Gyms are swarming with people, temperatures are dropping below zero, and the Green Bay Packers are alive in the NFL playoffs—it must be January in Wisconsin. Make it a resolution to stay plugged into the state’s innovation community, starting with these recent headlines:

—Wisconsin could be hurting itself in its effort to spur more entrepreneurship by “embracing employer-imposed noncompete contracts,” wrote Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in an op-ed on UrbanMilwaukee.com. Barrett cites findings that nearly 30 million workers in America are currently bound by noncompete agreements, and says that Wisconsin allows companies to place tougher restrictions on past and present employees than other states, such as California.

Joe Kirgues, a co-founder of the Wisconsin-based startup accelerator Gener8tor, made some of the same points Barrett makes in his op-ed when Kirgues was asked how the Badger State might improve its dismal performance in state rankings by entrepreneurship levels. Kirgues said in August that he believes existing laws in Wisconsin are too friendly to corporations, and harsh on workers. And some state lawmakers wanted to change the rules to be even more pro-business, but those efforts failed, Kirgues said. Read the full story here.