PRESS RELEASE: March 4, 2014

A spike in new and expansion corporate building projects during 2013 has landed the greater Madison area among the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas of similar size for that activity.  Site Selection magazine’s annual rankings place Madison tied for eighth among metro areas with populations between 200,000 and 1 million.

“We are pleased that greater Madison has earned a place on Site Selection magazine’s top 10 list for 2013,” said Paul Jadin, president and CEO of the Madison Region Economic Partnership.  “Earning a spot in these annual rankings is particularly gratifying because they are based on real economic development data.   We believe this ranking is indicative of what is happening not just in Madison, but throughout our economically diverse region.  We look forward to more great news from across the region in the months and years ahead.”

Site Selection’s rankings exclude retail, government, school and hospital projects. To be included in the rankings, a project must meet at least one of three criteria: it must include at least $1 million in capital investment, create at least 50 new jobs or add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.  Site Selection is the leading publication for expansion and relocation consultants, corporate real estate executives, facility planners and CEOs on all topics related to siting and building new office, manufacturing or other facilities.

The complete rankings can be accessed at siteselection.com.

Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
By Bob Van Enkenvoort

We live in a digital world where online networking is the rage. Like never before, people can link up with others around the world to job hunt or create professional associations. It’s amazing.

But let’s not forget that old-fashioned networking — where you can look someone in the eyes, shake hands, discuss common interests and exchange ideas — never goes out of style. Friends can be made, relationships built and partnerships established. Similar interests, goals and ideas can be discovered where one might previously have thought few existed.

South-central Wisconsin has many groups seeking to enhance economic development and, in turn, improve the ability of all people to use their talents and work ethic to make a good living.

Mark Richardson saw that first hand while working for the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, the Urban League of Greater Madison and in his current job with the Madison Region Economic Partnership, formerly Thrive.

But if those groups were driving toward the same economic development goals, they were traveling on different roadways. “It seemed like we were having the same conversations but in different places,” Richardson said.

Sometimes, a catalyst is needed to get those diverse groups — which have many of the same goals — together. One such catalyst is Advancing Talent, Opportunity and Prosperity: The Madison Region’s Economic Development, Diversity and Leadership Summit, scheduled for May 9 at Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center.

MadREP’s annual State of the Madison Region Summit and the Urban League’s Workplace Diversity and Leadership Summit previously were separate events held weeks apart in May. The groups joined together on the principle that collaboration is integral to advancing the Madison region’s economy and improving opportunities for all the region’s citizens.

The daylong summit will tackle economic, work force and community development issues, especially how they relate to MadREP’s five-year Advance Now Strategy for economic growth and the Urban League’s initiatives for community transformation.

MadREP’s strategy relies on collaboration and involvement at every level. “Economic, work force and community development are inherently intertwined,” said Paul Jadin, MadREP president. “With this partnership, we are committed to bringing together a diversity of voices to address the region’s challenges, celebrate our progress, and leverage the opportunities that will ensure our economy’s continued growth.”

People have many talents. Economic development has many facets from education, entrepreneurship to management and beyond. Who knows what the ripple effect can be when you get people in the same room, focusing on the same things? Bridges can be built. Ideas shared. Progress made.

Read the full article.

PRESS RELEASE: March 3, 2014

Madison, Wis. – In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, 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, diversity, and leadership.

Advancing Talent, Opportunity & Prosperity:
The Madison Region’s Economic Development, Diversity & Leadership Summit
Friday, May 9, 2014, 7:30am-4pm
Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, Madison, Wis.

The event marries MadREP’s annual State of the Madison Region Summit and ULGM’s Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit to illustrate the interconnectivity of both organizations’ strategies and missions, centered on the underlying principle that authentic collaboration is integral to advancing the Madison Region’s economy and improving opportunities for all the region’s citizens.

The day-long Summit will be a solution-oriented event, designed to engage, inspire, and empower attendees around issues related to economic, workforce, and community development. The Summit will illustrate outcomes and feature speakers related to MadREP’s five-year Advance Now Strategy for economic growth and UGLM’s initiatives designed to transform our communities into the Best in the Midwest for everyone.

“The Advance Now Strategy relies on collaboration and involvement at every level. Economic, workforce and community development are inherently intertwined,” notes Paul Jadin, president of MadREP. “With this partnership, we are committed to bringing together a diversity of voices to address the region’s challenges, celebrate our progress, and leverage the opportunities that will ensure our economy’s continued growth.”

“As we work toward a shared vision for a better community, we recognize the critical role that diversity and inclusion play in business and economic growth,” says Kaleem Caire, president & CEO of ULGM. ”This Summit marks an important milestone in our collective efforts to bring the public and private sectors together to work toward more positive outcomes for all the region’s residents.”

The Summit will feature several esteemed speakers, including:

• Joel Kotkin, a renowned author and internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends, will deliver the morning plenary address. Mr. Kotkin is the author of The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050, a book that explores how the nation will evolve in the next four decades. He is the Roger Hobbs Distinguished Fellow in Urban Studies at Chapman University in Orange, Cal. and executive editor of the widely read website www.newgeography.com.
• Ken Salazar, former U.S. Senator (2005-2009) and U.S. Secretary of the Interior (2009-2013), will deliver the afternoon plenary address. Secretary Salazar has a broad history as a farmer, small business owner, lawyer and politician, and is one of just nine Hispanic senators to serve the United States. He is currently a partner at the law firm WilmerHale.
• Maria Campbell, who held a 28-year tenure as Corporate Director of Diversity for SC Johnson, will be a featured speaker in the breakout sessions. She is a consultant providing executive leadership development, training, and lecturing on diversity and inclusion as a key driver for business growth and empowerment.

