— In a recent survey, MMAC found quarterly sales and profit expectations among Milwaukee businesses are relatively low while their employment outlook is “a bit more robust.”
That’s according to Bret Mayborne, economic research director for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.
“These results suggest slower local economic growth in the near-term and a possible recession in the year’s second half,” he said in a release.
The group’s latest online Business Outlook Survey included 82 Milwaukee-area companies that collectively employ more than 15,000 workers. Sixty percent of those businesses expect sales to rise in the second quarter compared to the prior year, while 19 percent predict sales to decline and 21 percent expect no change.
Businesses’ sales outlook has been slipping since the third quarter of 2021 and “is at the low end of optimism expressed for growth periods,” the release shows.
Meanwhile, 49 percent of surveyed businesses expect second quarter profits to rise over the year. That’s down from the 52 percent that expected higher profits in the first quarter of this year, and continues a trend of year-over-year profit outlook declines in six of the past seven quarterly surveys, the release shows. And 22 percent of respondents expect profits to decline in the second quarter while 29 percent expect profits to stay flat.
Despite those “tepid” expectations, Milwaukee businesses are relatively optimistic about adding jobs in the second quarter. Fifty percent of respondents expect to add jobs year-over-year and 14 percent expect job declines.
Still, job growth so far this year is “off to a slow start,” rising just 0.2 percent year-over-year in the first quarter. That’s compared to the 1.4 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of last year, according to MMAC.
See more results in the release:
See a recent story on national economic outlook: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/experts-agree-recession-likely-later-this-year/
— The number of high school juniors and seniors in state youth apprenticeship programs has hit a new record high with 8,357 participants.
That’s a 30 percent increase compared to the 2021-2022 school year, the state Department of Workforce Development says. The previous record from last year was 6,392 participants, according to a DWD release.
The most popular pathways for youth apprentices include: manufacturing, with 1,509 students; health science, with 1,393; agriculture, food and natural resources, 1,048; architecture and construction, 1,039; and marketing, 1,015.
“Youth apprentices truly are the next generation of our workforce, Wisconsin’s future nurses, construction workers, marketers, manufacturers, technology innovators, and more,” DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek said in the release.
The agency previously announced the state’s registered apprenticeship program achieved record participation in 2022 with 15,937 apprentices.
See the release: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/press/2023/230428-ya.htm
— The state’s professional licensing agency is adding 66 more business credentials to its online platform next month.
The Department of Safety and Professional Services announced Friday the application and renewal process for these licenses will be added to the LicensE platform by May 8. More than 70 health profession licenses have already been added to the site.
The latest round of licenses added cover a wide array of professions, from auctioneers and architects to private detectives and many others.
By year’s end, DSPS says all occupational licenses will be available through the platform.
See the release: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/dept-of-safety-and-professional-services-moving-more-license-applications-online/
— Four UW-Madison innovators and alumni were recognized with the Chancellor’s Entrepreneurial Achievement Award at a recent ceremony in Madison.
The award, first established in 2011, recognizes recipients whose entrepreneurial success has contributed to economic growth and social good, offers a positive example to university community members and inspires startup culture on campus.
Awardees include: Winslow Sargeant, CEO of early-stage supply chain company Purple Team Technologies and board chair for the International Council for Small Business; Wes Schroll and Tyler Kennedy, who lead the Madison-based rewards app startup Fetch; and Anne Smith, co-founder of the UW Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic at UW-Madison.
“This year, we celebrate how UW alumni, students and faculty shape the entrepreneurial ecosystem and drive the economy in our state and beyond,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in a statement.
See more on the award recipients here: https://news.wisc.edu/uw-entrepreneurial-awardees-model-innovation-shape-wisconsins-entrepreneurial-ecosystem/
See more at Madison Startups: https://www.madisonstartups.com/uw-names-2023-entrepreneurial-award-winners/
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Neuroscience Institute is creating a new program to treat concussions in veterans and first responders thanks to a $12.5 million donation.
And the Department of Health Services is recognizing 115 providers in the state for efforts to vaccinate children in Wisconsin with the agency’s annual “BigShot” awards.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
Sign up here: http://forms.gle/o8FtqTLviGJPja8C9
#TOP STORIES#
# The RNC gave Cleveland a needed boost. Here’s what Milwaukee can learn.
# Containers secured to shore after Wisconsin train derailment
# Milwaukee-area investment adviser ordered to repay $4 million
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– 2023 Wisconsin Soybean Yield Contest is officially launched
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=453&yr=2023
– Many farm programs are aimed at men. Not this Wisconsin conservation project.
# CONSTRUCTION
– MSOE unveils plans for redeveloping Homeland Security building
– Hoyt building on the way to open as Capital High School this fall
# ECONOMY
– Less than half of area businesses expect profit gains in Q2
# EDUCATION
– School Choice Wisconsin, Concordia University partner to address teacher shortage
# ENVIRONMENT
– Largest land conservation effort faces uncertain future as groups struggle with access to Stewardship funds
– Ron Johnson said climate change could be good for Wisconsin. Experts disagree.
# MANUFACTURING
– Rockwell’s win with Anheuser-Busch InBev’s EverGrain unit a highlight of sales growth
– Subsidiary of Urban Manufacturing will move into Pentair’s former Brookfield facility
# MEDIA
– PBS Wisconsin project shares stories of state’s Muslim community
# POLITICS
– GOP lawmakers set to strip out more than 500 items from Evers’ state budget plan
– Milwaukee leaders want local elected officials, not voter referendum, to decide sales tax increases
# REAL ESTATE
– MSOE to convert U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building into Kendall Breunig Center for the Built Environment
# TRANSPORTATION
– Derailed train cars removed from river in Wisconsin
– Cleanup underway following derailment that sent cars into flooded Mississippi River
– Milwaukee Hop streetcar route extends as Couture work gains momentum
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
UW-Stout: Research Day on May 2 to feature nearly 150 projects by almost 300 students
Dept. of Safety and Professional Services: Moving more license applications online
