Source: Channel 3000

For the Record: Paul Jadin, President of MadREP, Madison Region Economic Partnership
President of MadREP, Paul Jadin. talks about what the Madison Region Economic Partnership has been doing and the most comprehensive strategy the region has ever pursued, called “Advance Now Strategy” which aims to take advantage of and grow economic opportunities in the eight county region.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison, WI – The Madison MSA was named the #2 metro for Millennial talent attraction and economic growth potential (mid-sized MSAs) as well as #7 for manufacturing leaders (midsized MSAs) in Business Facilities’ 2019 Metro Rankings Report.

“These additional impressive rankings for the Madison Region/MSA demonstrate how it has distinguished itself by building world-renowned bioscience, healthcare and information communications technology sectors while excelling in our legacy industries of manufacturing and agriculture,” MadREP President Paul Jadin said. “The rankings also continue to reinforce the value of having significant density in manufacturing and agriculture in our rural counties while Metro Madison grows its tech and bio-health sectors. In addition, the evolution in these sectors is consistent with our Millennial-friendly environment.”

Last year, The Madison MSA was named the top metro for industry diversity out of 382 Metro MSAs in the Industry Diversity Rankings published by Emsi Developer, a data reporting tool designed for economic development organizations. The Region also was ranked #1 for Quality of Life and Industry Diversity by Business Facilities. A diverse economy is vital to the health and stability of a region. According to Emsi, diverse economies tend to have lower unemployment rates, less volatility and recover quicker in the event of a downturn.

Business Facilities is a national publication that has been the leading location source for corporate site selectors and economic development professionals for more than 50 years.

About Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP)
MadREP is the economic development agency for the eight-county Madison Region, founded by business and community leaders to create a dynamic environment where people and businesses prosper. MadREP and its partners aim to proactively and strategically position the region to take advantage of economic and business development opportunities. Visit madisonregion.org for more information.

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Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Caleb Frostman and MadREP President Paul Jadin met with Madison Region employers and industry leaders at Madison College to discuss the current labor force climate and solutions related to talent attraction and retention.

“We know that Wisconsin has many job openings for workers of all skill levels,” Sec. Frostman said. “But filling those openings continues to be a challenge. At DWD, we are prioritizing listening to private businesses to learn their specific bottlenecks, learn from their creative workforce solutions, and learn how our agency can continue to improve our programming to provide transferable skills that lift entire industries and our state’s economy.”

Fourteen employers representing various industries, including construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology, discussed creative solutions to attract workers to Wisconsin and how to advocate for advancement of those already working in the state.

“MadREP was pleased to be part of facilitating such important conversations between state government and the business community in our region,” said Jadin. “We will continue collaborating with business and government as we administer implementation of Advance Now 2.0, the Madison Region’s comprehensive economic development strategy.”

Employers shared that their most successful strategies in attracting and retaining talent have focused on long-term talent pipelines, including introducing different career opportunities to middle school students and high school students and participating in youth and registered apprenticeship programs. Companies with an immediate need for skilled employees have attracted workers by providing solutions to transportation and childcare issues or have increased their benefits, including fully paid FMLA.

“Our video game development studio competes for top talent on a local, national and international basis, so hiring the best and most talented candidates is extremely important to us,” said Tim Gerritsen, a game developer and studio head of Fantasy Flight Interactive. “It was great to hear so many different voices from a variety of companies working together to create strategies to both attract the best employees to Wisconsin as well as to educate and train our own homegrown talent.”

DWD plans to continue meeting with Wisconsin employers to ensure that its programming is effective and efficient in developing our state’s talent pipeline by expanding and upskilling Wisconsin’s workforce.

The 11th Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ACE) recently took place in Puerto Rico. MadREP’s Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Michael Gay, attended, serving as an ambassador for the Madison Region and shares his insights here.

What is the mission of ACE?

