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10th Annual Madison Region Economic Development & Diversity Summit Welcomes 500+ Business and Community Leaders
A crowd of more than 500 business and community leaders joined MadREP and the Urban League of Greater Madison (ULGM) on Wednesday, May 10 at the tenth annual Madison Region Economic Development and Diversity Summit. The day-long event was packed with important conversations about equitable development and embracing diversity as the Region continues to grow.
Attendees enjoyed remarks from elected officials, economists and business and thought leaders from our Region and beyond. Keynote addresses from Laura Dresser, UW-Madison Clinical Associate Professor and Associate Director at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), Jason R. Thompson, Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Western Governors University, Troy LeMaile-Stovall, CEO, TEDCO (Maryland Technology Development Corporation), and Lela Lee, Actress/Creator of the “Angry Little Asian Girl.” All four speakers inspired and challenged the crowd to think about how we invest in diverse entrepreneurs and attract diverse talent to Southcentral Wisconsin.
As in previous years, the conference featured messages from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes and welcomed Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway to the stage.
Breakout sessions at the summit included two presentations and two panel discussions focused on equity and quality of life:
- “Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace,” with presenter Haley Moss, Attorney & Expert on Neurodiversity, Autism & Inclusion
- “Improving Quality of Life—Not Just Business—is the Best Path to Midwestern Rejuvenation,” with presenter Amanda Weinstein, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Akron
- “Pathways from Youth to Adult Apprenticeship: Examining UW Health as a Local Model,” with moderator Bridgett Willey, PhD, Director of Allied Health Education and Career Pathways, UW Health
- “What is Talent Really Looking For,” with moderator Mark Richardson, Founder & CEO, Unfinished Business
This unique collaboration between the Urban League the Madison Region serves as a national model for economic growth and economic inclusion. We would like to extend a special thank you to the many sponsors who made the event possible, especially our co-presenting sponsors, Alliant Energy and UW Health.
Feedback from the varied offerings of plenary and breakouts speakers was very positive the day of the event, as ideas, strategies, and tools were discussed to help organizations move their diversity and inclusion efforts forward. A few of the presentations from the Summit are available for sharing. If you are interested in sponsoring next year, getting involved, or receiving the presentation for a speaker or breakout session, please contact MadREP Operations and Fundraising Specialist Jana Moore at jmoore@madisonregion.org. Attendees are encouraged to respond to the follow-up survey sent out earlier, as feedback received on that form will help to drive the agenda for the 2024 Summit.
If you missed it, check out the conversation on twitter at #madsummit as well as photos from the day. We are grateful to everyone who helped make this continued collaboration a success. Don’t forget to save the date for next year: May 2, 2024.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee’s Water Council lands $1 million grant to create regional water resiliency solutions hub
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A Milwaukee hub for water technology, management and conservation is one of 44 organizations nationwide to receive a $1 million planning grant from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engine program.
The Milwaukee-based Water Council and its partners will use the grant to focus on developing what NSF calls an “innovation engine,” a network of universities, two-year colleges, small and large businesses, utilities, non-profits and investors, to address the challenges of water-dependent industries and utilities in the face of climate change and increasing water scarcity, said Dean Amhaus, the Water Council’s president and CEO.
The result, he said, is expected to be a long-standing, multi-disciplinary network spanning eastern Wisconsin and parts of Illinois that can quickly take ideas for water-use management, conservation and stewardship from the academic sphere to practical, marketable solutions.
“What the goal is, and this was really the intent of NSF, is to get all those moving parts together so that it is literally working as a fine-tuned engine — and we need to be able to have all those different components together to make that engine work,” said Amhaus said.
The program dovetails with the Water Council’s mission since 2009 of bringing together the Milwaukee-area’s large, established water engineering companies, its academic and research campuses, startup companies and others focus on water issues and business development.
The grant program, created under the federal CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, is a first of its kind effort to leverage regional academic and business expertise to develop solutions and technology to address critical environmental, social and economic challenges.
The goal of the NSF Engines planning grants is to create hubs of knowledge and expertise to find innovative solutions to regional and national isses, develop and bring to market solutions to address those challenges, spur economic development and job growth, and to develop a diverse workforce.
A second round of NSF grants could provide up to $160 million in ongoing funding for that work.
Amhaus said winning the planning grant “speaks volumes of what we have in the eastern side of Wisconsin — that we can be extremely competitive when it comes to that water energy nexus.”
“It’s the combination of the businesses that are already here and have been here for decades, it’s the universities, the utilities — it’s all here, and pulling them all together as a region we believe can be a solution that not only the country needs, but the world needs around this resiliency,” he said.
The MKE Tech Hub Coalition, Wisconsin Technology Council, Marquette University, Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity, and Madison Region Economic Partnership partnered with The Water Council to prepare the grant application.
MadREP Statement on State Child Care Funding
The Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) strongly encourages the State to increase its investment in child care in Wisconsin’s 2023-25 biennial budget. Economic development in our state is limited by the availability of child care services. Underinvestment in child care will have long-term impacts on Wisconsin’s economy by negatively affecting tax revenues, household income, and businesses. State financial support is critical to supporting the already struggling child care industry that working families and businesses rely on. Past state funding helped child care providers across Wisconsin maintain operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and prevented closures. Decreasing state funding to the child care industry will have severe and long-term consequences, interrupting access to high quality Early Childhood Education during critical child development stages. Significant state involvement in addressing the need for more access to child care is necessary for the success of MadREP’s regional economic development initiatives. Wisconsin will miss opportunities for industry growth and regional economic prosperity if it fails to provide foundational child care support for residents.
The Center Square: Wisconsin apprenticeship programs growing more popular
Apprenticeship programs across Wisconsin are on the rise, as companies fiercely compete for talent in the post-pandemic era.
Wisconsin Apprenticeship Deputy Director Liz Pusch pointed to an ongoing surge in business engagement with the state Department of Workforce Development (DWD), adding that more students and even college-educated workers now view the program as an avenue toward better job opportunities.
“Our average age of a registered apprentice is 28 years old,” Pusch shared during a recent speech at the Madison Region’s Economic Development and Diversity Summit hosted by the Madison Region Economic Partnership and the Urban League of Greater Madison, according to WisBusiness.com. “So people are starting in their career route, and then they’re figuring out, ‘This is not what I want to do.’”
In April, DWD announced a new record-high 8,357 high school junior and senior students were taking part in the Youth Apprenticeship programs during the 2022-23 school year, and just weeks before then state officials highlighted that a record 15,900 apprentices took part in the Registered Apprenticeship program last year. While many of the programs typically train workers for a specific occupation, the youth program is structured to open participants to a growing list of career choices.
“Employers are starting to see some increased retention because you’re making and building this bond with the workers,” said Seth Lentz, executive director of the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin, adding that more businesses are starting to internalize the long-term advantages of investing in their own workers’ skills.
