Official magazine of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce July 2014: Issue 11 The Future of Wisconsin Creating a 20-year plan for the Badger State Page 8 Inside: Lead Article: The State of Business Development p. 20 Guest Column from Mary Burke p. 28 Corporate Safety Award Winners p. 24 Making Wisconsin Irresistible to Business p. 2 WISCONSIN … BUSINESS VOICE In this issue 2 MakingKURT BAUER, Wisconsin WMC Irresistible to Business 4 Moving Forward on Worker’s Compensation Reform From the CHRIS READER, WMC 6 Defeating Bad Bills: Just as Important as Passing Editor Good Ones SCOTT MANLEY, WMC What if we could make Wisconsin irresistible for The Future Wisconsin Project business? 8 JIM MORGAN, WMC FOUNDATION We seem to be doing pretty well at this point. Amazon is moving 10 Recent State Campaign Finance Developments Impact Business here, Uline announced last MIKE WITTENWYLER, GODFREY & KAHN SC month they are expanding, and we are confident there is more 12 TheseERIC BOTT, Aren’t WMC Your Grandpa’s Environmentalists good news to come. It's been reported that Wisconsin has seen 17 Fraud and Risk: A Global Issue a net increase of 17,000 new PENNY FOUST, BANK MUTUAL businesses since January 2011. We are hopeful the Badger 18 Business World: A Crash Course in State’s environment will continue SEntrepreneurship!TEVE BENZSCHAW EL, WMC/WISCONSIN BUSINESS to attract new – and encourage WORLD existing – businesses to expand and thrive. The lead story in this edition of Wisconsin Business Voice 20-23 focuses on business development in Wisconsin (see page 20), which pairs nicely with WMC’s commencement of The Future LEAD STORY: BUSINESS Wisconsin Project, a 20-year strategic plan for the state (see DEVELOPMENT IN WISCONSIN: pages 8 and 9.) The numbers you’ll see in a few columns this ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? edition are staggering – it’s predicted we’ll have only 0.4 percent working-age population growth by 2030. That's a problem 24 WisconsinJANIE RITTER, Corporate WMC/WIS SafetyCONSIN Awards SAFETY COUNCIL because it's also predicted we will have an additional 317,310 jobs in only 10 years and not enough people to fill them. The Cranes Crossing Oceans Future Wisconsin Project aims to tackle these issues and more. 26 MIKE SHOYS, WMC Stay tuned for further developments! 27 WhyMAJOR You GENERAL Should D HireUNBAR, a National WISCONSIN Guard NATIONAL Member GUARD 28 InvestingMARY BUR forKE Success Katy Ryder Pettersen Editor, Wisconsin Business Voice 29 GrowingJASON CULOTTA, Freight WMC Demand Requires Rail Solution [email protected] 31 YourSECY. DNR CATHY Working STEPP, WIS for CYouONSIN DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES 32 WMCJIM PUGH, Issue WMC Advocacy: ISSUES MOTheB ILIZATIONTime to GiveCOUN is CIL,Now! I NC. 34 TheLINDA DominoHANSEN, Effect PROSP –ERITY Reverse 101, it! LLC Wisconsin Business Voice is published quarterly by Wisconsin Manufacturers & 38 ThoughtsREPRESENTATIVES from Retiring CLARK (LegislatorsD-BARABOO) AND Commerce. WMC is Wisconsin’s chamber of commerce, manufacturers’ association, SEVERSON (R-STAR PRAIRIE) and safety council representing businesses of all sizes and from every sector of the economy. Send address changes to WMC, P.O. Box 352, Madison, WI 53701-0352. WMC's physical address is 501 E. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53703, 40 Chamber Corner: Opportunities with African (608) 258-3400. This publication is proudly printed on paper made in Wisconsin. DAmericanR. EVE HALL, Businesses AfRICAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF Kurt R. Bauer, WMC President/CEO Katy Pettersen, Editor ([email protected]) COMMERCE Jane Sutter, Designer ([email protected]) Making Wisconsin Irresistible to Business Kurt R. Bauer, WMC President/CEO isconsin’s working-age federal immigration reform? population will grow by The simple answer is by making the state’s business climate justW 0.4 percent by 2030, according irresistible, which the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines to the UW-Madison Applied as “impossible to resist especially because of strength or Population Lab. During the same attractiveness.” period, Wisconsin’s 65 and over population will grow 94.7 percent. Business leaders from all sectors need to see that locating or expanding in Wisconsin gives them a competitive advantage Those two numbers beg the other states can’t match. If we accomplish that, people – i.e., question; how can Wisconsin attract workers/taxpayers – will see that Wisconsin is the place to be. the workers/taxpayers the state’s economy will need in the future? On that score, Wisconsin is already headed in the right It’s a tough question to answer because there is no one magic direction. Site Selection Magazine recently ranked us the 13th solution as Japan and many European nations facing the best state for business. Chief Executive Magazine improved same population challenges can attest. Wisconsin to 14th best in the nation, up from 41st in 2010. Japan is attempting to change the cultural tradition that Both of those