Gov.-elect Scott Walker praised a series of economic development proposals during a briefing in Madison, adding he hopes to provide even bolder initiatives during his first months in office.
“This is a fresh, unique opportunity to be aggressive with this,” Walker told participants in the 2010 Wisconsin Economic Summit Series. The group presented its proposal, titled “Be Bold: The Wisconsin Prosperity Strategy,” to the governor-elect at the Madison Club on Monday.
Walker particularly praised the group’s proposals for state economic development efforts, saying they echo his goals of reforming the Commerce Department into a public-private organization focused exclusively on job creation.
He also pledged to be more involved in creating venture capital for start-up businesses, saying past administrations of both parties have chased big companies, often at the expense of existing small businesses in Wisconsin.
But Walker said following the briefing that while he supports the group’s proposal to create a new state venture capital fund, he’s exploring alternatives to bonding in order to raise that funding.
“Obviously, we have concerns about the level of bonding currently in state government,” Walker told reporters. “But the idea of having an aggressive fund that can match with private venture funds … is certainly something we want to do.”
After his speech to the group, Walker spoke more about his plans to overhaul the Commerce Department.
Walker has frequently said he plans to revamp the agency once in office, promising to make the changes part of his emergency session on jobs early next year. He has also hinted that he wants to follow Indiana’s model, which utilizes a public-private partnership.
“Indiana has an Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Ohio has something similar in terms of their investment fund,” Walker said. “For us, we’re very interested in looking at a public-private partnership that still has the state having a direct role, a supportive role in promoting economic development, but not necessarily doing that all through a state agency.”
Former Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Wisconsin CEO Tom Hefty, one of the Be Bold report’s co-authors, told Walker the group proposed an initial venture capital fund of $1 billion geared toward the state’s small businesses.
“It seems like a bold, big number, but over five, 10 years, it’s not that large,” Hefty said. He also detailed ideas for overhauling the Commerce Department, creating a “lean government commission” to increase state government efficiency and creating an independent report card to evaluate the state’s progress.
Another report co-author, Serigraph CEO John Torinus, said the recent economic downturn highlighted decades of Wisconsin’s downward trends in job creation, wages and share of the national GDP.
“This is a deep-seated, long term insidious crisis,” Torinus said. He said the state should focus on creating an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” – in part utilizing industry clusters and the UW System — toward a goal of creating 500 new, high-growth companies in the state by 2020.
– By Andy Szal
WisBusiness.com
