Region needs to act now on economic growth
Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
A Wisconsin State Journal Editorial
Forget about Madison vs. Middleton. Or Verona vs. McFarland. Or even Dane County vs. Rock County.
Instead, let’s focus on the Madison region’s strategy for economic growth. And in doing so, we must recognize the inescapable truth that national and even global competition for economic vitality is far more important than localized “we’re better than you” squabbles.
Such thinking is the core building block of Advance Now, a five-year strategy for economic growth put forth recently by the eight-county MadREP initiative. (Full disclosure: State Journal publisher Bill Johnston is co-chair of the Advance Now initiative.)
The result of that months-long effort is a five-year plan — a call to action, really, for the Madison region to move forward together when it comes to matters of economic interest. There is much to like about the plan, including the importance it puts on public-private partnerships.
But, ultimately, it is still just a plan, words put on paper. Now is the time for motivated business leaders, elected officials and regular citizens to turn the plan into action. Not next year, or sometime down the road. It’s a competitive world out there, and the Madison region needs to act now.
