Free Tuesday Trends sample: Venture capital rising, corporate diversity mixed, minimum wage falling

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Rising

Venture capital: A national report on venture capital investment shows the amount raised in Wisconsin during the first nine months of the year nearly doubled the amount raised in the state in the entirety of 2013. The MoneyTree Report — an analysis of survey data compiled by Thomson Reuters and released by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association — showed 22 venture capital campaigns had raised some $67.1 million in Wisconsin through September. Last year, the report showed Wisconsin firms raised about $33.9 million through those deals. The third quarter of this year was headlined by a $14.5 million campaign for Madison-based Propeller Health, which makes digital systems for those with chronic respiratory conditions. Observers laud the report, but note one or two large campaigns can dramatically affect year-to-year totals in a state like Wisconsin, which draws only a small fraction of the venture capital raised nationwide — the report showed $33 billion was raised nationally through September. Still, the Wisconsin Technology Council notes the state could threaten the previous record of 27 venture capital deals set in 2000.

Mixed

Corporate diversity: A new report finds although corporate boards in Wisconsin are increasingly diverse, there’s still more progress to be made. The Board Diversity report — released by the Greater Milwaukee Committee in conjunction with Milwaukee Women Inc. — finds that 15.5 percent of directors in Wisconsin’s top 50 companies are women, up from 14.3 percent a year ago and the first measurable improvement in three years. It also finds racial diversity in the Wisconsin Top 50 is about equal to the national average, with approximately one in 10 board seats in those companies going to an underrepresented minority. Still, the report shows substantial progress will be needed in the next year to achieve the groups’ 2015 goals: another 42 seats would be needed to achieve a threshold of 25 percent women-held spots on those companies’ boards, while 23 more seats would be needed to reach the 13 percent goal for ethnic minority directors.

Falling

Minimum wage: In an effort to draw attention to the plight of those in low-wage jobs, a group of workers last month filed a complaint with the state labor department arguing the current $7.25 per hour falls below the “living wage” threshold required of the minimum wage by state law. The complaint triggers a process giving the Department of Workforce Development 20 days to investigate, and the agency returns, as expected, with a rejection of the complaint. In its response, DWD says there is “no reasonable cause to believe that the wages paid to the complainants are not a living wage,” drawing an outcry from those who helped push for the investigation. They allege state officials did not follow up with any of the complainants, and chide Gov. Walker as potentially “the only person in the entire country who actually thinks that anyone in today’s economy can survive solely on $7.25 an hour.” Meanwhile, a report from the the UW-Madison-based Center on Wisconsin Strategy aims to shed light on the population that working for low wages. The “Raise the Floor” report says one in four state workers, or about 700,000 Wisconsinites, receive poverty-level wages, which are defined as $11.36 per hour or below — the level at which health insurance coverage and other benefits tend to fall off. The report also notes the average age of the poverty-level workers is 30, with the author noting most aren’t “teenagers working for pocket change.”