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.advancesummit.com. Early bird rates ($199 standard/$99 nonprofit/government) are effective through April 28. Sponsorship and group rate benefits are also available.

About Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP)
Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) is the lead 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. Through these five goal areas, MadREP and its partners aim to proactively and strategically position the region to take advantage of economic opportunities while preserving and enhancing quality of life.  The Madison Region includes Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, and Sauk counties.

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.

Contacts
Deirdre Hargrove-Krieghoff, dhargrove@ulgm.org, 608.729.1208
Betsy Lundgren, blundgren@madisonregion.org, 608.443.1961

 

Excerpted from Watertown Daily Times
By David Brazy

A local nonprofit organization is in the beginning stages of a plan to open a “makerspace” in
Watertown to provide area residents a place to create anything they can imagine.

Sustain Jefferson is currently searching for a location to open up the Watertown MakerSpace
sometime this year. People might be asking themselves, what exactly is a “makerspace”? Well,
put simply, it is a community space where members can come to make things from woodworking,
metal works, quilts, paintings, sailboats, earrings and anything else one can think of.

But organizers are hoping, in addition to being a workshop, the “makerspace” will also be a
common place where the community can come together to share their skills and learn from others.

“We think its a concept that people are familiar with. It’s a community workshop for people to
share equipment and resources and ideas, and for people to come to learn and teach,” Sustain
Jefferson President Amy Rinard said. “We hope it will be a community gathering place where
people will come to be with other people who like to make stuff like they do.”

Sustain Jefferson board member Greg David said the idea to create a “makerspace” came from
one of the group’s brainstorming sessions three years ago. The idea continued to be kicked around
until the group applied for a grant from the Earl and Eugenia Quirk Foundation, which the group
received in January.

Rinard said the foundation asked to keep the amount of the donation private, but she added the
funding allowed Sustain Jefferson to hit the ground running with the idea.

“It is very generous and sizable enough to get the ‘makerspace’ project off the ground and provide
operating funds for most of the year,” Rinard said.

David said the group is hoping to find a space large enough to house three separate spaces, a
workshop for woodworking and metal works, a room for crafts like sewing and painting, and a coworking
space.

Rinard said the co-working area would be an office setting where people who are
self-employed or run small businesses can come and use the “makerspace’s” high-speed Internet,
printer and rooms to meet with clients and customers.

“They can also talk with each other about ideas. In fact businesses’ ideas have even developed out
of ‘makerspaces’ in other areas. So there is that economic development angle to the project,”
Rinard said.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Isthmus | The Daily Page
by Marc Eisen

This is the big question: How far can Dane County ride Epic’s success?

Done right, we’re talking about the foundation for Dane County’s 21st-century economy being built on the medical software industry: lots of good-paying information technology jobs that fuel an expanding housing market, a glittering downtown with hip restaurants and music clubs, a rising tax base to fund new community services and a lot more resources to deal with the serious problems of poverty.

Call it the “Epiconomy.” Madison advertising executive Andy Wallman, who coined the name, should trademark it. “Epiconomy” nails the fact that Epic now drives the Madison area’s prosperity.

Founded in 1979 by its mastermind Judith Faulkner, Epic Systems Corp.is the world leader in the burgeoning health-care software market. The privately owned Epic has 6,800 employees at its Disney-like headquarters in Verona and recorded $1.66 billion in sales in 2013. The company is renowned — notorious, say its critics — for hiring only the smartest young people and working them hard. Salaries for these twentysomethings range from an estimated $60,000 to $100,000 a year.

More are coming. Lots more.

“They could have as many as 10,000 employees by 2018,” says Madison planning chief Steven Cover, who was among top city officials briefed by Epic’s chief administrative officer Steve Dickmann in mid-January. (The media-shy company declined to be interviewed for this story.) Epic expects to add 800 positions a year for the next four or five years, Cover notes.

“They have an international operation that is growing very quickly. This will fuel their continued growth,” he says.

As heartening as that message is, the good news doesn’t stop there. Epic will continue to run its worldwide operation out of its nearly 1,000-acre Verona complex.

“There won’t be a European headquarters,” says Cover. “Their international operation will be staffed and operated from here.”

It’s big news that Epic will not decentralize its operation with regional headquarters. But for Dane County, the even larger payoff hinges on the answer to that opening question: Will Epic’s success give birth to an even larger health industry?

The optimists see that steady stream of brainy Epic expats who leave the mother ship after three or four years sticking around Madison to form their own health IT companies. This in turn will draw entrepreneurs from across the country who want to share the Epic magic.

As it is, the Madison area already has six times the number of software writers as the national average, says Aaron Olver, the city’s director of economic development. Credit Epic’s huge investment in software research and development. Data prepared for the Madison Region Economic Partnership show that IT workers are making, on the average, $89,844 a year.

“Epic will be our equivalent of Microsoft in Seattle, of Dell computers in Austin,” predicts an upbeat Mark Bakken, founder of Epic-focused Nordic Consulting. This is a familiar comparison for Epic watchers in Madison.

Read the full article.