Application Deadline: Monday, March 23, 2015

The Southern Wisconsin Agricultural Group (SWAG) has an immediate opening for an Executive Director.  SWAG is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a complete venue for agricultural education, engagement and promotion by developing the Agricultural Education & Innovation Center in south-central Wisconsin.

The director will serve as the main point of contact for SWAG, work closely with the SWAG accountant/bookkeeper in overseeing organizational income and expenses and assist with communicating those financials to the Board, and will be charged with strategic planning, media and donor relations, assisting in fundraising, event planning, and overall organizational communications.

Qualified candidates will possess a passion for, and demonstrated knowledge of, agriculture; ability to speak to a variety of audiences; a working understanding of and/or experience with the UW System, workforce development organizations and state/local governments; and the ability to manage people and money.  A bachelor’s degree in a field related to agriculture or management is preferred but experience may substitute for education.

Salary will be dependent on qualifications.

Submit resume and cover letter to Anne Wilder at awilder@madisonregion.org, or mail to:

Madison Region Economic Partnership
615 E. Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53701

View the full job description.

Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
By Judy Newman

Exact Sciences is preparing for big growth as its Cologuard test to screen for colorectal cancer gains ground, and the Madison company will get the state’s help to do that.

The quasi-public Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is offering up to $9 million in tax credits if Exact Sciences hires another 758 full-time employees, at an average wage of $24.47 an hour, and pumps $26.2 million into capital expenditures such as buildings and equipment — all by the end of 2020.

“This is an extraordinary incentive to continue growing jobs and our company, right here in Wisconsin,” said Kevin Conroy, chairman and chief executive of Exact Sciences.

WEDC said it is the fourth-largest award it has offered, in terms of projected job creation.

Exact Sciences has 430 employees, with more than 300 at the labs or at company headquarters at 441 Charmany Drive in the city of Madison. About 100 sales representatives are stationed around the U.S., and a small office in London will have 10 employees by the end of March.

Conroy said about 50 percent of Exact’s scientists and lab workers are graduates of UW-Madison.

Conroy said in an interview earlier this month that Exact Sciences will double its staff to more than 800 by the end of 2015, with about 600 of the jobs in the Madison area. The WEDC agreement calls for a substantial jump beyond that.

Conroy said the company will need more space and is looking at a number of locations in the area, “inside and outside of Madison,” he said.

Since moving to Madison six years ago, Conroy said, the company has paid more than $5.2 million in payroll taxes to the state.

Gov. Scott Walker congratulated Exact Sciences for its success.

“This is great news for Madison, the region and the entire state because it will result in the creation of hundreds of family-supporting, high-tech jobs,” Walker said in a statement

Read the full article.

Excerpted from WisBusiness.com

Madison is in a sweet spot when it comes to creating health care IT software, programs and applications, thanks in large part to the success of Epic Systems, the electronic medical records giant located in nearby Verona.

So says Mark Bakken, founder of HealthX Ventures and the former head of Nordic Consulting Partners, which grew to more than 450 employees under Bakken serving primarily Epic customers. Started in 2010, Nordic had more than $100 million in revenues in 2014. In the past year, Bakken has — on his own — invested in more than a dozen Dane County health-tech startups.

“Madison is positioned better than almost any other place in the country to help make health care more affordable, safer and get better outcomes,” said Bakken, who spoke at a standing-room-only luncheon hosted by the Wisconsin Innovation Network Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotel. Bakken, a UW-Madison computer science graduate and serial entrepreneur who has started several other companies in Wisconsin, including Goliath Networks and Bedrock, said HealthX Ventures is raising its first fund of $20 million and has plans to begin investing soon. It has already brought in more than $4 million.

He said having Epic, with $2 billion in annual revenues and 8,000-plus employees, in Madison’s backyard means startups have access to a lot of people who understand Epic and health care software intimately.

“But we also have a world-class university here that knows health care extremely well and lots of organizations in Wisconsin that were some of the earliest adopters (of Epic technology),” he said. “So for us, it makes a lot of sense to focus on this area.”

When he was running his first two companies, Bakken joked that some people on the coasts did not know where Wisconsin was located — other than being somewhere north of Chicago.

“But in health care, because of Epic, almost everyone knows Madison,” he said. “Epic has roughly 54 percent of the market share in the (digital) health care industry, so it is huge, huge. Every Epic customer has to come to Madison to get trained. So Madison is strategically extremely important. Because of that, it gives you access to customers. You can have a cup of coffee while they are in town or talk to them while they are waiting for a plane. That saves them on the cost of time and travel.”

He said his venture capital fund will invest in startups – mostly in Madison and other parts of Wisconsin – in the digital health care sector. The goal is to invest from $300,000 to $500,000 in 12 to 15 companies over the next two to three years, he explained.

Bakken stressed that Wisconsin has national credibility in the health care field, not only because of Epic, but because of Jamie Thomson’s work with stem cells and companies like Promega and Exact Sciences.

“Nationally, the state is well known on the life sciences side, and now it’s also known on the digital health side because of Epic,” he said. “That’s extremely important to have credibility, which leads to customers and investors who understand there are people here who know what they are doing.”

Bakken said there is “a lot of excitement around entrepreneurs, but the key is getting them the capital when they need it. Timing is everything. We’re here to help at least on the health care side. We will focus on seed deals, almost pre-revenue … that we can vet ourselves to see if we think the time is right.”

