THU AM News: Panel highlights differing views on AI disruption within state government; State officials applauding Meta’s $1B data center plans

November 13, 2025

— A panel discussion around AI highlighted differing views on the technology’s potential for workforce disruption in Wisconsin, with some in state government more optimistic than others.

Yesterday’s WisBusiness-WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon event was held in UW-Milwaukee’s Connected Systems Institute, which helps advance industrial technology applications with Microsoft’s help for manufacturers in the state. Panelists weighed in on how AI could affect future jobs in this sector, as well as how it’s already being used to solve business challenges.

When asked if people should fear losing their jobs due to AI, Department of Workforce Development Secretary Amy Pechacek said: “No. Absolutely not.”

“Humans have been flexible, have evolved with every industrial revolution,” she said. “Jobs have gotten better, more human-centric. Instead of crunching numbers, now we have Excel. Instead of doing taxing computer coding, now we have AI that will do that.”

She noted “there are still humans in the loop,” arguing their jobs are now more meaningful and interesting, and even pay better.

But Rep. Adam Neylon, vice chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economy, offered a more pessimistic outlook.

“There’s an economic principle known as creative destruction, and I think we’re going to go through that, where certain industries, certain jobs, will be destroyed,” the Pewaukee Republican said yesterday. “People will lose their jobs.”

While he expects new industries to crop up to replace those that get phased out, he said “there’s going to be a difficult transition period” between now and then.

“I think ultimately AI is going to be a tool to help people be more efficient in their job,” he said. “And I do think that it will lead to gains. But in the short term, there’s going to be layoffs.”

Still, both Pechacek and Neylon agreed a proactive approach is needed to ensure Wisconsin can handle the disruptions as well as opportunities stemming from AI.

Pechacek said the state has the potential to “bring everybody along” on its AI journey and avoid creating “another digital divide” that resulted from the earlier internet boom.

“There’s a seat at the table of prosperity for everybody, if we can uplift and create economic opportunity, train people for this new reality,” she said.

Meanwhile, Neylon argued the state shouldn’t attempt to protect industries that are “forced to adapt and change” due to AI, warning Wisconsin could be left behind.

“We will be passed up by other countries, other states, other people that are more adaptive, that aren’t trying to cling to the ways of the past, and are leaning into this creative destruction,” he said.

In response, Pechacek stressed the state government can help with that transition.

“I’m not saying protect outdated, antiquated jobs, I’m saying protect the people in those jobs by targeting them, upskilling them and helping them transition,” she said. “I don’t think, as a government, we need to just watch people suffer and let them languish, as prior industrial revolutions have allowed.”

Neylon — who was part of an AI task force assembled by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester — emphasized the government’s role in protecting consumers and voters from being exploited by AI applications while avoiding creating a confusing patchwork of regulation for businesses.

— The panel discussion also spotlighted RELY Contract Manufacturing in Menomonee Falls, which collaborated with the Connected Systems Institute on a new AI-based scheduling software.

Company President Katie Malnight-Meisinger said the application helps the business coordinate various complex manufacturing jobs, “so that we can get the product out the door in an efficient a way as possible while also increasing our bottom line as much as possible.”

The business handles secondary operations and value-added services to help its manufacturing clients meet the needs of their own customers, she explained. That includes building harnesses for large machinery, conducting third-party testing, providing fulfillment services and more.

The RELY team worked for more than eight weeks with partners at the institute’s AI Co-Innovation Lab, and developed a prototype version of the scheduling software that’s going to be integrated into the company’s operations.

Joe Hamann, executive director for the CSI at UW-Milwaukee, noted the central challenge being addressed with this AI application is common in the industry.

“Many manufacturers struggle with this,” he said yesterday. “I think what set RELY apart and gave them the ability to quickly identify the solution and implement it, is they have a lot of data. And their data is organized pretty darn well, which gave them an advantage.”

Malnight-Meisinger said this effort also helped the company cultivate internal expertise, as an employee working on the scheduling project is now applying what he learned to other areas of the business.

