By Tracy Will
For WisBusiness.com
MADISON — In its report on the assets and challenges for Wisconsin’s eight-county capital region, the “Thrive” regional development collaborative Tuesday said the region compares favorably with other peer regions across the United States.
Economist Terry Ludeman, the study coordinator, told the members of Thrive’s Collaboration Committee that, “the capital region has no peer.” It topped the performance of its peer regions in establishing new businesses, and came in second in employment growth.
All is not perfect in south central Wisconsin, Ludeman cautioned, but he said, “we are extremely strong in the manufacturing sector,” and the region lost fewer manufacturing jobs since 2000 compared to other peer regions, using figures obtained by the U.S. Census.
Areas of concern included lack of ethnic and racial diversity, increasing numbers of children on poverty and low K-12 enrollment. The low number of K-12 enrollment means a lack of people are available to perform entry-level jobs.
A former economist for Wisconsin state government, Ludeman said the region has a high ratio of local governments to population.
“It is a double-edged sword,” he said. “One of the things that’s nice in Wisconsin is that we cluster around small communities. It makes access to government easy. It also makes it more expensive.”
The Thrive region includes Sauk, Columbia, Dodge, Iowa, Dane, Jefferson, Green and Rock counties.
Ludeman explained the selection of other peer regions used to compare against the Madison capital region. Richmond, Va.; Columbia, S.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Lincoln, Neb. and Salem, Ore., were chosen to compare to Madison based on their status as state capitals with major public universities, with gross annual products ranging from $10 billion to $75.6 billion.
Ranked third among peers at $36,348 average salary/job, Ludeman said that other areas such as Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va., had higher wages per job, and were more productive.
“Productivity is not a measure of effort, how hard we work or whether we show up for work on time. It is related to our commodity/product mix: We do not make enough value-added products from the commodities,” Ludeman said.
Productivity is defined as the amount produced per dollar of salary paid.
“So, when you see the Madison region at $1.71 productivity, compared to the $1.78 for Columbus, Ohio, the difference seems small,” Ludeman said. But, he said, when multiplied by more than half a million jobs, the wealth produced far exceeds that of the Madison capital region.
An audience member suggested that the report based on 2006 census data offered to establish a baseline that future studies might find useful for comparison.
Ludeman suggested other studies might also compare regions with similar types of industrial strengths in biological sciences. He also said that the numbers could change drastically in all of the peer regions, including Madison, based on the conditions in the present economic downturn.
In a separate presentation, Rob Gottschalk discussed the eight-county region in terms of its multiple levels of regional assets, from manufacturing clusters, educational institutions, and agricultural production to cultural events, health care availability, natural recreational activities and potential for green manufacturing growth.
The two presentations were followed by a compact signing by members of the “Collaboration Council,” including Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Sun Prairie Mayor Joe Chase, Wisconsin Commerce Secretary Richard Leinenkugel, UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin, Wisconsin Technology Council President Tom Still and the Council’s 50 other regional business, governmental and financial members.
Supporting documents:
* Thrive study: “The State of the Madison Region”
* Integrated resource analysis by Vanderwalle and Associates