To foster economic resiliency, economic development, innovation, entrepreneurship, strategic partnerships, and trade connections in all the Americas and Caribbean. Fifty global experts from twenty-two countries attended ACE XI in Puerto Rico, including, for the first time, members of European Parliament.

 

How did MadREP become involved with ACE?

At the request of the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, MadREP hosted ACE III within the Region, and then Paul or I attended ACE IV (Argentina), ACE VI (Ontario), and ACE VII (Texas). We fully expect to be in Chile later this year as well. Our collaboration with ACE is a key component of the Region’s international economic development strategy.

 

Why is it important for MadREP to create and maintain these international connections?

It’s important because it connects our innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, as well as our significant industry clusters, to the rest of the globe. We need to create and maintain our economic legitimacy in the global economy to stay relevant and “top of mind” for regions throughout the world.

 

How has our Region benefited from MadREP’s involvement with ACE?

Through post-trip follow up, we hope to connect local resources like 100Crypto and StartingBlock Madison with other spaces and networks globally. We also identified potential new research partners for the UW Center for Dairy Research, UW Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery, and UW clinical research serving Latino populations. There is also interest in creating global connections for regional high school and college students in makerspaces and fab labs through competitions involving drones, rockets and other experiential learning with counterparts in ACE participant countries. Lastly, we have a better understanding of European Union I&E ecosystem so that startups in the Madison Region who are pursuing a European presence know where to “plug in” with respect to spaces, industry consortiums and nations.

 

What are some key takeaways/key learnings from this most recent event?

Puerto Rico is resilient in its recovery from Hurricanes Isabel and Maria. They have major industrial assets beyond the more widely-known beautiful tourism assets. In addition, there are opportunities for both the Region and State of Wisconsin to partner, do business, and strengthen ties with Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the rest of the world has taken note of ACE. Western Europe, Asia, and Israel are now attending these events, extending our networking opportunities beyond the host region.

Building on the success of its groundbreaking Workplace Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Surveys from 2015 through 2018, MadREP launched its fifth D&I Survey in early 2019. The survey was sent to a random sample of 1,864 employers (drawn from 7,969 organizations with 10 or more employees) between February – March 2019 and received 363 responses, for a confidence interval of plus/minus 5.03%.

As with the earlier editions, this year’s survey was used to capture quantitative and qualitative data about workforce demographics, supplier diversity programs, and community engagement while providing companies with a vehicle to self-assess strengths and opportunities relative to diversity in their workforce.  The inclusion of a diverse workforce is seen by MadREP as vital to the sustained economic growth of the region and assessing the progress of diversity and inclusion efforts by Madison Region employers is a critical step in improving our practices.

As this was the fourth year using the same survey and working in partnership with the Survey Center at UW-River Falls, we are now beginning to develop a baseline of results to better identify potential areas of progress or concern moving forward.

Selected comparative metrics from the 2016-2019 surveys:

• The proportions of women and people of color on boards of directors have remained fairly consistent over the four years of the current the Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Survey.
• The proportion of women in the total workforce at participating organizations may be trending downward slightly.
• The percentage of women and people of color in top leadership positions both appear to be trending slightly upward.
• The proportion of Other Supervisors identified as people of color has been fairly consistent over the 2016 – 2019 period.
• After three years of increases, 2019 saw a decline in the proportion of respondents saying their employees of color had a higher turnover rate than the rest of the workforce.
• For the second year in a row, there was a slight decline in the proportion of responding organizations who have at least a part-time staffer focused on diversity and inclusion issues.

“While a number of the metrics measured in the survey are moving in a positive direction, other results reveal significant opportunities for improvement”, said Gene Dalhoff, MadREP V.P. of Talent & Education.  “This helps us to understand where to focus our workplace diversity & inclusion efforts both at the individual company and broader regional level,” said Dalhoff, adding, “There is still much work to be done in our region before we are seen as a model for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”

To view the complete survey report, please visit the Research & Reports page on the MadREP website.  For more information, contact Gene Dalhoff at gdalhoff@madisonregion.org.