— An executive with Milwaukee Tool says about 750,000 people in Wisconsin are impacted by “benefits cliff-related issues,” arguing this is holding back the state’s workforce.
Graham Anderson, senior manager of marketing for the Milwaukee-based manufacturer, gave an overview of this topic yesterday during a summit hosted by Competitive Wisconsin in Eau Claire.
“Essentially when an individual begins making more money, sometimes it can be a very small amount of money, they lose all of their benefits at once,” he said. “What that represents is … once they take a promotion, once they take a higher paying job, they take a pay increase, they then have to pull back from that opportunity.”
He noted this issue affects rural parts of the state more than urban areas, based on related research conducted by UW-Madison’s Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs. Programs with the largest benefits cliff impact were the Badger Care health coverage program for low-income residents and the child care program Wisconsin Shares, he said.
“We are now at a point today that as an employment manufacturing company we are screaming for talent,” he said. “This is a huge issue for us.”
But it’s not only affecting the manufacturing industry, he added, highlighting federal data that illustrates the lost earnings potential for health care workers.
“Compared to a [certified nursing assistant] to a registered nurse, it’s almost $300,000 in realized lifetime earnings that individual is foregoing by not taking credentialed attainment or personal training and continuing up the career pathway,” he said.
His presentation touched on some policy suggestions aimed at reducing the benefits cliff in the state, such as implementing a transition year for Wisconsin Shares during which households could remain eligible for benefits and exempt from co-pay increases for a 12-month period.
See more from yesterday’s event: https://wiseye.org/2022/08/11/be-bold-wisconsin-tomorrow-action-accelerator-workforce-recruitment-attraction-and-retention-summit/
— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with returning guest Hilary Stohs-Krause, co-owner and vice president at Ten Forward Consulting in Madison and board member for Forward Festival.
She discusses this year’s technology and entrepreneurship festival being held next week in Madison, highlighting events of interest for startups, tech enthusiasts and others. The five-day event series includes pitch competitions, panel discussions, an inclusivity conference, networking socials and more.
“Depending on what your interests are, and what you’re looking to glean from the festival, there’s so many different options to really pick and choose and create your own adventure,” she said.
Listen to the podcast here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2022/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-hilary-stohs-krause-board-member-for-forward-festival-2/
See the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/podcast/
— Home sales in metro Milwaukee were down 17.2 percent over the year in July, according to the latest report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
For the four-county area including Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties, 2,040 homes were sold last month, compared to 2,465 in July 2021.
The group says that “appears to be a big drop” but includes some caveats for perspective. For one, 2021 had the highest levels of home sales of any year on record. And year-to-date sales through July 2022 were 6.3 percent lower than for the same period last year.
When compared to the first seven months of 2020, year-to-date sales for this year were up 6 percent, the report shows. At the same time, GMAR notes that many July sales were negotiated in June when interest rates were beginning to rise, which “undoubtedly scared a few buyers away.”
Despite the year-over-year drop seen last month, the group says the real estate market is “still operating at a remarkably high level.” Still, the report also highlights an “unusual” decline in listings across the metro area and greater southeast region.
In the four-county region, the number of new listings in July was 19.6 percent lower than in July 2021, wth 2,366 compared to 2,942. As a result, average prices were 10.2 percent higher over the year, the report shows.
Report authors say a lack of construction on single-family homes and condominiums coupled with overproduction of apartments is a “systemic problem” in the market.
“That bottleneck combined with the demographic surge of Millennial and GenZ buyers and historically good interest rates have all contributed to a historically tight market,” they wrote.
Download the full report here: https://www.gmar.com/resources/research-statistics/2022-housing-statistics
— The projected cost for nine major highway projects is $62.3 million more than expected in February due largely to inflation, according to the Department of Transportation.
Of the 1.8 percent in higher costs, $3.3 million was locally requested and funded construction work added to the U.S. 51 project in Dane County, according to the report to the Transportation Projects Commission.
The other $59 million is due to higher costs for materials.
DOT Secretary Craig Thompson wrote in a letter to the commission the increases aren’t expected to delay scheduled work this fiscal year, but will likely “preclude advancement of work into the current fiscal year.”
The TPC, a 15-member commission, was created in 1983 to review major highway projects and make recommendations to the guv and Legislature on what work should be enumerated in the next two-year budget.
