UpFront: Biz panel sees mixed 2016

Three state business leaders see reasons to be both bearish and bullish in their 2016 economic outlooks.

Austin Ramirez of Husco International told “UpFront with Mike Gousha” on Jan. 3 he believes a lack of significant growth in emerging markets during 2015 could hinder growth in the U.S. economy.

“It’s going to be a tough year for all businesses. It’s easy to underestimate how interconnected our economies are.” Ramirez said on the program, produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.

Ramirez was joined on the panel by Aaron Olver of University Research Park, and Mary Ellen Stanek of Robert W. Baird and Co.

While Stanek predicted modest growth in 2016, she agreed the U.S. economy could face headwinds because of international trends. But she said development in downtown Milwaukee could have a catalytic effect on the southeastern Wisconsin region.

Olver, a former state Commerce secretary, offered an optimistic view of the state economy, saying “we’ve seen almost every sector rebound” since the last recession. He said the research cluster surrounding the UW-Madison is particularly strong, and said most Research Park tenants are looking to expand.

“Knowledge and innovation, across many different types of sectors and fields, is really driving job growth,” Olver said.

But Ramirez said “big educational inequalities at the K-­12 level” could negatively impact an otherwise strong manufacturing sector. Stanek and Olver agreed with Ramirez’s assertion that the state university system provides capable workers, and all of the panelists highlighted the important role of education in developing the state’s workforce.

Stanek said university partnerships with businesses in the state offer financial support for schools while developing pools of talent for employers. She said colleges and universities in the state play a role in making Wisconsin attractive to young professionals.

“The private sector has stepped in and been quite innovative in trying to help pull through and co-­develop programs… looking at those innovative solutions to be able to capture and retain our talented young folks,” Stanek said.

She said making urban areas “attractive and dynamic” also improves talent retention. Ramirez agreed, calling Milwaukee’s current assets and planned improvements “terrific.”

“We’re a little bit too humble about the assets our city has; we need to talk about that a little more,” Ramirez said. “Just having that little bit of swagger in our step helps with that younger generation and attracting people to the city.”

Olver said Madison is similarly too reticent in celebrating positive aspects of the city, adding UW­-Madison creates a spillover effect of business and job creation around the state. He said encouraging entrepreneurialism among young people is a “great economic development strategy.”

“We are an older population and a slow growing population, so we really need to attract some of these young workers and encourage them to start companies, to support them when they’re starting companies,” Olver said.

Stanek said the state is making progress on growing entrepreneurship by improving access to capital, early customer pipelines, and talent acquisition strategies, as well as moving towards a culture where business risk­-taking is encouraged.

“Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that their first go at it wasn’t necessarily the one that was most successful,” Stanek said.