rankings matter because they don’t use the pressures women not to work after marriage. Germany is arbitrary metrics often favored by economists and academics. encouraging workers to delay their retirement. The Danes They are surveys of the people who actually decide where to have a cheeky campaign to encourage higher birthrates called locate or expand a business based on factors like tax rates, “Do It for Denmark.” Many European nations, including regulatory culture, the legal environment and, of course, Germany and Italy, have embraced liberal workforce. immigration policies in order to “Business leaders from all The WMC Board discussed what attract workers. reforms would make Wisconsin The latter two solutions have the sectors need to see that locating or irresistible during its recent strategic same common denominator. expanding in Wisconsin gives them planning meeting. Among other things, Board members identified the Couples generally decide to start a competitive advantage that other need to lower the state’s traditionally or expand a family when they have states can’t match…” high income and property taxes, the financial wherewithal to do so. That maintaining transportation infrastructure at means having a good paying and stable job. a time when gas tax proceeds are declining, ensuring K-12 Similarly, people move to places where there is economic students are better career- and college-ready (both four year opportunity. That is why so many Americans (including and technical), enhancing the national reputation of our Wisconsinites) have moved to North Dakota in order to take metropolitan areas, encouraging entrepreneurship, creating advantage of the energy boom and the high paying jobs it has a cooperative and predictable state regulatory culture and created. protecting the affordability of the state’s energy supply. Unfortunately, Wisconsin doesn’t have shale deposits so we Wisconsin isn’t alone in facing unfavorable population trends, have to find other ways to attract workers. We’ve done it which means the race is on to see who can find solutions that before. Wisconsin’s original European settlers came from work. Making Wisconsin irresistible to business should be Norway and Germany beginning in the 1840s looking one of those solutions. WMC is committed to finding others for the upward mobility that was denied them in the “old via our ambitious new initiative, The Future Wisconsin country.” In the early 1900s, Wisconsin attracted thousands Project, designed to create a statewide 20-year strategic of African Americans to move from the Deep South to economic plan (see page 8). BV Beloit, Milwaukee and Racine to work in factories. But how do we encourage our youth, especially the best educated and most skilled, to stay in Wisconsin in 2014 and beyond? How do we encourage people to raise their families here? And how do we encourage people to move here from other states and countries, notwithstanding the need for Follow Kurt on Twitter @Kurt_R_Bauer 2 IT’S ABOUTAnchor Bank ad LISTENING BECAUSE YOU HAVE IDEAS, PLANS AND GOALS FOR YOUR BUSINESS. You never stop thinking about your business. Neither do we. Our Commercial bankers are always at-the-ready with Commercial Real Estate and Commercial Banking expertise and support tools to keep your business on track. Plus, our Commercial bankers are based where your business is—right here in Wisconsin—and have been for more than 95 years. Success begins with a conversation. How can we help your business? let’s tALK. CALL 608-252-8755. EQUAL HOUSING 2014 AnchorBank, fsb. AnchorBank is a service mark of Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. LENDER Commercial-8.5x11.indd 2 4/11/14 4:59 PM WORKER'S COMPENSATION Chris Reader WMC Director of Health & Human Resources Policy Moving Forward on Worker’s Compensation Reform he Wisconsin Manufacturers’ process, but instead of being an easy, quiet as hospitals, play in our local communities Association was founded on January bill for lawmakers to pass, the bill this year getting injured workers back to work, 18,T 1911 by a group of business leaders became one of the most lobbied bills of keeping our families healthy and improving in Milwaukee, led by F. J. Sensenbrenner, the session. Organizations of all stripes the overall character of our state. We also to ensure that the voice of employers was lined up for and against it – a total of 57 continue to hear from other employers, heard by state lawmakers. The association groups registered lobbying activities with however, that the high cost currently later merged with the State Chamber of the Government Accountability Board. associated with worker’s compensation puts Commerce and the Wisconsin Council Because of that pressure, the bill ended up our state at a competitive disadvantage for of Safety and moved to Madison. This not moving forward – the first time since job creation. We believe there is a place entity is now what you know as Wisconsin World War II that a law wasn’t passed where the entire business community, Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC).