MJS: "Madison's economy chugging -While Milwaukee's is a caboose lagging behind"

Last week Avrum D. Lank of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote Madison's economy chugging - While Milwaukee's is a caboose lagging behind:

Madison's economy grew about three times faster than Milwaukee's in the recovery from the last recession...

The article is very accurate, at least the observations about Madison, including the comment from Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council in Madison, "most of the growth here has been on the private side."

Still, who ran editorial operations at the Wisconsin State Journal for many years, is a political moderate. He and I sparred on occasion, and we worked well too. More on that later.

With my nineteen years in the public sector and twenty-one in the private sector in Madison, let me make some observations:

• Madison played to its strengths; it did not try to lure outsiders. But if they came, great.
• We understood that it was necessary to leverage our existing assets, particularly the University of Wisconsin and state government.
• Planning included all the players: educational and health institutions, non profits and private sector employers, retired business people and politicians.
• Education was key; no matter what the level of employment ,we wanted the best trained and educated workforce. We spent out own money when state and county funds were inadequate. It was good for the workers and good for encouraging business expansion.
• At times we violated these rules but not too frequently.
• We created a culture that looked at another's success as a rising tide lifting all ships. There was no room for resentment at the success of others.
• We tackled crime when it rose. We wanted a safe city and we wanted a city that would encourage growth.
• We gave everyone credit; sometimes even when it was not due - better to share in the glory. After all, who does that offend?
• We knew our taxes were high, but tried to strike a balance. Taxes are not the determinative factor when successful business people decided to make capital investments. The first things they look at are the neighborhoods, the schools, and the environment. After all, this is where they will raise their children. And if they have no children, they are worried about the kids of their employees.
• We struck a balance with our neighbors. We never let anyone forget that the inner city pays a disproportionate share of maintaining the metropolitan infrastructure and human services. But we always kept talking, except when annexation was the only alternative.

We had political and business differences. Tom Still and I collaborated more often than we disagreed on issues like privatizing certain public functions (He was wrong, I was right.). Everyone was welcome at the table so long as they were not so disruptive as to halt all progress.

Update 10/4/07 @ 2:00pm. There are some very keen comments below. They reinforce my thoughts about the problem. Milwaukee has to play to Milwaukee's strengths, not Madison's. Research dollars at UW-M will help more than that institution, but will encourage private investment, if it is areas relevant to Milwaukee's economy. Biotech dollars @ UW-M are nice but not the goal. Funds for modernizing management and production in a technological manufacturing environment is what the doctor ordered. That kind of research enhances UW-M. The result will assist Milwaukee industry. Win-win.

Comments

[nonheroicvet]

Having a major university nd most of the state government payroll as well as proximity to most government contracting agencies in your back yard would be helpful to ones economic development, I would imagine. Not so simple in the real world though.

[Mike]

Looking at the LFB anaylsis of the UW-System, Madison enrolls 25% of the students while spending 50% of the budget. Milwaukee on the other hand enrolls 16% of the students, inluding the second higher percentage of minority students (behind Parkside), and spends 11% of the budget.

The most striking difference is in the research budget where Madison takes up 93% of the system budget as compared to 5% for Milwaukee.

How do we make this distribution more equitable? As you have said, the School of Public Health at UWM is a good start, but these research numbers are glaring.

[Rational Observer]

How do we make the distribution of RESEARCH DOLLARS more equitable? Mike, put down that crack pipe and think through what you are asking!

The research dollars are won via the competitive bidding process, across state lines. What the Madison campus attracts in federal and private research funding heads to Wisconsin because we have the researchers who can go head-to-head and toe-to-toe with their counterparts at MIT, Johns Hopkins, UC-Berkeley, etc. With all due respect, the people who have the ability to win these grants aren't working in Oshkosh, Platteville, or even Milwaukee!

Stop thinking of the Madison campus as something to plunder and start looking at it as the state's best hope for success in the new world economy! The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story makes this point quite well.

Another blogger, Jessica McBride, read the J-S story as insulting Milwaukee by observing (she claims) that people are smarter in Madison. Well, Jessica, duh! When you have the highest percentage of PhDs of any SMSA in the country, what's the surprise? Each year Madison West and Madison Memorial have more National Merit finalists than ALL of the public and private high schools in Milwaukee County COMBINED!

[Mike]

Rational Observer,

Relax, I wasn't suggesting we "plunder" UW-Madison. The key is how do we bring the academics who can compete to win those grants to the Milwaukee campus as well. Part of that is infrastructure, part of that is pay and tenure opportunities, and part of that is selling the high quality of life that an urban center like Milwaukee can bring.

Now I I don't think the MJS was calling Milwaukee stupid, but I do disagree with your statements dismissing Milwaukee citizens as being somehow dumber than Madison. The CEOs and workers at Manpower, Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, Harley, Miller, and the many other large and small private companies in Milwaukee are likely just as smart without Phd's.

