Along with the research we've conducted on our own, we also included an additional question in each of our interviews to get a business point of view, as well as to help shape our forecast of Milwaukee's economic future. We asked each business' representative to give us their own prediction of Milwaukee's economy in the next 5, 10, 20 years (without getting too political). Below are paraphrased responses from each interview (full answers can be found in each business' respective interview transcript).
John Olin (Harley Davidson): Wisconsin is a very difficult place to do business. With the high tax rates and expensive medical, it's just expensive. Plain and simple, its just not an easy place to do business. That being said, we'd never consider leaving Wisconsin. We love it here, it's just more expensive than other places.
Jonathan Means (Manpower): I think there’s so much to offer here in Milwaukee. I don’t have any reason to believe that Milwaukee won’t continue to be a thriving community. I'm somebody who just moved here [from Detroit], and there's a lot to be said for the Milwaukee area. Milwaukee is similar to a lot of big cities, and you start with MPS and the data's the data, it's a bit of a disaster. But that's the same challenge in Chicago, in Detroit, so nothing unusual about that. I would expect Milwaukee will be a good place for employment and for people to want to live and raise a family.
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Jeff Docalavich (Masterlock): I think Milwaukee is going to have a challenge. I think with taxes the way they are, it will be very difficult to keep/get people here. Unless they make it more business friendly, Milwaukee will have a hard time keeping the young talented minds. If people want to make $100,000 straight out of college, they will go to places like California or Texas instead of Wisconsin.
Christopher Nicolet (Kidz Confections): From the time that I've been here, and I've been all over the country and certain parts of the world, I see everybody else growing and I see Milwaukee kind of stagnant; not much going on, not so much investment, and not too many companies expanding. This state is very expensive to operate a business in compared to other states. Taxes keep going up, they should be going down. It's really difficult to grow under these circumstances.
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As you can see there are mixed opinions on the future state of Milwaukee’s economy. Large business and small businesses alike are experiencing the same challenges with high taxation and an overall expensive business environment. Using the larger companies we interviewed as a template for other large companies in Milwaukee, these businesses seem to be coping much better with these costs versus those of smaller scale. Christopher Nicolet from Kidz Confections represents one of many small businesses struggling to grow and expand due to severe competition with larger companies, domestically and overseas. Using these 4 businesses as examples for large and small business in Milwaukee, we can definitely outline the major challenges the city has to face in order to grow and achieve a positive economic future. High taxation, expensive costs of production, insufficient investment, and a decrease in human capital seem to be recurring issues that hinder the city’s ability to grow at a faster pace. What should be done to ensure economic growth, stability, and development in Milwaukee? From analysis of these four interviews and additional research, we have come up with several proposals to help stimulate Milwaukee’s future economic development:
- Take advantage of Milwaukee’s fast-growing water industry
- With Milwaukee’s water industry growing as quickly as it is, Milwaukee would be wise to capitalize off of it by using water to fuel its economy, rather than high taxes and other revenue growth tactics. Since the demand for water is very inelastic, it would be wise for Milwaukee to increase water prices in order to gain a significant amount of revenue. With the added revenue, Milwaukee will then be able to lower taxes on businesses, which will provide incentives for investing and growth. This investment and growth within Milwaukee’s economy will further cause it to grow. Along with this, the decrease in taxes will provide incentives for companies to remain/move to Milwaukee.
2. Encourage improvement of aging infrastructure for efficiency and energy-saving qualities
- Currently, the buildings in the city of Milwaukee are aged and in need of improvement. In order to help the city increase its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, businesses should definitely look into implementing new, modern technologies and “green building practices” into their buildings. Modernizing the infrastructure of Milwaukee will not only reduce costs for businesses, it would also aesthetically improve building appearance, making the city a much more attractive urban area. Additionally, creating a “green” environment for the city will decrease harmful impacts on the surrounding environment and make infrastructure much more sustainable.
3. Match human capital with corresponding job requirements/skills, avoiding mismatch of skills/education/training to increase efficiency in the workforce
- Today’s business world sees a very dynamic, changing framework in terms of job training and requirements for that job. Milwaukee is no exception, and seeing that it is a growing economy, we need to make sure we match the right people with the right jobs. Human capital is one of our most important assets, and we need to make sure the workforce is distributed correctly to increase efficiency and specialization. Manpower plays a major role in this, as it is their responsibility to help match skills of hopeful employees with sought-after skills from employers.
4. Promote constant innovation to current workers as well as expose young, upcoming workers to the many job opportunities in each growing industry in order to attract more young, intelligent human capital driving the future of our economy
- In today’s economy, young workers are attracted to companies that keep up with modern times. Whether it be creating new and impressive products, or having a work facility which promotes innovation and growth, young minds want to work in a place that is constantly modernizing. Currently, students and fresh human capital are leaving Milwaukee and being drawn to bigger, move innovative and developed business places such as California, Texas, and New York. In order to maintain a steady, growing economy, we need young, bright minds staying in Milwaukee instead of going elsewhere. Milwaukee thus needs to invest in innovative infrastructure to attract more human capital to the center as well as target its business opportunities to young people.
If Milwaukee is able to implement these proposals in the next 5, 10, 20 years, we will see a thriving community for business and commerce. Efficiency is the common theme among these proposals, and it is key to lowering costs, reducing wasteful expenditures, increasing specialization, and thus allowing for high profits and revenue growth. Based on our research and analysis of our conducted interviews, we expect to see a city focused heavily on expanding the water industry as well as becoming a major center for a new global water market. New infrastructure will not only lower costs in our city, but also make Milwaukee a much more aesthetically beautiful metropolis, luring young, human capital and many more businesses. Efficient distribution of human capital with specific jobs (particularly with the help of Manpower) will also ensure smooth production and increased revenue and profits for the future. In conclusion, we believe that if our recommendations are considered, we will see Milwaukee become a major commercial and industrial economy that is a force to reckon with in the US.
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"Occupational Employment and Wages in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. MSA – May 2013 : Midwest Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
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