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WisBusiness: Doyle pushes education at economic forum
8/24/2005

By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com

MIDDLETON – Wisconsin’s economy is back on track, but still faces challenges if it is hopes generate high-paying jobs for its residents, Gov. Jim Doyle said this morning at the start of a two-day “Building the New Wisconsin Economy” conference.

“I hope we will be able to look back 20 years from now and can say we transformed our economy to prepare for the future,” said Doyle, who spoke after UW President Kevin Reilly.

Doyle praised Reilly and other leaders of the Badger State’s education system for promoting economic growth and said Wisconsin’s schools are the backbone of future prosperity.

Doyle, who took office in January of 2003, said Wisconsin had created 170,000 new jobs during his tenure, heads the Midwest in new employment and is a leader in bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

Doyle praised decisions by GE to keep its national healthcare headquarters in Milwaukee and by Procter & Gamble to install a $250 paper machine in Green Bay.

“We want companies to do business in Wisconsin,” said Doyle, who noted that he would be in Janesville later Tuesday to celebrate the building of that city’s 16 millionth vehicle at its GM plant.

“We have changed our regulatory system to preserve the highest environmental standards, while reducing the bureaucratic burden in an effort to keep and attract more companies," he said.

Doyle also lauded new laws to promote investment in Wisconsin enterprises and efforts to help entrepreneurs turn their dreams into job-producing companies.

Doyle said it is his wish that every person who wants a job will be able to find employment in Wisconsin – and at a wage that is equal to the national average.

Wisconsin currently falls short of that average, but Doyle said the state is rapidly closing the gap.

The governor said economic development will continue to be a high priority for his administration.

“There is no social program better than having a good-paying job,” he said.

“But to have those jobs in the future, we must continually upgrade our manufacturing base, our schools and our agriculture,” he said.

To do this, he urged his audience to push for continued support for K-12, technical colleges and the UW system.

“There aren’t any governors in the United States who, if they were honest, wouldn’t be glad to trade their education system for ours,” he bragged.

“But in order to maintain and improve our economy, we must improve our schools,” he said. “To be honest, we don’t know what the jobs will be in 20 years, but if our schools are strong, we will be able to handle them.

“If there is a business that needs highly educated employees, we want them to look to Wisconsin,” said Doyle, who noted that he will declare September “Workforce Development Month.”

The “Building the New Wisconsin Economy” will run through Wednesday morning. The conference, which is sponsored by the UW and other public and private groups, is an offshoot of the Wisconsin Economic Summit.

Participants are discussing economic development techniques that are working in the state. They hope to build user-friendly “templates” that can be adopted by communities at various stages of the economic development process.

The forum is focusing on successful development examples in Sauk County, the 7 Rivers Region surrounding La Crosse and the Northeast Wisconsin Regional Economic Partnership in the Fox Valley.


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