Spring is here, although the weather sometimes reminds us not to yell that out too loud just yet. Spring is often looked upon as a time for new beginnings and at Forward Wisconsin, we believe that as well with many exciting marketing initiatives coming up this spring and summer. Before we move full steam ahead with May and June events like our Chicago area Marketing Mission and the National Plastics Exposition, I did want to take a moment to thank you for your tremendous support over the past several months.

As you may know, spring also brings an end to the legislative session and the proposal to increase state funding for Forward Wisconsin never got to a vote in the Legislature. While we are disappointed that the measure stalled, we are very enthused about all the momentum generated and we are already gearing up to continue our efforts to increase funding for Forward Wisconsin in the next biennial budget period.

We asked for your help and frankly, we were somewhat overwhelmed - in a good way - and also a bit surprised by how much support we received. Economic development groups, our investors, several associations, local government officials, business executives and many legislators pitched in to work with us and on our behalf. We found out that we have a lot of friends, and we made several new friends as we learned to better navigate the legislative process.

The proposed legislation gave Forward Wisconsin the opportunity to tell our story to many people who were unfamiliar with our organization and mission. It provided a chance for us to spread the message of why it is important to not only invest in great things in Wisconsin but to then tell folks about them as well. At the end of the day, we are very optimistic about the future and again, very appreciative of everyone that supported us. Forward Wisconsin!!

Thank you!

Wisconsin isn't the most populous state in the Midwest but you wouldn't know it based on the number of Wisconsin companies that had representatives at BIO 2006 in Chicago this past month. Wisconsin had the second highest number of representatives among Midwest states at the world's largest biotechnology conference, ranking behind only the host state of Illinois. Wisconsin boasted a contingent of over 300 representatives at BIO 2006 from over 100 different organizations.

Governor Doyle, Lt. Governor Lawton, stem cell superstars Dr. James Thomson and Dr. Gabriela Cezar, Commerce Secretary Mary Burke, Revenue Secretary Michael Morgan, Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen and countless others attended BIO 2006 on April 10-12 to generate excitement about Wisconsin's biotech industry and promote our state for biotech development. Clearly, something is brewing in Wisconsin's biotech industry when its annual economic impact in the state surpasses that of the beer industry and there are 50 Wisconsin sponsoring groups for a marketing and outreach effort at a biotech conference.

The Wisconsin contingent illustrated the diversity of companies and organizations within the state, both in specialty and geography. Marshfield Clinic in central Wisconsin was strongly represented, as was UW- Madison, and the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Start-up companies to mature companies and genomics firms to medical technology to biopharm to ag-biotech businesses made their presence known. It was definitely an impressive showing of what Wisconsin offers to growing biotech companies and potential investors.

The biotech marketing effort Forward Wisconsin modestly hatched, by calling together a small advisory group in the fall of 1999, has grown exponentially. Those initial meetings led to having about 10 Wisconsin representatives staff two exhibit booths (Forward Wisconsin and UW-Madison) positioned back-to-back at BIO 2000 in Boston. Coincidentally, BIO 2007 will be in the city where Wisconsin's first coordinated biotech marketing effort at the BIO shows began. Boston will host BIO 2007 on May 6-9, 2007. We are grateful of everyone's support and we are thankful to all that were involved in BIO 2006. We look forward to an even brighter future for Wisconsin's biotechnology industry.

Governor Doyle (left) speaks in the Discovery Theater area of the Wisconsin pavilion at BIO 2006 in Chicago on the afternoon of Monday, April 10th. Other speakers on the agenda included Dr. James Thomson, Dr. Gabriela Cezar, Commerce Secretary Mary Burke and University Research Park Director Mark Bugher. Earlier that morning, Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen, Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton, Revenue Secretary Michael Morgan and Commerce Secretary Mary Burke (left to right) officially opened the Wisconsin pavilion with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Much ado is made in the media and a buzz is created throughout a community when a brand new employer is attracted, opens a facility and creates jobs. People tend to get excited when a new business comes to town but the reality is that 80 percent or more of job creation in most communities comes from companies and organizations already located in a community. Business and investment attraction - the area of economic development Forward Wisconsin works in - is a small piece of an overall economic development program.

If most job growth comes from current employers in your community, the question becomes: "How does a community work with those firms to retain them and to ultimately assist them expand and create more jobs?" The Wisconsin Economic Development Association (WEDA) Spring Conference to be held later this week seeks to provide the answer.

The WEDA Spring Conference is titled "Addressing Business Needs Through An Active Retention and Expansion Program" and will take place May 3-5 in Sheboygan. Commerce Secretary Mary Burke, Edward Sitar, ComEd Economic Development Manager and Sandy Baruah, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development will highlight the agenda. The program will also feature several case studies on business retention strategies.

When you've spent nearly 19 years in Forward Wisconsin's Milwaukee area office, like Jan Alf has, you can't help but have made hundreds of trips to Chicago meeting with prospects and coordinating tradeshows, marketing missions and special events. Even in that context, though, 2006 is a bit of an anomaly as Forward Wisconsin has a trifecta of major events in Chicago - one each month from April through June.

April included BIO 2006, May is the month for our annual Chicago area Marketing Mission and June features the National Plastics Exposition. Both BIO 2006 and the National Plastics Exposition are held at the McCormick Place Convention Center - another place Jan has visited MORE than a few times.

The Chicago area marketing mission includes direct mail from Governor Doyle to about 3000 CEOs, telemarketing follow-up to the CEOs and the securing of face-to-face appointments. Wisconsin economic development officials help Forward Wisconsin conduct the meetings with the goal of encouraging businesses to expand to Wisconsin. Stay tuned for a report on our results!