— The need for business coaching, financial education and capital in Milwaukee’s small business community is surpassing capacity, the Wisconsin Policy Forum reports.
The group’s latest report, focused on the small business support system in Wisconsin’s largest city, found Milwaukee has a relatively strong network of service providers. But report authors say it lacks “the kind of coordinated supports and philanthropic engagement” of entrepreneurs in other major Midwestern cities like Kansas City, Detroit and Chicago.
In one example, the report highlights the KCSourceLink effort, located in the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Innovation Center. The program offers an array of support for entrepreneurs in the area, helping them navigate resources and coordinating efforts of other groups in the ecosystem.
“Whereas in Milwaukee, no organization positions itself as the ‘backbone’ of the entrepreneurship and small business support ecosystem and no organization serves as its ‘front door,’ KCSourceLink claims both roles in the Kansas City metro area,” report authors wrote.
By comparison, business service providers in Milwaukee “often try to do too much,” according to WPF. Based on interviews with local leaders in the city’s business community, WPF argues these organizations should “more clearly define what they do best” and focus on that, rather than spreading themselves too thin.
Meanwhile, the report spotlights access to capital as a persistent challenge for small businesses in Milwaukee. It acknowledges the impact of community development financial institutions, which help those unable to access capital through banks and credit unions, but adds multiple interviewees believe more lending capacity is needed.
And the report says Milwaukee has “insufficient capacity” for one-on-one business coaching, noting few organizations in the city offer such services.
“Some [interviewees] noted that those who provide one-on-one support to entrepreneurs often go into private consulting rather than working for a nonprofit, making their services less accessible to lower-income entrepreneurs,” report authors wrote.
WPF says local philanthropic organizations could play a bigger role in supporting Milwaukee entrepreneurs, noting both Detroit and Chicago have developed “funder collaboratives” to do just that. Support in those cities comes through grants to business service providers and other initiatives.
“Our research suggests that with more focused leadership, coordination, and financial support, the city’s current small business support ecosystem could become even healthier and achieve greater effectiveness in addressing the varied needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs,” report authors wrote.
See the full report: https://wispolicyforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DownToBusiness_FullReport.pdf
See the release: https://wispolicyforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Small-Business-Landscape-in-Milwaukee-Media-Release.pdf
— Johnson Controls is getting $33 million in federal money to expand production of electric heat pumps at three U.S. facilities.
The manufacturing company last week announced the award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. Johnson Controls will use the funds to expand manufacturing sites in Texas, Kansas and Pennsylvania, according to the release.
Once complete, the expanded sites are expected to be able to produce 200,000 residential, commercial and industrial heat pumps, marking a 200% increase over current levels. These machines use electricity to move heat rather than burning fuel, transferring up to eight times as much energy as they use, the release shows.
The company says the effort will result in a reduction of 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from commercial and industrial heating and 1.63 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from residential heating. That’s equal to the emissions from more than 5.5 million gas-powered vehicles being driven for one year.
Katie McGinty, the company’s vice president and chief sustainability and external relations officer, says Johnson Controls also plans to create 1,000 new jobs.
“Some of our heat pumps will help homeowners cut their energy bills, while others can play a major role in commercial industries,” she said in a statement. “For example, we already are working with large scale institutions on heat pump deployments that will cut emissions by more than 70% and costs by more than 60%.”
The company’s North American headquarters are located in Glendale.
See the release:
— Attorney General Josh Kaul has announced a $100,000 settlement with Paul Bugar Trucking, Inc. and owner Paul Bugar.
The business is alleged to have violated a Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit related to mining operations in Clark County, according to the state Department of Justice.
The DOJ release highlights five alleged violations, including failing to collect water samples for testing before discharging; failing to treat wastewater before discharging; exceeding pollution limits; failing to submit annual inspection reports; and failing to sample wastewater for oil, grease and phosphorus pollution.
Under the proposed settlement agreement, the company would be required to pay $100,000 in forfeitures, surcharges, court costs and attorney fees. Clark County Circuit Court Judge Lyndsey Brunette signed the order for judgment Nov. 21, the release shows.
“Companies entrusted with WPDES permits must uphold their obligations under those permits,” Kaul said in a statement. “When those obligations aren’t met, Wisconsin DOJ is prepared to act to ensure that clean water is protected.”
The company did not respond to a request for comment over the weekend.
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#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin agriculture, nourishing holiday traditions
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=1024&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– Building Blocks: Keller Inc. head of Switchgear Power Systems expansion
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# ECONOMY
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# EDUCATION
– UW–Madison offers new FISC Ag Forward short course, with dairy production and management as inaugural course’s focus
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=1026&yr=2023
– Nearly 1K students enrolled in Milwaukee Public Schools have not attended a single day this year
– Parents debate importance of virtual education in Green Bay district
# POLITICS
– Wisconsin farmers union urges farm bill action
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=1025&yr=2023
– Wisconsin bill wants to expand refunds and awards for youth and registered apprentices
# REAL ESTATE
– See Saputo’s Franklin facility that’s hiring now to eventually fill more than 500 jobs: Slideshow
# SMALL BUSINESS
– Central Asian Silk Road serves ‘wild flavor’ on Park
# SPORTS
– Milwaukee Bucks’ Peter Feigin on Deer District plans, impact of Lillard trade and new owners
– The cost breakdown of 23 stadium projects approved ahead of new ballpark funding bill
# UTILITIES
– GOP-backed community solar bill in Wisconsin stymied by utility and labor opposition
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
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