'Talk About People Climate'
Fostering the 'Creative Economy'By Rich Eggleston
Wisconsin has tremendous potential to lure the creative
thinkers and doers around which the economy of the future will coalesce, but to avoid
falling by the wayside, our communitiues must focus on technology, talent and tolerance,
an economic development conference was told in Green Bay Sept. 18.
| That's where movers and shakers of the creative economy want to
locate — that is where they
thrive, more than 400 people at the "A Creative
Future" conference at Lambeau Field were told. And the creative economy is inexorably
supplanting the industrial economy, said Dr. Richard Florida, a professor in the Heinz
School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. Tolerance is the hardest to change, but "without this third
'T' you know where your future is? Pennsylvania: five straight decades of job loss,"
Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class, said.
By all rights, Wisconsin's long-term economic outlook
ought to be a lot brighter than it is, Florida remarked.
""I don't see Wisconsin all that different than
Colorado, except you have a better university," he said. "You have made an
investment in one of the ten best research universities in the world, and you are the
greatest talent exporting machine that the world has ever seen." |
Dr. Richard Florida
|
"Don't talk about business climate, talk about people
climate," he advised his audience. "You've got to focus on it; you've got to
hone it. Create systems that harness the creative capacity of everyone."
Wisconsin's Uphill Battle
Terry Ludeman
|
"Colorado has absolutely had us for
lunch," Terry Ludeman, labor market economist for the state Department of
Workforce Development, told the conference. And, he might have added, we're also on the
dessert tray that's being passed around to our surrounding states of Minnesota, Michigan
and Illinois. Ludeman documented the trends that
will challenge Wisconsin's economy in coming decades: Wisconsin citizens are somethat
older than the national average, and today far fewer of us are foreign born than U.S.
residents overall, even though we live in a state that depended on immigration for half a
century to fuel its growth.
Wisconsin is 19th nationally in the number of science and
engineering graduates, and 43rd nationally in our ability to attract them to our
workforce, Ludeman said. In the 1990s, Wisconsin lost more than 50,000 college graduates,
while Minnesota gained more than 140,000, he said. We need nearly 20,000 more employees in
the information industry and 80,000 more workers in the financial services sector if we
are to match the national average, he added.
Perhaps as a result of all that, Wisconsin is 28th
nationally in average wages, while Minnesota is 14th, Michigan is 11th and Illinois is
seventh. In the 1970s, Ludeman said, average wages in Wisconsin were higher than in
Minnesota.
Ludeman challenged northeastern Wisconsin to redefine
itself and become an economic leader. |
Alliance Votes Dues Freeze,
Makes Do With Vacant Position
Wisconsin Alliance of Cities members Sept. 20 approved a
one-year dues freeze and passed a budget that calls for continued use of a contract
lobbyist through 2004, keeping open the position that Gail Sumi previously held.
With an 18% rent increase in the works for our office space on Capitol Square next
year, the Board of Directors also directed staff to look for cheaper space near the
square.
A Profile of Wisconsin — and the Alliance
Source: Wisconsin Blue Book
Population Density in 3-D |
|
In a feature article, the 2003-2004 Wisconsin
Blue Book takes a look through "the statistical camera that every ten years takes the
snapshot of our country," and attempts to tell us who we are and how we live. Paul R. Voss and his colleagues at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison looked at the census data and found a state that is changing before our
eyes:
- the Hispanic/Latino population more than doubled in a
decade, though in 2000 it still represented less than 4% of Wisconsin's population.
- more than one in four households are now one-person
households.
- more than two-thirds of us work: 74% of males and 64% of
females 16 and over are in the workforce.
- Manufacturing jobs are held by 22% of Wisconsin's workers,
while 20% are employed in education, health and social services. Retail trade, the
hospitality industry, construction, etc. trail.
- Nearly 80% of us drive to work and don't carpool. Waukesha
County has the highest percentage: 87%. Almost 10% of us carpool.
|
| Snapshot of the Alliance While Wisconsin grew 9.6% in the 1990s, Wisconsin Alliance of
Cities member cities grew much more modestly: 3% overall. While the Census counted 5%
fewer people in Milwaukee in 2000 than in 1990, the accuracy of that number is being challenged by Milwaukee officials.
Five Alliance members are home to 87% of Wisconsin's
African-American population, and the top 10 Wisconsin communities in terms of Hmong
population are all Alliance members.
Health-Cost Solution on the
Horizon?
| It's time to do somethign about the rising
cost of health care, and tinkering around the edges of a dysfunctional system won't help
much, the president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO told Alliance members Sept. 20. "We're rapidly getting to the point where neither workers nor
their employers can afford health care," David Newby told city leaders and top staff
gethered at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
|
David Newby
|
| Newby provided the Alliance with
a sneak preview of an AFL-CIO proposal to drastically reduce the cost of health
insurance in both the public and private sectors and make it far more available to
everyone in the state. Key elements of the union's
plan:
- Get rid of the 25 to 30 cents of every health-care dollar
that employers pay insurance companies for administrative costs.
- Have every employer pay a flat amount for each worker.
- Cover every worker and his or her dependents.
- Provide for a $600 deductible for families and co-payments
of $15 per visit, higher for visits to specialists that are not referrals. Unions could
bargain to get employers to pay those costs.
- Subsidize the premiums for employees of small businesses
and allow the self-employed to buy into the system.
