FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Aaron Zitzelsberger, WEDC; WPF report explores economic recovery of bars, restaurants

May 31, 2024

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Aaron Zitzelsberger, senior director of global trade and investment for WEDC.

Zitzelsberger discusses the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s international trade missions program, which recently announced its slate of destinations planned for this year and the next. The agency is coordinating trips in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East for Wisconsin businesses looking to reach new markets.

“Whether you are a company in Wisconsin that is looking for customers or distributors to help you expand your global reach — or maybe you’re looking for both — WEDC’s targeted trade missions are going to help you build those relationships necessary to increase your international sales.”

Participants receive a briefing from the agency’s market development specialists, and also work with authorized trade representatives in the target country to create a customized meeting schedule for the trade mission.

Zitzelsberger says “there’s really nothing like being in-country, having boots on the ground” when it comes to building business relationships and doing product demonstrations. Organizers aim to get participants in two to four meetings per day while providing logistical support, transportation and interpreter services.

The conversation highlights how some of the trade mission destinations were chosen, creating possible opportunities for businesses within specific sectors such as aerospace and medical devices.

“I’m sure that there is something that is going to be there that’s going to be of interest to many companies,” he said.

The trade mission schedule includes: United Kingdom, July 21-26; Australia, Nov. 1-9; United Arab Emirates, Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 2025; Mexico, Feb. 23-28, 2025; China, March 2025; Canada, April 6-11, 2025; and Switzerland and Germany, May 18-24, 2025.

Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.

— Bar and restaurant employment in Wisconsin has now returned to pre-pandemic levels, though recovery remains slower than the rest of the state economy.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum reports the industry has made a “strong recovery” from the pandemic after dropping from about 202,800 workers in February 2020 to 105,200 in April 2020. By February 2024, employment at bars and restaurants in the state had risen to about 203,700, marking a 0.4% increase over the same month of 2020.

These businesses typically employ more people in the summer than the winter, leading to seasonal changes in the total number or workers in the industry, WPF notes. Total employment at bars and restaurants last peaked at 218,100 in August 2023, though that was below the pre-pandemic peak of 219,200 from August 2019, the report shows.

Total nonfarm employment was 1.4% higher in February 2024 than in February 2020, and has “consistently exceeded” pre-pandemic levels since January 2023, showing bar and restaurant recovery is lagging the state economy overall.

Still, Wisconsin’s bars and restaurants are faring better than the national figure, as the entire U.S. industry employed 0.09% fewer workers in February 2024 than in February 2020.

Meanwhile, these businesses are likely earning similar revenues with fewer transactions or orders, as total state revenue exceeded $578 million last year. That’s 17.3% higher than in 2019, the report shows, but that increase is below the comparable pace of inflation, 19.2%. And overall tax revenues rose 26.6% over the same period.

At the same time, many restaurants are also operating on fewer days or for fewer hours than before the pandemic, leading to more revenues per hour of operation.

“Indeed, the state’s restaurant and bar associations say many businesses discovered during the pandemic that they could have a similar bottom line with a reduced schedule and are now more judicious with which days and hours they open,” report authors wrote.

The total number of Wisconsin bars and restaurants exceeded 2019 levels in the second and third quarters of last year, the latest period covered by available data. By the third quarter of 2023, the total was 1.6% higher than in Q3 of 2019.

Bars closed more often than restaurants during the pandemic, and WPF notes “it is possible that their numbers remain down.” Because only annual data covering 2022 is available for bars, the report doesn’t capture the full picture for this industry subset.

The number of bars in the state was 6.6% lower in 2022 than in 2019 — 2,825 versus 3,026 — while the broader category that also includes restaurants was down 2.3%.

“Even if bars recovered in 2023 at a similar pace as restaurants, it is likely there are still fewer of them than there were before the pandemic,” report authors wrote.

See the report.

— The Wisconsin Indigenous Economic Development Corporation plans to release an economic impact study this year on tribal enterprises and businesses and nonprofits owned by Native Americans.

The WIEDC, a state-based coalition of four nonprofit Native Community Development Financial Institutions, yesterday announced its seeking participants for a related study. The group is circulating a survey to representatives from tribal corporations and Indigenous businesses and nonprofits, and plans to visit reservations in the coming months to discuss the study and do community outreach.

Fern Orie, the coalition’s CEO, says the economic impact of Native-owned businesses in the state is “highly underestimated” outside of tribal enterprises and gambling, and the study will help connect tribal members with economic resources.

“Anecdotally, we also know there are Native-owned enterprises that are not registered with their tribe or the state, not marketing themselves, not securing financing to grow, and are not receiving technical assistance,” Orie said. “This means they are effectively below the radar of statistical reporting and therefore invisible to policymakers.”

The study aims to create a “comprehensive directory” of tribal enterprises and Native-owned organizations that participate in the study for promotional uses, as well as an “in-depth analysis of the economic interplays between tribal corporations and the broader market,” the release shows.

See the release and get more information on the study.

— The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s UpStart entrepreneurship program for women and people of color is accepting applications through Saturday, organizers announced.

The free, 10-week program will run Sept. 10-Nov. 12. The classes are held at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery in Madison.

UpStart participants will learn the skills needed to conceive, fund, organize and test a business idea. They will be connected to area professionals who will help establish strategic goals and identify the next steps.

Applications can be filled out here.

See more at Madison Startups.

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