State law requires DOT to make recommendations to the TPC no later than Sept. 15 of each even-numbered year for projects to be enumerated in the upcoming budget. Thompson wrote the agency won’t have any recommendations this year, but expects to have some in the fall of 2024.
Read the report: https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/projects/6yr-hwy-impr/maj-hwy/status.pdf
— Gov. Tony Evers and his Minnesota counterpart Tim Walz have announced they are seeking $889.5 million in federal funds through the bipartisan infrastructure law to rebuild the bridge between Duluth, Minn., and Superior.
Built in 1961, the bridge connects the two cities over a tributary of Lake Superior. It serves more than 33,000 cars per day.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Evers notes the bridge is “also essential to the success of our nation’s shipping industry” as the Port of Duluth-Superior is the largest U.S. port on the Great Lakes.
“The port is also one of the largest marine gateways for U.S. trade with Canada, Wisconsin’s number-one trade partner,” he wrote.
The funding being requested would come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. If approved, the federal funds would make up “a substantial portion” of the project’s budget, the release shows. Design work on the project, including cost specifics, will begin “in the near future.”
See Evers’ letter: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WIGOV/2022/08/11/file_attachments/2241874/Blatnik%20Bridge%20LoS%208.2.22.pdf
See the release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/326e661
— Former Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, who resigned from the Legislature earlier this summer after deciding against seeking reelection, has joined the lobbying firm led by former GOP state Sen. Bob Welch.
The Welch Group announced yesterday Steineke is joining the firm as a partner and vice president of advocacy. He will focus on topics that include agriculture, manufacturing, economic development, health care and energy.
Steineke, first elected to the Assembly in 2010, was a real estate agent before joining the Legislature.
See the release:
— A startup based on research conducted at UW-Milwaukee is getting more than $250,000 in federal funding to develop a new anti-inflammatory drug.
Pantherics Inc. is now proceeding with the oral formulation stage for the pharmaceutical PI301 before moving onto human clinical studies. This drug was discovered by researchers in UWM’s Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery as well as others at Columbia University in New York.
According to a release from the Milwaukee-based company, it’s being developed to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as gastrointestinal disorders. And it has applications in dermatology as well.
Dr. Alexander Arnold, the company’s chief science officer, says PI301 could be used to control inflammation without the “adverse effects of steroids” and other common anti-inflammatory drugs.
“A key innovation is the development of PI301 for asthma, where a single oral drug could be used to control two disease hallmarks, lung inflammation and bronchospasm, without the use of common inhalers,” he said in the release.
The startup is getting a $255,841 Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Company President Dr. Douglas Stafford says this funding provides “ important scientific and commercial validation and support to advance our lead therapeutic candidate to first in human testing.”
See more on the company: https://www.wisbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Pantherics_SBIR-Press-Release_Aug-10-2022.pdf
— The Department of Health Services is now accepting applications for up to $30 million in grant funding for home and community-based service programs in the state.
These programs provide support for older adults or people with disabilities to help them live independently. According to the DHS release, grants will range from $25,000 to $2 million and can be used for a variety of purposes.
These can include: workforce training programs; helping people with intellectual, developmental or other disabilities find and keep jobs; boosting care efforts for people with dementia and autism; expanding telehealth and other technology applications; and more.
“These grants will allow us to support efforts proposed by providers and other partners who have innovative ideas to improve options for people across Wisconsin who rely on Medicaid-funded home and community based services,” DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake said in the release.
Funding for these grants come from the American Rescue Plan Act.
See more details in the DHS release: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/news/releases/081122.htm
— The USDA has announced about $1.6 million in grant funding is going to Lafayette County and the Burnett Medical Center for health-related projects.
The county is getting a $1 million Rural Development grant that will be used to buy equipment for a 75,000-square-foot critical access hospital being built in the city of Darlington. Located on a 36-acre parcel, the facility will house 24 beds, emergency and radiology departments, surgical facilities, an eye care clinic and more.
Meanwhile, the Burnett Medical Center in Burnett County is getting about $580,000 to implement an electronic records system for its own critical access hospital, clinic and skilled nursing facility. Funds will be used for purchasing and installing the system, labor, as well as software and hosting costs.
The funds were announced yesterday as part of a $74 million package supporting projects at 143 rural health organizations across 37 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.
See the full list of grant awards: https://www.rd.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ERHCG-Chart-08.11.22.pdf
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