Economic Development

Daily Cardinal: Associated Students of Madison holds first training in preparation for lobbying day, prioritizes topics concerning mental health, rent control

Jessica Reilly · Feb 14, 2023 ·

Student members of ASM are preparing which topics will be presented to the state legislature on lobbying day to best benefit the UW-Madison student body.

The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) held a pre-lobbying day meeting Thursday evening to prepare for lobbying day on Feb. 22. Topics covered included an overview of the initiatives ASM will be advocating for on behalf of the student body, how to lobby a legislature and the schedule for lobbying day.

ASM is the official student governance body of UW-Madison, representing the needs of over 45,000 students. The student group works to best represent the student body and speak up on legal rights, recommending university policies, budgets and candidates for UW employment.

During this meeting, MGR Govindarajan, the legislative affairs chair for ASM, led a thorough training for students who volunteered to participate and speak with the legislature on lobbying day. Govindarajan advised students on how best to represent themselves and the student body.

“My job is to advocate for students at the local, state and federal levels about what students care about at the moment,” said Govindarajan.

Govindarajan presented two topics ASM will focus on during lobbying day, when students will present their case to the Governor on behalf of the student body.

“Mental health and affordable housing are two issues that really matter in Madison,” said Govindarajan. “It’s not a new issue at all, and it impacts a lot of students.”

Govindarajan shared that ASM considers state issues, as well as other issues that impact a large number of students, and makes sure that the topics presented can be resolved by the legislature.

“On lobbying day we will talk to the legislature, the people who vote on bills,” said Govindarajan.

Prioritizing mental health funding

ASM previously worked with Gov. Tony Evers’ office to increase funding for mental health services at University Health Services (UHS). According to a UW-Madison Healthy Minds study, 21% of students screened positively for depression overall, and 16% of students screened positively for an anxiety disorder.

Students are deeply affected by their mental health, and students expressed that UHS needs increased resources to provide appointments on time — rather than have a three-week wait period like they currently do, said Govindarajan.

Two years ago, the governor requested $15 million for mental health funding, and then the joint finance committee within the legislature cut that to $0, Govindarajan explained. To prevent this recurrence, ASM is speaking up, he said.

“This is holding people accountable,” said Govindarajan, referring to the upcoming lobbying day.

Govindarajan coached ASM members on how to present these topics of discussion in an impactful and engaging manner when speaking to the legislature. Members were encouraged to bring personal stories and figure out the best way to articulate their ideas to better assist the student body’s needs.

Advocating for rent control

Rising rent in the city of Madison is another area of concern among the student body, according to ASM’s collected data. Students are struggling to keep up with the current cost of living and are forced to spend countless hours early in the fall semester looking for housing, making calls and attempting to make a housing arrangement work in an affordable manner, shared Govindarajan during his presentation.

“The legislature prohibits rent control,” said Govindarajan, referencing the Wisconsin state law that states, “No city, village, town or county may regulate the amount of rent or fees charged for the use of a residential rental dwelling unit.”

The Madison Region Economic Partnership said Dane County needs to produce 4,500 to 5,000 net new units per year to meet growth projections of 100,000 additional residents by 2030. The county’s current population is roughly 561,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Data from the ASM interest form that was sent to the student body and filled out by those interested in joining ASM further proves concern from students, as 80% of respondents voted that mental health and/or rent control are major challenges for the student body. ASM’s lobbying day aims to draw attention to these issues, instilling change for students in Madison.

“This is a good opportunity for students to get involved,” said Govindarajan. “It’s more than just voting. A lot of students vote and that’s really good for getting into the civic process; however, actually speaking to your legislature and creating that connection is really important for students. It’s really exciting to see a lot of people get involved in this.”

ASM meets Thursday evenings and will continue preparing for lobbying day on Feb. 22 in the coming weeks.

Article originally published on dailycardinal.com

In Business: MadREP Economic Development & Diversity Summit to be held May 10

Jessica Reilly · Feb 13, 2023 ·

Source: In Business

MadREP, along with the Urban League of Greater Madison, will hold the 10th annual Madison Region Economic Development & Diversity Summit as an in-person event at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center on Wednesday, May 10. Registration will open at the end of February.