The plan would not cover long-term care, vision or dental
care. |
|
Alliance of
Cities Population Trends
City |
1990
Census |
2000
Census |
%
chg |
Appleton |
65,695
|
70,087
|
6.7% |
Ashland
|
8,695
|
8,620
|
-0.9% |
Baraboo
|
9,203
|
10,711
|
16.4% |
Beaver
Dam |
14,196
|
15,169
|
6.9% |
Beloit
|
35,571
|
35,775
|
0.6% |
Cudahy
|
18,659
|
18,429
|
-1.2% |
De
Pere |
16,594
|
20,559
|
23.9% |
Eau
Claire |
56,806
|
61,704
|
8.6% |
Fond
du Lac |
37,755
|
42,203
|
11.8% |
Green
Bay |
96,466
|
102,313
|
6.1% |
Greenfield
|
33,403
|
35,476
|
6.2% |
Kaukauna
|
11,982
|
12,983
|
8.4% |
Kenosha
|
80,426
|
90,352
|
12.3% |
La
Crosse |
51,140
|
51,818
|
1.3% |
Madison
|
190,766
|
208,054
|
9.1% |
Manitowoc
|
32,521
|
34,053
|
4.7% |
Marinette
|
11,843
|
11,749
|
-0.8% |
Marshfield |
19,293
|
18,800
|
-2.6% |
Menasha |
14,711
|
16,331
|
11.0% |
Merrill |
9,860
|
10,146
|
2.9% |
Milwaukee |
628,088
|
596,974
|
-5.0% |
Monroe
|
10,241
|
10,843
|
5.9% |
Neenah |
23,219
|
24,507
|
5.5% |
Oak
Creek |
19,513
|
28,456
|
45.8% |
Oshkosh
|
55,006
|
62,916
|
14.4% |
Racine
|
84,298
|
81,855
|
-2.9% |
Sheboygan
|
49,587
|
50,792
|
2.4% |
Stevens
Pt |
23,002
|
24,551
|
6.7% |
Superior
|
27,134
|
27,368
|
0.9% |
Two
Rivers |
13,030
|
12,639
|
-3.0% |
Watertown |
19,142
|
21,598
|
12.8% |
Waukesha
|
56,894
|
64,825
|
13.9% |
Wausau
|
37,060
|
38,426
|
3.7% |
Wauwatosa
|
49,366
|
47,271
|
-4.2% |
West
Allis |
63,221
|
61,254
|
-3.1% |
West
Bend |
24,470
|
28,152
|
15.0% |
Whitewater |
12,636
|
13,437
|
6.3% |
Wis.
Rapids |
18,245
|
18,435
|
1.0% |
|
|
|
|
Totals |
2,029,737
|
2,089,631
|
3.0% |
|
|
|
|
State
Total |
4,891,769
|
5,363,675
|
9.6% |
|
| Newby predicted the plan would
reduce the number of uninsured people in Wisconsin from between 500,000 and 600,000 to
100,000. The plan would be based on Wisconsin's
unemployment compensation and worker's compensation systems, and estimates suggest it
could cut costs dramatically.
"We can realize very significant reductions in the
cost of health care in the state," Newby said. "(But) unless we have significant
business support, support from folks like you and bipartisan support in the Legislature,
it isn't going anywhere."
Details are to be unveiled in late October. |
|
|
|
Milwaukee Freeze Depends
on Low Health-Care Cost
Tough Budgets Abound in AllianceMilwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist on Sept. 23 proposed a "no
gimmicks" city budget that would freeze the city's tax levy at 2003 levels, but he
said he couldn't have done so without a break in health insurance costs.
"Our health care costs came in more than $9 million
under projections. If our increase had been more in line with other major employers,
freezing the levy responsibly would have been impossible," Mayor Norquist told his
common council.
While Milwaukee is projecting a 2% increase in
health-insurance costs for next year, Alliance members typically are bracing for 15%
to 20% increases.
At the Alliance's Sept. 19th meetings in Green Bay,
finance directors and city leaders outlined how they are coping with their budget
challenges. Highlights:
- Marinette sent out a citywide survey soliciting ideas on
how to solve a $1 million deficit. Options included layoffs, a fire-hydrant fee on water
bills — or a levy increase.
- In Manitowoc, surveys are coming back to help the city
determine which of 13 services residents would prefer cut.
- Wisconsin Rapids will pay $5,000 to every city employee who
agrees to retire by the end of the year. The deadline is fast approaching for employees to
accept the offer.
Continuing media coverage of local budgets:
- In Oshkosh, reducing spending by $2 million to keep the tax rate flat could involve
closing a fire station, the Oshkosh Northwestern reported in a story here.
- The Sheboygan common council voted 10-4 to impose a $3 monthly stormwater fee on
property in the city to help control runoff —
and reduce the property tax by $1.1 million. Story here.
- Results of that survey in Marinette: residents strongly supported employee layoffs as a
solution to the city's budget crunch and fewer than 15% of those who responded supported a
tax increase, the Marinette EagleHerald reported. Story here.
- Superior is planning to reduce seasonal staff in its parks and recreation departments,
discontinue swimming lessons and offer fewer concerts in the park. Story here.
- Coverage of the proposed levy freeze in Milwaukee centered around Mayor Norquist's
proposed elimination of nearly 650 jobs — most
of them vacant as a result of a city hiring freeze. Story here.
|
Alliance Members Tour Lambeau
Curly Lambeau points toward
the Packers Pro Shop.
Tour Lambeau Field with
Alliance members here. |
|
