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BIO 2007, the
world's largest biotechnology industry
gathering, was a great success for the State of
Wisconsin. The 1600-square-foot Wisconsin pavilion
had consistent traffic throughout the show and the
Wisconsin reception provided further opportunity to
make business connections. One highlight from the
May 2007 Boston conference was the participation of
former Ambassador to Norway Tom Loftus and
Governor Jim Doyle (pictured left).
For those of you that did not attend BIO 2007, you can
get a better feel for the Wisconsin pavilion and the
Wisconsin reception by viewing our "A Look Back at
Beantown" slide show (view by clicking on the link
below). While seeing the photos will give you a taste
of what happens at BIO, attendees will tell you that that
you have to be there to truly see the competitive nature
of the show. We thank everyone that participated in
Wisconsin's marketing effort at BIO 2007.
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LocationOne
Information System (LOIS), the online
searchable economic development database utilized
by the State of Wisconsin, continues to grow in
national reach. Fifteen states, including eight in the
Midwest, now house their buildings, sites
and community data in the LOIS platform. Currently,
over 6,500 communities and more than 25,000
available properties throughout a 15-state area are
represented in LOIS.
LOIS is continually adding new features and
improvements. For example, upcoming changes
include integrating a Google Earth mapping feature to
the Advanced Search option and adding an Import
(XML) component that will automate the sites and
buildings upload feature through a new web service.
The Wisconsin Department of Commerce and
Forward Wisconsin host links to the Wisconsin LOIS
database. The database currently contains 1,150
sites and 2,800 buildings with statistics on about 800
Wisconsin communities.
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Milwaukee 7, a seven-county regional economic
development collaboration, is going to find out
what "others" think of the southeast part of the state.
The group is assembling a $20,000 survey that will be
sent to corporate executives throughout the U.S. this
September. Former Forward Wisconsin President
and current
Spirit of Milwaukee head Dean Amhaus is
playing a key role in the effort.
Amhaus believes its vital to find out what the
Milwaukee region's image is outside the state and
plans to have the survey ask questions like: "Suppose
your employer told you that you were relocated to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In terms of your first reaction,
what if anything would excite you? What if anything
would concern you?"
It has been five years since any type of national
opinion was gathered about Milwaukee. That survey,
which was done prior to the formation of the
Milwaukee 7, showed some national interest but the
comments were more general than business-related.
While Forward Wisconsin President, Dean Amhaus
initiated a similar survey on a state-level that was
conducted by UW-Madison Professor Jon Udell. The
survey was titled: "A Study of the Variables
Determining Quality of Business Life and How
Business Executives from Other States Perceive
Wisconsin." The survey results were compiled into a
47-page report that was released in October 2001.
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One of our neighbor states to the west - Iowa - has
had a highly-organized and successful program for
many years aimed at what they term "human resource
recruitment". The State of Iowa continues to face
challenges in keeping its best and brightest talent
within its borders but they have an ongoing effort via a
collaboration called the Iowa Careers Consortium to
attract workers back to the state. Kay Snyder, the
communications director for this effort, recently gave a
presentation on the program at the summer Mid-
America Economic Development Council.
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Our three featured partners for the month are the
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC),
Wisconsin Technology Council, and WOW
Logistics. WMC is
a business association working to advance policies
that are in the public interest of the state and nation.
Currently, the association has nearly 4,000 members
that include both large and small manufacturers,
service companies, local chambers of commerce and
specialized trade associations.
The
Wisconsin Technology Council is the science and
technology advisor to the Governor and the
Legislature. It provides policy guidance to public
officials and institutions; serves an important in-state
technology networking role through the Wisconsin
Innovation Network (WIN); and, works as an economic
catalyst through events and programs. WOW is a
leading global logistics provider with over 6.7 million
square feet of ambient, refrigerated and freezer space
in 25 distribution centers used for public, contract and
lease warehousing. The firm services over 300
customers in 50 different industries in their
multi-temperature facilities. We appreciate their
support and the support of all our partners!
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Thank you for your ongoing support.
 Jan Alf, Director
Forward Wisconsin
Email:
jalf@execpc.com
Phone:
262.691.7873
Website:
http://www.forwardwi.com
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