FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) released today the results of an expansive Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) survey conducted in 2015. The survey was conducted as part of MadREP’s multi-pronged approach to economic development, which is based in supporting the growth of the region’s existing businesses.

“Business retention and expansion lies at the core of what we do to enable the region’s companies to succeed,” notes Paul Jadin, president at MadREP. “While our priority is always to meet with and assist companies one-on-one, this survey enables us to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing companies in the aggregate. We will use the primary data collected here to further inform our activities as they relate to business growth.”

MadREP contacted 2,500 businesses about this survey in both digital and hard copy form, achieving a 10% response rate. MadREP collaborates with 90+ economic development partners at the municipal and county levels throughout the eight-county Madison Region, and this survey supplements the BRE efforts in which these partners are currently engaged.

Topics covered in the survey include expansion plans, workforce, company ownership, innovation, international business, and more.

The survey results from 247 responding companies are presented in this executive summary. The results are reported in the aggregate and are anonymous. Companies from all eight of the region’s counties are represented.

This survey was created with support from Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and in partnership with Dane County Regional Airport, Capital Area Regional Planning Commission and the Wisconsin Realtors’ Association, and distributed in partnership with InBusiness Magazine.

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Two Madison Region economic development professionals have been elected to serve on the Mid-America Economic Development Council (MAEDC) Board of Directors for 2016. Kim Erdmann, Executive Director of Watertown Economic Development Organization, and Kyle Adams, Real Estate Analyst at RDC National, Inc., will represent Wisconsin on the Board of this multi-state association dedicated to being a leading resource for education, making connections and sharing best practices for economic development professionals and organizations in the Mid-America region.

Barb LaMue, Vice President, Economic & Community Development with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, will lead the Mid-America EDC Board of Directors as President in 2016.  The Board of Directors is comprised of two directors from each of the 10 states in the region, along with four officers.

Mid-America EDC’s focus is to connect and convene resources to compete as a region on the national and international economic development stages. The association serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Read MAEDC’s full announcement.

United’s Hemispheres Magazine features Wisconsin in its January 2016 Dossier supplement. The Dossier focuses on economic development, providing an in-depth overview of the state, including the unique initiatives that shape its industry and commerce as well as its influence on today’s global economy. The Madison Region is featured throughout the publication.

Excerpt:

“In 2014, the Wisconsin capital fought of all comers to be named Livability’s Best Place to Live in 2015. The farm-to-table movement is prospering, the music scene is thriving, and the presence of UW-Madison and state government provide talent, research investment, jobs and an array of cultural attractions beyond what would be expected of a city this size.”

“‘We know that when people come here, either considering a job here or bringing business here, that the downtown and the quality of life, and nightlight it provides, are critical components of their decision to relocate,’ says Paul Jadin, president of the Madison Region Economic Partnership. ‘So when you get the local government, along with its citizens and the state, recognizing and investing in those quality of life activities, it will ensure that we continue to be ranked in the top five or 10 nationally.'”

Read the full Dossier publication.

Excerpted from In Business Magazine
By Jason Busch

Video games are a big business, and two Madison game developers have now earned special recognition for having two of the top games of the year.

Apple Inc.’s recently announced “Game of the Year 2015” list was lead by the game Prune, made by local developer Joel McDonald, which received top billing as Game of the Year for the iPad. A second game, Lost Within, made by local company Human Head Studios, appears 22nd on the list for iPads.

With thousands of games released in the past year, boasting two spots in the top 25 from Madison is a big win for the region’s growing gaming industry.

“Madison is ripe for attracting and growing top-notch video game talent, as evidenced by this recent ranking,” Paul Jadin, president of Madison Region Economic Partnership, notes. “We congratulate Joel McDonald and Human Head Studios, two game developers that reflect the vibrancy and growth potential of this industry cluster. We look forward to continuing efforts that catalyze this growth as Madison makes its mark on the global video game scene.”

When you consider that thousands of games were released in the last year, Jadin says it’s significant that two spots in Apple’s Top 25 ranking came from Madison. “From anchor companies like Human Head Studios to indie developers like Joel McDonald, this ranking illustrates the region’s immense talent in video game creation,” Jadin explains. “I don’t think that we would have predicted quite this level of success or critical mass five, 10, or 15 years ago, especially when you consider how radically technology and mobile devices have evolved since that time. But our gaming industry has responded and really gained momentum in recent years, and it is poised for tremendous growth in the years ahead.”

Madison game developers have been producing award-winning games as far back as the early 1990s, Eric Francksen, director of the Madison Game Alliance, notes.

“I’m honestly still in shock,” Joel McDonald says regarding his top ranking. “These types of accomplishments aren’t supposed to happen with your first game release. I feel so privileged to have landed in Madison where I’ve met and learned so much from a bunch of amazing game developers. It’s definitely an exciting time for video games and I count myself lucky to be a part of it!”