Regardless off anyone's anti-Milwaukee or pro-Madison bias, it is crucial for the whole state that its largest city and cultural and business hub have a major university that can compete for research and operating dollars. There needs to be a discussion on how to make that happen. Not at the expense of UW-Madison, but for the benefit of Milwaukee.

Oh, and I don't smoke crack, but thanks : )

[Peter Gruett]

It's interesting that I haven't heard mention of the primary reason that UW - Madison is such a research powerhouse. State support is obviously important but UW's research dominance has a lot more to do with WARF (Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation). WARF has poured hundreds of millions of dollars in patent-revenue from university patents straight back into research that, in turn, generates more patents. It's one of the largest university research foundations in the country and, at 82, also one of the oldest.

WARF has spun-off WiSys for the rest of the UW System but, even with increased state support, it's going to take a while for UW - Milwaukee to get that snowball rolling.

Also . . . I think what Rational Observer was reacting to was the apparent(and commonly held) misconception that UW - Madison "takes up" a massive proportion of some finite research budget. The research budget is completely separate and almost entirely money that UW - Madison is bringing into the state. The state just needs provide the base salaries and the facilities, though WARF helps with a lot of that.

As for the state money: UW - Madison and UW - Milwaukee both get a portion of total state support based on the size of their student bodies and actually donate a portion of the higher tuition they charge back to the general system. The two large campuses (Milwaukee's in the same boat) don't sap the smaller ones, they subsidize them.

[Mike]

Peter,

Interesting comments on the WARF, I was not aware of that. To clarify, I wasn't try to jump on any anti-Madison bandwagon, it is just struck me given its size and location, that UWM was so far behind UW on research money. Chancellor Santiago discusses this frequently, and I think he is right that UWM needs to become a research leader, and like Paul added, in a way that plays to its strengths.

[Gina]

There are some basics to consider:

UW-Madison has the medical school. That's most of the grant money for the entire campus right there. Milwaukee ought to get a public health school, at least, and then see the grant money going to the campus -- and out to the city that needs it.

UW-Madison has almost three times the number of faculty that the Milwaukee campus does, although the Madison campus enrollment is nowhere near that much bigger (Madison has 42,000 students, Milwaukee has 30,000). Give Milwaukee as many faculty per student as Madison has, and its grant totals would go up a lot.

UW-Madison has the UW System administration -- which for half a century now has not funded the Milwaukee campus as it deserves. You really want to change things? Move the UW System offices to Milwaukee. See how fast the funding follows.

[Peter]

Milwaukee would most definitely benefit from having a major influx of state dollars as a public investment, and research is the most direct and accountable way to put that together. The city lacks for meaningful public investment. And certainly, a school of public health would be a worthy addition to the city and would really address some symptommatic problems. However, public health problems, along with crime and racism/segregation, in Milwaukee are just that - symptoms. They're symptoms of the lack of a quality economic environment there that provides good jobs for people in the lower third of the income spectrum.

The city would benefit from investment in research but along a different track that focuses on the root causes of the societal and economic problems. How about an advanced research facility focusing on renewable energy, specifically with the end goal of having Milwaukee being a renewable energy component manufacturing powerhouse? Create it as a partnership between MATC and UW-Milwaukee and locate it in the heart of the city (I hear Pabst City is open). The workers of Milwaukee have proven over the past century that they are among the best in the country in the manufacturing sector - they're trained, they're skilled, and they can be part of the asset base for locating new manfucaturing there. These kinds of jobs would underpin a more serious, sustainable economic growth that would bring great returns back to the city and the state.

There are other assets that Milwaukee and UWM have that could be leveraged through greater public investment via a research facility. UWM has one of the only comunity education programs in the nation. We could locate the greatest urban sociology and education research program in the country there. The list can go on. The important thing is that public investment is the key for Milwaukee. We can't leave it up to the private sector alone - they've proven that they're not willing to invest in the city, showing a lack of vision for the region and for the state.

[Gina]

Peter, have you looked at the UWM proposals for funds for planning its future, its satellite schools in engineering (as well as in public health)? Recommend you do so; they're ahead of you on much of this. (Other than that the public health school already is destined for across the street from the Pabst City site -- the site itself is not affordable for state funding -- because a health facility for the public needs to be near the most needy public. That's the school that got the multimillion dollar donation already.

The engineering school -- whose faculty already are doing the sort of work you cite but are in outdated, cramped facilities -- would go west to the county grounds for proximity and synergy with the research facilities already there to work in other growth areas planned for the city. As for urban sociology, etc., you might want to look at the already in place, highly ranked (and well-funded) urban studies program at UWM that has been schooling community leaders for decades.

Glad you know about the community ed program, though -- but there is much more that is poised to take off, after years of work within UW System to get the support. Now it's up to the "stick it to Milwaukee" legislature. We'll see.