By Brian E. Clark
RISING
Green Bay-area economy
If Saturday’s NFL playoff game against Seattle this past weekend was
any indication, the coming contest with the New York Giants this Sunday
should pump an estimated $4 million into the Green Bay economy — and
that does not include money spent for tickets and inside Lambeau Field
and the atrium.
Brad Toll, president and chief executive officer of Packer Country
Visitor and Convention Bureau, said many people come into the area but
don’t have tickets because they “just want to be here, so the spending
will most likely be more than it would be for a regular season game.”
The latest survey on the economic impact of a home Green Bay Packers
game, done in 2000 for Packer Country and the Green Bay Area Chamber of
Commerce by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CFL International, said playoff
games added $3.9 million to the local economy.
MIXED
Minimum wage hike
A proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.25 an
hour and increase it annually at a rate based on inflation passed the
Democratic-controlled state Senate today by a vote of 19 to 13. The
measure is backed by Gov Jim Doyle.
It now goes to the Assembly, controlled by Republicans, where it faces
tougher sledding. The plan is backed by labor organizations, including
the state teachers’ union and the AFL-CIO. But is opposed by Wisconsin
Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business group.
By contrast, a Doyle-backed proposal to stimulate business – including
a capital gains tax cut – faces an easier path in the Assembly. But
Senate leader Russ Decker, (D-Weston), who is pushing the minimum wage
hike, has not taken a position on Doyle’s plan.
FALLING
Milwaukee
The Brew City took it on the chops last week when several area CEOs
blasted Milwaukee as a lousy place to do business. The group was part
of a panel discussion on “Global Wooing” hosted by Public Policy Forum.
The executives – including the heads of Robert W. Baird, Briggs &
Stratton and Oilgear – said the city’s public education system is
broken, has an anti-business attitude, high taxes, has poor leadership,
wasteful government spending and doesn’t do enough to attract and keep
business.
They also said the city doesn’t know how to market itself.
Mayor Tom Barrett, writing in a Small Business Times blog, acknowledged
Milwaukee’s challenges, but downplayed the CEOs’ criticism of Milwaukee
and said the city is moving forward. He cited a number of advancements
and argued that the city has successfully retained and attracted
companies such as Manpower, Direct Supply and DRS.
Still, observers say the comments can’t have helped his
administration’s efforts to convince Miller Brewing Co. and Molson
Coors Brewing Co. execs to put their combined headquarters in Milwaukee
and not Denver.