And if all goes well, he quipped, HealthX will help spawn several more Epics. 

Read the full article. 

Excerpted from news.wisc.edu

The Brookings Institute on Tuesday recognized Madison, Wisconsin, as the number one metropolitan area in the U.S. for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) college graduates — the workers most likely to support the advanced industries that are driving the U.S. economy.

In the Madison area, home to the state’s flagship University of Wisconsin campus, 26 percent of college graduates earned degrees in STEM fields. That’s higher than the national average (15 percent) and even outstrips the world leader in STEM graduates, Finland (22 percent).

Among the Institute’s findings:

• Sixty-five percent of U.S. job growth since 2010 came from advanced industries that often partner with research institutions such as UW-Madison, and employ an educated workforce.
• Combined, these industries — which include energy production, scientific consulting, pharmaceuticals and 47 other segments — generated $2.7 trillion, or roughly 17 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in 2013.
• The advanced industry sector has grown by 5.4 percent annually since 1980 — 30 percent faster than the U.S. economy as a whole. The average job in the advanced industry sector paid $90,000 in 2013, more than twice the average wage for U.S. workers on the whole.

“Going forward, the private, public, and civic sectors must work together in new ways to strengthen the fundamental sources of advanced industries vitality: innovation, technical skills, and dense ecosystems. If they do, the nation will have a good shot at shoring up a key pillar of an opportunity economy,” the report says.

Read the full article and view the full report.

PRESS RELEASE: January 30, 2015

 

 

In continued partnership, the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) and the Urban League of Greater Madison (ULGM) will host a joint event for Madison Region business and community leaders focused on economic development and diversity.

The Madison Region’s Economic Development & Diversity Summit
Thursday, May 14, 2015, 8:30am-4pm
Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin.

This Summit builds on last year’s inaugural joint event and marries MadREP’s annual State of the Madison Region Summit and ULGM’s Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit in recognition of the need for authentic collaboration to advance the region’s economy, understand the impact of diversity within business, and improve opportunities for all the region’s citizens.

The day-long Summit will engage, educate, and empower attendees around issues related to economic, workforce, and community development. Aggregate results of the Madison Region Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Survey – a benchmarking tool capturing data about workforce demographics, supplier diversity programs, and community engagement – will also be shared.

“Our continued implementation of the Advance Now Strategy for economic growth demands collaboration in our efforts to make this region, its businesses, and its workforce more competitive,” notes Paul Jadin, president of MadREP. “We are committed to bringing together a diversity of voices from the public and private sectors to address the region’s challenges and leverage opportunities that will ensure the sustained growth of our economy.”

“The partnership between MadREP and the Urban League demonstrates our shared commitment to pursuing economic, workforce, and community development in ways that yield positive outcomes for all the region’s residents,” says Edward Lee, interim president & CEO of ULGM. “We recognize the critical role that diversity plays in business growth, and this Summit marks an important opportunity to engage the community in that conversation.” Featured keynote speakers for the Summit’s plenary sessions include Steve Pemberton, Divisional Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer at Walgreen’s; Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a labor economist focusing on the impact of diversity, culture, and gender in 21st century America; and Chris Brassell, a National Director in the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Office of Diversity. Additional speakers for breakout sessions will be announced soon.

Participation from across the eight-county Madison Region is encouraged, with an anticipated audience of hundreds of business executives, community leaders, economic development professionals, educators, elected officials, entrepreneurs, and emerging leaders.

Registration is available online now at www.madisonregionsummit.com. Early bird rates ($199 standard/$99 nonprofit/government) are effective through May 1. Sponsorship and group rate benefits are also available.

About the Featured Speakers:

• Steve Pemberton is a Fortune 50 executive at Walgreens, serving as Divisional Vice President and the company’s first Chief Diversity Officer. He previously made history as the first Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion for an Internet start-up while at Monster.com. He also authored a renowned memoir titled A Chance in the World.
• Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and commentator widely recognized for her contributions to the public dialogue on issues such as race, culture, gender, and their economic impacts in 21st-century America. She is President Emeritus of Bennett College for Women and holds a PhD in economics from MIT.
• Chris Brassell is a National Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Office of Diversity, with 20+ years of diversity & inclusion, human capital, and change & talent management experience. He is recognized as a subject matter expert on cultural transformation, multi-generational diversity, and engaging majority populations in the diversity & inclusion discussion.

About Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP):
Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) is the economic development agency for the eight-county Madison Region with a vision to create a dynamic environment where people and businesses thrive. MadREP’s mission is a five-plank platform, which includes economic competitiveness, innovation & entrepreneurship, human capital, marketing, and leadership & diversity. The Madison Region includes Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, and Sauk counties. Learn more at www.madisonregion.org.

About Urban League of Greater Madison (ULGM):
The mission of the Urban League of Greater Madison is to ensure that African Americans and other community members are educated, employed and empowered to live well, advance professionally and contribute to the common good in the 21st Century. ULGM is committed to transforming Greater Madison into the Best [place] in the Midwest for everyone to live, learn, and work. ULGM works to make this vision a reality through a comprehensive strategic empowerment agenda that includes programs & services, advocacy, partnerships, and coalition building. Learn more at www.ulgm.org.

Contacts:
Edward Lee, 608.729.1211
Betsy Lundgren, 608.443.1961