“What they’re doing is so unique, because it allows companies to enable individuals that may not have the educational background that traditionally would be getting these opportunities, to get this type of upskilling,” she said. “And now he’s developing his own AI platforms.”

— State officials are applauding Meta’s plans to spend more than $1 billion on a data center in Beaver Dam, which includes commitments to support energy infrastructure and address environmental concerns.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. yesterday announced the data center project from Meta, which operates major social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. It’s expected to create at least 1,000 skilled trades jobs during the peak construction phase and more than 100 ongoing jobs once it begins operating in 2027.

In a statement on the project, Gov. Tony Evers said the state “must stay one step ahead in harnessing AI technologies to remain a national and international leader in this work, and this announcement will help us continue to do just that.”

The 700,000-square-foot data center is being built on Wisconsin’s largest certified development site that’s been designated as such by WEDC, located within the Beaver Dam Commerce Park.

Meta says it will underwrite nearly $200 million in energy infrastructure investments needed for the data center, including utility substations, transmission lines and other upgrades. The company will also donate $15 million to Alliant Energy’s Hometown Care Energy Fund, which helps cover energy costs for low-income households, people with disabilities and others.

Becky Valcq, assistant vice president of regulatory and data center services for Madison-based Alliant Energy, says the Beaver Dam business park was “specifically intended to facilitate economic development opportunities” like the Meta data center.

“As the communities we serve grow, energy demand grows too,” she said in the release. “New and expanding businesses play a key role in helping to keep energy bills more affordable.”

Meanwhile, Meta also says it will restore all the water used by the data center to local watersheds. Because the project will use a dry cooling approach, it won’t need any water for cooling purposes once it’s up and running.

See the release.

— October home sales in the greater Milwaukee area rose 1.4% over the year as inventory levels have been “inching up at a healthy level” this year.

That’s according to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, which yesterday released its latest report covering last month. It shows 1,547 homes were sold in the metro area last month, compared to 1,525 in October 2024. On a year-to-date basis, home sales are 1.6% higher this year than at the same point last year.

But GMAR notes this increase is relatively minor when put in context, as sales for the same period of 2022 had reached 17,300 by this point in the year — 16.9% higher than the current level. That was the year interest rates jumped from the 3-4% range up to 6-7%, the report notes.

But at the same time, total inventory in the local market has been on the rise, increasing 2.9% in October and 4.3% year-to-date. Still, many of those homes on the market already have offers, GMAR notes, meaning buyers are “quickly absorbing” the additional listings being added.

Meanwhile, prices are still increasing. The average home price rose 9.7% over the year, reaching nearly $440,000 last month.

See more from the report.

— The Assembly State Affairs Committee has signed off 5-2 along party lines a bill to create a framework to tax, regulate and restrict the sale of hemp-derived THC products.

Still, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed uncertainty about how the bill could interact with a federal funding package making its way through Congress. The federal legislation would criminalize hemp-derived THC products.

Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk, R-Hubertus, said he likes AB 606, arguing it’s “the wild, wild west out there” when it comes to the products. But he noted he’s requested an analysis of the legal implications if the federal ban is enacted.

“So I will vote on this today, however reserve my vote on the floor; I may be a no depending on that answer,” Piwowarczyk said yesterday.

AB 606 would bar anyone under 21 from buying hemp-derived THC products, create a licensing structure administered by the Department of Revenue, create a new occupational tax, create new package labeling requirements and require such products be kept behind the counter, among other things. It would create a three-tier regulatory system similar to Wisconsin’s alcohol regulatory system, separating manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, said there needs to be more talks before moving forward with the bill, which she argued would put thousands of jobs in jeopardy. Sinicki said Dems are open to discussion.

“We are willing to sit down and talk with anybody to try to get this bill to a point where we can all support it, because as I said, it’s got to be regulated at some point,” Sinicki said.

The committee yesterday also voted unanimously to advance AB 601, which would allow online sports bets to be placed in Wisconsin if the transaction is routed through tribal servers. Current law only allows gaming in Wisconsin on tribal lands.

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