Each year, the Summit focuses on advancing talent, opportunity, and growth. Weaving together the important conversations of diversity and economic development, this event reflects the organizations’ shared goal of building this region into a model of economic inclusion.

The daylong summit will engage, educate, and empower attendees around issues related to economic, workforce, and community development. The event will feature keynote speakers, break-out sessions, and networking opportunities.

Article originally published on ibmadison.com.

In Business: Fields of Opportunity

Jessica Reilly · Feb 7, 2023 ·

Source: IB Madison

Jason Fields, 48, has led the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) for just over a year. Last April, while speaking to the Rotary Club of Madison, the Milwaukee native was candid about his first impressions of the area. They weren’t great. For example, while searching for a place to live, his wife, La Tasha, an accomplished educator with multiple degrees, experienced telephone hang-ups, cancelled showings, and threats of credit and background checks beyond the norm. Was this the same Madison they had heard so much about?

Fast forward a year and this power couple has not only settled in, but they’ve also connected with community leaders in ways they never thought possible.

Fields, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Concordia College-Wisconsin, has founded several companies and served in the state Assembly for 12 years, representing his northside Milwaukee district. Now, as president/CEO at MadREP, he’s working with an eight-county Madison Region (Dane, Columbia, Dodge, Green, Rock, Jefferson, Sauk and Iowa) on a unified economic development strategy.

We spoke to him about his vision and working as a Black man in predominantly white, rural counties.

Article originally published on ibmadison.com

Our Top Five for 2023

Jessica Reilly · Jan 31, 2023 ·

2023 is shaping up to be a formative year for both MadREP and the Madison Region. We’re looking forward to engaging with partners like you throughout the year as we work on these top five priorities.

1: Urban Meets Rural Meets Innovation

We’ve been hard at work building a coalition to address the gap between the prosperity and innovation resources for rural and urban communities. To be successful, economies must acknowledge and leverage the interdependence between their urban and rural assets. In 2023, we look forward to sharing this exciting new project with all of you.

2: Celebrating the Summit’s 10th Anniversary

Please mark your calendars now for May 10, 2023 when MadREP and our partners at the Urban League of Greater Madison host the tenth annual Madison Region Economic Development & Diversity Summit. We hope you will join us for a day of dynamic speakers, interactive workshops, networking, and celebration.

3: Strategic Planning

Every five years, the Madison Region must create our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and ensure it is accepted by the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The strategic plan then guides economic development activities within the Region and all requests for EDA funding must fall in line with that strategy. This year MadREP will lead planning efforts for our third CEDS, which will guide us for the next five years.

4: Launch Revolving Loan Fund

In 2021, MadREP announced the creation of a USDA revolving loan fund (RLF) focused on entrepreneurs and growing businesses in Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Iowa, Green, Jefferson, Rock, and Sauk Counties. In 2023, MadREP will operationalize the fund, increasing access to capital for regional businesses. The program will provide gap financing that will supplement loans from traditional lending sources.

5: Reports & Data

In 2023 MadREP plans to issue four data-driven reports, including “Sector Strategy for Economic Recovery” and our ninth annual “Workplace Leadership & Diversity Survey” results.

Wisconsin State Journal: Madison video game studio rapidly expands as broader sector eyes mergers

Jessica Reilly · Jan 27, 2023 ·

Source: Wisconsin State Journal

Lost Boys Interactive, a video game studio based in Madison, launched in 2017 with two co-founders who named their company to capture the mythos of the Lost Boys of Neverland.

The studio has now established itself as not only a large part of the Madison region’s video game enclave, but a major industry player with 350 employees in 36 U.S. states, said CEO and co-founder Shaun Nivens.

The company, which has a studio on the West Side, saw 1,255% revenue growth between 2021 and 2022 alone. It has helped gamers around the world explore new worlds, win epic battles, meet dynamic characters and embark on wild adventures by working on popular titles like “Call of Duty Online” and “Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands,” a spin-off of the “Borderlands” series.

Lost Boys Interactive has developed games across other genres, too, including sports and sandbox, or games that allow a great degree of interactivity for the player.

