WED AM News: Madison must ramp up new home production, infrastructure to match expected growth; Wisconsin Forward Agriculture proposal advances in NSF program

November 6, 2024

— The Madison area will need to ramp up efforts to add new housing and expand transportation infrastructure over the coming decades, as the region is projected to exceed 1 million people by 2050.

That’s according to Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. In an interview this week, he said the region is expected to add about 300,000 over the next 25 years, adding to its existing population of nearly 700,000.

“That is expansive growth,” Brandon told WisBusiness.com. “Particularly in a state where, since the pandemic, Madison is growing five times the state average and it’s two and a half times the next county.”

While the region’s growth trajectory is clear, new home construction over the past decade is failing to keep up with projections, Brandon said. The area is currently building about 4% of its existing housing stock each year — an “enviable growth pattern,” he notes, but nowhere near what’s needed in the coming years.

Between 2006 and 2022, Madison underproduced housing to the tune of 13,000 units, according to figures shared by the chamber.

“All of the new people, largely young people, 18 to 26-year-olds that we need to house, and you’re starting at a 13,000 unit deficit, and you’re building a couple thousand new units each year … We’re still not going to close the gap,” Brandon said. “We need to begin by building our way out of the deficit.”

At the same time, rising home prices are outpacing wage growth, driving more residents into rental properties. Brandon warns Madison “risks becoming unaffordable” for the average worker in the near future, arguing “that’s something we’ve got to move fast on.”

Meanwhile, Brandon says Madison will need to “lean into bus rapid transit” as one solution for expected traffic challenges as tens of thousands of additional vehicles will be using local infrastructure. But he says “a lot more work” will need to be done on this issue, pointing to other cities whose recent history could provide a roadmap for navigating Madison’s future.

“I think Austin and Nashville are perfect examples … they’re a few decades ahead of us and they’ve gone through their explosive growth, but one of the challenges they both have is they never got a handle on their transportation infrastructure … not waiting for these things to happen to us, but instead getting ahead of them and to drive them to our benefit,” he said.

The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce last month held its annual dinner event, highlighting these and other challenges, as well as opportunities presented by further innovation in the technology sector. Brandon expects more tech companies to flock to the area while existing businesses continue to grow, putting further emphasis on tech-related jobs and skills.

Behind Seattle and the Bay Area, Madison is consistently ranked No. 3 in the country for the concentration of tech jobs, he said.

“No city in the Midwest is growing as fast as we are; we’re now the 15th largest city in the Midwest, and the type of jobs that are moving here and developing here are things that you normally see on the coasts,” Brandon said.

He also highlighted a number of talent-related projects happening in Madison. These include:

BeMadison.com, a talent recruitment website that promotes the region and leverages virtual reality technology to give anyone in the world the experience of visiting Madison. The site also includes recruitment resources available to chamber members at a certain level.
The Make Madison website, a multicultural talent recruitment project that puts a spotlight on the region’s diversity and related success stories.
A promotional video that companies can embed on their websites, which also gathers data to help the chamber track who’s being exposed to this message.
The Next Normal community-wide business survey, aimed at understanding the future of work, real estate and challenges local companies are facing. Responses have been gathered and results are being released next week.

While the chamber’s efforts are centered around south central Wisconsin, Brandon says the opportunity for nearby communities and others in the state are substantial. He argues what works in Madison can work in Milwaukee, or Appleton, or Eau Claire.

“Madison’s economy thriving means that the Wisconsin economy will thrive … We don’t see this as a zero-sum game,” he said. “We see that everything that we have learned over the last decade can and should take hold throughout Wisconsin.”

— A Wisconsin-based project focused on “climate-resilient” agriculture has been advanced for the next phase of a National Science Foundation program.

The Wisconsin Technology Council yesterday announced the “Wisconsin Forward Agriculture” project has been invited by the NSF to submit a full proposal by February 2025 for the Regional Innovation Engines program. It previously got a $1 million planning grant to develop its plan, which also has elements focused on biorenewables and the “circular bioeconomy.”

Each of the NSF engine projects could eventually get up to $160 million in funding over a 10-year period to execute their plans.

This coalition is led by the WiSys Technology Foundation, which provides IP protection, technology transfer and other services for certain Universities of Wisconsin campuses. It includes a number of other partners, including the Tech Council.

The Regional Innovation Engines program aims to drive economic growth in areas that “have not fully participated in the technology boom” of recent decades, with a focus on critical technologies and industries. It was authorized under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

The state’s ag-focused project is one of 71 across the country to progress to the next stage of the federal program. It’s the only one in Wisconsin to be invited to submit a full application, while other ag projects moving forward are located in Maryland, Arkansas, California and Georgia.

WiSys President Arjun Sanga touts the “fantastic coalition” and competitive proposal that made it through this round of the NSF program, which had close to 300 letters of intent. In an interview yesterday, he said Wisconsin has the potential to be a global leader in resilient agricultural practices as the growing global population puts pressure on food systems around the world and the environment.

“How are we thinking about, as we create new technologies to solve these problems, that we’re not only thinking about advancing and creating new technologies, but making sure that those technologies will either be neutral or help in terms of making sure that our water is clean, and our soil is preserved,” he said.

He noted the coalition has secured close to $40 million in commitments from partners, calling it “a really strong showing from Wisconsin” that indicates the state’s ability to execute on its proposed plan.

Wisconsin’s coalition aims to support healthy farm ecosystems as well as sustainable resource management, and its project includes efforts around the workforce, sustainability tech startups and products, attracting more investment capital, fostering relevant skills among underserved populations and more.

See the release and more project details.

— Wisconsin’s grain corn harvest is well ahead of both last year’s pace and the five-year average as dry conditions enabled more field activities.

Corn for grain was 81% harvested as of Nov. 3, which is 19 days ahead of last year and 20 days ahead of the five-year average, according to the latest USDA crop report. The agency’s National Agricultural Statistics Service says dry weather early last week “allowed for good progress” on harvesting crops, followed by “widespread precipitation” including snowfall in some parts of the state.

“This delayed harvest, but improved soil moisture and winter wheat conditions … Other field activities included spreading manure and fall tillage as conditions allowed,” report authors wrote.

Meanwhile, 82% of the winter wheat crop had emerged — three days ahead of last year and five days ahead of the average. The crop’s condition was rated 72% “good to excellent,” an improvement of 6 percentage points from the previous week.

See the release.

— Versiti’s Ohio location has acquired the Solvita Blood Center, expanding the Milwaukee-based blood health organization’s footprint in the state.

The acquisition, which took effect yesterday, was announced this week by the Versiti Blood Center of Ohio. Versiti has a presence in Dayton and 18 neighboring counties, and has been providing more than 60,000 blood products each year for patients at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center since 2019.

The Solvita Blood Center was formerly called the Community Blood Center, and has been operating in Ohio since 1964, according to the announcement. Versiti says it will carry on the center’s mission to provide “lifesaving products” for the community.

“The critical need for a steady and reliable blood supply for area hospitals, health care partners, and patients is at the forefront of our non-profit mission,” Versiti President and CEO Chris Miskel said in a statement, adding “we are committed to integrating all existing Solvita Blood Center employees into the new organization.”

Versiti, which now has more than 2,400 employees, also has blood centers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

See more in the release and see an earlier story on Versiti expanding in Wisconsin.

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