FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 24, 2017

Madison, WI – The Wisconsin Games Alliance (WGA), in cooperation with the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), is bringing the inaugural Midwest Games Development Conference to the Madison Region on October 27. To be held at the Alliant Energy Center, the conference expects to attract more than 300 engineers, designers, and coders from across the Midwest to the Madison Region.

“One of the main goals of WGA is to put ourselves on the map as a premier hub for game development,” said Jennifer Javornik, vice president of sales for Filament Games. “This conference will showcase the games development industry in the state and help developers learn the latest industry tools and share best practices.”

Tim Gerritsen, studio head for Fantasy Flight Interactive, said the Badger State has an abundance of both technical and creative talent. “The conference will feature sessions on design, development, software engineering and more. We are currently seeking presenters for the event and aim to attract speakers from all walks of games development companies.”

According to the recently released Madison Region Economic Development Guide, the Madison Region has long been known for its tech- and innovation-oriented businesses, including many games development companies.

“Games development is a substantial part of the Information Communications Technology industry in the Madison Region,” said Paul Jadin, president of MadREP which developed the Wisconsin Games Alliance. “Madison is the perfect place for this conference because we feel it is important for the industry leaders to collaborate to continue thriving and expanding in our region and beyond.”

Current conference sponsors include Alliant Energy, Epic Games, Filament Games, Gear Learning, Gener8tor, Human Head Studios, MG&E, PerBlue, WEDC and Madison Region Economic Partnership; additional sponsorships available. Visit www.mdevconf.com to learn more.

Contact: Katy Pettersen
kpettersen@madisonregion.org | 608.516.6684

View the full press release.

Excerpted from The Capital Times
By Erik Lorenzen

An alliance of video game developers trying to brand Madison as a gaming industry hotspot is going statewide.

The Madison Games Alliance is now the Wisconsin Games Alliance, although its leadership claims that functionally, nothing is different. The two-year-old network remains a loose association of studios and independent developers, primarily in Dane County, strategizing to attract talent and bring attention to the area.

Jennifer Javornik, executive director of the Wisconsin Games Alliance and head of sales for Madison’s Filament Games, said the rebranding “makes strategic sense.” She said a shared goal between the alliance and the Madison Region Economic Partnership — the area’s primary job creation agency and a major partner of the alliance — has always been to create a “statewide center of excellence.”

Javornik also said that the change better reflects the group’s makeup. The alliance’s membership is mostly local, featuring major studios like Human Head and Raven Software. However, meetups and happy hours have attracted developers from locations like the Wisconsin Dells and Green Bay.

Javornik noted that the statewide focus also brings two of the state’s biggest schools for game designers and developers, UW Stout and Whitewater, within the group’s domain.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from WisBusiness.com
By Alex Moe

A recent Madison Region Economic Partnership event highlighted the benefits of diversity in the workforce.

Over 500 attendants gathered May 11 at the Monona Terrace in Madison for the Economic Development and Diversity Summit. They heard from speakers like Tiffany Jana, CEO and president of TMI consulting, a diversity and inclusion company based in Richmond, Va.

She says if companies want the fresh perspectives and unorthodox ideas that come from a more diverse group of workers, they have to be prepared to be flexible.

“If you want the upside of diversity, you have to be prepared that someone who comes from a different background, with a different set of experiences and a different set of values, they’re going to create a little bit of friction,” she said. “Because if you ask the same people the same questions over and over again, you get the same kind of results. When you throw different in there, they’re going to challenge.”

And this is actually a good thing for companies, she says, because it forces those in charge to “rise to a higher level of critical thinking in order to defend and explain what’s going on.”

This type of interaction, she says, leads to the pursuit of more innovative strategies. But it won’t happen unless companies make a concerted effort to include diverse individuals in their worker populations.

“If your plan is to sit around and wait for diversity to fall on your head — it’s not gonna happen,” she said.

Ruben Anthony, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison, says diversity and economic development “go hand-in-hand” when companies and other decision-makers commit to supporting a more diverse labor pool.

Also at the summit, MadREP rolled out findings from its 2017 Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Survey. The survey was sent to 2,464 employers between February and March, and received 468 responses. According to the survey, the regional workforce is 84.9 percent white, with 6.3 percent African-American and 6.4 percent Hispanic or Latino. Only 1.4 percent is Asian, while Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders, American Indians or Alaskans, and those of mixed heritage made up the final 1 percent.

Anthony says he has seen the Madison region already making great strides in pursuing diversity in health care, customer service and the trades.

“When you look at an investment portfolio, having a diversified investment portfolio is a sign of spirit and stability,” he said. “In the global marketplace, having diverse allies and global partners allows one to have access to diverse cultures, products and services. So diversity is a value that has economic benefits; if done right, organizations can benefit greatly.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from NBC15.com
By Kalie Greenberg

As part of an economic summit, this Thursday businesses are being asked to look at how diversity in their workplace compares around the region.

It’s called the Madison Region’s Economic Development and Diversity Summit, and it’s hosted by the Urban League of Greater Madison and the Madison Region Economic Partnership.

A survey released Thursday by the Madison Region Economic Partnership is the base for the summit. The survey gathered workplace demographics from 468 local businesses.

The results say Madison businesses are often lacking when it comes to hiring minority groups and women, especially in leadership roles.

“This was not really an ‘Ah-Ha’ moment, but it was a moment of confirmation that was necessary before companies could move forward with their own [Diversity and inclusion efforts],” said Gene Dalhoff, the Vice President of Talent and Education for the Madison Region Economic Partnership.

Dalhoff hopes businesses will use the survey to compare their demographics to other companies around the city. He said as Madison grow more diverse, it’s important to remember, so does the customer base for most local businesses.

View the full video/article.

Launched earlier this year, the Gold Shovel Site Verification program assists communities, counties, and private landowners in packaging and marketing development-ready land to site selectors and business owners looking to locate or expand in the eight-county Madison Region.

Created to provide a similar service to WEDC’s Certified In Wisconsin program, Gold Shovel verification is lower cost, but also demands fewer requirements and is not held to the same level of review, documentation, and assessment. The Madison Region is home to eight of the state’s sixteen Certified in Wisconsin sites, and we’re excited to announce the region’s very first Gold Shovel verified site: Gateway Business Park in Baraboo, operated by Devco I LLC.

“The Devco site is exactly the kind of shovel-ready property we had in mind when we created this program,” said MadREP president Paul Jadin. “We look forward to promoting it in partnership with the State of Wisconsin.”

Located at the entrance to the City of Baraboo, the Class A business park offers 3 contiguous parcels located along the newly constructed, four-lane Highway 12 (slated to open later this year). The 26.66-acre site has access to rail less than one mile away, and is within one of the City of Baraboo’s tax increment districts. Zoned for industrial/business use, the site is fully served by electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, sanitary sewer, storm water management facilities, streets, sidewalks, and street lights. And as a Gold Shovel site, Gateway Business Park meets a multitude of requirements that ensures it is development-ready for the next big opportunity.

“We are pleased our site has been identified as a Gold Shovel site, having met the qualifications to be treated as ‘shovel-ready’ by the Madison Region Economic Partnership,” said Tom Thompson, President of Teel Plastics, Inc. and a representative of Devco. “We are looking forward to the additional exposure this site will receive under the Gold Shovel Program. I encourage companies interested in a new site for their business to look at the Gateway Business Park in Baraboo as it is a great location with high visibility and all of the amenities a business would want.”

For more information and to start the site verification process, contact MadREP President Paul Jadin by email or phone at 608.571.0401.

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save