Last April, the studio’s growth really took off when it was acquired by Gearbox, an indie interactive entertainment developer and publisher in Texas with 1,300 employees. Gearbox is owned by Embracer Group, a Sweden-based video game and media holding company.

The deal’s financial details were not disclosed, but it came as consolidation has been an increasingly common trend in the video game industry. Embracer itself makes up about a “fifth” of the sector, Nivens said. Lost Boys Interactive’s rapid expansion also comes as the tech industry at large grapples with layoffs and other economic hurdles.

“We connected with Gearbox at a conference,” said Nivens. He said the Texas company gives Lost Boys Interactive the manpower and resources to work on more expansive projects and allows the studio to maintain full control over operations. “They were our style,” he said.

Both companies also value hiring employees that are full-time and paid a fair wage, Nivens said. That’s because it’s a frequent industry practice for video game studios to hire contractors to save money, he said. Employers are not legally obligated to offer contractors benefits like health insurance.

“We feel it makes better games,” he said, adding that Lost Boys Interactive is set to hire at least 300 more employees within the next year.

Humble beginnings

Prior to the studio’s launch, Nivens and Stefanowicz had just parted ways with their previous employer, PerBlue, a local studio that makes mobile games such as “Disney Heroes.”

It was their combined passion for art and storytelling through video games, that motivated Niven and Stefanowicz to team up and create their own enterprise, Nivens said. Stefanowicz is a former Disney studio art director, and Nivens has an extensive software engineering background.

In a “pretty precarious start,” the studio’s only investment funding ever was the $50 it borrowed to open its first checking account, Stefanowicz said with a laugh. From there, the team used their already established business ties to pick up development gigs and hire workers wherever they could.

The studio scored its first “big” gig with with PUBG, maker of battle royale title PlayerUnknown’s “Battlegrounds,” which needed an engineering team to aid in the creation of an up-and-coming video game, Nivens said. PUBG operates a studio in Madison.

It’s common for several companies to have a hand in developing one video game, he explained. Lost Boys Interactive has until now mainly functioned then as a co-development studio to fill staffing gaps for clients.

Video game design is a complex and expensive process involving computer programmers, software engineers, graphic artists, animators, workers who play video games to test for glitches and more, he said.

Nivens said the studio — with Gearbox’s support — intends to act on a longtime goal: Develop internal video game ideas and projects.

A new norm?

Consolidation is likely becoming the norm for the video game industry, explained Madison Region Economic Partnership enterprise development director Craig Kettleson, who has researched the sector extensively.

Microsoft attempted its largest-ever acquisition of California-based game developer Activision Blizzard (parent company of Madison-area studio Raven Software) in early 2022, which was challenged last December by the Federal Trade Commission. That deal is worth almost $70 billion.

The FTC said in a December statement that the Activision deal could enable Microsoft “to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.”

Kettleson said he’s in favor of that deal, adding that it could theoretically bring more money and workers into the region, as well as elevate Madison as a destination for new game development studios. Nivens agreed with Kettleson’s sentiments in a separate interview.

“I think its good for the industry,” Nivens said. “When large corporations like that are spending large amount of money to consolidate, that raises all boats. The bigger and more studios you have, the more likely you are to create offshoots, forge new paths and create crazier (video) game ideas that the mainstream wouldn’t invest in.”

Microsoft already has ties to the area through Bethesda, a game-development studio that owns a location in the city. The tech giant bought Bethesda in 2020 for $7.5 billion.

Purchases of video games soared during the pandemic, so much so that analytics company Newzoo forecasted that in 2020 the sector would grow to $217.9 billion by this year.

Lockdowns lift

Newzoo has since released numbers showing that the video games market saw a slight decline in 2022 compared to 2021 — from $193 billion to $184 billion.

That was mainly because people spent less on mobile games in 2022 as “the world opened again after two years of lockdowns, and people’s disposable income became increasingly strained by inflation,” Newzoo said.

And Microsoft’s highly anticipated purchase of Activision comes not only with scrutiny by various government agencies, but as the overall tech industry faces layoffs. Microsoft announced it would layoff 10,000 employees, including some workers at Bethesda.

Article originally published on madison.com