— The Brookings Institution is highlighting Madison and Milwaukee as potential hotspots for tech innovation and economic growth.
The new report details a proposal calling for $10 billion in annual federal funding over the next 10 years for “regional growth centers” in the country’s heartland. The plan aims to address the growing economic disparity between high-growth metropolitan areas and the rest of the country.
Wisconsin’s two largest cities are included among the top communities in the nation for innovation potential based on factors such as the number of patents held, the share of STEM degrees, university R&D spending and others. Madison made the top spot on the list of 35 metros across the country, while Milwaukee came in at number 17.
Madison has around 71 patents per 100,000 population, while Milwaukee has around 44. Though Madison has a much smaller population, the city has more than 10 times as many STEM doctoral degrees.
The Case for Growth Centers report was released by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. It shows the country’s top five metro areas for innovation — Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and San Diego — accounted for more than 90 percent of U.S. innovation sector growth between 2005 and 2017.
Gov. Tony Evers is urging the state’s congressional delegation to carefully consider the proposal and what it could do for Wisconsin. He says the state is “uniquely poised” to lead the nation in the entrepreneurship and innovation space, given its top-rated research universities, growing venture capital activity, coordinated economic development efforts and other factors.
“This type of bold initiative could not only support the communities that receive funding, but ultimately strengthen our state and our country and support our position on an increasingly competitive world stage,” Evers said.
Madison Region Economic Partnership CEO Paul Jadin says the organization has pledged its support to advance the report’s proposal. He says the region’s economic stability as well as “stratospheric growth in our information communications technology and biosciences sectors” make Madison an ideal location for federal investment.
— A new national report finds doctors in Milwaukee are the highest-paid in the country, with about $395,000 in average compensation.
That’s followed by: New Orleans, with $384,000 in average pay; Riverside, Calif., $371,000; Minneapolis, $369,000; and Charlotte, N.C., $368,000.
Despite Milwaukee’s relatively high pay for physicians, the city didn’t make the top 10 list for compensation growth or for physician demand.
On the national level, the three highest-paid specialties were: neurosurgery, with $616,000; thoracic surgery, $584,000; and orthopedic surgery, $526,000.
Milwaukee was the only Wisconsin city featured in the report, which was compiled by Doximity, an online networking service for medical professionals. According to the report, the member network includes 70 percent of all U.S. physicians.
See the full report here: http://www.wisbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/U.S.-Physician-Employment-Report-2019_.pdf
— Foxconn founder Terry Gou reiterated his commitment to Wisconsin during a recent visit to Milwaukee, according to a report from the Racine Journal Times.
Gou had stepped down from the company last year for an ultimately unsuccessful presidential campaign in Taiwan. During his visit last week, he addressed employees and politicians at a Foxconn holiday party and emphasized his continued commitment both to the state and to Racine County.
See more in Foxconn Reports below.
— Republican lawmakers are circulating a bill for co-sponsorship that would increase funding for community health centers in the state.
The legislation, from Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, would raise funding for these care providers by $2 million in each fiscal year, according to an analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
DHS awards grants to community health centers that receive federal grants based on both the total amount of state funds available for grants and the portion of federal dollars allocated to the center in question. Extra funding from this bill would be divided among community health centers in the same fashion, LFB says.
Plus, the bill would incorporate into statute the allocation from the biennial budget requiring DHS to provide $500,000 in grants each year to free and charitable clinics.
— Dem lawmakers are circulating a bill that would require the Public Service Commission to account for the “social cost of carbon” when considering large utility projects.
According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, the bill defines this cost as the economic impact resulting from emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The Legislature has previously found the social cost of carbon is $50 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted, but the bill would require the PSC to evaluate the cost each year and “adjust as necessary the dollar amount.”
The bill would require any adjustments to be “consistent with the international consensus on the social cost of carbon,” according to LRB. The PSC would be required to work with the DNR in making this evaluation.
If the bill is made into law, the PSC would be required to submit an annual report to lawmakers on the agency’s evaluation by the start of 2021.
— Gypsy moth populations in the state continue to fall, according to results from this year’s trapping season.
A release from DATCP shows around 52,000 gypsy moths were caught in nearly 11,000 traps this summer. That number was about 76,000 last year, and over 108,000 in 2017.
Gypsy moths are an invasive species whose larval forms feed on the leaves of many tree species. They’re seen as a threat to the state’s forestry industries, and DATCP has a dedicated program to slow the spread of the insect.
By trapping airborne male gypsy moths, the agency is able to track and measure the state’s gypsy moth populations, which appear to be on the decline. These efforts also inform annual aerial spray treatments. Around 76,000 acres in 14 counties were successfully treated this year, and next year’s treatments are still being planned.
Michael Falk, a program coordinator, explains 2019 was the second year in a row with several days of cold winter weather that helped thin out the number of gypsy moth eggs. He notes these cold conditions coupled with aerial treatments have reduced gypsy moth populations. Still, he said these populations can “rebound quickly given the right environmental conditions.”
See the release: http://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/191209-moths.pdf
#TOP STORIES#
# Farmers’ despair pushes states to act
# New data says Wisconsin isn’t losing manufacturing jobs, but the state’s job growth still lags
# Southwest Wisconsin water study finds human waste contaminating private wells
# Targeting nitrate: DNR policy board to consider manure regulations aimed at protecting drinking water
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Klinkners, Huber earn WFBF’s top YFA awards
– Sheep & goat breeders holding small ruminant clinic in February
# BANKING
– Soon to be Forte Bank, First Bank of Hartford plans branch in Menomonee Falls
# CONSTRUCTION
– Proposed ‘pocket neighborhood’ would bring new style to Brookfield
– Fabishak announces plans to retire from AGC of GM next year
# EDUCATION
– Carroll University to offer recreational, competitive esports
– FarmFirst Dairy Co-op to offer college scholarships
# ENVIRONMENT
– Wisconsin logger who survived in woods still cutting
– Arctic blast to send Wisconsin temps subzero starting Monday night
– Deep freeze headed for Minnesota, Wisconsin, Dakotas
# FOXCONN REPORTS
– Foxconn Founder Terry Gou: ‘I’m committed to Wisconsin’
# MANAGEMENT
– Fabishak retiring as Associated General Contractors CEO
# MANUFACTURING
– Bockhorst replacing Meeusen as Badger Meter chairman
– Worker dies after becoming trapped in machinery at Sub-Zero
# NONPROFIT
– Brewers team up with Meijer to donate to USO children
# REAL ESTATE
– Fabishak retiring from AGC of Greater Milwaukee contractor association
– Bray Architects expands with acquisition of Illinois firm
# RETAIL
– Learning Shop to shutter after 40 years
# SPORTS
– DraftKings to host fantasy betting contest for 2020 Ryder Cup
# TECHNOLOGY
– Madison tops list to grow tech jobs in the Midwest, say two national think tanks
# TRANSPORTATION
– After 5 years in storage, Talgo trains built for Wisconsin return to Milwaukee
# COLUMNS
– State Assemblyman Treig Pronschinske: Got Real Milk?
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
http://wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Content=82 </i>
Foxconn: Foxconn founder Terry Gou visits Wisconsin to celebrate 2019 milestone achievements
