THU AM News: Labor secretary touts ‘ripple effect’ of Microsoft project during mine visit; GMAR reports higher home sales figure for July

August 15, 2024

— Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su touted the ripple effect of Microsoft’s planned $3.3 billion Wisconsin AI datacenter while visiting a mine that will supply materials for its construction.

She spoke yesterday at the Payne & Dolan mine in Franklin after taking a tour of the facilities. It conducts aggregate mining, which is a broad category including gravel, sand, stone and other material used in construction.

The roundtable event highlighted how the Microsoft project in Mount Pleasant will boost demand for these materials while creating thousands of jobs in the state. It’s expected to bring 2,300 union construction jobs to southeastern Wisconsin next year, along with about 4,000 long-term jobs within the datacenter itself.

“Anytime we make investments like this that create new business, it has a ripple effect, right? It has a strong economic development effect,” Su told reporters yesterday. “And we know that when you take good jobs — and you saw this here — where working people can support their families, where they can go home after a hard day’s work and be paid a just day’s pay.”

Brian Endres, vice president of manufacturing for Payne & Dolan parent company the Walbec Group, noted every new home that’s built includes about 500 tons of aggregate. The quarry also provides asphalt and concrete for parking lots and roads, materials for reinforced concrete pipes and more.

“Overall, this type of aggregate is used in almost every facet of life that we all enjoy, and specifically a high-profile job is the Microsoft datacenter that’s coming in,” he said. “And a lot of aggregate for that is coming out of this facility.”

This project could be the “defining point” for many young construction workers’ careers, including apprentices, Wisconsin Building Trades Council Executive Director Emily Pritzkow said yesterday.

“Projects like this are essential,” she said, noting the Microsoft development “will lay the foundation for them to work for their entire career. It’s not just a job.”

Pritzkow also noted the state has seen about $7 billion in federal infrastructure investment under President Biden, including $4 billion for transportation alone. Endres underlined the importance of such investments for long-term planning by private industry.

“Overall, long-term sustainable federal funding in transportation and infrastructure is really key for our business … Mining like this is not a week-to-week thing, it’s a long-term vision,” he said. “We look to make investments in our human capital, our teammates, also in our equipment, based on what we see coming.”

Su said the Franklin mine plays a “key role” in the supply chain needed for infrastructure development in Wisconsin, and praised the work of mine workers in attendance.

“To the operating engineers, to all of the workers who make this place run every single day, know that we see you, that we want to make sure that you are going home healthy and safe … We know that this economy, the local economy, the national economy, does not run without you,” she said.

See more on the Microsoft project and listen to a recent podcast with Pritzkow.

— July home sales in the Milwaukee metro area were 4.8% higher over the year, according to the latest Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors report.

Across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties, a total of 1,723 homes were sold last month, compared to 1,644 in July 2023. GMAR describes the increase as a “return to normal,” as six of the seven months so far this year have had higher sales than last year.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales are up 5.7% from 9,040 to 9,554, the report shows. Still, that number was 11,923 during the same period of 2022, meaning this year so far is 19.9% below that level.

“We can’t rule out the increase in interest rates as partly to blame for the decrease in sales, however, lackluster listings are more likely to be the cause,” report authors wrote.

Listings are up 4.6% over the year in July, from 1,931 to 2,109. But demand for homes continues to exceed supply, the report shows, as the average sale price for the four-county area rose 10.9% over the year, from just under $400,000 to about $440,000. GMAR calls this “a frustrating and unsustainable trend.”

The report once again points to the “significant and long-term danger” of not enough single-family and condominium units being built in the area, driving more potential buyers into rental units.

See the report.

— An infectious disease expert with UW-Madison says the ongoing summer wave of COVID-19 cases is “a bit of a surprise” given the virus’ tendency to hit in colder months.

Dr. Nasia Safdar, associate dean for clinical trials at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, spoke during a recent webinar hosted by the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

“The test positivity rate continues to rise, emergency department visits continue to go up,” she said, referring to national figures. “We’re seeing a little bit of increase in severity in terms of hospitalization and deaths as well, although it of course is nowhere near where it was when we first started out.”

She attributed the relatively low severity of the current spread to more people being vaccinated against the coronavirus and natural immunity from previous infections.

Safdar describes the current situation as “an uneasy coexistence” that will likely continue, as she doesn’t expect COVID-19 to ever go away completely.

“It continues to surprise us in terms of how fast the virus continues to evolve, and we always seem to be in a state of trying to catch up,” she said. “But I think we at least have a reasonable sense of where things will go in the future, including the fact that it will continue to have these ups and downs.”

Still, she expressed disappointment that vaccination rates nationally remain “flat and low,” adding she expects they could trend downward going forward. Adults over age 65 tend to have higher vaccination rates given their greater risk from the virus — about 40% — but all other age groups are around 20% or lower.

The state Department of Health Services reports about 18.5% of Wisconsin residents have received at least one dose of the 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccination.

“Vaccination rates have been lowest in rural areas, which is likely a function of access, as well as among people of color, which has a number of reasons behind it including access issues as well,” Safdar said.

Wastewater monitoring data from DHS suggests COVID-19 activity is on the rise in the state, with sampling showing 84.4 million gene copies per person per day at participating wastewater treatment facilities. That’s far below the previous peak of 223 million at the end of 2023, but marks an increase from around 20 million at the beginning of June.

Watch the video.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— Alliant Energy has filed an application with the state Public Service Commission for the Columbia Energy Storage Project, the Madison-based utility announced.

The project will use a carbon dioxide-based technology designed by Italian firm Energy Dome, which will be able to store enough energy to power about 18,000 Wisconsin homes for 10 hours on one charge. It would be the first of its kind in the United States, according to a project overview.

If approved by the PSC, Alliant Energy will build the energy storage system in the town of Pacific, near the existing Columbia Energy Center. Construction is slated to begin in 2025 and wrap up the following year.

Mike Bremel, director of technical solutions and federal funding at Alliant Energy, says new systems like the Energy Dome technology are “increasing energy security for our customers” while strengthening the energy grid.

“This project represents an incredible opportunity to advance the goals outlined in our Clean Energy Vision and build toward a more sustainable and reliable energy future for all,” he said in a statement.

See the release and listen to an earlier podcast with Bremel.

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