers are steadily improving their businesses and looking for expansion space,” said Kevin Barry[10], Cassidy Turley Barry broker who represented Milwaukee Broach in the deal. NML TIF OK’d Even though Milwaukee officials approved a $73.3 million tax incremental financing district for Northwestern Mutual in April[11], the proposal did not gain a needed final approval until…

Provided photo Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union is eyeing the west suburbs for its next expansion, President and CEO Kyle Markland said. Jim Hammerand[1] Staff reporter- Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal Email[2] | Twitter[3] | Facebook[4] The second-largest credit union in the Twin Cities will get even bigger when it takes over another credit union's Eagan branch at the end of the month. St. Paul-based Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union[5] will gain about 4,600 members and $25 million in assets from Illinois-based Oak Trust at the close of business June 30. Affinity Plus is one of the fastest-growing credit unions in Minnesota[6] and has 165,448 members and $1.655 billion in assets as of the end of May. The Eagan branch is Oak Trust's only Minnesota location. Oak Trust's members are primarily Thomson Reuters employees. The credit union disclosed the transaction earlier this year[7]. "Eagan was on our branch expansion plan, so [the deal] allowed us to open a branch ahead of schedule," Affinity Plus President and CEO Kyle Markland[8] said. Affinity Plus wanted a location in the city because of its economic growth, population of government agencies and workers, and its proximity to Minneapolis and St. Paul, he said. Affinity Plus is keeping the branch's three employees and adding three more, including branch manager Natalie Okonek[9], who most recently ran the Lakeville branch for Affinity Plus. Markland said Affinity Plus has another 6,000 members within 10 miles of the branch, which is between the credit union's downtown St. Paul and Lakeville locations. The credit union remodeled the branch to accommodate more traffic. Affinity Plus is looking to the west suburbs for its next location, said Markland (who was jumping into a frozen Lake Calhoun when I last caught up with him[10]). Jim Hammerand covers banking/finance, courts, and professional services…

James Jeffrey[1] Contributing Writer- Austin Business Journal Email[2] Legislation to regulate lawsuit lenders failed during regular session despite backing from a broad coalition of business organizations and multiple civil justice and legal organizations. State Rep. Doug Miller[3]'s, R-New Braunfels, House Bill 1595 — called the Texas Consumer Lawsuit Lending Act by supporters — sought to protect consumers and the Texas legal system from unregulated litigation financing companies. Supporters argued legislation was needed to rein in[4] excessive fees and interest rates charged for what critics equate to payday loans. The bill passed out of the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee April 29 but went no further. It wasn’t all in vain though, according to Miller’s office. “Rep. Miller doesn’t want to squander the broad support he was able to assemble,” said Fritz Reinig[5], chief of staff for Miller. “Consumers must be protected. Rep. Miller remains undeterred and will introduce some form of this legislation again.” Support for the bill came from the likes of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform[6], U.S. Chamber of Commerce[7], National Federation of Independent Business[8], Texas Association of Manufacturers[9], General Electric, United Way, Texas Association of Business[10], Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Civil Justice League[11], among others. But lenders affected by the bill — which include mainly out-of-state companies such as Oasis Legal Finance LLC, the nation’s largest such lender, and LawCash — countered that it went too far and threatened the industry’s existence. Another attempt at lending reform this session[12], State Sen. John Carona[13]’s, R-Dallas, Senate Bill 1247[14] that tackled payday lending, also failed. It aimed to create a statewide regulatory framework for payday and auto title lenders and financial institutions that offer short-term loans to low-income borrowers at high interest rates. Carona cited industry opposition to his bill[15] as a major…