The newly-formed Madison Game Alliance (MGA) is a group of creative minds that aims to build on the local industry assets already in place to establish Madison as a premier location for video games. MadREP — the economic development agency for the eight-county Madison Region — played a lead role along with UW–Madison’s Games+Learning+Society in forming the MGA, convening industry leaders, and spearheading the initiatives this group undertakes. The MGA is developing, branding, and leading the local video game industry cluster through regular meet-ups, strategic planning sessions, and collaborative technical assistance.

“The Madison Game Alliance was formed at a critical and exciting moment for Madison’s video game industry,” Tim Gerritsen, director of business development at Human Head Studios, says. “This group is committed to making Madison a continued competitor to gaming hotspots worldwide, and I’m confident that our critical mass of talent, companies, and resources will ensure this status. Human Head Studios is thankful to Amazon Game Studios, our publisher, for giving us the chance to show a new depth of play on the iPad with our horror survival game, Lost Within.”

“Madison has a growing reputation as an innovation and startup hub, particularly within information technology and game development,” notes Jadin. “Any time we see local talent receiving national and even international recognition, the region becomes more renowned as a top location for technology-driven companies and talent. This bodes well for the attraction of new businesses and workforce, as well as the retention of talent and expansion of companies already here — all of which are fundamental goals of the Madison Region Economic Partnership.”

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
By Judy Newman

An artistic game about growing trees, made by a Madison independent game developer, is the best video game of 2015, according to TIME magazine.

Prune, created by Joel McDonald, also drew Apple’s praise as Game of the Year for the iPad.

It is one of two games, made in Madison, that appear on Apple’s list of best iPad games in 2015. Lost Within, by Human Head Studios, is No. 22 on the iPad list.

“I’m honestly still in shock,” McDonald said.

Prune involves swiping away branches to avoid obstacles as a tree tries to grow. The minimalist artwork, inspired by Japanese ink wash paintings, is set against simple, calming music.

“Prune is a game about removing things to nurture other things,” TIME said. “But it’s also about basking in a minimalist garden of forking paths as you work out the spatial logistics of coaxing a tree to blossom. It’s both an arboricultural exercise and a meditation — on light, darkness, color, sound and perhaps most of all, the things we’re forced to leave behind.”

In sharp contrast to the popular shoot-’em-up video games, Prune is “a bonsai tree in your pocket,” said the Verge, a tech website.

McDonald, a native of Des Moines and graduate of Iowa State University in Ames, worked in game design at Raven Software, Middleton, for seven years until he decided to go solo in 2013. After six months of puttering, he spotted a Twitter post by fellow Raven alum, Aaron San Filippo, with a basic computer script for a tree. Then a few weeks later, after a stormy night, he saw a partially fallen tree behind his Madison home. “Something clicked in my brain,” McDonald said.

It took 15 months to develop Prune, “a game about the simple pleasures of growing and cultivating trees,” he said. Or maybe not so simple.

“You find yourself on this barren landscape, this hostile planet,” he said. “You take part in this almost-dance with the tree. You don’t have full control over the tree — it’s an organic, living thing — but you can direct the tree to sunlight so you can bloom flowers. … It’s about cultivating what matters and cutting away what doesn’t.”

It’s the antithesis of the type of games Raven works on for parent company Activision, such as Call of Duty and Star Wars. McDonald said he didn’t consciously seek to go in the opposite direction, but added, “I was definitely ready for a change.”

As an indie developer working out of a home office, McDonald can still hardly believe that Prune has become so popular, with “all the great games that are out there, developed by large studios” with multimillion-dollar budgets.

His own game cost “barely anything” to put together — less than $10,000 for software and to hire Seattle composer Kyle Preston to write the music, he said.

At a download cost of $3.99, or $2.99 over the holidays, “it’s done very, very well,” McDonald said. “My entire goal as an indie was to pay our cost of living and allow me to make more games from home. It’s definitely done that.”

Home is a place on the West Side where the 32-year-old McDonald lives with his wife, Janice, and their two sons, ages 2 and 5.

McDonald said with the success of his first project, he wants to stay solo and doesn’t want to open a larger studio. “Because that’s what I enjoy,” he said.

Paul Jadin, president of the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), said recognition for the two locally devised games is further evidence of “the vibrancy and growth potential” of the industry here.

“Madison is ripe for attracting and growing top-notch video game talent, as evidenced by this recent ranking,” Jadin said.

MadREP and the UW-Madison’s Games+Learning+Society formed the Madison Game Alliance earlier this year to strengthen the local game development cluster.

In addition to Raven and Human Head, mobile game developer PerBlue, educational game maker Filament Games and at least 15 more startups in the game industry operate in the eight-county area around Madison, MadREP said.

Read the full article.