GOAL: Foster a climate that promotes business growth
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Our approach to a thriving economy is two-fold: Advocate for public policy that improves the region’s business climate and aggressively market the region to those investing capital and creating jobs. We are competing every day with regions around the country, and the world, for ideas and talent. Together with the Milwaukee 7 Regional Economic Development Partnership, MMAC builds capacity for growth. This past year, that work paid off – big. We added 31 corporate attraction and expansion projects to the region, most notably Haribo from Germany, and Foxconn, the massive producer of technology products, from Taiwan. These developments will have wide-ranging ripple effects. We are working closely with education and community partners, and legislators and government officials, to ensure we manage this rapid growth and leverage its immense opportunities. At the same time, we continue to organically grow our exporters and entrepreneurs.
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“We chose Wisconsin as the center of our U.S. investment plans for many reasons, but high on the list was the talented and committed Wisconsin workforce.”
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2017-2019 Agenda
Corporate expansion and attraction
Entrepreneurship
Global business engagement
Advance leading industry clusters
Ethnically-Diverse businesses
- Attract an additional 3,200 pledged, retained or new jobs.
- Expand the MMAC’s Regional Center for EB-5 Capital investment to include four Chicago area counties and one Indiana county.
Entrepreneurship
- Explore and encourage the creation of a venture capital fund for regional technology startups.
- Create a pool of mentors that can work with entrepreneurs in programs such as Scale Up, BizStarts and Gener8tor.
Global business engagement
- Continue to provide funding through the JP Morgan Chase Export Development Grant Program for companies new to export or expanding their export markets.
- Make the Milwaukee region a viable shipping hub by restoring service of the intermodal rail ramp at the Port of Milwaukee.
- Engage companies with exporting potential through the World Trade Association’s Export Assessment.
- Continue participation in Brookings Global Cities Initiative to help the Milwaukee Region develop a global identity based on the region’s unique assets.
Advance leading industry clusters
- Continue to advance regional industry clusters. Through FaB Wisconsin:
- Engage with high school students year-round on food career discovery events
- Participate in career pathway development with Milwaukee 7 and the Wisconsin Regional Pathways project
- Fund and pilot a Food Safety Training Certificate
- Secure tenants for the Future Food Center
Ethnically-Diverse businesses
- Launch another Business Connection Program Module, creating $40 million in local spending with minority suppliers in 2018, increasing by at least 10% in 2019.
- Continue to align the state tax code with economic growth priorities.
- Eliminate state personal property tax (about $200 million in business-related items).
- Reduce the regulatory burden on Wisconsin companies.
- Reform Wisconsin’s Workers Compensation to make compliance simple, fair and cost effective for employers and health providers.
- Pass federal tax reform to create a U.S. tax system that is simpler, fairer, and rewards business and job growth.